Overall - We would go back.

The rooms were clean and always stocked with water/drinks. It was the only time I have stayed in Playa and not smelled sewage. Also, the room was not humid and the A/C worked great.

The food was ok. The buffet "Don Manolo's" was great for dinner but "Chili's" was better for lunch. The specialty restaurants were disappointing.

The beach was absolutely perfect and you could walk for miles. The pool was really great but the service at the swim up bar was pretty average.

I think the best word to describe this resort is "Grand." The atomosphere, service, food, pool, beach, etc... is top notch.

I'll start with the positives - but there are some negatives towards the bottom.

Details:

The Crowd - Split between Americans and Europeans for the most part. Not many children, but some. Fairly diverse age group, lots of seniors, lots of couples young and old, some groups, overall a good crowd to vacation with.

Hotel / Design / Atmosphere - The hotel is absolutely beauitiful from all angles, but especially from the front and the courtyard. It dwarfs the slighly older Riu Palace Mexico which is also nice, but not this nice. The lobby is also very grand, and very beautifully designed. I'm not sure about the pink, but it's OK. The courtyard is beautiful and a great place to sit in the evenings, have a drink and listen to the band (which is usually pretty decent).

Rooms - We stayed in the Jr. Suite. The rooms are very nice, not the nicest I've ever seen, but still very nice. To make it perect I would have an LCD TV, jacuzzi spa, and internet access.

Food - The food is very good for a resort. I actually thought the buffet was really good and sometimes wished I was eating there than some of the special restaurants. It had a good selection of very fresh, slightly exotic, and high quality foods. We had Brazillian, French (strangely named "Sir Oliver") and Japanese. The only one that lacked noticably was the Brazilian place.

Service - is excellent. Very attentative and friendly staff. They understand their guests expect the best and they deliver it.

Drinks & Bar - lots of fancy tropical cocktails. Nice bar. I only wished they made aqua de' fresca like cantelope, watermelon or strawberry juice since i was doing a lot of diving and couldn't get hammered every night.

Pool - big pool - lots of room for everybody.

Beach - Beauitful - there are some but without them people would be getting hurt

The Negatives:

* Internet only in the lobby - which was a really far walk our room. Not having internet in my room is like not having a TV or a telephone. I know some people don't use the internet, but a lot do and like the convenience of their laptop being online when they need it.

* Plumbing / Hot Water - It seems like our shower plumbing was sharing with someone's toilet or something. It would suddenly get really hot then really cold. I hope this doesn't require removing walls to fix.

* Fairly big hotel - so pick your room strategically. There's only 1 elevator and that's near the lobby.

* The safe uses a key so it's another thing to carry in your pocket.

Stayed at Riu Palace Riviera Maya from April 29 - May 5.
(2 adults ages me(36) husband (43).

Warning* long review & info ahead!

Little info on our past travels for comparisons... Mostly do all inclusive resorts and a couple of cruises. We have stayed at almost all of the Sandals resorts (with the exception of their 3 hotels in Montego Bay), Beaches, Super Clubs properties (Grand Lido's & Breezes), Iberostars, few other all inclusives, all Walt Disney World Hotels, Bellagio & MGM in Las Vegas.

Airport - We arrived in Cancun Airport on a Tuesday around 11:30 A.M. It was great being a weekday because we were in & out of Cancun Airport within :10 minutes. We do not check bags (we each carry on 1 suitcase that will take us for 8 days). We walked right through immigration, then didn't have to wait for bags so we sailed right through to customs. We had to take a taxi to the resort because we were not eligible for transfers due to a special rate we were given. I believe taxi's are regulated at Cancun airport and the cost for a taxi to Riu Palace Riviera Maya which was about a :50min ride was $82 ! yikes.. + tip. (the return taxi ride from hotel to airport was :45 min and $45...more info on that later.

Hotel- Arrival to Riu Palace Riviera Maya- beautiful property, very well maintained, sparkling large chandeliers up above. Friendly front desk & bellmen. Although it was well before check in time our room was ready. We were given a room up on the 3rd floor overlooking the resort next door. (we asked for a quiet room and didn't want to hear nighttime entertainment noise) so the location worked well for us. It was also closer to the pool/beach than quite a bit of the other rooms. Also, when we checked in, & I walked over to make our dining reservations. We arrived on Tues. and the earliest they could get us into Sir Olivers was on Friday night. So if you are interested in dining there I would make those reservations asap.

Rooms- The rooms were nice. (I would say comparable to a 4 -4 1/2 star property. Tile floors, double vanity in bath w/ granite, nice hairdryer, sample size containers of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, rain cap, sewing kit, comb & bar soap. Inside the shower was a dispenser which had an "all in one" liquid soap, shampoo. We had a king size bed which as soon as we got into the room I felt the bed and it was too firm for me. (thanks to past posters for mentioning). As I unpacked I called to ask for a mattress topper. Living area had a couch (seemed like it was the foam kind of couch), plenty of storage space in the rooms, and lots of hangers. (the good kind that don't have to be attached to the rod). Outside balcony had 2 chairs, table, and drying rack. The refrigerator in the entry way was wonderful. Stocked with Corona (our personal favorite beer), sodas, and 2 different sizes of bottled water which they replenished daily. Above the refrigerator was a bottle dispenser with Tequila, rum, and can't remember the other two. (can you tell which ones I drank?). That night the phone rang..it was the front desk calling to make sure the bed topper was put on our bed. (very nice for them to call & check up)

Beach-
I was surprised to see what great shape the beaches were in. Since this was our first stay at this property I don't have anything to compare it to for last year, but in our past experiences at other locations we thought it was fantastic. Yes, they did have those large sand bags out in the ocean, but they are obviously working, and by walking up and down the beaches we thought it was one of the better beaches. Especially because the sand bags are further out, some of the other resorts theirs are along the edge of the ocean entry and I thought looked pretty poor. There was not much seaweed. They flew the red flags for 2 days out of the week due to very high surf/winds.. and water sports were not available those days, but made for a beautiful breeze. Drink service was abundant at the Beach & also the pool areas. Some days my husband didn't even ask for another drink and they were bringing another one to him. Plenty of beach chairs & tables. No need to reserve them earlier in the day. They set up a secondary bar down on the beach in the shade with a blender, lots of bottles of stuff, bottled water/soda, and bottled beer which they poured in a cup. If you want to drink Corona and prefer bottled to draft come here to get your beer. (pool serves draft)

Pool- We enjoyed spending most of the day at the pool area because that is where activities were going on. Most activites started around 10am, and included air rifle (shooting with a pellet type gun), darts (not your usual darts..spin around in a circle 3 times then try to hit the target!...much fun), beach & water volley ball, horse shoes and much more. They had stretching classes & yoga on the beach, aqua aerobics in the pool daily, bingo with the name "sexy bingo" poolside...this is not a game you want to win. The winner has to get up on the pool deck and do a "sexy" dance that they teach you..while the music from Shania Twain "lets go girls" complete with a little pole dancing. Alot of laughs...if you win, do what we did and give the "winning" card to the new people that just showed up that day! (look for the guests without a tan!) ha ha.. worked like a charm. In the pool they also did activities such as bringing in an ocean kayak and having guests do races across the pool to see who had the least amount of time, and they took the sail off a windsurf board and brought it in the pool. They would hold onto it and try to shake guests off. The one who stayed on the longest...won. As you can read they did a good job at keeping people entertained. By the 2nd day a couple of them knew us by name which was very nice considering all the guests at the resort.
Pool had alot of space to sit inside the pool & sip a cold cocktail. Drink service was amazing..never waited more than 1 minute for a drink. For drink service at the pool bar they had about 3-5 bartenders, and about 5 servers walking the pool area. Out of all the other resorts we have stayed at this resort BY FAR had the most servers and was nice that they offered the drink service at pool/ beach. Alot of other all inclusives do not offer this service. They do not allow blow up loungers.

Restaurants- again as previous posters have mentioned to get a reservation for dinner be at in the lobby starting at noon. You can make 2 reservations at a time. I have to say... This resort has some of the best food than all the all inclusives we have been to. Specialty restaurants did require that men wear long pants. (My husband work khaki's but some men were in jeans). Usually we are not a fan of buffets, but the food was cooked right there and there were so many options...it was REALLY good..

We ate at:

Steakhouse- rate:"A" We had the rib eye, but they also had on the menu beef tenderloin with lobster tails, and the appetizer they brought out was sushi and shrimp. We were so full that we left before dessert.

Japanese- rate "A". ALOT of sushi, and shrimp again, but with other things...rest of the food was really good too.

Sir Olivers- rate "B-C" I would rate this a "C", but my husband would rate it a "B". I am a plain Jane kind of eater, but my husband isn't. I had a tough time here.. Alot of sauces...

We did not eat at Brazilian or Mexican. Alot of guests were saying that the Mexican didn't seem "Mexican"...and the Brazilian was just way to salty...

Buffet- We did eat at the buffet a couple of nights and really enjoyed it. They had a different theme night every night. Because there is so much variety here even if its "Italian" night there that means there are some italian dishes, but they still have a ton of stuff....alot of seafood, lobster tails..(huge with melted butter), salad bars that just kept going. They also had pizza at every meal available. My husband actually said a couple of times that he was sick of eating... (but we couldn't stop because it was so good)
Sunday night was Mexican night and was ohhh so yummy..

Breakfast - Buffet had ALOT of choices. In addition to your usual omeltte station, sunny side up eggs, flipped eggs, scrambled with different ingredients such as shrimp,etc they also had a "sandwich station" where you tell them what you would like & they make all kinds of breakfast sandwiches... A couple of different options for potatoes, (instead of one kind), pancakes, french toast, pastries with bagels/cream cheese/ muffins/ crossaints/ toast..and a ton of fruit ...much much more. If you are looking for something else other than the buffet you can order room service, or they have continental breakfast served until 11:59a in the other buffet by the pool/beach area. (also known as Chili's steakhouse at dinnertime).

Lunch- again...alot of variety....everything from burgers, hotdogs, nachos, seafoods, salads, etc...every day the seemed to change a cooking station. One day you would order burritos, another day quesidilla (can't spell)..you tell them if you want it with chicken, beef or shrimp, peppers, or whatever.

If you want to have any laundry done I grabbed a price sheet. Prices are approx. because they are in pesos and I did a quick conversion. (conversion was about 10)
Women:
dress $5.50
pants $3.50
blouse $2.50
t shirt $2.50
skirt $3.50

Men:
shirt $2.50
t shirt $2.50
pants $3.50
*page also states available mon-fri. If given before 9am, returned within 48 hrs. express service add 100%, ironing only 70%..

My husband would put on pants, we'd go down for a drink then dinner and go right back up to change. He got to wear his pants a couple of times since we pack so lightly.

I inquired at the front desk how much a taxi should cost us back to the airport and they said about $60. When we got a taxi (they have a couple at the foot of the hotel and whistle down when you need one) I asked how much. He said "$45". (woo..hoo!)

If you are standing in the lobby and walk out to the left about a 5 minute walk is a cute little marketplace called Playa Plaza. We enjoyed walking down the road after breakfast and stop to shop a little. And if you took a right (instead of a left) about a :20 min walk or 5 min cab ride is 5th ave with plenty of shopping (stores & shops), bars, restaurants. This is also where you can catch the ferry to cozumel.

This resort in our opinion was a overall "A". The only negatives which I could say are:
Inside the pool could be cleaner. There are little mosiac tiles along the areas where you sit in the pool that you can see have a film of oil, mildew & grime. It really should have been cleaned.

-Night time enterainment left alot to be desired. Most nights we just milled around and went up to bed. Something with an audience participation would make a world of difference here.

-After a couple of days we started noticing our room (especially the bathroom) really smelt of cigarettes. (husband is allergic to smoke)..(we knew the room it was coming from) I went to the front desk to inquire if we were in a smoking room (there were no signs posted) and was informed we were in fact on a non smoking floor. I asked if anything could be done and they offered to move us. I asked if it were possible someone could go up and inform them it was a non smoking room and they said no. They gave me a room to view that was available so I ran up to take a "lookie, lookie" as they call it. It was on a floor higher, directly above the stage, it was smaller, and the balcony had a solid concrete wall instead of metal so it got very little ventilation, plus if you sat down you were looking at concrete. Needless to say since we wanted quiet we were not interested. I went back to the room and wrote on a peice of paper very nicely that they may not be aware that this is a non smoking floor. Please contact the main desk if they would like a smoking room. We never smelt them again for the rest of our stay...
Unfortunately, we felt like it was up to us to take care of the matter. And can't imagine it being a problem for them to have asked the guests themselves.


I'm sure every week the clientele changes, but during our stay I would say that the guests primarily consisted of:
85% couples
10% groups
5% families

Nice variety in ages from 20 somethings to about 70'ish.

If anyone has any further questions you can contact me and would be happy to help. I would stay at this property again, and in fact met MANY people that have stayed here multiple times.
ENJOY!

This was my third trip to the Riu Palace Riviera Maya and it was absolutely wonderful. The food is fantastic (order the steak at Sir Oliver, the chicken at The Mexican), and the service is second to none. The rooms are great. Specifically, they're large with a balcony, the air works very well, and, the water pressure is great for a resort. The beach is vastly improved since my last visit in January (all of the hotels are using in-water sandbags to reclaim beach area). And the resort itself is beautiful with great fountains and gardens. This is a high-end resort for Mexico. The party-animals tend to go elsewhere (the Riu Riveria and Riu Tequella are much better destinations for people in their 20s).

People complain about the hard beds--I slept like a baby. People complain about the loud rooms--I've never noticed.