Dominican Republic

This resort is absolutely beautiful. The staff is friendly and helpful.

From the moment we arrived at the resort everyone was helpful and made check in so easy. The grounds of the resort were always beautiful and tidy, beautiful pools for whatever mood or activity you're interested in as well as a fun waterpark! Gorgeous white sand beach and turquoise water for swimming. The room was spacious and had all the amenities we needed, housekeeping was great, same with room service. The staff were all so friendly and fun and actually get to know you a bit while you're there. The food was quite good at the buffet and even better at the à la cart restaurants, and it was great not to have to make reservations. We took our kids ages 11 and 14 and they had a great time and were always busy. Honestly the trip couldn't have been better for us.

The hotel itself is a good size, the beach was great, the rooms kept very clean and good amenities. But I feel like the people always make the trip better. Would like to shout out Jeremy and Cesarino at Mixology bar because they took great care of me and my friends and we ended up connecting with them very well. They are the people that we enjoyed the most working there. Thank you to them.

We visited the Riu Palace Macao complex (adults only) for two weeks (starting end of March, 2026). This resort was recently renovated. Our room was located on the 3rd floor. We had a king size bed which we found comfortable. There is a fan above the bed that was appreciated. The air conditioning worked well. The curtains of the patio door are opaque. On our balcony there were two adjustable chairs, a small table and a dryer rack affixed to the wall. The balconies have a cement wall (approx. 6.5 feet) that give you privacy with your neighbors. Our room service was excellent. We had our small refrigerator stocked daily with water, beers and a variety of soft drinks. There are also 4 bottles of alcoholic drinks with a serving size dispenser (Gin, Vodka, Rum, Whiskey). In the bathroom there are two sinks and a large walk-in shower (shower massage removable & head or rain forest). In the wardrobe you have several hangers (22) and a free digital box. Also, there are two dressing gowns, ironing board and iron (no umbrella). The Wi-fi is free (up to 4 devices) and worked very well. There is a very good & large variety of food at all the places we ate (buffet and À La Carte restaurants). For À La Carte restaurants no need to book in advance, if it is full, they give you a *puck* (and a estimated wait time) that lights up and vibrates when your table is available. After your meal or during the day/evening, there is the Cappuccino which serves a good variety of coffees, herbal teas, sandwiches and pastries style desserts.... The service at the bars was very good. There are waiters who walk the beach to serve you drinks. The 3 pools were clean as well as the bathrooms. For the beach, it is beautiful and there are sun loungers, no need to reserve. There are no palapas but many palm trees that give you shade if you wish. About 150 feet from the ocean, you have an interlock sidewalk that runs from the Riu Palace Bavaro to the Riu Palace Punta Cana (covering all 4 Riu Resorts (including Bambu/Macao). The location of the Riu Palace Macao is ideal for beach walkers, you can walk East or West for very long distances. A nice new innovation: there is a metal rack for the plastic glasses that was installed on the garbage containers near the pool area. This helps not to see plastic glasses laying around the pool area. The new gym & Spa building faces the lobby of the hotel. Everything is very nice and new there. Most guests are from the United States, Europe and Canada. This hotel is quiet and there is no loud music at night. The average age of visitors is 60 . All the hotel staff is friendly, smiling and helpful from your arrival to your departure. My wife and I will be returning to this resort as our 17th stay was again excellent & relaxing!

Excellent! Very clean, friendly staff, great food, and beach is fantastic. Melvin was a great butler and the server girls (Maxima, Sonta, and OnGelina at the Club Elegance are so much fun. Amazing trip 10/10

We stayed a total of 7 nights in the "adults only" area which is the upscale area of the whole complex, check-in process was expedite and they provided us a private space to get changed as we got there earlier than the check-in time. Inside the hotel there are VIP areas that belong to the "Exclusive Traveler Club", and there are sellers that are constantly trying to sale you the club, be aware of them. The beach is gorgeous; however the amount of lounge chairs is not enough for all the guests, therefore we had to wake up early to "reserve" a pair, otherwise we would have seated far from the beach. The gardens and common areas are beautiful and well maintained, we stayed on the third floor with an overview of the pool and main plaza, a bit far from the beach but was OK. There is a bar nearby the beach and the staff is always available to serve, in general the people working there are super friendly, kind and happy. There are several restaurants with different type of food, from Italian, Peruvian, Steak house, Asian, etc. most of them needs a reservation which can be done through a website, and of course there is a buffet with good options, including a “Dominican” theme night on Friday with typical food, rum and performance, it is highly recommended! There are more facilities in the other side of the complex including shops, restaurants, pool, theatre, etc. We ended a couple of nights in that area as the shows were more entertained as the VIP area is calmer and quieter. Also, there are kayaks available for free, as well as snorkeling and sailboats. The closest town is only 15 min away by walk, cute area with shops, restaurants and bars. In general we had a good week, if only the beach area was less crowded… :)

Overall it was a great vacation. A couple of issues with housekeeping and front desk.

The resort was a lot smaller than we typically vacation at. For some ways, this was good, as service in restaurants and bars was fantastic. However, being so small had less to offer for kids activities.

Great entertainment, good food, excellent night club in the Bahia Principe Village, clean pool, clean rooms and the grounds are looked after.

Sheila M wrote a review Today St. Catharines, Canada1 contribution A critical review This was our 2nd stay at this resort; we went with our whole family in January of 2025 as well. Each visit my husband and I have taken Diamond Club and our children, their spouses and grandchildren were NOT diamond club. We took diamond club so that we could book dinners each night at 6pm as all of our grandchildren are under 2 and they go to bed at 7pm. We like a served sit down dinner together and that is our primary reason for going to an all inclusive with nice restaurants. This vist in March of 2026 check in was VERY SLOW for diamond club. We did not get our room till 5pm and we arrived around 1:30 pm. We also ended up walking to the diamond club lounge with our luggage as the shuttle was so slow. The toilet was broken in our diamond club room and fell forward when you sat on it. The shower heads were mostly blocked and went every which way when you turned them on. The hand held shower heads would not stay up when you pushed it up the bar it was on. Previously in Jan of 2025 we had used the Royalton APP to book our dinners 3 days in advance for 6pm but this time we had to use the butler to do that and he was ONLY able to confirm at 5:15 pm where we were going that night and this time we were only 4 adults and One 1 year old —last time we were 8 adults and three one year olds and we were able to book 3 nights in advance. Also our Butler “jesus” kept booking us for 7 pm and we repeatedly told him that we needed 6pm as the baby had to go to bed by 7pm. One night he booked 8 people and 2 infants—NO IDEA how we multiplied that quickly. We did breakfast at the main spot and they wouldn't let us sit outside until 7 am and then the next morning they said 7:20am. Just nice to sit outside as we have had a LOT of snowy weather this year. The Lazy River is fantastic and one of the primary reasons we returned; it is shaded and also very private as it is surrounded by trees. Last year the resort had floats you could use; double and singles. This year the resort had none and we were not expecting that so didn't bring our own. People gave us some as they were going home. The Gym needs some upgrading. IT IS KEPT TOO HOT>. they need to turn the airconditioning down a couple of degrees and get some fans in there. Also the treadmills and ellipticals don't have fans on them—need upgrading. If you go upstairs in the gym to do your workout the Hotel Wifi doesn't work upstairs. Downstairs they only have 2-5lbs, 2-10lbs and 2-15lbs. dumbbells. They need more and some 12lbs and 17 1lbs would be great. The gym is extremely busy in the morning. 12 noon seemed to be a good time to go so you could get a treadmill and some dumbbells. But TOO HOT in the Gym! They have music everynight in the main rotunda. At 8pm there is a kids show. 9pm there is the main show. I think it would be nice if they had a separate adult area with a piano bar and someone playing the piano so we didn't have to watch the kids show —watching one more “chicken dance” is Too much! The coffee shop is FANTASTIC; great coffee and ice cream and snacks. We enjoyed all of the restaurants. Our favourites were the Rio, and the Hunter. The Teppenakki show is well done. We didn't do the à la carte Japenese this time because it is very loud when they do the Teppanakki show and we didn't want to do it to the baby twice. Bring towel BANDS to keep your chair —we wanted the shade spots with the baby. We are going to try the Royalton Negril next time —hope the restaurant bookings IMPROVE there!