Riu Playa Blanca: Great Resort

Rooms were clean and spacious. The hotels grounds were always well kept as well the entire inside. Workers were always looking after the resort. Staff were always friendly and had a smile. Entertainment staff did a great job and the shows were good. The disco could have been better, music needs to be for everyone. The DJ needs to play for the crowd not for himself.

Riu Republica: Great resort

Clean, new, great staff. Rooms are very clean and large. All restaurants are buffet style with no reservations. Food quality and selection are excellent. Staff is pleasant and helpful. I will return again!

Riu Santa Fe: Overall Very happy!

Was there January 8-15. So, very clean very nice resort. The lobby lacks a bar but the sports bar is right around the corner so i guess that made up for it. The snacks at the sports bar are bad. Really needs a kitchen to make fries/pizzas etc. So we didn't really take advantage of the 24/7 snacks. They make a mean cup of coffee in there though. The theater is right beside that. The shows progressively got 'worse' as the week went on but overall we were happy. Fun Michael Jackson show! The bars s [... read more]urrounding the theatre are busy but good. The staff here work hard and for the most part go out of their way to make you feel welcome. I did notice a few employees who slacked, didn't seem into the activities, got in trouble for not being as interactive as they needed to be, only seemed like they wanted to dance with pretty young girls. So kudos to the people who said hello and smiled at EVERYONE. There were a few entertainment staffers who danced with little girls ..older women and seemed to genuinely have fun. The show MC was hilarious and energetic. The dancing after the shows were fun. Not dancey enough for me but they need to appeal to everyone.. The disco is smaller but nice inside. I didn't dig the music too much but I didn't hate it. I'm pretty sure they play the same thing every night which sucks. I was looking forward to more dancing music not just electronic beats. The main buffet was always good. We didn't have many complaints about the food. We always found something to eat EVERYWHERE. We tried all the restaurants. No limits. No reservations! Yay! Mexican was meh..not the greatest but not awful by any means. Steakhouse, not GREAT...but also not bad. Asian was yummy. Loved the appetizer buffet. Italian was the best. Very good. The portions at the restaurants are quite small so fill up on the appetizer buffets. Smaller pool was very chill (until about Friday saturday) ..we called it the boring pool and it served it's purpose when we just wanted to relax. A bar with a swim up. All good. The guy who usually ran activities here didn't do a good job at talking to everyone..saying hello..including everyone and a lot of the time seemed unhappy..unfriendly. but he was always by himself so maybe that was why. The infinity pools were beautiful. You can't beat that view. The rocks in the background. Wow. Disappointing that you can'tswim in the ocean and that the beach is littered with people selling. I had hoped they would keep them off the property like in other resorts but no dice. They didn't push hard and backed off when you said no. I noticed the bartenders weren't great at making you new fun drinks when you say "I don't know what I want..make me something fun pleasee" I've been places where I've been super happy with everything they've made. I tried a lot of them here and was meh. Didn't dig their Pinas or daiquiri too much but it was good I just got sick o f them. The dirty monkeys and mudslides were delicious. I drank quite a few Caesars and Ron punch's too. Yum. The activities at the 'party' pool were sometimes fun. I did zumba and aerobics. They were always energetic. One day they had a beer drinking contest..that was fun to watch! Also a pool foam floaty party. Fun too. I got some mosquito bites that were pretty nasty. They come out around 4ish so bring bug spray. My biggest complaint would be the weather! I didn't know it'd be like 20° in the evening! And windy! I was freezing all the time out of the pool and so cold in the evening. Bring sweaters and pants and forget the cute outfits!!! Also unfortunately near the weekend tons of people came and we're annoying. I have no problem with partiers but they were obnoxious and trouble causing. A few fights happened. So it deterred us from staying out at night. And from staying at the infinity pool the last couple days. The hotel was very well maintained and the fun is there if you want to have it. The rooms were nice. Roomy balcony. Nice bathroom. Not enough pillows! But I had good sleeps!! We signed up for a water taxi and had a really good experience. The drive there was a bit nauseating lol but the boat guy was awesome. Saw sea lions very close! We also signed up for whale watching on a bigger boat 99 dollars us with nexus. SO FUN. The crew was amazing and we saw several whales. GRey and humpback. Met great people. I believe the boat was called 'sunrider'... Bring tips for the boatman and crews if you do any of these. The hotel staff work very hard. I like to tip those I appreciate. I saw multiple people there every single day ...day and night. And they were still lovely.

Riu Ocho Rios: Great resort

The resort had beautiful Beaches and main areas . Room could of used a little more updating . As well as room service that was stated they had on there web site. Food was amazing. Staff was friendly and welcoming .

Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas: Really amazing resort

Beautiful and well maintained grounds. Immaculate rooms, bathrooms, as well as public areas. Great and very diverse food for all tastes. Think that food in Italian restorant was slightly below the level of the other restorants.

Riu Reggae: Super Clean Gorgeous Resort

The Resort was beautiful and clean.The staff was courteous, helpful and kind.The food was excellent, i enjoyed the selection and variation. The only thing i would have prefered was at the specialty restaurants a change some sort in the menu, i was vactioning there for 9 days and after the 6 day i had tried all the resaurants and was just a lil disappointed that there was no change to the menu. The food was delious though and I am excited to visit Jamaica again I had a great experience

Riu Merengue: Riu Merenge - Nice location and good food but......

Overall this hotel is decent. We did have some issues the first day with room location - they relocated us when we asked....but the new room had serious A/C issues which was a bit of a comical farce trying to get fixed...so we ended up going back to the initial room that night just so we could sleep in a cool room. The evening Manager said he was going to write a report....which truly was not helpful to us at all. We ended up staying in that original room the full week as I didn't want to wast [... read more]e time changing rooms again. Note to large families/groups travelling together: please remember there are other guests that have also paid money to enjoy a holiday and you need to be respectful of everyone's right to their holiday. Groups of unsupervised children running amok yelling and screaming at all hours, loud "conversations" between rooms and in hallways and "group togetherness" late at night is not ok...it's downright rude. Hot water was good...sometimes had to let it run a while before it heated up but once it was there it was super hot. Nice to have a room fridge with some water and soda, etc. in it. They won't refill your fridge if you aren't there to answer the knock so you might have to chase them down as it's not the room maid that does it. I thought the in-room liquor dispensers were overkill and not needed. Nice touch of an umbrella in each room for those evening sporadic showers. We really had no issues with the property or location. The food ranged from ok to some very good dishes. The staff were lovely when you made the effort to treat them as human beings and make eye contact, speak to them and ...oh yes...actually leave them a tip . I was appalled at the way the many guests from Eastern Europe treated the staff as if they were ghosts. Not friendly towards other guests either. They need to work on their social skills. I'm thankful everyday that the majority of Canadians have such good manners and are kind, pleasant and respectful people. It was a nice sized beach to walk on ...it's a lovely walk up to the gazebo on the cliff at the Riu Bacchata where you can see the cruise ships when they are in. It was very cool to watch the ships depart from behind the cliff and into the open ocean ...and see them disappear into the distance while you were sitting on the beach! We are beach people and didn't use the pool all week so can't comment on that. Entertainment was quite sporadic. Some nights it was terrific...others it was just plain odd. The Merenge has two sections - make sure you check out the offerings of both stages before you commit to watching a show - they varied greatly in quality. Down sides of this resort : 1) lack of clarity in the water. I hoped to snorkel from the beach but could not all week due to the murkiness 2) everything sold is priced in U.S.$....when you asked for the conversion to Dominican currency the price jumped 3) very expensive excursions A few years ago we stayed at a Bahia Principe in Samana and I would return there before this hotel/area of DR.

Riu Flamingos: Very nice resort but bad flu virus!

The resort was absolutely beautiful, the staff were amazing, the food was great with and a great variety of foods. The steak house was really good! My son's both had so much fun and enjoyed all the day time sports. Entertainment staff by the pool were awesome! The beach was one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. You could walk for miles and the kids had a blast boogie boarding. The rooms were very nice as well as clean. There was a very bad stomach flu virus going around the resort and [... read more] quite a few people were sick. I was violently ill for 1 night and not well for the next few days. My husband ended up getting it in the airport on our way home so you can just imagine what the flight home was like. I'm not blaming the resort, they can't control viruses but it really ruined our vacation. I would highly recommend to use hand sanitizer before eating and take Dukorol before vacationing in Mexico.

Riu Santa Fe: Great time!

Hotel was incredibly clean and the staff were friendly and went beyond to make our stay amazing! The pools were beautiful, drinks were cold and the sun was hot! Couldn't have asked for anything better. Always a good variety of food. Reservations were not required for the specialty restaurants so there were always line-ups so that was a bit of a hassle. I can't say enough about the great staff...so hardworking, kind, and always smiling.

Riu Flamingos: Riu Jalisco

The hotel was nice, grounds were nice, very kid oriented. The beach was nicer than other Places I have been to Mexico. My only complaint is the ATM machines are always out of order, 95 per cent of the time. And this was at all 3 Riu's you could only change your Canadian money at the check in desk for pesos at a lousy rate. I had to take a cab twice to go get money from an ATM at a bank. I think the hotel is not friendly in having ATM 's operational as they want the exchange mark up themselves. N [... read more]ext time I will bring pesos from Canada

Riu Flamingos: Nice Resort For Family

I enjoyed my stay at the Riu Jalisco. Pros: Clean Variety of food Not too big Beauitful beach Lots of lounge chairs around the pool and on the beach Lots of entertainment/activities Great bar staff Friendly staff Close to a small town Bucerias Cons: Uncomfortable beds (very hard) I personally thought hotel restaurants were under staffed. It took a long time before getting drinks during meals If I did not go with a family I would not choose this resort. Minimal beer optio [... read more]ns. Not much sun by the pool

Riu Reggae: Great time at a great hotel

Extremely pleasant and accommodating staff. The wait staff went above and beyond. Food was excellent and a great assortment for everyone. Jr Suite was perfect and worth the extra. Beach cleaned everyday. The entertainment staff made a point to speak to everyone. Didn't bug you if you just wanted to watch. Didn't have to wait long for a drink unless it was busy and then what do you expect. I would've like the pool a little deeper but it was still not a problem.

Riu Guanacaste: Great value!

This was my second visit to the Riu Guanacaste. The grounds are immaculate and the scenery is beautiful. The service at this resort was excellent from the cleaning staff to the bartenders and the wait staff in the dining rooms. There are lots of amazing opportunities for excursions for families or couples. The food was average and it was the only thing average about this resort. If you've been to a Riu property before you'll know exactly what to expect, I would rate it a 4 star.

Riu Flamingos: Early 2017 at Riu Jalisco

We just got back from our 4th trip to Riu Jalisco. As usual, the weather was to die for; sunny and 28 degrees during the day and 20 at night. The room and most of the amenities of the resort were top notch. The only minor criticism would be the cable stations were all Spanish speaking with the exception of the dreadful Fox News. It would be a bonus to have ESPN , CNN or a major American network. It is good to have an alternative to the caberet style offering each evening. I would like to  [... read more]also mention that the hotel staff were so friendly and accommodating. G and S

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Amazing resort - take me back!

Absolutely amazing resort. Very modern and clean... always good food available 24/7. All inclusive buffet was above average always something that you will like and for an all inc I found it well done. Never met such brilliant staff ever. The beach was great and feeding the monkeys was a huge highlight of ours... loved the fact that were 5 pools as they all catered for different things such as relaxing, volleyball, swim up bar etc.... we left a small tip each day for the maid and she always le [... read more]ft a special something for us made of towels or went out of her way to leave something special. You don't even have to leave your lounger at the pool. bar tenders (especially Alonso) will ask what you want to drink. Even making a surprise drink became fun we tried all sorts of cocktails and frozen drinks. Honestly fell in love with Costa Rica. - pura vida!!

Riu Palace Paradise Island: Nice hotel

Exellent food near by atlantis hotels room service was excellent ocean views was great majority of staff were great except one of them was amazzing u will meet her when u go there such a awsome best smile lots of fun

Riu Republica: Good resort

Riu republica was a good resorts with many perks. The entertainment was great, very friendly staff, beautiful beach and pools! However the food wasn't good and at times I found the dining areas not very clean.

Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas: Truly a Palace

Having stayed at adjacent Riu Sante Fe twice before, this was a nice upgrade! The food quality was quite a bit better . Nicest change was to get rid of the early morning reservations to get the alacarte restaurants. Instead it was first come first serve, and if you weren't early enough for first seating, they gave you a buzzer/blinker, to let you know when table is ready. Very clean resort, and good staff! Location is great, about a 20 minute walk along beach to the Marina. Spa was disappointing [... read more] as steam room was't working. Bar drinks were quite good, although wine could still be improved. I usually brought my own, ( 5 minute walk to Walmart, for good selection and reasonable price) the buffet was often a better choice than the alacarte, although bee loved the Mexican rest.

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Not what it used to be

This was our fifth time at the resort and unfortunately our last. From the rats running through the lobby to the roachs on the buffet the resort has gone downhill. Room smelled musty with a large critter included. We had to switch rooms. I wil say the entertainment staff was excellent as always. It's too bad it has gone downhill as this was one of our favourite resorts.

Riu Guanacaste: Meets all needs

Overall we found this resort to be at the top of our list vs. the others all-inclusive’s we have stayed at over the years. It was great not to line up in the morning to make reservations at the al carte restaurants as it was 1st come 1st served; they would give you a beeper when your table was ready if full at the time you arrived. At most it was half hour wait, just went for a drink at the garden or lobby bar. The rooms were large, clean and the room was cleaned by 10am every day. The rooms [... read more] do come with a stocked fridge and a liquor dispenser (4 different types) which was nice when you prepared to go out to dinner or after you came in for the day. The air conditioning worked well. Small pillows though. The food was for the most part was very good at all the restaurants; yes of course some items may not be to everyone’s taste. The buffet seemed to be just as good as the others. The beach was fantastic as plenty of lounger’s available and shady spots as well. It is dark grey sand (volcanic) which for some reason bothered people. There was plenty of fish in the water for snorkelers; the water was warm and not too rough at all. The pool (3 separate pool areas) was popular place but had more than enough loungers you can choose the noisy or quiet places to sit. The staff was plentiful (5 bartenders at the swim up bar alone) and were attentive to your requests or needs. They did seem to appreciate tips in CR currency (colons) and in which you will get a better exchange rate at the hotel than you will in Canada, so do your exchange at the front desk when you arrive or daily if you prefer. The hotel itself has a magnificent lobby and grounds with lots of wildlife on the grounds and outside the grounds. Howler monkeys visit the pool area every day around 3pm, down the beach there are white face and spider monkeys but hit and miss when you see them, the white face will come right up to you. There is a local vendor market just off the beach and you can barter with them on prices. I would suggest visiting the monkey bar also down the beach on an afternoon, as it is quite the experience to have a cocktail in the middle of the jungle plus supports the locals. The vendors on the beach are very respectful and can be entertaining or to have a conversation with them. We booked all our day trips on the beach for the same locations offered by the hotel but for cheaper prices which came with personal transportation. Nightly entertainment was ok 8-9 for kids, 9-10 for adults and kids and band 10-11 then it shut down. There is a disco at the resort if you wished to keep going plus a 24/7 sports bar. The hotel was sold out while we were there but never seemed busy or overcrowded. The hotel seemed to fit all ages, families, couples or single travellers. Tips: bring your own shampoo, exchange your $ in the lobby (better rate by 10% there than Canada), enjoy the surroundings as you are off the beaten path at this location, don’t let the minor things get in the way of the big picture Traveled as a couple, Week before Christmas. Will return as a couple or with family/friends