RIU Tequila - All Inclusive

This is the second time I've been to this hotel and, overall, I think it is a great deal for the money. I wouldn't have returned a second time if my first experience wasn't as good as it was. There were a couple of disappointments on this second trip. The air conditioning was not working on our first night and despite contacting the front desk about this, they said they would not be able to repair it until the following day - so that night's rest was less than adequate. However, it was fixed the following day. Also, the catamarans were out of use most of the time due to windy weather. There is nothing the hotel can do about this but I thought those of you considering this place (or any other hotel in the Yucatan) should know this may happen to you as well. I would definitely return here a third time since this hotel has so many good points to offer.

Fantastic to be able to enjoy the other RIU hotels, Yucatan, Playacar and Lupita, as well as using the Tequila as home base. A very nice walk to town. The hotel staff are exceptional. The food is the best of any hotel (served quantity stye) that I have ever had. I am planning, with 7 others at this time, returning to the Tequila in October 2009 (my 6th). I have recommended the Tequila to many friends and they have been there and enjoyed it as I do.

This was our first visit to the the Playa Del Carmen area and we found the Riu Tequila to be a very pleasant surprise. Newly renovated, the lobby, rooms, restaurants, bars, were all very attractive. The staff was friendly and helpful. In particular, the bartenders were always cheerful and working at top speed. We found the walk to the beach, through a shady walkway, to be very pleasant. It took under 10 minutes and it was good to get some exercise. The beach was more crowded than any other Caribbean beach we've visited, but the sand and water were gorgeous and the people watching was terrific. We were able to get loungers in the shade very day, simply by getting to the beach early, which was what we were there for anyway. There are sand whales in the water to help stop erosion and they seem to be working. We travel with our three young-adult children and they really enjoyed themselves. The Tequila has the best nightlife of all the Riu's in the area (or so I'm told), so everyone congregates there, there's a disco that stays open until 2 am. There were beach volley ball games going on all day, which they enjoyed. One day we did parasailing which was affordable and a real experience. Another day, two of us took a cab to Akumal for snorkeling. It was a nice day, with lunch at the restaurant on the beach there. While we try to go to different places each year, I would not hesitate to go back to the Riu Tequila. My only complaint is one that goes for most AI's and that is the quality of the food. While the breakfast buffet is excellent, the lunch and dinners are pretty repetitive and mediocre. Even the a la carte restaurants were forgetable. (And, rather unusual, this resort has two seatings at their a la carte restaurants, 6:45 and 8:45, rather limiting, and the service is quite poor, which sort of defeats the purpose of avoiding the buffets!) We love to try different foods, but for some reason we have never been able to get a really unique meal that seems mexican at the Yucatan AI's, and I'm not just talking about burritos or tacos. However, if I go to the Playa area again I will most definitely budget to eat out a couple of meals in Playa Del Carmen. The cab fare from the Tequila was about $5 and there were endless restaurants that looked interesting. Touristy of course but interesting nonetheless. That being said, we don't go to the Caribbean for the food, but rather for the weather (it was perfect Dec 24-Jan1) and the sand and water.

Hotel was well worth the money. Only literally a few minutes to the beach..Decent shows, decent food, beautiful pool area, plenty of things to do, friendly staff..good upkeep on the room. Modern room with modern amenities. Good drinks that were flowing all day. Overall a very nice hotel. I was impressed. I would recommend it to everyone. Not a good place for singles at all. Mostly couples and families. Food wasn't anything 5 star but it did the job, big selection. Like I said..For the price I paid I was extremely impressed. Had a great time, my girlfriend had a great time. I'd recommend the place to everyone.

The food options and quality were more than I expected! Staff were always friendly.

Our room was very dirty and it smelled of mold. The shower head and safe were broken. The room was almost unlivable. Also, it was a 1/2 mile walk to the beach from our room. This certainly isn't ocean front. I will not go back.

We stayed for one night only. The rooms were full of mosquitoes. That night when we had dinner, we found a rock on the beans and hair on the fruit. The location of the hotel is good except that is not on the beach side. It is a long walk to the beach.

The ClubHotel RIU Tequila was wonderful! From the moment we arrived til the day we left. We stayed for 8 days and have no complaints that the staff had any control over. Staff is very very friendly and make your stay very fun. They get you whatever you want and are very accomodating. Rooms are very clean and have a nice dressing area with private curtain and a sink, closet (iron and ironing board and umbrella and safe provided in closet) with a separate shower area and a separate room with toilet. The room had two night stands, dresser drawers, tv, clock, table and two chairs inside and a small table and two chairs on each balcony/patio. My husband and I had one room and we had four teen-age boys in the second room. They brought us a roll away bed. They took their turns sleeping on the roll away bed and alternating who got to sleep in the crack! They said the roll away bed was very comfortable. I read alot in the reviews about how hard the beds are. They are quite firm, but we loved it. Slept wonderful! Each room has it's own thermostat AND a ceiling fan - which we loved. We kept the rooms quite cool in the day, but were very surprised how cold we were at night. There are blankets in the closet and we very suprised we had to use them in July! Sometimes at night we would turn the a/c to a higher temp and not use the blanket. There was also a mini fridge and a booze dispenser on the wall. They stocked the fridge with bottled soda, water and corona beer. Also with club soda, tonic water, etc. The alcohol provided in the room was rum, tequila, vodka and gin. The hotel also provided soap and shampoo packets (no conditioner) Shower was awesome - immediate hot water and lots of pressure. Rooms did smell a bit musty - really realized this when we got home and smelled how bad our clean clothes smelt!! But you must remember you are in Mexico and the jungle. My only other complaint was the mosquitos in our room. We had two rooms and only one of our rooms had mosquitos in it daily - quite a few of them. If you call the front desk, they come immediately and spray your room and it's no problem. Even though we had mosquitos, they were annoying, yet we never got bit! So either take your own bug spray for the room or call the front desk. We walked to the 5th Avenue Shopping area/flea markets. It took us 30 minutes. I'd guess it's a little less than 2 miles away. Very nice walk. Felt very safe and a beautiful scenery on the way. Our 4 kids, ages 13-15 walked there several times with no adults and were fine. Cab rides are $5. 5th Avenue offers flea markets and stores and that is where you can get ferry tickets and go to Cozumel. Tickets are $12 per person, each way. There are restaurants like Carlos and Charlies and Johnny Rockets, Starbucks, Sushi, McDonalds, etc. The beach is beautiful. The RIU Tequila is not on the beach but it is not a problem at all to walk across the street and down a long shaded sidewalk to the beach. They have a little shuttle that you can take there, but we always walked. We ate on site every day and loved all the food. So much variety, you can't go hungry. There is definitely something for everyone! And the drinks are wonderful... whatever you want, they will make it if they have it. We made reservations and ate at the Steak dinner twice. We didn't try the other restaurants as we liked the buffet dining and all the variet. Very good. The entertainment staff does a wonderful job. Very energetic and love to work with the guests. The Michael Jackson show and the Grease show were very good. I'd see them again. We only saw those two shows as we did other things in the evenings. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. I'd go back in a hearbeat! Loved the place. You could relax and enjoy your own peace and quiet or get involved in all the activities they offer. Since we had teenage boys, we didn't leave the premises at night to go to nightclubs, but had a great time at ...

The hotel is located across the street and away from the beach. If you don't mind a little walking-- not a bad thing given it is all inclusive... Our only issue were the misquitos in our room. We didn't ask to change rooms, so it was our own decision to stay. But the misquitos would just fly in when we opened our door to go in or out. This is misquito season it seems. Food was good. Steakhouse is very good. Mexican not as good as the Mexican restaurant. You can also eat breakfest + lunch. We had stayed at the Playacar before, so we ended there a lot of the time.. All in all a great stay..

The Riu Tequila is one of 6 RIU hotels in Playa. It was a great experiance and we were treated like royalty by the staff. On our arrival we found a friut basket and a bottle of champagne in the room. Nice start for a 1st anniversary trip. The rooms were well kept and the service was impecable. Food was always good with lots of choices. The beaches are in a bit of trouble with erosion right now but the RIU folks are working on restoring them. I think they are back to about 75% of finished. In any case it is the Carribean so who really cares if the sand is 40 ft or 30 ft from the tree line. The grey line was used for our transportation to and from the hotel from Cancun and they were ok. Just don't stop until you get out of the airport to find them. Locals selling time shares make you think they are the transport people so if you stop you may miss your bus. The transports are OUTSIDE the building. I would reccomend this or any RIU property in Playa or Cancun.