Riu Merengue

Enjoyed a pleasant week but didn't experience anything spectacular. Food was passable but nothing stood out. Beach was average but I prefer pure white sand beaches. Satisfied with the stay considering the price paid. [Details]

Arrived about 11:45 p.m. no porter to help with bags, poor lighting made it difficult to find our room which was quite a distance ftom reception desk. 2 nd floor room with broken toilet, mold on ceiling, no hot water and no phone. Walked back to reception to report broken toilet etc. Was told plumber would come in the a.m. never showed up. Requested a different room advised to come back at 3 p.m. Got the key at 5:30 to another room only to find it infested with ants. Used up bug spray we had brought. Food was the same every day only one restaurant with long line-ups. Not very good and unappetising. Promoted as 4.5 but not even a 3. Overpriced [Details]

Stay away from this hotel. Sold as of May 1st. Numerous workers told us this. Needs to be updated badly. Not clean. Been to many Ruis in our travels and this was the absolute worse. Thank God for good weather. Our flight was terrible due to weather (which can't be helped) but my seat was so uncomfortable. Big ridge in the seat and dirty. [Details]

ryszard.augustyniak
Feb 18, 11:04 AST
I'm writing to tell you about our recent bad experience at Riu Merengue in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Our room number was 0316. This was our second time at the resort and we thought we would give it another chance after a few bad experiences last year but to our disappointment this year was even worse than last. Nobody informed us that the resort was under renovation and that some of the services might be interrupted. At soon as we got there we noticed that the air conditioning in the room was not functioning, we informed the staff twice and nothing was done about it the whole week. Our television in the room was not working, the technician told us that it would be fixed the next day and it never was. For 2 days we did not have any hot water in the room. One day after we woke up we noticed that we didn't have any power and the no running water. At the front desk they told us that they are working on it, later that day it returned. Next to the pool, the towel exchange booth was completely closed. We had to go to the garden side to get fresh towels (and the first day we got there, they didn't have any available towels at all). The dining room at the village side was completely closed and we had to go to garden side to the dining room.
I understand that little problems might occur here and there but I take my vacation only once a year and only 1 week and pay a lot so I expect to have good services, and this resort did not deliver 2 years in a row. [Details]

Hotel staff extremely rude especially since new ownership took over

Room had black mold and we had to fight to switch it

Casino and disco were closed every single night with no re-opening in sight

Food - I've gone to Cuba to a 3 star and even then the food wasn't this bad, the food at the riu gave us all stomach problems

Beach - not enough space to write how dirty it was, they don't upkeep

Alcohol- really watered down

We ended up switching hotels on the third day because we couldn't take it anymore... We switched to the Be Live which was amazing! [Details]

House keeping and maintenance people GREAT! Kids club people GREAT! Everything else was terrible. Beds hard and pain inducing, air conditioning hardly worked, very little hot water, food and or water in the restaurants caused all nine people traveling with us to have severe cramps. Too many guests and only half of the facilities were open. Will return to the DR but will not stay at this resort! [Details]

Met expectations on return visit [Details]

Overall the company of my friends was worthwhile on my trip. However I wouldn't recommend this resort [Details]

Great times had by all in party. Good for the price [Details]

Everything was OK, we did not have high expectation, just wanted to relax for a week. The only real down side of the resort is the beache... rocky bottom right from the start you need shoes if you want to go for a dip. [Details]

The staff from the beginning were exceptional. Upon arriving at the hotel we were greeted with many other guests orderly and efficiently with an envelope with all the stuff we needed. From there a gentleman loaded up our stuff on a cart and guided us to our room. There was a little bit of a walk but it was enjoyable for us and the grounds are kept beautiful by the hard working staff.

The room was a bit stuffy a bit musty, but was kind of expected with the heat and humidity, it was something that didn't bother us too much as we spent very little time at our room. The AC worked well enough, and the bar was always stocked for us.

One afternoon, outside the villas were sprayed for insects, so there was a chemical odor as well as there was a lot of burning garbage near by, so that was slightly bothersome.

Cleaning staff were fantastic and always super friendly. Front desk staff were very accommodating and bar staff are out of this world! Fun entertainment every night, three resorts to play and relax at, and lots of activities.

Food was good, no issues with stomach problems, we enjoyed all of our meals and tried new things. The staff take hand sanitizing to a whole new level of seriousness and bathrooms in the main lobby are constantly monitored by staff.

Wifi wasn't great, so if you're needing a connection, I would recommend paying to use the internet, otherwise disconnect if you can.

Beach was beautiful and scenery as well but there are a lot of rocks, and the water was full of sharp rocks/reef. We came back with plenty cuts. Never again without water shoes.

We took a city tour and cable car excursion and it was well worth it. The bus drivers are pro, and tour guides are awesome. City is littered with garbage but there are some really great highlights to the city and surrounding area.

The entertainment staff are really hard working fun individuals. They work long days going around making sure everyone is enjoying their time, then to turn around and perform through the evening. I can't say enough about the staff over all.

We really enjoyed our trip. It was extremely relaxing, and enjoyable. [Details]

We enjoyed lounging between the pool and the beach. Met many fabulous travellers and made life long friends. Ate wonderful foods and caught a great tan. [Details]

This is my 3rd time revisiting. Other 2 were awesome. I had a wonderful time but extremely disappointed with the resort room and the food. We had 2 rooms, only one had working air conditioning. They both smelled of mold and mildew. The maids were wonderful. But not their fault of the mold. The food was the same basically day after day. The activities were good, no complaints. We also felt as though the liquor was watered down. [Details]

We read the reviews and to be honest were a bit nervous about our arrival - and I am very picky about room quality and food especially. Well we travelled with our two children, ages 10 & 12 and we honestly had the most incredible time! The food was much, much better than we expected and we ate wonderful meals the entire week. Yes the food is repetitive but they go to very great lengths to make sure that the meals are different and there is something unique each day. The cheese and desserts are incredible and the staff do go out of their way to make sure you have something you enjoy! The entertainment staff try very hard and work such long hours to make sure your vacation is enjoyable. There is not many activities set out by the resort for children the same age as ours but to be honest that was nice because it meant we got to spend all of our time together and they loved the beach and the pool so it was a fantastic time. We always found beach chairs when we wanted them, the pool was always spotless as was the resort. We visited the Bachata next door a few times and you would never know it was newer, it was also lovely but didn't feel like it was a step up from our resort. All in all this is a wonderful vacation property, so much to do yet you can also stay in the same spot all week and have a great time too. The rooms are not "modern" but they are not gross at all and the staff work hard to make sure they are spotless. We didn't spend much time in there anyways so we were very pleased with what was offered. We stayed in the Garden building room 1455. I would gladly return to this resort and do look forward to visiting it again one day with my family. Have fun!
P.S. Yes the wifi connection is terrible and I heard many people talking about it in the lobby but I didn't care because I was on vacation and gladly disconnected and didn't go there to check on my facebook or catch up with emails...all that was waiting for me when I got home haha :) [Details]

Beautiful design at the Merenge village, rooms were great, great service, and great food. The kids shows at the end of the day too long, pool wasn't cleaned well, free wifi was great. Beach was alright, not as rocky as the other areas. [Details]

We enjoyed are stay dat the RIU Merengue. We found the front desk people were very helpful. The rooms were clean. The food was good but they needed to change to different food not the same. [Details]

For the most part it was fine. We had a broken shower that took until Wednesday to get repaired. Beds were very hard and actually left bruises on a fellow traveler. [Details]

I hated the beds.....2 doubles in one room pushed together to make one bed didnt work. so you had the option to sleep in 1 double or separately. please put in queen beds. The rooms were very musty smelling
the foods could have been labeled better,I put what I thought was salad dressing on to find out it was sour cream. the bathrooms all over the resort were very clean, never dirty. the staff were pretty friendly
drinks were tasty, not too strong so I could enjoy them
we never saw the banana boat in use...sad we wanted to try it and things to do on resort were limited [Details]

The hotel was as expected
the food great
the weather wonderful
the staff great
and immenities perfect
enjoyed the tours off site as well
definitely worth it [Details]

It's our second time to the Riu. Everything is still gorgeous (except the beer, apparently north Americans are whiney enough to get Coors light and Bohemian to replace the Dominican Presidente). We had an unfortunately hard couple of beds - two doubles pushed together is the closest you get to a king here! The AC is a central air type setup and is in rough shape. The ceiling fan helps it cool the room though.
Food was good! The freedom to eat at either side is nice. Lots of variety!
Staff were amazing. Some even recognized us from last year.
Unfortunately we will not be returning to the DR ever, as their kneejerk response to e-cigarette controversy allows airport staff to seize/steal your kit and keep it (there's a market for second hand e-cig stuff there). The run in with the airport security left a very bitter and expensive taste in my mouth. [Details]

started off a bit bumpy but the amazing staff smoothed things out. [Details]

the bad: this is a village resort so you can be walking alot,no elevators, air conditioning did not work in either of our room, others confirmed that theirs did not work as well. no food available after 10 pm, frosty drinks had no ice and were warm and watery,
the Good : staff were friendly, hotel was clean, ala carts were ok [Details]

I was disappointed with the food, amount of walking from room to front desk, pool or food areas. We had no water to shower for 2 days. [Details]

This resort was awful. Not enough staffing, food was terrible, at breakfast you usually couldn't find a clean table to sit at. Our garden view room overlooked the street where there was buses coming and going, tractors coming through and car alarms going off. King bed was 2 small beds pushed together. Mini bar service was a joke. No ice or ice machines. Beach was never raked up.
Wifi only in lobby and that didn't always work. We were given only half our resort credits! Stay away from this resort! [Details]

We love this place. Food was great, staff was awesome. Pool was cold but the ocean was warm. [Details]

Its a perfectly situated hotel but definitely not a 4.5 or 5 star hotel, I would categorise the hotel more like a 3 star, casino was not open, we were 3 in a room and asked for 3 days for a fold up bed, never received it, we gave up trying, most disappointing hotel comfort in our rooms. [Details]

Okay place, not a 4 1/2 star quality, maybe 3 1/2 or 4. [Details]

We spent 1 week at this resort from Dec 24-31, 2016 [Details]

Enjoy your stay with a very friendly staff and fun activities [Details]

Very friendly staff. Truly a great choice for anyone [Details]