Riu Arecas

Wow what can I say hotel is clean staff very friendly but for us that was the pros the cons are lots but I’ll just say basics and not my personal preferences The hotel has a strict no smoking vaping policy only one tiny area where you can vape even informed a complaint was made of someone smoking on their balcony this alone has spoilt it for us absolutely nowhere to relax with a drink and a vape and that includes around the pools so vapers and smokers stay well away it’s stricter then the nhs lol The guests here are no spring chickens like myself however it’s almost like a retirement home the entertainment reminds me of workingmens clubs of the 70s so glad we hired a car to take us out Food is good not great but good the usual 4 star where they have no clue what a sausage is or gravy come to that We are here at the moment another week to go again thank god we got car Needless to say I will not be returning to this hotel if you have a pulse stay away Oh and parking here is £9 euros a day there’s a small space in front of hotel that’s free but always no spaces when I return I shall give update when I return home

I will start off by saying that i ( we ) really enjoyed our 9 nights half board at riu arecas. Heres my review from start to fin. The price that we got the hotel for was really really good. The reviews were decent and riu being a decent trusted brand we decided to book, we are riu members and asked for a high room, with a view of the pool if possible, now i know its whats available but to be on level 2 with no view whatsoever, literally a roof off your balcony then its a bit dissapointing. We took advantage of the free transfer, my advice to travellers, BOOK A TAXI, our flight arrived at 6.00pm, we had got through customs, and had our bags by 6.20, ( super quick ) made our way to where we were told and had to wait for 40 mins for the bus to arrive, we were then the last hotel drop off, having past the hotel jacaranda 4 times. We finally got to our hotel at 9.20, over 3 hrs, a taxi takes 25 mins max. Check in was good, the chap on reception took our passports, told us to get diiner before it closed and he would sort check in, which was great of him. The room, we read some reviews saying the hotel was dated, it seemed fine to us, the shower wasnt the greatest but clean, hot, the room had blackout blinds, plenty of space for clothes, lots of coathangers, a fridge, tv ( not many english chanels, kettle, free safe. Beds were comfy enough too.. cant complain about that much at all about the room, poss fit a new shower ( room 2025 ) as its starting to go a little rusty. Staff were fine, friendly, great service, guys on the reception were great and sorted my little problem i had out, Which takes me to ONE of the reasons i didnt give a 5, so nothing is cash, you order your drinks, give your room number and sign for your drinks, then pay reception when you check out, well i like to pay my way as i go so every other day i went and paid our bill, but one time when i went to pay it was a little higher than i imagined so asked to read the itemised reciept, well you get a complimentry meal in the spanish restuarant, which is a nice little change and we had some drinks in there, but looking at the bill someone in the normal restuarant had ordered 4 or 5 drinks onto our account, which we knew we hadnt had as we dont like what they were on the same night, reception did sort the problem but its not a great way to do it, i could easily of ended up paying for others drinks ( i may of ). But like i say, all got sorted. My biggest gripe is the location, there is literally nothing nearby bar a couple of supermarkets, for people that want to stay in the hotel all stay its great, but we like to wander about and there really is nothing within a 10 min walk really. The hotel is great, clean, great pool areas, decent priced beers and drinks, and we really did enjoy our stay, entertainment was ok but finished at 10.30, but then music is all done, at least leave some background music playing, people ( us included) felt you had to just go to bed, just play music till 23.00/23.30. But overall if you want a chilled stay. Onsite then this would be a great hotel, food was great. But for me the location is what would maybe stop me returning, tho if the price was right again id not hesitate on it. But like i say, dont use the complimentry transfer.

Our third visit to this hotel here now, booked a high floor pool view room which we didn’t get we’re looking at a brick wall,said they offer another room which was looking at band stand so we stayed put, so we paid £120 for a pool view or brick wall so be careful as we won’t be coming back, very disappointed with customer service.

Our fifth visit to this hotel, we were really looking forward to it. We tried booking a pool view room with tui but there was none left. We sent a request to the hotel for a choice of the rooms we would prefer but we’re told we had only booked a standard room. I was a little surprised at this but as we have stayed here before l thought we would be alright. We were allocated room 2047 at first. It had nothing but concrete to look at and was very hot so in the evening we couldn’t use the balcony. After two nights l requested a room change, and was told we could move the next day. In the morning after breakfast we were told to look at the other room 2023 and was rushed into accepting it. The balcony was cooler in the evening so we could use it. However when you sat down you were staring at a brick wall.After days of being upset about this we decided to go to reception today to pay for an upgrade to a nicer room. The man at reception said they didn’t have a pool view but could get us a better room tomorrow free of cost with a bit nicer view. He said he would run it by his colleague and let us know. We went up to our room and received a phone call which stated that it was too late to move us. I was very sad to hear this as it is only Monday midday and we are here until Friday, however he said there was nothing they could do. Very disappointing.

The grandeur of the entrance is a sign of the quality of this hotel. It may be 4* but some aspects are definitely 5* ... the service, the cleanliness, the renovation, the beach club, the food in both the all day dining and the speciality restaurant. The hotel exceeded expectations and we are getting drawn to using this hotel chain on future holidays after this stay and a previous visit to their establishment in New York. Cancun will be our next visit to a RIU hotel. If the RIU Arecas is anything to go by, we are in for a treat.