Riu Bambu Reviews

Nice place- not too pricey and has all the things you need for a nice vacation

Took the family of teens for a holiday over easter. Had been made aware that some motorized activities would be unavailable due to Holy Week but seemed to be limited to off site excursions. Didn't realize the tendency of folks to sunbathe topless and walk the beach that way as well. Otherwise the beach was amazing - great breeze, beautiful sand, pretty clean conditions. Lots of palm trees for shade and very close to the shore (unlike many resorts nearby we noticed) Be warned that although the beach is not too hot, you are getting ALOT of sun - be vigilant with the sunscreen. Very few hawkers - just the odd coconut salesman and extra hotel watersports options being promoted. Hotel Hobie catamarans and kyacks are free for an hour a day but reserve them immediately as they book up quickly. If you know how to sail definitely take them out. Take lots of sunscreen as we went through 5 bottles for a family of 5 for one week and the hotel charges almost $20 a bottle. Also, no hair conditioner provided so if you have a daughter with long thick hair coming along...you are in trouble. Again $20 a bottle on site. Beds are pretty hard. Also, we had a strange set up of two beds pushed together that were not quite 3/4 size but bigger than twin - made to look like a king. Room mini bar is stocked with 4 beer, 2 tonic water, 2 large water bottles, and 4 or 5 pop. Also it had 4 dispensers with vodka, rum, brandy and something else. The teenagers blew through the pop and even though a sign said the bar would be refilled every 2 days, we had to persistently call. Think there should be an option for an alcohol free room. You get one key per room - an actual key - so needless to say, my kids locked themselves out constantly. Staff were very friendly. Be cautious making long distance calls - follow the procedures written by the phone or you will be charged - alot! As this was our first all-inclusive experience, I didn't know what to expect with the food, but it was fine. Breakfasts were the best by far. Had specialty restaurants that required reservations made by 8am the day of at the latest. They were OK. Noticed nothing is broiled or bbqed - always fried on large grills. The pizzas are good. Always a few selections of fish and then chicken, pork and/or beef. Lots of selection of pastas, vegetables etc.. The '24 hour snacks' really was just a fridge in the sports bar with precooked hotdogs, hamburgers and fruit salad. (A bit of a disappointment for the teens). We noticed people brought along a thermal mug to take drinks to the beach and for walks. Probably not really necessary. As we are not really drinkers, perhaps we were paying for what we didn't use, but the kids enjoyed eating whatever, whenever. Lots of activities/competitions that we could have participated in (horse shoes, archery, volleyball, darts, waterpolo, etc., etc.), but you try motivating three teens to step out of their comfort zone! By the end of the week they were more keen, but the holiday was almost over. Most of the shows at night were very good (various musical and dance acts) with the exception of the 'You are the show' night where they involved the audience in completely inappropriate games for anything other than adults - yet audience filled with kids anyways. Simulated stripping, etc. - thank goodness my 16 year old daughter turned down their entreaty to join in before knowing what was involved. Last item - we didn't really realize that we could have used the facilities at the other Riu resorts next door so might have taken advantage if we had known. The gym is actually next door which my son did go to.

I had a great time with my husbund and friends at The Riu Bambu. Food was great. Very friendly people. Front Desk employees are the best special thanks to Julio, he is awesome!!!!. Beach is beautiful, Soana Island is a paradise, excellent tours and good entretainment. Thanks

We have been all over the Caribbean and have decided to come back here twice a year. Excellent value, friendly staff, nice beaches and pools. Lots of fun and partying going on and activities all day. If you don't want that and are looking for something more quiet, go to the Riu Palace Punta Cana next door but it will cost from $800 to $1,000 more for the week.

Even though we were hit with the August 2011 huracane (I forgot what was it named) the next day we got there, the hotel personnel did make our stay indoors as comfortable and entertaining as possible. We even enjoyed a few hours in the pool during the storm when the sun would come out. Actually we didn't realize it was a huracane until we tuned in on the Weather Channel and learned how frantic things were back in the US as the storm trajectory was set to go through New York and back home in Boston. But the weather turned sunny on the 4th day and we made up for the lost time in the last 3 days of our one week vacation. We had a lot of fun. Then we got back in Boston the night before the storm hit there; so we had a story to tell our friends.

My daughter and I just returned from 7 wonderful days at RIU Bambu. We read some bad reviews prior to our trip but I can tell you that we found the resort to be clean, friendly and beautiful. The staff was very friendly and helpful and went out of their way to make sure we had a great time. A representative from Cheap Caribbean was there everyday so it was nice to know that if we had any problems, we had someone to go to. We had a problem with our flight going down and Cheap Caribbean notified our ground transportation and our hotel that we would be arriving approx. 6 hours later than expected. I cannot say enough about the beach and pool. Both were spectactular!!!! I took a walk down the beach and let me tell you that the RIU Resorts have the best and largest beaches. Others were crowded and not as nice. The rooms were very clean. The beds were a little hard and the pillows a little flat, but other than that the rooms were fine. The food was ok but not a 5 star quality. We were able to find stuff to eat. Thank goodness for the fresh fruit, cheeses, bread, potatoes and pizza. Overall everything was fine. We plan on returning next year and are going to bring some friends with us. Thank you Cheap Caribbean.com for such a great trip!!!!!!

What an amazing staff the Bambu has! From the minute we arrived to when we checked out it was non stop graciousness. The rooms were always clean,but the bed was truly hard as a rock. Just ask for extra pillows&blankets that fixed the problem. Food was decent. Typical buffet (and I am not a fan of buffets whatsoever) that we found quite afew tasty treats on. We we're hoping for more domestic foods,but the buffet was extremely Americanized. Asian was ok,never tried the Italian,but you NEED to try the chicken@the steakhouse!!! We had access to the Naibu resort also,which was simply a smaller version of the Bambu. The buffet reminded us of a college campus cafeteria with how brightly lit it was,but similar food choices. Now the most important part...the bars! The drinks were AMAZING!!! Definitely check out the small sports bar off to the side of the stage,the bartender rocked the Dr.Funk&Mariachis! There's a nice resort tourist area,but if you walk 5minutes you'll come across a whole strip of shops with every touristy type product available. The beaches were immaculate&waterline was beautiful. We were kind of offput by the lack of birds&fish tho. It was strange to be in a tropical region w/o the tropical colored birds&fish. All in all we enjoyed ourselves immensely :)

The resort did not offer a variety of food. Even though they say the resort offers a la carte resturants, they don't. Everything is buffett style and the choices are not good. My husband and I stayed with upset stomachs the whole time. The room was not clean and there were black ants all over the place. The beach was pretty. However, I have seen beaches just as pretty in Mexico. I suggest looking somewhere else.