Riu Palace Riviera Maya

This is definitely one of the best hotels we have stayed in. Everything was perfect. The room, the food, the staff, the surroundings all excellent. The beach was white sand with plenty of sun beds available all day, the sea was warm & pleasant to go in. There were plenty of sun beds around the pools until mid morning, although we only spent a couple of hours around them as we preferred the lovely beach. The beach waiter kept us supplied with drinks throughout the day which was very nice. We really enjoyed all the A la carte restaurants although we did not try the Steak house. A room tip would be to book a courtyard view. Whilst here you must take the trip to Chichen Itza absolutely fantastic & included a swim in a Cenote. We will definitely be back

We stayed at the Hotel Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen for 13 nights and had an exceptional experience from start to finish. The hotel is in a superb location, with beautiful surroundings and easy access to everything you need for a relaxing and enjoyable holiday. The facilities are outstanding, with well-maintained grounds, excellent dining options, and a high standard of service throughout. Everything was clean, organised, and clearly well managed. Travelling with our close friends made the stay even more special, and this has easily been one of the best holidays we’ve had. The atmosphere, comfort, and overall experience exceeded our expectations. We would definitely return in the future and would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a high-quality stay in a fantastic location.

So this was our 4th visit to this hotel, the first since the recent addition of Elite Club. The service in this hotel is second to none, shout outs to Mendez, Maideli, Claudia, Esteban etc. The initial hotel room we was given did smelt of kitchen fumes, overlooked the kids pool and the next door hotel building work. Fortunately the WiFi didn't work so fortunately we was moved to a nicer inward facing room. A nice recovery from the hotel, let the holiday begin finally. We was not in Elite club, but the of Elite Club addition of this meant we could no longer sit by the quite pool ( our usual favorite) and the outside breakfast area was now segregated and smaller. Why Elite club members sat in the normal visitors area when there area was completely empty I have no idea. So anyway it's fair to say Elite club has impacted the stay of other visitors. The food in the buffet was really good as ever , a different theme every night (please drop America night though). The only other restaurant we went to was the steak house, got to be honest... it was dreadful, the hotel cats ate well that night. It looked like lobster, it smelt like lobster, it was cooked beyond fit to eat. The prawn cocktail was also devoured by the kitties. Its not the hotels fault but the seaweed was pretty bad again, worse than any other time we have been to Mexico, this time it was quite smelly, although the team worked tirelessly to clear it, and much better than the other hotels faired. Good addition to the hotel was the nightly cocktail cart, a great addition to the hotel lobby. A cocktails we great, not watered down and went down a treat. The entertainment on an evening was low key, fine by me! Out and about was quiet, all of Mexico seemed quite quiet to be honest. Would I go back a 5th time, hard to say. I loved the service and the staff always remember and welcome us, that means a lot. But, theres something niggling me... I think it might just be the introduction of Elite club and there's so many other places to see I've not been yet.

First time at any Riu. Here is my review of the hotel. Back story. We were 2 adult couples on a kids free vacation. We chose to buy the elite club package. Arrival: check in was pretty standard. We arrived a bit before the checkin times bit out room was almost ready. Room: We had a standard room facing the inner garden. Room had everything we needed, and with the elite upgrade wr had daily snacks, premium alcohol and always new water bottles in our rooms. We didnt spend much time in the rooms anyways, but we were very pleased with the cleanliness and layout of it. Food: The breakfast buffet was great. So many choises to choose from, and their cappuccinos were delisious!!!!! Miss those. Lunch we had by the pools. The buffet always had a variety of food for everyone Dinners we ate at the restaurants. All the ones we tried were great. Beach: the beach was beautiful. Yes we had alot of sargassum some days, but the staff worked hard to clear it. Elite perks: we always had premium alcohol whether at the bars or in our rooms. The elite service by the elite pool was phenominal. The guys were always walking around, refilling our drinks, there was a snack cart that would come around lunch time (mango on a stick, chocolate covered strawberries, melon woth tajin, fruits on a stick, a drink in a coconut.... ) always something different and delicious. The elite pool always had a seat for us, and was never too crowded (which was great to relax) We had a quiet section during breakfast at the buffet as well, and an elite restaurant for dinner which had great steak and lobster. Entertainment: the entertainment was good. The riu tequila was not to far away and they hosted a white party while we were there. A shuttle took you to and from the riu tequila. The entertainment on site good most nights, and never ended too late (which was great as it never kept us up from the noise). All in all, we had an amazing relaxing week there. I would recommend this hotel 100%.

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.