Riu Palace Macao

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.

Some context before I get into the meat and potatoes of my thoughts- I booked this resort for a bachelor party. Before we left my group had a fun time going through the trip advisor reviews because a few of them were a bit extreme and were written by Karens. We are a pretty relaxed bunch but we were surprised to find that some of the complaints were actually valid. most were exaggerated Location- 5/10 this resort is conveniently placed near the casino, the convince store, the night clubs and the Riu party zone. This was very nice. Outside of the hotel amenities I was pretty upset by the amount of seaweed on the beach and the 3 boats obstructing the ocean view. Luckily the bachelor didn’t mind because his preference was to spend time at the pool. Regardless, I was highly disappointed. I understand going to the beach is going to involve sea weed or a few boats but both never left and remained a constant eye sore. Rooms- 8/10 The rooms were one of the best things about this trip. AC worked well and everything was clean. The only negative was that the TVs in both rooms were damaged. Staff- 8.5/10 The people who work here are so awesome! Everyone is always doing their best to make sure you have a great experience and we never ran into someone rude or mean (even though we may have been inebriated enough to warrant this at times). My only complaint here was that a lot of people didn’t speak very good English and that if one us didn’t speak Spanish we would’ve had some issues communicating. While I understand this is the primary language here but when you are marketing primarily to tourists it’s probably a good idea that at the very least everyone at the front desks has at least some proficiency in English Food- 2/10 Ouch the food was bad. It was so bad that I will never ever come back. For context I am a very fat man and I didn’t get this way skipping meals or being discerning with my food choices- especially while drinking. The food was genuinely so bad everyone was skipping meals and by the time we saw Wendy’s and Taco Bell at the airport we all celebrated. Some of the items were decent but it was consistently bad and the occasional good food item became a surprise. Overall- 5.75/10 This was really a fun trip for what it was but we were all very ready to leave. I think everyone was glad this wasn’t like a romantic getaway or a big trip with an 8 hour flight associated with it. A lot of the guests were from England and I think if I had a long flight from somewhere like that i would’ve been very upset with the food situation. I would recommend this trip to a group similar to ours where fun is the main attraction, not the amenities and for around 3 days time.

We’ve had a lovely stay at RIU Macao. The hotel is beautiful, the rooms are clean and spacious, the bed is really comfortable and the balcony is a great bonus. The atmosphere around the hotel is nice and relaxed, and the entertainment team are brilliant. There’s plenty going on without it feeling too full-on, which we really enjoyed. The food has been a real highlight. The steak restaurant was absolutely amazing, and the fish restaurant was just as good. The main restaurant had a great choice of food throughout the day, and the service was excellent. The only restaurant that let things down a little was the Asian restaurant. We waited around 30 minutes before anyone took our order, and we ended up spending 90 minutes there in total. The food was good, but the service was very slow. Hopefully, it was just an off day! The pools are clean and well maintained, but my one big criticism is the smoking around the pool areas. There’s nothing worse than trying to relax on your sun lounger and getting a face full of cigarette smoke. I really think a designated smoking area away from the pools would make a big difference and allow everyone to enjoy their time relaxing. Overall, we’ve had a fantastic holiday. Beautiful hotel, lovely rooms, great food and a brilliant entertainment team. We’ve really enjoyed the chilled atmosphere and would happily recommend RIU Macao. 🌴☀️

Stayed here in September, a few months after Riu Palace Bavaro, mainly for the adults-only side of Riu. Since I've done both, here's how they compare. The 18+ setup is the first big difference. There are no kids anywhere in Macao, and the vibe is calmer. The lobby is nowhere near as impressive as Bavaro's, but the smaller size is a plus. Most guests, us included, loved how cozy and private the resort feels. The buffet is the biggest surprise. At resorts we're usually most excited about the à la carte restaurants. The à la carte here was great, with Krystal as my favourite (the octopus was fantastic), but the buffet was even better. It's very clean, the choice is huge, and we had a themed dinner every night of our stay...sushi, cold cuts, fresh eggs, daily fish, deserts, avocado, mangos, smoothies etc. The drinks are amazing, and the main pool is one of the best I've been to. Bermudez is the king. The real value is that booking Macao gives you the best of both resorts. As a Macao guest you get full access to Bavaro. We went there for morning coffee in the lobby, which is great, and to their pools when we wanted a different ambiance. We also hit their ice cream shop, which Macao doesn't have. Bavaro has a bigger sports bar and a much bigger entertainment area at night. It's the bigger resort, so that makes sense, and going over there is a must. Bavaro's food court is also nicer than Macao's. It's a 5-minute walk, with pizza, tacos, fried chicken and a noodle/fried rice spot. It doesn't work the other way around. Bavaro guests can walk over to Macao and use the pool, but that's it.

Rooms ok but had faults needed fixing but didn't get done. We had 3 rooms in 4 days. Music was ridiculously load. I love my music but it was the DJ shouting all the time and the volume must have been heard miles away. We got stuck in a lift and no help. The lifts were very dodgy. 3rd room had 🪳 Cockcroaches in the bathroom every night. Save your money people. I love Riu hotels but that one is a no no for me.