Riu Palace Mexico Reviews

I visited the Riu Palace Mexico as part of a two centre break booked independantly, with my hubby, daughter (14) & son(11) in April 2009. We had contacted the hotel in advance requesting rooms in a certain area of the hotel and were delighted on arrival to find the request had been granted. There are very few rooms with even a glimpse of a sea view and we were lucky enough to have two allocated on the top floor - perfect!!! The rooms were amazing - junior suiteswith lovely balconies. The mini bar was always well stocked and when we wanted more all we had to do was ask! The optics contained premium brand spirits. Our room also overlooked the pool and a hottub, so sometimes when I fancied a quiet hour my hubby could take the kids down to the pool and I could sit out on the balcony and still see them. Mostly, though we spent time on the beach. The beach has been recovered a lot over the last 18 months the hotel is working hard to maintain it but nature is against it. When we walked along the beach we saw how bad the beach was in front of some hotels. How glad I was we chose the Palace Mexico. The sea was beautiful, but often danderous beyond the whales - one guy had to be rescued by the lifeguard and other when we were there. Waiter service extended down from the beach bar and onto the beach. Every half hour or so a waiter would bring you your order, or allow you to choose between a variety of different cocktails. Food in the buffet was excellent, as was the food in the gourmet and the japanese. You could sit inside or out, which was nice for breakfast. Drinks available all over - all waiters very attentive although cocktails not always as good as we are used to. We were really impressed by Playa del Carmen - a nice stroll in on an evening, past some interesting ruins. PDC is a very friendly place and children were welcome most places. We had a great time in Senor Frogs by the ferry terminal. Lots of shopping from little trinkets and holiday goods to designer stores, plus lots of nice restaurants and bars. When you'd had enough there were plenty of taxis - just $5 from anywhere in town. We took a trip to Tulum and to Cozumel to swim with dolphins. Both were unmissable - we booked the Tulum trip through the Thompson rep and took the ferry to Cozumel from PDC. We booked the dolphin swim on the ferry. Once on the island we took a taxi to the resort we swam with the dolphins. It was such an amazing experience, something we wanted to do before the kids got too old. Afterwards we popped into the hard rock cafe for a few drinks and nachos before our ferry ride back. Swimming in the sea at tulum is a must if you make the trip - the sea and beach are by far the best we have experienced in Mexico. Four days after arriving home I was rushed to the emergency doctor - I was diagnosed with a severe kidney infection, but had extra symptoms not related to the infection but like the flu, so was advised to contact my GP if I was no better within 48hrs. Then the news broke about swine flu! It turned out that the first UK victims were in this hotel and travelled home on our plane. It took over 4 weeks to recover and this overshadowed what was an amazing holiday - I would return to Mexico and would love to visit this hotel again. I think, however, we would be more likely to try Riviera Maya down from Tulum as I understand these beaches are similar to the ones there. As a guest at a palace hotel we were able to use all the other Riu hotel, which was nice to have a look around - non of the others were as nice as ours, though!