Riu Playacar

Visited Riu Playacar Feb 21 to March 2 2026. It is a standard middle tier Riu resort. Smaller than others so easy to get around. Surrounded by other riu resorts. Riu tequila is for parties and riu yucatan has monkeys. Two palaces are inaccessible. Shops across the street, but beware, they are mostly scammers. Beach is nice, playcar beach. But Sargassum is getting bad. Two restaurants, two buffets. 3 pools. 30min drive from cancun airport. Can walk to playa del carmen. 5th avenue is long and busy. Overall, not a bad resort. Typical riu resort.

Again an excellent stay at this resort we come back every year to this particular Riu. You can get involved or be relaxed. Suitable for all ages, staff so much fun. Great beach and facilities.

Overall our experience was really good at RIU Playacar . However, if like us you are eager to visit as many of the excursions on offer through TUI please be mindful of the early pick up times ( earliest 5.30am ), if you given a room in one of the first couple of blocks nearest the entertainment theatre , as you are unlikely to get to sleep before 12.00am until the entertainment finishes. Due the open plan design of the blocks and concrete structures the sound level is very high from outside and within the building. The reception manager was very understanding and moved us to a block closer to the sea front .

his has been one of the most disrespectful experiences I have ever had at a hotel. While my brother and I were at the swimming pool, a local guest started insulting my younger brother for absolutely no reason. Instead of intervening or addressing the situation, the staff at the bar simply told us “no problem” and did nothing to stop it. What made this even worse was seeing the same staff members laughing and talking with the person who insulted us afterwards in Spanish. It was very clear they were joking about the situation instead of taking it seriously. As guests, that is extremely disrespectful and completely unprofessional. It gave us the very strong impression that if a local guest insults other visitors, the hotel staff will simply ignore it. That is unacceptable. Guests should feel safe and respected at a hotel, regardless of where they come from. The staff showed zero willingness to protect their guests or handle basic respect and professionalism. If this is how management allows their employees to behave, then people considering staying here should seriously think twice. Very disappointing and not what you expect from a hotel that is supposed to welcome international guests.

I love love love RIU playacar!!! This is our second visit to playacar and it is absolute perfection. Johnathan greeted us when we arrived checked us in swiftly and gave us a welcome drink. We were given room 7317 which is building 7, 3rd floor. This is close to the pools and above the restaurant. Don’t be worried about noise as it is very quiet and you don’t hear anything. 7317 is a large room it had a king bed and a sofa which turned into a bed. The room was clean, had the optics and the mini bar fully stocked. The 3rd floor is high and you are faced with the top of the palm trees. We did request to move rooms to block 8 this is purely because we stayed in block 8 previously and loved it. The Rooms in block 8 are slightly smaller as there is no sofa bed and some of the rooms have the interconnecting doors. We moved to room 8203. We preferred this as the balcony is lower and we like to watch the world pass by. The restaurants are great and the food is plentiful, well cooked and there is something for everyone. I have to make a special mention of Nestor, he is the best waiter and delivers exceptional service an absolute gentleman and credit to the hotel. The pools are lovely and we spend the majority of our time in the pool bar. The staff here was incredibly hard. They kindly filled our Stanley coffee cups with soft drinks and ice so we could keep them cold. I saw other ask for alcoholic theirs which the happily obliged . The entertainment team work so hard to keep the guests entertained. The foam party was great, aqua fit was good fun, the neon party and the shows were fabulous. The resort is beautiful, the grounds are so weak kept and maintained. You are able to use the facilities at Tequila and Yucatan. We walked over to both, watched a show a tequila and went to see the animals at yucatan. 5th avenue is a short walk 25 mins and there are plenty of souvenir shops and bars to go to. sometimes there are shows going on near the mermaids. You are able to get the ferry to Cozumel from here for 300 pesos. we felt really safe nobody bothered us and we wish we’ve done the ferry trip from here. This resort is centred in paradise. It is absolutely amazing. It has everything we needed from party vibes to completely relaxed. We have been twice and we will absolutely be returning.