Riu Bambu: RIU Bambu - Don't go There!

Requested 2nd floor w/2dble or queen beds - got !!! 2 TWINS & a BABYS' CRIB!!! Guess where 1 had to sleep-in a chair! Argued for 1 1/2 days to change us to what was requested, finally got a room with a couch! Registration people very unfriendly to rude. Sunwing Rep totally unco-operative & not willing to help. Room bar not regularly refilled. Not relaxing vacation at all!

Grand Memories Varadero: Nice place but not worth it

This resort is big. And could really be a nice resort! But food was sad to say the least. Cold and not a very good selection. If not for the omelette guys in the morning and the bread! I would have starved! I have been to Cuba before but this was the worst, even the drinks were sad, Never enough chairs. If you didn't reserve a chair by 8 am. Forget about shade! Also the beach towel exchange was never open. Had to use the same beach towels all week, Check in was painful. We arrived at 11 am and l [... read more]ined up, 45 minutes later we were checked in, but told our rooms would not be ready til 4 pm. So at 4 pm we lined up again! 30 minutes later we had our room key. Yes only 1 room key! They didn't have any extra. So had to line up again the next day and we were lucky to get a second key! on the 3rd day we went to our room at 7 pm to start to get ready for dinner,,, as we just heading to the shower the maid Knicks on the door to clean our room! Told her to forget it but asked for clean towels and she says no ! Didn't have any and walked away... Don't bother with the night out dinners! You had to line up ( yes line up again) and it takes about an hour and you can only book 1 restaurant at a time! We only went 1 night to the Cuban restaurant and let me tell it was terrible, waiter was rude and food was scary, I am a restaurant owner and chef! So I totally understand that business but have no clue what they think Service is! I asked for a drink? And was told beer or wine only,,, I guess they do not have Cuban special drinks , Also the pool was very dirty and dangerous. Not once did we see them clean the pool. And all the plastic edging was broken. And the little bit that was left would break if you walked on it! Twice we saw people fall through these screens ! My wife and I travel every year. , but will never do this resort again, I have heard good things about Riu resorts but this is not what I would think a Riu would be like, Lucky for us we had fantastic weather and we went on the catamaran trip and have to say that was one of the best excursions I have ever been on so thanks to them for that ,,, Other people had good food at other resorts in Veradero so try them. I wouldn't bother with the Riu!

Sol Turquesa Beach: Wonderful Family Vacation!

Grounds:Well kept with beautiful vegetation. The layout worked fine with us but it may be an issue for people with small children or for people with mobility issues as there are many steps. We were located in the 500 block of rooms which were centrally located. Rooms: Very clean and well kept. Lots of water pressure and hot water. Mini bar is restocked on a daily basis, and liquor dispensers are restocked as well. Food: Was repetitive every night but always found something to eat. Beach: The  [... read more]beach at this resort is man made and was just OK... Lots of slimy grass when you walk out into the water which I didn't care for much. On the plus side there was a lot of places to get shade at the beach if needed. Pools: Although I love the beach, the pools at this resort are phenomenal and made up for the less desired beach. Service: The service at this resort is top notch and they go above and beyond to make their guest comfortable. The employees at this resort are very hard working and always trying to please their guest.

Riu Bambu: Fabulous

Riu Bambu Hotel was beautifully maintained xnd very clean. The best part was the food!! The people were friendly and almost all spoke English enough to help you should you require aid. The only drawback for us were our Sunwing representatives who sold us two very similar outings and when questioned after the first one denied they were similar?? This was not the hotel's fault and I have emailed Sunwing

Riu Palace Peninsula: Nice hotel...terrible service!

I wouldn't call this a 5 star resort. The service at this hotel was below average. The rooms were nice but we had issues with lights not working, mini bar is not kept cold and the doors don't close probably. Everyone on our floor was slamming their doors shut so it was difficult to sleep in. Beach was fairly good...a bit rocky and the pool area was very lively.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: beautiful place.

Beautiful place. Friendly staff. Quiet and relaxing. The pool was amazing. This side had a more matured crowd. Not too many kids as compared to the other building. It's not white sand beaches like the Caribbean.

Riu Santa Fe: Rui Santa Fe

Its a large resort, I have been to a few all inclusive resorts and I have to say that I have never paid for the pool tables before. Also all my travel partner kept saying "They sure could use someone in the entertainment department." & the rooms sure could use some updating (not so much the rooms as the bedding and curtains). Also we upgraded to a ocean view and it wasn't full ocean view but maybe 1/2 of our view. The balcony the we had, had a small opening so I couldn't get no sun while sitting [... read more] on it, which sucked, so my suggestion is to ask for a room with full balcony not the one with the little window opening (our room was 7549) The beach.... my bad for not doing the research, but I like a beach I can walk on and swim in. This beach is very hard to walk on, with the large slopes and the sand that felt like sandpaper on my feet. Also the sand is very loose so its a pretty good work out to walk in it.Now the good, The food great, the pools were fantastic, we went on spring break so it was very busy and even at 1:00 in the afternoon we managed to find lounge chairs at both the rowdy pool and the quieter one. Staff is very friendly. I am going to say I would recommend this hotel, but it would be more for my 21 and 26 year old children.

Grand Memories Varadero: Great resort!

The resort was really big! The hotel staff were so friendly it made the stay better. I liked that they had two buffets because the resort was so big. The pools were amazing, one of the pools had a waterfall! The only thing I did not like was the beach was on the other side of the report it was a 15 minute walk. The repsort was great! Would definitely go back.

Riu Guanacaste: wonderful resort

The staff was very friendly and accommodating. The food was great with lots of choice. Would like a few more activities geared to tweets in the evening, but overall would highly recommend and would go back!

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Great resort

Overall enjoyable for a RIU. Room was a bit small for a "suite ". Food was very good. Facility was kept very clean. Entertainment was a bit cheesy on a few occasions but dancing was good. Live bands were very good. The beach is not what we expected. Disappointing when we compare to other places like Jamaica, Turks, Dominican, Bahamas etc. Excursions are a must as the country has much to see and do. Locals are very tourist friendly.

Senator Puerto Plata Hotel: Great Deal for Relaxing in the Sun!

The grounds and rooms were very clean and the food was great. The beach offered alot of natural cover which was very nice but the water was underlined with alot of rock...go to the far end for nicer swimming. Pool was great....and finally a resort that has enough chairs for all guests!

Riu Palace Tropical Bay: First Class Resort

We were very impressed with the first class service we received from all the staff, attending to our every need. The food was excellent with lots of choices, always something different every day so the buffet never got boring. The a la carte restaurants were also very good with wonderful service staff. The beach was beautifully maintained, always clean, and the ability to walk for quite a stretch around the bay was appreciated .... to work off some of the extra calories gained from the buffet! T [... read more]he room staff did a good job every day and it was a bonus to have a coffee maker in the room, as well as the liquor dispenser. All in all a great, relaxing, pampered vacation, although we found that a week is not long enough.

Riu Palace Pacifico: Great vacation resort

When we checked in our room was less than what we had expected - it was on the first floor and our patio faced a vacant lot - we did get this changed on our third day. The service is amazing and the resort is very clean. It was difficult to get into the restaurants but the ones we did get into were fantastic. Lots of entertainment thru the day and night. We would definitely return.

Riu Merengue: Clean Resort

The resort was nice, clean and the staff friendly, the food was ok, plenty of choices. We took in two al la carts and the food was very good, the steak was delicious and the service was great. The entertainment was good, and the entertainers were nice, however one or two of them (I believe one of them was security) were rude and annoying and chased our young adult girls everywhere, we could not leave them alone. The beach was nice, clean and well maintained, but again we had people constantly di [... read more]srupting us to buy stuff etc. We ended up having to get mad and tell them to go away!! Biggest Problem......... we had issues with our room, the air conditioner did not work all week (thank god we had a fan on the ceiling), it overflowed twice, maintenance had to come and drain it after if flooded our room. Our toilet plugged up and our room was full of tiny ants, they were even in my clothing and suitcase. We went 2 days with NO hot water....our kids had two rooms across the hall from us and they did not have any issues with their room except not having hot water..... The last day we had a late flight and the hotel wanted us to pay extra to keep our room so we could shower before our flight. My husband fought that at the front desk and we ended up keeping the room free of charge. We made the best of it and had a nice warm sunny vacation, better than snow!!! Fair enough vacation for the price we paid.

Riu Ocho Rios: Ok

We have stayed at the RIU in different locations in the past have have found them to be exceptional, This is the reason why we booked with them again when we decided to go back to Jamaica. I have to say this hotel did not live up to their standards.

Riu Ocho Rios: Amazing!

The resort was great! Staff were friendly, accommodating and hard working, building and grounds very well kept, and the food amazing! The entertainment staff kept guest well occupied during the day and completely entertained at night with show time!

Riu Vallarta: Woderful Holiday

We very much enjoyed our two week holidy at RIU Vallarta. This was our second visit to the hotel and we were not disaappointed. We had friends join us for the 2nd week and our request that their room be close to ours was acommocated. Buffet was terricic...disappointed with the Asian restaurant as it was buffet only. Other restaurants were great...steak was terrific at the Steak House restaurant although we did feel a little rushed. Sir Gegorge was very enjoyable. Staff were very friendly and [... read more] helpful. Oveall the holiday was fantastic and great value for the money. Would not hesitate to return

Grand Memories Varadero: Disappointed it has the Rui name

Grounds were beautiful, pool amazing, rec staff good. The rooms were ok but, service was terrible no clock in room, wake up times were never received,. Arrived at night had to find our building/room. Had to ask for pool towels then clean towels after 2 days, never got new pool towels our entire stay or new bedding. When's to an a la cart restraunt not the food on menu had to ask for drinks, buns even got the dessert wrong. If you didn't get to the beach by 6 you didn't get a chair. Ran out of fr [... read more]ies, ketchup, and even toilet paper. We have travelled every year to different rui's and was impressed by their standards for guests, this one definitely needs management leadership.

Riu Emerald Bay: Great place!!!

We just returned from 10 day stay at the Riu Emerald Bay. This was our second time staying at the Riu, and we were not disappointed.. The front desk was very helpful, they went out of their way to make our stay comfortable.. Thank you to previous post regarding the mattress topper! 2 nd day we were there we asked for it and what a difference it made.. The waiters were all fantastic !! Martin.never said no to my requests !!! Even if it was impossible to find a bottle of champagne ! He always came [... read more] through ! JR - what a doll !! Truly no complaints.. And for those of you that comment on the elevators being slow... Get over it!! They weren't that bad! Your on vacation ... What's your rush! check out Surfs Up cafe on Saturdays...1-4 live band and tapas .. Off the beaten path on Emerald Bay - cdn owned and operated .. Fun times

Grand Memories Varadero: excellent

Hotel and grounds perfect.food was great. The staff and housekeeping aimed to please everyday. Had a massage to die for on last day . water exercises and pool side games were a lot of fun. Was great to relax and people watch.