Riu Palace Mexico - All Inclusive

“Amazing hotel & staff”

Just returned home, absolutely beautiful hotel, staff all amazing & could not do enough for you, food so much choice. Amazing holiday. Rooms great & fridge well stocked. I cannot believe the bad reviews on here I do not agree with them at all, how you could be disappointed here is beyond me. Than... more

Just returned home, absolutely beautiful hotel, staff all amazing & could not do enough for you, food so much choice. Amazing holiday. Rooms great & fridge well stocked. I cannot believe the bad reviews on here I do not agree with them at all, how you could be disappointed here is beyond me. Thank you for a fabulous stay.

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“10 Enjoyable Days”

It has a very beautiful beachfront with stunning shades of blue water. You could go for long beach walks. The resort was diligent about cleaning the beach of sea weed using tractors almost every day. The food is okay, and the buffet has a variety of items. We had tasty meals at the Italian and ... more

It has a very beautiful beachfront with stunning shades of blue water. You could go for long beach walks. The resort was diligent about cleaning the beach of sea weed using tractors almost every day. The food is okay, and the buffet has a variety of items. We had tasty meals at the Italian and Fusion restaurants. The steakhouse was ok. The staff was attentive and courteous. Drink service at the beach was good and a little different than past RIU visits in that the servers would come around with trays of prepared drinks from which you could choose rather than ordering something and needing to wait for it. The coffee bar was a go to every morning for a latte before heading for breakfast. We appreciated it being open early after our last non-RIU resort experience where the coffee bar didn’t open until 11AM. The room was comfortable and was kept cool with our air conditioner. The bed’s firmness was to our liking. Housekeeping service was reliable, and the minibar was regularly restocked. The resort itself is maintained by diligent cleaning and landscaping staff. There were many families with both older and younger kids giving the resort a more family oriented feel. The entertainment at this resort was better than some other Rius that we had been to. We saw several agoutis and a monkey. There was a nice variety of small shops in a nearby mall. As much as we enjoyed our stay, there was room for improvement. The entire resort could use an update particularly the bathrooms. They should replace worn fixtures including the electrical outlets and adding a new coat of paint. The guests would appreciate the enforcement of the no saving chairs policy. Diners would enjoy having their hot food served hot instead of sometimes barely warm. It would be great if the steak served at the Steakhouse was at least as good as it was at Krystal fusion restaurant. We’d consider returning to the resort but likely only after it had been updated. We additionally visited the Riu Tequila and the Riu Playacar. The Riu Playacar pool area was very congested and smoky around lunch time because the BBQ is at poolside. We also had the only dismissive service we received during our stay at the Playacar’s lunch buffet so likely wouldn’t consider staying at that resort for those reasons.

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“This hotel does have its charms, but I can't quite recommend”

I think I can sum up my review with a Pros and Cons list. Pros - What I liked 1. The property - both landscaping around the resort and the beach itself, are both beautiful. 2. The buffet restaurant truly does have something for everyone, the options seem endless. 3. I appreciate the entertainm... more

I think I can sum up my review with a Pros and Cons list. Pros - What I liked 1. The property - both landscaping around the resort and the beach itself, are both beautiful. 2. The buffet restaurant truly does have something for everyone, the options seem endless. 3. I appreciate the entertainment offerings in the evenings, even if most of it was not for me. 4. The 24/7 lounge, while unmanned, was really convenient to grab a snack or one more glass of bubbly on the way back to the room at night. 5. The ability to walk to anything from an all-inclusive resort is not something I've really encountered before and I really appreciated the option to get out of the gated confines for a moment a bit. Cons - What I wished was better 1. While always friendly, I definitely got the feeling that most of the staff would rather be anywhere else than working at the resort. I will admit I don't have a concrete example I can point to on this beyond most of the waitstaff seemed to only make eye contact for a moment before moving on. 2. The rooms are definitely showing their age, there's a lot of visible patches in the doors/walls/floors etc. 3. There were a lot of hours of the day where room service was the only place to get food. For example none of the food venues were open between 11am and 12:30pm. 4. Elevators are installed only in the lobby and don't go to all floors. This may not seem like a big deal but, since my room was quite a hike from the lobby, it meant I was walking up and down 2 fights of stairs ad-nauseum. 5. This is a non-potable water resort - meaning don't rinse your toothbrush in the sink much less drink from it. I'm told that's completely common, even in the Riviera Maya, but I've never encountered it before in that area. I do want to throw in one more Pro, I'm not sure I've ever stayed at a resort that was do diverse, I met people from 6 of the 7 continents at the pool bar alone! That was so much fun! And for all you Portuguese speaking speaking from 3 of the 6 - Saúde! Would I stay again? Nope, nothing there is calling me back.....

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