Riu Bambu - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

• 

  Family vacation

  This place was a great place to bring our family. Plenty to do, great food, incredibly friendly and helpful employees and great drinks. The only negative I can think of is the rooms. Our room was very small and dated….but who goes to DR to stay in their room. Highly recommend!!

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Week long stay over March Break

  The rooms at Riu Bambu can use an update. Scuffed and beaten up cupboards and dressers. Electrical plugs that don't work. Booking site states you get two double beds, but the rooms have a king and a pull-out cot. As a family of four, one of our kids had to stay in the king bed with us. No way you can get two people to sleep on the cot. The resort is great. Lots of pools and places to get a drink. Food was amazing, as was the service. Beaches are gorgeous with white sand and lots of coconut trees offering shade refuge from the sun. The water park was a big hit with both adults and children!

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Riu Bambu

  So, this was my first time visiting the DR. We came for a family vacation and we were a group of 13. I was super excited to visit this beautiful country, but I’m not sure if I want to come back after our stay here. So, here is my honest review of our overall stay at the Riu Bambu in Punta Cana… Hotel/Amenities The hotel and the grounds were beautiful. Very lush, beautiful landscaping and so many palm trees surrounding the resort. Once we got to our room, we weren’t very pleased with what we saw. The rooms/suites were dirty and run down. This resort needs some major updating. The main pool was tiny and disgustingly dirty. You never saw anyone vacuuming the pool, cleaning around the lounge chairs, wiping down tables or cleaning up the floors that everyone had to walk on every day. Everything was just gross and not inviting. I also found it strange that they have one small area (apart of the main pool) that is for adults only. It doesn’t make sense when it’s a family resort and everyone is swimming and playing with their kids on the other side of the pool. They need to have one main section for adults only if they don’t want kids at the swim up bar. Food/Drinks This resort has some of the worst food I’ve ever tasted. I’ve never been to an all inclusive resort where I couldn’t find something half decent to eat. Even trying something as simple as a hot dog (which was mushy) was not edible. Trying to find a restaurant to have dinner every night was a disaster. None of the restaurants took reservations, so everyone had to start lining up at 5pm to get a buzzer for when the doors opened at 6 to have a table ready by 7:30. It was insane and chaotic. They didn’t have any liquor options, no variety and the drinks were awful. The beer was watered down and the cocktails tasted like pure sugar and water. Staff/Service I wouldn’t say the staff here were rude, but they definitely weren’t overly friendly. When you walked into a restaurant, no one really greeted you and the service was terrible. No one would come over to your table to ask if you wanted a drink and if they did, it was a one time thing and you never saw them again. Not very organized or thoughtful for a dining experience. Overall, I’d never recommend this resort to anyone, which is very unfortunate.

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Great hotel

  Great hotel with good restaurants , bars and amenities. Right on the beach and great activities to do for all. Staff are absolutely amazing and you feel taken care of every single minute of the day. We love DR and this is our second stay here

  Mar 23, 2025
• 

  Beautiful Beach & Water - the resort not so much.

  My husband and I travelled to this resort March 2-16, 2025. We have stayed at 4 other RIU resorts in DR, Jamaica & Mexico over the past 7 years and this one is the absolute worst. If first impressions are important than it was no wonder my heart sank when our bus transfer pulled into RIU Bambu. From the small parking area where drop off occurs to the dark entrance and lack of anything beautiful (like flowers) the first impression is of a dark, dingy and out dated resort. I did the RIU check in on- line and yet I had to go through the whole process again at check in. Two weeks prior to arrival I made some special requests, the most important one being that due to heart disease for my husband and myself could our room be located in close proximity to all amenities. I have made this request many times in our years of travel and this is the first it seemed to be perfectly ignored. We were placed in building 50 which is “in the back 40”, one of the furthest buildings from the lobby, theatre, restaurants, and beach. The room we had was the smallest we have ever had at a RIU resort. The air conditioning runs constantly - you have no real control over the temperature. Our shower barely spit out enough water to rinse the shampoo & conditioner out of my hair and the toilet squealed every time it was flushed. Plus side: issue with the in room hair blower and safe were quickly dealt with problem resolved by friendly hard working staff. Restaurants are below average by far. People will say “you can find something to eat”, well, I don’t want to spend that much money to have to “find” something to eat nor do I want to eat pizza, burgers, or hot dogs for 14 days. I found it strange that the menu found outside the main buffet was showing the same menu every day BUT in our 14 days that meal was only on the buffet once - and quite the coincidence that it was the day that evaluation cards were passed out around the restaurant. The Italian ala carte is exactly the same as the food found at the buffet every evening. The Steak ala carte is good, but difficult to get into, and very rushed once you are seated. We were also at one ala carte that was open til 9pm, but at 8:30 the host would not seat people saying they were closed. The food especially in the buffet is cold, lucky if you get anything lukewarm warm. Heat lamps are not cutting it, why no hot water serving stations??? With the amount of $ being spent turning some very nice RIU resorts into Palaces one would think some money could be spent to up grade other resorts. Most people receiving excellent service in the restaurants speak Spanish. Some rules/codes need to be put in place, I saw people with no shoes in the restaurants and men with no shirts, women with a short tshirt trying to pass that off as a cover up - not appropriate, either is a see through cover up with a thong on underneath. If you are going out for dinner at least dress appropriately or management should refuse service. Even though the food was cold and in my opinion a small selection especially the salad bar we always tipped - breakfast, lunch, and dinner it was awful to watch the hardworking staff be left with full plates and glasses to clean up and not so much as a dollar left for them. These men & women can work up to 11 hour days, 12 days in a row before getting 3 days off. Plus: Sherive & Angelis in the MamaJuana Restaurant are excellent servers if you are lucky enough to have them serve your table. Evening entertainment is hit and miss. When there is a show it is usually pretty descent as good as it gets at resorts. Large theatre with lots of chairs. Beach is amazing! Cannot say enough about the beach and beautiful Atlantic waters - beautiful. Staff for the most part are friendly, happy, and very hard working. Again, most staff only speak Spanish, definitely need to hire more English speaking staff to help when confusion/questions arise. Housekeeping is “okay”, although many days I had to call front desk because we didn’t get drinking water, or shower mat, or towels, or tissue . . . bring your own face cloths as none are provided. The beach is as good as you will ever get, but the resort is a big disappointment. To travel from Canada for 14 days the resort cost more than any other resort we have stayed in over the last 10 years and I am so disappointed.

  Mar 21, 2025