Riu Palace Antillas

My recent stay at Riu Palace Antillas was, by far, one of the worst all-inclusive hotel experiences I have ever had. While Aruba is beautiful, the hotel's lack of compassion, poor customer service, excessive restrictions, and lack of management accountability significantly impacted my vacation. On my first morning, I experienced what appeared to be a severe allergic reaction, leaving my face extremely swollen and red. Although the front desk arranged transportation to a hospital, there was absolutely no follow-up from management regarding my well-being. While recovering in my room for approximately two days, I was repeatedly denied the ability to have hot food brought to me, even though my friend explained that I was ill and had paid for “all-inclusive”. Other incidents further demonstrated the hotel's lack of concern for guest satisfaction. When a server spilled red liquid onto my personal belongings in the restaurant, I received virtually no assistance, was given a single paper napkin to clean my belongings, and received no management follow-up despite reporting the incident to the front desk. Throughout our stay, the response to reasonable requests was repeatedly "no," with little effort to offer solutions or involve management. Equally concerning was the lack of transparency regarding the property. We believed we were booking a recently renovated Riu experience, but only after arrival did we realize we had been placed in the older Antillas property, which we subsequently understood had not been renovated in approximately 12 years. Had this distinction and the property's condition been made clear during booking, we would have reconsidered our reservation. Hotels certainly need policies, but hospitality requires compassion, common sense, flexibility, and a genuine commitment to guests. Unfortunately, those qualities were largely absent during my stay.

My stay at Hotel Riu Palace Antillas was deeply disappointing and uncomfortable. As a Black woman, I experienced repeated discriminatory behavior in how I was treated comparison to white patrons and/or patrons appearing to be white. Upon arrival, I received no greeting, while a bellman immediately and enthusiastically greeted white women behind me. At the pool bar and an evening party, bartenders prepared my drinks but walked away without serving them, requiring me to order from other employees. I also experienced noticeably different treatment in the dining area. These incidents involved multiple employees and left me feeling unwelcome throughout my stay. The room also fell short of expectations, with a rusted ironing board, worn-off iron temperature markings, a stained sheet, and hair on towels and decorative bedding. After my stay, I attempted to address my concerns directly with RIU. Rather than substantively acknowledging my complaint, RIU directed me back to Expedia because that was where I booked. Expedia later informed me that RIU declined my refund waiver, but its responses have focused on the cancellation policy rather than the underlying complaint. The lack of meaningful acknowledgment afterward compounded my disappointment. I would not stay at this property again.

Had the best vacation. Our group did the Elite Club and stayed in the villas. Real nice and would do it again. Elsa is the best bartender ever and took such good care of us. The snorkeling off the beach was amazing, food was great and the people so nice. One Happy Island!

Just returned from a week long stay, and this was the most disappointing experience I have ever had. The resort is NOT what we expected from the RIU brand and we were highly disappointed from the moment we walked in the front doors. The first impression was so bad that I spent the first evening in tears while desperately trying to get moved to another resort. The entire place needs to be renovated. It is dirty, falling apart, run down, and smells like urine. The lobby is far from inviting and if you sit in the unappealing lobby bar, the ceiling will leak on you. Floors are stained, decor is horribly dated, entertainment wasn’t entertaining, and the front desk staff is a joke. After expressing our initial concerns about the resort’s unacceptable conditions, we were told that there were two rooms available for our group of four at the RIU Palace Nextdoor (of course for an extra $100 a night). This resort was so bad that I didn’t care about the extra expense, so we waited in the lobby for four hours expecting to be moved. Only to find out that the RIU staff had lied to us and there were no rooms available. Instead, we were stuck at the resort and only offered a dinner reservation for the inconvenience. For an entire week, we spent as much time off property as we possibly could. The pool bar smelled like trash and the casino and lobby have a late 80’s/early 90’s feel. If you enjoy staying at a clean and comfortable hotel, do not stay here! As much as we enjoyed our stay at the RIU Palace in Mexico, our recent experience has completely turned us off from the RIU brand. Please do not be tempted to book this resort because it is adults only. Stay somewhere else!

I genuinely wish someone had posted an honest review before I booked so I could have chosen a different resort. Knowing what I know now, I would have never stayed here. 1. SEVERE MILDEW & DAMP ROOMS (BIGGEST ISSUE): The worst part of our stay was the overwhelming mildew smell on the guest room floors (especially the 17th & 18th floors). The moment you stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallways, the odor hit you very strongly. Once inside the room, the pillows and sheets felt damp—the mildew smell was deeply embedded into everything in the room. As a Southwest Florida resident, I am very familiar with dampness, humidity, and how crucial it is to have clean, properly running air conditioners and vents. The HVAC system here is clearly neglected. My allergies were triggered the entire stay, and when I unpacked at home, every item of clothing reeked of mildew and had to be washed immediately. To top it off, on our last day—when we had an approved late checkout until 1:00 PM with Elite status—all of our keycards stopped working right at 11:00 AM. On top of that, the air conditioning seemed to be raised so the room couldn't stay cool, almost as a tactic to force us out of the hotel. Extremely unprofessional and unacceptable. 2. IGNORED GROUP REQUESTS: We had a group of 9 celebrating two birthdays. Despite emailing weeks ahead as instructed by management, our request to stay near each other was completely ignored and we were scattered across the property. 3. INCONSISTENT ROOMS & MISSING AMENITIES: We all paid the exact same rate, yet room quality varied noticeably. Elite status amenities were inconsistently provided—some rooms got welcome gifts, while others got nothing until we went to management to speak up. 4. INEDIBLE STEAK & PROPANE GAS TASTE: Having Elite status just to skip dinner lines is not worth the price tag. The specialty restaurant decorated nicely for our birthdays, but the filet mignon was inedible—tough as beef jerky. At the steakhouse, the cut was better, but it was completely ruined because it tasted heavily of propane gas from the grill. Dinners were so disappointing we ate off-property multiple nights. 5. CHAOTIC POOLS & RUN-DOWN ELITE AREA: By 5:00 AM, guests reserved all prime loungers with towels. The main swim-up pool was chaotic, and the resort would be much better off playing consistent island music throughout rather than blasting one specific genre. Staff handed out half-filled water balloons to drunk guests who threw them at alcohol bottles behind the bar until staff had to pop them. Worse yet, the Elite pool we paid extra for was disappointing and run down, with substantial pool tiles chipping and peeling off inside the water. That area desperately needs a complete makeover. 6. HIGHLIGHTS: Our housekeeper was outstanding and kept our room spotless every day. The Elite Lounge Bar was peaceful with excellent staff. VERDICT: Between the embedded mildew smell, keycard/AC issues on checkout, poor food, run-down