RIU Hotels & Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

My wife and I have travled to Aruba twice. We chose this location because they were very good about my wife's food issue.She has Celiac disease, (no wheat products) and was assured that her dinner was safe. It was not, and she spent the night vomiting. There are no medications for this, nor any ways to ease her pain.
I worked in a restaurant for ten years as a line cook, food allergies are not something to be taken lightly.

I hate to be writing such an email but I feel you should know about the horrible experience I had at the Riu Ocho Rios. I am going to outline everything so that you are aware.

• No direction during check in process. Lines everywhere and no staff to properly direct you.
• Wi-Fi was not always available.
• Room safe was a portable lock and key which if lost costs $50. (we lost ours during a beach party and naturally had to pay to get my safe open) When on vacation who is really thinking about securing a big key?)
• No room service to order food before or after everything closed.
• Game room had pool table and several games broken therefore of no use.
• Game room situated next to casino and in bar area (not appropriate for children to be in that environment.
• Staff (most) not pleasant, it seemed as if when asked for something it was a burden.
• No visible security at all. People (locals) would wonder on the premises and used the facilities without bands.
• Sneakers left at pool side were stolen.
• Outlets blew up and damaged my iPhone.
• Air conditioning in the room not working properly.
• Transfer from airport to hotel for my parents broke down and they were stranded on the side of the road in the blistering heat with no water or air conditioning for two hours until another bus picked them up. The driver told my parents that he mentioned the issues with the van with headquarters and they ignored him.
• My mother got assaulted by a gentleman on the check in line, as again no direction from hotel staff.

• On July 29 my nephew and two sons participated in one activity set up by hotel (water polo). This sport was very aggressive and when the hotel staff saw that people were getting aggressive all they kept stating over the microphone was “oh look they are fighting”. This activity should never be allowed to play amongst strangers. It is a contact sport that will eventually and did lead to a very dangerous outcome. My nephew and a female were constantly struggling for the ball. This individual kept slapping, scratching and using foul language towards my nephew. Admittedly so, my nephew called her a name which he should not have which further escalated the issue. The family members of this girl became very aggressive and prompted a fight with my boys. (during this time people are videotaping etc., and no real security on site to help de-escalate the issue). The boyfriend of the girl who slapped and scratched my nephew pulled out a knife on both of my boys with the intent to stab them. He kept saying as his family was holding him back that “they have to die”. Myself and another guest were thrown across the pool floor by this individual as we tried to intervene and separate the parties. My mother almost had a heart attack and was forced to take a valium.

Still no real security was present. Thankfully this gentleman’s family was able to restrain him and I was able to coax my family away from the pool area onto the beach as we were told the police was called and we could not leave the area. While on the beach we had several family members taunt us from the balcony stating the “Jamaica was not for white people etc.”. I approached the hotel manager Mr. Pryce who was witness to this and could not provide my family with a safe haven. I have never felt so vulnerable in my life.

Finally about 2 hours later the police show up and question both parties separately. Meanwhile this hotel manager was pushing the other family to press charges although they had a weapon and we did not.in the end no one pressed charges but all parties involved had to leave the premises. My poor parents were distraught and we were literally left to our own devices to find housing. The hotel did suggest a hotel next door (Executive mammee bay hotel ocho rios) which they stated was nice, as I asked if it was comparable to our current lodgings. I would not let my deceased grandmother spend a night there much less myself and my children.

Luckily, we met a nice gentleman (taxi driver) who took us initially to the Executive (mind you all of this had to come out of my pocket) and stayed with us until we kept calling other hotels to find lodging. At 10:00 p. m., we finally found a hotel Shaw Park Hotel & Spa and paid $550 for us to stay the night. This hotel was a slight upgrade from the Executive but at this point we had no choice. We were all hungry, tired, stressed and frightened. The driver took us to Shaw Park Hotel, stayed with us as we check in, drove us to get dinner and then brought us back to the hotel. Again this expense out of my pocket.

We could not shower in this hotel as it did not have running water and the food presentation left much to be desired (mind you, I am not a picky eater hence my weight). I did not complain because at this point it was pointless. We just wanted to leave Jamaica as soon as possible.

This driver picked us up at noon from our hotel and drove us to the airport as I could not use the transfer we had already paid for. He took us to lunch as again the food at the Shaw Park hotel left much to be desired.

All of these expenses came out of my pocket with no regard for my family and their safety by the Riu resort. This incidence took place early on July 29, 2017 causing us a loss of a day and the amenities we paid for.

This was a nightmare from start to finish. I have never feared for the safety of my family as I did this trip and I am still sick at the thought that one of my children could have gotten killed.

I am not going to let this incident die down as I want the public to know as well as those in charge of this hotel chain. I am contemplating notifying my attorney Joseph DiBenedeto, esq. to file a suit. I want a resoltution to this matter expeditiously.

We stayed at riu ocho rio, jamiaca, July 20-29, 2017. We booked this vacation in April through AAA. We stayed in room 2318. [please note- this was our third room placed in as they were "over-booked" this week; we requested an ocean view in April at time of booking. The first room had tree foliage covering the entire view off the balcony- looking into leaves entirely. The second room was on the fifth floor and had a 3 foot tall concrete wall on the balcony instead of iron railing. We could not sit on balcony to enjoy views due to a concrete wall obstructing the entire view. This third room we were booked into in the evening of our second day of vacation; the view was lovely. We had to pack and keep our bags in storage during the room swap from time of arrival until the end of the second day- a major inconvenience! ] The weather for our week was sunny/dry with little rain. We noticed by day 3 and 4 that there was a musky odor in RM 2318, particularly when we returned to the closed up room after a day of activities . The room smelled of mildew and musky. We could not open the sliding door to air the room out as the air conditioning is wired to turn off when the door is opened. Still trying to find a source, by the day before check out I was aware that it was the smell of mildew in the entire room. This was the third room I was in, we were leaving in a day, so I stayed in Rm 2318. We checked out, traveled home with our luggage and unpacked. The mildew odor was absorbed into newly purchased luggage and clothing! (Some clothing was tossed out and some clothing fabric was able to be repeatedly washed and properly cleaned of the odor.) The luggage is a total loss. The set included one check in bag, one wheeled carry on, an overnight bag, and a smaller personal/cosmetic bag. I am unable to remove the odor from the luggage. I have treated luggage with soap and water, hours of direct sunlight exposure, diluted vinegar spray, frebreeze fabric spray freshener- I cannot reuse luggage set.

A desirable resolution would be a replacement cost for damaged luggage, value $100. Also a one or two night stay at a comparable hotel (no air travel required please)to my home to make up for lost vacation time. This trip was a celebration gift for a milestone birthday for me, and I am unable to afford airfare for a trip further from my home.
I must say, the resort and facilities (outside of the room itself) at riu resort were excellent, entertainment was top-notch, and the food was delicious. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this hotel at this time without remedy, for reasons previously mentioned. Thank you for your attention to my concerns.

After staying in the the Riu Reggae Jamaica for two weeks (11th-25th July 2017) we were placed in the Palace (Evening of 25th July 2017) next door due to problems with the aircraft and not being able to depart. We were the first to arrive at the Palace as we took a private taxi to avoid the rush of people that would also be checking in. After explaining the situation to a lady at reception that we had been sent here for the night the male supervisor refused to give us a room as he supposedly had no confirmation. Another couple arrived shortly after at the hotel and explained that they were on the same flight as us and had also been sent to the Palace - The supervisor still refused to give us a room. A group of four people then turned up who were also on our cancelled flight. The supervisor proceed to tell them in front of us that he would allow them to have a room as he knew them and that we were still not allowed one. This really upset me and my mother as we had already been at the airport since the early afternoon and sitting on the plane for over three hours. Considering we were the first to arrive at the hotel and check in, we would expect to receive our room first! We were eventually told we could have a room but were not allowed the keys as it was in the process of being cleaned. They advised us to get something to eat and then return back to collect the room keys. After returning to reception to collect the keys we were told that the room was still not available although many others on the same flight who arrived after us all had their room keys and allowed to go up. After explaining to a lady that all we wanted to do was change and wash after being stuck at the airport for half of the day, she proceeded to allocate us to a different room which only had one bed. When we asked for a second room key, we were informed that there were none left and we would have to make do with the one. After speaking with numous guests that were also on our flight, they explained that they were given two room keys without a problem. There were also many couples who received two room keys, that only need the one as they were always together. This meant that my mother had to stay up and stay with me the whole time as there was only one key to access the room. When we asked for towel cards, we were also told that there was not any. In the end we had to go over to the Reggae to get a towel card.

In the morning at breakfast the waiter was very rude and when I tired to ask for a drink, he simple walked away. Upon checking out for the first time the bellman was extremely rude, telling us that we could not leave our suitcase by a certain pillar and that we had to move them.

Considering that the Palace is meant to be a better hotel than the Reggae with high service, we were appalled by they way they treated us here. We ended up staying in the Palace for an extra night as again there was problems with our flight, but ended up over at the Reggae for most of the time and only using the Palace to sleep in as the service and staff there treated us like were not good enough.

This is not the first time for us using Riu and we stayed in the Reggae in April 2017 for two weeks also. However this experience and the Palace hotel, which is supposed to be the best in Riu, was truly awful. After being distressed and not able to get home, all we wanted to do was get to the hotel and relax. We did not expect to be treated the way we were by the staff at the Palace. We were also polite and never rude to anyone there, so did not expect to be spoken to the way we were by the staff there.

After speaking with an American couple who were staying at the Reggae, they advised us of a similar situation that happened to them and were offered a complimentary weeks stay in a Riu hotel of their choice as an apology for the appalling service they received.

On july 30th, I worked a flight arriving in Montego Bay at 1am from Jetblue. Once we arrived at the hotel, my crew were given keys and proceeded to our rooms together. I noticed my key was not working for my room and told my crew. The room number written on the envelope was different from the number written on the physical key. I told my crew I would just walk to my room as listed on the key and call them once I'm in. They didn't hear from me for awhile so they stayed up waiting not knowing where I went. I opened the new door and as I was looking for the light switch a man popped out of bed, said some words, and proceeded towards the door. I dropped my bags and ran not knowing who he was and why we were given the same room. I ran into four nice ladies who stopped me from running and crying. They kindly helped me with my bags and escorted me back to the front desk which is a good 10min walk from the rooms. I explained the situation to the hotel and demanded a letter explaining what had happened and an escort to my new room. The hotel did apologize and advised me that a manager would provide a letter in the morning. I was then escorted by the four ladies and the front desk worker to my room. My room was inspected and I then was left safe behind the door. At this point, it was about 2:30am. The door only has one lock on the inside and no emergency latch lock. I called the other crew members who then stayed with me making sure I was safe and that I could reach crew services. The information in the room describing how to contact the United States is incorrect. So, having T-Mobile service, I used my data to post on Facebook seeking any help getting hold of crew services. The front desk then provided me the correct information on how to call the United States and I finally reached Jetblue crew services. I advised crew services of everything that happened and they immediately removed me from the trip the next day. In the morning, management refused to give me a letter describing what had happened at the hotel so I had nothing to give to my company. I went to the pool in the morning to relax and was denied a simple towel. I was told Jetblue crewmembers do not get towels because we are not given some special card needed to check a towel out.

I'm very upset at all of these safety concerns that happened to me and question my future stays at RIU.

Please contact me if any additional information or clarity is needed. Thank you. [protected]@gmail.com

I stayed at this hotel from July 223, to July 29. The restaurants are supposed to be without reservation, but I was turned down one hour before closing time. Staff attitude leaves a lot to be desired. I had to speak with the manager to obtain my meal . The staff blames the hotel for all their shortcomings. After all this fun, I found a live cockroach in my room!
The manager refused to give me a copy of my complaint form.

The worst hotel I have ever stayed on.

Hello my Wife and I was on a couples trip which we do yearly we book an Ocean View Room we got Room 3048 and needless to say we were looking at palm trees instead of the Ocean, we complain and was told that was an Ocean View, Very disappointed and on top of that we had mold in our room above the bed very unhealthy, sorry we lost the name of the person we spoke with, It would not let me upload anymore Pic.

My name is Angelica Ceja I was a guest at the Riu from July 17 thru the 23rd. I had reservation to stay at the Riu Vallarta and upon my arrival I was told by Edgar from reception that my room reservations were unavailable. He informed that he will be sending me to the Riu Jalisco instead with two complementary night stay and now I've been getting the run around for the two day voucher. Before we checked out we were told to talk to Adrian for the voucher but apparently he wasn't around they said the voucher was going to be emailed. I expect the Riu Vallarta or Jalisco to keep their promise and resolve this matter soon. We enjoy the Riu hotels and we would like to continue visiting the Riu's on my vacation.
Angelica ceja
Room 3131
Confirmation #5179673
If you need more info please contact me at [protected]

Ok where do I start!
I booked my holiday to mexico on the 14th of july until the 28th I stayed in the hotel riu yucatan, our first visit to this hotel, but not our first visit to mexico this was our 4th visit.
However we have stayed in lots of riu hotel at some point in our life new york singapore I think even gran canaria? Etc etc as we have enjoyed your hospitality.
Anyway riu yucatan! First of I will start with positive lovely hotel lots of + for it, and when I did have to complain (I think maybe you should be asking monica about it but as I said I also what you to let her know that under no circumstances do I blame monica,) monica montenegro could not do enough for me, she was kind listed to me, made sure that things where ok, and followed it through. These are the people that you are needed to run your hotels without them there would be no riu's!.
But saying that they are only one person and can't do everything.
So my complaints are as stated

If we are allowed to use the other riu hotel why? Are they more up market? For example napkins the quality, the service. Now this may seem very small and very silly, to the likes of you people that are seating reading this, but to someone who has worked hard all year, lots and lots of night shifts! To get this holiday and like a little luxury and quite, can I ask then why as my holiday was not cheap over £4, 000 could I not have the same as the other once we could use?.
Now it's 23.15 mexico time and I am ready for bed and going home tomorrow,
Why I am writing this now is I am sorry but pissed off!

I am with my 82 year old mother who may I say is very well and fit,
We had our meal then went through to the lounge area, now I have felt and seen this through out my two weeks and with my experiences, at lunch time!
Tonight no enough " I was the only female standing at the bar with three men, let's just say I was last to be served and I was certainly not the last person at the bar!. Now I know the men t the bar where just as rude and wrong, and believe me if I had been at home in my on country, it would have been a different situation. But not a nice place to be as a woman and specially not expecting it in a riu hotel.
Sorry not finished lasted this, now I know it's a family hotel under line family and before you say anything I have worked with children for 30+years.
But at 23.00 when you are trying to have a quite drink and yes children are there with parents but sleeping or just about!.
Not running around half naked screaming and the parents encouraging this by playing games with them, like hide and seek etc. Do you not think there you be someone that is responsible for this?.
I am all for fun but come on! So disappointed not sure in fact I know I will not be back. Will be informing thomson when I get home also.
Thank you for letting me rant.
Kim archibald

My husband and I planned a trip to RIU Palace Las Americana to celebrate my birthday, July 2, my husband's birthday, July 3, and our anniversary, July 4 of 2017. We did have a few glitches in the stay that I would like to share with you.
On our arrival on July 1, 2017 after we walked in the door and my jaw dropped at the beauty of the hotel and the view out of the lobby of the infinity pool and the ocean, we were greeted at the lobby desk with them telling us that they would like to upgrade us to a bungalow suite at another Riu hotel, the newest Rui hotel, that was just a little bit down the road. They said that we would still have our ocean view room and would have a hot tub and massages in the room. I asked 3 times if the other hotel was within walking distance from the one we were at so that we could walk back and use the facilities at this hotel if we wanted to. 3 time we were told that it was within walking distance. We asked if this was a time share that we had to sit through a presentation, they assured us that was not the case. They described it as a private bungalow that it would be ocean view. They told us that the room was ready there but the room at Las Americana was not and might not be until 3pm. They said it was a great place. We asked all the questions we could think of and decided to go to the other place.
They put us in a cab that they paid for and when we had gone the first mile I was sure that this was not within walking distance. The cab driver said that it was 4 or 5 miles. I began to feel duped as I had asked 3 times if it was within walking distance and had been told that it was. When we got to the Riu Peninsula the lobby was filled with purple, not the elegance of Las Americana. The person at the desk showed us the rooms that were available on a map. Only 1 had any hope of an ocean view as it was the only one on that side of the building. It was on the first floor. The Americana had told us that the room would be ready and it was not. They sent us to the Italian restaurant in the lobby for lunch. We thought that was the main buffet. They did not tell us about the other restaurants in the hotel. Our room was ready at 1. It was not a private bungalow as had been described to us but only a smaller hotel building. It was a strange set up with a cold feel of large tile and purple with a bathtub sitting in the middle of the room. The room was on the ground floor looking over the pool but not really a view of the ocean.
I was feeling dumped and that our business was unimportant to you. I assure you that I looked at almost every hotel in Cancun for this special occasion before I chose Las Americana based on the beautiful pictures and the amazing reviews.
We decided to go to the beach. Shortly after we realized that this was not an adult only hotel as Las Americana is. No one bothered to tell us that. We realized that there was an adult only area but kids were playing on the lawn in from of the area and the volley ball net was set up very close. On the beach we were soon joined by a group of teens that had a karaoke machine blaring. I told my husband several times that I wanted to dump that speaker in the ocean! The group partied on the beach with the karaoke machine all night and did not rap it up until the sun came up the next morning.
Finding out that this was not an adult only facility as we had chosen for out special occasions we decided that we would like to return to our original hotel. We told them at the desk that no one had told us that this was not an adult only resort and we would like to go back to our original choice. The manager called the manager of Las Americana and told us that the room we had booked there had been taken out of service for some maintenance since we were not there. I think what they really meant is that the hotel had been overbooked and someone else was in the room, that's why they had to move us to another hotel. They asked us to stay the night there and told us that they would get us to the other hotel in the morning.
We stopped by the desk at 8:30 am and were told the clerk the story and that we would like to know when the room would be ready so that we could plan our day. The manager stepped out and told us to come back and see her at 11:00am. She said that the people had left the room at the other hotel so it was just a matter of getting it cleaned. In the meantime we repacked our luggage in preparation for the move. We went back to the desk around 11 and were told that the manager was not there and that we could come back in about 20 minutes. I told her that the manager had asked us to come at 11 and that we did not want to miss out on our day by making this move all day. She called the supervisor over who spoke to her in Spanish, we do not speak Spanish, and never looked at us or acknowledged us. It was about 1120 and we were told that check out was at noon, that we would have to be out of our room by then and that check in at Las Americana was not until 3 so they could not tell us the room would be ready before then.
Since we were told that we had to check out by noon we decided to leave when we checked out. We walked back to our room and as we did we passed the hotel manager that was not at the desk when she asked that we meet her. She was walking with another man, she saw us but would not make eye contact. We asked if they would be providing the taxi since they provided the one to get us there. The supervisor said he would have to go check with the manager. When he was gone over 10 minutes we decided to just get in the cab and handle it ourselves. The hotel staff was treating us like we were nothing more than a burden. It had been 20 minutes and the supervisor finally returned as we were entering the cab and said that the other hotel would pay for it.
We arrived at Las Americana Miguel greeted us. He had handled our luggage the day before. He remembered us and said welcome home. He is amazing! He listened as I told the story of what had happened and offered me a hug as he saw the tears in my eyes as I explained that it was my birthday. He had us sit at a small desk and said that he would get his boss.
His boss listened to our story and told us that he was giving us an upgraded room and that it would be ready by 1:00. We had lunch and went back to the desk. They said that the room was not cleaned, to come back in half an hour. At that point, it still was not ready, something about the shower door. We were told to check back again and then again. Bottom line is that the room was not ready until 3 pm, check in time and we basically lost that entire day! We really felt that no one, except Miguel, cared a bit about us or our trip for our special celebrations.
We will be returning to Mexico as we really like the area and the people. It is highly unlikely that we will stay at a RIU hotel again. We spent a lot of money and made a careful a careful choice of resorts to have our celebration and your hotel let us down, stressed our vacation, treated us like we were a problem, and took a lot away from our trip.
I hope that you will treat future customers with respect and honor their celebrations. In the future we will look to other accommodations who value their customers and treat them that way We were most disappointed in the treatment we received from your hotels…….except Miguel!

Robert and Julie Coppedge
1561 Winslow Dr
Hudson, Ohio USA 44236
[protected]

We arrived to Punta Cana on Monday July 10th, 2017 to the Riu Republica. At that time the Lobby was quite busy were instructed by Genesis to have lunch and return to allow the room details to be completed. Upon return she was very pleasant and assured us that our room was exactly what was reserved. Our vacation was book thru Expedia, Mr & Mrs Robert Calanni, an anniversary celebration vacation. Upon arrival to the room a giant spider on its web went into my hair. The room was facing a construction site, also had two queen beds without the ocean view. Additionally it was the furtherest from the ocean and pool.
We returned to the main desk to speak to Genesis who had vanished at that time. A large man named Nery approached and I explained to him the situation and he was loud, intimidating and disrespectful. He blurted out that just because I requested something that it does not happen. I further explained that I called to double check, he stated that I must be lying since no one would ever tell me that my request was honored. I also let him know that we have stayed in the Riu chain for our last 5 vacations all without incident actually we were very pleased. Nery continued to be increasingly more aggressive and stated there was NOTHING that could be done. Even stating that many married couples sleep seperately. Again none of his business. I requested to speak to a Manager, since he was not able to speak to me respectfully . He pointed to a gentleman seated who never looked up or greeted me (his name is Kelsey) thru Nery he said I can go to the Riu Macao, that he called and they were willing to accommodate the request. He also stated that I would have to get there on my own.
In order to expedite my interaction with this aggressive disrespectful I agreed. We took a taxi to the Riu Macao and paid the cab driver $15.00 .
Upon our arrival we were greeted by a Wndy (a gentleman) I explained the spider incident, the double beds, no ocean view, and the fact that the room faced a construction site. He assured me that he would do his best to accommodate the request. We were given a room key and I expected all to be ok. While traveling to the room I was again disappointed. This room faced a parking lot and another construction site, though it did have a king size bed. Once again we returned to the lobby, I expressed my disappointment after 30 min he gave me a key to #3166 he assured me it was better. I went upstairs again and it was in the same direction so I returned to the lobby in tears (it had been 3 hrs of this horrific melee). Wndy said that I really needed to go to the room and then complain. So I did the room was better and I could see the ocean from the corner of our balcony. The room smelled awful of paint. I touched the wall and my entire hand had paint on it. Another manager JoseLuis agreed to return to our room to inspect the smell he said he would have a rock placed in the vent to assist with the smell. I accepted the change to this room out of sheer exhaustion. I cried while unpacking. Certainly not a way to begin a vacation since ALL of our Past RIU STAYS were exceptional.
In consideration of the time of our vacation I had to try and enjoy my time away. The rest of the stay was uneventful but not spectacular. Upon checking out on the AM of July 17th, front desk mgr Wndy refused to interact with me, nor did he give me the slip of paper that allows you to leave. In ending I feel that the persons all named in this situation should be re-trained in front desk management and hospitality services. Additionally JoseLuis did give me a little painting and mugs for our troubles. I accepted reluctantly as I felt is was insulted to be given trinkets for such an epic incident. Please contact me to discuss [protected]@yahoo.com. I expect to hear from you in a timely fashion to discuss.

Very disappointed in our vacation. This is the 4th time staying at RIU hotels. Twice in Cancun and once in Aruba. By far, this was a fail. Upon booking, no where was stated that renovations were taking place. We arrived to a hotel that had leaks everywhere. Our rooms carpet was torn and dirty. Water was out one day. Power was out as well at times. They were working on the floor above...so all day..while trying to relax...all we heard was banging on floors or walls. We had to use dark stairs up when power was out. The pool was disgusting. We never got in. Some rooms on our floor were being emptied out...so our view was junk on hallways... basically, Riu ruined our vacation. This wasn't a vacation, they just took our 3500 dollars. We wanted this vacation unfortunately to end fast! I feel we were lied to, pictures on the site of hotel looked nothing like hotel when we arrived. We submitted a complaint form and I expect a resolution.

So me and my partner were eating lunch and he was about to eat a piece of lamb when he notice something sticking out of it, he thought it was a piece of fat but as he pulled it out it was a plastic clothes tag. See pictures below. We are very unhappy and that we know of nothing was done after reporting it to the manger, all they said was we can offer you a late check out, as if that's compensation?!

We came to the Riu in the Bahamas on our first family vacation with our one year daughter (her first trip out of the USA where we live). Upon arriving here we noticed the ceiling in the lobby had mold and were leaking. Once we checked in they gave us a room that the bathroom was covered in mold. I called the front desk and they sent someone up to look at it. They decided painting over it was enough to fix the problem of mold in there. Also every morning they start doing construction at 7am waking everyone up. We are on vacation and didn't plan to have to wake up this early every morning this is not what we consider a vacation

We have recently just come home from a holiday in jamica staying in one of your hotel which is meant to be 5*. We paid extra for the delux wing which was a waste of money which I believe was around an extra £500. We was so many rude Jamaican locals on day pass in the pool we had to cue for a long time ever night for food as they where all buffet services except for one restaurant but you needed trousers to get in and their was not details of this on the site. There where fights in the pool. Drunks. Being sick in the pool also the pool was dirty every day and the rooms where old and needed updating and smell of damp. Not what we expect from a 5* hotel. We picked the hotel because it was a Riu as we have stayed in them Several times in various area in America, Mexico and Spain but never have they been like what we stayed in in jamica. It spoilt what was meant to be a holiday we was so looking forward too and has put us off using a Riu hotel again which is sad.

I look forward to receiving you comments on my complaint. My email is [protected]@gmail.com

My girlfriend, myself and her mother planned a vacation in Cancun for July 9-14 at the Riu Palace Peninsula. Our room number was 332 and my girlfriends mothers was 334. We paid over $4000 dollars and have used Riu's on every trip we have taken for the last 5 years.
On July 11th, we proceeded to the cappuccino bar, as we had for the past 2 nights to get one. We walked up to the counter and began looking at the pastries in the little see thru cabinet, when a brown roach crawled across all of the chocolate cresants. We told the girl behind the counter and she immediately picked up the tray and threw it in the trash. She didn't kill it so I am assuming it could have crawled out, but we left the coffee bar.
The following night, my girlfriend and I went to see the show at 945. While I was sitting watching the show, I felt something on my leg. I brushed at my leg and went back to watching the show. When I felt the same thing again on my leg, I reached for my phone to turn on my flashlight, and I had a brown roach crawling up my leg. That same night my mother was smoking near one of the doors where smoking was permitted and she also saw one crawl behind the cushion where she was sitting.
We took the information to the front desk and were told that someone would contact us the next day. Unfortunately we never heard from anyone. Instead we had the desk make up some ordeal and put a small bottle of tequila and a birthday card in our room. It was no ones birthday. I was very disappointed that none of the staff made any effort to contact us regarding the situation.
This was a horrible experience. To see roaches crawling across foods that people were going to eat. I have been in pest control before and I know where there is 1 small brown cockroach there are usually 100's of them. This is completely unacceptable. Every time we ate, all we could picture were more roaches on the food. I, as well as my girlfriend are nurses in Texas and have always promoted your facilities to all of our friends. I am not sure what your response to this will be but I am hoping that someone contacts me very soon or I will have no other alternative but to post this information on any and all websites associated with Riu., as well as let any of our friends that choosing the Riu would not be a good place to visit.
I will be looking forward to hearing from someone. My cell number is [protected] and my name is Stephanie Carlyle. My girlfriend is Tammy Nation and her mother is Paula Kelly. My email is steph.[protected]@yahoo.com.
I would like to discuss how this can be handled.
Stephanie Carlyle

I spent $2000 for Four Days could not use the jacuzzi .Because there was ants blowing thru the jets when I turned on the water .called maintenance he came took a look shook his head then Drain the water out in tried to clean the vents .who would get in a jacuzzi after seeing all them ants.They offered another room but it was the same so I kept the room had.It was a total waist off money.I could have just booked a room with out a jacuzzi .In this supposed be one of the Best room suite with Jacuzzi on Balcony.

My husband and I just got married on July 1, 2017. We chose to spend our honeymoon in the Bahamas at your Riu Palace hotel in Paradise Island. We stayed at the Riu from July 3-July 8. We had the absolute worst experience there. This was such a disappointment because we spent over $3300 to stay there. Upon our arrival we checked in to the hotel, and were then sent up to our room. Come quickly to find out, we walked into an occupied room with indecent people inside. It was quite embarrassing! We immediately went back to the lobby and explained the problem. They switched us into a different room, but did not upgrade us whatsoever. So then we head into our second room, and as soon as we walked in we were overwhelmed with the smell of mildew! We proceed to set our bags down and take off our shoes, just to find out that our carpet in the room was very wet! We immediately called down to front desk and explained to them this issue we were facing. They sent the manager up to look at the room. When he came in he didn't seem apologetic, caring, or interested in us at all. He simply told us to wait and that he would be back. Next thing we know a bellman is at our door handing us a piece of paper with the number "1531" written on it, saying this was our new room. He leaves and we gather our things and head to the elevator. When we get in the elevator we see that there is no button to the 15th floor. So after 10 minutes of trying to find our way to the 15th floor we finally just gave up, and went back down to the lobby to ask for directions. The front desk receptionist looked at us and said, "Didn't anyone tell you? You can only use THIS elevator to get to the 15th floor." And pointed to separate elevator. We were so frustrated, and not to mention exhausted after a full day of traveling and everything we had just been through. Our new room was an upgraded room, but it still was not nice. It was not properly cleaned and had an odd paint smell to it. But we were done complaining! Next thing... On Thursday there was NO WATER in the entire building. There was a piece of paper taped to the elevator stating they apologized for any inconvenience. No water?! We couldn't shower, brush our teeth, flush the toilet, anything for an entire day! It was ridiculous! THEN on Friday, the A/C in the entire building was out! The hotel was a sauna! Then we find out that our individual room not only didn't have A/C but also didn't have power! No lights, no electricity, nothing!
The A/C finally comes back on by the end of the day, but only to compensate to the next issue... NO WIFI! The wifi was out in the entire building! There was no wifi all Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday. We live in the USA and so the only communication we had to back home (to our daughter!) was wifi! And we had no access! They were doing construction on the hotel ALL WEEK (so of course, we woke up to the sound of a circular saw every single morning!) and apparently that's what caused a lot of the issues! Everything about this hotel was just LOW QUALITY! We are so disappointed that this was how we had to spend our HONEYMOON. We feel we should be compensated in some way. Whether we are refunded or credited a stay somewhere else, to make up for all the money we spent and getting awful service in return.

The Riu Palace Punta Cana has a very majestic look to it, but the cleanliness and service at the hotel was anything but great. This was our second stay in Punta Cana and our first stay at the Riu. Our seven day stay at the Riu left my family with a bad taste for Riu resorts and I don't think I'd ever stay at another Riu or recommend it to anyone else. We were at the Riu for a destination wedding for a party of about 60 people and the stay was unsatisfactory for all of us. The following are just a few of the things that were unsatisfactory with our stay.

1. The hotel's room key system has never been updated to an access card causing guests to carry a bulky key everywhere you go. Then when my friends and I asked for a second room key they didn't have one available. We were asked to wait for another key because the man who made keys wasn't there. Then three of us who received an extra room key received one that never worked.
2. The beach towel system is also very outdated. I'm not sure if the hotel has a problem with guests stealing towels or leaving them by the pool, but to have to carry cards around for your towels was unnecessary. Everyday we had to take our cards to the towel station and then take the towels back and make sure we got the cards back. Everyone was required to be extra vigilant or their towel because a lost towel/towel card would cost you $20. Our friend had two occasions by the pool when someone stole her towel. At what is supposed to be such an upscale and all-inclusive resort you would hope that the guests could be trusted with towels. I know that I've always returned my towels at other resorts without being required to be tracked by a card system.
3. Another issue at the pool was that over 60% of the chairs that were closest to the pool often sat unused. Guests would place a towel on the chair and fold the chair down reserving their seat. However, my family would be in the pool anywhere from 10am to 4pm and we never saw one person sit in those chairs. I think that the hotel employees should do a better job of tracking this. I'm not saying that you need to sit in the chair the entire time you're by the pool, but to not even have someone sit in the chair once is ridiculous. The worst part is that this happened all seven days that we were there.
4. The outdated room safes were also an inconvenience, with the front desk giving you the entire locking mechanism to carry upstairs to your room and then requiring you to carry another bulky key with you wherever you went.
5. Both my husband and a friend found themselves returning to their rooms without their keys and when they asked a maid to let them into their room, the ladies did so without asking any questions or verifying if it was actually their room. How is a guest supposed to feel safe or feel like their belongings are safe when maids let people into rooms without questions.
6. When we arrived at 11:30am we were told that our room would be available at 3pm. Then before we decided to go to lunch we were told our room would be ready in 20 minutes. After waiting 45 minutes we went all the way to the third floor with our luggage only to find out that the maid had just started cleaning our room. We had to leave our stuff in a friend's room so we could go to lunch. The maid service didn't get any better. One day we returned to our room at 4pm after leaving at 9am (leaving the please clean the room sign on the door) and the maid was just starting to clean our room. After that I decided to take it upon myself to call the front desk everyday to request that our room be cleaned early.
7. After a night out on the town, my friend and I escorted another female friend to her room because she had been drinking and we wanted to make sure she got to her room safely. Upon arriving at her room, she knocked to awaken her husband, but he was not answering (she had no key because the hotel didn't have a spare key to give her when they checked in). We then walked back to the front desk to see if there was a spare key now available or if someone else could open the door. The man at the desk, looked on the computer and informed us that we had the wrong room and that her room was actually two doors down. He the proceeded to give us a key to that room. We escorted our friend back upstairs and she opened the door. She told us her husband was not inside, but she figured he was still out with the guys so she went to bed. Fifteen minutes later, we get a call from her husband asking where she was because he arrived in their room and didn't find her. We came to find out that we had the correct room to begin with and the front desk had given us a key to the wrong room. Thankfully, when her husband went to get her she was fine and the room happened to be empty. Imagine if someone else had come back to their room to find a strange woman lying in their bed.
8. Another friend of ours was traveling with a two year old toddler and asked the front desk to please send her a crib. When the maid arrived with the crib, she shook out the sheets and quite a few roaches flew out and into their room. There were also roaches in the crib. The maid continued to assemble the crib and our friend had to complain so that could bring her a cleaner crib. Her sister, who had the room next door also complained of finding at least four roaches in their room.
9. The Don Manuel Restaurant buffet was often very overcrowded and the food was not always replenished in a timely manner. If you arrived at a busy time of day, it was very common for trays of food to be sitting empty and even if you made your way through the entire buffet and returned there would still be no food in that tray. The bread was inedible because it was very stale and hard. In addition, the guests were allowed to cut their own bread but you often saw guests touching the bread with their bare hands. The cool/refrigerated food items such as desserts and cheeses were often warm. On several occasions, I tried sampling some cheese and crackers, but the cheese was warm and rubbery and the crackers were stale from being out too long. Also, the amount of flies throughout the dining area made the eating experience uncomfortable. My family and I, found ourselves constantly swatting away the flies no matter what time of day we were there.
10. For a hotel of this size and with the number of guests they accommodate, the restaurants were far too small often leaving guests no option but to have to go to the Don Manuel buffet unless they were willing to wait around for an open table. We found ourselves constantly having to be ready for dinner at 6:00pm/6:30pm if we wanted to get a seat. The Steak House offered the best dinner, but they had a wait time of up to two hours if you were not there by 6:30pm.
11. This was our second stay in Punta Cana and we've always been told to bring bug repellent because of the mosquitoes, but after staying at the Dreams Punta Cana and not experiencing any mosquitoes we didn't think we would need it. We traveled with a party of about thirty people and everyone complained of mosquito bites or seeing mosquitoes in their rooms. I'm not sure if the resort took any precautions to fumigate for mosquitoes.
12. The mini bar in each room that the hotel advertises so highly was completely unsatisfactory. All of the bottles in our room had about one to three shots worth of liquor left in them and seemed to have been sitting there for a very long time. When visiting our friend's room, my husband was offered a drink and found black gunk floating in his cup which came from the bottle. In addition, the cups in the room were very cloudy and made you not want to drink from them.
13. The pool water was very cloudy the entire time we were there. Also, the drink service by the pool was very slow. On two occasions, my husband tipped a waiter to get our drinks and when he never returned he ended up going to the pool bar to get the drinks himself. The same thing happened on the beach with drink service.
14. For two days we couldn't use our balcony. We also couldn't keep our curtains open to let in sunlight because they were working outside our door. One day we had workers hanging outside our balcony doors scrapping old paint off the side of the building. The next day they were painting. Nonetheless, we weren't missing much since we had no view. We thought we were getting a garden view but instead we saw a parking lot being built and we got to listen to construction vehicles and workers outside our window all day. Also, the day they were scraping paint we were left with paint chips all over the floor, railings, and chairs. The next day was also the day our housekeeping didn't show up until 4pm so we couldn't use the balcony which hadn't been cleaned. (Photos Attached)
15. The decor in the room was very outdated. When we first arrived we had pink and blue balloons attached to our headboard which all of the friends we traveled with thought was very cheap and tacky looking. The towel arrangement folded into the shape of a swan or something else would have been sufficient and would have looked a lot better. However, we only received the folded towel arrangement the first three days and then the housekeeper stopped leaving anything. (Photo attached)
16. The room service menu was very limited and on three occasions when my friends or me ordered room service it took over an hour to get our food, which included a sandwich or cold nachos.
17. The Sports Bar which offered food and drinks 24 hours was horrible. The games for kids which included two arcade games, a claw toy game, and air hockey cost $3 to play one game. However, you could purchase a larger amount of coins and possibly save $1. The food was horrible and seemed to be old/stale food that didn't sell at the buffet. They offered refrigerated hotdogs, cheeseburgers, ham/cheese sandwiches, fresh fruit, and nachos with cheese. You were then required to microwave the food on your own. The bread was stale and the hotdogs and hamburgers seemed to be sitting there for days. My daughter went to grab a sandwich box and someone had helped themselves to half the sandwich and placed the box back in the refrigerator. Who knows how many others had touched food and then placed it back in the refrigerator for the next person. In addition, The bartender left the bar unattended leaving guests to wait for their drinks.
18. When staying in Punta Cana or any other island resort there has always been an imaginary line that peddlers do not cross to allow guests to enjoy their stay on the beach. At this resort, there was no imaginary line. We also found ourselves sitting on a beach with a peddler selling things to us or resting right next to us (one foot away - it felt like we were sharing a chair) to try and get some shade. We also had three or four occasions when we were asked if we could get them a drink.
19. Many of the drinks served at the hotel we're undrinkable. The caipirinha, margaritas, Jack & Coke, run & Coke, and tequila were disgusting.
20. The elevators were very dangerous with doors that would close abruptly and they had no safety restraints. After having the doors close on us twice, my husband always stood in the doorway until the kids were in the elevator to ensure that they got on safely.
21. The Wifi service was constantly going down and when we asked the front desk about it we were told that they "were working on it." At one point, the Wifi was down for an entire day.

Again, we have stayed at different resorts and on different islands, but this by far had to be our worst experience. Again, I would never stay at this or any Riu, because our experience was that bad.

Jennifer Franz
Riu Palace Macao, Punta Cana, Domoncan Republic
July 1-8 2017
Room 3399

This is a low quality resort with low standards, terrible food, and even worse staff.

The resort is so poorly managed that i have pictures of a food tray that was left on a beach chair for 3 days. You would think that all staff should be responsible for maintaining the quality and appearance of the resort, but judging by the amount of people who walk by this dirty plate and didn't pick it up exemplifies their standards. There was also trash all over the beach.

The daily and nightly entertainment is so boring that they have to force you to applause at everything. My hands hurt from all the clapping aka forced-fun.

I understand we are in a Spanish speaking country and I speak Spanish pretty well l, but it was exhausting trying to constantly translate and explain to all of the staff any requests or questions my family had. If you have an international resort then you should have staff that can cater to all languages.

They say not to make reservations for the restaurants, but my 5 person family had to wait 45 minutes for a table at the steakhouse. When we asked if we could have a glass if wine while we waited the staff said no. Did they not get the memo that it's all inclusive so it doesn't matter if I drink wine at the restaurant while I wait or at the bar while I wait. The night we ate at the Japanese restaurant there were several open tables, but they made us wait 30 minutes. I can onlu assume that this was based on lack of staff.

On Friday, July 7, 2017 one of the entertainment staff from one of the other Riu resorts was extremely rude to me. The employee told me his name was Mambo, but knowing that the workers use nicknames I asked his real name and he said it is Rey. I also don't believe that, but when I asked your other entertainment staff they said the same. He is about 5 feet 5 inches tall, has facial hair, and long braids with some green ribbon.

After talking to me outside the club for about 3 minutes he tried to persuade me away from the club, La Pacha, into a parking lot to try and kiss me. When I declined to follow him and declined to kiss him he became extremely rude and agitated. He told me that I am dangerous, I am difficult, I am boring, and that I think I'm better than everyone else.

When I brought this complaint to the management at the hotel the staff had no way of knowing who this employee was. Additionally they tried to justify his behavior by saying that because it was 2am at the club the employee maybe was drunk. If you are allowing your staff to mingle with your guests at the club, in their Riu uniforms, then you should require that they maintain hotel standards. Regardless of him being in a uniform, as an employee of the hotel I would expect that he have a certain level of respect for the guest. And regardless of him being a hotel employee, simply as another human being, I would expect him to be respectful of my choices and not try to degrade me.

This was my last night on vacation and completely ruined the entire trip for me. This verbal harassment was extremely embarrassing and hurtful. I have never been so disrespected. Sadly this is the last impression I have of Riu Hotels.

I am following up to see if you have identified this employee and to find out what the repercussion will be for his actions.

This was the worst vacation I have ever taken and would not recommend this resort to anyone!