Riu Palace Punta Cana - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3193 reviews

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  Very disappointed with the Riu Palace Punta Cana

  We were supposed to celebrate my husband birthday at the Riu Palace July 13 but since the event planner was not willing to give me what l wanted and was very unfriendly l decided to cancel Riu palace and have the celebration at the magestic elegance. We were a group of 24 family and friends and we had a fantastic time at the Magestic Elegance. The magestic went above and beyond to make my husband birthday celebration especial. We had events for 7 days in all the restaurants and the final celebration in one the bar by the pool. The food and the decorations were amazi ng. Too bad the Riu Palace didn't offer us the same considerations. We had to come to the Riu Palace October 11 to 16 because my husband's best friend had paid for 5 nights in July for my husband's celebration and the hotel refused to refund the money. After l contacted the hotel, Mexico and Spain, they finally agreed to exchange the nights for October 11 to 16. Our other friends and myself were able to get refunds but not my Husband's best friend. A group of us decided to flight back to punta cana to accompany our friend at the Riu palace since we have stayed at the Bavaro Palace and also at Riu Palace playa del carmen. We thought this hotel had the same standards. We were wrong. We had issues the minute we got the front desk. My friend had paid his 5 days for July with a credit card that he had to cancel because it was clone and he no longer had. The hotel made him make the payment again with the new credit card and he was assured that he was going to be refunded the payment he made in May for the July vacation. We were at the hotel October 11 to 16. It is now December 18 and he had called and emailed everyone that should assist at the hotel and in Spain and he has not received the refund for the 5 nights. This is terrible customer service and a lack of empathy. The hotel is in terrible condition. The smell of mold is everywhere and overpowering. I was so sick with allergies that had to move to the 3rd floor. The pillows and bedding all have the same moldy smell. The alcohol is poor quality and the drinks are terrible. The the only thing drinkable is beer. The food was hit or miss. There were roaches in the restaurant by the beach so stay away. The pools are small and not well maintained. The beach not the best. The only good things at this resort are the staff. They try really hard to please you and give you what want. This Riu palace needs to shutdown and undergo major renovations. They need to deal with the mold in the rooms and the restaurants. They need to improve the quality of the food and the liquor they serve. The food in sport lounge is disgusting. I will never go back to the Riu Palace Punta Cana. I will be going back to the Magestic Elegance were every guest is treated like family,with respect and consideration. There some many resorts in punta cana to choose from soon no one will want come to the Riu Palace. You are a huge disappointment and your customers service is terrible. Waiting 3 months for a refund is unacceptable. How are you going to make up for the aggravation and stress you cause my friend. The hotel owes my friend an apology and compensation for all the time and money he wasted trying to get the refund.

  Dec 17, 2024
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  Nice resort/few problems

  We stayed for 5 days/4 nights. The check-in process was smooth, and the lobby is gorgeous. The room was nice but dated. We had an issue with the toilet running, and they came and said they fixed it, but they really did not. Additionally, the shower leaked a lot. All of the activities and info is in their app, so I would suggest you load it. They did have a few touchscreens around the property to see the happenings. We did go the White Party, which was fun to watch for a while, though I felt very old (I am 63). Pros 1 - Very nice resort grounds and beach 2 - The food and staff were good, especially Tania and Tebian. My favorites were Spanish, Japanese and Steakhouse 3 - Drinks in the lobby and outside at night were great. Daiquiri bar made excellent Miami Vices (Pina Colada / Strawberry Daiquiri) 4 - The beach was kept relatively clean and there was no seaweed Cons 1 - Desserts were HORRIBLE 2 - We had an issue with getting towels and it took us 3 tries to get them. The room was cleaned but for some reason no towels were left 3 - Couldnt get the A/C to above 20C. When we set to 21, it never got there. All in all, we had a good time and would recommend the resort

  Dec 17, 2024
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  Great Birthday Trip!

  This was my first trip to the Riu Palace Punta Cana (actually first trip to a Riu Palace though have been to other Riu’s) and my first time in the Dominican in almost 15 years. Resort: The last time I was in the Dominican was to this same property but one of the other Riu resorts (the now closed Riu Naiboa). This palace hotel has a grand feeling upon arrival as you loop up a driveway to basically the 2nd story. We were offloaded under a covered area (which was nice given the rain upon arrival). Upon entry to the hotel, on your right is the check-in desk. We arrived prior to the official 3pm check-in time but were all given our wrist bands, my room was ready while the other 2 rooms had to wait a bit. Front desk staff were all very friendly. Room: We were all on the 3rd floor in the same general area. I was assigned room 3149, which was on the outside side of the hotel. Room was clean, had a king bed, a step down seating area, balcony and a direct view of the Riu next door. If you turn your head, you do see the water. The air conditioning worked great in the room. Maids did a great job cleaning each day. Having been to Dominican Riu’s before I knew that at times face clothes were hard to get so I brought a few with me. None of us on the 3rd floor got any during the week we were there so the ones from home were well appreciated. Beach: Beach is beautiful. In total we were a group of six and had no problem getting loungers around 9AM. Sure we may have had to relocate some, but we got them no problem. The bar staff do rounds on the beach as well taking drink orders which is a nice touch. Restaurants: Food was good everywhere we ate. The main buffet for breakfast has a wide variety of items, including a made to order omelet station. The lunch buffet is down at the beach and is a good size – it can get busy in there depending on the time you go at. Supper at the main buffet was good too – had a carving station each night with a different offering (ribs, roast, pork, etc.) We did the steakhouse twice – both times we all enjoyed it. Honestly, I did not have high expectations, as my experience has been that beef is tough in the DR but this was awesome. A couple in the group also did the Italian and the Fusion restaurant and quite enjoyed them as well. Bars: It is easy to find a bar! The Sports Bar in the lobby is open 24/7, there is a coffee / pastry place off the lobby as well as another bar. There is the pool/beach bar as well. I’m sure I missed one but it’s not hard to get something to drink. Entertainment: We did not see the entertainment team on the beach during the day – perhaps it was where we set up, but regardless we did see them at night engaging with guests, offering up games to play while waiting for the show to start. Speaking of the theatre there are staff taking drink orders there too! General: We were there to celebrate a birthday and while we could have arranged a special dinner at one of the a la cartes, we opted to stick with the buffet that day and the wait staff had decorated the table, played music and presented a cake – was all very well done. That same day the room maid decorated the room with balloons and left a coffee mug gift. There is free Wi-Fi to cover the entire resort and beach area, however we did find some dead zones but also saw the resort upgrading the devices while we were there Overall the trip was great – staff were all friendly, food was good, drinks were good, and the sun was shining!

  Dec 15, 2024
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  Great place!

  Great place, friendly, and helpful employees. The food was awesome, there was a lot of entertainment. Although I would have liked it if they had the DJ earlier in the evening. The DJ didn’t come on till almost midnight and we would get bored with the entertainment around 10 and just go to bed.

  Dec 14, 2024
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  Disgusting. Not 5 star worthy.

  We arrived at 5 december in the evening in Riu Palace Punta Cana. The first room we got was looking good at first sight, but when we looked a little closer... it was disgusting. The showerhead was very dirty and moldy, the floor was full of hair that obviously wasn't ours. We went to the reception and we immediately got another room. The shower was okay, but also a lot of hair on the ground and even on the bed. Back to the reception and we got another room. It wasn't the best, there still was hair, even in the shower, but compared to the other two rooms, looking fine. We put our bags in the room and went for dinner. After dinner we wanted to go to sleep and I smelled something weird on the bed. The pillows stank a lot like sweat from the previous guests. I turned it around and sprayed perfume on it to disguise the smell a little bit because it was really bad... The next day we put the little card on the bed to change sheets and when we came back, they didn't change anything and the pillows still stank like sweat. I went to the reception and 15min later we got 1 clean pillow... . Several times they didn't chance sheets when we asked for it. While showering, the water leaks on the ground next to it leading into the bathroom full of water. (📷 is just after one minute) We also didn't always got new towels even tho we put them on the ground as we wanted new ones and that's how they ask us to do. There was also mold!! 😵‍💫 In the shower cabine, on the ceiling and after a couple of days even on my backpack even tho it was just standing there the whole time and in one day this mold came out of nowhere! I also started to get sick after a few days... The large swimming pool needs to be cleaned more often, there is a lot of filth on and in the water. The staff is really kind! Food is okay, but we are not coming back here again. Definitly not what we expected from a 5 star hotel. Waste of money.

  Dec 14, 2024