Riu Tequlia Reviews

Excellent flights with Britannia, both bang on time. Tedious procedure on arrival and departure at Cancun. Room very comfortable with 2 large beds, plenty of English TV and fridge full of soft drinks, beer and water etc, also optics of gin, vodka, whisky and tequila all restocked regularly and included in all inclusive package. Room cleaned and towels changed every day.

Food at hotel was superb and awsome selection at main buffet restaurant (La Jalisco) for breakfast and dinner and pool restaurant for lunch. Chefs are constantly preparing fresh food in front of you and nothing appears to have been standing under hot plates for very long ! For a change at dinner, waiter service can be booked at La Putita (Pool side restaurant), where steaks and ribs are served or at nearby Riu Yucatan, where there is a fish restaurant. Unfortunately you have to be in the queue at 7.00am to book and tables are reserved very quickly. Staff run around like ants, serving you promptly and keeping this hotel in immaculate condition, 24 hours a day. Pools are very pleasent with the only let down being staff allowing people to reserve sun loungers by laying towels across them. This problem is easily overcome by removing them yourself and moving the lounger !

Bars at hotel are excellent apart from La Panita disco, where staff were quite happy to serve youngsters with alcohol. This practice appeared to be quite common throughout the hotel with youngsters being given adult wrist bands for the all inclusive package. Hand over tips directly to the the member of staff you want to tip, as they don't appear to share them ! This hotel is far nicer than the nearby Riu Yucatan and Riu Playacr where you can use the facilities whilst on the beach. Do not be put off the Riu Tequila by the short and safe walk to the beach, it is a much more pleasent enviorement than the sister hotels.

Although the hotel was great we did go on several excursions, including swimming with dolphins (US $119), well worth it. Spent an entire day at Xcaret theme park (US $49),snorkeling through mile long tunnel and staying for the fantastic night show, which went on till 9.30pm. Chichen Etza (US$79)is a fascinating day out and including lunch and drinks on the long coach journey. Also went horse riding along the beach(US$69), which although very pleasent, don't expect the same standards as UK re equipment and instruction. Snorkeling tours (US$29) to a nearby reef, available from the hotel. We went twice as it was so good. We also went on the Fat cat catamaran cruise (US$79), which was good fun. We ran out of time and couldn't fit in a trip to Tulum. Found that the cost of tours did add up a bit, and I've put the price in dollars per person as the dollar is accepted everywhere. Overall a fantastic all inclusive holiday and plan to go back in about 2 years time. It rained twice during the night and was well worth getting up at 2.00am just to watch it chuck it down for half an hour !

Although all inclusive, be prepared to spend a bit of cash as it would be a waste to not leave the hotel and beach complex and see some of the sights

This was our second visit to Mexico and we weren't disappointed! The first time we went we stayed at the Moon Palace Sunride and although the hotel was fantastic, there was alot of seaweed both in the water and on the beach. On a visit to Xel-Ha (amazing place to go) we passed Playacar and decided that this is where we would go if we went again.

The Riu Tequila is one of the four Riu Hotels in Playacar - Riu Yucatan, Riu Palace and Riu Playacar. We were really happy with the choice we had made as we felt that this was the nicest of the them (although the Palace was amazing, it appeared a bit to stuffy for us). The Tequila is the only hotel not directly on the beach but is does have a walkway between the Palace and the Yucatan which takes about 5 mins and is a nice walk after a huge (and very scrummy) breakfast! The beach is white sand and the sea a wonderful turquiose colour. The current can be quite strong with quite a surf on some days. You can use the 'boogie' boards, kayaks or catamarans all as part of the inclusive package and for an extra charge there is scuba diving, snorkelling on the reef, parasending and jet-skiing. There is a resaurant just off the beach in the Yucatan which you can use of drinks and food (you can use the facilities at all the hotels with the exception of the Palace).

The pool at the Tequila is really nice. It is split in two by a restaurant/bar. One side has the entertainment - water polo etc and the other has the swim up bar and is quieter. You can take drinks back to your sunlounger as well as snacks and food is available during the day from 10.30-6.30.

The food is fantastic. Breakfast consists of everything you can imagine - bacon, eggs and sausages to toast to cereal, continental breakfast, pancakes and syrup, fresh fruit and there is a really good juice bar. Lunch is mainly salads, burgers, pizza and hotdogs but the hot dishes change daily. The evenings meals are normally 'themed' but there is so much to choose from you will always find something you like - even if you are a fussy eater like me! There are two sittings (6.30 and 8.30 in the winter and 7.00 and 9.00 in the summer). You are allocated a table for the duration of your stay which is nice because is means that you get the same waiter each night and you get to know them and they remember what you like to drink and bring it automatically! There are two speciality resaurants - Steak and Seafood. We tried the Steak restaurant and it was really nice but you get everything on the menu and we were stuffed afterwards!

The is an Amimation team who are very good and not pushy like some can be. During the day there are lots of activities like volleyball, rifle shooting, 'horseshoes' and dancing lessons (salsa and merengue) and in the evening the Animation team put on a show - casino nights, Grease, the hit parade etc. Some were really good with amazing dancing and others we found a bit much. I would say that if you are going at this time of year that you may need a cardigan or light jacket as it was quite chilly some nights.

The rooms are laid out all around the resort rather than as part of the main block - this was nice as there were only a few people around you. Our room backed onto the golf course and there were funny little creatures (like a cross between a rabbit, squirrel and hairy pig!) running around. You can wear pretty much whatever you like - many people at breakfast were is swimwear and shorts are perfectly acceptable at dinnertime.

There is a small shopping centre just five minutes walk from the hotel with gift shops and a pharmacy where you can get extra sunlotions, shampoos and other toileties that you can buy at home. For other things there is Playa del Carmen which takes about 5 mins in a cab ($4 US) or 25 min walk. This was OK but very touristy.

If you are looking to go to Mexico this hotel is fantastic, we were really impressed and so was everyone we spoke to. Go on book it now!!!

The hotel was first class, rooms clean and well air conditioned. Hotel staff very helpful and always friendly. Food was always excellent in the tequila, you can eat in the playacar and yucatan (they are on the beach) as well but the tequila has the best food. The beach is fantastic, white sand, coconut trees, blue sea and spotlessly clean. The beach is a 5 min walk or a 1 min buggie ride, you can also use the pools at all three hotels. The first week was US spring break and if you wanted a sunbed around the pool you had to be at the pool by 7am. There are signs saying not to reserve sunbeds but nobody took any notice of them.The second week when all the Americans had gone the pool was very quiet and you could get a sun lounger any time of the day. The evening entertainment at the hotel was always good, you can also take a 5 min taxi to Playa del Carmen in the evening, there is always a lot going on there.

A fantastic country, excellent hotel, first class beach...I am sure we will return next year

Flight: I would definatly go for the upgraded seating if available as the 10hour flight was a pleasure, free drinks and all the extra comforts - well worth it and well done Thomas Cook Airlines.
Airport:Rather small with long delays when entering country as the have to search suitcases at random on entry and exit, hoveever we were luck and got straight through,This baggage search can mean a wait untill all holiday makers get onto bus for onward travel.

Hotel: check in was a breeze, we were welcomed with the customery drink and bags taken to room where the bell boy waited for his tip $1 per case.The hotel restrauent was huge with no end of food to choose from,only down side was the queing which let to your food going slightly cold.The pools are seperated with the outside restrauent which again had excellent food and selection, no end to snacks etc.I could go on and on but this hotel was superb,the grounds staff were always tiding the gardens, cleaners always cleaning and very friendly.

Bar Staff: My past experiance with all inclusive holidays was the lazy, couldnt care less,attitude and waiting to be served, BUT not at this hotel or i believe any other Riu hotel.You were served on approach to the bar or topped up before drink finished - excellent staff compeating against each other to please you. - Roberto,Yuan,Hydie,to mention a few.

I am going back.

This was the best holiday I have ever been on. The hotel was very clean, the staff couldn't do enough for you and the food was wonderful!

There is lots to do in the area, taxis are very cheap and so are the local buses. We went to Cancun for the day and although it was nice, we are glad that we stayed in Playacar, it is much less commercialised.
There are plenty of bars and restaurants in Playa Del Carmen if you want a night away from the hotel. We felt very safe in the town and the local people are really friendly.

We went on several trips - Chichen Itza is a must even though it's a long coach journey. If you can, book a trip on a 'luxury coach', it's worth the extra money. We also did the swimming with dolphins which is the experience of a lifetime. It is best to do this with 'Dolphin Discovery' as you swim in the sea with the dolphins. Some other companies do this trip at a lower price but you are just in a swimming pool, which isn't as nice (for you or the dolphins).

I don't know why some people on this site are complaining about the Tequila - I think they must have stayed in a different hotel than we did!

I would definitely recommend the Riu Tequila and the other Riu hotels in Playacar.