Riu Waikiki Hotel Reviews

Hotel was clean, food was good but very repetitive and no choice really for children. Breakfast was poor NO BACON!, Lunch was ok, Evening Dinner was poor as you had to choose your sitting either 6.30 or 8.30 and could not swap or alternate through entire stay. Table allocation was poor as you could end up sitting with Germans/Spanish as this was 85% of the hotel guests. Sunbeds were quickly taken up by Germans putting towels on around 4 am and most sunbeds were gone by 8.30 am in the morning. To get a sunbed you need to set your alarm and be up around 6.30 am to get a choice of where to sit around the pool. The entertainment was very poor as the reps spoke in Spanish and German all the time and did not involve the english. Need to get down early in the evening if you want to sit outside and have drink as there is not enough seats. GOOD ENGLISH BAR if you turn right out of hotel and walk 100 yards to MACKIE's bar where it is 1 Euro Pint and 2.25 Euros for a short, entertainment good as it's in English.

First impression very clean smart lobby, room ok could do with air con as ceiling fan blows in your face all night, dont get room 232 as you wont get any sun on balcony all day. Allocated a table for evening meal on first evening and this is your table for duration of holiday for evening meals, you can sit anywhere for breakfast and lunch, be aware that your allocated table may be sitting with other guests, we were lucky and got a table for 2 on our own. Food is good, fresh and plenty but repetative, pool area serves lunch as well as restaurant but you will be limited to pizza, burgers, hotdogs, chips, garlic bread and salad each day. The pool bar is either self service for lager, soft drinks, tea , coffee etc, you can also be served with these along with spirits and cocktails of which there are many to choose from, if the cocktail of your liking is not on the list just ask if they can make it and they will. The pool area is quite large but extremely packed in with sun loungers, try to get ones just in front of pool bar these are the best as you can move them around a little and give yourself more space.Entertainment team are brilliant they are on the go all day playing darts football water polo volleyball pistol shooting table tennis boules aqua aerobics and kids club, on an evening they put on many shows themselves and are really good, they all seem to really love their jobs. Beach is quite a walk away but the hotel provides a courtesy bus.Large german presence at hotel but this didnt bother us at all, hotel suitable for all ages, central to all that playa del ingles has to offer. Would definately return.

Hotel itself was very good, clean, food excellent, but entertainment was poor. Mainly German guests and even though the animation team tried, we just didnt get it. Food is cooked at each sitting, so not sitting under lights to keep warm and there's plenty of choice. Pool nice and clean, staff always tidying up. Rooms are simple but spotless, bathrooms little small. Drinks are generous and mainly self service apart from cocktails and spirits. You're allocated a table for your evening meal on the first night. Cakes come out late afternoon at the pool bar, yum!

Just returned from this hotel after a week. Hotel is good value for money food and drink readily available all day, although food is repetitive, they could do with varying the menu more. Room was very dated, beds hard and uncomfortable, no air con, and no hairdryer which in todays society I would have considered a must. The Maid was lovely and cleaned everyday and tidied and friendly. The down sides are it is up a hill and ok going down into town but a climb coming back up. There is a curtesy bus though which goes down to beach reguarly. However it is shared with the other Riu Hotels close by and therefore busy. Evening entertainment very poor, basically nothing, unless you are happy to sit by the poolside bar and watch people playing cards, etc which we found extremely boring. The alternative was to go out at night which most people seemed to do, but this defeats the object of being all inclusive as you then have to pay again for drinks in another bar just for the entertainment. It is an international hotel and therefore many different people,who Im afraid have the run of the place. Most of the entertainment is biased in their favour, Bingo .They also take over the sunbeds getting up at around 6.30 to take the main sunspots and putting towels on beds and invariably not using them till much later in the day when the sun is up. It is a lovely hotel in need of updating, with more entertainment - even a karoke would have been a laugh, no television room, just a screen on which episodes of Little Britain with subtitles and Mr Bean are shown at the same time as childrens entertainment is taking place.

We arrived at the Riu Wakiki about 9pm and were allocated our wristbands & told dinner was finishing now but could go & have a meal before we checked in, we though this was very good. After dinner we were shown to our room, it was big, very spacious & clean. All you need on holiday, it was basic but who cares you only sleep in it. We had a tv and a free safety deposit box & a roomy balcony. Maids cleaned your room everyday & changed beds & towels twice a week which was enough. Breakfast lunch & dinner were all super, so much choice of food, all freshly cooked & all hot meats etc cooked in front of you, so many choices of drink on tap all day also. We had no trouble at the bars asking for cocktails or shots or spirts. Beer wine & soft drinks were all on tap & plentiful. All food was in the restuarant or pool bar & you literally could eat from 8am to midnight! Pool was big with plenty of sunbeds & umbrellas but after 8am you would struggle to find a decent spot. Pool got very busy with lilos and pool games around lunchtime though. Only downside to pool was the white paint around the outside, it came off over clothes & lilos, not good. Pool cleaned everynight though & all day around the pool cups etc were collected & sunbeds cleaned early morning. Never saw any of the evening entertainment, it was in the inside bar so we sat in the pool bar until midnight then went off to the kasbah centre for the nightlife - def for the young. Yumbo centre also nearby but a gay hotspot - lots of gaybars & drag shows!

Good points.we found the staff to be very polite and helpful and the hotel very clean although dated, a good sized pool with plenty of sunbeds .Bad points the majority of guests are german and whilst there is supposedly good ond bad in every race they seem to have more than thier fair share of arragance and think nothing of pushing you out of the way to get thier food or drink. The dining room is too crowded and the food is very repetative for both lunch and dinner we saw very little variation, in two weeks we where there we had the same 4 or 5 meat dishes each day and the meat could be quite tough,one fish dish each meal wich always looked the same. The evening entertainment could be quite good [better if you understand german] but it started at 9-30pm and ended before 11-00pm, the all inclusive drinks are very low in alcohol and have little affect, you need to go out of the hotel to get a decent drink wich defeats the object of an all inclusive holiday .Rooms ok but beds very uncomfortable more like camp beds.

This is the best hotel we have ever stay in,it was very clean the staff were very friendly what ever problem you had they would sort it out best they could.there was a good choice of food but the same choices everyday,the allinclusve was very good vaule for money.The drinks were self service apart from cocktails and spirits if u wanted to drink the bar dry you could have and no one would have said a word ha,i would recommend this hotel to anyone.

This is the best hotel i have ever stayed in. We arrived in the middle of the night and were offered food straight away after putting our cases in our rooms. The food is to a very high standard and alot of it is cooked in front of you. Hotel is a 5-10 min walk to the yumbo center and kas bar. Rooms are basic but cleaned to a high standard every day but are very big for a hotel. You never have to queue to get a drink at the bar for more than five minutes I would reccommend this hotel to anyone and im very picky but it was great

Lovely hotel - very unusual in that it consists of 5 towers - open in the centre - with rooms radiating around the outside - everywhere was spotlessly clean & the food was fantastic - however, the dining room was a nightmare - basically circular with a hole in the centre - table arrangement was difficult & it felt like you were entering a rugby scrum to get your food - couldn't fault the quality of the food & drink - the location was well away from the beach - but there were plenty of places to walk to.

A fantastic day out at Palmitos Park - you actually walk into a cage with the birds - becoming part of the exhibit - we spent over 5 hours there & it felt like 5 minutes - birds, reptiles, meerkats, emus, orang utan, butterfly house, aquarium & much much more.

Normally postcards are written a couple of days into the holiday - we didn't have time to write them until the day before we left!!!!!!!

We love Gran Canaria - the sun shines - the people are incredibly friendly & a good time was had by all

Stayed at the Riu Waikiki for a week from 5th to 12th January 09. This was an excellent choice for a relaxing winter break. The Hotel is made up of 5 towers which are open at the top (strange seeing the rain falling down the middle of the tower when you open your room door!) The staff are probably the most inviting, friendly people we've came across, always greet you with a smile and hello, including the maids. The restaurant is in tower C and is split into two halves. The restaurant staff allocate you a table for your evening meal and you must use this for your entire stay but you're allowed to sit anywhere you want for breakfast and lunch. The entertainment staff, led by a woman from Cuba called Betti are very hard working and really try to make your holiday fun. The rooms are a bit basic, slightly dated and could do with a spruce up but they're very clean. You don't need to hire a safe, they are included in the room. The pool area is large and there's plenty sunbeds (although they are a bit close together) but if you get down early enough, you can move them around to suit yourself. There's also a self-service poolside terrace where you can sit and relax and have coffee,tea,juice etc... and the snack bar is located round the side of the terrace. there's also a few pool tables and lots of other activities available should you have kids with you. Overall, if i go back to Playa del Ingles, i'd certainly use this Hotel again for sure, i thoroughly enjoyed my time here!

Returned yesterday from week at the Riu Waikiki. From the time we arrived to the time we left nothing was too much trouble for the staff. Check in was extremely easy and our room whle being fairly basic was kept very clean for the whole of our stay. The food was of an excellent quality if sometimes a bit repeatative and the restaurant staff were always very helpful. Being all inclusive the temptation is to eat far too much but there is always the option of getting a snack from by the bar rather than a full meal from the restaurant. The one drawback to the hotel isa that is is a good 20 minute walk for the nearest beach although there is a courtsey bus running during the day. All in all we would not hesitate to stay at the Waikiki again

Although very basic, it is extremely good value for money and I would recommend anyone visiting the hotel. The staff were friendly, everything was clean and you always saw staff cleaning and busy and not just standing around. The downstairs facilities were good for guests as well.

Having stayed at 4 Riu hotels this was the most disappointing. However the other hotels have been 4 star, compared to them this is a comfortable 3 star hotel. I would imagine during the peak summer months this hotel will be very crowded. There are plenty of sunbeds but they are close together which will restrict movement and privicy around the pool. The room was small and basic but was kept clean by the maid. The food was plentiful and varied but did become repetitive but there was a great choice for all tastes. The restaurant staff were very helpful and pleasant as were the animation team. Children were well catered for with entertainment and the animation team were very enthusiastic but night time entertainment would have been better if a disco was provided after the nightly shows (mainly animation team are the entertainers)

Rooms were along the lines of a travel lodge. Each room had a free safety deposit box and tv which had loads of channels (we stayed in tower B) including Cartoon Network which was good for quiet times for my 6 year old. There is an extra large tv in the downstairs saloon which showed the football games (we only discovered this after going elsewhere to watch the Scotland game).

Pool was very very clean. Staff cleaned it daily, in fact staff we always cleaning everywhere, the hotel was spotless all round, never yet saw any beasties. Loads of sunbeds which again were cleaned daily although it is worth getting up about 8 to secure a spot for the day.

Food was plentiful. Loads of variety every night. Lunch was either a choice of burgers, hot dogs, pizza and toasties in the pool bar or yet more plentiful choice in the restaurant. Evening meal was in two sittings, 6.30 or 8.30. You are assigned a table at the start of your stay which is yours for dinner every night - again loads of selection every time. Only slight comment here would be no childrens menu.

Entertainment is excellent. My 6 year old loved the kids club and made loads of friends between about the ages of 6 and 9. Kids club runs from 10.30 till 1pm then 3.30 till 5pm daily. Dominique and Letti are amazing with the kids and my son did not want to leave today. Loads to do during the day for adults too and night entertainment is good too - Grease is a must see.

Drinks were in plentiful supply, 6 soft drinks, 3 wines, 2 lagers, at least a dozen different cocktails, a dozen different hot drinks, plenty of spirits too. Staff were always polite, but needless to say Germans have not mastered the good old "how to queue" routine which became frustrating at times.

Resort - didnt see much of this am afraid as we were kept too entertained in the hotel but we did make it to the beach which is super busy, we walked along to the sand dunes which are amazing and came across the nudist beach which is definately not for kids of a certain age !

Summary

We had a fantastic time, met some fantastic people (you know who you are) and would definately go back, but for more than one week next time.

my family of 6 adults stayed at this hotel in June and were very impressed with it. The food was very good especially the snack bar at lunch time serving toasties, hotdogs, burgers, chips, salad etc. You also served your own beer and soft drinks at this time. We always managed to get a sunbed at 9am when going down for breakfast. The hotel was spotlessly clean and as my daughter of sixteen had her birthday on holiday the hotel presented her with a basket of fruit which was a lovely touch. There wasnt many British people at the hotel but we didnt have any problems with the other nationalities. Entertainment team tried really hard and always tried their best to get people involved. Overall We thoroughly enjoyed this hotel and would recommend it.

L. Brown lanarkshire