but to be fair after 2 years of lockdown I thought it was very nice , people say the rooms smell damp , yes they do if you don’t keep the A/C on all day it’s a tropical country , some people say the rooms are dated , they may be but I don’t spend my day in the room !

We are not fans of the purple, Vegas look of the other one.

However, I have two complaints: the air conditioning and the front desk.

Housekeeping was effective, and they let you choose yourself when and if you want the bedsheets changed.

although you could never turn off the ventilation (again noise you could not turn off).

One thing I will mention is that the AC in the rooms turns on/off when the temperature rises/lowers (rather than the fan constantly blowing and lowering).

The water closet is too small and there is no ventilation.

The hurricane didn't hit until around 4am, and blew out by late the next day, so we really weren't inconvenienced at all!

- Outside restaurants like the Mexican or steakhouse are very hot and the fans are not doing anything they should be changed with high speed more powerful fan at least to get some air while eating outside in those restaurants especially at dinner time.

We were not fans of the Italian restaurant or the Steakhouse.

but the room was so humid the sheets on the bed were wet and sticky.

Room AC was perfect, cold enough so that when you opened the patio door, the floor got slick with condensation and we actually had to turn UP the temp.

In addition there were drug dealers also circulating on the same beach offering weed and cocaine!

Only inconvenience was that our room got very humid,

You might be able to find something edible at the buffet,

but our favourite by far was the buffet, you could eat here every night and not get bored.

The buffet restaurant is very good, some will say repetitive

The food across the resort is plentiful, tasty with lots of variety.

It was Mexican night every breakfast lunch and dinner, so if you don’t like fajitas and tacos don’t go cause that’s all this place offers, nothing else, literally, at the palace Mexico their were so many different cultural options which changed every day

The buffet is full of variety and everything tastes fresh.

Carlos in the daytime buffet, exactly the same - a nice guy, lovely to chat to.

All the staff were amazing with Gustavo, Roberto and Juan in the main buffet being excellent.

Breakfast was fine with the kids - lunch and dinner more challenging.

However the buffet restaurant is quite nice.

We had a fantastic time, the place is very clean, wide range of delicious and fresh food.

The buffet was among the best I’ve had at any resort.

However, the staff attentiveness was okay, the buffet staff was a bit lazy.

The buffet was the way to go for pretty much every meal and kiddo always found something she wanted to eat.

Our personal favorite restaurant was the Chilli’s Steakhouse and our favorite buffet was the Don Rafael.

Everything and anything at buffet and the a la carte are all quality with exceptional service throughout.

but in particular  we would like to say a big thank you to Mama Claudia,for her amazing cocktails and beautiful smile,  Mendez, in Fusion restaurant-our favourite evening dining, providing fabulous A La Carte at its very best ,  Carlos and Mendez(again) for  great service each breakfast making a good start to each day and Yazmin for ensuring our room (2121) was made fresh each day.

Nathaly, the hostess/waitress at the breakfast buffet, always greeted us with a smile.

Our favorites were the Italian, Steakhouse and buffet.

slamming doors at night 
all three pools are full of people drinking all day long .

We had an adjoining room where both keys we're all keys opened all doors.

The servings were so minuscule that we had to go next door to the buffet to eat because we were still hungry.

We were on the corner so only the people in the room next door were in/out.

I had lunch at one of there out door buffets

The room were weird with a tub in the middle in between the door and the shower area and a step down to the living room with a few of ugly trees.

When we made it out of the front door of the resort, there were piles of spaghetti vomit scattered on the sidewalk and drive.

The area: go out the front door, down to the street, and walk to your left to visit a little shopping center with a lot to see.

Having the shower stall open right into the room without having a door for privacy was odd, and families with older children may really have some difficulty with it.

Due to the broken door handle (that we asked to be fixed several times), my 10 year old daughter was trapped in the small toilet room for almost two hours.

- it Is preferable to have the breakfast ending time at 11 closing doors and dinner at 10:30 pm especially there is no other restaurant opens after that for dinner or other food restaurants for breakfast this is a vacation people can sleep late, eat late or get up late to have breakfast; it would be helpful like other hotels in Cancun.

Pro tip for the room: the outlets and lights don't work unless you put a key in the slot by the door

When you open the door to your suite, the first thing you see is a huge bathtub sitting in the middle of the floor (and I mean huge).

There is a gift shop just below the front door of the hotel to purchase sunscreen, drinks, t-shirts, etc.

The lobby staff saw us in a rush, almost running to grab breakfast, and they just shouted across the lobby "those bags go here" and pointed to an area near the main doors.

There is virtually no privacy in the room at all- only stay with those you are willing to be completely unclothed around, as even the toilet is just in a tiny room with the toilet and a door.

BE SURE AND DEADBOLT YOUR DOOR AFTER ENTERING YOUR ROOM.

The "do not disturb" doorknob tags - adjust them somehow so they actually stay on the door handle.

Another night a girl was knocking on our door with a bracelet that allow her for one day pass.

Friendly, good fun and a genuinely nice guy.

Entertainment team were good with lots of fun activities on offer in the day

It's a hotel for families or couples that want to have fun, enjoy music and activities at the pool, have nice drinks and food

Edgar-great yoga sessions very relaxing
Danny-amazing dance classes and so much playing beach volleyball
Jair-fun playing water volleyball and dancing in the evening 
Angel-contagious smile always making everyone smile and fun playing beach football

I had some funky drink requests, and without hesitation he made them for me and seemed to have so much fun doing so.

We had a lot of fun at the pool "foam party" and the evening shows were very entertaining.

I recommend Xcaret Arte because  includes all the parks and an excursion to Isla Mujeres, it is my favorite, excellent food,  and super fun all the xcaret Parks .

Shout out to the Pool Bar Bartender JORGE  we had so much fun .

The hard working entertainment team where always in hand to make the rain showers bearable and the sunshine days fun filled!

good fun
Thank you Claudia for looking after us in the lobby cocktail bar so friendly and hardworking.

Great food..entertainment, fun at the pools, beautiful grounds.

The service is that excellent that they brought all travellers together and made a community, we felt we knew a lot of guests in the hotel and this was all down to the staff engaging and creating such a warm, fun and friendly environment!

but didn’t force or pressure you to join in, which is preferable for us (I’m not a fan of forced fun!)

It was clean, fun, and the service was AWESOME!

This is my second and last time staying  at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen.

The town of Playa del Carmen is a 20 min walk.

5th avenue and playa Del carmen is only a 20 minute walk too, which was nice and handy!

Should we every decide to visit Playa Del Carmen again, we will definitely choose this resort.

It’s completely safe to walk out of the resort and walk to the other RIU’s or down the street (5 minutes) to the street shops or just 15 – 20 mins to walk out of the gated community into Playa del Carmen and 5th Ave. Definitely a go to if you are staying here.

Our trip to Riu Palace in playa del Carmen was excellent!

This was our 3rd time at Riu Palace, Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

We felt very safe walking even late at night, and it was a 10-minute walk from the main Playa del Carmen action.

The location of this hotel is superb since you are able to walk into Playa del Carmen (1.5 km) and you have easy access to many of the attractions in the riviera Maya area.

but we chose this palace for its location closer to Playa Del Carmen, Tulum and various cenotes.

We walked into Playa del Carmen a couple of times for a drink and to experience the town… which is now very large and developed since we last visited 8-9 years ago.

The shops bars and malls of playa del carmen are a short

We checked all Riu Hotels at Playa Del Carmen in person.

We walked all of the Riu hotels while in Playa Del Carmen and fell in love with the Rivera Maya’s atmosphere and layout.

It isn’t far from Playa Del Carmen , we got a taxi there often and enjoyed CocoBongos, or shopping.

We also made the walk to Playa del Carmen one evening, which I must admit wasn’t my cup of tea,

Head to your right for a roughly 20-30 minute walk to get to the start of 5th avenue in Playa Del Carmen.

but both times went to cancun so thought playa del carmen would be a nice change.

This is by far the best Riu in Playa del Carmen!

Many people are concerned about sargassum before coming to Playa del Carmen during this time of the year,

Pretty poor, these staff work hard and we just felt there was a noticeable divide between management and staff.

but the hotel was absolutely  fab , just to metion the black ladies in question nothin whatsoever  with colour  ot colour  you should b ashamed  you madr the poor woman cry  the hotel lobby  is wat it says its a lobby in case now body nows its a quiet place too relxal ,some  people  avnt got a bloody clue ,so shame on youz

There was a poor lady working to keep the floor dry over by the restrooms outside the balcony of room 119.

The entertainment is very poor:

a)	there are basically no activities for the kids age of 7 and older;
b)	there is only bare minimum during the day;
c)	the evening shows are short, boring and monotonous;
d)	there are almost no activities planned/prepared in case of bad weather. 5.

Customer Service via email is pretty poor.

The materials used were at best diy and the design team must have had a bad day.The toilet was so small I banged my head on the wall  every time I  got of the pan and  I am only 5ft 5 inches tall.Ican forsee  an issue with the glass divider panels in the room as they have have got some serious sharp edges,be careful you dont slip or fall.Food AWFUL,A LA CARTE ,A LA JOKE,worst quality food we have ever entertained in all our travels, sorry to give such a poor review

The evening entertainment was not for us at all-music was poor.

Unfortunately, this does reflect the hotel which is such a shame as it is a great hotel, and does not deserve the poor service that Coco Bongo give to the people staying at the hotel.

We ate the steak house the steaks were thin and poor quality meat.

but unfortunately it soon becomes clear that the clientele this hotel has set it sights on bring the whole vibe of the place to mediocre bordering on poor atmosphere.

The food is awful, either no taste or salty, poor choice and presentation.

However, the resort had a poor kids club.

This was a very poor hotel selection and I am very disappointed.

They have very poor Customer Service skills!!

I've seen several reviews with bad experiences here recently (odors, inadequate food, poor service, etc)

The food is great, entertainment every day and night is awesome and the workers are so great!

We had the best holiday ever, wonderful hotel, good food, friendly people.

The 5 al-a-carte restaurants are all good and different.

A fantastic place to holiday the staff will do all they can to make your holiday special and the friendliness is out of this world entertainment can’t be better food perfect maintenance of the complex is meticulous attention to detail impeccable I’ve been to this area twice previously and this is not only my findings

The restaurant staff too, they are very attentive & are there constantly assisting to your needs.

For her last 2 night was able to get pasta

All staff check in, poolside, Restaurants were truly wonderful.

The rooms were stunning and very clean restaurants were very very nice.

The rooms are clean and huge, the food is delicious and (very important), they serve Patron tequila (Palace Mexico serves Don Julio).

We tried them all except Krystal (everyone raved about it though) as we found the menu limiting to what we’d enjoy.

The food was great and the buffet was by far the best I’ve ever had with a wide range of choice at a high quality.

Resort, Service, Staff, Restaurants all were excellent.

Sold the dream by tui, all inclusive, a la carte restaurants.

Drinks well made and food was good
Had a great time.

If you like a little walk definitely walk down the beach for about 30 minutes to find a lovely spot where hardly anyone goes and so beautiful.

Chicken was always undercooked, FISH was always undercooked and when requested they would either walk away, look at you with confusion or tell you to pick another option.

We all said we wished there was a larger area which soft flooring to let them go crawling / walking.

We were able to walk down the beach to the right and swim through the seaweed to a sandbar where the water was shallow, and we could swim.

Walking to the buffet in the morning or to the pool and then to the beach was very easy to do.

It made us smile every time we walked in.

Lovely beach with palm tree cover rather than umbrellas.. just beautiful to walk along.

Great holiday, hotel, food and drinks all amazing, nothing too much trouble for the staff  location was great a good selection of shops within 6 mins hotel and can walk in to Play de calmen in 15 mins… it’s very hot and humid

There was a walk in shower which was nice and powerful.

from the minute we walked into the beautiful airconditioned lobby the hotel was amazing.

The ferry pier to Cozumel is also a 15-minute walk.

however we walked 10-15 minutes every day to RIU Palace Mexico and we were able to swim in our lovely blue water!

Location is a short walk to 5th ave. Shopping an more.

The location is also great and you can walk to La Quinta/5th Ave about 15 mins going to the right from the front entrance.

We walked down the beach to RIU Yucatan to play beach volleyball and swim in the ocean.

Hotel Riu Palace Riviera Maya

poor

door

restaurant

walk

Stick with the food that they cook to order and that was always good ( buffet) 
 A lot of couples so if you want a wild girls/guys trip this isn't the place.

The food on the resort was great as well i really enjoyed the breakfast at the buffet and their lunch time.

Which is very confusing, we walked to the buffet for dinner one night and a guy in our group had a tank top on and he was denied

The Sommelier Miguel, Capitan at Rodeo grill Edgar, Waiter Karen at the Rodeo Grill, Waiter Bryan Montealegre at the Buffet, Poolwaiter Catalina and Jovita.

The food -  OK, i was so obsessed with the buffet, that and room service is literally all i ate.

Breakfast is HUGE, you can have freshly cooked omlettes, fruit, pastries and breads, meat and cheese, Mexican breakfast, oatmeal, cereal, veggies and all the usual sausage/bacon/pancakes/waffles etc.

The Buffet is always a great choice with tons of variety.

There is only one place to eat breakfast and its the same buffet for lunch.

The buffet room is so hot you could feel faint.

I also wanted to mention BRYAN MONTEALEGRE  from Yucatan buffet.

We generally always choose the alacarte and use the buffet when required.

Pro’s: 
Bryan the waiter at the buffet was outstanding.

The restaurants and Yucatan buffet was on target always.

Food: 3 out 5 stars 
Buffet was decent or low quality, nothing exciting.

The buffet was delicious no matter what meal we were eating.

Food is terrible, reheated, cold, sometimes frozen in the middle.

When they do, the food takes over an hour, arrives cold, and from our experience the order is always wrong.

Who’s catching a cold in the 40• heat especially OUTSIDE!!!

If you like sitting in a hot (cold) tub with half the jets working, then it'd be perfect.

but when we reported it a second time they didn't come back to investigate)  There was no cold tap, only a cold shower head, so to use it we had to run the water 2-3 hours in advance otherwise it was way to hot and unsafe to use.

Room service was awful, there is no variety & food arrived cold.

but you needed to catch it when they 1st set it out or it was cold.

but the waffles sat in basket waiting for someone transport them and by the time they did, they were cold, like much of the buffet food.

Sushi was worst than gas station sushi, rice was cold and hard.

they told us to go down to the bar instead

room service was cold or even better not even delivered when we scheduled it with concierge
Beach/Pool towels were hard to come by.

The pools are not heated and our swimout was adjacent to a pool which is shaded from 11am onward which means COLD.

The buffet food was cold, our toilet leaked and made a terrible noise, after 6 maintenance visits it still was not fixed, the toilet door was so swollen from water damage that it didn’t  close, and on the only occasion I did get it closed I got locked in, despite reporting this 2 days in to our holiday nothing was done.

Buffet was very basic for breakfast, the rodeo was a brutal, kept being told to come back in 45 minutes (twice in one night) and both times it was a 3.5 hour wait to get main course, food was just ok, can’t sit outside for less that $30/pp apparently, food arrived cold both visits and not prepared to how it was ordered.

Be prepared for all the food at the buffet to be cold and not good.

You can grab water at any of the bars for free, 

The vegetation has all grown in and looks nice plus you have the two sister resorts to roam and use their facilities if you like which is a bonus.

When I read “adults only” I expect a relatively quiet and relaxing atmosphere, free from children and families.

It's the best "free" hibachi I've had, and a top 1/3 of the paid.

My husband had to work all week so he used the free Wi-Fi and had no problems.

Since we had an extra free day, Valentina suggested Rio Secreto, the secret river tour in a cenote.

If you are considering staying here, you have two choices, pay premium prices for a 3 star at best, and get annoyed at other guests using your facilities, or book the cheapest option, and use the facilities that suckers like me pay for, free of charge.

:-(

One evening I got a complementary dinner in Grill restaurant.

I stayed in the platinum block which was nice and quiet, the room was beautiful and the bottle of tequila in my room an added bonus.

The excursions were all well priced and hassle free.

The first was stress free, great food, excellent service.

When we arrived they offered to upgrade us to the Yucatan platinum suites free of charge which is supposed to be the more posh side and adults only. ..

Ppl who check you In don’t tell you anything about the sister resort Grand Princess - they have wild monkeys & there is a free shuttle - some of the workers are nice some aren’t.

Just take these things out and free up some space!

but the swim out pool option was definitely an added bonus and I would book that room again, for sure.

The front desk personnel will make you feel as if they are doing you a favor by "upgrading your room" for free.

A staff member overheard several guests expressing their disappointment at the beach condition and he suggested we go on an excursion where the beaches are beautiful and you get free lunch and drinks.

I did try calling them, though, and it did not work out,

She could have got better results discussing and not being rude and abusive to staff, 
 
Swim up rooms are amazing, room cleaning service is excellent and accommodating, even the maids superior checked her work occasionally too,  they do care 

Room service can be difficult to get hold of on the phone at times to order,

one time i believe she even faked a phone call to housekeeping.

We tried 5 different times to order from the 24 hour room service they offer and no one would answer the phone once.

Room service took forever when you ordered if they even answer the phone the same goes for the front desk and housekeeping.

but they want to call themselves a 5 star hotel. LOL!

How this hotel gets to call itself a 5 star I will never know.

Main pool was closed twice because individuals got to wasted at the swim up bar Threw up in the pool everyone had to leave the pool for the day for it to be cleaned 

I had to change my key card 5 times extremely frustrating my cell phone was nowhere near my keycard for it to deactivate it.

No TV remote in our room, and we had to call three times to get one sent up.

Overall cleanliness of the resort was well maintained, for some reason I was told I would need to pay for extra water bottles in our room when the mini fridge wasn't topped up via phone chat with house keeping which was shocking.

Room service didn't respond or answer the phone Saturday night.

We have stayed in many resorts in Mexico and this one unfortunately has been the most overrated 5 star if you can call it that.

but she chewed my ear off when I answered the phone because my husband hung the do not disturb card and proceeded to tell me that I was not going to receive a replacement yelling at me at the same time.

In the bathroom, the phone came off the wall.

I had to place numerous calls and wait many hours before reaching someone about this issue.

but nothing special, we did not have any help to bring up our luggages, had to call for the room to be cleaned & for new towels, pool waiter comes once per hour.

We have stayed at 2 other resorts in Playa del Carmen which were far better

He was friendly and had excellent recommendations that made our vacation in Playa Del Carmen memorable!

Also, take advantage of the shuttle bus into playa del carmen - it costs 4 USD or 70 pesos per person each way and they drop you right by fifth avenue.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN SHUTTLE
One of the other very convenient offerings at this resort was the Playa del Carmen shuttle that left the lobby at 9:00 am, noon and 3:00 pm and dropped people in central Playa.

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