Riu Naiboa

Check in was super easy and the staff was fantastic. We were able to use the kayaks and catamarans for free but it wasn't well advertised how to book them. The beach is a bit of a walk but there are some cute shops along the way and a Beach Club with snack bar at the beach for while you're there. The waterslides were a big draw for us but they were smaller than the pictures implied. 6 slides for the adults however it was nice that we could just pop over for an hour or so to enjoy them and they were quick to walk to. [Details]

We went to a RIU because we had heard that they are excellent. We have been to Punta Cana 14 times and this is the worst place and experience we have ever had to endure. Upon arrival at the resort we were greeted by not very enthusiastic staff whom barely spoke with us. Then we were taken to a room, when we entered the room to find that it was very old and only had 2 single beds. We went on a romantic vacation to be put in a room with two beds, when I called the front desk, they told me that 95% of their rooms only had the 2 beds and they didn't have any rooms with one bed available, after a lengthy discussion we were taken to another room with a king bed. Once again the room was very outdated and very small. There was no coffee maker(first and only place I've ever been without one) and in order to use the washroom you had to back into a corner and close the door. It was a 20 minute walk to the beach down a side street with high chain link fence on one side and little shops on the other. The vendors constantly hassled us all the way to the beach and back.
The hotel only had one pool and the water was milky and the bottom had huge spots of dirt on it. The room keys continuously would not work for our room, we had to go to the front desk 3 times in an hour period to get them reprogrammed.
I can usually find something good about the worst situations, but this is not the case, this is the worst place I've ever been and I was completely surprised it is a RIU. We ended up staying the one night there and then demanded to be moved to a more suitable hotel. We ended up having to pay $575 US to move to the RIU Macao and an additional $200 US for a room closer to the water for 6 nights . This was the worst start to any vacation we have ever had. Hopefully this review actually does get published and it saves people from getting taken for their hard earned money and being completely disappointed and mislead as to what they are going to experience. [Details]

Great hotel, service was amazing, food was good, beach was beautiful (a little busy and the water was a bit rough), rooms were clean and we had a stacked bar with no extra cost, water slides were fun (kids came back with bruises tho and were sore from going down them). Absolutely loved the RIU themed parties. What an experience! They need these parties for the kids too. Very disappointed that they couldn't experience a foam party, dancing, entertainment, etc. [Details]

The hotel was extremely clean, the people were absolutely fantastic and friendly, the grounds were very clean and well maintenance but the entertainment was incredible! We can't thank you enough for the fantastic stay!!!!! [Details]

Our room had bed bugs and cockroaches, staff dismissed our complaints. T.V and mini fridge not working. Overall staff were rude, short changed my daughter at front desk with money exchange. 5 minute walk to the beach (only access) included being harassed by locals repeatedly. [Details]

It started when we arrived and there was no power at the main desk or in the main dinning room. It was restored after a half hour or so. The hotel itself looked very dated and need of repairs/upgrades. After checking in and moving to our room which was very small with double beds instead of queens. We lost water for an hour or so. The bathroom toilet barely work and ran all the time. The air conditioning worked but was very noisy. Annoyingly the power plugs in the room and throughout the resort all required adapters for N/A style plugs! My family of 4 had to share 1 USB plug for the entire week to charge our devices! The WiFi was ok. It did come and go but for the most part was ok. There were signs up about physical distancing and masking but they were ignored for the most part.

The lone pool at the resort was small and looked very dirty. If you wanted to get one of the cabanas around it you need to be out there by 6:30-7 am and drop your stuff under one or they are all gone. In the afternoon they played music so loud that it made sitting in the chairs by speakers feel like you were in a club. Only one bar open for drinks during the day by the pool. There is no swim up bar. We had access to the water park that is used by all the RIU resorts. And you could see that they had put more into that area then our hotel because of that! A ton of nice Cabanas to use, beverage station, etc but no food there. The water slides were ok and my family had a fun time there.

The beach was about 5-10 min walk from the hotel passed a bunch of small shops. There are no cabanas on the beach anywhere. The beach has a small buffet food and drink area that has limited selections of both. The drinks at the resort are made with low end and cheap liquor and not very good. The food was horrible. It had little to no taste and was no better then what you would get in a high school cafeteria! The 1 'nice restaurant' they had was not much better. They had posted rules about dress that were completely ignored. And you needed to get there right as it opened if you wanted to get a seat, and the food was still crap.

The shows were ok. But there was no signs/information posted anywhere about what was going each day at the resort. You just kind of had to figure it out. (we found the information board on the day we left leaning up against a wall in the luggage storage room!) There was a couple of good shows and a couple of bad shows. The night that the RIU had there pool party at the adults only resort ( they pushed going to this all week) they had ZERO entertainment even though there were a ton of families that could not goto the pool party! Even the staff were unhappy about this! They seemed embarrassed by it. Now the staff were the bright point of the trip. They were great! They did the best they could with what they were working with. Check out was easy and quick. All in all I would highly recommend NOT going here. There are way better hotels for the same money in the area. I would put the hotel at a 2.5 star resort at best. [Details]

Hotel was good, but an action is required for having more healthy food and water. [Details]

Riu Naiboa, good hotel! [Details]

It was a great experience. .totally good specially the stuff in the dining room.
Only thing missing a lot is smile very important to have smile specially at this kind of business. [Details]

This hotel was amazing!!! Good was great. Hotel was clean. Entertainment was amazing!! We made some great friends that work at the resort who we will never forget.

I would highly recommend this resort to anyone. Can't wait to go back!! [Details]

The staff here were very good,food was good,entertainment was good overall it was a good holiday [Details]

The hotel was good and suited our needs. [Details]

An over all amazing experience, Beautiful place an people. Definitely recommend it to family an friends!! [Details]

Our room had a view of the pool. We were two floors above the bar that's open until 6am. I am a light sleeper, I woke up a lot each night. Some nights people were really loud, others not too bad. The Animacion staff provided pool side entertainment during the day with games, exercise, dancing through the day and then activities to entertain in the evening before the nightly entertainment started. The food was good, not great. Good enough variety at buffet to provide selection. There is another Riu resort between Naiboa and the ocean so there is no ocean view rooms at all. The beach is a close walk. Nice shops for souvenirs along the way. Market came twice during the week to set up and sell items. Pushy as most are, had to walk a different route to to to lobby to avoid them. Lots of lounge chairs around the pool, some with sun, some with shade. You could pick where you wanted most days and move chairs around to get heat you were looking for. Tons of lounge chairs (long chairs with adjustable backs to sit up or law down of two options in between) at beach. Always empty spots in the sun and in the shade, close to ocean and far back in Palm trees. 4 star, get what you pay for, liked it, not really many complaints. I wouldn't go back, not cause it was bad, but because it didn't have oceanview and only one pool and no swim up bar. [Details]

My wife and I stayed at the Riu Naiboa from Dec 25th til Jan 1st. Let me say that we are the biggest advocate of the Riu hotels as we just love them and recommend them to all our friends or other folks travelling. But, I have to admit that this Riu, is not really a true Riu or its a welfare Riu.

Let's start with the bad and finish on a good note.

Bad:
- Room are very outdated, with mattress so used up that my back still hurts. The TV was an old 24inch tube but still work.
- No safety latch on the doors or even a peak hold to see who is knocking.
- The food is probably the worst I've ever seen at a Riu hotel from breakfast to dinner. The morning chef would not cook any eggs the way to like them, so I had to do it myself while he watched learning agaist the wall, to the lunch where there were no salad dressings and the same food as the previous night which leaves me to believe left overs. There were no salad dressings and once they had some it was water down, to the dinner with barely decent food. There were 3 small stations with the 1st they would cook sometime chicken, sometime pork to the 2nd station where it was only fish and seafood, then the 3rd station you never knew what it was going to be.
- The staff barely speak English so unless you speak Spanish you aint getting service. They were rude even if I was nice to them.
- They would not refresh the beach towel at night even if they had lots of them still not being used.
- Smoking everywhere, I think I will die from 2nd hand smoke.
- The local vendors who were invited by the hotel was very aggressive by grabbing you to show their stuff and if you did not accept then they were insulting you.
- I brought all my scuba gear hoping to dive everyday but Scuba Caribe did not want to take their boats out as its too expensive on gas and said that the visibility was poor to about 20-25 feet. But they keep pushing you to go do the Catalina dive excursion for a lot more money.

Positive.
- Beach is nice and lots of chairs.
- The cleaning ladies were friendly and efficient.
- Front desk was actually pretty good.
- Hotel was clean but in serious need of repairs.
- Lots of hot water in the shower.

Its a good thing that the weather was nice because this could of been a lot worse. I'm done with DR, going back to Mexico.... [Details]

I have been to many resorts in the Caribbean and this was my sixth visit to the Dominican Republic. I have also stayed at other Riu hotels but the Riu Naiboa was very disappointing. The front desk staff was unfriendly. The waiters were some of the worst that I have ever encountered. Service was non existent. I would never book this hotel again nor would I ever recommend it. [Details]

Had a fantastic time staff very friendly, very clean and tidy well taken care of. [Details]

Had a great relaxing stay..Very clean, friendly staff, If you not interested in night life this a great place to relax in the evenings..However 24 hour snacks were not available..plenty of food for all. Had a great vacation [Details]

no internet for guest unless you pay... fridge was not stocked every day unless you asked...but staff was friendly. [Details]

Room was clean. Food was excellent. front desk service good. People not as friendly as other places I have been. [Details]

Nice resort, well worth the money. Great customer service, clean rooms, good food [Details]

rating as a four is accurate.
Hotel was clean & well maintained.
Food was good but basically same choices every day ,service was quick. A la carte at Bambu was terrible.Entertainment was okay.Since hotel is small , everything was close except for the beach. Beach was very good.The only thing that i did not like is that free WiFi access was difficult & would loose reception often. Desk staff were always trying to get you to buy 24 hr internet for your room for $ 10.00 [Details]

Hotel experience was good overall as I was looking for a warm break from the cold Ontario weather. [Details]

This was our second time here last one was 10 years ago has improved greatly management was a lot better. [Details]

Great beach, excellent food.
Nothing to do at evening. [Details]

The Hotel was beautiful. [Details]

Don't expect to get any sleep at this resort. The noise of slamming doors all day and night and people yelling to their friends in the hallways is horrible!!! Disco was down for renovations---not informed. Very disappointed---would have gone elsewhere!!!! [Details]

Beautiful hotel, food was good, plenty and fresh. Fantastic service from Santo in buffet restaurant. [Details]

The only thing we didn't like about this hotel was the lack of huts on the beach because the palm trees didn't provide enough shade. Huts available around the pool, with lots of lounge chairs available. [Details]

had a wonderful time and the quality was what I expected for the price I paid [Details]