Riu Palace Macao

I have traveled 10 times to the Dominican Republic, and I will break down this resort as honestly as possible. This resort is rated as a 5*, but I would give it a solid 4.5*. This is my first time to an adults only and I would definitely lean towards that on my future trips. I traveled as a couple to the Hotel RIU Palace Macao in May 2026 and neither of us had any major complaints about this resort. The resort is clean, workers are very friendly, and the food is good. Make sure you download the app on your phone as this makes your whole stay at the resort a lot simpler as you need the app to request things and review the activity schedule. Check in – The check in process was quick and smooth. We were checked in and in our room in less than 30 minutes. Beaches – The beaches are beautiful, and they work so hard each day to remove the seaweed that washes ashore. You can walk for miles each way. Restaurants – I found the steak house the best as the food was good, consistent, and the service was awesome. I would rate the a la carte restaurants as follows: Steakhouse, Krystal Fusion, Japanese, and then last was the Italian restaurant. The Italian restaurant at the Macao was better than the RIU Palace Punta Cana which I stayed at last year. The buffet has themed nights, but there is a wide variety of foods, and you should be able to find something that you like. Coffee/Cappuccino Shop – The workers here are so nice and full of energy. A big thank you to Franyeli and Elisbania for always having a big smile and being so fun to be around. We would stop by each morning for coffee and pastries before breakfast and in the afternoon to get a late day pick me up. The iced coffee with ice cream and whipped cream was my favorite of mine. Drinks – The Macao is a smaller resort compared to the RIU Palace Punta Cana, so it is easy to find a bar. All of the bars serve Absolute, Titos, Bacardi, and other imported liquors. The Cubano bar which is near the entrance to the resort is a nice quiet place to get a drink, especially before or after dinner. They make the best drinks in the resort and the atmosphere is great. Every bar makes drinks a little differently, but if you want a stronger drink, just ask. Rooms – We were assigned room 2042 which is right above the entertainment stage so it can be a little loud, but the view of the pools and ocean are great. If I had known the room number locations, I would have probably chosen a room that is in a quieter area of the resort. So, if you want a quieter area ask for the lower room numbers such as 2012 or the higher room numbers such as 2084 as these rooms are on the wings of the resort. This room was clean, well stocked, and there were no issues with the room. Housekeeping does a great job, and everything was restocked each day. Entertainment – I would agree with most reviews that the shows are ok, nothing to write home about. The staff works hard and the shows are decent and entertaining. Definitely try to make it to some of the RIU Party’s, they are fun. It is a 5-minute walk to the RIU party location. The casino and the discotheque are just outside of the Macao resort, and a very short walk. The casino is small, but if you want to do a little gambling on your vacation it is better than nothing. We never made it to the disco so I can’t speak to that. Entertainment Crew – They do a great job of getting you motivated, but do not push you if you are not interested. I would like to give a big shout out to Karla and Iguary as they made our vacation so much fun. Overall, I would recommend this resort, and I would go there again. By staying at this resort, you have access to the other 3 resorts (RIU Bavaro, RIU Bambu, and RIU Punta Cana) which are all connected and in walking distance. Like any resort you vacation at, if you go there with an open mind and don’t worry about the little things, you will have a great time. I don’t think you would be disappointed with the RIU Palace Macao.

Booked this trip for my honeymoon, I’ve been here 5 hours. Waited 2 hours for the shuttle to pick us up. When we arrived the staff didn’t activate our key cards so we walked across the whole resort to our room just to walk back to the front desk. When we got in our room we noticed the room smells like mold and mildew (I renovate homes so I know what that smells like). The pillows and pillow cases smell like the last 5 people’s sweat. Called the front desk 7 times they answered once. Went down to the front desk twice and they claimed to have submitted a request to get pillows replaced. Never actually got help. I even brought a pillow down for the front desk workers to smell and they agreed the pillows were dirty. Not very happy that we spent thousands of dollars for this type of service.

We have just returned from an 11 night stay at Riu Palce Macao. I will address the key points first that make up the rating for the hotel. Cleanliness - I have never experienced anything like it. It is immaculate. They work tirelessly all day and night to keep it clean. It is impeccable. Location - If you are looking for a beach holiday, then this is ideal. We found the bedrooms absolutely fantastic. The beds were so comfortable and the pillows, wow, I usually struggle with pillows when we are abroad but not here. Such a good nights sleep every night. Another bonus for this hotel was being able to stream your favourite apps, straight to the TV. This was such an unexpected bonus. Made chill time so easy, rather than trawling through tons of foreign channels. So on to service. The cleaning team and mini bar service - Impeccable. Dining staff. This is where we found it a bit hit and miss. Some staff were exceptional and some were just doing the minimum. So I'd like to give a huge thanks to gorgeous Francia who served us in the buffet each evening. We adored her, she made dinner so special. We'd also like to celebrate Jashander, who had our backs at breakfast. Remembering our drink preferences and always greeted us with such a warm smile. That then leaves me to why this hotel wasn't for us. The entertainment team. They were so loud. We thought we'd chosen the quieter of the 3 pools but as it turns out, there is no such thing as a quiet pool where the entertainment team are concerned. Their need to scream and shout was so off putting. It ruined the whole holiday for us. We'd vacate the pool from midday until about 2pm, just to get away from the noise. If you are looking for a quiet, relaxing holiday, honestly, this isn't it. I don't think we'd stay at a Rui hotel again. It felt more like a club 18 - 30 and we just wanted a relaxed, quiet holiday.

We visited Riu Palace macao in April- had read few reviews before arrival- some not so good as always!! My honest thoughts of this hotel and holiday choice.. I can honestly say we found no faults, our hotel room (3060) perfect view of pool and the sea, the room itself was very big, plenty of storage and one of the biggest balconies ever! Food was plentiful- yes all inc can be repetitive but had no problems finding something to eat We only tried the Kyrstal restaurant had the most amazing beef rib 😋. The all important beach was something like put of a picture postcard - beautiful white sandy beach, clear water, we were also really lucky enough to have seen a stingwray jump out of the sea - AMAZING . Seaweed wasn't a problem a all And the weather was HOT HOT HOT. One day of rain- the day we were leaving 😂 The Riu parties fantastic 👌 the best we have experienced. Staff were all pleasant and smiles👌 There is a lovely walk down the beach path to some shops on resort too. Always plenty of sunbeds available!! I dont usually like to return to the same destination but would 100% return and recommend.

We just returned from a great, relaxing vacation. The beach is gorgeous with plenty of shade trees and plenty of chairs. Some sargassum washed ashore each day and was picked up daily. There were three beautiful pools with plenty of chairs and shade. You would need to select a pool chair in the morning. They were full by afternoon. The room was clean and comfortable. One unique feature was the automatic motion detector lights when you get up at night. The hotel has an easy to follow lay out. It is beautifully decorated everywhere. The buffet was really good for all meals. It was the best all inclusive food we have had in Punta Cana. You do not need reservations for the restaurants and we did not have to wait. We enjoyed the Italian and Steakhouse restaurants the most. The Asian restaurant was the least favorite that we tried. The drinks were good and there was drink service in all areas. They had a good selection but not all of the ingredients for drinks that we like to order. The service was mostly excellent everywhere. Entertainment was mostly late and we did not stay up. I would always like to see more early entertainment. I like to give honest reviews so I have to mention that someone else was assigned our same room and walked in on the first day. Our room keys did not work that night and had to be changed. The first night there was a cockroach in the bathroom. They sprayed the next day and there were no more problems. Because of the great value of the resort, delicious food and beautiful beach we would like to return.