RIU Hotels

- 3 options of the cocktails that we wanted to have and were on the menu were not available as they didn’t have ingredients.

- 3 options of the cocktails that we wanted to have and were on the menu were not available as they didn’t have ingredients. still!

- 3 options of the cocktails that we wanted to have and were on the menu were not available as they didn’t have ingredients.

- Poor Maintenance of the swimming pool. The electrical light was loose and floating in the pool. See attached picture. This is a dangerous issue that we had to report to the hotel.

- STILL no ice cream. They now closed off the freezer as all of the ice cream had melted and was like soup.

The specialty restaurants also weren’t open as posted in the brochure that I was given upon check in. When I asked about they told me they decide daily which ones are gonna be open so I need to call the desk daily. Umm, ok well why give me a brochure with times if you set your own schedule. So, I tried their game and called the front desk more than once with, wait for it, NO answer! Went to the gift shop on more than one occasion, sign says OPEN, no no it’s not open. No one there and it’s closed. Who runs this place. I will never ever ever stay in a Riu property again. I have traveled the world and I’ve been in a hurricane that had better service than this. Don’t go people!

I've been on the phone with them for 5 hours today. Every time I ask to speak with a supervisor I am put on hold and after waiting for 10-15 minutes I get hung up on. I have to call back and be put through the ringer yet again. Most recently, I was being told that the flight that I want is far more expensive than what I am seeing online, and I am told that a re-book flight is far more expensive so I have to pay the difference on top of paying a $400 fee to re-book. Every website I have checked has shown me the flight at a price lower than what I'm told by RIU so I am assuming that they are charging me extra to pocket the fees. I will be filing complaints and contesting all fees with my credit card companies.

We then went outside to the bar area and ordered drinks. They were the worst drinks I’ve ever had in my life. The consistency and taste were horrible. My friend ordered a mojito and it looked like salad in a cup. It was just all leaves mixed with alcohol that tasted like gasoline. The pina colada that I ordered was sugary crap with a puddle of rum on top. Dinner was a joke for two reasons. One: you have to wait on a long line like cattle for two seating times. 6 or 8 o clock. Which means you need to get off of the beach or pool very early just so you can eat a crappy meal. Two: the portion sizes were a joke. We actually laughed every night at dinner. The ‘shareable appetizers’ wouldn’t even fill an infant. We were late to dinner every night because we had a blackout every night. Which means we were not ready in time.

My sister and I had adjoined rooms. We could not blow our hair using the hotel hair dryer at the same time because we would cause a blackout. So every night we had to try to coordinate who would use the hair dryer first. This caused us to be late to dinner and ultimately not having somewhere to eat for dinner. Luckily we were able to coordinate since it was my sister in the other room. Had it not been my sister or someone I knew, this would have been a big issue. The staff was rude. I can’t say that one staff men ever was friendly. All 6 of us felt like we were a burden at dinner and especially at ordering drinks by the pool. The staff would roll their eyes or tell us no. Even at dinner, some restaurants told us that we cannot order drinks or frozen drinks at dinner. This is so unheard of for me. Every all inclusive that I’ve been too everyone is very accommodating and friendly.

This place lovesss to tell their guests no. "Can I have coffee?" “IN A MINUTE!!” "Can I have a pina colada?" "No!" "Can I have Parmesan cheese?" "No!" "Can we have a table for six?" "No!" This place has no beach bar or beach service, a tiny pool and rude staff. Since there is no beach service, that means you will dehydrate to death. The room feels damp all of the time. It felt like I was sleeping in wet sheets every night. The few good things I can say about this place is that the wifi is good, the beach is gorgeous (ocean water crystal clear, no rocks, coral or seaweed) and it’s a two minute walk from Atlantis. We went to Atlantis every night because the RIUs entertainment center is ratchet and also a joke. Umbrellas and small tables on the beach were not always available. I am mind blown from this place. And the class of people that stay here are trash. I will never stay at a RIU ever again in my life.

My friends have a trip booked here and I told them how it is and they are changing the hotel. I didn’t pay all of this money to feel like an inconvenience on a vacation. It was supposed to be relaxing and it wasn’t. If you don’t have a sense of humor, then don’t stay here. All 6 of us laughed 24/7 at this place. We made so many jokes to last a life time. DO NOT STAY HERE!!! They need to clean up their act.

Another couple was out on property and when they returned to their room, the maid had left the door OPEN and ajar, again the sub-manager DENIED his staff had gone in his room! Police in Cabo rated the RIU resorts the WORST in the region and told us horror stories of thefts in each of the three (3) resorts there! During our 6 day stay, we were approached by 10 ’other families who were ‘hit’ for cash, passports, jewelry, etc. and they were ALL told the same thing, management could not find anyone in staff who entered their rooms! Police are frustrated with RIU management because they DO NOT HELP POLICE! I recommend ‘DO NOT STAY AT ANY RIU RESORT INTERNATIONAL‘!

I filed a complaint with the Riu Group when we returned, and have never had an answer, as they claim to be number one premier vacation group, that is very easy, IF you never reply to your previous customers. Won't happen again with us ever spending our vacation time and money on this "premier group". I would love to get to speak with a person at the Riu Resort Complaint Department. If anyone has any information on how to do this I would really appreciate it. Penny **

The customer service dept at riu.com gave me zero explanation of why this happened, they only told me that they are holding those funds, but "it should be released from my account in 4-5 days". WHAT?!?! Stupidly, I made another attempt at scheduling a reservation! My second attempt, I went through the whole process again and submitted my information and hit the, it was attempting to process and then this popped up: "We hate when this happens. The price of your trip has changed from $1,983.24 to $2,099.24. Rates can change frequently. Book now to lock in this price." They changed the price of the trip AFTER I hit submit. AGAIN...no reservation confirmation received, OR any record that I booked, BUT they certainly charged my card again!!! I DO NOT recommend this company, almost feels like it's a scam. I should have looked into reviews of this company prior to reserving with them!

She reminded us to call and set up our transportation to/from the airport. If you book directly through RIU, they will shuttle you to and from. We asked if we could do it right then and she reported we HAD to do it the day before our departure. I set an alarm on my phone and called the day before. I was sent to 3 different numbers, everyone saying they could not set up the ride – for many different reasons. RIU (the number we had initially called and had told us to call back) said they didn’t do the transportation and referred us to a transportation company who said they didn’t do it and referred us to another RIU extension.

I decided the day before we left I was not going to stress out about this and would just eat it and pay for a taxi. We did that and the day after we arrived at the hotel I spoke with the front desk and explained what had happened and told them I wanted to secure my transportation for our last day there now so we did not need to worry about. They apologized and were more than happy to help with that. They referred me to the transportation people. We watched them write our room number in the scheduler and went on the rest of our vacation.

Then comes our day to leave. We arrive downstairs and they say they cannot find our info in the book (after we watched them write it down). Then their story changes and they say that we arrived downstairs at 9:21 (instead of 9:20) and that the shuttle (which was supposed to leave at 9:30) had already left. This was at 9:25. We went to the front desk who told us that “that transportation” is not RIU’s and they are separate. I inquired why they would send me to them after I had explained in depth the day I arrived our situation.

They had no answers. I asked to speak with a manager. Giovana was working the front desk and was the 2nd most unprofessional customer service agent I have ever encountered. Brenda, her manager, being the MOST unprofessional. She refused to come and talk with us, saying we could talk with transportation about it. We had already tried that! She was literally standing 10 feet away and refused to come over and talk with us. Nothing was done. I have stayed at many resorts and hotels and have never ever experienced something quite like this. We ended up paying (again) the $80 to get to the airport.

Aside from the transportation issues, the housekeeping there was VERY sketchy. I have never stayed at a hotel where they deliver towels to your room at 11 pm. Keep in mind, we already had our room serviced earlier that afternoon. After reading about how many people have recently had money/valuables stolen from their room, it kind of makes sense.

Another issue we had was that on several nights multiple restaurants were closed. This forced us to eat at the buffet more than we wanted. Dinner is 6pm-9pm and we would arrive downstairs for dinner at 6:30 pm to be told by every single restaurant open, that they were full for the remainder of the night. You pay a pretty penny to stay at a RIU, especially the Palace and you expect a few things in return, like decent food and some customer service. Like I said earlier, we will never return to a RIU.

Also my father and myself were both charged as if there were 2 people in our room. When I booked it I told them it was 1 person per room. Online there is a difference in price for 1 or 2 people per room and we were charged for 2 people per room. I contacted them when I got back to the United States via email since this was in Mexico. The After travel RIU customer service women named Melinda **. Said there was nothing she could do.

Two nights had no entertainment, but a pool party that seemed like spring break. I cut the bottom of my foot on a grate between sections of tiles. Was told to walk 5 minutes to doctor. Staff not helpful at all. New Year's Eve had nothing special for entertainment. 2 plug-ins in room didn't hold plug so they didn't work. And a lamp sparked when you plugged it in. I have stayed at RIU's before and this one was nowhere as good. Most staff not that pleasant. I think I'll try different company next time.

I asked if the police had been called. I was asked "If I wanted them called"? I said, "Yes, I would like them called right now". I was told they would call them when their investigation was done. An hour later when I asked if the police were called I was told "I tried to reach them, I haven't gotten them yet". I went to the front desk. I asked for the phone number of the police dept. I CALLED THE POLICE!!! As I was on the phone, the hotel called them as I was told by the person at the police dept. As I was standing in the lobby I noticed a young woman on the hotel phone crying. She was robbed while she slept too. Her room was a couple of doors away from my friends. When the detectives came some 45 mins later to investigate they really didn't seem to care either. They were just going thru the motions. They gave off the impression they were bothered to be there.

There were hands prints on the balcony wall outside of 3 rooms, very visible from their room. There were fingerprints on the glass slider. Neither the police or security took pictures or did anything about the handprints/fingerprints. We were told they didn't have the technology to do anything with them. My friends were treated like they were the guilty as was the other poor girl who was traveling alone. She lived in Jamaica. They treated her worse. We asked for the hotel manager over and over. We never saw him or talked to him in the 7 days we were there. We got the Public Relations rep Carlington **. The crappiness continued. He was smug and matter of fact. He moved their rooms when we asked him too. None of the women felt safe any more. Would you? What a violation. Can you image a man entering your room as you slept? How does one recover from that? What if my friends had woke up?

What if there was a struggle? What if he had a weapon? What if there were hurt or killed? No one cared. Not one "I'm sorry." The young girl was alone. What if she had been **? Or killed? She was alone, no one would have heard anything. There are no cameras anywhere near guests rooms, not in the halls, not on the steps. There aren't any lights on any of the balconies. Later that day we learned there were 2 American Tourist staying at the Riu in Montego Bay were ** at gun point in their rooms the day before we got there. He also came thru the balcony door. (It was all over the news). Back to Carlington **. He asked the girls if they could give him until the next day at 6pm to gather all the info and make some phone calls. We were to meet Sunday night. He called in the morning asked if "their rooms were ok and how they were".

When we came to the meeting nothing had changed and the bottom line was he wasn't in the position to do anything. He offered them Spa Treatments and passes to Dunn's river!!! Talk about a slap in the face. I can't or won't do a damn thing for you but how about a Spa Treatment? No cash. Not even a $100.00 knowing they had every bit of cash taken from the safe in their room. He said when we got home (which was in 5 days) someone would call them. (We have been home 3 days, no one has called). I also emailed 5 times, I posted on their FB page, I messaged them. I got an automated response and NOTHING ELSE!! Riu does not have a customer service number, you can only email. As of today no one has responded. As you can image my friends were devastated. They looked forward to this vacation for months. They spent a lot of money to come to Jamaica. Their vacation was pretty much over in 12 hours.

They spent most of their time in their room. As you can image how does one recoup from this? They never felt safe. I didn't feel safe. I have never felt unsafe at a resort before this. The only person who said she was sorry or cared at all was Erica the Amstar rep. She works for Apple. She sells excursions. She was the only one who helped. She did follow up calls to the police station. She called Apple to find out what our travel insurance covered. It does not cover cash or phones. She doesn't even work for the hotel. She showed more compassion and understanding than anyone. The police report was to be rushed to have back to us the day before we left. They never got a police report. No one from the Riu corporation ever spoke to us during the 7 days. We never saw or spoke to the manager, No one checked back in with my friends from Sun-Fri. I have stayed at Riu resorts in the past. I will never stay there again.

I won't go to Jamaica again. The employees we talked to told us this wasn't uncommon. It happens quite often. The maids would clean the room and leave the balcony doors unlocked after cleaning them. Happened twice in my room. Once in the room of my friend. I will give a fair review of the place. The resort is beautiful. The food is good. I recommend the Japanese place. The rooms all smelled musty from the drapes and couches. The rooms were very clean. The hotel front desk staff was unfriendly. The entertainment was also very good. They worked from early morning to midnight. I saw a review about watered down drinks. I was told they were watered down a few times. The pools were dirty!! The main pool was closed 3 days in a row until late afternoon to be treated. The main pool is full of mold. The grout is black from mold. Straws floated in the pool. Dirt and sand lined the bottom. Cups were in the bottom of the pool.

Staff ignored all the empty cups sitting around the pool until around 5. Security or shall I say the lack of security should alarm you. This is 2018. The room keys are real keys with your room number on the tag. You get handed a lock with an actual key. The safe is not digital. Other building in deluxe area had key cards. You should never have this experience when staying in a resort. Security needs training and Carlington ** should not be the face of that hotel. He needs sensitivity training and he needs to be removed from his position. I have never seen anyone handle something so poorly. This man is a joke. He made you feel unimportant. As a guest you are entitled to be treated with respect as are your concerns...everyone matters as does their safety. I hope this review finds its way up the chain. I hope you take what I've written to heart and consider it before choosing to go to the Riu in Ocho Rios.

There is no doubt in my mind THIS WAS AN INSIDE JOB!! This man had no fear, he knew his way around the room, he knew where the safe was and how to open it quietly. He also opened the balcony door with ease. When we compared notes with the other girl that was robbed it came out that the girl that checked them in offered them surprise upgrades on her own. She told them both "I'm going to upgrade you to a nicer room, keep it between us". No one care about that either. I hope this review helps. My friends stayed on the 2nd floor. Notice the overhang. He climbed that and walked down the whole row of rooms, scaling the divider wall between each room. Unnoticed by security.

On a third day I requested water that never came and I had to go and retrieve it myself meaning nobody should have been in my room. On one other occasion I had noticed someone was in my room as someone had refilled my minibar though I didn't request it. I didn't think much of the occasions when my room was entered when it wasn't requested as we were drinking all the water in there while we were there and thought it was helpful to have it refilled and obviously the towels were used. On the day I went to check out, at 9 am I was repacking all my things and was counting my money to see what was left. I had $160 USD missing. One $100 USD bill and 3 $20 USD bills. The KIND soul who stole from me had enough restraint to leave me $50 in $5 dollar usd bills in my envelope.

I ripped apart my entire suitcase and wallet looking for the money. I have enough sense to know that I didn't put it elsewhere but I was willing to give it a shot. At 9:30 am I went to front desk to report my issue, I asked for a manager and was not directed to one. I was told to fill out a report, and that within 24 hours I would get an update from them on their investigation and I would get a note slipped under my door. I told them I was checking out that day and they said that their director would email me then with their resolution. I was given a sheet of paper with the "directors" email.

The following day, 24 hours went by and I still hadnt heard. I left it alone, gave them more time. Finally by the 3rd day, I emailed THEM asking for an update even though they should have reached out to me, no response. Emailed them again on the 5th day, no response. It is now October 8th, and I checked out on the 1st and I have still yet to receive an update on my case nor have I even received any sort of acknowledgment to my emails or my case.

DO not stay at the Santa Fe. -The housekeepers do not thoroughly clean, and the hotel has the worst communication skills on the planet. They wait till you check out to spring fees and charges on you that were never mentioned AND then have the nerve to be rude when you inquire why there is any charge at all for something that was their error. (It's an all inclusive resort, what if you didn't have money or spent it all as they never told you about them??)

-Something was leaving bites all over my legs the first 3 days I was there until I requested full service and had the sheets changed. (I do not know what was eating me but they were NOT mosquito bites.) -The hotel mirrors have these horrible giant black circles all over them. -The tub in our joined room needed work. -There were cockroaches in the hallway. -Tiny little red ants crawling on the tables at dinner at the buffet. -Server at the main bar in the lobby at night is extremely rude IF you don't tip. -Food was mediocre at best.

Then when we were finally checking out, the Sunwing staff was extremely rude and unhelpful. There were no signs marking where the pick up was and not a single soul bothered to ask us if we were with the departing party when we were clearly standing in the lobby with all our luggage. It wasn't until a giant line formed (that we were there long before) that we tried to get in line and they told us to get to the back.

Additionally they weigh your carry on luggage which is the most ridiculous thing as typically when your suitcase is over, you take things out and put it in your carry on. I didn't have this issue but the fact alone that they asked to weigh my carry on tells me they probably encounter this ridiculous issue all the time. If you don't mind your things being stolen and nobody taking any accountability for their shady room staff, the front desk being rude or the fact that the property is dirty - definitely stay at the Santa Fe as the staff who actually greeted and ran the activities were very nice.

Tuesday we go to the bar by the pool and sit at the bar. Say hello in English and Spanish and he looked at us and walked away. So we assumed he didn’t hear us so we went to the other side and sat down and he skipped us, and went to the straight ** couple that sat next to us and wife of the couple says, "Didn’t you come first" and flags the bartender down. He throws up his hands showing frustration and we walk away. I turn around he’s shaking his hand laughing. Wednesday we walk into the buffet and get no service but everyone around us got service. I raised my hand for service. I just wanted a drink and ketchup. He tells me (un minuto) means one minute. He never comes back to help and when he did all he said was (they are closing in few). We ask for drinks and ketchup and never received anything. We didn’t even get our plates cleaned off our table.

Thursday we got to (bamboo) waited to be seated for 15 mins. It was long for us but still waited patiently. We get seated by a waiter not the host and after eating for about ten mins the host comes (black uniform) and yells at us and demands us to move. We were puzzled so I ask him why? He snatches our plates and puts it on another table walks away saying (**) meaning (**). I’m from California. I know all the bad words. The worst day of all was when I went to the steakhouse. I literally cried. I wanted to go to my room and didn’t want to come back out. I arrived an hour before closing and wore the wrong shirt. My fault and was sent back to my room because I had to go in my room and change and iron a shirt to eat. I was served cold food, but earlier that day we sat down at the pool and was asked to move because they needed to clean so we did and they never cleaned and sat two ** people in our chair.

I walk up to the people and they apologize and give us our seat back. At dinner we sat down next to a ** couple and was asked to move and I asked why and the waiter tells me, "This seat has been assigned" so we got up and asked what table can we sit at with our plates in our hands and he just points and says, "THERE" AS HE POINTING ACROSS THE ROOM. So I say, "Well that doesn’t indicate where" and huffs and puffs and brings us to the table. So we sit down and he walks away so I see him bringing drinks to other tables so I raise my hand and he comes over and I say, "Can we get our drinks" and he points to the soda machine and says, "They are right there" and walks away. I broke down and left and went to my room. The treatment is so bad I literally been trying to find other places and towns to visit so I can at least enjoy my time here.

It’s now Saturday 8:12 pm and I’m sitting in my room because my husband asked me “Can you stay in the room. I don’t want any disrespect tonight. I’ll bring you food" as he walks out with his own bottle of soda because he knows he won’t be drinking with his meal. This is so unexcitable and all I want to do is cry thinking about how horrible we were treated. Something needs to be done because this is discrimination to the max. I’m not threatening anyone but I’m debating if I want to seek legal actions. My mental stage from this type of treatment has me not wanting to travel anywhere because I am GAY AND **.

Around 10:30 am my partner came to the room and discovered a hospitality employee in our room but didn’t think much of it at the time and returned to the pool. At approximately 12:30 pm we returned to the room together. Me being an organized person, I instantly realized that my things in my suitcase were out of place. At that time my partner informed me that Housekeeping was in our room, however, no beds were made, nor new towels given. My partner stated that housekeeping was in the room with the door closed with a broom but no cart outside of door.

I checked my pockets in my suitcase for my cash and wedding band, unfortunately, both were gone. Knowing that my belongings were in my suitcase before going to the pool, I checked with lost and found anyway, with no success. Upon check out I again asked lost and found if someone had turned in my belongings, but no one had. After unpacking and thoroughly going through everything we are missing a pair of women’s brown sandals (gladiator style), $160 US (currency still in bank wrap), and women’s silver and diamond wedding band. I was able to make contact by phone to the RIU Guanacaste on Monday, May 21 around 10 am and was told to call back and speak to Tayan. After explaining the situation to Tayan, I have not been able to reach anyone at the resort.

I am disappointed in the lack of housekeeping following proper protocol of being in our room that was clearly tagged with the do not disturb sign. I am also frustrated with after speaking with Tayan that my calls have gone unanswered, as I accumulate international charges for staying on hold. Since, I’ve stayed at RIU’s before I didn’t immediately think of theft, especially internal. However, the actions of the housekeeping staff that was assigned to our floor and the lack of any follow up is very suspicious. I wanted to bring awareness of this matter to The Powers That Be. And upon reading other guest reviews, similar situations have occurred in the recent past. Although, we had a good time, my family and I will no longer patronize the RIU brand.

The next morning, my daughter went to the onsite doctor. The doctor sent me right away in an ambulance to the hospital where I stayed for 2 days. My blood test showed that I had a parasite. I had to take antibiotics for 7 days. Ended up eating chicken, bananas and rice for the rest of the week, I did not trust the food there. I will not go back to the RIU Republica. I had gone to Punta Cana one month earlier and I was at Secrets Cap Cana. That was a very nice place, way better that Riu Republica! It is a big resort, very commercial, big business, like McDonald's. Very impersonal, I was not impressed.

Upon my arrival back at the hotel, what did I notice the first thing when I got back, but a hotel employee who works in the buffets not wash her hands when exiting the washroom and paraded back into her workspace with germs filled hands!!!! She didn't even use the hand sanitizer upon walking back into the doors. I still have nightmares from my experience of guests looking at me as I was placed on a stretcher and wheeled through the lobby. With no English speaking nurses, not knowing if I was going to live or die. Being left alone for hours with improper IV placements that caused severe bruising and swelling to both of my hands one from the blood under my skin from a punctured vein and one hand from IV fluid leaking under my skin.

This was my honeymoon that my husband paid for. A $5000 vacation gone. I only got to spend 3 out of my seven days without being sick. All because of improper hand washing from staff. I will never go back, and as I write this, I'm certain this has caused long term PTSD as I cannot get that day out of my mind now. I'm still dealing with the effects of the parasite. Medications that were prescribed were in Spanish with very little understanding of how long this will affect me.

Today as I’m writing this (Wednesday March 4) I’m just getting back to normal. I called again on Saturday morning to get the AC repaired. Nobody showed up again so we put up with the noise for another night and didn’t sleep again. Sunday I didn’t even bother calling. I just figure it's Sunday. No way is anybody coming. So we spent virtually 3 nights in a row with little or no sleep. Early Monday morning I went up to the front desk and asked to speak to a Manager. The woman said, "I’m a Supervisor, can I help you?" So I explained to her everything written above. There was virtually no offer to change the room, no apology, nothing at all.

At that point I made a decision we have to get out of this place. I told her we’ll be checking out today. She offered no compensation at all so I asked for it. She told me since I booked through Expedia I have to contact them, I told her the only reason I booked through Expedia is because the RIU Website directed me there. That meant nothing to her; she gave me a piece of paper with the RIU email address. I went back to the room and told my wife, "We are leaving. I’m not spending another night here listening to the AC in the room and I’m afraid to eat here," on Sunday we had already starting eating off site except for toast and coffee in the morning. While she was packing I called Expedia to see what they could do, they told me, "Stay on the line. I’ll call the Hotel." About ten minutes later he came back on the line and said to me, "They will do nothing. You have to write a letter to customer service."

I was flabbergasted this is the way this Hotel does business. So that’s what I’m doing. Writing to you to see how you are going to compensate me for suffering with the food poisoning and loss of my vacation for four days, not sleeping for three days, paying for food off site for Sunday for my wife and I, lunch and dinner on Saturday for my wife off site. I also checked out a day early, we checked out at 11:45 AM on Monday instead of Tuesday. I’m not looking to stay at any of your Hotels again.

I would like to say my wife and I have been traveling all over for 40 years and have never had an experience like this or been treated like this before. Another thing that we did not like and other couples mention it also is the loud head banging music. It is non-stop from around 10:00 AM until 11:00 PM. It consist of three screaming girls who screamed because they could not carry a note in a suitcase. It started out at the pool and then moved up outside in the restaurant areas. The three building are set up in a U so the music echoes through all the rooms on the inside. They did not play to the crowd which for the most part were adults. Very few kids. None of the restaurants serve any drinks. Just beer or wine.

As mention by others which I wish I had read before we made our arrangements is the four restaurants do not take reservations, and if you are not online by 6:00 PM and at the front of the line you get handed a beeper with no guarantee of a sitting because the restaurants only serve from 6-9 PM. Each restaurant is small and only seats at best 50-75 people depending on which one you go to. The two that we got into with another couple, the food was Uneatable the four of pushed it away. Aruba was nice but stay at the Hyatt or the Marriott or any of the other nice Hotels in the area, and eat at the restaurants on the street. There are many good ones.

My first experience with the Riu was amazing. We were in Ocho Rios Jamaica. Excellent resort. No complaints. I've had to resort to posting my rant on every RIU page I see hoping for a resolve for my issue. Sad but true. RIU you just lost many potential customers. I'm telling everyone I know and even those I don't know for that matter. Stay away. They'll take your money but will not work to resolve issues, give you a straight answer or give you a refund. Shame on you.

After several and I mean several calls to 844-766-5455 finally talked with supervisor (Randy) who said he would take my issue/situation up with corporate. Promised to call back. Called back. Left voice mail saying corporate will not budge but will reduce extra day charge to $300.00. The number he called from does not accept incoming calls.(602-603-8018). How can ONE be in customer service and not have an incoming call number? After talking to Summer, Sandy and a few other reps I finally talked with Jessica **.

She called RIU PALACE CABO sales office and got our stay extended for the day we lost. She forwarded me the email request as a copy. She also stated that she would request the email department at RIU VACATIONS to expediate this email to copy the sales so it would be complete upon my arrival on Tuesday. Needless to say your email department DID not send. Fortunately, I was able to forward my copy to RIU PALACE CABO sales and Yvonne took care of it.

In my dialogue with RIU Vacations they claim not to be a part of RIU Hotels. When I complained to RIU Hotels they claim not to be associated with RIU Vacations. However, your website directs us to RIU Vacations when making a reservation with plane fare. When you call RIU VACATIONS they answer "thank you for calling RIU hotels". We are only a ONCE a year international travelers. However, be assured we will now be very hesitant to be confident in reserving with RIU in the future due to this experience. Love the RIU on site experience. Not pleased with the total lack of concern by pre-trip RIU personnel and the threatening additional charge/penalty.