Riu Palace Aquarelle

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

1435 reviews

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  We will be back!

  Had a great time in a beautiful hotel in a stunning location. Spent most of our time on the beach which was fabulous, sea was clean and warm. All areas of the hotel were very clean and the gardens were beautifully presented. The food and drinks were first class and the staff at the pool bar and in the restaurant were very friendly and professional, rooms were kept very clean and the views were spectacular from our high floor. Only slight downside for us was the music from the bars, sandpit and poolside was too loud and overlapping but the entertainment was also very good, we will return next year

  Sep 25, 2025
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  Riu palace aquarelle is no palace, nor is it luxury or 5 star!

  Recently returned from the Riu Palace Aquarelle, whilst this hotel is relatively new (opened May 2024), I would hardly describe it as a luxury resort! Transfer from Montego Bay airport took around an hour & we were 1st drop off. Road up to hotel was badly flooded & felt like we’d been dropped off in shanty town in the middle of nowhere. Most popular excursions are at least 1hr-1hr 30 mins away. Check in was pretty quick, given room key card 677 ( partial sea view) & told to use the app for services/ booking reservations for restaurants. View from balcony disgusting worst view from a room I ever had at any hotel. Complained to reception & upgraded for free to frontal sea view room, much better view, but then problems with water pressure/temperature & buzzing coming from air conditioning unit even when turned off, very annoying & difficult to sleep, plus we already changed rooms. Bottle of sparkling wine & coffee given as a sorry for your inconvenience. Service at bars/ restaurants inconsistent depending on time of day, sometimes good, other times limited. Food very much the same every day in the buffet restaurant, tried Pepe snack bar but didn’t like the food their as majority is junk food, which I do not eat. Tried all 4 speciality restaurants but nothing special, not much choice & cold. Don’t stay at this hotel if you want to relax, every morning for several hrs the revving of petrol strimmers. Then 10am arrives when the bars open, 3 different lots of music blasting out & you can’t make out which one you’re trying to listen to…. Mind mash The entertainment team work very hard & definitely make this place bare able, they are friendly & welcoming. If you like an early night, don’t expect to get it here, the music from the riu stage/beach parties is very loud & can sometimes go on until after 1am. As for the Riu parties (alternate white/neon) held on a Saturday night, they are at the riu ochio Rio’s hotel, an hrs drive away, not really worth the 2hr round trip. The so called security at this place accused me of topless sunbathing (which I absolutely would never do), I was laid on my front with bikini back strap undone to avoid tan line (no breasts exposed). The security was very aggressive, disrespectful, intimidating & offensive, saying put your top back on now, there’s no topless sunbathing. I think he needs to learn the definition of topless sunbathing, eg. Exposed breasts! So called security/lifeguards/towel persons can be often seen smoking cannabis & on their mobile phones, Absolutely would not take children here! It is not child friendly! On our final day, we checked out at 12pm, they cut off out all inclusive bands & gave us a ticket. When asked if we could still use facilities, reception agreed we could. Upon trying to enter the buffet at 12 as it just opened, we were refused access & told we were not allowed to use & to use Pepe snack bar. I informed her I don’t like the food there, showed her our ticket to use facilities & she refused. Complained to reception & she didn’t care… shrugged her shoulders ‍️I have never experienced this in a Riu hotel, not even in the 4 star. They don’t care once they’ve had your money & it’s not exactly cheap to stay here! Very poor service, would not stay here again or recommend. Riu Reggae in Montego Bay is by far a better hotel/ service, wish we wouldn’t have wasted our money here & returned there instead. This place lowers the Riu standards, seems they make up their own rules!

  Sep 25, 2025
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  Horrible cleaning staff

  The overall stay at this resort was amazing it’s the best Riu we have stayed at yet and the newest. Now the bad part. The house cleaning staff consistently every day would take our towels, wash clothes and bath towel and not replace them. The first day it was like ok it’s not a big deal. But when it was happening everyday it got annoying. On top of that when I would ask them for said items I would get attitude and like I was asking for the world. Plain and simple if you take an item replace it.

  Sep 24, 2025
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  Worth it

  Stayed in the ocean front Suite Rm 871 (not junior suite). Very spacious, balcony full length of suite with two sliding doors. If you can spend the extra it is absolutely worthwhile! We always clean the room when we arrive just to be sure it's clean. Floors, shower, fixtures, etc...the room was immaculate when we checked in! I mean nothing was on our white cloths! Check In was a great efficient process. If you are Riu Class member transfer to/from airport is free fyi (not something that's advertised and free to join rewards program, so do it) yes it isn't private but the bus picked up about 20 of us via Nexus and we all were at our respective resorts in less than an hour even with all the stops. They did a great job with both being on time for roundtrip transfer services. This is a well cared for property and hope guests don't run it down too soon. Beach was so peaceful and private. so not all the merchants we have had to deal with at other resorts. Food: buffet for us was the best! We preferred it to the Asian and Italian restaurants we tried. Food fresh and not sitting for hours. The chefs were on it. Pizza was superb, loved the veggies and fruit. Salad made my day every afternoon...even had one for breakfast a few times. We felt breakfast was the weakest meal. Bacon very chewy and variety not there. The lunch and dinner more than made up for it. Never ate at by poolside station so no opinion there but smelt amazing. Drink selection and service at all the bars was top notch. Try the frozen Bob marley and Jamaican smile are must try cocktails. We are usually adults only resort folk but wanted to come since it was new. Kids were not an issue. They were occupied with their family pool and Waterpark so no splashing. Only saw them at dinner and a bit of zoomies but to be expected they are just kids. Staff was on the parents to stay with their children in buffet and pool which I loved. Only a few meh points...Minibar team kept marking restock requests as complete but never refilled until last evening even after going to front desk twice. Some service was amazing and others not so good. Towel station was the biggest issue for us. They seemed miserable and didn't want to hand out towels or return towel cards. They would have people standing there and just keep talking and flirting with guests. Some of the restaurant servers were also unapproachable and rude. This would not stop us from returning in the future.

  Sep 24, 2025
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  RIU aquarelle 2025

  Had an amazing time. Beautiful hotel. Food service and staff service excellent. Entertainment amazing!! Entertainment staff 1st class, Sparks , Miguel, lady lilly, marqone and anyone else I haven't mentioned. Thanks for makeing my experience at Riu Aquarelle a memorable one. All the best in your hard work. Thanks again Rose 😊

  Sep 23, 2025