Riu Palace Riviera Maya

3rd visit to this hotel and most enjoyable as usual. The staff work extremely hard to ensure you have a great holiday experience. We didn't bother with any of the speciality restaurants and just ate in the buffets plenty of choice and well cooked. Rooms were kept spotless by the cleaning staff and service in the bars was very good. It was a bit stifling around the pools but you got a nice breeze on the beach, like all the hotels in this resort a boardwalk on the sand would help families with pushchairs or people with mobility issues enjoy better beach access. We didn't pay for the elite status as we felt it was not worth the outlay and from a personal point of view I do not agree with it. We already pay a premium to stay at the Palace and feel that this is a step too far, pay extra for a penthouse suite by all means but not for a standard room with a few extras. Having tried all the riu hotels in playacar this is my favourite by far and will be returning next year.

Excellent stay!!! VERY CLEAN and the staff were so attentive!

Any invasion and they got all inside my purse. They didn’t advise that the door has to be closed in order for the air to work properly and my back door had been left open!

This was our first time at this hotel but not the first time in Mexico and we have been to all the Riu Hotels in the Playacar area, we did not originally pick this hotel as we normally stay in the Riu Palace Mexico but dur refurbishment we were moved here. The hotel itself is nice, clean, fresh I cannot fault the appearance of the hotel, from booking in at the hotel the process was fast but what was missing was the extra touches that we have had previously, no offer to upgrade was presented to us although they did wish my Mum and Nephew a belated happy birthday which was a nice touch. The hotel room was not looking into the garden area and was looking onto the back of the hotel, not an issue really for us the room was clean quiet and worked for us as a family as the rooms were joined by another private door, this was something that we had requested. The grounds as expected were clean and very well maintained, the staff were always busy Pools: No issues with getting sunbeds, although later in the day it did get very busy around the pool, although because one of the pools had been taken away for Elite club it did seem to be a lot more cramped. The main issue with the pools was the yellow substance that appears around the edges of the pool during the day and although the staff were cleaning it they did miss is loads and it caused people clothing to become stained and looked rather disgusting when bits were floating there, very off putting. Elite Club: We did not try the Elite Club, but from what I have seen it was not worth the extra money, yes they had a private pool area, a private restaurant, posh sunbeds, but we found that they missed out on all the entertainment during the day as the main fun was around the main pools and the elite club were missed out, a lot of elite people would come over to the main pools just for the entertainment. I cannot see the advantage of the elite process and it seems that you are not getting value for money, yes you are getting some extras in the room and some aromatherapy (which most people have requested to be turned off) but again not worth the money, no WOW factor that makes this stan out more Restaurants: We never had any issues with any of the restaurants, they were all amazing the staff were great and the food was excellent, there do have buzzers so if you come down and its busy, they will give you a buzzer and you just wait a bit longer, good and fair process in place for this. Beach: The seaweed is terrible, the staff are great at trying to clear it away, some people were complaining about this, lets be clear this a nature not the hotel staffs issue, so if you come to Mexico expect to have some seaweed on the beach, yes it does smell, but again your next to the coast so that's what the beach and coast smells like, we never had any issues with the smell, and when we went in the water after walking out about 2m it was clear water. It seemed to be better cleared at the Riu hotels further down the beach, the Riu Yuctan had the beach cleared every day, not sure why this never happened at the Riu Palace. Entertainment: I was not that impressed with the entertainment at this hotel in comparison to the other Riu hotels, this was tame, the staff never really got dressed up, in comparison to the Riu Playcar, the entertainment was not what it has been at other hotels so don't expect much. Some top bits that was great: - Cocktail Cart- Amazing- Great selection of different drinks each day - Beds in the room- Matrasses were very comfy, showers were powerful in the rooms - Coffee Shop- in the main lobby this was great to cool down and get a milkshake - Hotel was very clean -Main buffet- The staff in the main buffet were amazing Areas not so good: -Yellow substance in the pools- cause clothing to be stained and not cleaner up as much -Steak restaurant- food was tasty but we have had better steaks at other Riu Palace hotels - Seaweed on the beach- not being cleared as much as other hotels further along the beach Overall, while the hotel had some great aspects especially the cleanliness, friendly staff, and food it simply didn’t reach the standard we’ve experienced at other Riu properties in Playacar. The issues with the pools, weaker entertainment, and lack of the usual Riu “wow factor” made this stay feel below expectations. I’ve stayed at better Riu hotels, and I wouldn’t consider returning to this one anytime soon, especially when the Riu Palace Mexico continues to offer a far superior experience.

This was the 2nd time we stayed at the Riviera Maya Palace and the first since its beautiful renovation. The check in was both quick and professional with a nice cocktail to mark our arrival. One of the reasons for our return is because we enjoyed the holiday in 2018 when we had our wedding vows renewed under the Gazebo which is no longer there and replaced by beach weddings. Removing the original Gazebo is a shame as it was beautiful and rather romantic compared in our opinion to the beach weddings nowadays. We were first were asked at the time about the beach wedding but this carried a 250 dollar environmental charge which is the direction we were being guided in but felt it was unreasonable given people used the beach for all sorts of things so did not feel the cost was justified. Hats the only negative we have found at this hotel but was personal preference in terms of location of our wedding. Anyway on the first morning we walked towards a fountain where we had lots of photos taken by the wedding photographer in 2018 and started to take some photos of what we have come to call "our fountain" and a rather personable chap asked us if he could take a photo for us after we showed him some wedding photos from 2018. It turned out that he was Omar one of the directors who then asked our room number. We did not think about his question at the time but upon our return to our room we were pleasantly surprised to see a bottle of champagne two glasses and his business card!!. What a lovely touch that was and every employee we came across had the same smile and the same greeting "Hola" what a lovely hotel this really is and absolutely spotless in terms of cleanliness. The food was both varied and plentiful and we particularly enjoyed the Asian and Italian but all were very good in their own way. We had some extra special service from Freddy in the steakhouse with some lovely photos as he was our waiter in 2018 for our wedding in a private part of what is the steakhouse today. A very personable chap who spotted us both on our first night and we will remember him always. This hotel group has got the balance right in terms of luxury hotel facilities against cost and doubt there is better value in Cancun/Playa Del Carmen, and will return once again in the near future. Thank you OMAR for the lovely gesture and god bless "Our Freddy" the waiter