RIU Hotels & Resorts
Reviews and Complaints

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.

Arrived at RIU Palace Bavaro Punta Cana on 1/4/23. The next morning before 11:00 am I slipped and fell around the pool. I instantly could not move my right leg or put any weight on it. Received care from medical on site then went to Centro Medico Punta Cana where I had X-rays and ultrasound, was told I had no fractures or muscle damage just bruised. Spent the rest of our stay in a wheelchair, basically we did not get to have much of a vacation. My wife relies on me because she needs a wheelchair to get around large places as she cannot walk far. The staff at the resort were a great help helping us to get from our room to the restaurants.

Since I got hurt at your resort I asked at the help desk in the lobby about RIU giving us 10 days at Bavaro when I was better. Was told there was nothing they could do. We stayed until 1/13/23 as planned because I was in too much pain to make a 4.5 hour flight back to St. Louis.

When I got home I found out that I had fractured my right hip.

I believe the least RIU could do is bring us back so we can enjoy our vacation.

My RIU # [protected]

We previously stayed at RIU Palace Costa Mujeres an had a wonderful time, which is why we chose your resort in the Dominican Republic

We arrived at 01/30/23. Room that was assigned was in very bad condition:
refrigerator was working as a heavy-duty machine. Technician did not do anything but marked at service desk that fixed. A room with two beds had only one blanket. Pillows were like a road with rocks. Electrical outlet did not work. We requested to change the room. Request was denied. Electrician came 2 days before our departure. At the same day, Supervisor asked us to change the room, 2 days before our vacation ended. 1 day before we leave, we did not have room service. We asked to bring at least fresh towels and remove trash. At the end, bell guy sent our luggage to the airport when we were at the resort. We paid money for nothing. Room was horrible. Hotel decided to change our room two days before we leave. Final - our luggage. All information under room record

Hello,

We checked out yesterday on 1/31/23 from room 2125 at Riu Palace Costa Mujeres. This is Ibrahim Sozen. We left a pair of white Polo sneaker shoes and a lens in a plastic lens cover, plus a small bottle of lens liquid in the room. Please let me know how you can send them to my address. I tried to contact the hotel, but no one returned yet.
Thanks
My e-mail: [protected]@yahoo.com
My phone: +[protected]
Address: 3708 Retreat Dr, Medina, Ohio 44256 USA

We stayed at your beautiful facilities for a week in January. One problem... I got very sick for several days and was unable to enjoy the food/drink amenities. As my husband stayed with me, he missed several meals. Of the 11 people we met on our trip, all but one, from completely separate groups, got sick, several reported their illness at the time and were told they had to know what restaurant made them sick. (Who knows when the illness could show up from 1 to 24 hours later?) At least one required a two-hour doctor visit, two shots, and multiple medications. The doctor felt it must be food poisoning. Each couple ate separately as did others. We ate at different restaurants. Our commonality was the buffet and the bars and separately most of the restaurants.

It seems that food service staff was undertrained on food safety and personal hand and mask hygiene standards. The bar glasses were distributed with the server holding them by the rim and it is difficult to see if they were adequately washed. Gloves were not used.
We would like to return to Riu Kukulkan, but as others we met indicated, that is not likely unless more health precautions are taken. Our past experience of Riu's has been exceptional.
You make it very difficult to convey concerns on your websites.

We just returned from a week stay at the riu bavaro palace in punta cana. Upon unpacking found that a necklace/earring set which was in a kay jewelry black box on our lavatory was missing. I had the box however the contents were gone. I had just looked at it two days earlier when i considered wearing it however decided not ti. It was a christimas gift and wsa never removed from its box obviously stolen by either our maid or whomever was in our room our last evening as we found two towels placed on our bed even though we never asked or even had all week had turn down service. Along with the fact that my husband and i were sick all week as your resort is filthy and no one even fixed and cleaned the two bathrooms for the womens vip pool and the other pool was filthy. We stayed in the villas room 5111 from january 20-27, 2023

I am writing to complain about the horrible time I had at the Riu Republica in Punta Cana. We went from January 20-28. On night 2 I was poisoned by something, I had to leave dinner and went to my room and trembled all through the night, it felt like I was gonna have a heart attack. It carried over into the night my friend that I was with went missing for hours. He called us and he seemed to be hallucinating he was saying he was handcuffed at gunpoint and was scared for his life. We searched all night for him but couldn’t find him. He showed up at 6am and had no recollection of what had happened and he was bloody. My heart continued to race and my brain felt weird the whole trip. My friend said he feels the same way. My heart is still racing now that I’m back in the United States, and I am contemplating on going to the ER. The workers that stock the fridge in the room kept showing up at late hours to stock the fridge, demand a tip and offer drugs which I thought was really unprofessional. I had issues with the food all week going to the bathroom 15 times a day, as well as my group members.

On 15/01/2023 myself and two other occupants booked a two night stay at the RIU, Ochi Rios, Jamaica.
On 16/01/2023 one occupant awoke to use the restroom in the room and went back to bed.
At 06.30am, another occupant awoke to notice that water was seeping from the bathroom out into the room. Upon investigation, it was identified that the toilet was overflowing, the bathroom was already soaked and now flowing out into the room quite heavily.

The reception desk was contacted at 06.40am and informed of the situation. All occupants remained in bed at the time.
By 07.20am the bedroom was now totally flooded the water was now seeping outside the main door to the suite, outside the balcony of the room and no one had arrived to attend this urgent incident. We tried to get through on the phone to the front desk again but there was no response to our calls being made.

One of the occupants got out of bed, had to walk around in flip flops in the overflow to get to dress, and physically go down to the reception area.
07.30am A report was given to the reception staff about the incident which it appears they were unaware of.
I explained the above to the receptionist who advised that maintenance were not yet on site but she would file a report and someone would be in the room as soon as possible along with housekeeping.

When I returned to the room approximately 10 minutes later, there was a maintenance person in the room with a vacuum ready to suck up the overflow.
The other occupants remained in bed while this was being undertaken as it was the most sensible thing to do as walking in the overflow made no sense.
At 11.00am this mater was still not resolved, a meeting was scheduled with a manager for 11.30am with the occupants of the room of which we attended to take a report of the incident.

We had to insist on a room change, as his offer was to have the bathroom fully sanitized so that we could use it.
Due to an offensive smell, we insisted that we were given an upgrade and change of room. We were eventually given a change of room and were told it was an upgrade, however the room was exactly the same and no readdress was made.
We informed that we would have to check out of the room at the same time we were due to check out, but could check out of the hotel a little later if we desired.

The manager was not able to provide a reference number neither copy of our complaint made and was not in a position to offer us compensation as he stated that the incident would need to be investigated, that often occupants put too much toilet tissue or wipes down the toilet?
Instead he provided his email address, the same email address for his manager, and informed us that we would need to contact the corporate associates for the RIU which we should go online and look for their contact information.

To date 9 days later we have had no acknowledgement of our personal appointment, neither our emailed complaint.
Some of our personal belongings sustained water damage. Although they sent an officer to come to the room, take pictures and a report.
We have now returned home from our holiday and have still not received acknowledgement or reply.

I am filing this complaint regarding my stay at the RIU Resort - Baja California location in Los Cabos, San Lucas, Mexico. I stayed at that resort to bring in the new year on 12/29/2022 - 1/5/2023. While the resort was beautiful and I ended up having a good time overall, I was very disappointed because the day I arrived, my designer wallet was stolen from my room. I am positive that I never removed my wallet from the room, but it unfortunately definitely came up missing. After check- in, I went to inspect the room and decided to go get some lunch at approx 4pm...and also before my luggage was delivered to the room. I meant to lock my large wallet up in the safe before I left the room, but forgot to do so after putting it on the dresser and taking my driver's license and debit card out of it to put those items in a smaller wristlet I could more easily carry around the resort. However, there were several other credit cards left in the wallet, along with some other personal docs & photos. When I came back from lunch, my baggage had been delivered to the room, but I never saw my wallet again. I didn't think anything of it because I thought I had remembered to lock it away in the safe, but when I checked the safe for it a few days later, it was not in there...and also nowhere to be found in the room. I reported the theft at that time and hotel security started an investigation that included searching the room for it themselves, to no avail. Unfortunately, the investigation was not able to be completed prior to check-out to confirm all the staff that had access to the room before it was reported stolen. I am still waiting on the final result of that investigation, but do not expect any positive results or to get my stolen wallet or it's contents back at this late date. However, I wanted to file a formal complaint regarding this incident for the record. Lesson learned...always lock up your valuables in a safe if available and double check to be sure that they are actually in there prior to leaving your room!

I checked in the RIU Palace Peninsula on1/1/23 and was placed in room 417. On 1/3/23 there was water leaking from the ceiling of the room and I requested a room transfer. The front desk told me to check out of the room and they would transfer my belongings to a new room once one was found and give me new rooms keys. The room transfer occurred on 1/4/23 while I was on the beach. I inquired at the front desk when I returned and was told my new room was 1228. The hotel staff transferred all of my belongings EXCEPT my black Calvin Klein wool winter coat. I live in Illinois and the weather when I left home was freezing temperature. I immediately informed the front desk and Melissa the manager on duty. She said she would check with the transfer staff. They did not know where my coat was. I repeatedly checked with the front desk everyday (sometimes twice a day) to see if my coat was found. After no success I spoke with Pamela Mendoza Genente de Relaciones Publicas to get some type of resolution. I was due to depart home to freezing temperatures with no coat to wear. Miss Mendoza was not able to provide any type of resolution and offered no satisfaction. I checked out on 1/8/23 with no coat.

Hello. I want to share with you our terrible experience at your Paradise Island property that we stayed at from December 28, 2022 to January 04, 2023. We know RIU is capable of better service as we stayed at your Aruba property in June of 2022 and had a great experience and an awesome stay. The front desk was not capable of handling our requests until we contacted them 3 or MORE times. We needed phone dialing instructions, coffee, room service to name a few. We asked for a 30-60 minute check out extension and we were told we would be charged for it. The limo service transfer co RIU selected was terrible. The limo was filthy dirty and the vehicle was not air conditioned. We flew in from Chicago IL and wore heavier clothing which made it even worse. We asked the front desk to make reservations for us at a specialty restaurant and they refused to help saying we have to use the RIU app. We saw them make reservations for other customers a couple of days later. When we arrived no one helped us with our luggage, we had to lift the luggage out of the limo, up the curb and into the lobby ourselves . The room was dirty and the black out shades over the patio doors had large holes in them. We do have pictures if you want. The tables outside had ash trays that were filled with stinky cigarette butts. There were empty cigar boxes on them too. We asked someone to clean them and he told us he was a security guard. There were others that shared their similar experiences with us and told us they would not stay at a RIU property again.

After my daughter (Iyonna Jones), my brother (Terrance Jones) and myself (Angela Jones) purchased our room through the travel agent approximately 6 months earlier, my brother and I arrived at the RIU Montego Bay on December 3, 2022, 1 day later than scheduled to be amongst our group of family members who had already arrived a day earlier for which we were all there to commemorate the passing of our younger cousin who had passed away just months prior.

Upon check-in they did not immediately have us a room ready but gave us a timeframe to check back so we did. When we finally got the first set of keys to the room and we went to grab our bags to get situated in our room we discovered the room was a 1 King standard (#4064) and we were supposed to have a Family Suite. Now my daughter Iyonna did not make the trip due to an emergency that prevented her from coming, she lost all of her money which was unfortunate. However, no one was ever made aware that my daughter wasn't coming so, how did we end up with a 1 King standard, I’m not curious to know what happened because when we were given this 1st set of room keys, they did not have the room that we originally paid for on our reservation so, we had to move along with our day shuffling our bags into family member's rooms. We were advised to check back after housekeeping had completed cleaning and a room with double beds would be available. However, upon checking back with the check-in desk we were given keys to the new room (#4019) so, we figured we'd better gather our luggage and go make sure the room accommodations are suitable for us, so we did, the room turned out to be a duplicate of the first room, 1 King bed standard.

For the third time we proceeded to the check-in counter to advise that we have the duplicate situation of this morning’s check-in, same 1 King Bed. We were then issued our 3rd set of keys to room (#4164). Upon arrival and opening the room door, we quickly learned that the room was preoccupied when we opened the door to the room with a woman sitting on the bed looking just as shocked as we were. Trying to figure out what just happened, I remembered thinking, this experience that we are having in this moment at the RIU Montego Bay is like a Scene out of a movie, "What Happens Next"

I didn’t think the day could get any worse, neither of us felt that we could actually start our vacation until we were able to get settled. This was Terrance and my first time out of the country. The more patient and calm we remain, it appeared the less likely our situation would be highly regarded and taken care of completely.

So, we went back to the check-in counter a 4th time and were given another room key (#2014) although this room finally offered us the 2 double beds it was badly fumed with a heavy sewage smell. Without there being any apology for the young lady being in the room, the heavy sewer smell, the wrong rooms previously given, the length of time it had taken to accommodate us they have now caused someone else a horrible experience by having someone enter their space with a key and still no apology just excuses.

Now we have been pulling and dragging our luggage back and forth from room to room and from room to the from desk and no one sees an issue with this inconvenience while we were lugging bags and necessities through the hotel for a day but yet the RIU holds their Resort to the same quality level standard as Sandals Resorts. RIU need to really re-evaluate their face-to-face customer focus system.

With a bit of tiredness and frustration, nevertheless we had to make another attempt at getting a room so, we headed back to the check-in counter for the 5th time, bringing the travel agent along to speak with management hoping to have success. We also left our luggage in the sewage smelled room and had the hotel staff move the luggage from room to room since we hoped this would be our final attempt for an comparable accommodation since we have felt misplaced the entire day.

There was a gentleman who helped us as part of the management team. I did not get a name for him because after all, he had an excuse for everything, It just wasn't a welcoming “let's start over and make this right” type of demeanor.

I got the feeling that the manager wanted to pacify us with a room, he thought an ocean-view room would suffice and so then he could move along with his night. We received an acceptable room (#5023) at approximately 11pm December 3, 2022. An entire day has passed, leaving us with a 3-day vacation. With all the planning, time and money spent to get to our destination this fiasco of a day was exhausting to say the least and it is inexcusable. For us it wasn’t the value of $1790.04 that we paid for our room that we were displeased about however, it was more so the length of time it took to get us taken care of. The real value for us was the time we missed with our family on the first day, we can’t get that time back. We booked this vacation trip as a group over 6 months ago and this was not just any vacation. This trip will go down as our first destination out of the country and the reason for the main reason for the trip was to honor a family member at your location. My relatives planned for relaxation, lots of fun and good times free of stress so, while we were trying to be accommodated the 14 others carried out the plan.

I arrived at the property 12 eight from the first day, we noticed the smell of sewage in the room I notified them front desk I spoke to Nicole she say she’ll take care of it. It got worse after four days where my wife wanted to leave and I called the front desk saying I wanted to check out. but she said she’ll take care of their word no refunds it she send plumbers down I got better to Thursday then it started again the electric, switches in the room we’re going we had no air-conditioning all night. The room smells my wife was feeling sick. It was a birthday. she sent somebody down and they fixed it again but the smell was always there and if the few days got bit worse again, the electric kept going off because of the switches. It was a Haro. And also another night we had no air-conditioning. We had to wait for the electrician to come down. We got into the room at 12 we had to wait till 1 o’clock.

I checked in the resort on December 1, 2022. I prepaid for a Marvelous suite Months ago to celebrate my Birthday in Panama City. When I entered the room #1923. I went to sleep after a long day of travel. As the daylight began to come through the patio door I got up to close the curtains. Without realizing the sofa bed (let out murphy bed) between the King bed and patio door was broken and protruding out at the bottom. This area should've been flush to the sofa. My foot hit the edge of this and caused severe pain. I laid back down until morning break. I called down to the hotel lobby from the room to report what happened. I was instructed someone would be coming up to take a look. No one ever showed up. Later in the day (Dec. 2nd) after elevating my leg in the room I came down to speak with someone at the desk. A report was made in the resort computer By Domingo. I also spoke with David about the matter. Maintenance was asked to go to the room to fix the sofa and ice was sent up. It was a failed attempt, the piece still protruded away from the sofa. I asked for a Manager, I was told he would not be in until the next morning. In the meantime An EMT from the resort was asked to come look at the foot. She did a quick look and concluded it was NOT fractured but bruised. Her Recommendation was to ice and elevate the foot and to stay off of it. She said it will hurt and stay swollen for a few days. This was not my idea for a vacation. The next morning (Dec. 3rd) I stopped at the desk limping. My entire foot was swollen and throbbing. I spoke to David again and showed him my swollen foot from the injury. I waited for the Manager to become available. He spoke with me and apologized for the inconvenience. He offered to move me to another room which I did to avoid any further injuries. On Dec 4th I checked out. I When I arrived home I still had pain and trouble walking but expected to get better according to the Resorts EMT. On December 14th, 2022 I went to the Friends Family Health Clinic because there was no relief. The Nurse indicated that the swelling would have gone down before now if it was only bruised and ordered an Xray. I went directly to the University Of Chicago Hospital for the Xray. I received a call shortly after arriving back home from the Doctor, he confirmed that the left foot 2nd toe is fractured. (broken). This has caused me PAIN & SUFFERING. It has been difficult to function daily duties at home or work.

I made a reservation through Orbitz for the Riu Palace Pacifico for November 29 through December 7, 2022. My husband was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg on Sunday, November 27th. He was told to not fly. I tried calling the hotel Sunday evening to tell them we were not going to be able to check in, but was told I would have to go through Orbitz to rebook or cancel. I contacted Orbitz on Monday morning and was told they would have to get authorization from the hotel for either rebooking or canceling. I contacted them on 11/28/22, 11/30/22, and a 4th call on 12/3/22. Always the same answer, the hotel has not responded to our inquiry for a waiver to issue a refund.

Your policy for cancellation states that there will be a 2 night + tax penalty charge for late cancellation. In this case that would be $608.50. I paid $2,715.12 on August 31, 2022. This would mean I should receive a refund in the amount of $2,106.62. If it is true what Orbitz has told me, could you please issue them the authorization for the waiver so I can get my money back?

I have since rebooked the Hotel Riu Vallarta for January 16, 2023 through January 23, 2023 because the Palace Pacifico no longer has rooms available.