RIU Hotels Reviews

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.

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?

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:

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.

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!

- [ ] 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

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.."

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.

At that time, I asked if it was possible to see the rooms prior to finalizing our check-in. The clerk appeared a bit put-out and frustrated with my request. However, he asked the bellman to assist us with the showing of the rooms. The bellman was very nice and professional. As he opened the door to our 1st room, I immediately smelled a strong odor of a damp, mildew, musty smell. He then showed us the 2nd room and it was just as strong of an odor. There was no way I was going to spend a week in either of those rooms. The bellman did not express any sort of response, as if he had been through that procedure before and anticipated our reaction. So, back down to the reception desk, only to wait in line again.

When I expressed my displeasure with the smell of the rooms, the clerk's attitude turned negative and asked me, “what do you want”! Mind you, I have not even checked in yet, only been in the resort for about 30 minutes and feeling like I am a bother, not a customer. The new clerk handed the bellman a set of keys for two different rooms which he took us to. Obviously, a different level of customer service training for the bellman and the clerks. Again, as he opened the door there was a damp, musty odor, just not as strong. The 2nd room was comparable. We now felt as if we're forced to make the compromise and take the 2 rooms with a bit less of an odor. Or face more rude and humiliating remarks from the staff. Not the warm welcome we were promised.

The clerk also shared that the “available” restaurants do not take reservations, they are on a first-come, first-served basis only. Let’s just say, that was a nightmare experience in itself! Not enough room here to cover how horrific that experience was. After the 3rd night of not being able to get into any of the a’ la carte restaurants, I snuck away from my family to try and find a manager to share my frustration and horrible experience with. I was able to talk to Mr. Adrian **, Subdirector Anfitrion, and explain to him what my experience up till that point had been with regards to the entire resort. He was kind, patient and listened to me vent for about 15 minutes. He then tried to lump everything under the “Covid excuse.”

There were many legitimate Covid excuses. However, I explained to him, having smelly, disgusting rooms and room keys that do not work does not fall under the “Covid excuse”. If you cannot get enough staff to clean the rooms appropriately at 50% occupancy, then you should close the resort. The breakfast buffet restaurant telling me the 2nd morning at 8:30 am that I could not have a Mimosa because they were out of champagne, does not fall under the “Covid excuse.” The same buffet restaurant that night when I asked the server for a glass of cabernet, I was told they had it, but she would have to ask a manager. She came back minutes later and said, the manager said it is not available.” She explained they only had a red blend, a white blend, or a rose’. Really, a so-called 5-Star resort and I cannot order a basic glass of cabernet? That does not fall under the “Covid excuse.”

I can only imagine what, if any, type of wine they are serving at the RIU Guanacaste Resort next door. Also, having a busload of 80 disruptive visitors pull up on our 3rd day, all with their own glass bottles of liquor, drugs, and loud stereos and yelling vulgar obscenities. Breaking bottles near the pool, smoking **, being allowed to play extremely loud, vulgar, explicit music in a family resort does not fall under the “Covid excuse.” Several trips to the front desk to get new room keys, because ours and many others malfunctioned, does not fall under the “Covid excuse.” Not having bottled water available (except one in the room) around the resort, does not fall under the Covid excuse.” Not being able to provide change to your guests so they can tip the staff, does not fall under the Covid excuse.” Not having an ATM resort and being told to drive 45 minutes to get cash does not happen at a 5-Star resort and does not fall under the “Covid excuse.”

Closing an a la carte restaurant on two different nights for private parties does not fall under the “Covid excuse.” However, I want you to know that a large part of the service and entertainment staff went above and beyond!! Making a horrific experience somewhat tolerable. Yes, we tipped the staff over $735 for the week. After having to drive 45 minutes to get money and change to tip your staff.

This was my 9th time vising Costa Rica over the last 10 years. And the 1st time staying at RIU. We stayed the 7 days prior to arriving at RIU in a competitor 5-Star resort. Other than a minor glitch with our transportation, the resort exceeded our expectations and lived up to the 5-Star rating. As with RIU, it was a classic case of “bait & switch.” I felt you oversold your accommodations and benefits! I really, really, cannot imagine what we would have received if we had not paid the extra money to stay at the Palace. I feel the RIU Palace in Costa Rica should be rated at a 3-Star resort at best! This was not just our experience as we talked with numerous families that felt the exact same way."

To finish this off, she pulled the door logs (when you come in and out), and checked the cameras. You can see me and my girlfriend walking down the main alley at the exact time the door was opened with the key we had inside!! Again, she was making it seem like it had to have been a mistake and malfunction of the time slips on their end. She gave me an email to contact to hear of any updates on the case, and haven’t received anything to date. I also called and they gave me a disconnected number so I wasn’t able to reach anyone anymore. Worst experience of my life, I wouldn’t go back there again even if it was my last option.

Most of the buildings are 3 stories and dont have Elevators. If you need an Elevator then make sure to mention it to the Front Desk when you check in because there is only ONE building that has an elevator. The other thing is that you will have to take a taxi each time you want to go into or come back from downtown Cabo. It's an easy ride like 5 min. They have taxis 24 Hrs a day available from the Lobby. OH and if you are there fishing they DO NOT HAVE A FREEZER to keep your catch. Other than those things this will be our 6th trip staying at the RIU Santa Fe. It's a great deal for the price.

Then the ultimate betrayal happened... someone decided to break into our room while we were sleeping. This person climbed up to our oceanview balcony on the second floor and entered through the balcony door on 08/08/2020. He stole our drivers licenses, credit cards, $530 in cash respectively, 2 Michael Kors purses, 1 Michael Kors wallet and one brand new iPhone 11 Pro. This man wandered around our room next to our heads while we were sleeping. It could have went 1000x worse, thank goodness material things is all the person took. The police were called and the proper paperwork was filed. We received a police report receipt but the resort said they couldn’t give us a copy of anything being filed or written. The General Manager Miguel was extremely insensitive, inconsiderate and only worried about the Hotel's reputation. He advised me not to tell other guests because it is an embarrassment to the Hotel.

We were also told the Hotel has 51 cameras around the resort but none on the outside of the hotel facing the beach where the balconies face. The General Manager Miguel was not trying to accommodate or ensure we felt safe at all. He said "I called the police, what more do you want me to do?" We had to demand to be moved to a different room on a higher floor. This new room was a complete downgrade from what we had. The phone didn't work and the pull out couch was replaced with a cot pushed in between the balcony door and the couch. Again we are at the front desk demanding to be made whole. Manager Fabio did get us the proper bedding but after much complaining. Then he had the audacity to say GM Miguel has offered us a romantic dinner on the beach. 3 FEMALE FRIENDS A ROMANTIC DINNER ON THE BEACH.

He was trying to compensate us with food from an all inclusive resort to be delivered to a table on the beach. Even after everything the staff did not warn or advise other guests to lock and verify their balcony and main doors are locked at all times. We sat outside on the balcony after the incident for over an hour and not once saw security patrolling the beach side of the hotel. Security was not increased or changed. It was business as usual. It was hard for us to sleep for the rest of the stay. We slept with the lights on and we kept waking up to any little sound we heard.

The level of violation we experienced was absurd. We were first violated by a stranger rummaging around the room, in our bags right next to our heads. Then we were violated the second time by the outrageous amount of insensitivity and unsympathetic response given by your General Manager and staff. We are all front line workers and understand completely the importance of Covid-19 precautions but you cannot sacrifice other needs or guests. The security and safety of your guests should be just as important as the health of your guest.

When the issue was brought to the attention of the manager on duty, Diego, I was advised that the hotel chooses rooms randomly upon check in but if that is the case why did I have questionable guests blasting music & smoking ** next to me when I had checked in hours prior & why after changing rooms to a lovely room with a balcony was I greeting with people next door on their balcony talking loud and blasting music again? Is the implication that all brown faces are smoking & blasting music? Problem #2, I was expecting company so I left the person’s name at the front desk so they could be given a key.

Not only did the person at the front desk give my guest a key without checking his identification but he also said that he remembered him from the night prior and handed over the key. First of all I checked in ALONE and second of all what happened to proper security measures?!? Suppose they gave the key to someone who came to rob me or worse? The final straw came as I was packing my bags to check out & was greeted by a tiny baby bed bug sitting on the pillow. That was it for me. Never again! Maybe because it's NY they think we should just settle for whatever, however when trying to recover from the loss of business due to the pandemic you’d think they’d be providing the best services. I hope those booking later have a different experience.

We received informed from the hotel in Jamaica that they will not issue our refunds (over 20 guest) not until 90 days (3 months) and they are also charging myself and some of my guest a late cancellation fee that was beyond our control and a WORLDWIDE pandemic.. This is TOTAL unacceptable. We are STILL having our wedding in Jamaica and there are plenty of other properties that will be happy to schedule reservation for me and my wedding guest. I travel to Jamaica often and RIU was always my hotel of choice, but with this recent issue I will NEVER visit another RIU hotel again..

The bathroom had a steady smell of rotten sludge coming from the shower, most likely the drain. It was nauseating and you never felt clean. The food sucked, except for the Italian restaurant. For a place that advertises no reservations, it was disappointing to be turned away from a restaurant because we "weren't on the list". I could go on and on, but I think what I have written should be enough. What's worse is that I politely contacted the Riu. After several back and forth emails, their reaction was an unacceptable 'oops, sorry about that and if you book again we will give you two free nights for half of your family.... you will have to pay for the rest..' Disgraceful and absolutely unacceptable. Waste of $8,000 and an embarrassment when my family brings up the Riu-otten as they now call it.

- 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 **