Riu Republica: Our visit to Punta Cana

I would like to mention an amazing employee.......Wilken Florian. He does an incredible job and goes above and beyond for the guests. He was fabulous all week and he always went the extra mile to make my stay happy , helping me when he saw the need.

Riu Palace Costa Mujeres: Fantastic resort!

We really loved the way the resort was layed out. All of the extra amenities such as pools and restaurants were kept to the beach end of the resort, so where ever you decided to go there wasnt a ton of walking to do. Yet it was in no way crowded. There was always loungers at the pool no matter what time of day you got there.

Riu Emerald Bay: Amazing

We stayed at the Riu Emetald Bay from Feb 4 to Feb 18 2020. This is a beautiful place I think the cleanest weve ever been to. The bus ride from airport is about 35 min and Sunwing gives you your welcome chit chat on bus so no meeting the following day which is a big bonus.The checkin with Sunwing was quick and painless.10 minutes at most to get your room key and up to your room. The service in all aspects of the resort extraordinary. We had a deluxe junior suite oceanview with a double balco [... read more]ny and enjoyed every morning and eveningooking at the stunning view of the ocean. The sunsets are different and beautiful every night. The only thing is there are no coffee makers in your room which we knew so we took our own. The only fault about the resort are the slow elevators and very inconsistent. We were on the 4th floor so we always walked the stairs down. You are only holiday so just be patient.They are like rush hr traffic if you use them at rush hr be prepared to wait. All and all we loved it and definately will be back.

Riu Palace Paradise Island: Amazing Beach

Hotel is at a great location on public Cabbage Beach, but it does get busy both from hotel users and locals (who walk the beach selling stuff). The Beach has beautiful soft sand, is cleaned every day and the ocean is so clear. Next door to Atlantis Resort. Easy to do a day trip downtown via Ferry 10 min walk away. Hotel rooms have a fusty smell but ok if you aren't in your room much. Food was good but hard to get a reservation for steakhouse unless you line up early in advance of it openin [... read more]g.

Riu Republica: Amazing resort,

We liked everything at Ria Republican during our vacation last year, so we returned with our friends again this year. The resort’s well groomed grounds, with great food, friendly and helpful staff, comfortable beds and clean rooms and other facilities, is what we liked the most. This large adult only resort never felt crowded during meals or around many pools.

Riu Palace Paradise Island: Beautiful resort

4 day stay, Thursday-Sunday, hotel was very clean, beach was spectacular, but wished you didn’t have to line up 1 hour before making reservations for the specialty restaurants. Room was beautiful (ocean front) but the pillows were horrible. Second time coming to this resort and will definitely return. Food at buffet was very good, not always hot as usual at a buffet.

Riu Palace Paradise Island: Go somewhere else...

We went to a Riu resort in Aruba in September of 2019 and absolutely loved everything about it, service, food absolutely amazing. When booking Bahamas, we thought, its a Riu will be amazing! Especially considering price. Nope. We had a late flight with Sunwing, arrived at the hotel Sunday, February 9th around 11:30 pm. Our flight back home was the following Sunday at 9:45PM. When we got to the hotel we were told late check out was on first come first serve basis. On Tuesday morning we asked  [... read more]about late check-out, we were told "Sorry nothing is available"..we asked again every day and got the same robotic response, all the while, we met another couple who got late checkout for 2PM vs 12PM only because they had a complaint every single day about service, cleanliness and other issues. After lots of complaining the resort gave them a 5PM checkout and we actually used their room to shower before leaving for our flight. The frustrating part about this is that there was no way the resort was full, they simply chose to not provide late check out to their guests and Sunwing is also to blame for not making these arrangements to begin with knowing that guests have a late flight. They expect you to check out at noon and then what? Go to the beach and get on a plane full of sand and sunscreen? Or the alternative is to waste the day lying around in which case you're better off with an early flight anyway! We expressed our concern to the Sunwing rep at the resort, they did not give a s**t. The hotel also mentioned our luggage would be locked in a room and we would have access during the day, well the luggages were out in the lobby anyone could go and say oh yeah that's my luggage and then gone! Moving along, the food at the buffet, let's just say I ate better in Cuba than here. There is no variety, every single day you're presented with the same dishes, rice, some kind of meat stew, pizza, bruschetta, burgers and hot dogs. There are no live pasta stations or grill stations like other resorts, this was a first for me, I've been to about 10 different resorts and they ALL provide grilling and pasta stations or some sort of daily dish that is the "feature" for that day. The jerk chicken they make by the pool was the best option, but you get sick of it, because again, same thing every single day. I am not a picky eater at all but the food was really really disappointing. The A La Cartes are a freaking disaster. They don't take reservations. People line up for the Steak house at 4:45/5pm!!!!!! They open at 6PM! Now here's the fun part. We managed to get a spot for the Steak house one of the days, actually happened to be Valentines Day, and while we were in there, we saw multiple people get turned down. The restaurant was literally half empty so we thought maybe there's guests with buzzers waiting to get called down. Didn't happen. We had dinner and left and the restaurant remained half empty (we got there for dinner at 7:30 pm). They turned people who wanted to enjoy a nice dinner away just because, saying "Sorry we're fully booked", meanwhile the place is empty, what the hell??? Entertainment at this resort is by far the worst I've ever seen. The Michael Jackson show had people leaving 10 minutes in. No offence to the performers/staff but 1) he looked nothing like Michael Jackson, which in comparison to other resorts was "interesting" and 2) he could not dance...they had a different guy come on stage to do the moonwalk to "Billie Jean"...Another night they had what they called a "White Party"...well nobody was wearing white because 1) it was not advertised and 2) it was INDOORS! All white parties I've been to in resorts are always either on the beach or by the pool. So yeah there was maybe 10 people wearing white and also it was not a party, nobody was dancing except for the entertainers, everyone was just at the bar and most people leave to go to the Atlantis, which is the only good thing about staying at this resort as you're a 5 minute walk from that amazing resort. After the "show" there is literally nothing to do at the resort so we would always walk over to the casino at Atlantis and tour around there and the premises. Staff - most of them are nice people I didn't really have any terrible experience, but not an exceptional one either. However, one of the couples that flew back with us went to breakfast at the buffet one morning, asked a lady for cutlery for their table, she pointed over at a different table and said "there's some there, get it yourself"...WOW! Talk about the audacity. This is the same couple that was awarded with the late check out, they really had a terrible experience this is just one of the things that happened to them. Another couple we met, also went for breakfast and asked to be seated outside in the small patio. One of the servers said, "Sorry we don't have enough staff to clean a table outside right now"...I was literally astonished. Beach - the beach is beautiful and water is amazing, however it does get rough, the first and last day we were there it was a red flag but other days was really nice its crystal clear, and very clean. I loved the Bahamas, but I absolutely disliked and was extremely disappointed with my experience at the Riu. I will not be returning to this resort. We met at least 20 other people coming back on the same flight as us that had the same and worst complaints, every person expressing their disappointment towards the hotel. When you pay so much money to be somewhere and get this kind of service, its really frustrating. And shame on Riu for not caring enough to make their guests experience more enjoyable. I would go back to the Bahamas, but surely would not stay here.

Riu Palace Costa Rica: Fantastic resort

The Riu Palace was great place, people where friendly, food was great, lots of variety, rooms where made up with special care, the grounds and pool area where very clean, thou beach was a public one, they still served us there, with no issues with the locals..

Riu Palace Baja California: 8/10

Worth it, would stay again. Buffet food is aight, specialty restaurants less so. Older crowd, but they definitely like to drink. Nightly entertainment is aight too, but goes on for too long and is too loud. You can hear it blasting at night.

Riu Emerald Bay: Beautiful Resort!

We arrived prior to check-in time but that was fine; grabbed our suits and went off to the pools, which were amazing. Lounge chairs were plentiful and the beach front was great, very walkable. Could use a couple more a la carte restaurants as the buffets get a bit tired after a few days but we made due. Resort was quite a ways out from the Golden Zone but the Green Bus gets you there for 11 pesos/person each way. Our beach view room was perfect for us; good size for two and double sinks were a p [... read more]lus. Overall, we would return; only drawback was the location of the resort but as I said, the Green Bus gets you where you want to go so not a huge negative.

Riu Flamingos: OK Hotel

The hotel is a little on the older side and the rooms smell very musty. However, the food selection was great, most of it was very good. The pools, beach area and grounds were excellent. The evening programs were very good. Certainly a place geared for children. Most of the staff were excellent. We did have one complaint: upon entering our room at the hotel we were given a very small room with a queen size bed and bunk beds. It was very small and as we had 2 suitcases we put one on the s [... read more]uitcase bench provided & the other on the bottom bunk. It was very small but we thought we could live with it if we had to. We then went out to our balcony and it faced garbage cans & a bus parking lot. As we like to use the balcony, this was not acceptable so we went directly to the front desk to see about getting our room changed. The hotel attendant wasn't very pleased and he asked if we had touched anything & we said one of the suitcases was on the bunk bed to which he said we had to stay there that night and be out of the room the next day by 11:00 and to come back at 3:00 the next day to get the door key to another room. So we spent the first night in a small & very noisy room (not just buses but the air conditioner vent was broke and rattled so we had to turn off the air to sleep), and half the next day without a room to go to. The room we eventually got into was OK.

Riu Flamingos: Very nice

Nice grounds, lovely beach, nice pools. Pretty crowded at the pools and restaurants, the lobby service wasn’t great. The kids area didn’t allow drinks of any kind which made it hard to sit for a long time with our kids. Rooms were clean but just ok. Buffet food was great, a la carte restaurants were hit and miss. Over all a very nice resort for the price.

Riu Reggae: Resort was great

Really relaxing, food was good, ambiance was great. Would recommend to anyone. Beach was beautiful and service was awesome. Great games along pool every afternoon and shows at night were entertaining

Riu Palace Jamaica: Loved every minute

This resort has it all it's a quite resort but it has night life till 11 and if you want to carry on the party you can go to the 2 resort beside them, it's a bonus to staying here they can't come to yours but you can eat and play at there's...the food is also amazing, lots of variety even for the pickiest of people, rooms are nicely decorated in white and purple huge showers and a jetted tub...the absolute best part is the staff from Dr. Phil for breakfast and lunch to Paul at the aqua bar at ni [... read more]ght. This has been my second time at this resort and it won't be my last.

Riu Playa Blanca: Amazing Trip

The hotel was nice and clean, rooms were lovely, food was plentiful and something for everyone. Could of done more themes buffet nights or more stations with fresh meat or fish cooking. The A la cartes were good as well we ate twice at the steak house, twice at the Asian (mmm sushi!) and once at the Italian and wish we would of done the Italian another time as well! They were all delicious! The entertainment was ok and probably do with some additional help but it was still ok. The pools wer [... read more]e great, fun foam party, great kids pool, nice quiet adult pool and of course the pool bar was a nice pool! The beach was awesome with all the shade from the palm trees and it’s a big beach but keep those flip flops on as it’s very hot but a lovely beach!

Riu Negril: Absolutely Amazing

The resort was absolutely beautiful, the staff were phenomenal, activities for everyone of all ages. The food at the buffet outstanding and the restaurants. Everyone from the staff ensured we felt secure and safe at all times. A must and we are coming back most definitely with our family. Thank you! Slice of heaven.

Riu Playa Blanca: Beautiful property but read on....

Beautiful property and lots of fun activities however.... it is a very long walk anywhere u want to go. I packed my beach bag for the day so I would not have to return to my room. Two of four elevators were out of service much of the week and elevators took a very long time fortunately I am able to walk up and down the 5 stories each time. Maid service cleaned my room day two and when I returned it reeked! of urine and bleach which must have come from mop bucket. There is indeed four bottles of [... read more] alcohol in the room. We only used some of the half bottle of vodka day two..the bottle was replaced on day four with another half bottle .... annoying. Excursion shopping was NOT as advertised. It was advertised as a tour and shopping and close by. We spent approx 45 mins to go to a little town where there were hardly any type of Panama souvenirs just a tourist trap prices not good on most things. No tour discussion on bus no guide. Pool was great nice and clean ocean too rough everyday and NOT suitable for children due to undertow. Final comment I would not return to this property. Ps I would never travel again with Sunwing either a whole other story there including a plane full of black mould and delays delays delays +++

Riu Flamingos: Excellent Resort

Absolutely loved this place, it’s very clean and lots of fun, the entertainment is great nightly and the food was great what more could you ask for. The beach is also phenomenal for Puerto Vallarta area.

Riu Guanacaste: Great resort

We loved the Riu. Great food, beautiful and well kept grounds. Clean rooms, lots of wildlife. Highly recommend. Tons of great excursions close by which is good because Entertainment was not great, and not much going on fun-wise at the resort.

Riu Playa Blanca: Overall Great, except for finale!

Overall very pleased with this Riu and our 11 night vacation experience, grateful to our Agent Beth who directed us to Playa Planca when we indicated that long beach walks were important. Twice each day in different directions from the resort the high and low tides provided such an interesting variety display of the power of Mother Nature. The resort cleanliness and care were apparent everywhere inside and out - always some employee cleaning or mopping or gardening - and almost every encount [... read more]er included a nod or smile or Hola! Happy to see 4 pools catering to the different guest expectations (quiet, pool bar, activities, children) and the Entertainment Crew Lookea were certainly entertaining. Food was really good in all restaurants, including the Balboa Buffet - lots of variety and really enjoyed the number of different salads and cold meats/fish. Only one real a la carte restaurant - the Steakhouse, as the other two served appetizers and desserts by means of buffet. A little surprised that there was no table service in the Lobby Bar and the Bartenders were often overwhelmed, but dealt with the demand professionally. Very much appreciated the espresso/capuccino machine in the 24/7 Sport Bar, especially in the mornings! Unfortunately the final memory is less than satisfactory. Flight was a late afternoon schedule, which we were happy to think that we had another day by the pool, however no chance of a Late Check-out and the front desk is misinformed about the Shower Room. Stated there would be towels and soap/shampoo - however there are only 3 small shower stalls, no towels or cleansing amenities - nowhere to place your belongings to keep them dry and only one hairdryer mounted on the wall, quite inaccessible Overall would recommend this hotel and the weather in Panama in February was perfect! thanks!