Resort Review: RIU Palace Riviera Maya
TRIP: 7 night stay at the all-inclusive Riu Palace Riviera Maya resort in Playacar, located about 45 minutes from Cancun airport.
Vacationers: My family of 4, Mom, Dad, 8 year old daughter, 11 year old daughter
My review:
PROPERTY:
The beachfront resort is drop dead gorgeous and immaculately maintained. A gorgeous marble covered lobby smoothly transitions into a lobby bar that features a pianist and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the entire property and on to the azure ocean and white sand beach. The buildings are situated in a U formation creating a central gathering area and Town Square. The theater, which is the epicenter of the resort in the evenings and where they give out awards for the day’s games, the kids program does their Mini-Disco, and the performers do nightly shows, has giant sliding doors creating an indoor/outdoor experience with tables in both places and is the perfect place for a pre or post dinner cocktail. Right across the courtyard is the buffet that also has outdoor tables. A giant gazebo sits between where musicians play in the early evenings. Giant fountains and pools run the length of the property leading from the lobby down to the pool and the beach. One giant pool is in the center right before you hit the beach and is seperated into a pool bar, adult pool, and general pool complete with in water lounges. A towel hut sits on the pool deck which also has a lending library in case you forget your reading material. Right off the pool is Chili’s, the restaurant that serves lunch and snacks by day and is the find dining steakhouse by night. It is mostly open air with views of both the pool and ocean. The beach area has a private section for resort guests with lounge chairs and hammocks.
SERVICE:
We never lacked for anything the entire time we were there. Upon checking in I gave the person checking us in my ID and a credit card, as I usually do when checking in to a hotel, and he promptly shook his head and handed it back saying “no, no, You don’t need this, you are home now.” That is exactly how we felt the whole time there. With a $50 tip our room was upgraded to a courtyard view room. By the second day our poolside waitress knew our names and our preferred beverages, my 8 year old daughter would find fresh virgin pina coladas at our chairs whenever she got out of the pool. I cannot think of anything we requested that we did not receive. The entire staff was kind and friendly.
ACTIVITIES:
Boogie boards and kayaks are readily available without any additional charge at a hut on the beach. The entertainment staff is full of energy. Activities start with water aerobics in the morning and continue throughout the day with beach volleyball, water volleyball, horse shoes, and “lazy games” where the wonder by your lounge chairs and ask trivia questions or throw magnetic darts for prizes. 4:30 in the afternoon was always most entertaining for me because that is when they would do Crazy Games and try to get everyone poolside (and in the pool bar) involved. It was silly, loud, and fun with both adults and kids participating. On this particular visit the Kids’ Program seemed pretty slow, there weren’t a ton of kids at the resort during the time we visited so our kids were only occasionally interested in going. During past visits they really enjoyed the kids’ activites and would beg to go each morning because they would play pool games, games on the beach, and do arts & crafts in the afternoon to get out of the sun. On this visit they only made occasional visits, but did manage to be there on the day that the staff performed “Grease” in the evening so they were able to be part of the show.
FOOD & DRINKS:
The food was excellent at every place we ate within the resort. There are breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets that do not require a reservation. Each featured a wide variety of fruits, seafood, vegetarian, and meat options with dessert tables to die for. The dinner buffet was generally themed and the food stations manned by chefs served coordinating selections. My favorite- international sliders with Mexican (with guacamole and pico de gallo) French (with brie, arugula and prosciutto) and American (cheddar cheese and bacon). We did not make it to all of the fine dining options, there are Mexican, Japanese, Brazilian, and a steakhouse. The Mexican was phenomenal , the Japanese was ok, and the Brazilian was a meat bonanza of deliciousness. My favorite lunch was the grill that they set up everyday on the beach where they grilled burgers, pork chops, carne asada, and hot dogs. Or is my favorite the snack cart that rolled through the pool deck every afternoon that was filled with ice cream or fruit or nachos with guacamole? Now that I’m thinking back it’s hard to say.
OVERALL:
I love this place. I’m ready to move into this little piece of heaven tomorrow. The only bad thing I can say is that the humidity forced me to wash every item of clothing we brought with us when we got home, it was all damp.
