Riu Bambu

I would say that this hotel was anlright overall. The scenery was great. The pool was amazing. I will say the food is disgusting. The fruits were not ready to be served , pineapples were hard, avocado, hard , rice, mushy the drink station, smelling funky .Me and my friends had to leave the resort every day to get better meals and the meals we got outside of there were amazing because we got real Dominican food. Some of the workers were also being a little bit shady to my group of people because we are Haitian and they were talking about us in Spanish and one of my Spanish friends starting to translate and go back back-and-forth with them. The whole key card for the towels is ridiculous having to go all the way to the front for a key card walk all the way to a towel station just for us to give them the key card and get the towel and have to do that every single time you need a towel if you’re going to the pool or a beach. Our hotel shower flooded every single time I took a shower so we would have to wait until the water went down for the other one to take a shower. I would give this hotel probably a six out of 10. The lack of Dominican representation at this hotel was very disappointing.

Our group had a wonderful experience at Riu Bambu. The staff were amazingly warm, attentive, and truly committed to making our stay enjoyable. Unfortunately, the air conditioners in all seven of our rooms were either not cooling properly or were extremely noisy. Despite the AC issues, the overall service and hospitality from the hotel team were exceptional.

The hotel was ok the rooms was dingy I guess because the hotel was old. The last night was awful we had no water for four hours and we kept getting the run around about maintenance was on their way but to my surprise no maintenance. We had to move in the middle of the night and that messed up our anniversary dinner. I went to DR to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary and that got shattered due to that one night. I understand things happen, but with no one to help us move to the new room we had to climb six flight of stairs to go to the new room no help I was very disappointed. I’d never stay there again sorry.

Beach good. Ocean poor for swimming, bad for snorkelling. Lots of sargassum in late August. Food good. Beer mediocre. Room was ok but dresser broken and never fixed when asked first day. Entertainment ok. Pools good. Expensive to escape. No walking trips. Water park good but not food or drinks. RiuParty makes for noisy Saturday nights with lots of yelling drunks. Not that great for kids over 8 but the entertainment crew does great work with what they have.

⭐️⭐️ Disappointing experience at RIU Bambu We stayed at the RIU Bambu from July 28 to August 7, 2026, as a family. Unfortunately, our overall experience was disappointing and did not meet our expectations for a Riu resort. The food was average and repetitive, with essentially the same choices every day. On several occasions, we waited more than 15 minutes for popular food items to be replenished. Getting reservations at the à la carte restaurants was also extremely difficult, requiring guests to line up and still not guaranteeing a reservation. Service was hit or miss. Some staff were excellent, while others were noticeably less attentive. We were particularly uncomfortable with the amount of smoking around the pool and common areas, including around small children. Although the resort has designated smoking areas and signs, we did not see staff enforcing the policy. There were also cigarette butts around the pool. At the Blue Pool Bar, we witnessed adults exposing their breasts while other guests took photographs. What was particularly disappointing was that the bar staff did not appear to intervene or attempt to stop the behaviour. We also experienced several room-related issues. Our TV did not work properly and had to be replaced after two days of complaints. The telephone was also unusable because the wire had been cut. Our villa was approximately 800 metres from reception, which became a significant inconvenience. My brother-in-law had to have his keycards replaced twice, and my son also needed his cards replaced. Each time, we had to make the long walk back to reception and then return to the villa. Before our trip, I had specifically requested adjoining rooms because we were travelling as a family. Instead, we were given two rooms on different floors within the same villa. Finally, the beach was disappointing, with a large amount of seaweed and, in our opinion, insufficient maintenance. We noticed a nearby resort maintaining its beach considerably better. I understand that some issues, such as seaweed, can be affected by natural conditions. However, the combination of these issues had a significant impact on our vacation. The RIU Bambu has a beautiful location and plenty of potential, but based on our experience, there is considerable room for improvement in service, maintenance, guest experience, and enforcement of resort policies. I would not rate this experience at the level I expected from a Riu property, and unfortunately, I would not currently recommend the resort based on our stay.