Riu Palace Macao

Best hotel with the entertainment

Review Me and my husband came to Riu Hotel Palace Macao for our 10 year anniversary and we are already planning our next trip here. We got the elite package and felt that it was totally worth it. We came to relax and loved the elite beach area and bar. We are not big drinkers so we did not take advantage of the alcohol perks but still felt that the elite package was worth it. When we checked in we got to go into the elite lounge and have someone check us in. We felt all of the staff were super nice and helpful. We definitely liked the vibe here as well. I felt the facilities were clean and well kept. The dining options were really good. The Elite restaurant alone was worth the package price in my opinion. The food was incredible and we ended up eating there 3 of our 6 nights. We also ate at the buffet, they had good options there but some of the foods were just ok. We also ate at the steak house and the Asian restaurant. We ate with Degoberto and Alejandra most days for breakfast. They were super nice and made us feel welcome to each meal. Elite has its own buffet dining area. The on site coffee shop was really cute and was open really late. It has more of a focus on espresso, so a cup of coffee would be a larger serving of espresso with more water. It was a very good quality. We did not really participate in the daily activities because we just wanted to be on the beach but there were plenty of activities throughout the day. We did bingo two evenings before dinner but that was the extent. The evening was also full of activities. Always live music to listen to. Shows were done several nights. Karaoke was done one night, a favorite of mine. Trivia a couple of nights. One of our favorite things was the Riu parties. We are not big on going to clubs at home but the parties were over the top and the music was really good. We went to all of them. The only thing I would do differently next time to try to get a room away from the evening entertainment. Our room was right over that area and it lasted until about 11:30 each night. It wasn’t a deal breaker but it would have been nice to have a quiet room in the evenings. We are already planning our next trip.

I have just returned from a 10 night stay at Riu Palace Macao and we had the most amazing time! I went with my boyfriend, sister and brother in law and our age range is 26-30. Room - We stayed in the deluxe double room and were very impressed. The room was spacious and had lots of storage space, including the wardrobe and drawers. There was even lots of hangers, which is always useful! The bed is one of the comfiest hotel beds I’ve ever slept in, as well as the pillows. The air con was really good as well and was consistent and actually kept the room really cool. The mini fridge was restocked everyday with Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite, beer and water. The bathroom was a generous size and the whole room was cleaned/tidied immaculately everyday. We have no complaints about the room at all! Food & Drink - Firstly, I would like to say how incredible some of the waiters are; David, Angel David and German!! They were so friendly and welcoming and polite and kept us topped up every day with Mimosas! All of the wait staff were really nice but these three really stood out for us! The buffet restaurant was brilliant and there was lots of choice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were different themes each night including Mexican, American, Spanish and Italian. I am coeliac and can only eat gluten free and there was so many options for me which I was so impressed with. The food was good quality and there was a great selection of meats, vegetables, fruits, cheeses as well as others. The dessert options were also really good! The only à la carte restaurant we ate at was the steakhouse, which we were really impressed with. The only downside was there was no gluten free option for dessert. As we did not visit the other à la carte restaurants, I can’t comment on these. The coffee shop/bar was great and offered a range of sandwiches and pastries (not gluten free) and fruit and smoothies. The iced coffees were really nice! The sports bar is a good size and has foosball and pool table, though I think you need to pay for this. There’s several TV’s and the staff give you the remote to select what you’d like to watch. The sports bar is open 24/7 and there’s a good selection of food here; nachos, burger, sandwiches, salad and muffins. Pepe’s pool bar is really good and has a good choice of food if you don’t want to attend the main buffet. The drink menu for the entire hotel is amazing, there’s lots of choice and the bar staff will also make anything you request. The quality of the drinks, both alcoholic and soft drinks, were so good. Pool / Beach area - Juana is one of the waitresses at the pool area and she is absolutely incredible!! She came to our loungers regularly everyday to take our drinks order and even remembered our orders without us asking - she really is an asset to the hotel! The pool area itself is a really good size. There are 3 pools; the main one with the loungers in the pool, a smaller one and the swim up pool bar. All are really good. The temperature of pool water was perfect. There are plenty of loungers and there were some still free at about 9:30/10am. Due to the time difference we were up quite early and went down to get our loungers at about 7am and there were plenty to choose from. There are about 10 cabanas however these were all already reserved by about 6:30am. The pool side entertainment was good and consisted of a games and music. It was really good vibes! The entertainment staff were friendly but they weren’t pushy with trying to get you involved with the activities, which we really liked. We’ve been to a few resorts before where the staff can be a bit too pushy with trying to get you involved, where aa at this hotel it was super chilled! The swim up pool bar has music in afternoons which can be a bit loud but it’s not all afternoon and we found this good as it added a good vibe. The hotel is literally on the beach and the beach area is beautiful. There’s so many loungers on the beach and on the sand between the hotel and the sea, so there’s never any worry to get a lounger here. There was a little bit of seaweed but that’s as to be expected and was not an issue. The sea was gorgeous!! Spa / Gym - we went to the gym a few times which is open 24 hours a day. It’s a decent size and has a good variety of equipment. The spa area is absolutely gorgeous and you can book the indoor pool area (with 2 jacuzzi’s and a cold plunge jacuzzi) for free as many times as you like. We visited it nearly every day and really loved this area. There’s loungers and beds to lie on, it’s super chilled there! Casino - we went to the casino a few times. It’s a good size and lots of slots to play on. There is also roulette, blackjack, poker and bingo. The casino is independent to the hotel and drinks are free for players only. Hotel area - the hotel itself was so clean and it’s kept in immaculate condition, both indoors and out. The hotel is modern and decorated really nicely. It didn’t feel overcrowded and had a really nice feel to it. I’d seen a few negative reviews and sometimes Riu hotels can have a reputation for being loud and more like a club, however this hotel is nothing like that. There are Riu parties within the resort however this was not in palace Macao and the parties did not impact or affect us staying at this hotel. The area for the Riu parties is located within a different part of the resort. We didn’t go to the nightclub so cannot comment on this but we spoke to other guests who said it was really good. There’s a shop onsite which sells pretty much everything you need. The evening entertainment was really good and there is a really good mix of entertainment. There’s lots of places to sit outside on an evening for a drink and to watch/listen to the entertainment. The waiters and waitresses are really friendly as well. It’s really easy walk to the other Riu hotels and despite the hotels being within walking distance of each other, it felt nice and private at Palace Macao! The weather was absolutely perfect. We were a bit worried as the weather apps said rain and thunderstorms, however we didn’t have any rain at all and it was sunny everyday. We had the best time at this hotel and are already planning to return next year!! I definitely recommend this hotel!

⸻ I stayed at Riu Macao for my birthday, and unfortunately, the experience was really disappointing. I usually stay at Riu Republica, and the food there is honestly much better. At Riu Macao, the food was not great at all and definitely didn’t meet expectations—especially for a birthday trip. Another major issue was my room making loud, strange noises all night, which made it hard to sleep. That alone made the stay frustrating. What really didn’t sit right with me was the situation at the front desk. I’m a diamond member, and even after they acknowledged my status, I was still asked to pay an additional $200 USD for a swim-out room. What made it more confusing is that they had me sign something stating the upgrade was “free,” even though I clearly had to pay for it. That felt misleading and unprofessional. On the positive side, the entertainment was actually very good and one of the few highlights. Also, if it wasn’t for the elite breakfast and room service, I honestly feel like I would’ve gone hungry most of the time. Overall, this was not the birthday experience I was hoping for, and based on my experience, I would choose Riu Republica over Riu Macao without hesitation.

So I was at the resort from the 15th to the 20th and I when I say i was super disappointed with this hotel. 1st thing I’ll get into is the fact my group had 4 swim up rooms and when I book the room I was asked did I want double beds or just one and for 2 out of the 4 rooms I asked for doubles and wasn’t given that the hotel made no effort to rectify the situation even said the hotel that all their swim up rooms had one bed instead we was told we could downgrade to a room upstairs no as the days progressed as I was walking pass the swim ups I seen a room that had two beds go figure. 2nd issue two rooms was under one reservation and instead of the hotel charging what the break down was for each room they decided to charge one with almost 4000 and the other one 1458 when each room was suppose to be charge 2500. And now the issue wasn’t caught on our end because the hotel charge one card 2100 at check in then two days later they charged the 1458 when we bought this to the front desk supervisor attention he was adamant that we swipe one card twice which was not the case I showed documentation of the price of each room which basically didn’t matter because all the supervisor kept saying was that we swiped one card twice. When I further explained to that maybe he and his staff should take accountability of this issue because the staff was suppose to charge each room the supervisor stated it was his staff that does the breakdown but the reservation team. When asked to speak with the reservation team the supervisor put me on the phone with a team member who informed me it wasn’t them that charge what was charge but yet the hotel was the one’s responsible when in informed the reservation team the hotel is say it’s their fault they asked to speak with the hotel supervisor. There was a conversation between the 2 in Spanish that I could not understand but basically all they did was inform to write a complaint via email. 3rd issue the RIU brand is known as a party hotel and that was far from what we experienced. While at the bar there was another guest who literally stated this is giving retirement home. The did have there white party which was dead than the pink party which I will say was very packed. Last was the neon party which we didn’t make it to but I didn’t hear anything about the party so idk if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 4th issue The food the buffet was just like any other all-inclusive hit or miss so I wasn’t expecting much from it a bigger selection could have helped possibly. The Italian restaurant was a no . The steak house was okay my group had it twice second time majorly of the group ended up with stomach issues. The highlight was pepa which was by the pool and I have no complaints about their food . I’m going to end this long review with I’ll never return to a RIU brand I will stick to what I accustomed to which is the Royalton brand of the Hyatt brand . If whoever reads this decides to go I hope your experience is better than mines