Our first visit to mexico and what a great time we had.
This hotel is fantastic and if you are not sure if you should book PLEASE DO. We have never been anywhere that the staff were more than willing to do anything for you and ALWAYS with a smile. This was our first inclusive holiday and we didn't really know what to expect, this hotel was far better than anything we thought it would be. Lots of people there with us had visited all inclusives before but said that this one was something eles. No shortage of food and drink infact we thought we may have to join AA when we got back ( and not the sort that fixes your car !!! )
The Management at the hotel are always around and that's unusual for a hotel of this size. My final word on the hotel is that NOTHING IS TOO MUCH TROUBLE FOR THEM. We think we work hard go see how its done at the Caribe.
Well done as well to First Choice everything from booking on the internet to all travel plans and onsite rep was really good.
Thanks as well to all the great people that we met and made our holiday special, Kenny and Emma we hope it's not raining too hard in Scotland. Mick and Norma England

My wife, and friends of ours just came back from the RIU Caribe today september 18th 2007. We were on the 3rd floor with a poor view of the beach. Our A/C worked great but the bath tub faucet ran constantly with no way to shut it off so we muffled it with a towel. Also the lock on our door couldn't be locked so we had to put any valuables in the lock box and the refrigerator didn't work at all. The pool was not cleaned regularly and properly, there was algae under the pool bar area. The main foyer area had no A/C so it got hot at times when we would hang out at the down stairs bar. The beach and the staff were great which made the stay nice. The food was not bad and plenty of it.
CK,Houston, TX.

This is my first review on TripAdvisor, and I had to write one, since I found so many others to be helpful - this website is the reason I decided to go with the Riu Caribe for my trip...

Ok, so first of all, I'm a 24 year old female. My college roommate and I decided a reunion/vacation was in order, so we met up in Cancun for a week in the sun. We chose the Riu Caribe based on these reviews, but were still a little nervous since there were some bad reviews mixed in with all the good ones. Let me say here and now that we were both BLOWN away by the Riu! It surpassed every expectation we had, and I'm already planning my next trip there.

1. STAFF - We found the staff to be extremely helpful and friendly. Our room was ready when we got there, and we felt pampered from the very beginning.

2. ROOM - beautiful, meticulously cared-for rooms. The only downside to our room was that it was close to the lobby/center of the building, and so it was really loud at night when the singing was going on. But it was quiet by 11:00p.m. And people who are further from the center of the hotel told us that they never heard a thing. So if noise before 11:00p.m. is a concern for you, ask for a room in one of the wings.

3. DINING/FOOD - Again, some people wrote negative reviews about the food, but we LOVED it! Especially Albatros, which you don't have to make reservations for anyway. The only place we didn't like was the Chinese restaraunt - it was disgusting. We usually got to the reservation stand around 9:30a.m. and had our pick of the restaraunts.

4. BEACH/POOL - I can't say enough about the beach and pool areas - the pool, like the rest of the hotel, was meticulously cared for, including the grounds surrounding it. What a beautiful setting! The beach was constantly being cleaned too, and we loved it! We never had a hard time finding chairs at the beach OR pool.

4. ENTERTAINMENT STAFF - They were by far the highlight of our trip. Especially Rene, Viktor and Micheal (not how you spell it, but I can't remember!). They were so much fun to spend time with, playing games in the pool, dance lessons, tequila ball...they made our trip that much better than it would have otherwise been. Oh, and the nightly shows are FANTASTIC!

I can't wait to go back to the Riu Caribe!

We just came back from the Riu Caribe and it was one of our more enjoyable and relaxing vacations. Even though it was not in the hotel zone, it was not difficult to get where you wanted to go. We took the local bus (70cents) to the shopping centres as well as the Riu Cancun (we visited there for the day one day). If you are beach people, the Riu Caribe is the best of the Riu's there. It has the widest and nicest beach for sure and there is more shade to be found than at the other two. The pool area is great at well and i liked the quaintness of the resort as everything was close at hand. The food was quite good and there was plenty of variety for all the meals. The pizza restaurant for lunch was a favourite of ours as well. The staff was very friendly. We were assigned a room on the 4th floor and on our way up a guy told us in the elevator that the area was loud with young kids at night so we went back to the front desk and asked to be moved which they did without a hesitation.
Comparing it to the Riu Cancun, the Canun is newer and esthetically maybe a little nicer. The location of the Riu Cancun is maybe a little better for those that l ike to go outside the resort often. But, having said that, i would not hesitate to go back to this resort at all.