RIU Hotels & Resorts
reviews and complaints

We stayed at RIU Ocho Rios 6/3/23-6/7/23. We had issues starting with checkin. We had 2 rooms and they had the wrong ppl in the room. They adjusted it but never fixed it even though I kept trying to explain who was in which room and I showed them the email I had received from reservations. We had asked for rooms next to each other since I was traveling with my children and grandchildren. We had an email stating that would happen. However our rooms were 5 rooms apart, even though I showed the email to the reception staff. They acted like they didn't care.

On Sunday, 6/4/23, while getting out of the shower, and having the do not disturb sign on the door, someone used a hotel key to enter the room. Once they saw my son in law, they immediately closed the door. When my son in law opened the door, the new hotel guest showed him their key packet that was given by the reception team. They had given them keys to my kids room. My daughter called them and they were very unconcerned calling it a minor inconvenience. My daughter and I went to the front desk and spoke with the manager on duty who stated the same comment, minor inconvenience. She was giving an excuse as to why it happened and said, it was just a minor inconvenience and blew off our concerns. We asked to speak with her boss and she stated that he would be in at 7pm. We left and went to the room, and the key didn't work. We had to go back to the desk to get it programed. This too was called a minor inconvenience.

At 1930 on 6/4/23, I went and spoke with the Manager, Mr Pryce. Orginially he wasn't going to speak with me since my daughter is an adult, but i had her on facetime and he spoke with us both. He offered his apologies, but also called it an inconvenience, to which I had to remind him that it was a security breech not an inconvenience. That what if my daughter was alone in that room and that man came in and attacked her. That is a SECURITY issue not an inconvenience! Mr Pryce apologized and said that they would send something to the room as a good gesture of their apology. They sent 2 RIU hats and bags.

On Monday, 6/5/23 at 1430 my kids were at the pool and it started raining so they ran to their room with my 3 yr old grandson. Their key wouldn't open up the door. They asked the housekeeper to try her key and it wouldn't work . They went to the desk and was told that it was the key pad and was told that it would be at least an hour before it would charged and they could go into their room. My grandson is crying that he had to go to the bathroom, so my daughter asked if they could just give her a key to my room ( I was not on the resort at that time) and they gave it to her without question, although her name is not on my room. They did not have my permission to give them the key to my room. Mr. Pryce would not speak to me the night before without my daughter being there, and yet they gave my key to them without asking me. That too is a security breech.

On Wednesday, 6/7/23 when we were packing to leave, the room my daughter was in had a leak from the ceiling air conditioner. The whole floor was soaked. A call was placed to registration who stated that someone would be down. No one ever came.

I have stayed at many Riu many times and was excited to share the experience with my children. However, this Riu was not like the others. The food was subpar. A great majority of the staff were not customer friendly, some bordering on being rude. The cafeteria staff were not pleasant. They didn't speak and they acted like you were bothering them if you asked for anything. I have NEVER had that experience with ANY Riu and I have stayed in plenty of them in several countries. I will never go back to that Riu and I will definitely not allow any of my family or friends to go there.

1

RIU Scam

Review of Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana

Pending review

We recently stayed at RIU Palace Bavaro at first we thought it was a lovely place then we went to the casino one night after being encouraged to go by your staff at one of the restaurants which is very interesting because come to find out the Casino is not affiliated with the hotel, after being advertised on RIU Hotel Info and multiple signs throughout resort and I can’t understand to this day why you would want to subject your guests to what happens over there — - we were drugged, we experienced

criminal fraud with our credit cards in excess of $50,000, believe we were impersonated on the phone to our credit card companies, they verified charges on the casino phone and we received nothing in return for this no cash, no goods or services and interesting enough the casino comes up on the credit card as a grocery store. We were threatened and had our cards taken out of our possession. The cards were taken from our person, actually demanded with no other option then $50,000 plus in cash advances were taken

on our credit cards. We were under duress….. We are in another country, don’t speak the language, surrounded by security with no option to leave. We were under duress! Further note neither one of us have ever used the cash advance option. The casino staff demanded our credit cards, this is when everything changed……we were surrounded by casino security that was armed and they acted as if we were getting ready to leave and owed millions to them when all we were trying to do

was an ATM withdraw, we were scared for our lives……after our cards were taken, there were two Dominican ladies, who spoke no English behind a counter calling and making the charges and they continually tried to charge our cards for various amounts that we were unaware of and definitely not aware that they were cash advances to top it off….. I am now realizing that is why the ATM didn’t work when we

tried to withdraw $200.00……not $50,000. Conveniently there was one tall bald gentleman that was quite a talker and spoke fluent English. I have called the casino only to be hung up on and told that I needed to visit the casino in person to resolve this. We were also told while staying at the hotel by one of the service staff that the casino is run by criminals and they exploit Americans all the time, perhaps that is why the

hotel doesn’t let any of the guests know that it’s not part of hotel and it’s conveniently located right next to it, passing out $25 wooden chips and $10 paper vouchers to lure you in and drug guests…. ever heard of devil’s breath, it is commonly used in situations like this. We now believe it was on vouchers and wooden chips to alter us without knowing as they were handed to us as we attempted to pass by. We ordered 1 drink in casino, again we thought we were on hotel property, as we never had any intentions of leaving property for safety reasons throughout trip. A service person at hotel confirmed

this & made us promise not to tell for the safety of them and their family as well as ourselves…. and suggested we report in US. Which is why we did not alert the general manager or the police when we woke up in am and realized we had been assaulted by the casino staff, which at this time we still believed the casino was part of the RIU Resort Complex. We immediately started calling our credit cards and found out charges in various amounts in excess of $50,000…. this was our last day. That

evening prior to our am departure our hotel suite power was on at 11pm and at around 12:30am there was none and earlier in the evening we were unable to enter room with keys. While at the airport going thru security my husband and I were very abruptly separated……I was taken out of line with zero knowledge to what was happening. Passengers in line allowed my husband to advance in line….. I was taken to another

area where I was detained and bags searched. All of this seems extremely coincidental.

I have reached out to RIU complaints with no help and have called and emailed the corporate office. We have reached out to all of our credit cards. I have also made a report with the US Embassy, that was zero help and they recommended we return to DR to make a police report! We are still fighting charges with American Express and Chase... Do Not Go To This Resort or Any RIU... AWFUL!

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Diese Nachricht wurde automatisch erstellt und versendet. Bitte antworten Sie nicht direkt auf diese E-Mail. — Dear Ms. Carmen Riu Guett and Mr. Luis RIU Guett, my name is Frances Lemelle Lockett, and I was a guest at your Nigril Riu resort, on May 15th to May 20th 2023. I am writing to you to let you know about my disappointment of your facility and some of your staff. Being my third time staying at one of your resorts, this one was the most disappointing ever. First of all we were in rooms 1065 in 1066, at least 10 times our keys were demagnetized. We already knew do not put the keys by a phone or by any money. On one night we had just got another key that morning and went to the room and of course it didn't work. So we have to walk all the way back to the registration desk, we were given two keys on arrival and one never did work. So we were always operating with one key. When we asked to get another key and we were told by Monique we would have to walk all the way back to the room to get the key that never worked. I told her we would bring it back when we come back for dinner she refused to give us another key telling me that they didn't have any more keys. To me that was very inconsiderate of her to refuse a paying guest another key. My next issue with your resort is I asked the housekeeper to restock the refrigerator, and she explained to me that I would have to tell the front desk. So I went up before dinner and asked for coffee, soda, sugar and water, the manager Dwight said he could get me the coffee and sugar but the soda and water he would have to send the next day because they already stopped servicing the rooms. He stood in my face and promised to have coffee sent to my room that night and did not. I had to go down to the dining hall instead, I could not sit on the patio and enjoy a cup of coffee. That afternoon the guy finally came after two complaints to refurbish the refrigerator. The next thing was the shower would not drain we had to wait all day until the evening for that. Also in room 1065 where my daughter was the mattress look like it had bed bugs and all kind of stains on it we requested to have the mattress changed and the manager the white said he would come to see it. We never got a resolution for that. Now my biggest issue was one of your guests was very intoxicated and my granddaughter and three nieces were waiting for the shuttle and the man walked up to them and said who wants to f#ck, when he was rejected by the four young ladies he had one in the mouth, had one in the eye twice, hit the other one in the chest and then hit your security guard in the jaw. They said that your security guards jaw was dislocated. The guy was arrested. Now what gets me is when the nurse assistant came to help the girls and was treating them that were bleeding she told them they would have to pay for a Band-Aid, when one of your guests attacked them. This is so deplorable and ridiculous. Your resort has enough money to at least give Band-Aids to innocent guests. My next issue is the next afternoon we went down to get an incident report, please tell me why there wasn't one. We had the right to call the head of security who came and all he did was write names down he instructed us to go to the Negril Police department if we wanted a incident report to me that was totally unacceptable. No concern, no compassion for the victims that were attacked. I would like to let you know that we are seeking legal advice, since your staff was so unconcerned. We had a trip scheduled to your resort in Montego Bay in December but we are considering changing resorts. I am so disappointed in the Riu in Negril. I will never go back there again. I would like for you to investigate these issues and respond to me, I plan to Yelp, RIU in Negril and tell my story all on social media platforms, plus legal advice if I do not hear from your resort. These are the names of all the people that this complaint concerns Khadijah Jackson - Webb, Frances Lemelle Lockett, Akilah Abraham "victim", Nataly Sayegh "victim", Kiara Hawkins "victim" and Shamekia Outlaw"victim" and the perpetrator Bryant Pinkston. Something needs to be done regarding these issues with your establishment. Our stay should have been much better than it was, for the money we paid. I would like a response from this matter, I may be reached at [protected], or this email. Thank you for your time, but I am very disappointed. I'm attaching a few pictures. Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android

Checked in on the property with friends may 18 2023. The next day i went to the balcony of room 3234 to sit with a friend and fell in the split position . I was stuck like that for around 20 minutes before I was able to get the assistance of two house keepers , whom along with my friend lift me from the fall and assist me to the bed. The nurse requested whom then assessed me , gave me panadol and a Voltaren rub and advised me to use ice . She charged me $3500jmd for the service . The matter was reported to front desk on 20th of May 2023 who reported it to a manager higher than her .I received two call from the manager who sent a red heat spray and panadol after our second conversation because I was still in pain .

Che ked out on the 21st

I then visited my Dr on my return home who requested tests

Hello my name is Esther de Ortiz, I have stay at your resorts multiple times have never had an issue, last week me and my best friends went to RIU Dunamar Cancun, everything was great till the last day, our legs were inching and the whole plane ride and when we got back home the next several of days we finally discovered we had bed bugs bites and it was the worse pain and itching I ever experienced, I would like some kind of refund and got you guys to spray or address the issue at this resort before more people get affected or go public about it and you guys would

Lose customers like me, thank you and I hope to hear back

We booked a holiday via tui with hotel riu touareg. All facilities were open and we went ahead after research and reading reviews. A week after we booked on the riu app certain criteria/facilities are no longer available to your paying customers. No tennis courts
No multisports
Block 9 of the hotel shut down
Infinity pool closed
Bar on the beach closed.
We booked this hotel specifically for all it had to offer, Infinity pool beach bar.
Please when will these be open for customers that have paid and due to stay at the hotel?
Tui have spoken with the hotel and the hotel have confirmed to joe at tui, all facilities will be open inc infinity pool and beach bar by 17th May 2023.
I have also emailed the hotel, and they have said unfortunately we have no updates at the moment.
This is very Disappointing, to all of your customers that have paid to stay with this specific hotel for the specific facilities that were advertised and still are on your website as open, when book hotel.
But are no longer available.
Please when will the facilities be open?
Thank you
Kind regards
Louise

We arrived at RIU republica in Punta Cana Monday 5/8/23. Although we are still here currently on 5/10, I have never experienced so much unprofessionalism in my entire life. Aside from the lobby manager (Ricardo) he was excellent. Upping arrival I was already upset with our room.. dingy, outdated, etc. and then we proceeded to lift up the pull out couch to assemble it back together, and underneath we found a large, pink, strap on penis. I went to the front desk and showed them a picture of it and thanks goodness for Ricardo.

Our TV also has not worked since we’ve arrived.

Last night we had dinner at the Italian restaurant. Everything was great until I looked over at my husband unable to breathe. Turning blue, and trying to cough I said what’s in there?! He said “feels like a bone” multiple good samaritans rushed over to help. However there was not one employee assisting. Not one. We got him outside of the restaurant and while he was still choking, the employee told me “the doctor is around the corner” and told me to walk my husband over there! I said “sir he can’t breathe, bring this doctor to me!”

After a couple more minutes my husband got what was stuck out (on his own, no help still at this point) and it was what looked like a cooked bay leaf. When I asked for the manager (Miguel) he came over and said “”it’s a spice it happens”. At this point I asked for the hotel manager.. he made us feel so uncomfortable, asking questions like he was convinced we must have done something purposely. With no outcome last evening after he refused to speak to me, he took my bay leaf that came out of my husbands throat and told us do “come back in the morning so you are more calm.

There is much more to those stories..

We have been here for less than 3 days and unprofessionalism and lack of cleaning and maintenance is certifiably insane.

i just returned from the RIU in the Bahamas and had the worst stay in a hotel that I have ever had. I had stayed in the RIU in Aruba and it was great but in the Bahamas it was terrible. We had to wait for our room, which was fine but was told at the desk that an email will be sent when room was ready--this did not happen and we had to go to the desk to ask if the room was ready. Also the light fixtures were falling off the wall. The attitude in the hotel was very lax and there seem to be no supervision going on. The waiters in the restaurants were talking among themselves, which is fine but were very loud and were using profanity.

The person at the front desk stated to me when I asked for change that "we like our money more than yours" What does that suppose to mean? I felt insulted by this remark. Also the cafe had their own hours and closed up early. Service was very slow with no sense of urgency ... I will never ever return to that place again and will. You need to send the people that work in Bahamas to go to Aruba to see how the RIU is runned..

I have just returned to uk from costa mujeres riu palace...

I am disabled .i was appalled at the lack of lifts/ramps...no buggys or carts to transport people around if needed...

This complex IS NOT ACCESSIBLE for disabled people...the staff spoke little english...they wanted 65usd a day for mobility scooter hire...i payed £2.500 for holiday.i cannot afford to pay for mobility scooter...i am so disappointed...i also had food poisoning which is on file and have spoken to management at riu palace...between that and food poisoning ruined my 2 week holiday...

Time of Incident 3:30 am 04/08/2023 Saturday, last day of week vacation @ RIU Tropical Bay Negril. Handicap garden unit #3120.

dates of vacation 04/01/23 thru 04/08/23

3 guest

guest #1 who is handicap person went to use the bathroom which lighting was very poor and balance was lost when trying to use the handicap bars for support to sit on toilet seat and handicap bar on left was not stable. The handicap bar on left moved away and guest #1 unable to have support and fell to right of the toilet and hitting her back and head on the back of toilet, wall and handicap bar on right side. guest # 2 and guest #3 helped guest #1 to the bed after the fall.

We left the property on 04/08/2023 at 8:50 am and once we arrived back in the US it was discovered how severe injuries were. Guest #1 is a 82yr old handicap women that requires motorized scooter assistance while on vacation due to walking limitations.

This email serves as incident report notice.

please respond to this email with questions.

As a result of these injuries medical assistance and advise may be needed.

For over a week I have been trying to get an email to enable me to reset the password for my RIU Class account.

I have not yet received a reply.

I have requested a password reset email on several occasions.

I realise there may be technical problems with your website.

I have attached a photo of the email I keep receiving from RIU in response to my request. I have had several of these now, at first I suspected it was Phishing.

Can you help please?

Kind Regards

Mrs S Crowther

I recently stayed at your cabo resort with my family. We were extremely disappointed with many aspects of the trip regarding the resort. We requested a king size bed but were given two doubles pushed together instead which was a huge hassle as they constantly spread apart throughout the night. Another issue was that one of our children became sick from the food causing him to have an accident and we were then charged $80 usd for cleaning which I figured was included especially seeing as the food was the cause of my child's illness. And worst of all we were without air conditioning for three days having called the front desk multiple times and having numerous technicians in the room each day before it was finally resolved. I would figure as we had no compensation for the air conditioning issue that maybe the hotel would at least waive the cost of the cleaning for the sheet but that was not the case. over all we were disappointed with the handling of the situations.

We stayed at Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico December 2022. Our Tablet disappeared from our room December 23rd or 24th 2022 while we went for supper. We reported it to customer service and they did not do much for us.We believe between the Maid and the Fridge stock Person (a man);are to blame.

Customer Service changed the maid to work somewhere else so we could not confront her. Customer Service is aware of thefts that happen frequently at this Resort. After our Trip back to our country of residence we reported it again. All we want is to be given our Tablet back and if not possible refund us the cost of the Tablet.To this day they have not given us a satisfactory response. It's always a negative response. The Resort has insurance for these types of incidents. Mr. Luis Riu and Mrs Carmen Riu, please get involved with this claim. We do not shake trees to get gold for our holidays. We like you, work very hard to have a week in the sun since our winters are harsh.

I called the Bahamas Paradise Island reservation line directly at [protected] and selected option 1 to ask questions about my existing reservation that I have already paid for. The customer service agent (Adam?) was very rude and told me "I already told you"... at least 5 times during our 7 min and 43 second call, that's almost once every 60 seconds. The bad part about it was he was answering questions I didn't ask. It was almost like I was inconveniencing him by calling. It seems as if, a line is set up to ask questions about reservations and other issues, they should be answered regardless of the number of times asked or requests to repeat. This was particularly discouraging considering I had to ask the agent to speak up because it was hard to hear him. There is no reason I should have been treated so poorly for simple questions and requests to repeat information. My specific question was whether or not I was speaking to the Bahamian reservation line or the general international line. I know there are several because I've spoken in Spanish to your international representatives mores successfully than this rather simple call in English. This is disappointing and I hope not an indication about how my trip will be. Note, not only am I vacationing at this property, but we are also bringing over 20 guests to celebrate. I hope I have not chosen poorly..

I stayed in room 4052 at riu Vallarta from 3-8-23 to 3-15-23. My reservation # is 436RXntvip. I had a strong smell of sewer gas in my bathroom and room. I complained to the front desk three times. I actually got sick from the smell. This is not acceptable! I was told they did not have any other rooms to move me into. I would like a full refund. Please respond to susan menier. [protected]@yahoo.com..1375 arden view drive arden hills MN 55112

To whom It may concern,

I am writing to you regarding my recent experience, with eight of my friends, at the Riu Hotel Latino in Cancun, Mexico. After deciding that it was time for a long overdue Girls Trip, one of my friends suggested the recently opened Riu Latino. She has stayed at a Riu resort in the past and wanted all of us to enjoy time together at this new one. Because it is an all-adult resort, we felt that this would be a perfect fit for us. We range in age from 65-70, and still have some spunk left in us! We were celebrating birthdays, retirements, and life in general. To say that we were looking forward to this trip is an understatement; we booked our flights in May 2022!

I will begin by saying that the service we received, from check in to check out, was excellent. The front desk personnel was professional, courteous and accommodating to our requests. The choice of restaurants was good, and the food, except for one night, was also good. The only meal that left us less than satisfied was at the Italian restaurant. The service was slow (it was not crowded), and some of the food was delivered to the table at room temperature. The staff was accommodating in reheating the food though. We think that we just caught them on an “off” night.

We would like to single out and sing the praises of our table server at the buffet. Her name is Teresita, and she provided us with EXCELLENT SERVICE for breakfast and lunch. We made sure that we sat in her section EVERY morning and afternoon. She is definitely one of the memorable parts of our vacation. Her pleasant attitude was always refreshing. If there is a way that you can acknowledge her for exemplifying excellent customer service, she definitely deserves the recognition.

Now for the bad news! There were parts of our vacation that was not all “flowers and sunshine”! It is for these reasons that, as it is, I would NEVER recommend this specific resort to anyone. I am not going to complain about the things that made this trip a little less relaxing without offering suggestions to make EVERY GUEST enjoy the resort to the fullest.

As I mentioned, there were nine of us meeting together for this trip, with five rooms reserved. We were coming from four different states – New York, Maryland, Georgia and Texas. This meant that there would be varied arrival times into Cancun. The first obstacle that should be an easy fix is allowing EACH GUEST a travel voucher for the shuttle to the resort. Three of us had to wait at the airport for the last of our group to arrive from Maryland because her roommate flew in from New York. The New York flight arrived at 10:30am and the flight from Maryland arrived at 2pm. If there had been INDIVIDUAL VOUCHERS, this time could have been spent poolside at the resort, with a refreshing drink, instead of at the airport. When I asked about getting a separate voucher for my roommate when I made the transportation reservation, I was informed that there was only ONE VOUCHER PER ROOM. INDIVIDUAL vouchers should be a no-brainer since many people gather together from different states and countries. This would simply require the name and flight information for EACH GUEST, not each room.

The second snafu occurred when one of the resort reservations was changed. Our original reservation was made for February 16 through February 21, 2023. After checking airfares, I discovered that the flights were less expensive if we rebooked for February 14 through February 19, 2023. One of the ladies decided that she would call the Riu reservation agent and let them make the date change for her. Instead of rebooking her at the Latino, an all-adult resort, the agent booked her at the Dunamar resort where children were in abundance! This was a big problem! It seems logical that the agent would have seen this difference in accommodations. We tried to get them rebooked at the Latino but there were no rooms available. Because they were SO DISSATISFIED with the environment at the Dunamar, they decide to cut their losses and rebooked at the Riu Palace resort down the road. And then another problem was realized!

Because the resorts are not located “in town”, there is no public transportation to take you from point A to point B. Now, compound that with the fact that the Riu DOES NOT offer a resort-to-resort shuttle service …unless there is a special event that they want other resort guests to attend. And before I forget, the party that is thrown at the Dunamar should be moved to the Latino. Many of us who hopped on the shuttle to go to the Neon Party hopped right back on the bus when we saw all of the kids and strollers! It would make more sense to have a kids party at the Dunamar and an adult party at the adult resort. If I had kids and was told that they had to leave the party by 10pm, I would not be a happy camper. Again, this is an easy fix. Back to my issue with no resort-to-resort shuttle service. Because the Riu reservation clerk made an error, my friends had to take cabs from and back to the Palace in order to hang out with the rest of the group and participate in the planned activities at the Riu Latino. Remember, we were celebrating birthdays and retirements. They were spending $15 EACH WAY …which was an expense that was absolutely unexpected. There were a couple of days that they did not spend with the group at all. THIS was not the vacation that they were anticipating. Perhaps the Riu can invest in one or two vans to shuttle guests between the resorts. This would be a major PLUS!

The logistics of this specific hotel are HORRIBLE! I don’t know if this is a standard architectural design, but there definitely needs to be some upgrades made at the Latino. With the fact that this resort is an all-adult facility, it SHOULD BE assumed that some of the guests will be older and not as physically fit as the younger guests. In our group alone, there were five ladies who have some physical restrictions that made climbing the stairs difficult. The fact that ALL OF THE ELEVATORS are located near the main entrance area is ridiculous. Even IF you took the elevator, our rooms were located on the ocean side of the hotel, meaning we were a pretty good distance away. I would like to suggest ESCALATORS or elevators be considered for the “voids” that exist at intervals along the walk from one side of the building to the other. These areas now house trees and other vegetation, serving no purpose. An escalator would prove to be much better use of these spaces. After a night of eating, drinking, dancing, and drinking some more, the stairs may not be as easy to negotiate for some of your guests. Escalators would make getting back to your room a bit easier.

Speaking of drinking, I would also like to suggest that the night club open earlier as well. After eating and hanging out at the bar for a few hours, the mood to party comes upon you! It would have absolutely been a better time if allowed to dance the night away with a bit of an earlier start. Nine o’clock would be perfect, however ten o’clock would be acceptable too! Eleven o'clock gives you just enough time to get sleepy.

There is also an unintended hazard created by the concrete “frames” that adorn the walls along the walkway just beyond the club. After leaving the club one night, following drinks and lots of dancing (or lots of drinks and dancing), my friend came outside and we started talking to some of the friends we made along the way during our stay. When she sat down on the bench, she bumped her head on the edge of the frame. It did not draw blood …but she did rub her head for a while. She is not that tall, so there is the probability that others will bump their heads too. I would like to suggest some type of edging that could soften the blow, should someone else lean back a little too far. Or simply pull the benches away from the wall! That was an easier fix than I thought!

Oh yeah, room service would be a SUPER PLUS, since you have to walk ten miles to get to the elevator to get to the area where food is available 24/7! Sometimes you want something to snack on late at night. You know, to soak up some of the drinking that took place earlier!

And lastly (aren’t you glad this letter is almost over), two of the ladies in our group received emails stating that they would be awarded a 10% birthday discount. Upon inquiry at the front desk, they were told that this could be applied to a FUTURE stay, even though the email/coupon did not state this qualifier. Fix this! State it on the coupon or don’t make the offer! It is confusing.

I hope that you receive the content of this letter with its good intention. I would really appreciate a response, acknowledging receipt and possible consideration of ANY suggestions included. I am part of quite a few social media groups that consist of women who are always looking for great spots to gather for Girls Trips. I would not be able to make a recommendation of the Riu Latino, specifically, based on the things that were “lacking” for me. I am also an avid “reviewer” on social media, so I would like to write that the Riu was lots of fun, without including the concerns I presented. I will be posting a review on Trip Advisor in the near future, so I hope that I receive a response within a reasonable period of time.

I respectfully submit this letter to you from the AARPGGWs (AARP Girls Gone Wild) as a representation and sentiments of:

Gwendolyn Hughes (me) and Lawanda Hines – room 2044

Debra Hayes-Hughes and Antoinette Schoolfield – room 2033

Donna Dummett and Cheryl Cooper – room 3040

Elizabeth Valentin – room 3156

Darlene Franklin and Julia Graham – booked at the Dunamar, then rebooked at the Riu Palace

I can be reached at [protected]@gmail.com or [protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.

RE: Riu Palace Aruba – Jan 2023

The worst vacation ever. Extremely poor service from housekeeping to Corporate Customer Care.

The hotel was old and falling apart - portions of the ceiling falling out onto the hallway, parts of the ceilings peeling away, cracked and chipped tiles on the floor and marked up walls.

Room Service and Housekeeping – requests took hours to complete and came cold or housekeeping only completed a portion of the service (clean bathroom but not the rest – or set the bed but not clean the bathroom or take the towels).

No hot water for 7 day stay, broken toilet and leaking sink for the full 7 day stay. At one point we proved that they lied about fixing the toilet because the towels we placed around the toilet and all over the bathroom floor was not moved or taken away’

Food Poisoning – at first, they denied I could be sick from their restaurant, but the next day after several others reported being sick, they choose to send me rice and Gatorade (but not before my friend kept complaining to the front desk about it all).

The room AC was extremely loud, and we had to deal with drug dealers outside our room (outside walkway) all day and night.

We were appalled that we have had so many issues during this stay. We asked to speak with a Manager the second time we had bathroom issues and felt the front desk was not taking us seriously.  It wasn’t until Thursday that we were able to speak with a PR Manager, while she offered a small compensation with spa treatments; it was too late as we had already paid for our own spa treatments and had the last two days scheduled for excursions.

We have tried to have this resolved with some sort of refund compensation, but the corporate customer care felt our stay was not that inconvenienced for us. This was an all-inclusive hotel and because of the food poisoning I was not able to utilize my money’s worth of an all-inclusive package. Not to mention that we had a disaster of a room to stay in.

We arrived at the Riu Palace Aruba on March 5 , 2023 at approximately 3:00 pm. After settling in for the night both my partner and myself woke up feeling ill the next morning. We remained in bed all day Monday and ordered room service, not knowing what the issue was. We then noticed that there was moisture built up on everything in the room, and our clothes were damp. I have had asthma, my whole life, so the moisture in the room triggered me to use my inhaler more than usual. Tuesday evening we were scheduled to attend a wedding, so we decided to lay down by the pool all day in hopes that the sun would help us feel better. We attended the wedding, but had to leave early because we still weren’t feeling 100%. The following day, Wednesday, March 8 we spent the day in bed again, I with my asthma, and my partner with her sore throat and achiness. We were scheduled to leave on Thursday and woke up to mold on her pillow case.. we went to the lobby after we packed to check out and reported this issue to the manager. I would like a full refund for my trip as I was unable to enjoy any of it due to dangerous mold. We are home now, and still feeling the effects. I included photograph of our passports, which were damaged from the moisture in the room. Thank you for your consideration and I hope to hear back from you soon.

I booked a non-refundable and apparently no-changes-allowed trip to Riu Baja California in Cabo San Lucas. Due to certain restrictions on communication and Expedia (which Chase uses for booking), Riu was not able to talk to me directly. They took 4 days to get back to Chase, after I requested a refund due to COVID. I would have got a PCR test if they were able to get back that day, and had notified me that I needed a PCR test. They took four days with a request for a PCR test result, which I could not provide at the time. I then requested a date change, which they flatly refused. To this point, I have not been able to talk to a Riu representative about this matter. I take this as a sign that Riu is uninterested in providing customer support, and I have been met with ironclad refusal the many times I called their reservation line to try to talk to someone who might listen.

My husband and I stayed at RIU Palace Tropical Bay-Negril, Jamaica from January 28 to Feb 4. Early morning on Thursday February 2nd I awoke to abdominal cramping and diarrhea and nausea by that afternoon my husband started with the same symptoms. So, for Thursday, Friday and Saturday we could not leave the room as the abdominal cramping got worse along with the diarrhea. When it was time to leave, I was so weak that I needed a wheelchair at the airport because I had no strength. We arrived home Saturday evening at 10:00 PM. Sunday morning I had my daughter take me to the hospital. I received 2 liters of fluid for the dehydration and also needed a potassium supplement. I did get medication for nausea and vomiting and an antibiotic as I was diagnosed with salmonella food poisoning. My husband ended up in the ER as well with the same diagnosis. So far, my Copay was $1800.00, and my husbands was $90. Have not received my other ER costs yet. Our travel agent informed us that there were other people in our group that had the same issues as us.

We traveled thru Apple Vacations and our Reservation #P77003AP

We are looking for compensation for the bills we received from the hospital for the care and treatment given which at this time will be over $2000. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Kevin and Laura Ovans.