My girlfriend and myself (both thirty-something) spent 4 fabulous nights in a Junior suite with Ocean-front room at the Riu. Overall, we were absolutely delighted with the hotel. The room was excellent with a fabulous view of the pool/beach/sea. It was spacious and clean and the air-conditioning was nice and quiet (which I often find to be annoyingly loud in other hotels).

The Riu had 2 outstanding swimming pools. We loved the mid-afternoon atmosphere with the hotel organizing casual pool volleyball games and playing music beside the livelier of the two pools. The service was excellent. The staff were always on hand to see if you wanted a drink but were not over-the-top or in your way. Since it was an all inclusive resort, it was great having any fruit or alcoholic cocktail made up for you at your whim. The beach was also excellent. It was lovely & calm to swim and was split into sections by rock formations to add a little variety. We were equally happy to swim in the pool or sea depending on our mood. Jet skis and a dive shop were also right on the beach if you wanted some excitement.

The hotel bar was reasonably good. We also stayed in a 3 star hotel Kinbe in Playa del Carmen which had no bar, and stayed in the Ritz in Cancun which had an impressively boring bar. So the Riu bar was great in comparison -- a good place to relax or to kick off the night before heading out to the Cancun bars if you wanted. Admittedly the hotel entertainment (10pm - midnight) was a bit amateurish (yet funny at the same time) but it was a nice diversion for some quiet nights.

In the 4 days, we found the Riu restaurants were great. ‘Les Arcos’ was a bit average, but the Tapas restaurant and Steakhouse were very good. We didn’t get to eat in the French or Japanese restaurants but apparently they are excellent. The buffet breakfast and buffet lunch were outstanding (and much better than the Ritz which we tried the same week).

If I had to be really fussy and highlight any warnings, I’d say:
1) Book your restaurants as soon as you arrive as it may be difficult to get the 2 best restaurants. Maybe try placing a reservation for the Japanese restaurant before you arrive.
2) There is a bit of a ‘free-for-all’ in the mornings where the men are sent down to the pools before breakfast to put towels on the best lounge chairs to reserve them for the day. You can either get up early and join the scramble or not worry about it.

To summarize, the ‘all inclusive’ Riu was incredibly good value for money. The pools and beach were top-class, had a great atmosphere and were better than at the Ritz. The restaurants were good quality (which is always a worry for an ’all inclusive’ resort) and should definitely provide variety and satisfaction for a weeks vacation. And our room was great - I assume they are all as good… I can happily recommend this hotel to anyone & I would love to go back.

About 60 people from my work went to The Riu Palace Las Americas from 7-24 to 7/27. This was not my first trip to Cancun, not my first experience with an all inclusive, and not my first experience with "nice, 4 or 5 diamond" hotels. I've read a few reviews in which people have some complaints. I assure you, this is a nice hotel. The staff tries to please you. They do a better job than other all inclusives, and if you want a broadway show, go to New York, London or Vegas.

Someone wrote that the food got old after 10 days. I can see that. Can you see why the same food would get "old" after 10 straight days too? I tried 3 of the specialty restaurants. The Brazillian steakhouse - decent, but too well done meats - The Italian - ok carpaccio, mushrooms, and and stuffed chicken breast, and the Tappas - my wife's paella was not the best, but my tenderloin was something I would order again. A very nice steak. The buffet has better quality foods than other all inclusives that I've stayed at in the past. If you want better than the buffet, Cancun has a few decent restaurants around. I really don't think anyone really goes to Cancun for the food, do they?

It's about the sun and the free drinks and the convenience of an all inclusive. If you want to go to the Fiesta Americana two doors down, I've stayed there too. It is not all inclusive. It is really expensive. But the breakfast buffet there is $37.50 US. Apparently, they couldn't make it at $37 -- It's $37.50. Go enjoy that if you want that.

There is an army of people scrubbing all day long to make this place look nice. The air conditioning works extremely well in the rooms. There were waiters all over the hotel that made it a point to ask you if they could get you something - This isn't always the case at some all inclusives. And that level of attentiveness was in the lobby, in the lounge, and poolside. There wasn't a "dead zone" were service people didn't go to.

My wife had a fantastic massage one day, and went back for an 80 minute facial the next. She said it was one of the best massages she has ever had. I took a private catamaran lesson right there from the staff ($82), and then I was able to use the catamaran FOR FREE for the rest of the trip (just reserve it again).

Two weeks is too long to stay in Cancun (or Vegas, or most places). This was a nice four days in the sun with a cool drink that I didn't have to ask twice for, a clean air conditioned room, and decent or better, 24 hour food service that I didn't have to cook or clean up after myself. What is there to complain about?

This review is long but if it will help someone else decide on whether to stay at this hotel, here it goes:

My husband and I just returned from Cancun and stayed at RPLA. This was our first time there - and last. Having been to Cancun at least 20 times (we go every year), this was one of the worst hotels in which we stayed. The day we arrived, it was really hot, but we were told we needed to make reservations in advance for the restaurants. So after checking in and changing into our swimsuits, we found a line which wrapped around the building. There was one employee - get this, one employee - who was making reservations and flipping through pages of a copybook to see what times were available. The only one we could get was at 8:45 P.M. at the Brazilian. We were also told to be on time. We were on vacation. If we make a reservation, we are always on time if not early. But we weren't going to play by his rules either after wasting over an hour of our time in line for something as stupid as this. Just a tip: Don't stay at any hotel which requires reservations for your meals. That does not make it an All Inclusive because once you have that meal, you're finished for the night. If you go out and come back and feel hungry, you better bring back some potato chips because you are not getting into the restaurants.

Now, having been up since 3:00 A.M. to catch a flight, we were pretty tired and pretty hungry but we took the reservation. Of course, fate would have it that after we down to the beach since all the chairs in the pool area were taken, Tropical Storm Dolly decided to rear her ugly head. That night we went down to the restaurant and we were about a half hour early. There was no line and only 2 tables in the restaurant were being served. The entire place was empty. So I asked the Maitre D if we could come in a little earlier since we were tired and nobody was there and he very adamantly told us that we would have to come back at 8:45. So we went to the bar and had a drink and returned at 8:40 only to be told we still had to wait 5 more minutes. At that point, we walked out and told him to keep his meal. We knew this place was trouble from that point. Then we spoke to the manager who had a real attitude and totally looked down his nose at the guests.

The other restaurants had cafeteria style food and the buffet had the same menu for breakfast every day. If you finished your beverage you had to ask for another. If you didn't ask for water, you wouldn't get it. Nothing was automatically given to you. The only restaurant worth anything was Krystal.

The pools are another story. The quiet pool is not quiet at all. There are no lounge chairs around it and it is full of kids throwing footballs around. The activity pool is even worse. There were people putting infants - and I do mean 3 month old infants - into floating devices and placing them in the water. We know the pool became a toilet for these babies in no time. Why anyone would bring an infant to a resort is beyond us. Take them to Disneyland. We are really, really sorry that we didn't stay at an Adults Only hotel. From now on we will.

The bar in the pool area gives you drinks in plastic tumblers that are not disposable. And the tumblers looked like they had been around for a while.

There were 3 weddings conducted outside in the evening while we were there and these kids in the quiet pool with the football were jumping out of the pool and throwing the football across the walkway which interfered with the wedding. We have no idea where the parents of these kids were and management did absolutely nothing to stop this intrusion. It was absolutely disgraceful. To make matters worse, we never saw either pool being cleaned or scrubbed the entire length of our stay.

This hotel is truly cutting corners to save money. The hotel itself is just beautiful, but the management is lacking on the job. We will NEVER go back to this place or recommend it to anyone. And by the way, not only was there a musty smell around certain places, but it also smelled of sewer. No wonder several people on the message boards said they got sick. We kept popping Pepto Bismol tablets after every meal.

There were no rose petals on the bed or swan towels that people spoke about. This hotel is only a 3*. It is totally overrated and a real waste of time.

This week we stayed at the Riu Palace. It has an elegant lobby with small elevators. The grounds have an inconvenient flow, with only one set of stairs to the beech. I'm writing this review to expose the riu palace, of there speciality restaurant scam. They're always booked solid. They only take reservations for five tables, with only two seating times: 6:45 or 9:45 What a diversion, right back to the buffet, where they want you. I'm writing this review from my toilet, you guessed it, I'm sick. we returned home late last night and it hit me today. I'm done with Mexico and foreign owned properties like the RIU. My next vacation may be Aruba, with better beaches, guaranteed weather, and it will be an American owned property.