RIU Hotels Reviews

I asked to move to a safer hotel and they denied and said I need to rebook at a different hotel for that same day but they only one ONE hotel in California so that means I need to rebook my flight in order to move hotels. PLUS they won’t transfer to a new hotel. They’re telling me to spend more money at RIU booking a different hotel in another state for that same weekend and then, just maybe, they will refund my first hotel booking. Unacceptable. Refundable or not, this company is advertising a California hotel that is susceptible to collapse and they are forcing me to stay here. If I die here in May 2025 due to an earthquake, please take this as acknowledgment that this company forced me to stay here!!

There is NO CARE OR SERVICE for people who work hard and do their best to work out a resolution. The manager declined the waiver sent for refund and declined to do anything on this matter. My family is now out of a vacation and $3k (I also cancelled my flight and took a loss there as well since they advised I could cancel still). Because I was MISINFORMED by THEIR agent I am not suffering a significant loss. Absolute fraud and horrible SERVICE!!! Disgusting they could treat me this way.

It took us 12 hours and 3 visits to lobby info desk (and waiting in line for 15 minutes each time) to get an extra pillow because one of the ones in our room smelled. There are 6 or 7 restaurants, but all except 1 are merely buffets. And at the one al-la-carte restaurant (the steakhouse) there isn’t personalized service; you’re treated like a cog on an assembly line. Service in the bars is reasonably good though. Pool side servers were around for only 2 of the 7 days we were there. There is a great selection of pools and a fantastic beach with lots of available seating in the shade if desired. Although listed as a 5 star resort, this is a 3 star at best in reality.

And, unfortunately, the list of negatives… This what was advertised as a ‘connecting’ balcony. As we were on the first floor there was really no ‘balcony’ per se and it did not connect with the other room. In addition, the mosquitoes in the small hallway space between the rooms as well as in the rooms themselves and throughout the internal hotel area of the resort were everywhere.

*On the first day upon arriving, the outside suite door became stuck, and we were stuck within our 2 rooms. After calling the front desk and waiting 45 minutes I had to call again and was told maintenance was handling something else, but I explained that to trapped inside of your room with no exit and wanting to leave was a big deal and we needed someone to get us out of these rooms. They said they would send someone yet again. Another 30 minutes passed before maintenance came. They spent a full 5 minutes trying to use brute strength before they were able to get the door pushed open and we were never able to shut it fully again as they agreed that it completely stuck.

The steakhouse is open air so it has no air conditioning, there were large moths and flying bugs everywhere, and there were 2 raccoons walking around looking for scraps. Pool chairs were not clean, even after telling the attendant and saying he would come back over because whatever pink stuff was stuck on the outside of the chair was attracting the bees. He did not come over with anything to clean it - and the bees were everywhere - you could not put a drink down without a bee crawling into it. We went to the sister resort next-door to use the pool and even though it was lively we left because of how filthy the water was. It had lots dead bugs, live bugs (had to pull one from my sister’s ponytail), and much floating debris.

The main complaint I do have, however, is one that I made several times a day beginning with the first day of the trip. I even asked to speak with a manager or supervisor, but apparently there is none, which doesn’t make sense to me. This would be that when placed in a room with a separate small toilet room and open sink area in the room itself, the glassed-in shower should have the door installed and not left with the holes in the wall where it had previously been screwed in place.

I was told on the first day that maintenance would be on it. When I returned to my room that evening after dinner was still no door and when I called the front desk, they had no maintenance request written down and had to put it in-after telling me they already done so earlier that day. They then told me that some of the showers just don’t have doors. But I told them that there were screws for the doors and this one should have a door just like I told them the day before. I called again the next day and stop by the front desk and they said maintenance was on it but again no door that night.

I continued to go unshowered because I was not showering in front of my brother. And the next day I had to miss the night time show in order to shower because there was still no door even though I was continued to be told that maintenance was on it and getting the door from storage. This happened each day and still no door. The day before I was leaving, someone at the front desk offered to switch my room – I explained that with us leaving the morning, we were not going to move all of our stuff to a new room and it just told me that they never were actually going to give us a bathroom door during our stay and I told them as well that I do not like being pulled along like that and appreciate the truth upfront.

I have never been at a hotel where they have taken the door off of a private shower area, not replaced it, and put paying guests in there and then misrepresented to them the entire stay that it was going to be fixed when it was never going to be at all. I told them the entire time that I was with my brother and we were not showering in front of each other. I have traveled all over the world, and I have never been in such a situation. And for those with door keys not working, One of the times I was at the front desk complaining about the bathroom situation there was someone there who was checking out complaining that they had to come to the desk at least three times every day of their stay because of their door keys not working.