Riu Palace Punta Cana Reviews

beautiful mountain views, awesome beach and pool, great food, friendly and helpful staff, plenty of activities and entertainment, what else does one need....all this for a reasonable price

We went for a wedding in January 2010 and booked thru CheapCaribbean.com everything went so smooth. Flew with AA and they exceeded customer service by far; our pm flight was going to be cancelled due to weather so they tracked us down in the morning and were able to reroute us on different flights and we still ended up in Punta Cana on time. When we arrived at the resort we were quickly checked into our rooms with our vouchers. The rest of the wedding party booked thru someone else, their flights were late night, their rooms were garden view (which kind of means the back of the hotel)and they had 1 day less than us and their price was over $500 each more; we had pool view rooms,and the extra day. Riu Palace Punta Cana was one of the nicest resorts we have stayed in where layout is concerned, everything was at a nice distance in the "u" shaped layout. The staff were all friendly and the resort was very clean. The neighbouring Rui's were also nice and the staff were receptive to us visiting their resorts. The food was plentiful and there was a lot of variety at the nightly buffets but the breakfast and lunch were pretty much standard. The a la carte restaurants were also good but lacked variety and it was a bit of a pain trying to make reservations each morning. The pool side bar was always busy and the drinks were made with syrup or powdered fruit instead of real fruit. Still tasted good but would have been better with real fruit. The beaches were the absolute nicest beaches we have ever seen the sand was so soft. There were always lots of loungers early in the morning but were a little scarce later in the day. The nightly entertainment was ok but not the best we have seen and if you didn't get to the show early enough there wasn't any seating. Service during the shows was a little slow. The sports bar was lively at night after the shows were done. Between dinner service and the starting of the shows there were various venders all along the walkway each night and were mostly selling the same stuff. They got a little annoying after a while, almost too pushy, but you could by-pass them by going thru the hallways instead fo the walkways. Overall once you get past the little things this was a really nice resort with the most beautiful beaches and was a great value book thru CheapCaribbean.com, I wouldn't have liked to pay as much as the rest of the wedding party.

I visited the Riu Palace in January for my honeymoon. It was a great hotel with great staff that went out of their way to make sure everything was great. The rooms did have a musty smell but it went away with the AC turned on. The bartenders are great so throw them a buck or two. I will defenetly try to go back soon.

The Rui Palace is infested with mold and mildew which you can expect throughout most of the caribbean. But I have been all over the Caribbean and never had a room smell so bad that after returning home I had to throw out my luggage, we tried for days to get the smell out and could not. I learned a nice trick to remove the mildew smell from our clothing white vinegar in the wash will do the trick.The staff at the Rui were not very friendly or helpful if you have a problem, most of the staff don't speak english luckily my wife spoke enough spanish to get us through.The food is average at best. Be prepared everyone has their hand out either trying to sell something or wanting a tip.

This is my 3rd time staying at a Riu resort and would definetly recommend to any friend it has bueatiful beaches and located inside a gated community very safe-very clean and an over abundance of food

Hotel staff was very good. Room was very comfortable.

Just returned from vacation, stayed in Riu for 10 days. Everything was excellent, enjoyed restaurants, the beach and service. will recommend to everybody!

Just got back from Riu Palace Punta Cana with my wife. We had a wonderful time at the resort and couldn't be happier with out trip. Overall I would recommend this resort and would go there again. The food was great, the amenities were also great. Best of all was the service. The people working their did everything they could to serve us. There was always someone close by to check on you and bring you a drink whether you were at the restaurants, buffets, or pool/beachside. The only complaint I have is that our room smelled quite musty when we got there but it seemed to go away once we got in and turned the a/c and fans on. I imagine its difficult to properly ventilate 750 rooms in caribbean weather. It didn't stop us from enjoying our trip though. Excellent!!!

The Riu Palace Punta Cana was a great vacation. We stayed for four days at the beginning of March and the weather was beautiful. The hotel was extremely comfortable and the service was great. A review I read prior to leaving for our trip mentioned the musty smelling rooms which I totally agreed with. But I found that if we just left the fan on and used the screen door to the patio, it remedied the situation. It seemed to be the air conditioning that was causing the smell. The pool and beach were very relaxing. But make sure you place towels or beach bags on your chairs early in the morning as they get "reserved" very quickly. The staff didn't really speak any English, aside from a few servers here and there, but it didn't bother us, after all, we were in a foreign country. This is a great resort to just chill and relax at. If you are looking for a vibrant nighlife and party into the early morning, this isn't the resort of you. Aside from the disco and casino at the neighbor resort, the shows and bars (aside from the sports bar) close at midnight. The food was as good as an all inclusive can be. The buffet was decent. Luigi's was HORRIBLE and the Brazilian Steak House was delicious. All in all, a great vacation!

I purchased this trip for my daughter and her boyfriend for their college spring get-away. They were very impressed with it and said that the pictures on the website were exactly what they saw when they got there. The airport transfer to the hotel and back to the airport was definitely worth it. It was very well organized. The grounds and pools were beautiful, the service was great and they enjoyed making reservations and eating at the different restaurants the resort had to offer. The weather was heavenly other than being a little overcast the first day they arrived but the sun came shining through for them each day. They did one excursion, Snubadiving which they said they had a great time using the speed boats and experiencing the underwater sights. They said they would definitely return to this resort some day and hope to stay a few more nights. Definitely a beautiful resort!