Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Lovely place to stay. Accommodating, entertaining, comfortable, exceptionally clean, beautiful location and beach, including friendly, helpful staff. The food is excellent and varied, something for everyone.

Arrived on April 6 for 5 days of fun in the sun. Going through the airport in Cancun was very smooth and easy A. Our transportation for Riu was clearly marked. We only waited for about 10 mins and we were on our way . It took about 40 mins to arrive at our resort and when we did we were already impressed. We were welcomed with some drinks and easy check in we only waited a couple hours for our room which was fine because we were ready for lunch and the pool. We did the buffet by the beach Chilis for lunch and we loved the food everything was so good. We got our room at around 2 pm and we loved our rooms. Everything was very clean and the rooms were beautiful. The balcony was great. We overlooked the main courtyard and it was perfect. The housekeeping always made sure everything was cleaned and we never had to ask to fill towels, the minibar was always full. We did leave a tip at the beginning of the week. The food Both buffets. Don Rafael’s and Chili’s were both incredible. We are ate at Dons for breakfast and Chili’s for lunch and everything was always fresh and there was so much variety. Never had a bad meal there. They also had Pepe’s which was applause grill. They would have tortilla chips with guacamole. Burgers, French fries. Chili, hot dogs and make your own salads. great variety. We did 4 À la Carte’s. We did the Asian one, steakhouse, Italian and Mexican. Our favorites were the Italian and steakhouse. Food was so good and they have something for everyone. The Italian was has an antipasto bar before your main meal and it was fantastic. The pools They have a few pools but we spent all of our time in the swim up bar pool as that one was adult only. They were always cleaning out the pool as sand would build up in the bottom and some people threw food in the pool one of the days which is not the resorts fault that some people are inconsiderate. Bartenders at the swim up were always great even when the bar was packed. The drinks were so good they made them perfect. So many flavours of mojitos, margaritas, and even the gin and tonics. My favourite was the mango and passion fruit gin and tonics. The beach The sargassum was there but the workers were up early to clean it up. There was only one day where is was really bad but it’s because it was a holiday Monday and they didn’t work. But the other days it was always cleaned up and the beach was beautiful and water was so clear. The lobby was absolutely beautiful. It looked so fancy. The staff were all so friendly walking by and they were so welcoming. We met so many amazing people from all different places. It was an amazing vacation. I would definitely come back to this resort as in my eyes everything was absolutely perfect. We didn’t have one complaint about this resort and we would recommend it over and over again.

beautiful place, clean, good service, excellent!

Just dropping by to leave a generally positive review and for the most part it is about the Exceptionally Fun and Wonderfully Amazing Other Services Team which consists of Rikki Bobi, Yoshima, Emanuel (love), Joe, Alex (love how you dance!) and Kimberly! They made our stay interesting and active while enjoying the rest of what the Resort had to offer. Shortly on the rest of the things: Food- Management could pay some serious attention to this because in my 18 years of Mexico vacationing to different resort every time at least once year - i have not gotten sick until this time, so PLEASE check into that and make sure the drinks are included into this reworking as they could be tastier and use more of the Primary alcohols, maybe that is the reason they don't taste Great but just ok. Every restaurant we went to did not have an extensive Menu as we are used to, just some choices and most of the time the appetizer would be fantastic, but the entree (meal) Rooms and Buildings - AMAZING! Lobby is outstanding! I could not let my camera off my hands during the entire stay! Recent (2019) renovation really shows and we have enjoyed our room and specifically cleaning service! Kudos to this Team! Thank you for the great towel figurines! I have picture of each! Looove Beach - WAVY! Very much wavy but great stretch of nice white soft sand to walk, jump play in. Beach line was invaded by Sargassums so this could have been taken care of in a better way but also understand that there were mountains of it so thanks to the beach cleaning crew for taking care of that so we could all enjoy a bit of the sea. Loooong stratch of walkable beach so if you are enjoying sun bathing while breathing the seaweed smells - you are all set here! Service - Exceptional! I could not say enough THANKS to all the service crew! You are each individually and altogether deserve every dollar of tips we left! This is the service i would like to have anytime and anywhere I go! They simply didn't give us time to dig for the negatives - by always being there, always topping the drink, always thinking ahead and serving as there is no tomorrow! Fantastic! Oh! Last thing - if you are a cat person - as myself, thank you very much - there are a few cats living on property and can be easily found by Mexican and Steakhouse restaurants. In spite of the "NO FEEDING" signs everyone freely feeds these beautiful creatures and they are thankful for that. There is also an aguti among them so Tons of fun that way!

The RIU delivered a satisfactory experience—neither exceptional nor disappointing. Positives: Check-in was smooth and efficient. Our connecting Junior Room Suite was spacious, clean, and featured an excellent shower. The resort grounds were well-maintained throughout. The beach was a highlight, offering plenty of seating and enjoyable swimming despite some sargassum. Staff at the pool bar, coffee shop, and various resort bars were all friendly and attentive. Drawbacks: While vegetarian options were available at every restaurant, the food quality at the Italian and Japanese venues was underwhelming. The dinner buffet proved to be the better option, with rotating nightly themes. Pool availability was limited—one of the three pools is now restricted to Elite club members with a VIP barrier. Lounge chairs fill up quickly, and pools become crowded during peak hours, which pushed us toward the beach more often. The towel card system is inconvenient, though seemingly unavoidable. Overall, we had an enjoyable vacation and left satisfied, but this isn't a resort we'd choose to revisit.