Riu Palace Riviera Maya

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.

We have not been to Mexico since 2008 we are still here and we love this resort. First time at a Riu and we are happy with this location. Hotel grounds are beautiful. We did not use pools as we are beach people and the beach is large spread out and lovely even with Sargassum just swim past into the open water. The hotel is clean someone is always somewhere mopping sweeping etc. No reservations needed for restaurants yes please the most we waited was 20 minutes one night. Food is pretty good as are the drinks. Service is top tier this hotel is managed well and it shows from greeting in the lobby to room cleanliness and the service in the restaurants coffee shop bars there is always someone willing to help you. Bring your dollars to tip because they deserve it they are working hard here and the beautiful well run resort shows it. Que viva Mexico!! The only annoying thing about this place were some of the other guests.

We travelled with Tui as a family. Whilst there were teething problems with our room (as a result of poor marketing / communication by Tui) the hotel were able to rectify things for us. The staff really are brilliant at this hotel - keeping it clean and tidy, resetting everything overnight so the holiday starts anew every day. There are all so friendly, welcoming and do what they can to make your holiday experience memorable. The food is high quality and very varied. The pool area is a bit boring with square pools and little to entertain the kids. One of the pools a few weeks prior to our travel became “adults only Elite Club” which I’m wholly against at a luxurious all inclusive resort - to introduce a new higher tier of guest - I think it’s insulting! Adults only areas are fine - but making changes and charges to be elite (access to certain restaurants, premium drinks, services etc!). We stayed 14 nights - but sadly the last 7 nights were ruined by a huge group Spring Break booking! The hotel became over run with teenagers and their parents treating everyday like a stag-do, monopolising the pool bar, treating staff badly, eating and drinking in the main pool standing around in huge groups, larking around drunk in the hotel corridors through the night. It totally spoilt the restful, luxurious nature of the holiday. The hotel acknowledged they had multiple complaints, had to print a reminder of expected behaviours to give to those guests, but could do little else in the circumstances. Sadly I would not book this resort at this time of year again - and would caution other families to check US spring break dates - as it’s clearly a shift by the hotel to allow these groups - as the family has stayed at this resort over the last 15 years several times without incident.

We took a family trip here with our daughters (15 and 18) and honestly couldn't have asked for a better time. The property is spotless, you can really tell they take pride in keeping the grounds and rooms pristine. For an all-inclusive, the food and drinks were surprisingly solid. The buffet was out go-to for breakfast and lunch, and the specialty restaurants were mostly a hit for dinner. You get the best of both worlds here: You can jump into the pool activities or just chill out if you want a low key day. The nightlife was super fun, especially the "Silent Disco" and the "White Party". The location is also a massive plus. It's so easy to get into Playacar or downtown Playa del Carmen. We actually walked off-resort to do some shopping and grab dinner one night. One quick disclaimer: There was a lot of sargassum (seaweed) on the beach. This is an issue all over the coast right now and totally out of the resort's control. It didn't stop us from having an awesome vacation at the pools, but just be aware. We wouldn't change a thing and are already planning our next trip back!

Great hotel, previously stayed at the yucatan and playacar but thought I'd try here. Rooms are lovely, modern and very clean. Drinks excellent Food, I would say same quality as the other riu's, I expected more from a 5. Entertainment not that great. Beach lovely Staff very helpful and welcoming I would come back as everything was great, my opinion is you are paying for the modern updated room, compared to the other riu hotels i have stayed in, drinks quality the same, food quality the same. We did have a great time though