Riu Bambu

I don’t normally leave reviews but feel that I need to warn people about this hotel, especially if travelling from the UK. We travelled as a family of seven and recently got back from a 2 week holiday to celebrate a 40th birthday. I have travelled to lots of different countries and stayed in a range of different levels of hotels but never experienced anything as bad as this place. If you are thinking of booking I would strongly suggest that you don’t and if you have already booked, I’d look to change it. If you feel like you’re getting a good deal because it’s a bit cheaper, you’re not!! Since booking I discovered that the Riu Bambu is due to be closed for a refurbishment, we booked through TUI and were never made aware of this otherwise I would not have booked it. The hotel needs a LOT of work doing to it. It is very run down and its dirty. There are tiles missing in the pools and broken sun loungers just left around the pools. The rooms are very outdated, unsafe and smell of mould. One of our rooms had broken glass hanging out of the patio door and the other rooms Patio door didn’t even lock. After reporting this multiple times as the room was not secure they just stuck an old screw in the lock. The air con did not work properly and was very noisy. The safes kept breaking and there was only one plug socket in the rooms which was either hanging of the wall or had to be propped up, not very safe at all. We had ants all over one of the rooms and nothing was done after we reported this. I was electrocuted when I turned the bathroom light on, we reported this several times but was just left with no power for 2 days. When the manager and maintenance team did get round to looking at the electrics they had removed the ceiling lights and cement/debris was left all over the bathroom floor, sinks and toilet. We were left to clean this up ourselves to make the room safe but in the dark as they still didn’t fix anything. A couple that was around the TUI pool told us they had to move rooms as they had rats in their room, RATS!! The food and restaurants are terrible, especially the main buffet. Once you tried to get over the horrid stench that hits you as you walk in you are met with food that looked like it had sat there all day and most of it covered in flies. We tried to use the à la carte restaurant instead but this wasn’t easy - you cannot make any reservations so you either have to be at the restaurant at 6pm or spend your evening queuing up for a long time or just be told that you can’t go in. We were given a buzzer for the steak restaurant that never buzzed. While we were trying to enjoy meals in the à la carte restaurants, guests were still using the pool area after the stated closing time and playing loud music through personal speakers. There were signs stating that the pools closed at 7pm, yet staff appeared to allow people to continue regardless. I’m all for having fun on holiday but when you to relax and enjoy dinner it’s impossible here. On one occasion, I witnessed guests pulling each other’s swimming shorts off and exposing themselves and dragging each other around the pool, all in front of my daughter. This was completely inappropriate and unacceptable. They were people being carried out of the pool as they were that intoxicated they couldn’t walk all while others were trying to enjoy their evenings. It’s nothing more than a run down party hotel, not family friendly at all and if you do not speak Spanish then be prepared to be either ignored at bars or be treated disrespectfully. Myself and my daughter went to collect beach towels from the kiosk and the member of staff literally threw the towels towards us. I had requested six towels but was given five. When I pointed this out, another towel was simply thrown at me. Thankfully there was a pool and bar that is separate to the main pools that was exclusively for TUI guest. It was still very run down with tiles missing and the broken sun loungers were here too but at least it was away from the other part. They did run out of drinks though and people were told to use another bar. Like I say I don’t normally like to leave a bad review but I wouldn’t want anyone else to endure what we did. We ended up moving hotels to the Riu Palace Bavaro, which was a beautiful hotel. It had great service, lovely food and the staff were very welcoming. Rooms were lovely and modern and you would expect from a 5 star hotel too. It is definitely worth spending the extra money if you can than staying in the Riu.

We had an absolutely amazing holiday! Yes, the hotel is dated, but we already knew the upgrade was coming, so we were fully prepared for that — and honestly, it didn’t take away from our experience at all. 🌴☀️ 🧼 Cleanliness: Absolutely immaculate! Reception, the pool areas and our room were all spotless. Our room was cleaned every single day and the fridge was restocked daily too — brilliant service! ❤️ Staff: The staff genuinely made our holiday. Everyone was so friendly, welcoming and happy to see us enjoying ourselves. We never once felt unsafe and always felt well looked after. 🎉 Parties & Entertainment: Brilliant! There was a great atmosphere and plenty going on. The daytime parties were fantastic… although they were far too hot for me! 🤣☀️ The evening atmosphere was right up our street! 🍽️ Food & Restaurants: Plenty of choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so there was always something different to enjoy. And the steakhouse was absolutely beautiful! 🥩❤️ 🌴 Location & Views: Waking up surrounded by palm trees with the beach and Caribbean Sea right there was pretty special. You really can't beat it! 🌊🌴 Overall, we absolutely loved our stay. The hotel may be showing its age, but the cleanliness, incredible staff, atmosphere, food and location more than made up for it. We came for the Caribbean sunshine and left with some amazing memories that we'll never forget. 🇩🇴❤️ Would we come back? Absolutely! 🌴🍹

The hotel was a perfect example for a great relaxing getaway. First of all we came for both our birthdays and my partner also proposed on the beach which we found amazing due to the perfect sunrise views and nice sandy beaches early morning. They is plenty of food options and is plenty of different bars and restaurants around the whole hotel. We booked via tui so we did get exclusive extras like a tui pool/ bar and restaurant which we found to be a lot calmer than the main pools. The rooms were outdated a little but we loved it. The Rui parties are 4 times a week and we went to as many as we could and was a really good vibes!(spring break) the bar staff next to the dance floor and the restaurant staff in the main buffet was nothing but welcoming and friendly! We were seated in preferred seats and served fast! Tips are handy for this! The restaurant staff even prepared a cake for my birthday as well as the hotel gifting us both birthday mugs for our birthdays! Lovely staff and hotel.

Everything was great. Food was amazing lots of variety always hot and something for everyone to try. Entertainment staff were polite and friendly and loads to do in the daytime. Evening Entertainment was ok but mainly in spainish could of done with being more mix of English also. Rooms are a great size and kept spotless clean and well stocked with drinks

Bad points for room 516: The safe wasn’t working so had to get someone out to fix it twice in two weeks. The key to the room stopped working so needed to get fixed at reception twice in two weeks. One of the mains power sockets didn’t work/intermittent supply, so couldn’t use it for a charging point or iron. Good points for room 516: Water/drinks always topped up, if not asked reception and would then top up. Cleaned our room and swapped bath towels every day