Riu Palace Aruba: Disappointing Rooms

My husband and myself just returned from Aruba. The grounds of the Riu Palace were great, the pool was amazing. Resturants were good, even the buffet was good. Enjoyed our breakfast every morning. The staff were good. But we didn't know that as of April 13th The Riu Palace is closed for three months for renovactions . So for the last two days of our vacation they started emptying some rooms. But the day we were leaving they had both elevators packed with furniture. So you had a long wait for the [... read more] elevator. I was not happy! They should have waited till everyone had left. Everyone was out of there by 1pm to catch flights. The beach was beautiful. The rooms were NO 5 star, furniture was old ,broken. My friends sink in the room wasn't working. Enjoyed my time in Aruba ,the people were great, weather amazing. If I had know they were closing for three months I would have waited till renos were done. Travel agents should find out more about resorts.

Grand Memories Varadero: Amazing Resort

We have been 4 times at RIU Hotel in Varadero and we really like to go back. Ther food is good, the weather fantastic and the food is fine. For children is great as there are lots of activities during the day. I would strongly recommended this hotel, although lately they changed the name to Grant Memories.

Grand Memories Varadero: Disappointing for a five star.

Every meal was a poor selection of food, the food was cold, ie potatoes, French fries, the chicken tasted like rubber and the pork was served pink. One day there were not clean plates for lunch. We had one order of fries in the snack bar that were hot, items offered on the menu were not available, ie chicken wraps and pizza. There was a lot of cups, straws and cigarettes left on the ground. The public washrooms often had no locks on the doors, some with no paper towel to dry your hands and soap  [... read more]was not always available. Our experience has been pleasant staff, but only two workers were pleasant. The staff appeared very solemn and frustrated. Our room was well kept, except for one day, we returned around 4:30 pm and our room was not refreshed. This experience should be rated at 2-3. We were at this resort three years ago and had a wonderful experience. We told the person upon our check-out how disappointed we were and he did not even respond. We spoke with lots of people at the resort and everyone had the same disappointments and frustrations as us. Several pieces of the pool guards were missing, indeed a safety issue and there was a fair amount of sand in the pools.

Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas: Outstanding

8th visit to RIU/RIU Palace-consistent and excellent value. Service was excellent, staff are top notch, and weather in Costa Rica is hot hot hot! We highly recommend RIU Palace and can say with confidence that you will not be displeased with this All Inclusive

Riu Tequila: great time

Hotel was nice. Pool could be better but use if other facilities is a plus. The beach was amazing. The food was great lots of variety buy could use more variety in the drink menus. Entertainment and music very good to.

Riu Palace Antillas: Excellent Service!

We found the Riu Antillas to be a well run, welcoming resort. The staff are friendly and accommodating. Our room was clean and well stocked. The pool grounds and beach are well maintained and clean. As with most resorts the process for A La Carte dinning reservations is annoying and the A La Carte restaurant's food quality was disappointing, not elevated above the buffet quality,(the food over cooked and coming a long distance from the central kitchens arriving cold (except the Steak House where [... read more] the grill is in the same location as the dinning area). The buffet and bar services were good quality with variety & daily changes. I did not personally like the high rise aspect of the hotel and does not have a tropical feel. Aruba in general is very generic but easy to get around. I would recommend renting a UTV to off road to see the sights, can be done in a 4hr rental. The beaches are lovely but the wind is very strong and blows all day long. This hotel's building location does not afford any relief from the wind like some of the other properties on Palm Beach.

Sol Turquesa Beach: Lovely resort!

This was our first time in Holguin and we really enjoyed the resort, the beach and of course the Cuban people. For anyone with mobility issues, there are a lot of stairs, the resort is built on a hill with beach at the bottom and lobby/restaurants at the top. In between there are 5 pools you can stop at and a few bars on the way up. There are golf carts to take you from one place to another, however if you are planning on using a pool you will have to navigate at least some stairs. The staff her [... read more]e at Memories went above and beyond again and again, and always the managers and general managers of the resort were around and available if you had questions or just to say hello. We will defiantly be going back!

Riu Palace Costa Rica: very enjoyable stay.

The hotel was very clean....staff was cleaning the lobby, the grounds and even the walk ways daily. The staff was friendly the food the great except I did find the Asian restaurant was not very good compared to the other places to eat. Had no issues get chairs at the pool or beach durning the day. I would gladly return for another vacation.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Wonderful holiday!

The Riu Palace was a great place to stay for a relaxing holiday. Drinks delivered pool-side, a nice selection of tasty, fresh food well-prepared, hotel staff very service oriented. The grounds were beautiful, the pools great, the pool side activities just right, evening entertainment was entertaining, beach was super! Not too crowded - there were maybe 25 people at the beach at its most crowded. There are several pools, each seemingly for a slightly different crowd - there was the one with all t [... read more]he boisterous young people having lots of fun in the pool, and the one we liked which was more for swimming and sunning in the lounges built right into the water, and aquafit every day at 11.30. Always easy to find well-located lounge chairs to lie in pool-side. The staff come around frequently to get your drink order and deliver it right to where you're lying in the sun! whether at the beach or at the pool. Poor guys, having to traverse all that in blazing sun all day! There is as much to do there as you want - you can keep yourself really busy with day trips, snorkeling and other going-out-on-the-water type excursions. Or you can take it nice and easy! There were lots of day trips available, we only went on the Congo Trail ziplining outing, which was very nice. There are a couple of other ziplining outings but they are 2 and 3 hours away by bus. We did not want to spend 4 to 6 hours in a bus to do a day trip. A few people we spoke with flew into San Jose first to do some of those rainforest, volcano, whitewater rafting and other activities, and then spent 5 nights at the Palace to relax after all that strenuous activity. Flying into Liberia you don't run the risk of the airport being closed due to volcanic eruption which is what seems to happen at San Jose from time to time (it happened around the day we were flying out, March 21). I felt really comfortable at the Riu Palace and would highly recommend it. The staff, the service, the location, activities, etc were all great. Just realized I haven't mentioned the room - very nice as well. The hotel is more or less U-shaped, with the lobby at the bottom of the U and the rooms on each arm of the U. Each room has a balcony that looks out either on the gardens, so outward facing, or the courtyard, which is more or less facing onto the inside of the U, which is where all the evening entertainment is staged so at night it is quite noisy. We had a room that faced outward into the wilderness, so it was nice and quiet. Nice balcony and great to sit there in the evening with a glass of wine. The beds were very comfortable, curtains room-darkening, shower and bathroom all clean and modern and fresh. There was also a Jacuzzi-type bath tub between the rest of the bathroom and the beds etc. You can draw a curtain for privacy if you want it. Wifi everywhere.

Riu Palace Antillas: What a perfect place for vacation

Everything was fantastic from the beautiful white sand to the great food at the buffets and restaurants. The people at the resort and in town couldnt be more friendly and helpful and what a breath of fresh air to be able to go anywhere at anytime and feel completly safe

Grand Memories Varadero: No accountability with change in owners

Unfortunately we stayed at the Riu Varadero from March 26, 2015 to April 2, 2015. This was the last week before it was sold to Memories on April 1st. We were warned upon our arrival by other visitors that there were a lot of problems with the hotel. Here is a run down of what we encountered. - Check in at 4:00 p.m. and not 3:00 p.m. that was printed on our documents (late check in on both counts) - no towels - given stained used towel that was the best of 5 that was shown to me - no plates in di [... read more]ning room, chipped and cracked plates - no cups (coffee in glasses) - dirty table cloths - dirt on the buffet walls - poor service - not enough staff working - hot food was not kept hot at the buffet - beach towel exchange impossible - kept same towels all week - no water for 12 hours (husband all soaped up, had to use bottled cold water to rinse - power out - air conditioning had to be reset - getting up by 7:00 a.m. to reserve chairs for the two of us - too few chairs and very crowded - heard 3 different fights over towels and chairs - people from the upgrade section could take our chairs - the grounds were dirty with cups, cigarette buts and gum - grass not maintained - no one to listen to your complaints - staff made promises that were not kept We have travelled to Cuba 4 times, Dominican 8 times, Jamaica 3 times and Mexico 3 times. This had to be the worst hotel we have ever stayed at. We normally travel with two other couples. They were sorry to hear about our problems with the hotel but were glad that they had not booked with us. I realize the hotel was changing hands but a warning would have been appreciated since I had direct contact with a Trip Central person about the trip. This was definitely not a 5 star hotel. THE BEACH AND WEATHER WERE SPECTACULAR and the hotel itself was quite nice but needs major improvements beginning with managers that are accountable for the day to day operation of the hotel. Looking out the window from our room that was suppose to be at least a pool view, was a building with scaffolding set up. I had a few concerns before I booked this trip, but felt that with the Riu name, there would be no problems. Please consider this review from a person that is not difficult to please. Hopefully things will change for the better in the future. Not sure about the Riu name anymore. Regards, Margaret Piccolo

Riu Negril: Beautiful hotel,wonderful helping staff

I loved Negril,the hotel is just beautiful,clean ,and the staff are always asking if we need anything, so helpful.The Food is the best I've tasted,so much and so many choices. The entertainment was great,

Riu Santa Fe: Fun in the sun!

The resort is large, and for this reason has something for everybody. Whether you are looking for a quiet stay or a party scene this resort has both. Went with a friend at the end of March and stayed in building 7 - closest building to the beach. There is lots to do - beach volleyball courts, tennis courts, pool tables in the sports bar, multiple pools are all on site. Food and service were acceptable (not great) likely because our stay coincided with US spring break. Bartenders were generous wi [... read more]th the alcohol. If you are looking for a quiet resort, definitely not the place to go in February or March. Overall, a good stay.

Riu Palace Tropical Bay: Awesome resort!

This resort is definitely the best one on Bloody Bay. The staff were friendly and very helpful and it wasn't too large or too small. The beach is a beautiful soft sand and is the same out in the water. I would definitely stay here again!

Grand Memories Varadero: Beautiful resort but under staffed

The hotel is only 4 years old but management has allowed it to get run down. We arrived in April 1 St and Memories took over th resort that day. this was our third trip to Cuba and have always enjoyed the safety of Varadero. We had a nice room and maid but towels were not plentiful at this resort and was told on more than one occasion that there was no clean ones left. The resort is very large and the staff cannot keep up to the amount of people that are booked. By day 5 we noticed more staff ar [... read more]ound and more management. I think k the experience at this resort 6 months from now will be different with the memories chain.

Riu Negril: Wonderful trip

The resort was beautiful, the beach was amazing, the food was great. However above all the staff were fantastic. We had a great time and would go back to Jamaica and the Riu Negril without any hesitation.

Riu Bambu: Overall good resort for the money.

This hotel had great al la cartes. The grounds were well kept. Rooms were great. Lots of activities through the day to keep you entertained and at night. Staff were friendly. Didn't have to wait much in lines for the buffets. Beach was nice.

Riu Emerald Bay: Beautiful resort

The hotel was fairly new, well maintained and an amazing ocean view from all rooms. The staff in the dinning room were all very friendly and accommodating. The buffet had a great selection of different foods and was very good but just like any all inclusive gets a bit boring after a week.

Riu Emerald Bay: Good value for the money

We thought the hotel was extremely well taken care of, clean and comfortable. Food excellent. A la carte dining lacking. Pool wonderful but not enough notice about big undertow at beach which made swimming impossible.nightlt entertaining ok. Good time.

Riu Palace Aruba: Really nice Resort!

Amazing beach and pool. Service was really good. Buffet was amazing. A la carte restaurant was just "ok " ( also a maximum of 4 reservations per week is allowed; and we didn't know that prior departure. our room was just ok, no king bed and furniture outdated. (But they are doing some renovations right now) Overall, we were really happy of our choice. Hotel has a really good location and the Aruba's weather was perfect!