My husband and I stayed at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya the last weekend of April. We planned our trip around our friend's wedding at the resort and we're so glad we added a few extra days to our stay. I'd been reading Trip Advisor reviews of the Riu and was a little apprehensive. Most of the complaints were unfounded. We never smelled the "odor" some reviewers mentioned. Our room smelled clean and the open air halls smelled like the beach. The beds were hard, but nothing a nice in-room cocktail won't fix.

Everyone on staff was friendly and service minded. The desk clerks were nice and efficient with check-in/check-out. The bartenders were all super attentive. We tipped the bartender at the bar in the lobby and he definitely remembered us. Fabulous Mojitos!

The rooms were spotless, but as previously mentioned, the beds were pretty hard. We absolutely loved our courtyard view and spent a good deal of time on the balcony in the morning and evenings. I meant to take pictures of the room, but it looks just like the Riu's pictures.

Contrary to some other reviews, we thought the beach was outstanding. Most other guests thought the sandbags were natural rocks. The sand was soft and well groomed. Yes, it's a man made beach. But, if you're staying at an all-inclusive...chances are you're not looking for an authentic Mexican vacation or beach. We took a short walk down the street to a little shopping area near the other Riu resorts in Playa and took the opportunity to walk through the other resort's beaches walking back to the Riu Palace beach. The Riu Palace was by far the best!

We enjoyed all of the restaurants we had the chance to try. The only one we missed was the Japanese restaurant. One thing to keep in mind, you CAN make reservations days in advance. We overheard a few people trying and failing to make reservations the same day . The buffet (Don Manolo's) was just as good as some of the reservation required restaurants. They had some great mahi-mahi and salmon options every time we visited the buffet! The Mexican restaurant may be a disappointment to those expecting Tex-Mex. It's great as long as you don't go in expecting chips and salsa with quesadillas...that's Tex-Mex. The cuisine is more authentic Mexican/Yucatan. Our favorite was Sir Oliver's (also the toughest to get a reservation). We had the sea bass and salmon entrees. Fantastic! The chocolate dessert was my favorite and I'm not usually a chocolate fan.

Overall, we loved our experience and will recommend the Riu Palace Riviera Maya to all our friends...and strangers too. Happy travels!

Pros & Cons:

Overall: Beautiful facility, new, well kept and staffs are very friendly. I took my parents (both over 55) and they really enjoyed it.

Pros:
1. Well-kept facilities, new, clean and well-kept. Rooms are VERY spacious
2. Great food (I am very picky in terms of food quality), and I was surprisingly delighted. Fresh fruit juice every morning, great selections of fruits. Definitely 4 star.
3. Professional staffs, always smiling and trying their best to show you a good time
4. Large swimming pool
5. Brand name liquors
6. Beach was beautiful, although there are a lot of sandbags, as a result the water is a lot calmer, good for swimming

Cons:
1. Noise level (we had a courtyard facing room). Nightly entertainment runs to 11:00pm, which is fine, however if you are traveling with people who sleeps early, there will be an issue, the noise level is very high (even after closing the window, doors)
2. Yashima (Japanese retaurant), the food was quite disappointing in comparison to the buffets

Definitely recommend this resort, great value and my entire family enjoyed the experience.

Tips:
1. If you are interested in going to Tulum, you can catch the collectivo on the highway (5 min drive away) for $2 USD instead of the overprice tours
2. A trip to Cozumel is very quick (30 min each way), just take a ferry from the main town (5 - 10 min drive, and taxi costs $5USD)

This trip was to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and it turned out to be a beautiful place to do it.
We usually do not go to "all-inclusive" resorts, because we like to eat in many different restaurants, but we were very satisfied with both the buffet restaurant and the speciality restaurants on the property that we tried (Brazilian, Japanese, and Sir Oliver Gourmet). The staff is very friendly and helpful, offering fast service will special little treats like rose petals on our bed and our table at dinner on our anniversary day, chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne in our room the evening before, etc. Our room, the beach and the pool were all very clean and nice. The only things we didn't like were that the water pressure and temperature in our shower was inconsistent and unpredictable (perhaps the variation was caused by other rooms using their showers at the same time?), and we got tired of wearing our "armbands" which identify you as a registered guest.
One nice thing about staying on the property was that we could avoid the harassment of the Cancun solicitators who are trying to sell timeshares or steal Riu's customers to come to their competing resorts. Every time we ventured into town or down the street to shop we were bugged by these guys (and girls) who just didn't want to take no for an answer. We wondered if our armbands made us an obvious target.
Overall, however, I would highly recommend Riu Palace Riviera Maya for couples of any age.

Just returned from Riu Palace Riviera Maya last week. Stayed April 28- May 2. The trip was for my Bachelorette Party and there were 6 of us. We booked 3 rooms and at check in, were given connecting rooms without hesitation.
Our room was very clean and had everything we needed- nice bathroom, seperate sitting area and of course the mini bar and liquor dispenser that was never used:)
We first ordered room service.. the menu was short, but more than adequate. There were a couple salad options, nachos, tostadas, dessert, fruit , sandwiches, etc... I HIGHLY recommend the nachos- the guacamole is amazing.. I could do without the cheese:)
Next stop was the pool- LOVED IT! It was the place to be! The swimup bar was fabulous and many places to lounge both in and out of the pool.
On previous posts, people named their favorite bartender... Our group grew fond of Marvin- who does not like people who ask for water at the bar, LOL and he makes a STIFF drink! He made the girls multiple versions of the "Marvin Special" and he makes a mean margarita:)
The grounds were beautiful and were kept spotless- always being cleaned.. That aside, what really MADE the trip was the amazing staff at RPRM. The servers were far better than the majority of servers in the states- they were entertaining and always went above and beyond. We had so much fun trading language lessons and laughing until our cheeks hurt!
The Entertainment Staff really worked it- so funny and they really seemed to go out of their way to get to know the guests.
You could never be anywhere without a drink in your hand or without a door being opened for you
We didnt' do reservations for any dinners b/c we wanted to play dinner by ear. The buffet was really good.. and I HATE buffets. I am a very healthy eater - a vegetarian and I don't eat wheat or gluten. I keep my diet clean and unprocessed and I had plenty of options- breakfast was my fave
The beach was ok- water was beautiful, but I have Maui to look forward to in a few weeks for my honeymoon , so I didn't pay much attention :)
If you have any questions feel free to ask!