Riu Emerald Bay Reviews

I have spent a lot of time at various resorts in Mexico, but this was without a doubt one of the nicer places I have been. The service, the food and the rooms were great! I plan on taking the rest of the family back this winter for another stay.

The staff was attentive and the mexican food was the way to go. The free flowing booze was pretty cool!

Clean, comfortable and safe resort. Beautiful beach and pools. Food is just fair, but enough choices that you won't go hungry. The specialty eating is not worth the hassle of getting a reservation- ate at the Steak House and Asian, neither were anything special. However, there is an amazing place just down the beach serving lobster and shrimp. Staff is very friendly. Mazatlan is a pretty city- we took the city tour and the Stone Island tours- both were a good value for the money. I wouldn't recommend venturing out too much at night, we heard of 2 seperate incidences of hotel guests being robbed in the downtown resort area. But this hotel is pretty far from town and secure.

3rd vacation to Mexico I'm the past 18 months. Rate it second of the three we have been to. Beds decent Pillows non existent Sushi horrible Making reservations not worth it Pool was great and an exciting place to be thanks to spring breakers from Minnesota. 37 bucks for a can to the airport Senor frogs was a good time and we were not too scared about security Good price and e had a good time

From the outside, this property was beautiful. Once inside, there was not much more positive you could say. The staff was unresponsive. Babies and screaming, splashing children were allowed in the "adults only" pool and every day we went to ask the bartender, front desk, and even the manager to ask them to move to one of the other pools and we were either ignored or basically told they weren't going to enforce that. For two days during our stay, the water in the room was brown, not just "off color" but a disgusting brown color with an odor, no explanation was ever provided and when we inquired we were never given a straight answer, only told not to use it and they'd let us know when we could. No apology or no compensation for the serious disruption of not being able to flush the toliet or shower for two days during a vacation. Only the buffet was open and one night the Asian (also buffet). None of the other restuarants were even open. Food was fair at best. They did have a nice beach party the first evening and food and entertainment at the beach party were good. Would definitely not go back to this resort and never recommend to others. Not even sure if I would risk visiting another Riu property just because of what an awfull waste of time and money this was.

We weren't planning on taking this vacation but the price was so good we couldn't turn it down. We live in California and there is a direct flight from LAX to Mazatlan so that saved us a lot. After I booked our trip I read online about the cruise ships pulling out which worried me. After a little research I came to the concluion that they over reacted. I'm glad we went. We felt very safe the whole time. There are lots of timeshare companies at the airport that at first seem very helpful offering to find your shuttle for you. But don't be fooled. They pretend to work for your shuttle company when they really want to take you to their resort. If you hire a shuttle they should be waiting at the exit door for you with their company name on a sign. The Riu is beautiful. Every room has an ocean view and balcony. We were on the 11th floor with a great view of Mazatlan. This resort is about 3 miles down the beach from the main city. Far enough away to really relax, yet close enough if you want to go into town to shop. This resort is quitier then others I have been to, which is exactly what I was looking for. They aren't playing loud music all day while you are enjoying a good book on the beach. There were plenty of lounge chairs around the pool and beach area. We never had a problem finding one, even during the busy weekend. Friday and Saturday were very busy. The Mexican citizens visit on the weekends. They tend to prefer the pool area so the beach was still empty. The food was great. We always stay at all inclusives and the food usually isn't very good. Not the case here. Great food with plenty of selection. If you want to book reservations at one of the three restaurants you have to stand in line at 7am, but they let us book two nights at a time. The food was great at all three. Bring small bills to tip your waiter. Not required but it sure makes them happy when you do. They don't have room service. They also don't have coffee pots in the room. You can go down to the restuarant each morning and bring a pot up to your room. We brought a pot with us to boil water and brought starbucks instant with us. I would have given the room five stars but the pillows are flat and bed a little hard. The room was beautiful, bathroom was large and beautiful, very was outstanding. Very quite room, never heard anyone else. Wifi is only available in lobby if you bring your laptop or Ipad. Computers available in sports bar for a fee. Pool table in sports bar cost $5 to play, that was weird for an all inclusive. We will definately return next year.

My wife and I just got home from a two week stay at the RIU Emerald Bay in Mazatlan. We were there last year and loved it so much we returned this year. The rooms are above adequate and the A/C really cools you down. The food is excellent everywhere it is served. On the beach in the breezeway and in the restaurants. The Steak House was great and gave you more than you could eat, the Asian restaurant was our favorite with so many mouth watering options. The Mexican restaurant wasn't quite up to par. The menu offering was too limited-4types of fajitas, a fish dish, a shrimp dish and one other. It was excellent last year when it was buffet style. The buffet was incredible! It was five star fare in a buffet setting. The only thing with the food was you couldn't find a burrito or an enchilada anywhere and you're in Mexico. Minor complaint. You can eat non-stop from 7am till 10pm. There are shows every evening and they are great. The Mr. and Miss RIU shows are absolutely hilarious and the actors are the day pool staff. The staff are very friendly and I got to know Fernando, Armando and Rico well. The ladies that work there are WOW! We celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary our last night there and I surprised my wife with dinner on the beach. This was awesome! I asked one of the heads of the restaurants, Jesus, about doing this and he put me in touch with the right people. We had or choice of entrees and dinner came with a personal waiter for two hours, Thomas, a bottle of champagne, a rose petal covered table and ground around the table and a beach setting that was off-the-chain! We dined to a beautiful sunset and I scored a ton of points with the wife. Overall I would give RIU Emerald Bay in Mazatlan a 10 out of 10 and will be going back. One thing I did find out, don't book your vacation too early. You will pay far more than you will if you wait till a couple of months or less from the time you want to leave. I booked ours in Oct. for June and paid $1200 more than I would have if I booked it a week or two before we left. That was frustrating and of course, no refund of the difference.

Riu had the worst wine I have EVER - EVER tasted. Thought it was sour. No other options available with Wine. Mixed drinks great. Food in Steak House - Served Cold. Not acceptable. Other food Fair. Never will go Mexico when High School party time. Invaided with teenages passing out drunk from drinks and heat. Trying to kick in our hotel door at 3 a.m. Joyous vacation!!

Great resort. good food and restaurants. Nice clean room with everything you need. Lots of bars to have fun.

Food was good, speciality restaurants are hard to get reservations at. There aren't enough elevators, but other than that the trip was great. Staff is friendly and very helpful. View from room was great, all rooms are ocean front.