Riu Tequlia Reviews

Did not get off to a great start when we landed at the airport in the middle of hurricane Ivan. Me and my partner Andy had never been as far as spain and due to both recovering from operations and losing his father we choose Mexico for a special holiday which we looked forward to for months, hearing that we were advised not to leave the hotel for 48 hours put a downer on things. When we arrived in the resort Playacar i was surprised to see how private and beautiful the place was. There was lush gardens and palm trees everywhere and the place looked so clean compared to european resorts. Despite the odd rain shower we did wonder around the other Riu hotels just across the road. The posh Rui Palace hotel was nice but was not any more special than the Tequila. We found the walkway to the beach which was lovely to walk through, i didn't think it was that far and only got the shuttlebus once. Due to the hurricane the beach was taped off for security reasons but you could still walk down there, the waves were absolutely massive and we took photos and you could really see the difference the day after when it was all calm.

Before i left i did do my homework on this place and all i heard was good reviews. There were 1 or 2 bad reviews, at which i would like to clear up now. 1 review mentioned that there was no clocks in the room - well we had an alarm clock in the room which was convenient. Also tea/coffee facilties? - your in Mexico, a hot country, who wants to drink tea when your bar is stocked with water, soft drinks and beer? Anyway after reading reviews it was recommended to request a 2nd floor room, which i did, this request was met by the helpful reception staff. I loved the style of the buildings, nice and bright and very mexican. The rooms were spacious and liked the idea of separating the bathroom and wardrobes from rest of room with a curtain. Our room overlooked the golf course and was not too far from the pool and main building. The maids always left our room tidy and loved the little animals they made from towels. We didn't tip every time but would every other day.

I know this appears a lot in this hotels review but i could not believe how much cleaning went on. We would come back at 3am and they would still be cleaning - it became a bit of a joke in the end. It was just not in the grounds but in the restaurants as well, they would take your plate away and give you a clean one, top up drinks wtihout asking, it was heaven. These guys really worked hard and were always pleasant.

The food in the restaurants were absolutely tasty and was a large variety to choose from. We tried the Steak restaurant twice and the rib eye has been the best steak i have ever tasted. We met with two other couples on our holiday and become chatty with one of the restaurant managers in the Rui Yucatan. He arranged for us to have a candle lit dinner on the beach - serving a surf and turf dinner. This was our last night and was such an experience but if you are looking for a perfect romantic setting then i recommend doing this. There was no charge but because we had such good service with our own private waiter and the manager himself came out and did a display with our dessert we all put in some money for a tip.

Me and Andy were quite looking forward to going to the waterpark but unfortunately the hurricane had wiped it out. We ended up going to Cancun shopping which was a nice day out, especially seeing Cancun. The shops here were set in lovely grounds, one of the malls had a little river going round it which you could take a boat on. Think if we go back it will be at the Rui Cancun - looks stunning. We also went to the Xel ha, this was nice place but i would not recommend doing the dolphin swim here (whether it was the americans taking over the place that stopped you from getting involved i don't know) i felt left out and did not get much interaction here - i did not appear on the video and was dissappointed as this was one of my dreams to swim with dolphins. If you were planning on doing this then i recommend doing this at dolphin discovery - the video was excellent and you got to touch them and do tricks.

We walked into Playa del Carmen - there was loads of shops, most of them similar, but every shop you walked past they would hassle you to go in. There looked like there was some nice bars and restaurants down 5th avenue.

I found the beach gorgeous - the best i've seen, the sand was white, clean and soft. Palm trees surrounded the area and the water was lovely and clear. At night we would often take a walk down the beach and sit in the lifeguard hut and overlook Cozumul which you could see lit up in the distance. It was a lovely sight seeing a small island lit up with the Cruise ships that docked there.

We either spent most of our days laying around the beach or around the pool taking advantage of the cocktails at the pool bar.

The entertainment at the hotel was good, some nights better than others. The Grease and Michael Jackson nights were probably the best. At the end they try and get people up dancing on the stage to there songs, there was one in particular that they played every night which got chessy after a while but was singing it for ages when i returned home. It went something like Si Si Si, No No No - see months later and i still know the tune.

The mexican street down the road was a nice place to stroll around, they had some nice gifts there and was tempted to buy a hammock.

The weather here in Mexico was hot even though it was the wet season, there would often be the odd shower but this never lasted too long, and as it was soo hot it was nice to be refreshed sometimes. I found most of the showers were during the evening so did not interfere too much with the sunbathing. I would warn you that you don't realise you burn even when its cloudy, we both got burnt even though we were applying cream.

The only bad thing about this place was the loud americans. One time our group had to move our sunbeds further down the beach as when they were talking they were so loud. Every sentence was 'Awesome dude'! again jokes were made on various occasions.

Returning back home there was a queue as all luggage was to be searched, we were lucky though to skip the search as there was no one in front at check in, but i wouldn't worry to much about packing your case tidily as this was all undone when you got to the airport.

I absolutely loved this place and i always said i would never return to the same place as there is so many places to go, but here is an exception, I will be definately be coming back here in the future.

This was the best holiday we had and would say it is suitable for couples and families. We had such a great time and was such a pretty setting that we got engaged out there. This is a holiday that you will always remember as there was so much to do and was something there for everyone.

The only thing depressing about this is the fact i had to come home.

We have just returned from our 2 week trip to the Riu Tequila and for us it was worth every penny!

We started off with a 5 hour delay from Gatwick (great) so when we arrived into Cancun airport it was dead because it was late and immigration was a breeze (no queues!) but by the time we got to the hotel it was almost midnight, so not impressed.

We were quite pleased with our rooms. The pictures don't actually do it any justice in the brochures and it was actually a lot bigger than I thought it would be. The air conditioning was cold (sometimes too cold) and our fridge was stocked every other day with Pepsi, 7UP, Orangeade, Water and Corona. We had our spirits up on the wall but we didn't even use them! We did tip the maid a few times but we didn't get any animals which I was upset about, I was really looking forward to those!

The grounds were so big and clean. There was always someone tending to the gardens or sweeping the floor. The pool area was nice. We always managed to get a lounger, even if it was in the afternoon. The pool did get dirty with the leaves etc but staff would regularly clean it. The pool with the pool bar tended to get really busy and rowdy most days, so we went to the other pool.

We didnt actually go to the beach to sunbath or anything, we just took a walk along it one day. It looked really crowded, and another couple said that you really had to be there early in the morning to get a sunlounger but it did look so beautiful.

The food there was just the best we've had. We ate so much there! They had so many different varieties of food, that nobody could ever go hungry! We were eating Mexican food everyday, all day but they had other food like Italian, American etc. We did go to the Steak House one evening which was OK. We did prefer the buffet honestly. If you go to have lunch in Lupita, don't leave your food unattended, otherwise the birds will have it!

Entertainment was good. To be honest we did only watch a few of the shows and went to the disco about 3 times, because most of the times we were just too tired to stay up!

Excursions we did in Mexico were Dolphin Discovery at Puerto Aventuras which was just so amazing. My boyfriend really did not want to swim with dolphins but by the end of it he was really glad he did it. We also went to Wet 'n' Wild in Cancun which was OK but quite small (you get a good tan though because there is no shade) and we did the Jungle speedboat tour which I would definitely recommend as well and we caught the bus from Playa del Carmen station to Cancun and went shopping all day.

I could go on forever about Mexico and the Riu Tequila! This was our best holiday by far and I would gladly go back there again.

top quality would be a good way to start i think, arrived early afternnon at cancun,pleased not only to find our rep waiting for us but also a member of the hotel reception staff who had us checked in before we even left the airport so when we arrived at the hotel all we had to do was collect our keys, have the cocktail which was awaitng us and head straight to the room to check it out.

very spacious rooms with a massive bed and seperate dressing area and shower/toilet.fully stocked fridge which is re-filled every 2 days, and spirits on optics. totally spotless.
hotel grounds are totally immaculate and cannot fault cleanliness in anyway.
the food is superb and plentifull, even the most fussy eaters would be able to gorge themselves every day, our waiter (hilario) had our drinks on the table before we even sat down and went out of his way to make sure we enjoyed our meals.

the beach is stunning with an ample supply of loungers, no matter what time of day we went we had no problem gettin loungers. even the looky-looky men dont approach you unless you want them too.
the entertainment team are the best ive ever seen and are multi-national, the effort they put in is second to none and it shows.

all thats left to say is that if your considering holidaying at tequila go for it, you can bet your last 2 bob we'll be back.

Have just returned from our first visit to this neck of the woods - and it was excellent. The hotel, accomodation and service was superb. The food, whilst very good, tended to be a bit cold if you had queued for the most poular choice by the time you got it back to your table though. However, there was so much selection you could not fail to fing something you liked.

The best excursion was the catamaran to Isla Mujeres - what a superb day out!!!

Thomson rep (Jacquie) was top notch and couldn't do enough for you.

We upgraded the flight and generally it was well worth it - although we waited 2 hours for a drink on the homeward flight, and these were not brought to our seat!

However, overall it was more than worth the money we paid for it - the only downside being that we were delayed overnight due to the hurricane and put up at the Moon Palace Sunrise in Cancun. What an awful place!!!! We were told we could not have a drink because they had run out of glasses!!!!!!

We would most certainly choose a Riu Hotel again and, as usual, Thomson did not let us down.

An outstanding hotel and complex. Rooms were lovely and spacious. Food was outstanding, with loads of choice for everyone (even veggies).
An excellent holiday would highly recommend.