Riu Palace Riviera Maya

We LOVED this property & would 100% go back!
BEACH [Details]

This place is amazing, beautiful and extremely well run! Customer service is exceptional! The grounds are immaculate and the entire resort is spotless. We can only say one thing that could be better, is the access via elevator to all floors could have been designed better! Otherwise, it deserves 5 stars! We were there March 17-31,2024. [Details]

Stayed as a family( 2 adults and 2 kids) for 10 days at Riviera Maya Palace Hotel It is our 4time in Mexique, but RiU Palace will stay forever in the 1st place! Location!The beach! It is love from 1 st sight! Amazing and hardworking staff, professional management that gives all excellent results that your eyes catch every minute scanning all over this place! The cleanliness, the order, the availability of all kinds of services.The best of the best! It is a treasure in Playa de Carmen! From now on we have our preferable destination! The piece of this hotel will stay in my heart forever! [Details]

Riu Palace Riviera Maya is a gem!

Modern and up to date with excellent facilities to accommodate all walks-of-life. Not too big nor too small with a great location. We spent our days on the nice, deep beach with lots of loungers available and palm trees for shade. Seaweed has been a problem all summer but it wasn't as bad as expected and the hotel tried their best at raking and removing the build up. By our second week, it had nearly disappeared.

The food was very good. From the buffet to the snack bars to the 5 or 6 restaurants, everyone should be able to find something to please their taste buds, 24 hours a day.

No disco or club in the evenings kept the resort low key but the fantastic Animacion group provided plenty of activities to join in on throughout the day around the pool or on the beach. Fun nighttime shows and entertainment in the evenings ranged from song/dance, circus nights, karaoke, trivia and even local singers,
pianists, and other musicians. Even though we stayed two weeks, they did not just exactly duplicate every night's show!

The rooms were large enough and comfortable enough and situated so that even Hurricane Grace didn't ‘dampen' our holiday!

All in all, we would return and also recommend the Riu Palace Riviera Maya. [Details]

This is a newly renovated hotel. The staff are friendly. Very large property
with plenty of space to walk or lounge without feeling crowded. [Details]

Hotel staff very polite and helpful. Room was amazing. Large balcony,. Room always spelled great after hotel staff had cleaned.
Towel animals were left on our bed by staff.
Food was very good. [Details]

Pleasantly surprised by the renovations, did not like the renovations done to the rooms. open bathroom concept does not work. Bathtub a total waste of space was constantly in the way when using the sinks. Layout of sitting area backwards, TV is up one level, should be down in front off you when you are sitting on the couch. The old layout was a lot better and more practical. This maybe a deal breaker on returning to this hotel, which we have previously stayed at 15 times. Staff are fantastic very friendly and always have time to talk to you and help you.I like how they have renovated the pool, bar and restaurant areas. Main hall is nice, miss the two shops that were in the main lobby. [Details]

Excellent service, significant buffet food choices. No need for the specialty restaurants, buffet is plenty awesome.

Drinks, food, and service were all “top shelf”. [Details]

This was our third time in this hotel. And I will come back again. Regardless the cons. Because for me beach and food are major priorities.
If somebody is looking for night life, entertainment, high end decor, pools and bars - may be not the best place to go.
I did want to mention though that over the years quality went down. Entertainment staff is not as professional as before, majority don't understand English, shows are extremely poor (due to unprofessional staff). Don't take me wrong - people are really nice, they work hard 24/7, just not the same level as it used to be. But I suspect that this hotel is not an exclusion. This probably happens everywhere. They try to keep prices low.
Beach is great because it's all sand, you can walk all the way to Playa Del Carmen or the same distance in the opposite direction.
Food is great for me because there is great choice of fish, seafood, meat, chicken, vegetables, fruits and deserts (they even have flan sometimes - I love it). There is restaurant (buffet during the day) right on the beach, so you can have lunch with ocean view and nice breeze. It is wonderful!
Rooms are little dark for my taste and outdated, but cleaning staff does amazing job cleaning them 3 times a day. We just put the red sign after first time, because we really just slept at night in the room. Spent the rest of the time outside. Isn't it the purpose of going there? [Details]

We bought this as a 5 star but it is not. Built in 2006, this place is in need of renovations. That being said, the staff is wonderful, friendly helpful and fun. Enrique at the beach was especially amazing ! Ridiculous amount of beach vendors really spoil the rest at the beach. Also advertised were beach activities, but the hotel has contracted that out to a company to sell you these things that are typically included. Food was great however we both (along with a number others we talked to) dealt with digestive issues 1-2 days, so something went wrong somewhere.... Housekeeping does a great job, except they start early in the morning rumbling through hallways with their carts (woke me up every day !) and stay out all day long in the hallways(perhaps they need more cleaning staff to get it done quicker). With the paper think walls, there was always noise, walkie talkies and staff heard out there.Entertainment was typical. Our first stay at the strip in Playa Del Carmen, and they way over-packed all the hotels together. We had expected a more appropriate place for couples, but it was overloaded with kids....We liked our stay, but doubtful we'd ever go back. [Details]

Beautiful hotel with old world charm. [Details]

Awesome resort, highlights are the beach, food, service, and high quality of buildings and landscape. [Details]

My husband and I went to this hotel and loved it. Excellent rooms, service, food, and beach. The staff is efficient and friendly. The food is amazing. A ton of room on the beach. You don't need to rush down to get a spot. Even shade spots by the upper palm tree area. Very clean and well maintained. We will definitely visit again! [Details]

This riu palace is a dream you won't want to wake up from, super amazing staff, really good food… & lots of verity, Playa Del Carmen just a 15 min walk, or 5 min bus ride away… coco bongos & senior frogs a must visit, lovely beach, extremely clean, & well maintained resort, if anyone has a negative comment about this place… ignor it. PS Zanek, Choco, Ralphy, Ricki, and all the girls keep up the great work. [Details]

We just got back from a weeks vacation and loved this Resort!! The whole experience was very enjoyable!! [Details]

We had an awesome time at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya. Staff were very accommodating and courteous and really did everything to make your stay outstanding! I love staying at Riu chain, because I know what I am getting and all of that is top quality. Will definitely book another Riu when I book an all inclusive. [Details]

The resort was almost perfect! [Details]

We have stayed at two other Riu Palaces (Cabo San Lucas, 2005, Riu Palace Mexico 2007) and knew what to expect. Great service, dependable food in the buffet and nice clean beaches. This property needs updating and is showing its age, but the service is as good as ever.

The pool was not as clean as it could have been. Much cleaner in the morning and occasionally unknown floaty bits including chicken (!) by afternoon. The beach was great with security and few salespeople. Warm clear water and sugary soft white sand. The drink service to the beach was slow as was the pool service but there was an amazing barbecue each day on the beach.

Traveling with a 6 year old to this property was a great idea. Reputable kids club with evening nanny service. Fernanda was our evening nanny and she was great. She also works the front desk and came in the evenings when we booked her (fee for service but completely within reason given her credentials). Since this wasn't the fanciest palace (Riu Palace Mexico was newer with fewer children.) there were enough children for my kid to play with at the pool and club.

All in all, pretty good. I would book not again but would choose it after it's next update. The riu palace Mexico was really nice with some updated features and better pool and beach service (you can visit all the properties and compare if you stay at the Palace). [Details]

The RIU Palace Riviera Maya is a gem within this beautiful gated residential community of playacar. [Details]

We liked our 2 weeks vacation very much at the Riu Palace R.M. The food and service was excellent. The Front Desk very helpful. The beach just beautiful, we like to swim in the ocean(sometimes a little wavy, but ok). We enjoyed the special restaurants,specially the Steakhouse, Krystal and Botafogo. The buffet had lots to choose from and lots of specialities. Overall we had a relaxing vacation and we would go back. [Details]

good food excelent service clean [Details]

This was tooted as a five star which I am sad to say was not. The Staff and the food were amazing but the hotel is sadly needing an update. We had no hot water to speak of for 8 out of the 12 days we were there.The staff tried their best but we were never offered another room or anything for this inconvience. There is hardly any entertainment privided. Customers to the hotel continue to put stuff on lounge chairs and save them. Some people never return to them all day. There are chairs but not where you would like to sit. The beach is lovely but needs to be cleaned. Sunwing rep was not very helpful when we arrived either just told us to look in the book to see when we were to leave. Never mentioned shopping but did mentione all the tours she recommended. There is only a few ice machines on each side of the hotel not on each floor and they do not work very good. Our over all impression was that it was expensive for what we got. Oh last but not least we did not get the king bed as we had asked for but 2 small double beds. Our room smelled musty from the first day but improved as kept the door open. I would not recommend this hotel maily because of the cost. [Details]

This hotel is RIU's top in the complex of RIU's in Playacar (Playa Del Carmen). Great setting, PERFECT beach, great rooms, but above all - OUTSTANDING service. The ratio of service people to visitors is very high, and they're very sociable and always ensure your drink's fresh and you're having a great time.

Food was very good here. I mostly ate the seafood and mexican stuff at the buffet and it was all high-dollar choices vs. what you would get cheaply in Canada. Specially booked Restaurants were good, and a couple really stand out (Krystal, Chili's).

Everyone we spoke to at the RIU was happy and having an excellent time. Most said they would go back, my party included.

Note - this is less of a party hotel, and more of a true 5-star, so while there are very good shows put on at night (hola Ricky, Diego, etc!) there is no disco. Easily solved by the 4-star RIU which is a 5m walk down the road within the secured complex having a disco that you can access.

There are only a few areas that this resort could improve:
1. Outdoor hot tub with 24 hour access [they have a sheltered one in the spa, but only until 8pm,
2. The rooms were oddly humid/damp while we were there, and we never spent enough time in the room to crack the front and balcony doors and air it out properly... so that's basically two. Some complained about wifi access (which is free, and covers the whole compound), but it worked flawlessly for me on my android device the whole time I was down there (HTC One).

All in all, fantastic stay and a great bet for that hard-earned week away. [Details]

In need of an overhaul, we had no hot water all week. No acknowledgement or communciation about the issue or when it would be fixed. Staff looked like they were bombarded with unhappy guests.
My first experience at a RIU property may be my last. The beach was great and the staff (except the front desk)were full of energy. The pool was OK many broken umbrellas. Place needs a face lift, mattress in our room very hard. [Details]

The front desk was always so helpful from booking our tour with the Local Quickies directly, to helping us get money from the bank machine in the lobby or buying phone cards to phone home with the instructions written out on how to use the phone. The hotel was always clean. The rooms were a good size with nightly turndown service. The buffets were fresh and had a wide variety of food to choose from. For my husband's 50th birthday the staff manager at the buffet decorated and gave us a special table. The kitchen staff made a delicious chocolate birthday cake and it was brought out with all the staff surrounding our table singing a special Mexican song for my husband. This was truly amazing for them to do and we were so grateful! We loved the different themed nights at the buffets and for the evening entertainment. Excellent service by the staff at the buffets and outdoor area where the nightly entertainment was from clearing our plates to serving drinks. We loved the animation crew! They were all so friendly and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the daily activities put on by the animation staff. We had 2 days where they did a beach party and had a barbecue on the beach which was a lot of fun. You can walk to Playa del Carmen in front of the hotel along the road to the right on the sidewalk or along the beach which takes about 20 mins. There is also the Plaza Playacar shopping mall as you walk out front of the hotel to the left which is about 10 mins. I preferred to shop here as opposed to Playa del Carmen because you didn't have constant pestering by shop keepers and you could still get great deals. The beach area had large palm trees if you wanted shade and lots of chairs to choose from. There was a guard on the beach the whole day for the RIU beach areas. There were no rocks on the beach or when we went swimming in the ocean. We will definitely be coming back again to this hotel in 2014! [Details]

Rooms were not as expected. Everything else was ok. [Details]

We've always thought Bahia Principe Esmeralda in Punta Cana D.R. was great...but, the Riu Palace Riviera Maya in Playa del Carmen is a big step higher for a little more money. Smaller is better. Food is freshly prepared in front of you (not brought out from the back kitchen). All the staff are fabulous and friendly (including the front desk!). And, NO TIMESHARE pitches! It's great being able to walk to a nearby good-sized town (Playa Del Carmen). [Details]

We had a great time . The resort staff were very friendly and worked very hard to please you. Couldn't have asked for a better vacation. [Details]

The resort is beautiful! It is very clean and the staff are exceptionally friendly and helpful. The buffet choices were endless and the a la carte restaurants were excellent !
The beach and ocean are spectacular as is the pool and swim up bar.
It was our second visit there and we will definitely go back! [Details]

Everything exceptional [Details]