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RIU Hotels Reviews
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Reviewed Nov. 15, 2023
My experience at RIU KUKULKAN fell far short of expectations. Despite being a new hotel, it failed to deliver on several fronts. The reservations process was a disaster; we were charged for supposedly complimentary services and left unaware of the availability of a king-size bed. During check-in, reservation issues arose, and both Jenny and Monse, the on-duty manager, lacked empathy and professionalism.
Room cleanliness was subpar, with pillows lacking inner covers and a lingering sweat odor. While the food was acceptable, the restaurant service was lacking unless tipped generously. The beach, although beautiful, was frequently marked with a red flag, making swimming challenging for half the year. Regrettably, I don't foresee returning to any RIU hotel based on this experience.
Reviewed Oct. 24, 2023
They are doing a lot construction. First they put us in a room that had an open electrical closet with cables and transformers right there in the room. Very dangerous especially with kids. That alone is incomprehensible that they would put guests in danger of being killed by electrocution. I called reception and they moved us to another room in the new wing. Most of the night for hours, a loud alarm went off outside. So loud that it was impossible to sleep. They told me it happens all the time and they've done nothing to address it thus far.
The next day I complained about a very bad experience and was met with a poor attitude and indifference. They just didn't seem to care. Upon arriving back home, I wrote to their complaints department. After some back and forth, the Riu agreed to process a refund for €110, half my nightly cost. Per their request I sent them my bank info so they could process a wire transfer. That was over two weeks ago. To date, they have not processed the refund. The excuses so far have been, it will happen this Sunday. Our system is broken and can't wire money to the United States. We don't issue credit card refunds. Talk about gaslighting. Things happen like alarms and construction, I understand that, although not open electrical closets. It's what's done about it that matters. With the Riu, what was done about it has been nothing but lies and excuses. Excuses so offensive to one's intelligence, they're laughable. Where is this company's integrity?
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Reviewed Oct. 15, 2023
Well maintained resort, clean and helpful staff, food and drinks lots of options, pools clean and welcoming, rooms well cleaned daily, fridge restocked, easy resort to get around to restaurants, pool and beach. Only disappointment was the steak house. It was not close to what we would expect. Front counter staff Valeria and Alejandra went above and beyond the call due to a medical issue that I encountered. Lucy at the swim up bar is amazing. Destination services for transfer and excursions very helpful and accommodating. Was there sept 15-23 2023. Very hot and would go back. We love los cabos.
Reviewed Oct. 3, 2023
We have been coming to this resort since 2010 and have never had the problem(s) like we did during our last stay at the Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana (September 5 -13, 2023). For five consecutive nights (out of eight), starting Thursday night, September 7, 2023, through Tuesday morning, September 12, 2023, we had to experience the Fire Alarm System sounding off at various times (up to 3 or more) during the night/morning. The excruciating sound of the alarm would cause us to be jolted out of bed thinking there was a fire in the resort. The first night at 3:30 am, we were half dressed before the alarm stopped. It would take us hours to go back to sleep only to be woken up again.
At 7:50 am on the morning after the second night (Saturday, September 9) the Fire Alarm went off for the third time. We called reception asking what was going on and did not receive much of an answer other than they were supposedly checking on it. The next two nights we encountered the same exact thing. But on the fifth morning (Tuesday, September 12) when the fire alarm went off for the third time at 6:00 am, I tried to call reception and got a busy signal. I put on my clothes and walked to reception in the front lobby. There were two Riu staff members at the reception desk and one customer talking with them. The staff told the other customer that they thought the problem was someone smoking in their room. They told me they thought it was smoke in the kitchen being generated when they started cooking.
One of the staff even said they were going to go to the kitchen to disconnect the alarm so it wouldn’t go off!!! I explained to the two staff employees that not finding out what was causing the problem with the fire alarm system was conditioning people to ignore the alarms. That if there were a real fire at the resort, many people might not even attempt to leave their rooms. Later that morning after breakfast, I went back to the lobby to speak to the hotel/resort manager. I stood outside the Manager’s office several minutes before a man asked if he could help me. I asked to speak to the manager and apparently, he was the manager (Jose **). I explained to him that we were tired of being woken up several times during the last five nights by the Fire Alarm and asked why the problem had not been resolved.
I also explained that this was no vacation and that we were going to have to go home to get some rest. He said something about the fact that he had just learned about the problem from other customers. Apparently, his staff had not made him aware of the problem (no chain of command process). He mentioned that he was going to call the engineer that morning. I asked why the engineer had not been called after the first night to resolve this problem. At about 10:00 am that morning, the electricity went off in the resort for about four minutes. Then the Fire Alarm went off for three short intervals.
I called reception later that day and asked if the problem had been resolved. During the phone conversation, I found out that the Hotel Manager had been off on the previous Saturday and Sunday. Which could explain why nothing had been done to resolve this situation. I thought this manager was very young and inexperienced to run a large resort such as the Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana. Frankly, I was appalled that no one who works for Riu took this seriously enough to act on this major annoying and inconvenient problem that caused us to suffer this kind of treatment for five nights. We also encountered the following other problems during our stay:
Room 1117 Problems:1. Our shower was not draining properly (a large amount of water was running all over the bathroom floor). We called Maintenance three times. They attempted to try to fix the problem by caulking the glass around the shower, but water still ran on the floor. To deal with the problem, we asked housekeeping to leave us extra towels each day to mop up the water. We were not offered another room until two days before we were due to depart when someone decided it was a bigger problem that was going to take longer to fix.
2. The hairdryer did not work. Maintenance removed it from the wall and replaced it with one that was barely hanging on the wall and very dirty. We were afraid to use it.
3. The electrical outlet on the right side of the bathroom sink did not work. To fix this, Maintenance inserted a screwdriver into the socket and twisted it around until it shocked him.
4. There were two lines of poop dried on the front of the toilet. Apparently, it was not completely cleaned before our arrival. It took 3 days and my wife had to point this out to housekeeping before it was cleaned.
5. The two USB ports on the right side of the bed did not work. Maintenance fixed by inserting screwdriver into the slots.
6. One night at about 10:20 pm, housekeeping woke us up by pounding (not knocking) very loudly on our room door to deliver towels, which we did not request.
Other Resort Problems:1. The night we were in the Japanese restaurant (Yokohama), I ordered the Beef Teppanyaki with vegetables. When my food arrived, the beef was not eatable. I could not cut or eat it and the beef had a very unusual color to it. I had to send it back and ordered the tempura instead. My husband's meal was not much better. A friend with us ordered the Seared Tuna with Sesame and Pistachio and it was very tough.
2. We had other guests move our towels and personal belongings that were on our chase lounges around the adult pool one day while we were at lunch. We have experienced this same problem at other resorts because the resort sold Day Passes to locals or cruise ship passengers. I enquired at the front desk if Riu does the same thing. I found out that the Riu Palace Punta Cana offers a one-night stay to citizens of the Dominican Republic for $121.00. I understand why you do this to increase your room occupancy rate, but maybe they should be told to have some respect for other people’s things.
I filed a complaint with Riu Hotels as soon as we returned home to the USA and was extremely disappointed in the reply I received from Riu. Their explanation regarding the fire alarm system being “regularly” maintained was not true during our stay. I feel that the maintenance contractor should have been called the day after the first time the alarm went off during the night. I don’t think Riu took this situation very seriously and feel that they were almost saying I lied about the fire alarm system problem. Trust me, I did not exaggerate the issue. We asked for a refund of our lodging and only received 500 points added to our Riu Class account (500 points=$50 USD). This was not even sufficient for the inconvenience(s) we endured during our stay. I would not recommend Riu hotels to anyone again!

Reviewed Aug. 7, 2023
Just came back from RIU Dunamar Mexico. Spent 10 days there (July to Aug 2023). Worst ever RIU I've stayed so far. Will not recommended nor will go back. Poor management, inconsistent service, bad customer service, favouritism towards locals, unfriendly, unwelcoming. 90% of the guest are locals. A lot of garbage left overnight at the beach, never picked up, lounge chairs were not cleaned up. Entertainment stage is located in the middle of resort, so you will hear all the noise, loud music, screaming people until it is over, no matter which part of hotel you are staying in. Food is repetitive, no themes, over salted most of the times, meat is overcooked. You will not be hungry, but nothing spectacular or memorable. Desert is boring, looks like chef has no idea what to cook for desert. I am a fan of RIU chain, but this one is decadently not in my list. Very disappointing experience.
Reviewed June 29, 2023
I just returned from Rui Ocho Rios Jamaica from 6/18-6/21.
- [ ] When arrived at 1pm Monday my room wasn’t ready until 4:45 pm.
- [ ] After finally getting in the room I was extremely hot and the room temperature was 76.1 degrees. I tried to adjust the thermostat but it wouldn’t change. After calling maintenance he stated the thermostat was locked at 22 degrees Cel he adjusted it to 20 degrees Cel =68 degrees F but the temp in the room didn’t change at all after about 3 hours. I called again because still no change in the room and I was constantly sweating and uncomfortable through the night.
- [ ] After five attempts of getting the air fixed in both rooms maintenance confirmed that the entire section we were in had troubles with the A/C (we both had junior suites). So finally in the evening of day two they moved us to new rooms. One was in the same section and one in another building. I asked at the front desk of the room in the same section will have the same issue. I asked if that room temperature had been checked and I was told yes by maintenance and a supervisor. Negative that room was the same temp as my last rooms just two floors above.
- [ ] Also the refrigerator in my room had various beverages that were warm, the refrigerator was not cooling at all.
- [ ] My family member who was just two floors above had to call also for the same issue as her room was 77 degrees. Maintenance was unable to resolve her no A/C issue either.
- [ ] I only received one key to my 1st room therefore my room was dark every time I came back at night. Apparently their rooms are powered by one of the room cards, and the other should be used for entry.
- [ ] During one day I went to the pool and was unable to get a towel because I needed a towel card apparently. I had no clue about a towel care being needed and that I should have been given one at check-in. And they wanted to charge $20 for not returning a towel card that they never gave me upon check-in on my first day
Reviewed June 20, 2023
I am writing in regards to my stay at the Riu Republica in Punta Cana. 6/1-6/5. I decided to pick this hotel because I heard great things about the other Riu resorts. I along with 10 of my friends and family members booked our stay there for my 50th birthday. Everyone had issues entering their room. The front desk staff was very nonchalant and did not seem to care. We had plans for each day, on my actual birthday, we had an excursion for a yacht party. An hour before the excursion, I tried to access my room, I could not get in. I went back and forth to the front desk 3 times, still could not get in. Joanna told me that she was going to change my room, I said, "Please do not change it because I am going on an excursion, I am unable to do it now."
Upon my return, I could not get into my room and the front desk lady called someone up and they explained that Joanna had changed my room anyway. And they asked me where was my belongings…. Being that I was on an excursion, I did not know. I was upset and told them that I did not appreciate this, and I’ve never been through anything like this EVER!!.. Joanna was the front desk clerk
At this time we had dinner planned for my birthday celebration… I missed it because I had to move my items from one side of the resort to the far far back of the other side.... Once we got to the new room, the technician tried 4 room keys and none of them worked, he had to use his master key!!! I said well if I want to leave my room what should I do.. He said you’ll have to go back up front to get a new key. I had to go back 3 times after the move. The new room leaked when I took a shower, and the AC did not work
6/3, 6/4 – same issue, myself and my 10 guests had to go to the front desk constantly.. all day and night!! The shower leaked into the room whenever I took a shower. There were no face towels, when I asked for one, the housekeeper asked me for money. Per the description online, there was supposed to be bathrobes, there were none. We went to a restaurant and a bird was literally sitting on the fruit, and the staff were just standing there!! They did not try to shoo it away until we said something.
Unfortunately, the Riu Republica has turned me against visiting Punta Cana again. I am an ** woman, and I felt like I was being treated differently because of that. I am also a veteran who has traveled all over and I have never felt this way. I spent a lot of money to celebrate my birthday and was treated terrible. When I contacted corporate they said, "Sorry try another riu hotel.."
Reviewed Jan. 13, 2023
Most recently, I was charged a no-show fee of over $2000 on my credit card when I know and had proof that I cancelled our reservation. Be careful with this place. They don’t work with you in a fair manner. I stayed at Cancun back in 2020 at Palace Americas. Someone roofied our drinks at the pool and stole all our belongings. We reported it to the front desk and nothing was done. Be extra careful and watch ALL your belongings. We feel it was an inside job.
Reviewed July 21, 2022
I wanted to share that Riu Republica All Inclusive Resort has roaches. There was a roach in my room, which I showed the cleaning lady and a flying cockroach in the restaurant by the food. I quickly left out of the restaurant. Also, while I was eating I witnessed at least 10 white people touching and playing with a stray cat. And someone took a plate of food from the restaurant to feed the stray cat! And then that plate will go back with the rest of the dishes that people use. Very disgusting experience. I have never seen that in my life.
I also have video of the roach near the buffet and pictures of the cat eating buffet food. Their response was, "We deeply apologize if you felt that your experience was not one hundred percent reflective of a true RIU holiday. Our apology at this time may not undo the inconvenience that you felt, but our regret is sincere and our effort in the future will be guided by your comments." Based on the information provided, the hotel advised us that unfortunately they cannot offer any compensation for the issues they experienced. I was not satisfied by the response.
Reviewed July 19, 2021
We booked a flight+hotel vacation to a RIU property in Mexico but had to cancel due to COVID. We received a refund for the hotel and an airline credit on United for the travel portion. When life began to come back to normal, I tried calling to to use my airline credit but was on the phone for hours before I was told it had to go through another department. When I finally got someone, it took more than 3 hours to find availability. I was told I had $200 collars credit remaining but could not use it toward premium economy or anything or toward making it a refundable ticket. Further, the customer service agent for really really rude. I will never ever ever go through RIU even if someone paid me to.
RIU Hotels Company Information
- Company Name:
- RIU Hotels
- Website:
- www.riu.com
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