RIU Hotels & Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

To whom it may concern

My name is Deborah Nixon and my traveling partner name is Wanda McNeal.  Over the last 10 years we've traveled to several carrwbean beach resorts to celebrate our birthdays  (April 13th & 15th). In our travels we heard positive reviews about Aruba which made us eager to visit there.   For the last three years we've tried to reserve at Arubas #1 beach resort Riu Palace Aruba  but it was always booked.   So imagine how excited we were when we finally were able to successfully book our stay at Riu Palace Aruba this year.

Upon checking into the hotel on April 12, 2017, to our dismay & great disappointment we were told that the Riu Palace Aruba was over booked and that we were being transferred to the Riu Palace Antillas.  We explained to Johnathan and other front desk staff that we were celebrating our birthdays & that we've tried for last 3 yrs to book Riu Palace Aruba and really wanted the room we paid for.  Unfortunately they still couldnt help us.  Imagine how we felt hearing that nothing could be done.

On Wednesday after giving us the dossapoimting news & before transferring us to Riu Antillas, Johnathan told us that we would get a comp voucher for a week stay at any Riu in the world, with no restrictions or black out dates. We were asked to return to Riu Palace Aruba front desk next day Thursday at 12:30 p.m. to get our vouchers.

We went as directed on Thursday and was told both times that sum vouchers had printed out but not ours.  We returned again on Friday and spoke to Sylvia who said they didnt have them yet. Johnathan had told her the vouchers come from Mexico and that the guy who sends them to the hotel was gone for the dat.  Later Friday we spoke to the front desk manager Josue Santana who advised us he been with Riu 10 years.  He mentioned that due to the holiday the voucher office was closed until Monday May 17, 2017.  He asked Wanda for her email and assured us that the vouchers would be emailed to her on Monday. Wanda spoke to Johnathan one last time on Sunday morning before our departure, he assured her that we would get our vouchers.  We went a total of 5 times during our 5 day stay spending a lot of our vacation time trying to get our vouchers.  As of Tuesday April 18th we still have not received our vouchers.

We were told that we'd have one of the best rooms at Riu Palace Antillas on the 14th floor.  We asked if it was ocean front and was told that all the ocean front rooms were occupied but that we instead would have an ocean view.

We were given room 1409.  If this was considered the best room I'd hate to see what the worst room look like.  This room was nothing like what we paid for.  Our reservations at Riu Palace Aruba was for a beautiful ocean front, double sink, separate bathrooms, jacuzzi tub, separate living space all with marble with a large terrace style room.

Instead we got a room that did not have a ocean view at all, we actually could only see the back of the builfing we were suppose to be in.  That mean everytime we went on our balcony we had to relive the disappointment of being displaced.  Our room had 3 different floorings.  Marble thresholds at the door entrance, marble threshold at bedroom entrance, tile floor in entrance foyer and fake wood style tile inside bedroom.  The room was overall very dated and did not come with an alarm clock ipod ready radio like the room we had reserved.  In fact it had no alarm clock at all.

The ceiling above our mini bar was leaking.  We had to place a coffee cup there to catch the water.  Maintenance never took care of it.  The next day Housekeeper bust the leak & peeled off the damaged plaster  Maintenence should have taken proper action to inspect where leak was coming from n repaired it.

The bathroom had one sink, a small basic tub that was very stained.  The ceiling in front of the sink had some sort of fungus growing on the ceiling.  Our toilet overflowed on Saturday.  Maintenance came and plunged it and left.  He didn't nor was housekeeping sent to clean all the water on floor from the overflowed toilet. We never had enough towels.  They only gave us 2 face towels.  That mean we had to wash our face and body with  same towel.  Although housekeeping stopped by daily to see if we needed more, they never had any face towels.  We would have to wait while they tried to get more

On Saturday we never got new towels so Sunday morning before 8a.m. we called for new towels.  Needless to say no one came.  We had to resort to washing ourselves using the body dry towels.

On Saturday on our way into town we met a lady name Keia Kennedy.  She stayed in room 708.  She also checked in on Wednesday  (same day as us) but after we did.  However she was able to change her room to a ocean front and her view was of the pool and ocean.  That mean the Riu Antillas staff wasn't truthful in telling us they were all taken.  During the bus ride I shared with Keia our experience of being changed to the hotel she was at.  During this conversation a lady interrupted and said verbatim "Oh that happens all the time.  When Antillas over book we send guest to the Palace and when the Palace over book they send to us at Antillas".  I asked her who she was and how she know this? She said she works for housekeeping on the 15th floor.  When I told her my room number her response was "Oh they put you guys on that side...all you can see is the back of the other building".  Her statements validated for me that she did work their because she described the view same as I had.

Keep in mind that we've stayed at Riu hotels & resorts on several of our vacations and until this one has always had a great experience.  Riu had become our top pick for resorts to stay at.

This vacation did not live up to the experiences that we've come to love.  We are used to staff being very friendly, helpful, continously checking to see if we need anything but not here at either of the hotels.  Wanda thought we were perhaps being discriminated against until another Caucasian guest came to us at the pool telling us that her experience so far wasn't good either.  Her and her husband arrived on that Thursday.  She said she was at the pool for about an hour empty handed and no staff came to see about her. 

The poolside entertainment was an epic fail.  What is a pool party if no one was in the pool?  We booked 3 excursions 2 of which were great, we had a ball.  However after being told that the DePalm Island was geared for children, the water down drinks & subpar food.  We tried to get a refund early Friday morning but was told we couldn't.  No where on the receipt or anywhere at the booking stations did it say all sales are final.  We purchased on Thursday and asked for refund less than 24hrs later and feel it should have been honored.  Instead we waisted our full Saturday somewhere we didn't want to go.  Our experience was the same as the people from another resort said it was.

The club mostly played music from the 80's even when the crowd was younger peers. Even the seniors would leave because the DJ was horrible.

This was our worst vacation yet, we spent most of our time "putting out fires" trying to get resolution to unresolved issues to no avail.  Based on what your employee stated it is obvious that it is not uncommon for either hotel to be over booked.

Our vacation was paid in advance and we was out of the country n stuck with taking whatever we were given.  Knowing that this is a common practice makes me sick to my stomach.  It should not be a routine to purposely overbook so that both hotels could be filled.  That's extremely inconsiderate for all of us that travel expecting to get what we paid for.

We are requesting for the corporate office to take action in compensating both Wanda & I for ruining our birthday and vacation.  We would like a full refund for our entire trip which we paid  $1600 each.  In addition to that we'd like to receive our week stay at Riu anywhere with no restrictions as promised by your employees Johnathan, Sylvia and Josue.  We find this request to be fair given the many inconveniences suffered.

Except on Wednesday the breakfast and dinner buffets served the same food. It took staff forever to take drink orders & to bring them back. We could never eat at the specialty restaurants because you had to get there by 6p.m. This was not possible especially when on an excursion.
Please find attached documents supporting the above-mentioned claims.  We appreciate your prompt attention in reviewing our claim & request.  We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely

Deborah Nixon & Wanda McNeal
Disappointed Guest of Riu Resorts in Aruba

I am writing to inform you I am extremely upset after a recent stay at the RIU Palace Cabo San Lucas. My husband and I stayed at this resort March 30 till April 6 2017.

First I must give a few compliments. The grounds are absolutely stunning. Well maintained and extremely clean. Our check-in/out was swift and flawless. The room we were assigned was a beautiful newly renovated Jr suite with an oceanview.

My complaints are as follows: My husband had a designer white button down shirt stolen out of his luggage. I had started packing worn clothing a day prior to leaving (April 5). I know for fact I had packed it in his suitcase but upon returing home it was missing.

Last but definitely not least, our second piece of luggage was discovered that same day (April 5) containing a large amount of urine. I am obsessive/compulsive when it comes to organization and packing. When we arrived I unpacked that particular piece of luggage holding my belongings, re-zipped it and placed it in the closet. Our other piece of luggage was unpacked re-zipped and placed on top. So 6 days into our trip I discovered the soiled luggage. It was still in its rightful place and zipped just how I left it.

I find it extremely upsetting and disconcerting that someone employed at the RIU palace was malicious and vindictive enough to urinate and defile my personal property and leave it for discovery upon check out.

Such actions are irreprehensible.

I have stayed at a RIU prior to this vacation and was extremely pleased (RIU Guanacaste). This is the only reason we chose the RIU Palace in Cabo. After this vacation I would not recommend this resort to anyone and question staying at any RIU.

Sincerely,
Chantal

Hello,

We stayed with you at the Riu in Emerald Bay in Mazatlan this past week

Brian Murphy-party of 6 ppl-2 rooms-#2017 & 2018 from 3/18 to 3/25

I am quite certain that your hotel has bed bugs, at least our rooms did. I started feeling bites by Weds and I wasn't sure what it was, so I didn't say anything, by the time we left on Saturday I was covered in bites consistent with bed bug bites. I am still covered with them. My son also saw an employee with a spray canister and a nozzle going in to rooms on our floor the day we left. Not too mention that the rooms were not very comfortable, especially the bedding, it seemed dirty and it was very uncomfortable. The most disappointing part of our stay. I wanted to give you a chance to respond privately before I write my review of your hotel online.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Jennifer Champ/Brian Murphy

182 Tobin Lane

Gunnison, CO 81230

[protected]

[protected]@yahoo.com

Room 2630 There was no air conditioning for the whole week we were there. I was told the RIU chain is great, HAAAAAAAA! Nothing was done for us what is RIU Customer service going to do for us? Probably nothing but without sounding threatening I will post on social media and make sure everyone I work with and know hears about the crappy room and the fact no one was concerned except for the night the General Manager was there and it was the Sunday and we checked out on the Tuesday early morning. Half the resort was without air conditioning and just looking at the size of the resort it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you are making a fortune and providing crappy accommodations not to mention false advertising for air conditioned rooms which we didn't have. Disgusted! Remember for every dissatisfied customer they tell 10 people who in turn tell another 10. What will RIU do to make this right?

Riu Bachata Management,

My name is Brittney Hoyt and I am an extremely dissatisfied customer writing to you. My boyfriend Percy (Jonathan) Jones and I are Canadians from Winnipeg Manitoba. To escape the cold weather in Winnipeg we decided to book a trip to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic as a retreat. More specifically we booked our all inclusive at Riu Bachata "resort." After arriving at Puerto Plata airport on February 17th, 2017 we opened our luggage before getting on bus # 10 in order to ensure that everything in our luggage (we had two suitcases, one each) was in order. After attentively and prudently checking our two suitcases we determined that everything was fine with our suitcases and got on board the bus that Sunwing organized for our all inclusive vacation. The bus made NO stops, not one. The first stop it made was at Riu Bachata "resort." Upon arrival at the Riu Bachata "resort" we checked in. The woman that checked us in told us to leave our two suitcases with the bell boy in the lobby as he was supposed to bring our suitcases to our room (#227) for us. We said no thank you, however, the lady who checked us in insisted that we let Frank (Francesco) take our bags, indeed, she said, "you two are on vacation, you need to relax." After being pressured to let Frank, the bell boy, bring our suitcases to our room we agreed under the assumption that he would follow us to our room and drop off our suitcases. In fact, we expected him to follow right behind us, however, he did not. The front desk lady who was guiding us towards the direction of our room continuously reassured us that our luggage was in good hands. We arrived in our room approximately 2 minutes after checking in and patiently waited for our luggage to arrive. Twenty minutes pass, and then thirty minutes pass with still no delivery of our luggage from the "trustworthy" bell boy Frank. My boyfriend Percy (Jonathan) Jones then went to the front desk to inquire about our luggage, they told him that our luggage was on its way. After Jonathan got back to the room, Frank, the bell boy arrived with our luggage, he did not speak English and awkwardly dropped off the two suitcases and quickly left our room. Despite the delay I still tipped Frank. He took around thirty minutes to bring us our luggage. Immediately after Frank left we opened our luggage and noticed that our luggage had been ransacked and rifled through, and, even worse we had items stolen from us. Our luggage was supposed to be in the "trustworthy care of the Riu Bachata staff, " however, we lost approximately $450 worth of stuff. I will attach pictures as proof. We packed meticulously, and there is no way that this ransacking occurred at the airport as we checked our luggage after clearing customs and security. Indeed, our brand new electric cigarette was stolen along with its coils and vanilla liquid flavouring. Further, our "noir" brand cologne was stolen, along with a hat completely torn to shreds. The entire suitcase had been ransacked and the toiletry bag which had a lot of valuable items in it had been emptied and left open. After realizing what happened to our luggage while in the "care" of the Riu Bachata staff, I (Brittney Hoyt) went immediately to the front desk lobby to speak to a manager. Unfortunately, the manager was able to make the situation worse than it already was. In fact, I had been at your resort for less than two hours and had been crying my eyes out and miserable. The manager immediately called me "loca" thinking that I did not understand Spanish. However, I have an intermediate understanding of Spanish and did not appreciate being insulted after being stolen from. I invited the manager to come to our room and see the situation for herself, even after seeing how badly our suitcases had been ransacked through, she told us that we had no proof and that we would receive no compensation for our lost items. She said that Riu Bachata did not care to deal with our matter. Further, the manager told me that she had 1200 other happy customers, and did not care that we were not satisfied, another comment that I did not appreciate. We did not expect immediate compensation, however, we expected that management would rectify the situation in whatever way possible as my items were stolen under the care of the Riu Bachata staff. I asked to see video surveillance, however, she said there were no cameras. Further, I asked to speak to her manager, and she said no one had a higher clearance than her, which is a blatant lie. The manager did not care to give me her name or spell it out legibly for me or offer me any solutions, therefore, I took a picture of her and her staff as we suspect they are the ones who stole from us in the first place due to their lack of willingness to help or see any concern with our matter. I will attach the picture for you to see. After I took the picture, the manager threatened me if I did not delete the picture saying that I don't understand how things work in the Dominican Republic. I sit in my room right now with the door locked and a chair against the door as I fear for my own safety after such threats. Again, I will attach a picture of this. If you as management cannot rectify this situation for me, a well paying customer, then I will be forced to take legal action against your company, and will certainly take all steps to ensure that this does not re-occur to other paying guests, or get ignored. My entire experience with your staff at Riu Bachata Puerto Plata has been negatively tainted by this incident. I expect that a solution to this horrible experience will be rectified immediately. If I do not hear from you, I will have to express my concerns with your resort over social media and proceed with legal action.

Sincerely a very dissatisfied guest.

Brittney Hoyt.

We are from Hungary and try to develop Hungarian tourism is Panama. This is not the first time that we bring Hungarians to Panama and we place them at RIU Panama.
But I think this will be the last time.
At the entrance of the Hotel they do not let you in, which is not seen elsewhere in Panama.
We try to visit our clients, pick them up for tours and they do not let you in.
They know you already by your face but they passion is to limit you and clients living in the Hotel.
They explanation is that clients must notify reception that they are waiting for somebody. What?
This is not jail, but a Hotel where you can visit your friends or clients.
I am sure that the little soldiers of the Hotel overestimate their role and their power.
When you explain at the entrance what you are looking for and you obviously are not a terrorist they should let you in.
What disturbs me the most is that they are lying. They said that the recepcionist asked everybody if they were looking for somebody, but they did not find anybody. And this was a lie, because the clients were standing at the reception.
My opinion is that the management of the Hotel does not know anything about tourism and hotels, how this should work properly.
I understand security measures, but to practice it in excess make clients frustrated.
I recommend you no to choose RIU Panama, instead there are other good options.
All this happened several times, but last time 7 of February 2017.

Judit Szabo

I recently vacationed at the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas with my husband and 10 other family/friends. We stayed there from January 6th through January 13, 2017. On Sunday January 8, My husband and I left our hotel room at 2:45 P.M. to walk down the beach to meet with one of the other couples we traveled there with. Upon returning to our room (at approximately 8:30 P.M.) we found our room in disaray, With flower petals all over the floor in the living room area and around the bed. It looked as though somebody threw confetti in the air. We opened the closet door only to find our safe had been broken into and was wide open. A total of $1, 630.00 was taken. Management was called and quickly arrived at the door. We were told by Jorge Ramirez that both the maid and the boy who stocks the mini fridge were in our room while we were gone. When we asked Jorge why the room was left in such disarray and he too saw what it looked like he said "the maid was in a hurry to leave but she apologizes). Are you kidding me? The manager said nothing about the mess.
I guess I would be in a hurry to leave after I robbed somebody too! Are you kidding me? Not only did one of your employees steal from me, but also from the other employees as I was unable to tip bartenders, maids, and wait staff the rest of my stay. We were with a party of 12 people and had 6 rooms between us. The other 5 couples also had their in room safes comprimised as well, with someone attempting to change the key pad to code to try and break in. Management was called to each one of the rooms during our stay. As a business owner, my husband and I travel often, deal with a lot of travel agencies and I write reviews for many magazines such as The Traveler and Conde Nast. We never received a penny from the hotel (and I know you have insurance for this) or comped for this terrible experience. YOU can either reimburse us for our loss or I can write reviews that are not going to be so profitable for your chain of hotels, if people hear you have an inside ring of thieves stealing from the tourists.
I would like to have a reply from you regarding this matter along with a refund .
Thank you
Julie Bauch
222 Rockton Rd. Roscoe, IL. USA
[protected]

Hi, My husband and I had to cut out vacation short after my husband became very ill after something he ate at the Riu Palace Antillas. He ended up in the hospital in Aruba to get IV fluids and we flew home early because he was not getting any better and had to been seen back here in the states for more IV fluids and antibiotics. When we complained to the front desk at the resort no one seemed to care. The trip was awful. Beware if you plan on staying at this resort!

On Dec 3, 2016 we were married at the Riu Montego Bay...but our nightmare doesn't begin there. I was organizing our wedding from Canada - to a Jamaican man. The email correspondence between myself an my so-called wedding planner, Christine Dunbar, was spotty at best. Her emails would answer 1 of the 3-4 questions I posed and so repeated emails needed to happen. This was frustrating, but I could appease myself by thinking perhaps there was a language barrier or that customer service was simply better in Canada then Jamaica and so I was trying to be patient. When we, myself, Maid of Honor, and Bridesmaid (who was on a crutch due to having a bad ankle at the time) arrived at the resort, we were put into the "honeymoon suite" ... literally 2 beds shoved together with a small balcony that overlooked the ocean. This was an UPGRADE...I immediately reminded them that we needed, and had booked, a room with 2 beds because my fiance has 2 children that will be staying with us. We then had to walk, pulling our luggage and wedding attire to the other side of the resort to be put into a room with 2 beds...no assistance, no direction...just told over the phone to head to room 1134 (guess they assumed we could find it ourselves?). Once finally settled in our room, we soon realized the safe didn't work in my room and the wifi (that we paid for didn't work most of the week). We had to call security 4 times! in the course of the week to open/fix the safe - one day resulted in our missing a day away because our wallet/money was in the safe and we waited 3 hours for security to arrive..only to tell us they needed a new mother board and would have it open in the next couple hours - day shot! On the day before our wedding, we met with Christine, who was rude and impatient with us. I paid the extra $100 to have our marriage certificate expedited to us within 10 business days. She gladly took our money, but gave us very little direction about our "big" day tomorrow. Basically we were told she would meet me and walk me to the place where we were to be married. Then she treated my fiance with the utmost disrespect - perhaps because he was Jamaican? When she found out most of our guests were Jamaican, she said "we all know how Jamaican's are...so tell them the wedding is at 1 even though it's at 2". We paid for day passes for them all ($75 usd/person), but they were only allowed to come 2 hours prior to the wedding at 2pm - how is that DAY pass? On our "big" day, the guests were literally shown to their seats about 4 minutes before I was told to start walking down the aisle. I had to remind Christine that they were playing the wrong song for me to walk down, and waited for them to fix that. We opted to do our own photographs, because the min package of 15 pics was $350 usd. Given this, I realize it was not Christine's responsibility to ensure our video camera was given to our guests to video things, but it would have been nice if she had said something given we were all anxious and she is supposed to be the calm and organized one. The Wedding took place and she stood by scolding us to be sure we were not late for our meal. The meal, was DISGUSTING! We ate in one of the restaurants in a section that was roped off for us. We had 3 meal options and guests order all 3...all 3 were bad. The meat was dry and tasteless, hard to even cut, and the vegetables tasted like they had been soaking for days. Even our wedding cake was dry and tasteless. And the waiter continued to remind us that we needed to leave within 2 hours. We complained - about the meal, the safe deposit box, the rudeness with which we were treated..nothing! On the Tues following our Sat wedding, we bumped into Christine, purely accidentally, and she stated that she had called our room looking for us (oh ya forgot to mention our phone didn't work from day one and Christine told us on our wedding day that it still wasn't working...so she knew it was borken). She made it sound like she had been frantically trying to find us since the wedding - yet she had our room number and the place isn't that big..she could have walked to our room or the pool at any hour and found us! Apparently I had not signed the wedding certificate properly and it needed to be changed...we stood in the foyer while she called the Pastor and over the phone they decided I didn't need to resign anything and all was well. I asked her why it hadn't been registered and dealt with, given this was now Tues and she said it would be right away, she thought there was a problem but now there isn't (so now our "expedited" certificate is already 2 days late). Again, she was very rude to us and particularly to my now husband. We left the resort very unimpressed...and the nightmare continued. At the time of writing this complaint - Dec 28, 2016 - a full 18 BUSINESS DAYS after our wedding, I still have NOT received my wedding certificate. Given the Christmas holidays, I expected a bit of a delay but this is ridiculous. I emailed Christine 4x...and asked her to fax me a copy of it, which she claims she did...and still NO FAX COPY! She is now ignoring my emails...however I received an email from DHL (carrier company I assume) stating my certificate will be delivered Dec 29 or 30.
I would never recommend Riu Montego Bay as a decent resort a which to stay - the only good thing about it was the entertainment group...and I most certainly will vehemently advocate against anyone getting married at this resort and/or working with Christine Dunbar. She is clearly someone who should look at another career choice...she definitely ruined my wedding and likely many others with her disrespectful and dismissive attitude.

Att General Manager

We were not respected and insulted by your security agent at the gate entrance.

The incident started at 12:35 am on Tuesday November 22 when asked for the bracelet by the agent at the entrance, We informed him that we are on business trip and did not wear them. He was arrogant and incomprehensible and told us that he will not let us in. We asked to see a supervisor but he went to his cabine and told us to wait. We waited about 15 minutes at the door to the point that we had to use the horn then another security agent showed up.

We heard the first say in Arabic these
" human beings don't have their badges and want in"

We asked him to speak politely but he kept repeating " if you are not wearing your bracelets you will not access the site" (video taken of the two talking to us rudely)

We asked to see the reception manager and they let us in only to meet a man named Hamid who claimed to be the manager, instead of apologizing for the incident, he rudely said we must wear our bracelet, he was not nice and we asked him that we will check out. He did not care and said you are free to do so, and to call Expedia if we have an issue.

We did, and we checked out, and moved another hotel in the middle of the night

And we think we were seriously mistreated by your rude and aggressive personnel.

We will make sure your corporate office is aware of the incident.

Another point, customers are served alcoholic beverages until they fall, We saw two people on the floor! It was shocking to see this.

Please have the general manager call us as the staff refused to give his mobile number.

Cordialement / Best Regards

Unhappy Customers

On Thursday 750 pm, Nov. 3, 2016, I went to Nautilus for dinner no reservations required. The hostess was holding a clipboard with names on it and times. I asked her to put my name down. She said we are taking names but i saw names on her board. I asked to speak to a manager. Ten minutes later a gentleman comes out and told the hostess to take our name and come back at 850. so I left with my family and came back at 850 pm. She was seating a party of 4 before us who was on the list after us. I asked to speak to the manager again. Now it was 915. Finally at 930 we were seated. The food was not worth the wait unfortunately. At this time we missed the show. Your personnel were not professional. The manager just shut us by putting our name on the list but didn't plan on using it.

When we arrived on Mon, Oct 31 Geneva checked us in and told us Nautilus was closed for dinner tonight but no one ever informed us that other themed restaurants closed different days. If I would have known earlier I would have planned our dinners at the themed restaurants accordingly.

You are short staffed. Staff members at the front desk are not knowledgeable about hotel policies.

Everywhere you walk there are slippery floors. My mom is a senior citizen and had a hard time walking afraid to fall.

Just got back from the RIU Vallarta where within 2 hours of arrival had $400 stolen from my room. Staff was informed a strange man was seen coming out of my room and they were suppose to look into it. After we demanded to be transferred to another hotel, we were told they couldn't. The only thing they could do is upgrade us to a junior suite. The suite was a lot nicer than our previous room, but they also made us sign a paper saying we wouldn't pursue the theft charges any further. We had already spent a half a day moving rooms, and we basically had no choice but to sign it because we had already moved. The staff never got back to us about the theft incident.

After only 2 nights into our trip the AC stopped working and was never fixed even after many complaints to the front desk. It was unbearably hot our entire trip. We complained, but the staff just didn't care and said there was nothing they could do.

There was an infestation of bees swarming the pool bar and in the pool itself and my boyfriend and I were both stung. Once again the front desk was notified but nothing was done. Someone in our group is highly allergic to bee stings, and feared having to go outside. There was also a child openly urinating into the pool from standing on the edge and nothing was done by the RIU staff.

And you can't get a chair by the pool unless you want to go out the night before after midnight to put a towel down. We got up at 630 and 600 every morning, and every single chair surrounding the pool was already taken.

Nightmare! Would never return to the RIU Vallarta again. I didn't even mention that it is all open air also. So that means the lobbies and hallways are the same temp as the outside. So when our AC was broken the entire time, you get no relief anywhere else either. not to mention the beds are horrible, like sleeping on concrete.

Do not stay here! Pay the extra money and stay in a nice place!

10/5/16 and we still haven't heard back from anyone regarding this!

Afther two nite my doughter was bitten by bugs she devolpe fever she became ill was taken to medical care on aug 5 2016 then on way back we ask resort for a nite stay extra at same rate as was$58 was told can help us was charged a deposit nite stay all togeher $349wow over charged our med cost for effected bed was in all $ 620all togeher$ 969 us i ask hotel to repay

I loved the beach and the pool. My only regret is that I wish I had read the online material about the casino.

On July 2, 2016, my husband and I arrived in Punt Cana, DO, at the RIU Palace Macao. At check-in we were given a packet of materials that included coupons for a variety of activities. One page had several match-play coupons for blackjack at the casino connected to the resort. When we made our reservation, we were aware that there was a casino in this hotel. We brought $300 cash and planned on playing blackjack at the casino. That first evening, we stopped in the casino and played blackjack with $20 each on a $5 table.

On July 3, 2016, we spent the day at the pool and beach. After dinner, we were walking around and the resort and visited the adjacent hotels, where the gym was located. We were walking back to our hotel to meet friends around 9:15pm, for the evening entertainment. The room where the show was to be held had an interior entrance to the casino. We intended to walk through the casino to the show and went to the parking lot door to the casino. At the door, a woman greeted us and immediately presented us with “free” casino chips. She ushered us to a game inside the door to the left and told us that we could play for free.

At this table, we were met by a manager who told us we just needed to throw eight marbles into a roulette wheel and from there a number would be determined on the table. We would just need to obtain a score of 100 points. I had never seen the game and did not have an understanding of the rules.

We through the marbles and, according to the dealer, made a lot of points quickly. But, as we quickly found out, the game was not going to be free. After a couple of rolls, the jackpot of $500 that we initially had been playing for was doubled. Apparently, we kept rolling a number that “doubled” the jackpot but also “doubled” what would have to be wagered. Each time, we rolled, the numbers were added quickly and the marbles collected. We did not have the opportunity to count the numbers in the roulette wheel.

Before I knew it, our initial free wager started to cost us, $20/$40/$80 a roll. Each time, the dealer encouraged us to stay in the game to “win” the jackpot. He maintained that the casino wanted us to give up and leave. If we stayed in, we would be guaranteed to eventually win. At this point, I did look at the woman who initially lured us to the table and remarked that we were clearly easy targets and I had not intended on playing a game that I knew nothing about.

After running out of my cash, the dealer noted that we could use credit. If we continued to play, our credit card would not be initially charged. He stated, given how many points we had quickly obtained, we could only lose by giving up. On the table there was a sign saying that credit cards we accepted. He handed me paperwork and told me that I needed to sign it and initial that I wanted to continue. It would now cost $160 a roll.

As I was at an all-inclusive resort at the pool and beach all day, I had been enjoying the open bar. When the dealer encouraged me to continue through the game by signing to use my credit card, that would most likely not be used, I did not understand the implications. He stated that “when” we won the jackpot, the amount put as a charge on my credit card would be reversed. We continued and hit the “double” numbers several more times. Again, the dealer said this was great as it increased our jackpot, from $25, 000, to $50, 000, to $102, 000. Each time, however, it increased the amount we would have to bet. Each time, we were challenged with, you are so close, you have 95, 98, 99 points. You only need one more point from the board and you will win $102, 000.

With the amount needed to wager at $2500 a roll, we balked. Again, we were encouraged to continue. We were given more alcohol throughout. When I initially questioned the validity of the game, the dealer told me that many people had won over the past couple of weeks. He repeated over and over that the only way we could lose was if we gave up. Now, at a credit charge of $4400, we were told that we would need to “settle” that amount.

This is when we were told we had to put through a charge. This was the first time that I was told and understood that I would be using the “cash advance” option on my credit card. From here, we made the decision not to continue any more. We were given a note and told we could come back and continue the game the following day.

The next morning, when we woke up, we were confused about what had happened. We checked on the web to find out the game that we were involved in and we quickly saw many reviews that explained that this was a scam, a complete fraud. As we read several posts, we read the same exact scenario that we experienced. Here are just a few of the references: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147288-d1019356-r150014982-Riu_Palace_Macao_Casino-Dominican_Republic.html, https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147293-d611114-r59688628-Hotel_Riu_Palace_Punta_Cana-Punta_Cana_La_Altagracia_Province_Dominican_Republic.html, https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147288-d1019356-r203111489-Riu_Palace_Macao_Casino-Dominican_Republic.html, http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/riu-punta-cana-c113585.html. This is only a small representation of the repeated posts online about this casino and game.

The following day we went to the front desk and asked for an appointment with the resort’s General Manager. We set up a meeting to talk with Mr. Torres. In talking with Mr. Torres, we asked for his assistance in dealing with the casino, in the hope that he would be able to have them reverse the charges on our credit card. However, while he seemed to empathize, he stated that the hotel had nothing to do with the casino, saying an independent company operated it. We challenged this assertion given that all of the resort’s promotional materials included information about the casino, it was advertised as a place to visit during entertainment and was connected to the physical space of the resort. Nowhere was it mentioned or did it say that the casino was independently operated and unregulated. During this meeting, Mr. Torres agreed to set up a meeting for us with the management of the casino. He stated they could review the video and make a decision on our actions.

We met Mr. Torres again around 9:00pm that evening. He said he would take us into the casino to discuss the situation with the manager. To our surprise, we entered the casino and the man who had been at the table game with us, who we believed engaged in deceitful behavior, was the manager Mr. Torres was taking us to see. He brought us into a back room and there we were with another man, introduced as Mr. Ciman. As we explained the situation, he said that he ran a legitimate casino and that the reviews online where from a long time ago, a previous company, that was no longer in business. In this meeting, however, most of the talking was done by the man from the table, identified as Mr. Keilon. He maintained repeatedly that the facts showed that it was our fault that we lost money and everyday people who lose blame the casino. We asked him for the name of the game that we played and if we could have pictures of the table and roulette machine. He replied that no pictures were allowed. When we asked to review the film from the night we were there to see if the balls were accurately counted, he said no, that the casino would never allow any video to be seen. At the same time, he said that he would have no problem sending video of me signing paperwork to the credit card company. He kept repeating, “I wish I could help you guys, but you’re not giving me anything to go on.” While he stated that the facts revealed that it was our fault that we had lost money, we believed the game was a fraud to begin.

The events that took place at the RIU Palace Macao casino were fraudulent from the beginning. Clearly, Mr. Keilon and Mr. Ciman want to maintain that the woman at the entrance is just using marketing techniques to entice people into the casino, just like any other store. That the 8-ball progressive table roulette is a legitimate game. That my husband and I made poor choices that lead to our decision to continue with the game and that we did have a chance to win. That we were told about the credit situation, that it was a cash advance, and signed a form to move forward. I would provide a different narrative. We had no intention on gambling in the casino that evening, we were simply taking a short cut through the casino to the adjoining entertainment room. A cunning hostess who gave us a “free” $20 to play lured us to a table, with a game we did not know. We did not understand the game and were only explained pieces when it encouraged us to participate. We were told we would win if we just kept playing, something that will not be seen in a video, as this was verbal encouragement from the table manager, Mr. Keilon. Each time the balls were thrown, they were quickly counted by the dealer and then picked up, without us being able to count. Only the video of the balls within the roulette machine can verify the accuracy of the count, something that Mr. Keilon would not allow us to see. Finally, there is a consistent track record of complaints from patrons who have been victims of this same scam.

Now, the management at Riu has stated that the casino is a separate entity and not connected with the resort. As you read through materials about this resort you will see "casino" listed as an amenity. It is not clear that this is a separate business. Shame on the Riu brand for allowing this to occur. Please be careful and do not go to this casino.

The room was clean. The hotel staff weren't friendly, took me 4 calls to get a coffee maker in my room and 5 additional calls to decaf coffee. The buffet restaurant was ok, though the food wasn't always fresh and the service was bad, I had to ask for a napkin and silverware. On the outside deck, there was a fence but not low enough so I the mornings seagulls would fly in and eat off of plates. The food in the Japanese restaurant was horrible. The nicest people there was the entertainment staff and the lady at the majestic tour desk. Hotel advertised all this nightlife, third were closed by 11, even on the wkend. There was holes in the roof that was in our direct view from our balcony and trash outside of the hotel on the sand. Many trash bags of trash were in view from our balcony as well.

On May 5th we traveled to Resort Riu Tequila and assigned room 2006. Check in was smooth, we found the grounds to be nice, it took us a little bit to find our room, but once found was satisfactory other than the ceiling fan did not work and the patio door lock was falling off the door. For this level of hotel I don't think this is really appropriate. We made two phone calls to the front desk to have the issues fixed. After the second call both issues were fixed. This was greatly appreciated.
On May 6th, for most of the morning we had our do not disturb sign on the door. The cleaners had already cleaned that floor. Around lunch we left the room for the remainder of the day and removed the DND sign. Later that evening around 10 pm, after dinner and an evening show, we returned to the room and noticed that we had additional water bottles, so we knew the mini bar people had been in but the room had not been made up, so clearly the maids had not been in the room. Alyssa started looking for her camera in her carry on to take some pictures of the room. The Carry on had been in the corner of the room. The camera was missing.
The next evening we reported it missing when we were done with our group for the day. The people at the desk took a report and said they'd be in touch with us in a few days. We received a note under our door to meet with the director of the resort. When we went he wasn't there so we had to return in an hour or so. When he came back, he basically " interviewed us" and offered us spa services or excursions in lieu of the value of the camera because he would have had to speak to the insurance company of the Resort to reimburse for funds ( approx $350 US), We did not accept his offer as we didn't feel this was acceptable compensation for our loss. On our last day we bumped into having breakfast and he told us he hadn't resolved the issue on his end and to contact you. Therefore, consider this notice that we respectfully request reimbursement of the value of the camera.
As you can understand, there were pictures taken prior to the vacation on the camera which are now lost. It is a sentimental loss as well as a physical loss. Not to mention, it leaves a sour taste regarding the Riu chain. This is not our first trip to the Riu having previously stayed at the Yucatan. We found the food to be excellent, and as mentioned the grounds to be well kept, pool area excellent, however, pending the outcome from our request we will feel obligated to inform our travel agent as well as Social Media of the events that transpired.
We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Alyssa Pasqua, & Joshua Park957 Colette Rd
Fort Erie, OntarioL2A [protected]@email.com

This is just a copy of the letter I sent to corporate
Good afternoon, I am not only a Riu Class member, I am also a travel agent enrolled in the Riu Partner Club program being my code xxxx from the agency xxxxxxxxxxxx.
I come hereby to make a formal complaint and alert about several situations that ruined mine and my wife's vacation at your Playa del Carmen resort, Riu Tequila between May 2nd 2016 and May 16th.
It all started in the first night, my wife unfortunately has epilepsy and after travelling so many hours wasn't feeling well, that day at dinner and because she needed to rest and lay down we were going to take some fish and a little rice in a Tupperware we had with us to our room, this gentleman, that later I understood was one of the assistant managers, came to us very rude and told us we couldn't take food to our room, I explained him the situation, and believe me, Spanish is my 2nd language, I was very clear, and he told me the same, really not caring, he sent us to the sports bar saying there is food there and that we could take to our room, once there (my wife already in the room) I noticed that the food was either hamburgers or cheese sandwiches, had to take them to the room and to be honest it was inedible, the bread was so dry not even a pig would eat it, so thank you for making an epileptic on the verge of an attack after travelling 12 hours starve.
Of course the following day she had a violent epileptic attack and I had to sedate her with her medication and now we already lost 2 days of our holiday.
I understand the rules and regulations, but your employees need to be told that in some cases common sense must be used, we weren't rude, we weren't trying to take a full chicken to the room, it was just a little bit of fish with some rice, I wasn't even taking anything for me, this was unacceptable, but it was only the beginning.
At the pool bar, inside the Lupita restaurant, there is a bartender called Vitor, this man called my wife a "wh**e" in Spanish, not once but two times. I was sitting at a table and she went there and was waiting to be served, this man was talking to someone of the animation team, and it was that person that told him that he had a client, not knowing that both of us speak Spanish, he told his colleague that my wife wasn't a client, she wasn't nothing more than a "mula", which means "wh**e" in a direct translation, I stepped up, but again, my wife has a delicate health condition and after what happened in the first 2 days she was still recovering, she asked me not to say anything, I had to refrain myself, meanwhile the person from the animation team that was there, became embarrassed with his colleague behavior and left, when he comes back with our drinks, he puts a smile and in Spanish he tells her again in Spanish, here you go you wh**e- "Aqui estan mula".
This was absolutely uncalled for, that was the 1st time we were at that bar, this was our 4th day at the resort, we didn't do anything wrong to this man, we didn't knew him, my wife is a sweet person, she was nice asking for the drinks, she didn't mistreat him, or did anything wrong to him. I was absolutely furious, but my wife told me that she has a condition and asked me to wait until come home and write this, as we were staying there 2 weeks and she didn't want any more problems, as this was already the second incident that happened in 72 hours. And even worst, this person, I repeat his name is Vitor, didn't miss a chance to mistreat my wife every time he saw her during the 2 weeks we were there, I made the experience and went there by myself, ordered the drinks, he treated me respectfully and he was very nice, the moment my wife approached me and he saw she was with me, his attitude change immediately and he would stop smiling and would just put the drinks on the counter and turn his back on us, as if she was his estranged ex wife or something similar, we are still trying to understand what was his problem. If I would go there by myself I would get normal service like every other guest, if we were together or she was by herself he would try to ignore us and try and see if other colleague would take care of us, or would give us the attitude to serve us drinks.
There is a very nice man working there called Florencio, and this man called Vitor, gave him a hard time once at the swim up bar, because he served us "mudslides" at 5.30, when he should have only have offered beer or tequila, he told him. Since that happened, Florencio tried not to serve us as well. We are stupefied with this.
On May 5th, we arrived at our room around 5.30 and the room hadn't been clean, there was no explanation, it wasn't cleaned, because she had to take her pills and sleep for a bit we couldn't go away and wait anymore so I didn't contact the front desk, we also had no more water or any other drinks in our fridge but 2 cans of Canada dry.
By 2 am the air conditioning stopped working, I finally lost it, went to the front desk and told the night auditor that our room wasn't cleaned, we had no water, no drinks and now the air conditioning wasn't working, it was above 35 c inside our room, the gentleman was very nice and tried to do the best he could he tried to explain not to open the window or the air conditioning would stop (which I knew, but it wasn't the case) and he apologized and told us we could pick water at the sports bar, which we did.This man is a good employee, I believe his name is Tomas, or Thomas.
We ended up spending the night in the balcony trying to pass time and spraying ourselves with "deet" that we took from Canada, and going to beach on the 1st trolley in the morning so we could sleep there a little before the sun would become strong. This was already the holiday from hell, but was far from over.
We arrived in our room around 3pm, it was now cleaned, the air conditioning was fixed, but there was still no water, I called the front desk and asked for water, they told me they would send someone, after 2 hrs nobody showed up, I called again and I was told by the person on the other side of the line that he would take care of it himself. 5mn later he calls the room again, very rude, telling me that I had no water because I didn't open the door, I explained that nobody knocked at our door and that wasn't true, he told me that I should have been at the door, waiting, as the employee has his hands full and because of that he can't knock, all this in a matter, as if I should be aware of this and I was the one to blame.
I went outside, spotted the person with the drinks, met him and it was me bringing the water and some pepsi to our room, the mini bar wasn't replenished fully regardless. This is absolutely surreal.
Meanwhile at the pool of the Riu Tequila, the same is so dirty and full of ### that we develop both skin rashes, there is dead insects, leaves, live insects you name it, and yes, there is always someone with a net trying to keep it clean, but it is useless, I also understand that we are in the jungle, surrounded by palm trees, but the quality of the water is ruined and I catch one of your employees (the advantage of them not knowing who speaks Spanish)that tests the water with that color meter (I have more than 30 years in the industry, I managed 3 hotels in my career, I know a lot about this)showing it to one of his colleagues and telling him that it was no good and he needed to apply more chlorine and disinfectant for the following day. As I type, my hands are covered in a rash and so are my wife's, the problem for me is just the itch, but my wife is a hair stylist and now she can't go back to work and our doctor already told her she needs to stay away from chemicals for at least 3 more days.
On May 14th we were at the pool in the opposite side of the swim up bar, trying to avoid Vitor, it was hot and we tried to go to the shady part of the pool next to the wall of the restaurant, the smell of urine was so intense we became appalled, some other guests were complaining as well, also the amount of dead insects and some other debris floating in there was the same as being in a swamp.
I have the doctor reports if you wish me to send it to you, I can also take pictures from my hands, my wife's arms and legs as well.
But it gets worst, the beds of our room, 3015, are is such bed shape that you can feel the coils of the mattress on your back while you try to sleep, in 14 nights we didn't sleep one full night due to that, we came back with back pain, in my case so hard I am on pain killers, I was fine when I arrived there, I can also ask my doctor to contact you.
One of the legs of my bad was (is) broken, and one night around 4am I woke up with a tilted bed to my left side, I thought there has been an earthquake or something, when I checked the leg of the bed on my side, it had come out, I had to lift the bed by myself and put it back in, checked my wife's the next morning, and it was already almost out as well, I used our own tape that we always carry on holidays to fix it my self.
More, on May 14th, we left the pool around 5.30, we wanted to have dinner as early as possible as I had a work video conference at 7pm (Edmonton time) and I needed to attend it. We showered quickly, put on some light clothes (no bikini for my wife or swim shorts for me) she had an orange dress and I had Jean's shorts and grey t-shirt, we didn't dry our hair and went to the restaurant, we entered and as we are almost in the middle of the restaurant, this person (name is Pedro Pablo) comes running after us screaming in the middle of the restaurant, we turned back and he told us we couldn't be there dressed like that, I asked why and he said we were wearing beach attires and we couldn't be wet inside the restaurant, once again and in Spanish, I explained him that we had showered and changed, because I had to run we didn't had the time to dry our hair, but there was people there wearing literally almost no clothes and there was nothing in the rules saying we needed to dry our hair, we didn't came directly from the beach or pool, we didn't had sand on us and I was using sneakers and my wife night sandals. He didn't care, he expelled us out of the restaurant Jalisco, for our shame and humiliation, this never happened to me anywhere and I have traveled from all Europe, Africa, Caribbean and this was my 3rd time in Mexico, 2nd on a RIU, my wife has traveled even more extensively and this was her 9TH!time in a RIU.
I don't understand what happened in here, but this is unacceptable, we only take holidays once a year so we can go 2 weeks, that is when we try to rest the maximum we can due to her disease and my hectic travel agent life, as even on holidays I am working.
I have sent you more than $50.000 in business last year, I try to sell RIU to all my clients, if you notice reservation number : xxxxxxxx at the Riu Cancun and reservation number: xxxxxxxx at the Riu Guanacaste, both these clients came back complaining with very similar things to what happened to me, specially room cleanliness and staff rudeness, I am putting my reputation on the line for your brand, and this is what happened when my self and my my wife decide to go to a RIU?
Who gives us back our holiday? We have one more year of work ahead of us and now our money is gone in this holiday from hell, what do you have to say about this?
Who pays the hassle and the fact my wife cannot work for one more week because of your property?
What kind of compensation will you give me?
Above it all, why should I keep on selling your brand with all the competition around and when your properties are going down the drain?
This exposition is also going to headquarters in Spain, management at the Riu Tequila and Headquarters at TUI, just so you'd know.
Very disappointing.

We stayed at the riu bavaro in the dominican republic. On march 30th 2016 we were robbed in our room in the safe of $650 us cash. This was an inside job done by the staff. We had alerted the front desk that the batteries in the safe needed changing. While we were out on an excursion they entered the room and the safe and stole all the cash. They would not allow us to call the police nor would they file a report even internally and provide us a copy. We of course informed our travel agent and she is trying to seek reimbursement for our damages.

The staff were rude and lazy at this location and the quality of the all inclusive food and alcohol was lower than poor. Very disturbing and awful experience.

We arrived at the Riu Bambu Resort in Punta Cana Republica Dominicana on March 9th at 4:00 pm . We had upgraded to a delux room close to the beach . When we went to our room, it was 3/4 of the back, and as far as you can go to the right . It was a standard room . We went back to the desk and told them it wasn't the wright room, and they didn't understand . They said all the rooms were the same . They gave us a different room, and the only difference was a small love seat in there . Nothing at all like the pictures on the web sites for the delux rooms, or what we were told we were getting for the extra money we spent . In the new room we got the door covering the refrigerator, was a piece of 3/4 inch ply wood painted white . The two dressor drawers were also a piece of ply wood painted white . The two sinks you had to crawl underneath them to make the drains work . The stems to pull were missing . We didn't complane any more they didn't seem to want to do anything . Thursday and Friday were good . On Saturday night, we went to sleep around 11:30 pm, and were awaken around 2:00 am with a lot of noise, and banging on the wall . This went on till 6;00 AM that morning . After breakfast I told the desk about it, and they said if it happens again we should call the desk . Sunday night we went to sleep around 11:30 pm and were awaken around 2:00 am with a lot of noise and screaming, and banging on the walls again . I called to the desk and thy sent security up there . It took about 15 min for them to show up . It was quiet for about 15 min, and then it all started up again . I called the desk three times that night, with the last time beining 5:00 am . We had to be up at 6:00 AM that morning to be at the front desk by 7:30 for a all day excursion we had signed up for . So now we have two nights with little sleep . When we got back from our excursion we were on it was 6:30 pm . I stopped at the desk to see what can be done, and the person we talked to said they had many complaints about the spring breakers and couldn't do much about it . We had a lot of noise on Monday and Tuesday night as well . Once 2:00 am came around there was no sleeping . I spoke with Jose De Lacrus and he said he noted in there computers all the trouble we were having, and told me to get ahold of Jevier Perez with our problems . He is there Sub - Director there . he said there would be some type on compensation done for us . I did get ahold of him and he said there was nothing he could do, and I should file a complaint here . the web sites say they do not alow in any Spring Breakers which is not what they do . This was my first vacation in 4 years and my wife and I are not Happy with the whole thing . please let me know what can be done with this matter ! Thank you for your time in this matter ! Roger Wenzel

We recently stayed at the Riu Palace Aruba (March 1-7, 2016) and there was a fire at the resort on March 5, 2016. We paid for a Jr. Suite, Ocean View Room, which overlooked the pool and ocean. There were no safety procedures put into place during the evacuation of the resort during the fire. No lights in the stairways, no fire alarms, no PA systems to notify guests of evacuation. There was no room to room sweep completed either. There was no communication from the management unless prompted by the guests. When we were finally moved approximately 12 hours later we were located at the Riu Antilles with a hotel size room with a view of a rooftop. Not what we paid for. To say the least we lost one full day of our vacation. To this date we have not received anything from Riu expressing any kind of compensation for our inconvenience and less accommodations or an explanation of what actually happened. This in my opinion is very unprofessional. We had all (a group of 4 couples) considered coming back to Aruba in future years, but as of right now I would not recommend this resort due to the above mentioned problems.