Riu Palace Riviera Maya Hotel Reviews

Hotel itself was very impressive. Had a few problems with the room key cards ie couldn't get into the room. Room itself was rather smelly (stale) and this lingered on all the clothes. The food and staff were excellent - they worked very hard and always with a smile. We had only booked this hotel 5 days in advance for our honeymoon, but it proved a good choice, especially being picked up and taken back to the airport. One thing - they did have problems processing the credit card payment!

From start to finish this holiday was superb. I have stayed in several Riu, but this was my first visit to a Palace.

Accomodation.

Lovely Junior Suite with balcony overlooking Pool, kept clean throughout the holiday, some problems with drink restocking but if you phone reception they sort it immediatley.

Resort.

Nice walk into the town to 5th Avenue where you can buy anything and if you feel the need to eat out of the Hotel (Which we did not) there are plenty of places to eat and drink. You can get the ferry here to Cozumel Island for $20 return or I think about $24 it was for the better ferry.

Food.

5 Restaurants, we only tried the Steakhouse and Mexican but enjoyed both, I'm afraid I am not a fish person but my wife loved the fish and the sushi as well. Plenty of choice every night in the buffet restaurant, you could easily eat something different every night for the whole 2 weeks. Neither of us were ill in any way shape or form.

Staff.

Could not do enough for you. That's all I need to say.

Entertainment. Typical evening entertainment for this type of resort, some is rubbish but you watch it because its there or just go to the lobby bar like we did and join in the fun with the bar staff. Especially Islas.

I had the same waiter look after me for 2 weeks, he always ran over to serve us. I think that may be though due to the $5 tip every night!

Overall.

The best hotel I have ever stayed in and we go away 4 or 5 times a year. Would recommend it to anyone.

Flight.

We went Premier class and although its quite dear we enjoyed it immensley and despite other reviews I have read we loved it and it made the flight go so quickly having such a good choice of films, food and free drinks.

Thomson.

The rep Carla, amazing, so helpful and when we had an issue with a trip, she helped us sort it out and we even got a refund. (Not Thomson fault I might add on the trip)

Would I go again

Oh Yes!! Year after next and it's very rare we go to the same place twice!

This holiday was our honeymoon so we decided to fly Thomson Premimum which I would say was definately worth the extra money. This included extra legroom, a 4 course meal, a snack, all drinks (except champagne) and a 9"; TV with films, music and games to play throughout the flight.

When we arrived in Mexico, which was very hot, we were collected by friendly Thomson staff and the transfers to the hotel were good.

Walking into the hotel was amazing, it was exactly the same as the brochure and website shows. We were sure that we had chosen the right hotel for us! We later discovered that the Riu Palace hotels are the best and allow you to drink at every other Riu hotel in the area.

On arriving at the hotel the receptionist sat us in the bar, offered us a drink and went through the facilities at the hotel. They arranged for the bell boys to take our luggage to our room which was located on the first floor with a pool view.

The rooms were large with a huge bed, a seperate bathroom with hydromassage bath and TV in the sitting room area. We also had a balcony where we could sit and see the pool, water features and beach. My only advice would be to ask for a room on the second floor with a pool view because occasionally we could hear the people upstairs (this wasn't a major problem though). You were also given a safe (free of charge) and a mini bar which was restocked daily. There was also the option to order room service 24 hours a day.

The food on offer was fantastic, there was the buffet restaurant where we could have breakfast, lunch and dinner and also the 5 speciality restaurants which had to be pre-booked. There was always something to eat! I would recommend the gourmet - 'Sir Olivers' the food there was brilliant. We also liked the steakhouse - 'Chillis' and the brazillian. We ate in one of the bookable restaurants most nights because we had eaten in the buffet at breakfast and lunch so it was nice to have something different in the evenings.

In addition to all the food you could eat there was also all the alcohol that you could drink! We were surprised that they had branded alcohol but this was really nice. There was a waiter service around the pool and in the reception area of the hotel. It was nice to be waited on but the staff obviously work extremely hard for little money. We made a point of tipping the staff that we felt deserved it. In the evenings we sat around the 'Lobby Bar' because the staff there were very friendly - especially Islas! They would remember what you were drinking and serve you another as soon as you had finished!

The pool was large and there was always sunbeds available with a parasol if you needed one. You don't need to take beach towels as these are supplied on a daily basis around the pool.
There was a 'Pool Bar' which you could swim to, this was a novelty to begin with but it can get quite crowded.
Whilst sitting around the pool - be prepared to see a wedding most days! They held the weddings either on the beach or behind the pool on a grass area.

We didn't make use of the beach other than to sit in a hammock! It looked nice though with enough sunbeds for everyone to lay on. There was also a BBQ some lunchtimes that was served on the beach.

As this was our honeymoon we didn't plan on doing anything other than swimming with dolphins. We were going to book this through Thomson before we left but I am glad that we didn't because it worked out cheaper through the rep in resort. My husband wasn't as keen as I was to do this trip but he throughly enjoyed it! We bought the photos and DVD to keep as a memory, they were quite expensive though (£25 for the DVD and £5 for each photo). I would highly recommend this trip, it was amazing, although a little scary to begin with. We got to kiss, cuddle, be pushed out the water and be pulled through the water with the dolphins.

The only other things we did whilst in Mexico was to walk into Playa Del Carmen to see the shops. I would suggest having a look around there for any souvneirs etc because the shop in the hotel was quite expensive. We also went for a walk to look around the other Riu hotels. One evening we went to the Riu Tequilla to the nightclub there. We felt old! It was small and full of people that were there to get drunk! During the day we went to the Riu Palace for a drink and a walk around, this hotel seemed nice but not as glamorous as our hotel!

The weather was mainly hot, hot, hot but we did have a couple of thunderstorms and rain. Apparently this is usual in July. It did not really affect our holiday because when it rained we sat in our room or in the lobby bar and had a drink until it stopped. You could also have your lunch at this time until it eased off enough to go back by the pool. The hotel were well prepared for the rain and closed in all the restaurants so that you didn't get wet!

Both my husband and myself would highly recommend this hotel and Mexico itself. We were very impressed with everything.

Just a few pointers before you go....

Don't take travellers cheques because they cost a fortune to change up - unless you have a lovely rep that swaps them for you!

Take mainly US Dollars because the rate of exchange is better than the Peso.

Ensure that you have $1 and $2 notes in your pocket to hand over as tips. The staff work extremely hard for approximately £2.50 a day.

Don't pack beach towels because you won't need them, this leaves extra weight allowance for all those bits that you couldn't fit in!

And finally check out the brochure because this really does show exactly what this wonderful hotel is like.

Just returned from 2 weeks at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya and without doubt this was the best holiday of this type we have ever had.Most of the reviews of this hotel we had read prior to going were on the Trip Advisor website and mostly from Americans who do form the majority of guests .Some of the reviews were less than flattering for what is a higher than 5 star resort .However we couldn't find fault with absolutely anything .

The food is brilliant with so much choice in the buffet you are never going to go hungry.Also all the wine and drinks are free and are served by exceedingly hard working waiters .Also there are 5 speciality restaurants which although they have to be booked in advance give another vast choice.The pools are lovely and also have a swim up bar ,and there are waiters on hand to supply you with drinks as you lounge on the comfortable sunbeds.The private beach area is good again with free sunloungers ,but the area for swimming is limited due to storm damage .But then you have access to all the other RIU properties in Playacar ,and the Beach at the Palace Mexico is a lot better for swimming .The rooms are large with a seperate sitting area with large sofa,leading on to a balcony or terrace.The bed was massive, a good 7 foot wide and comfortable although firm.

The minibar is restocked every day with beer,water and soft drinks and above there are 4 optics.We had Vodka,Tequilla,Rum and Bacardi so you reaaly can drink 24 hours a day if the mood takes you .The evening entertainment is ok ,really just a diversion from enjoying the evening air and chatting.I suppose if you go on holiday for good quality entertainment then this would be disappointing .But as Playa Del Carmen is only a 25 min walk or a 5 minute 5 dollar taxi ride away then there are more lively places there.

We did 3 trips all of which were good days out.Firstly Chechen Itza which is a extensive Mayan archialogical site .This was a long day involving a 6 hour return coach drive ,but the coach was comfortable and air condtioned with snacks and drinks provided.The tour around the site was interesting and informative and was followed by a nice lunch at a local restaruant before returning.The second was to Tulum nother interesting but smaller Mayan site on the coat,the to Xel-Ha an Ecological site .At Xel-Ha there are numerous things to do,including snorkelling ,Dolphins ,lazing on the river ,diving with guides to explore the bottom of the lagoon.Finally what for us was the best and cheapest of the 3 trips driving your own speedboat.We were taken to Cancun and after a bit of tuition drove our own 2 seater speedboat in a small convoy out in to the carribean sea at hair raising speeds.Then an hour snorkelling at a reef before another exhilerating trip back to the dock.

So all in all a great holiday with temperatures every day in the 80's but be prepared for a downpour ,but they don't usually last to long.

Our second visit to Mexico did not disappoint! We stayed at the Riu Tequila 2 years ago and had such a wonderful time there we didn't think twice about returning to Playacar.

The hotel is only a year old and so is in excellent condition. The staff work extremely hard and are all very pleasant and helpful. The maids leave flowers in your room every now and then, the bar staf remember what you drink and the reception staff are very helpful. We had a problem with our toilet in the first few days...nothing terrible, just that the flush button kept getting stuck. We called reception within 5 minutes the repairman was knocking on our door. The food is delicious and there's something for even the fussiest of eaters.

The only thing we found disappointing was the evening entertainment. 11 out of the 14 nights we were there, the same 6 dancers took to the stage. Their dances were often out of time and on more than one occasion, the girls were very nearly dropped by their partners. The other 3 nights were karaoke, the Grease show (usual 6 dancers with a few of the animation team thrown in to play the smaller parts) and the Michael Jackson show. ";Michael"; mimes to the songs, does the moonwalk and grabs his crotch every now and then. This was the best show we saw at the hotel...by a long way! The older guests seemed to enjoy the dancers however they weren't our cup of tea. We had a walk down to the Riu Tequila (about 10 mins away) a couple of times, which is much livlier and comes highly recommended!

Having already done most of the trips and tours Thomson offer on our last visit to Mexico, we opted for a new one...Yucatan F1-Offshore Explorer. What an absolutely fabulous trip! We all agreed this was by far the most exciting trip available (actually better than swimming with dolphins, which we thoroughly enjoyed in 2005)

We decided to have an evening away from the hotel after an American bloke by the pool recommended The Blue Lobster in Playa del Carmen. Playa del Carmen is $5USD in a taxi and is lovely. Not too expensive and very tasty, a good night out if you want a change of scenery.

All in all, we had a lovely time in beautiful surroundings. Was a little too quiet for us. We will no doubt return to Mexico in the future and although this hotel was wonderful, the Riu Tequila is livlier and possibly more suited to us.