RIU Hotels & Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

My fiancé and I stayed at your hotel in September for a week. On the last day of our stay, we were robbed from our room. We went down for breakfast and got back to our room at about 10:30am. When we inserted the card to get into the room the card would not work. We went down to the lobby to speak to the front desk. They informed us that they would fix it. It took them about 30 minutes and I believe that during that time was when they stole my jewelry. I did not notice it missing until a few weeks later. The earings are fancy and I would only wear them on special occasions. The earrings and bracelet set were not only pricy but have a sentimental value because they were a gift. I have stayed at your hotels before and have referred many friends but after this experience I never want to go back. I have called the US office and no one has done anything. I am disappointed in your staff and how you've handled this situation. Apart from this, we had other issues with our stay. Including the front desk staff trying to offer us a better room for $20-50 more if we kept between that person and us. So sketchy! I'm hoping RIU will contact me to make things better. My fiancé and I were even considering a RIU hotel to host our wedding. I want RIU to do something about my stolen jewelry. I have receipts with the price of the stolen earnings and bracelet and proof of pictures that I had them on the night before we were robbed from our room from your staff.

Arrived Nov 26 via SunWing a couple of days after flood only to be informed all is repaired and normal. Spent a week with all pools and gym closed except very tiny swim up bar. While wading in that pool Tuesday cloudy substance entered through jets and everyone ordered out quickly almost panic in lifegaurds voice. Stampede that insued left me catching toe on pool drain and breaking toe so unable to make 10 minute walk for swimming to Riu Montego Bay. Ala cartes closed many days throughout week not what was advertised at time of booking. Ocean had 4 inch deep mud that you sank into if you tried to swim there. First time staying at a Riu very let down for what I had always thought was a first class resort !

I work for TUI UK and I am part of the Riu partner club. I booked a 1 night stay for my parents at Riu palace Mexico as they were in port for the day off a cruise and as they have stayed at this hotel before I thought it would be a lovely idea. This was to celebrate my father's retirement so I wanted to make it special for them.
On arrival at hotel they were told that as the reservation had been booked with my card they could not check in. My father contacted me back in the UK very angry and stressed. I contacted the hotel directly and spoke to a very unapologetic man who happend to be the manager. He was very rude and didn't apologise once for the inconvenience caused. I then contacted RIU reservations and was told that as it was my card this was procedure. When I booked this on the riu website it did not make this clear. It didnt say this on the confirmation and I do not recall seeing anywhere where you had to present the card that was used to make reservation. I am deeply upset about this situation. My parents were left humiliated at the reception desk and make to feel like they jad.done something wrong. I also found it very unprofessional when I spoke to the manager at the hotel he said that he dealt with my parents and they have left the hotel now as they were 'pissed off (his words) I am manager at a TUI store in the UK and I don't feel this is appropriate at all.
This has caused alot of stress and upset to both myself and my parents and it has ruined what should have been a memorable experience. I have stayed at Riu palace Mexico 3 times and I honestly say I will never go back again. I am also reluctant to recommend and book Riu hotels in the future to my customers.

We travelled from Manchester to Riu Montego Bay in Jamaica on 26/08/17-09/09/17. I booked this holiday of a lifetime in January 2016 through Thomas Cook we travelled to Jamaica to renew our wedding vows with our family at a cost of £20, 000 when we returned i sent a complaint letter on 25/09/17 to Tui who ‘lost my email' so i had to send the letter by post. I have been chasing it up weekly, finally have received a reply from their directors office, a gesture of good will in the form of £400 cheque. I spoke to Shante Campbell a senior customer support advisor who explained as we paid the Riu hotel directly for the renewal of the vows and the photos we should contact Rui directly. Also most of the rest of our complaint was about incidents at the hotel. I feel very annoyed that this was left nearly three months before i was told to contact Riu but i feel its upto Tui to deal with my complaint.

As a loyal customer of both yourself and the Karamboa, it saddens me to have to make this observation. Whilst the standards of the hotel were once again superb on my recent visit( 25/11- 2/12) it was completely overshadowed by the lack of management of both standard and quantity of sunbeds provided on the beach front, every day was a challenge to find beds or beds that were not falling apart! There is lots of space on the beachfront for beds however people were having to pitch down on the sand as there were not enough available or were broken. I noticed this time that the development of the building of a new hotel next door is progressing and I hope this inspires someone to review these standards, I look forward to seeing an improvement on my next visit next year.
On plus side I have been here for the last four years and never had to complain, likewise I have used your hotels for the last 10 years across the world and have always been impressed by your standards, looking forward to visiting your Porto Cana in may.

Regards
Peter Mills

I have very expensive make up brushes and one has been taken from my room. No one at reception seem to care and told me 'unfortunately these things happen'. I am still at this hotel until tomorrow. This brush cost me £42! I am devastated that it's been taken.

My name is Emma Andrews and I am staying in room 214 inside the main hotel. The guy at reception I spoke to was called Louie.

Kindest regards
Emma

Hello RIU Customer Service,

I have emailed Sunwing many times but have yet to receive a response.
I have a Sunwing complaint # which is 82655.
I have spoken to many representatives and have asked for them to send information to appropriate departments of RIU and Sunwing.
Also, my travel agency has forwarded messages in regards to our concerns.

I would like you to please review and have somebody contact me or give an ETA on when somebody will. My phone number and email have been provided along with Booking #[protected]. Additional photos and videos are available at your request. Here is a link to hotel lobby flood of RIU Reggae:
https://youtu.be/JlTltm62fsk

I would like a complete refund as this trip has been a total catostrophy and for our 20th anniversary and all the work and savings that have been put to make it happen, it is far from the awesome experience that we would have expected from RIU and Sunwing and instead will leave a negative memory for us to remember.

Please review notes provided below that should have been forwarded to you by your representatives at resort as requested and confirmed by them.

Just a few more issues that I would like to inform you of which occurred within the last day that we have spent here at RIU Negril. The vendors on the beach keep coming by asking me in front of my wife if I would like to buy some marajuana or hash or cocaine and continuously occurred throughout the day. The condition of the chairs at this resort are disgusting and majority are full of mould and beach towels were not available yesterday when we arrived and today after 3:00. The room had a bad, musky smell. Our pick up is at 4:45 for a 9:30 departure, almost 5 hours prior instead of leaving directly from Montego Bay which we chose, picked and anticipated a close drive to the resort and back.

Hi Hubert, (November 23)

Thank you for meeting up with us at approximately 4:00 at RIU Negril. As stated to you in person we have travelled approximately an additional 3 hours to get here today over and above everything else.

We are also at a family resort now when we absolutely wanted to be in an adult only resort. We understand storms occur and want water for Jamaica but resorts need to ensure that they have proper drainage for just such occurrences. I have stated that hopefully tomorrow and half Saturday will be pleasurable but this time list is irreplaceable and very disappointing.

I said I would copy you on what I sent Patrick from Sunwing and asked that you forward all this information to the proper management team at Sunwing/Riu.

Here is the information provided to Patrick:

Hi Patrick, (November 23)

As per our conversation held today at approximately 9:30-9:40 along with other Sunwing Travellers at approximately 9:30-9:40 hours.

My wife and I would like to take this moment to recap on our requests. We request to move resorts as this resort is in emergency mode and don't feel safe as amenities are down and very limited, tripping hazards all over the place in which my wife has slid this morning but fortunately there was no injury, unsanitary grounds and would like to be fully compensated especially if our requests are not met.

Patrick, you then stated that if we prefer to go to another resort that we can write it down on the customer list sheet that you provided and stated that right now we need to resolve emergency issues and not worry about compensation as that can be dealt with later.
I mentioned that we want the same 5 star accommodation like RIU Reggae or better in which you stated that due to emergency status that Sunwing may not be able to accommodate that.

Another sunwing customer asked if we should be talking to our travel agency representatives in which you stated that it wouldn't make a difference as the decisions and circumstances are all being taken care of directly at the resort and you will escalate the requests to your team leaders.

Also, I would like to mention that there was no communication on what was going on when this flooding circumstance occurred yesterday. I phoned down to see if reception was aware that power went out in which they stated that maintenance was working on it and that was all that was mentioned...nothing about a flood.

I then heard some conversations in hallway in which they stated that we had to evacuate including a resort employee who had confirmed this as well. So we went ahead and packed our bags and went into hallway again to follow up in which we were told by the employee to sit back until we are notified when evacuation will occur.

At this point, I called reception, in which they informed us that plans have changed and we won't be evacuating and instead they are working on putting food together and will distribute the food to the rooms accordingly.

This morning we found out through other resort guests that they were taken over to RIU Palace and were able to eat there. Unfortunately, we never received food at room and were not informed of RIU Palace accommodation.

We work very hard all year and expect the to unwind on our time off and picked RIU Resorts to tend to our needs during these special relaxing moments. This has been very frustrating, especially lack of communication and will definitely be a great reminder of our 20th Anniversary.

To conclude, my wife and I are hoping that are requests will be fulfilled and some sort of compensation but if requests are not met we are requesting total reimbursement compensation.

Patrick, I will follow up in the next few hours as you suggested and will hope that Sunwing Customers are represented appropriately the best way you can.

Thanks,

Giuseppe & Ivana De Luca
[protected]@hotmail.com
Telephone: [protected]

To whom it may concern, I Ivette Diaz had a reservation in Cancun Riu palace Las America's on November 15th until the 19th. And the reason for this short letter to you is because I wasn't too happy with the way my room reservation was handle by your staff. When I arrived to your resort at around 12:00 noon, I was told that I had to wait until my room be ready which was going to be at 3:00 p.m. I then asked if they had any upgrade rooms available and they told me that they were all booked for the day. I went to eat and walk around the resort until 4:00 p.m. when I went to the front desk again they then told me that The room was not ready and I asked if there was another room ready and they told me that the only room available was an upgrade room for an extra $50.00 dollars a night. Do for such a long day I decided to take and pay the extra charge. First there was not any upgrades, then my room was not available, then all of a sudden there's an upgrade room for $50 dollars a night. I was not too happy by they way this matter was handle and I will like for you to get back to me with an explanation. I am a long time customer with your Riu Hotel and Resorts. Thank you .

Monday 20th November I logged a repair with the reception at 07.10 to be told by a female receptionist that the maintenance would be a long time they hadn't started work
My door would not close I was stool in my room as couldn't leave By 11.30 my husband went personally to reception and they radioed someone no apology My husband removed a bolt so we could shut door and we went for food after missing breakfast 15.30 we went back to the room and no one had been and the cleaner had also reported it I rang reception again and told the gentleman I would like to speak to a manager He said Can I know what about and I will pass it on and get her to contact you
I explained that I could not close my door and had rang at 7.10 this morning My husband had been at 11.30 and still no one He put me on hold for a while and came back and was very rude He said Madam you don't understand someone could have been you would not know you don't have to stay in your room I stated originally my door would not shut and I did and no one had been
He then raised his voice and I had to remove the phone from my ear saying it was not 𝙼ens able and we would have to move rooms etc etc He said he would get the manager to contact me
Then within 10 minutes 2 maintenance men can adjusted the bolt and said they didn't have an Allen key and were finishing shift and someone else would come
No one came this will happen again to someone else
My complaint here is the service from reception A few days earlier I needed a grilled and one was put in the room while we dined we were left a note through the door asking if we were happy with the service and given a call
No follow up call about my complaint or about the repair
Something so small be made to feel I was in the wrong
Customer service was non existent the first thing I should of been given was an apology not told Madam you don't understand
No body spoke to me about my complaint this is why I want someone else to know
This hotel has great prospects
It is over staffed a lot just stand about
No one takes ownership
Typical example painted the pool... got covered on paint lots of areas missed could of sanded areas first
Someone needs to manage this hotel a fresh pair of eyes needed
Staff need responsibilities
Customer service is the key
Do a job right first time
I'd love to manage this hotel and put it back to standards as believe me there is definitely enough staff to do it
No one is perfect but a simple bolt ruined my holiday I have never complained before but feel this hotel could reduce your reputation if others are made to feel like me
I also have a picture of a hand written note off the cleaner asking me to not put suncream on in the room as she could fall ... I've never done this so laughed it off

Please respond as I was made to feel like I had done something wrong when all I wanted was to be able to leave my room for breakfast securely

Natasha Dunnachie

Hi - my name is jo murphy I visited your riu hotel in marakesh last November Tikkida - i joined the membership and filled out the form. I have booked again to go to cape verde in riu finance- I have not had a membership number - please can you assist- we would like to take advantage of the offers that regular visitors are offered - thank you
Regards
Jo Murphy
8 alder Grove CF479sf
Wales UK

Please see attached photographs of the shower ceiling that fell in on me twice, firstly it was repaired to a very poor standard and then a bigger portion of the ceiling fell through 3 days later, we were not moved until the 2nd incident and then moved again so we had 3 rooms during our holiday and had to live out of our suitcases for 3 days

This was a 5 star resort supposedly so i would like answers ASAP

Recently returned from a holiday at the Rui Papayas, Gran Canaria. I have two main issues with my holiday I would like to discuss with a member of your team urgently. Firstly was refusal of adequate medical attention for my partner by the Hotel Manager, who was injured at the hotel and secondly potential food poisoning.

Please contact me immediately by phone or email.

Martin Avis

[protected]@hotmail.co.uk
Mobile [protected]

Riu palace Puerto vallartta
We have complained to reception and customer service. Written a letter. Nothing has been done. Food in krystal restaurant giving cold shrimps when meant to be hot. Happened twice. Took to customer service and she even said wouldn't touch the food. It was my husbands birthday totally ruined. Alsorts of other complaints not been addressed. I am a riu class member. [protected]. Not a patch on riu palace Costa Rica. Also lots of people had stomach problems. I am worried as my birthday on 20th Nov and will be still here.
Email [protected]@btinternet.com. we are room 8047. When we get back we will take this further

I haven't even gotten to the hotel and I am already having the worst experience ever for the Riu hotel park plaza time square.

Reservation ERIC STEPHENS arrival tuesday December 5 departing Friday dec 8 confirmation number [protected]

At 9pm pst I called to confirm our bed 🛏 for our anniversary reservation for arrival on Dec 5 for a short stay of 3 days. Not only was I hung up on twice, the guys at the front desk speak poor English and one guy even yelled at me when I called and told them that I am calling ahead to confirm a bed type or upgrade the room so that we don't have any surprises before flying across the country for our short 3 day anniversary trip. Mind you I was very polite and had a soft gentle tone to my voice and the guy yelled at me anyways. He seemed very annoyed like this call was inconvenient to him or whatever he was doing.

Not only were they refusing to take our request to be put in a Queen or king bed, and even denying our request to upgrade our room type, they were insisting that they were going to put us in two twin beds. Can you imagine coming with your significant other to nyc from California to have to sleep in two separate twin beds?

Eladio, the guy working the front desk kept putting us on hold and i listened to him have an argument while I was on the phone About who was going to take my call.

Then Jesus Lopez took the phone and it took 15 min for us to pull up the reservation because he couldn't understand us as we very clearly spelled out the name on our reservation.

After Jesus pulled up our reservation he refused to confirm our room for a king or a queen bed and was telling us our only option was two twins. It wasn't because there were no other rooms available, is because he was refusing to help us.

What four star hotel wouldn't take the proper procedures to ensure that their guests that were arriving were going to be able to get a queen or king bed when they are calling over 20 days before their arrival date and they HAVE the rooms available?

We even had our Hotwire guy call and speak to ELADIO (case id # [protected] Hotwire guy named allen) and they wouldn't help him either.

How can you guys call yourself a 4 Star hotel and refuse to confirm our request for a king or queen when you have the rooms available? You can't put a couple in two twin beds!

This trip is supposed to be enjoyable and exciting and we are 20
Days before arrival and our customer service experience is awful and we aren't even there yet.

I don't understand why they can't just type into our reservation that we want a queen or king bed and ensure us that we won't be having to sleep in two twin beds on the day of our arrival.

If this matter isn't handled immediately I will be taking the necessary steps to make sure this is known to corporate and to the public.

4 star rating, and this is what we get? Not acceptable.

[protected]@gmail.com

We stayed at the Guanacaste 3 years ago and had an excellent time. My daughter was so impressed that she booked her wedding there this October. Whe we arrived there this year we noticed a decline in the upkeep of the hotel (cups floating in the pool in the morning and management more confrontational). The wedding planner that my daughter worked with quit before we arrived and she was not told until after we were at the resort. The day of her wedding was somewhat confused. When we went for dinner after the wedding my daughter wanted to switch from steakhouse to Italian because steakhouse was not air conditioned and our meal the night before was invaded by animals that looked like raccoons (3 of them on table)
Italian restaurant staff we very accommodating but restaurant manager who initially agreed to moving us if we lined up with other hotel guests wanting to go there changed his mind. He asked one of bridesmaids who spoke Spanish into his office then locked the door and began yelling at her that we would be going to the steakhouse. She said she was uncomfortable and wanted out. He continued yelling at her and slammed his fists down on his desk. Vivian then pushed past him and ran back to the wedding party. My daughter came out and he aggressively approached her to within about 6 inches when my wife pushed him back away from her. Amanda then told him we were eating at the Italian and walked away from Javier (the restaurant manager). We thought things had ended but during dinner my wife went out for a cigarette and saw Javier in the smoking area with about 5 security personnel. She came back to the restaurant concerned something else was going to happen during dinner, but nothing did. We heard later that because he was the only manager there he was in charge of security.
The next morning about 4:00 Iran into the grooms father who told me he had been called to the front desk and they said something was was wrong with a guest named Shawn but they wouldn't tell him anything. I went to the front desk with Craig to find out what was going on. When I got to the front lobby I was an ambulance out front, two ambulance attendants sitting in the lobby with about 4 police officers. I spoke with the manager at the desk who had me identify Shawn from his passport then told me he was dead. He told me Shawn was acting erratically then just dropped dead and the police officers were there waiting for a different set of officers to come because there was a death in the hotel
As I stood at the front desk I noticed Shawn's sandals in front of the lobby desk, their positioning reminded me of how shoes end up after someone is hit by a car. I also noticed a line of blood on the floor in behind the desk 5 to 8 inches long by about 1 to 2 inches wide. The manager would not tell me where the body was and had me contact the Canadian Embassy so that we could notify his family. I felt uncomfortable but wanted to believe the manager
Talking to other guests later I was told that if he was having a heart attack or was having an overdose he would not have the energy to act erratically he would be lathargic and require help to move.
Shawn was a groomsman in my daughters wedding and she met with a manager in the morning to find out what happened. She asked to see the body and was told it had previously left the hotel. She asked to see the video footage from the two cameras at the front desk and he told her it was given to the police and he had not watched it. Then told her he watched some of it and Shawn was acting erratically and he died from an overdose. When she got out of the managers office she was told Shawn's body was taken out while she was in the office.
I talked to the Nexus representative who assured me that the true cause of death would come from the autopsy because we were being told conflicting accounts of what went on. I found it very concerning that we were told it was an overdose and the police did not interview any of the 42 people that went down for my daughters wedding.
We later read in a local newspaper that the Riu had released a statement that Shawn Had fainted while handcuffed in a chair.
Our last 2 days at the resort, my wife, my two younger daughters (9 and 10), my son and our guest lived in fear waiting for something else to happen. I was never so relieved to leave a place in my life!
Shawn's family paid to have his body returned to Canada and to have another autopsy done. The autopsy that came from Costa Rica was missing a toxicology report and the returned body was missing the brain
I believe that an incident happened with the hotel security and all of the ingredients to have a similar incident are still in place down there. I also find it suspicious that a coroner could be so incompetent as to not do a toxicology test and not include the brain with the body remains
You have a problem at this resort and it should not have come to the point that a man loses his life to show you and what is more alarming is that there seems to be a cover up to keep everything status quo

Hello Me and my partner stayed at two of your hotels in Puerto Vallarta from Nov 9th thru Nov 13th. I'm writing to you guys because I want to let you guys know about the horrible experience and the lack of customer service skills your employees have and the unwillingness to help your guests at these locations.
Everything started when we first arrive at the Riu Palace Pacifico that was the resort I had originally booked and we were very excited because we always heard my sister talking about how good that company is. When we checked in we got assigned to a room that had no view at all, it was far from everything. We spoke to the person at the front desk and they said they could not help us with anything because the hotel was all booked, however the hotel wasn't that full and we are sure that they had rooms available but since they are not willing to help the guests they didn't do anything. I told them that basically the only thing that we could see from our room was the roof of the lower level and they said that it was unfortunate. They also said that they would put us on a waiting list to see if something came up. So at the end nothing happened and on Saturday afternoon when we got back from a tour we found a note on the door for me to go and speak with Paola Garcia Director or Manager. I really don't remember what she does there. So I went and she said that it was unfortunate that we didn't like our room and that she was going to have a room available for us on Monday (Monday is my check-out day).
Me and my partner travel to different resorts all the time and they always try to make the guests happy, however this is not the case at this location.
At that time my partner was really upset because there is absolutely nothing to do at the hotel after 10pm, we could sit outside in the balcony but there was nothing to see other than a roof, so he went to talk to Paola and he explained everything and also told her that we would take a downgrade if we could not get a different room at the Palace. We even asked them that we would pay extra if they gave us a different room. After 30 mins of trying to make her understand she said that it was fine, and that she would call Riu Jalisco and see if they could give us a room.
At that time everything worked out just fine and we moved to the other hotel. At the Jalisco most of the things were ok, however a lot of the bartenders are rude and they look at the guests like they (the guests) are begging for free stuff and the waiters in a lot of the restaurants don't even greet the guests nor offer drinks not even when they see your meal already in front of you.
The biggest problem that I found with this place is that they don't really care about the guests and what happened on my last night there really showed that they don't care about anything. On the last day we spent the whole day at the pool, had a few drinks but nothing big. At night when we got back to the room, my partner was vomiting, I thought he was just drunk but that was not the case. All of the sudden he became unconscious, pupils non-reactive and his respiration rate was high, and he was also having shortness of breath.
I called the front desk and told them that I needed help and told them what was going on. They said that they would have the doctor call me. When he called me he said "he is just drunk", at that moment I got really mad because I'm a registered nurse and I know that there was more than just being drunk. So I told him that I am a nurse and that there was something not right about this and what he said was "you might be a nurse but I'm a doctor" and he just hung up. I then called the front desk again and asked to call an ambulance that I was going to take him to the hospital. Right after the doctor called me back and told me that taking him to the hospital would be expensive and that just the ambulance would be like $500. I told him that it was not about the money and that I knew that there was something going on and I was not going to leave him there.
When the EMS arrived the doctor had told them that he had seen the patient but that was not true, otherwise I would of had never called the ambulance. The same thing when we got to the hospital, the doctor called to give them report about a patient that he had never seen. If he would of came to the room, I could had probably saved the $1000+ USD that I had to pay for the hospital and the ambulance.
The doctor at the hospital said that it looked like he consumed some kind of altered alcohol and that this happens a lot in Mexico now.
One of the things that also got me upset was the fact that they didn't even call to see how he was doing or if he had made back to the hotel, I understand that by having a lot of guests it could be impossible to just focus on a couple, but I'm sure not everyday you see people being taken to the hospital in an ambulance with the person connected to oxygen and completely lethargic.
I don't know if all the Riu Hotels are like this but I have to be honest and tell you that by far this has been the worst vacation I have had, the locations are very nice, but the care for the guests is just not there. And I can say this about 2 of your hotels because I stayed in two of them in this short vacation and with that customer service I think I would never try to book another vacation in your hotels.

Hello my name is Anthony Walton and along with my wife Sandra we stayed at Riu Miami from Fri 11/10 thru Mon 11/13, 2017 and were pretty disappointed.
Our hotel room like the entire hotel lacked warmth, personality, or the slightest hint of festiveness.
Room Refrigerator did not get items cold
Room iron barely got hot enough to iron
Room TV lacked a movie purchase feature, and had limited channels.
Hotel discouraged cash purchases and offered no facility to purchase basic items (ie, snacks, toothpaste, etc.)
Pool closes at 6pm! On 80+ degree days
Not enough food options only buffet for breakfast or dinner
No business center.
We spent our honeymoon at Riu Ochos Rios in 2004 and thought this would be a simular experience, boy were we wrong
$600.00 for 3nights plus $32.00 a day for parking is a lot of money especially when your still raising a, family add in the flight and it was a considerable expense for us, but we believed that staying at your hotel would have been well worth it, but we were simply let down.
Anthony Walton ([protected]@gmail.com) I welcome a response

FAO: The hotel manager & front desk manager @ Riu Palace Tikidia Agadir

Checked in yesterday. Made a verbal complaint & a written complaint, but no response from the hotel in any shape or form. Nor any acknowledgement that anything willl be done to resolve the issues.

Further to the issues below. Is this what a 5 star resort offers?

image1. jpeg

So after asking for an iron & ironing board we end up with this? Disgusting...

Kind regards
Mohamed Esat

On 11 Nov 2017, at 22:12, Mohamed Esat wrote:

FAO: The hotel manager & front desk manager @ Riu Palace Tikidia Agadir

Where do I start? But I know how things will end if my issues since checking into the hotel are not acknowledged, understood & actioned swiftly.

From the moment we arrived at 5pm at the hotel, it has been extremely disappointing how the level of service being offered from a (supposed) 5 star property, from a reputable hotel chain is offering less than satisfactory levels of service.

I am in room 4101, with my wife & my baby daughter (16 months old). We picked Riu Palace Agadir over the other leading 5 star hotels as part of my wife's birthday celebrations.

To note all the issues so far:
Upon arrival at the hotel there was no help from the hotel arrival team to take care of the luggage. My wife had to call the staff out to come collect the luggage. Eventually when help came, the assumption was made that we were part of a larger group and our luggage was mixed up with somebody elses. My wife had to then spend time to explain that which luggage was ours. We arrived independently in our own taxi so this assumption should NOT have been made.
Checkin seemd straight forward, but very minimal explanation from Yassine of key services offered at the hotel, especially when an all inclusive option is operated.
Upon arrival at the room door, the key didn't work. We looked for another key in the welcome pack, to find only one key is provided. Standard procedure is generally 2 keys? So I had to come back to the reception to get this sorted.
Eventually once arrived the room there is a damp musky smell.
The lamp in the room is a safety issue. It flickers and cant be deemed safely switched off without removing the plug from the mains connection to be sure.
Lightbulbs in lights not working.
Room was booked as a double room, but we received 2 beds pushed together. This presents a major safety issue for my daughter. The gap in between is large enough for her to get trapped or get suffocated. I booked a double room, not a two beds pushed together room!
2 pillows are dirty & smell. They need a change.
The furniture in the room is dirty & stained.
I rang the reception 3 times in regards to the issue about the bedding configuration only to be told it will be sorted shortly. 2 hours later still nothing done. I tried calling a further 3 times, but no answer.
After no answer at the hotel I went down to reception, to be greeted by a despondent Yassine who simply brushed the issue aside. To be furthet told that I can speak to the hotel manager & he would go get him. I waited 15 minutes and no one came.
No iron or ironing board in the room. So all the time we waited for housekeeping to sort the bedding we didnt get dressed for dinner. Only to then be told the bed will be sorted after dinner. Too late!
We were so late for dinner, my daughter got very upset. We were now running into her sleep routine. So rather than having dinner at 6.30pm we were having dinner at 7.45pm.
We couldnt get dressed properly for dinner due to the issues with bedding, no iron in the room and lighting safety issues.
We get back at 9pm with an upset 16 month old to be greeted by extreme noise from outside. Large crowds gathering outside our room, screaming, shouting, revving up & down on motorbikes, loud music & lights flaring. My daughter is more upset and now crying herself to sleep.

So what is supposed to be a nice relaxing break at a 5 star hotel has become an extremely stressful afternoon & evening so far on the first day of our 7 day stay.

In clear and simple terms, accept this as a written complaint that needs to adressed and sorted ASAP without any delay.

Be mindful to note that I am a Sales Manager at DialAFlight, a member of the Expedia hotel review panel & executive chair of hotel review panel of Holiday Watchdog UK. There should be a discrete note in my reservation.

The holiday so far is an absolute nightmare. My feedback & review to the respectives parties upon my return will have a serious implication to the hotels reputation if this is how the hotel operates... you are operating as a 5 star hotel.

I look forward to your prompt action & resolution to the issues & make it right for me & my family or should we expect the remainder of the 7 night stay to be the same...? Or worse?!

Kind regards
Mohamed Esat

We've just returned from our first family holiday with our 18month old little girl to the Riu Merengue and I have to say I would not go here again. We arrived to find the tap on the bath/shower broken so we couldn't shower and running a bath took forever. It took 4 complaints to reception about it and the final complaint to the TUI rep before it was eventually fixed. Air conditioning in the room wasn't working properly again took 3 complaints before it was looked at wasn't fixed in the end we gave up complaining about it. One particular day the air conditioning stopped working on the entire complex and another day the complex had no electric or water for the best part of 2 hours in the early evening...not great when you have a baby with you and are trying to get ready for the evening. Our fridge was not stocked with any water or soft drinks for a week and should have been restocked every other day, in the end reception ended up giving us water from their own stock. Cleaning in the room was basic our sheets were changed possibly 3 times in the 3 weeks that we were there and the only reason our little girls cot sheet was changed was due to my husband and I changing it ourselves after a week. The food in the buffet restaurant was awful not cooked very well and very much the same every evening. I was ill every other day with an upset stomach. My husband and little girl were also poorly on the odd occasion. The pool was ok we used the quiet pool that used to be part of the Riu Mambo only complaint is that they need to clean it more regularly throughout the day as by lunchtime there were quite a few bugs etc in the pool. Staff were friendly enough all be it slightly over friendly with our little girl. The mini disco in the evening was fantastic and Shakira who is out front on stage dancing with all the children is brilliant and deserves some sort of recognition or promotion. Then there's the weekends...where do I start...at weekends the hotel is overrun with locals. They are very rude and very intimidating. They push and shove in the restaurant for food and the last weekend we were there we were advised by one of the waiters to get to the dining room early as they has in excess of 800 locals turning up. Sure as anything hundreds descended upon the hotel. They ran out of tables to sit at, plates and food. I would avoid this hotel at all costs especially at weekends. Totally ruined what should have been a lovely first family holiday. We have stayed at many Riu hotels and this hotel is not even close to a 3 star, customers should be made aware that the locals use it at weekends. This hotel really lets down the Riu name and does not give the service or experience you would expect from a Riu.

I cannot praise your brand and packages enough...
But we have just had 2 weeks away at Punta Cana Macao.
This was the 2nd holiday at you hotels, Mexico being first.
We had an issue at the Macao hotel and I would like to tell you about it as we were pushed pillow to post and never really got a resolve. This will be a fairly long explanation but Think you need to know.

We arrived on October 8th, First impressions were great, check in was great and room was great. But when we checked in your reception staff said if you are not happy come back and we will change your room or do anything to make your stay happy. Our room was great but our view was not great, the reception staff said it was quiet and they would move anyone if required. So I went back to reception and asked if they had a room with a better view .. so they took me to a room with a lot better view. I said yes that would be perfect and thank you, then he said that would be $570 ? It was exactly the same room, so I said no as we had already paid £3600 for the holiday already.. the receptionist then said we are open to offers .. so I said I would move for $200 .. and we did. I then went down and paid "Widney" but what shocked me, he put it straight in his pocket ? I asked for a receipt but said don't worry it will be on your bill..
this played on my mind and went to Thompson's rep on the Monday and said you have a deal... so I left it:.. but 6 days later in this room it was full of mold ..I have video and photographic evidence of this). the Thursday and Friday previous I spent in bed with a bad chest. It works out now it was the mold . We complained and widney said he move us straight away and not to speak to management. This made me want too speak to management even more.
I then spoke to the assistant manager and he looked at our room and offered us a new room ( this was great room and upgrade what we really appreciated)
But he said that we had not paid anything as I wanted my $200 back, he then said he will investigate as something was a miss.
Then 3 days later we had a room bill put through the door saying we had paid $200 on the following Sunday (15th) when we complained. So why was the money not put on our room on the 8th ? This was to cover his tracks !

Your staff on reception, who I may add are your first and last contact on your holiday and make the first and last impression, well to me they untrustworthy and stealing from your hotel group, I don't mind tipping and do, but I do not like to feel robbed.

Overall the rest of the staff were brilliant.
It is really a shame as it slightly clouded my whole holiday feeling 1 I was robbed and 2 spending 2 days in bed which I actually paid extra for.

We was just about to book in February a holiday for 12 + of us to go to Mexico Rui again for 2 weeks in April 2019 but like I said it really has put a dampener and cloud over our impression on your hotel group..

I just wanted to give you chance to reply before I do my review on trip advisor, I am also writing to TUI as I feel the representative did not help as much as they could.

Sorry for the long email but it was not the easiest situation to explain.

Also I would like to add we spoke to several other guests and one of them paid an additional $800 and the payment was not on their room bill when they asked..

Imagine 20 rooms paying on average $300 a week and it is not going through the till ! $6000 a week or $312000 a year ! Now to me they are very very well paid reception staff and you will be getting a lot of guests feeling robbed.

I have all dates, pictures, videos and room numbers if required.

Many thanks and I look forward to your reply.