RIU Palace Punta Cana All Inclusive

Everything was amazing! Food was great, lots of selections. Service is top notch! Everybody was super nice. Property is gorgeous, well maintained. Only downside is the beach is basically unswimable. Lots of seaweed. I dont think its the hotels… fault, its just nature. Hotel tries to clean it up all day long but still comes back.

O.K. so we were just like you right now (reading these reviews). We read a lot of good reviews about this resort and several bad ones. The bad ones seemed to have in common the comments about rooms without air conditioning, really bad “musty smelling” rooms, hard beds, and average (at best) food quality. Since there were so many more good reviews, we hoped for the best and concluded the bad reviews just must have been from overly “fussy” or “hard to please people” …you can’t please every body correct? I think you know where we’re going with this…we were WRONG! Please pay attention to these bad reviews (they nailed our experience with this resort on the head). Our first night we were given an EXTREMELY musty smelling room with non-working air conditioning. The room was on the inside facing the courtyard directly across from one of their bar/entertainment areas so the music/noise during the evening was unbearable (and we could not close the balcony doors since the AC was not working. After 6 hours and 3 visits to the front desk (each time with the manager saying “I will send somebody up RIGHT NOW…which we found out actually meant “Forget about it”) they moved us (at midnight) to another very musty smelling room with working AC (just barely working). We noticed that after the AC was on for a couple of hours, water would begin dripping from the corner of the ceiling lighting fixture in the bathroom (we assumed it was overflow condensation from a poorly drained AC). The rooms were so musty smelling (and we saw “black mold” like growth in several areas of the room) that our clothes and suit cases reeked of it even after we returned home. We thought that all resorts on this island must have this issue since it is so humid here. OK…so we were WRONG again! We stayed an extra night at another resort (courtesy of the Airline overbooking our return flight) and the other resort’s rooms did not have a trace of any musty smell to them! The food was average (at best) and we all (six of us) had stomach issues after the first day (bring plenty of Imodium) and for our entire stay (we only used the supplied bottled water to brush our teeth and drink). My wife was initially concerned that I would gain weight at an all you can eat “inclusive” resort. Image her surprise when I weighed myself after coming home and I had lost 4 pounds!!! I joked with her that if I went back to the resort for another 6 weeks, I’d loose enough weight to be at my ideal perfect “healthy weight! A work gang of several people were also hard at work during our entire 7 day stay, tearing up the Resort fountains (breaking up thick concrete with pick axes and then wheelbarrowing the debris away). This daily scene did not quit match the nice pictures that the web site depicted (and for which we paid for). The good stuff? The beach is nice…that’s about it! We will try other resorts but definitely not this one and not any in this particular island (don’t even get me started about the airport and the transportation infrastructure)!

In our 8 days of stay we lost electricity 3 times. Also we were without warm water to take showers a couple of times for a few hours. The personal at the desk also need a little improvement. We have been to RIU Palace in Mexico and were very satisfied.So needless to say we will never go back to PUNTA CANA.

Arrived with my pregnant wife and 8yr old daughter at 3:55 (almost a full hr late for check in) room WAS NOT READY! That was all I needed to know about this so called "5 stars" resort. So they told me to go eat and return later. When I came back they sent me to a room which believe it or not WAS OCCUPIED!!!! I actually opened and walked into a room to find personal belongings, clothing all over the place. Luckily the guest was not inside at the moment. At this point I was outraged, and I pointed out that we were tired after driving 4 hrs and my pregnant wife need a bed to rest. So they gave me a temporary room while the Superior Suite I had reserved was prepared. In short, we were only able to get our actual room 3 hours later at around 6:30pm. While I was told upon check-in that I had access to all other 4 Riu hotels, I found that it didn't include the buffets. I wasn't too excited with the menu, and food quality needs improvement. I found a little worm moving in my salad, pointed it out to a restaurant supervisor, who asked me for my room number, but don't know why because nothing happened. Marvelous looking lobby, but the cigarette stink was not so pleasant. Awesome shows, in both Palace and Riu Bambu, it's great to have options for shows. The fitness center was a joke, very big compared to other hotels, but under equipped. The heaviest dumbell was 15lbs. And finally.. WHAT"S UP WITH THE HUGE KEY?? and they only give 1 copy. Extremely inconvenient especially when you're travelling with family. It was very hard having to coordinate everything having only 1 key. I will never return, and wouldn't recommend it. I see this hotel either lowering their star rating, or price altogether.

The hotel is beautiful, the staff was very nice, the room was clean and comfortable. Perfect for a weekend get away! Foods in the buffet were plentiful and decent. Specialty restaurants were not on par.

The hotel RIU Palace on the ouit side and lobby and grounds look really good, but the rooms are awful the smell and are damp the pillows are terrible and have a awful smell you can not sleep on them, everything I brought back home with me all my clothes had and awful smell from just being in the room. the staff are horrible not helpful and unfriendly the most unfriendly resort I have every been to. When we checked out they did not even ask how our stay was actually they said nothing just took our keys and handed us our check out pass and that was it. I will never return to Punta Cana.

The food was excelent, extraordinary beach and location. The service was average.

Hotel acomodations is good. the food is not good, every night is the same thing on the buffette, and you need reservations for the specialty restaurants and the food is not that good, The pool is small for the hotel size.

The RIU Palace Punta Cana is truly epic. My wife and I felt like special guest in a real royal palace. The staff from the front desk to the pool towel guy go out of their way to ensue that your every need is met immediately. The buffet food was phenomenal. If you make reservations you can dine at the specialty restaurants which are all included as part of the resort's cost. I recommend the Brazilian steak house, "The Bodega!" The only things I would change about the RIU Palace is the comforter and couch in the room (outdated) as well as the corny stage shows. I wil definitely be returning. I was absolutely impressed by this resort and it's staff!

Very impressive at first look. Everything very clean. The staff was always more than helpful my lack of Spanish skills, was trying at times, but they went out of their way to try to speak your language. We were warned not to drink the water, even to brush your teeth. They provide bottled water in your room, replaced daily, as well as full wet bar. The pool, always fun, great pool bar. Only feet away from the beach, constant activities there. Access to lots of toys too. I had a massage in the beach hut, well worth the money.many special touches that made this place very special. Plenty of variet in food, changing daily.