Riu Palace Macao

We have stayed at many Rius in the past and this one is just ok. The food is kind of mediocre and our favorite restaurant was the Asian one, Kabuki. The workers are phenomenal and all good above and beyond. We had the elite club swim up pool and they would bring drinks right to our pool. I definitely would recommend the elite club if you are on the fence about it. Was 100% worth it. The hotel is very clean. We had brought bug spray and wrist bands for insects, but never even opened em. The ocean is super rough in front of the hotel and mostly unusable. I'd recommend looking further south as it was very calm down there. The main swim up pool bar is loud, but the other 2 pools are very chill and relaxing. As other people mentioned, our clothes did have a terrible smell that I had to double wash when we got home. We did walk over to Riu Bavaro and it is massive. We went to the ice cream shop, Candy, and it was delicious. All in all, great vacation.

We are Riu Class members. We have stayed in many Riu Hotels. Our recent stay at Riu Palace Macao was a great disappointment in four areas. Firstly, avoid the fourth floor room assignment. Our fourth floor room was smallish with a tiny balcony. The balcony was infested with pigeons and their guano. The balcony is unusable, the birds coo constantly and they nest near the external air conditioning vent to the room. This is not sanitary in any way. On Day 2, wife got sick.. on Day 4, I too went down with traveller's diarrhea. So- you are confined to your room trying to rid yourself of pigeons. Next- the front desk. Resorts can have the greatest service staff but front desk staff are there for the hotel and not the visitor. You are fortunate if the Front Desk picks up their phone 1 in 8 times. So you have to go see them. I spoke to an Audii- a Front Desk Manager about a rate reduction and she reached into her pocket and whipped out a Riu complaints business card and told me to speak to Spain. I asked to speak to a hotel manager and she told me he was at lunch. I told her I would be in my room and when he returned, I asked that he call or better yet visit us in our room. I waited 1 hour and 45 minutes and returned to the desk to speak to another Front Desk Manager Desmond. He told me the sub-director was still at lunch but the would go to the buffet and look for him. Desmond returned and told me the Sub-Director was resting and would leave the hotel. When I returned to the room, the Head of Housekeeping was in the room and arranging to have the guano on the balcony removed. Lastly, my wife and I both needed azithromycin. Come to find out, Riu only allows one pharmacy to enter their resort area. The Riu sanctioned pharmacy charges 109 USD for 12 azithromycin capsules and two liters of Pedialyte. The local price is $18 USD. You can make your own conclusions about where the 600% mark-up for Riu sanctioned delivery goes. Taken together the events of our stay lead us to conclude neither the visitor not their health is a priority for Riu Palace Macao. Revenue is.

Management didn’t care of concerns. Roaches and spiders on and in the beds and room. It took them 8 to 12 hours to address the issue. And after the issue was addressed and they really came out we were told no rooms were available. My children both had asthma. If you know anything about asthma you know that you can’t be in this type of situation.

RIU Palace Macao, Punta Cana — October 15–21 Nonworking Toilets, Broken Phones, and Serious Safety Concerns What should have been an enjoyable girls’ trip with family became a frightening and disappointing experience. I paid approximately $1,800 for my stay, and I expected the basics: a working toilet, a working telephone, a clean room, and safety. The toilet in my first room did not work, and the toilet in my replacement room barely worked. On vacation, you should not have to worry about whether you can use the bathroom in your own room. The telephones in both rooms also did not work. When something goes wrong—or you feel unsafe—you should be able to call the front desk without getting dressed and going downstairs. These are basic necessities, not luxury amenities. My first room also had problems with the air-conditioning and fan controls. That evening, someone pounded on my door around 9:00 p.m. and again around 9:30 p.m., without identifying themselves in a way I could understand. Although I was traveling with family, I was alone in my room. I could not reach the peephole without standing on a chair, and there was no additional interior security latch. I reported the incidents the next morning, but similar disturbances happened the following night. Staff eventually moved me to what they described as a better room. I appreciated the move, but along with the barely functioning toilet and broken telephone, the hair dryer did not work. I reported the hair dryer after dinner and requested a repair. That did not mean I agreed to a late-night visit or entry without my permission. Late that night, while I was in bed speaking with my husband by phone, a man knocked and entered my room despite my saying “no” at least four times. He spoke Spanish, which I do not understand, and eventually left. As a survivor of a previous attack and sexual assault, I found this especially distressing. The fact that he did not physically harm me does not make entering against my repeated objections acceptable. Later that night, I found large cockroaches on my bed and had to kill them myself. With no working room telephone, I could not immediately call for assistance. I went to the front desk around 6:50 a.m., before a scheduled excursion, but was told the manager would not arrive until 9:30 a.m. I raised my concerns repeatedly, including while crying to a female staff member. The room-entry incident was characterized as a “training opportunity.” I was not asking for anyone to be fired; I wanted the seriousness of what happened acknowledged and my safety concerns addressed. Additional unexpected maintenance visits only increased my discomfort. The beach and food were disappointing as well. During my stay, the beach water was not blue or see-through, and swimming did not feel like a practical option. Overall, the food was below par, with one notable exception: the Asian restaurant was excellent. When I contacted RIU’s complaints department, I was referred to Expedia because I booked through that platform. Expedia said it did not manage the property and could not resolve the issues, leaving me without a meaningful resolution. A working toilet, a telephone to reach assistance, and respect for a guest’s refusal to allow entry should be basic expectations. My experience at RIU Palace Macao fell far short of those expectations, and I cannot recommend this property based on my stay. The staff is this hotels, saving Grace. Although the hotel room was horrible and my experience at this hotel wasn’t great. The staff were friendly. I recommend the omelettes. I highly recommend the Asian restaurant. It’s the only restaurant that served hot fresh food each time I went and ate there. The steakhouse was OK but the food was not hot and the lobster mac & cheese was watery instead of creamy. My guess is to cut cost or stretch the cheese. The first time when we ate at the steakhouse, the bread was piping hot and delicious the other two times we went there. Everything was warm at best. The lobster was rubbery. I do understand it is a resort hotel but I’ve stayed at many resort hotels and the food has been better. I think it’s this hotel chain honestly. This is my third time staying at this hotel chain. I can’t do whatever ever again.

I am not in the habit of leaving reviews as I feel we are all different and have different preferences, however I am going to make an exception for this hotel. The location is like desert island perfect, even if you did get a bit of seaweed at the beach it was cleared. The hotel is stunning as is the whole Riu Palace complex. Food - we never went hungry as there was so much variety and there are 5 restuarants to choose from each serving delicious delights to tempt your taste buds Rooms - Our first room had a lot of humidity and a damp fusty smell but we moved to another room that was great, I would advise people to take the damp/humidity catchers, which we discovered other guests had taken. The rooms are spacious, plenty of storage, optics, fully stocked refrigerator and plenty of clean towels, our room was always well cleaned. Staff - We thought that the greatest strength of this Hotel had to be its staff, who work so hard to make your vacation a memorable experience and with a happy smile. Ok now to the negative bit. We booked this Hotel for some well deserved and needed RnR, however from around 1030hrs most days the entertainment team turned up the volumn then a little later turned up the volumn again and again it was like attending a daytime Rave party, especially when the DJ was shouting down the Mic, all this was focussed around the swim up pool. We declared this pool a no go area for us, the pool water did not look healthy? The type of music played was very repetitive and mostly the same genre, with the F word being heard alot. I appreciate the entertainment team are there to do a job but the Hotel did have other guests who did not want to Rave. Yes I am a person of a certain age I did the 18-30 holidays, Ayia Napa and Ibiza but we booked this Hotel thinking it was a Riu Palace 5* adults only tranquil relaxed getaway and that is definately not what we got.