Overall we enjoyed our say at RIU Palace Riviera Maya! We would go again.

Pros:
~Access to beach beautiful with calm water (RIU Palace Mexico has a bigger beach, and bigger waves).
~Good Customer Service.
~Deliver campaign and strawberries and make dining a special experience on anniversary/ honeymoon/ birthdays.
~24 Hour All-Inclusive.
~Cabana boys to serve drinks on the beach.

Cons:
~Activities & shuttles booked at the resort are overpriced (shop around for a good price before you go on vacation).
~Limited # or restaurants for dinner.
~Tips left on your pillow may not go to the maid (may go to beverage stocker or other staff entering your room).

Tips:
~Walk 15 minutes down the street to your right for "5th Avenue" shopping, dining and ferry. Walk 5 minutes to your left for "cheap" souvenir shopping.
~Go to Hawaii instead of Mexico if topless is a problem for you.
~Buy sun block outside of the resort because it is $15(U.S.) a bottle at the hotel gift shop.

The Riu Palace is very nice. Check in was quick and easy. The food was good with gauc and pico available bfkt, lun, and din. Lots of shade available at the pool and on the beach. I was quite dissappointed with the service at the pool. We have traveled to Mexico many times and the staff work very hard for their money. We always tip to encourage frequent stops but at the Riu there didn't seem to be enough waiters to cover the pooland beach area. I was somewhat surprised by this due to the fact this is such a nice resort. After good tipping and poor service the first day, we chose chairs close to the bar to serve our needs. Hammocks on the beach under the palm trees made for great naps. 5th Ave was alot of fun and not so commercialized as Cancun.

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.