RIU Cancun All-Inclusive, Cancun

Overall the resort was fabulous. I've traveled many times to Cancun and other destinations in Mexico so this review comes with experience. PROS: -Activity staff - fabulous, fun, hard-working. Always attempting to entertain and are so friendly. -Location has to be the #1 reason to chose this hotel. You can walk to anything...and we did every day. It was nice to just take a short walk down to anything you needed. -Beautiful resort - beautiful pools -Great staff who were all courteous to us throughout our trip. Never was my party of 6 without a drink. They worked hard to please us. I am amazed at what the maid staff can do with a room so messy. It was always such a nice treat when we would come back from the pool in the afternoon to find our room in perfect order. Please remember to tip the maid staff...they are probably the ones that need the tips the most. -Tipping was not expected.....the FIRST all-inclusive RIU chain that this has happened. If we didn't tip right away they continued to be courteous and serve drinks with a smile. It was fabulous to tip because of great service, not because you wanted a drink. -Disco-Been to so many resorts where the night Disco is so lame.....this one was actually really FUN!!!! It's a great place to finish out the night!! CONS: -Hottub was COLD.....we went there on a day that was cloudy thinking that we could get warmed up....nope, ... and it is also located in a remote place that you need a map to locate. -Food was always the same....every day....each day....all day.....!! I am not complaining because I know what I'm signing up for with all-inclusive, however this has to be the first all-inclusive I've stayed at that has the same exact menu each and every day. We ate outside of the hotel often because of this. -Bed are, yes, 2 fulls pushed together. First time I've experienced this, although I know it's common practice in Mexico. We made it work, though, by sleeping the opposite direction and placing one of the blankets that can be found in the closet in the crease. Not a big deal, but worth a mention. -Beach - was probably the worst I have ever stayed at, although not "bad" it just wasn't a beach. Very small, but you have to trade the beach for the better things you are getting, such as the location. All in all I would definately recommend this to travelers who want a great time and are not concerned about searching for seashells and digging in the sand. That was a ritual of ours and we missed it on this trip. However, we got many other great things out of this RIU, such as the location, service, and pools. Food may get annoying for you.....well then you take yourselves out for the night. Any buffet gets annoying, but this one really got me!!! Bottom line is if you want something, ASK. They will most likely accommodate your request!!!

This was my third stay and my wife's first stay at the Riu Cancun. The staff will bend over backwards to take care of you. I have read bad reviews before and I just don't understand them. We enjoyed every minute of our stay and can't wait to go back. I would highly recommend this resort to all of my friends.

From the out side this is on of the most outstanding hotels I have seen. The in side is a different story. The Lobby was huge and breath taking and it seemed like it was the right choice for me and my friends. We came to Mexico for 15 days and booked with 4 hotels which Riu Cancun was one of our stops for 3 nights. I insisted to book Riu Cancun even though it was one of the most expensive hotels in Cancun because I thought it was worth it, WRONG!! My three friends and I checked in Riu Cancun after spending an amazing week in Playa Del Carmen also in an all inclusive resort, which was outstanding in all the parameters. We have received 2 regular room keys for 4 people and our room was so far away it took us 10 minutes just to get to it. We finally got to the room and it was horrifying to see. There were 2 twin beds instead of 2 double beds, the bath tub was so small you could only shower standing up, 2 lamps out of 4 total did NOT work, there was a 21" old school television and the furniture was so old that you could see many layers of paint on it, something you do not expect from a 5 star hotel. The so called balcony was so small that only 2 people could fit in it. The management did not care after I approached them and we slept 3 nights like sardines. The swimming pool was big enough for all of the hotel guests and the beach was not organized for the guests to enjoy. There was 1 ping pong table in all of the hotel(over 600 rooms) and no hotel attractions what so ever. The food was nothing more than average to low quality and the Brazilian restaurant they have was absolutely disgusting having NOTHING to do with the Brazilian kitchen and its great food. I would NOT recommend this hotel and it is NOT 5 stars as they say it is!! I will never visit there again.

We we're on the thirtenth floor and the air wasn't working first of all...nothing done abt that except slept without sheets & blankets!! The place was beautiful but the swim up bar staff we're not very accommidating...they wanted a big tip to make a drink for you? Our maid was amazing though...It was my bday and she decorated the room so she deserives a raise for sure!! If i had a choice I would not go back unless the trip was free??

1st time to Cancun and first time to an All Inclusive Resort. I had read some of the bad reviews, was somewhat concerned before going that I had made the wrong choice. GREAT CHOICE!! I will stay here again! We arrived early, (10am) obviously room not ready, but the hotel will get you semi checked in so that you can use their facalities (beach, pool food, drinks, etc). Room; Clean and very large! Beds are your typical hotel bed, what do you expect. Liquor bottles hanging on the walls, and a frig full of bottled water, beer and pop refilled when needed? View from room is awesome! POOL AREA: The actual have 5, two are off of the lobby to the right, quite ones. the beach goes right up next to one of them with a full shade area of Palm trees! The other 3 pools are active pools. SWim up bar pool is the one to hang around close to. If you want a pool deck chair, you will have to be on the pool deck no later than 7:30 am to get one. Beach chairs not under a grass hut are available all day long anywhere. Grass hut chairs are taken by 8:30. Pool water is not real cool, but it is good enough to break the heat. SWim up Bar! wow, awesome....... Beach: typical beach, chairs, sand, clear water. Clean too. While we were there, the hotel had workers raking and picking up seeweed every day and the beach gets raked clean nightly...go figure. SPORTS: you can get snorkel gear free, everyday at the office on the beach. If you want to jet ski, or fish or sail there is an extra charge for that. FOOD: as soon as you arrive, make a reservation for one of the speciality restaurants. Times are 6:30 or 9:00. Japanese steakhouse, brazilan or regular steak house. You have to make a reservation, 2 days out, one reservation made per day. Do this upon arrival, and then each morning around 9ish. All of the speciality places are awesom. The steakhouse is in one of the covered outdoor buffet areas and I thought I would be uncomfortable heat wise, but no, it was perfect weather to enjoy. the buffets are good, and you will find something you will like. Entertainment: Well, remember, this is not a cruise ship. They try, its somewhat entertaining and remeber the drinks are free: Safety: Safe in the room, as for the key..they still use old fashioned keys at this resort. We felt perfetly safe everywhere at this place. LOCATION: right across the street is a Mall with 4 souvineer shops and other shops too. within 400 yards of the mall there is a large Mexican outlet with all kinds of things that you need to visit. Close to this outlet is a flea market. I recommend going with other people as the vendors are kinda aggressive in trying to get you into their "store". Bargin with everyone that you buy stuff from: We felt safe walking inthe area around the hotel (malls, flea market, clubs, etc) PROPERTIES: Right next door is Riu Palace, and you can go use their place too. We didn't make it next door, but I wanted to and will next time we go there. The Palace is not as large, but it does look nice. TOURS: You can sign up for tours in the hotel lobby. We didnt do any as we have been to most of them before. TRANSFERS: We booked transfers through Olympus Tours. When you get off the plan in Cancun, and get through immigration and then baggage and then customs, walk straight outside, do not stop inside as all of the olympus employees are outside; orange shirts and blue pants. The ppl inside are time share ppl and you will waste your time: Olympus transfers is awesome! Money: Change dollars for pesos at the airport. If you don't, do it at the Mexican outlet. The hotel does not exhange any more. EXTRA TIPS: the service is awesome anyway, but tipping a little extra every now and then goes a long way. Take a bottle water with you from the room to the beach or pool area. Bring your own water bottle from home that can be filled with Margarita's (tip and you wil enjoy) GREAT TIME, WV

Family vacation, booked 2 rooms. 5 star Hotel should be 2 stars. A/C in both rooms was never cool. Resturants on property were also hot, They left the doors open to the buffet all the time, morning, noon , and night...so you never ate in the cool. We could only book 1 night at one of the specialty restaurants..the japanese.......it was awful, worst sushi I ever had, was not the hibachi style where they fix the food in front of you and it was poor quality.. pool felt slimy and had mold. bed spread had 2 holes. old style tube TV had bad picture. all room keys had the room number etched on them(dont loose the key or you loose your stuff). Bath tub was very narrpw. Carlos at the front desk was rude. Have stayed at five other all inclusives in mexico so feel that this is a more than fair review. Customer service at Riu Cancun will not contact me back via email or otherwise. * Stayed June 2011, traveled with family

We loved all the staff. They were warm and welcoming from the time we arrived, to the time we left. The hotel was warm,cozy, and always clean! The staff seemed to always be cleaning. I'm afraid of heights so we were able to get our rooms on the ground floor. The view was amazing from our patio. The food and drink was also amazing. You didn't seem to have aproblem in finding food to your liking. The one problem we had was the sports bar. It wasn't what we exspected, and the food wasn't as good as the other foods served by the hotel. We loved walking along the beach and the ease that you could do it in. I am a walker, so the walk way along the hotel route was great. I always felt safe when out in the early mornings. We even felt safe in walking to the club areas at night. Carlos and Charlies was a great place to start our trip at. I wouldn't have a problem in encouraging people to go to this hotel. You will have a great time and meet some terrific people.

This was by far the worst resort I have ever stayed at in my travels. It was actually so bad that after 4 nights my friend and I had to change hotels to the Presidente Intercontinental which blew the Riu away. First off let me say that when we arrived there were about 9 employees at the front desk that had a hard time taking care of 3 people. Very disorganized and had no clue what was going on. We got there at 3:00 and our room wasn't ready until about 4:00. We then got to our room, which was the worst room in the resort (116). It is on the first floor, next to the elevators. The balcony was above a bar and under an overhang with a pillar directly blocking our view to the ocean. The bedroom was a joke. We had 2 beds, which were pushed together to make it look like a king size bed. The bedding was old, musty and if I were willing to guess from about 1987. The pillows were something that probably haven't been upgraded since maybe before the 1980's. I am not one to watch television, but because the food and drinks were so awful and I was stuck in sick one night I had to try and watch TV. The only problem is we got 1 channel, and the TV was something that you would see in a run down doctors office. It was about a 13" Tube TV, which I would also venture to say was bought in the 80's. The maid service was pretty awful, we got to our room one day at about 5:00 from being at the pool all day and our room was still not cleaned. Now let's talk about the food...I would rather eat food that they serve in prison. This stuff was junk. The buffet had food that tore my stomach up, as I mentioned it caused me to throw up. If you have ever watched Vegas Vacation and remember the buffet with the "blue stuff" and "green stuff". This is what I would compare it too. Now I heard they had a few restaurants, only problem is you have to make reservations 3 days in advance to get a seat in one of them, and the line to do that will take you a good half of your morning. The drinks were also terrible. I understand that at all inclusive resorts you aren't going to get top shelf booze. However at every all inclusive that I have stayed at in the past, they at least have one type of liquor that has a decent bottle. Now I can't recall the names of the liquor they were serving, but when I was down there I took a note of some of the bottles and went to a liquor store where they sell the stuff. Folks...it's $4/bottle. That is junk! And my stomach and hangovers told me so. Let's move on to the guests. College spring break spot. When I booked this trip I heard that was not the case, however every day at the pool were frat guys chants, and animals running around all day and night. We met some friends that said that a guy jumped out on his balcony and climbed on to theirs, and proceeded to break their chair. The next night they said they saw a kid face down passed out in the hallway outside their door. Classy joint, right? The pools are small and lose sunlight at about 2:00, which causes everyone to fit in a corner of the pool or beach (which is also about 9feet from the water to the wall. This was by far the worst place I have ever stayed. I cannot say one nice thing about it, service was horrible, food was the worst, drinks...throw up, I could go on and on. Unless you are being paid to go to this place...don't go! It's the worst! Complete dump!

This is a 1-star hotel. It might be OK for college kids on spring break if they get & stay completely smashed. (But they would be smart to stay out of the scummy pool bar - which looks more like a cesspool.) The room was joke. The hotel buffet smelled foul; the tables, plates, & utensils were dirty, and the food was inedible. And the hotel restaurants require reservations two days ahead - for awful food. They make McDonalds look like fine dining. The staff at the front desk were rude. We felt sorry for the general staff, who were really very sweet. Too bad they have to work in such a dump.

I am amazed at the negative reviews. What on earth are people thinking or expecting that the Riu Cancun did not provide. Ther was a kind and attentive staff, from check in clerks to bell boys to house keepers. They provided clean and comfortable soundings, from the front desk to the restaurants, to the outside ground, the pools and rooms, all spotless. We always felt safe and secure. The food was excellent; the Don Juan Buffet was great for breakfast and lunch and dinner, and excellent service was the theme of the day. There was good entertainment, beautiful pools, effort free check in and service second to none. The children’s program was amassing; poll side activities were fun and inviting, and the evening shows were entertaining. Not Vegas, but very well done. Special thanks to the activities staff; Latcho, Fernando, Sara, and Froggy who worked pool side daily and during the evening shows to keep us laughing and entertained all week. Thanks too, to the hard working ground keepers and cleaning staff and table servers who never stopped working and with a smile to keep the place spotless and everyone well served. Never once did I feel as they expected a tip but we sure did give tips because they earned it. And every time they were very gracious in receiving the gift. There are lots of shopping, restaurants and cool bars within walking distance of the hotel. Have I described heaven? Of course not, there are flaws in everything, but not many at the Riu Cancun. One of the highlights of the trip was meeting so many wonderful people from countries around the world. Cancun is truly a world destination. Will we go back? Tomorrow if we could. Take my word for it, go…relax….enjoy..And have the time of your life. The negative reviews, I don’t get it, but I guess you can’t satisfy everyone…even in heaven. Ha! Enjoy the Riu Cancun. We sure did!!