Riu Palace Macao All-Inclusive, Punta Cana

needs more entertainment / better entertainment, for the same price you can go to a better hotel with a preminum beverage selection, the most important thing you guys need an ATM machine inside the hotel like any other hotel around the world for any tourist emergency cash, and the hotel is not really RIU Palace. We've visited other RIU hotels not Palaces and have been extrodanary for example Cancun, Mexico.

My husband and I went for our 5 year anniversary. The resort and beach are beautiful. We also could not have asked for better service. The staff was very gracious and always asking if we needed anything. It was great not to worry about anything. Our room was cleaned twice a day and drinks were always stocked. The only real negatives were that the room is not very cool but there is a room fan that helps at night. Also, the food is not great. However they do have a lot to choose from so we were able find things that we like.

I love this place ,I went for my honeymoon,since my husband and I walked in ,we knew that it would be a pleasant place to stay ,,,,service was great ,room was clean ,they clean your room everyday and change towel and drinks everyday too. Activities were great and will recomend the guys from Scuba Caribe (Ramon and Roland ) you will love to make buisness with them.You also will be well welcome by Rodolfo (one of the front desk guys),,,and if you want to meet a very smart guy go to El patio restaurant at 9pm you will meet Antonio ,this guy will tell you good night and welcome in 20 languages . We had a wonderful time ,we still dreaming ,,,and saving to come back soon . You have to see it with your own eyes and feel it with your own body , I know you will like their menu ,no matter what restaurant you go will be delicious YUMMY ...GUYS WE REALLY MISS THIS PLACE . ALIANNA ANDD jAVIER ROCHESTER,NY WE WENT FROM JULY 11-18/2008

My husband and I were married July 1, 2008 at the Riu Palace Macao. We had 52 friends and family members join us for our wedding. The hotel rooms were nice. A few things to note with the air conditioning – your patio door must be fully closed in order for the air to work if not the air automatically shuts off. Also, the air conditioning doesn’t run as cold as you may have it at home so don't expect it to. We didn't mind the food but we did hear a number of people complain that they didn’t like it. People have to remember is that you are not going to get food like you would find in restaurants at home so don’t expect it. **Wedding Information** There are two wedding planners at the resort Magnolia Crisostomo & Juliana Sandoval. Both of these women plan and execute multiple weddings a week so for them everything seemed easy. I can tell you that you can trust these ladies, they will do all they can to fulfill any request you have. Legal Documentation: You will need two witnesses. Note: Witnesses can not be blood related on either side. Documents required to get married in the DR: 1. Original birth certificates. 2. Valid and signed passports. 3. Notarized statutory declarations of single status 4. Divorce certificate or death certificate, if applicable. Attire The girls all wore purple dresses, and the guys wore beige linen pants and linen shirts. My husband wore a white linen suit (including jacket) and I wore a traditional wedding dress.Because the ceremony location and the restaurant for our reception were on the beach we had a nice breeze for the entire day and neither of us were overly hot. The girls and I all had our hair and make-up done at the resort, Maria came to my room and did it all there. My hair was $50.00 and the girls were $40.00 ea.; make-up was $20.00 ea. Something to note is that Maria didn’t have any pictures of hair samples, she’s working on getting a book of photos, but it would be worth doing the research ahead of time and taking pictures with you. Ceremony Location The Riu offers 3 locations for a wedding ceremony to take place. • The gazebo at the Palace Punta Cana • The gazebo at the Riu Bambu • On the beach outside the Caribe Grill at the Riu Palace Macao. The Wedding we purchased the caprice package. The package included almost everything we wanted and we only paid extra for the hair & make-up, the additional flowers (bridesmaid flowers ($30.00ea), Boutonnières ($10.00), and mothers Corsages $20.00), and a larger cake (additional cost was $10.00 per person). We chose to do two readings which was actually quite nice and extended the ceremony a little. For the ceremony, I had printed programs at home and brought them with me- I did find out the resort would do this for you and would have saved me from bringing them down there. The Judge conducted the ceremony in Spanish but it was translated to engligh. Dinner/Reception We really wanted to have more time and have the restaurant to ourselves so I asked what the options were. She advised that if we paid $600.00 we could reserve one of the restaurants for the entire night. We decided that because we had such a large group this was definitely the option for us and decided to book the Caribe Grill. For a group our size, they set the room up in a giant U shape with the head table being closest to the sea (as a backdrop). The tables and chairs were covered in white linen and they had candles everywhere – it was BEAUTIFUL! We also hired a DJ for the night. For the cost of $300.00 USD he played romantic music all through dinner, provided a wireless microphone for speeches, played our first dance, father/daughter, and mother/son songs, as well as played a variety of music for the remainder of the night. Basically, we had a full reception like you would have at home including speeches, cake cutting, bouquet and garter toss. Good luck in finding your perfect destination wedding location!

I'm going to start by saying that my personal experience at Riu Palace Macao was not at all bad, but I was traveling with a wedding group of 52 people and can report on their trials and tribulations. But let's save that for the end. At first glance, the RPM really is a beautiful resort with plenty of amenities. The hotel and grounds are well-kept, as was our hotel room and the restaurants. We had asked for a room with two double beds but was led to a room with one king bed. We were promptly moved to another room with a fantastic balcony. Breakfast at the buffet is excellent, with several types of eggs, custom omelette cooking, pastries, breads, juices that were fresh and tasty. There are plenty of activities both in the resort that are free such as bocce ball, archery, aerobics, volleyball, as well as paid activites/excursions: Scuba/snorkeling, parasailing, dune buggies, ziplining, etc. One of the underestimated perks is the access to the other RIU properties, such as the Riu Bamboa with their swim-up bar pool and kid-friendly atmosphere, or the Riu Punta Cana that looked like a SIX-star place, it was that luxurious. We had a very nice wedding on the beach and were given a beachfront restaurant for the reception dinner, and everything went very well, the couple was very pleased. The best thing about the Dominican Republic, most people say, is the beach sand. I haven’t been to that many beaches but I have to admit the feel of the sand on the beach was soft and cool, despite the intense heat. As a group, it seems that the negative experiences outweighed any of the above charms. Most of our traveling party had rooms where the air conditioning was not working properly. It was a VERY hot week in Punta Cana, but the staff showed little concern for this. As far as air conditioning in other parts of the hotel, forget it. The buffet restaurant and lobby bar had pathetic microscopic ceiling fans and no trace of A/C. The only other place to feel cold A/C was the Japanese restaurant in the hotel, but even THAT was a double-edged sword: Sure, you would be cool, but you’d be subjecting yourself to the worst Japanese food you’ve ever experienced. Speaking of food, lunch and dinner were not very good quality in the buffet restaurant and surprisingly even worse in the a la carte restaurant, the only one I remember was called Steakhouse. And even though the sand was amazing, the beach is nothing short of a circus mid-day: thousands of people crowding coveted chairs, all the vacationers from the 20 resorts on the beach walking up and down, and worst of all: Commission excursion sellers that stopped you every 5 minutes trying to sell a deal or package or day trip, etc. The worst thing to happen was the theft of personal belongings. Two in our party had their digital cameras stolen from their rooms, along with clothes, sunglasses, etc. In my opinion there is absolutely no excuse for allowing this to happen, and this was coupled with the very Dominican lack of concern for the crimes. On one hand they were some camera worth a couple hundred bucks, but on the other hand almost all keepsakes and memories in the pictures were stolen. This is a shame. Even though I had a pleasant trip, it really could have gone either way. RIU has a challenge if they wish to continue forging a positive reputation in the all-inclusive resort world.

We were there for a week with a group of 30. The staff was great and the the place was beautiful. I was disappointed with the food and entertainment. Food at the buffet was rather bland but much better at the other restaurants.The shows became almost comical after a few days. Couldn't wait to get a brownie(something with sugar) at the airport on the way home.

I was there in april 5 of us and we had a great time, the staff was excellent. The beach was beautiful the pool nice, food ok, the animation team all very nice and amusing. They have different shows every night and all very entertaining. They all work so hard to make sure everyone has a good time, with activities during the day, I would stay there again the only thing i would try to improve is the water.The rooms were very clean the hotel overall very clean.

We went to Riu Macao for 2 weeks from Dec. 20/ 07 to Jan. 04/ 08. It was the first vacation as a family for 8 years. We had a wonderful time! The food was great, lots of variety. The beach was beautiful and the hotel was clean. We had beautiful weather, only rained once for about 20 minutes. But what made this trip unforgettable, was the people. They always made our family feel welcome and went above and beyond to ensure that we had everything we needed. They took the kids to do special activities and at the end of the night the kids would get prizes. There are great little shops, so no worries if you run out of anything. They made such an impression on us that we are going again this winter.

The hotel is beautiful, very clean. The beach is spectacular. We went to the Riu palace Macao for our wedding in October 2007 we wre married at the Riu Bambu gazebo and we had a wonderful time. Our wedding planner Magnolia was really nice and very professional and helpful. There was no detail overlooked. We stayed for an extra week after all our family went home and had a wonderful hoeymoon. Our room was upgraded the night before the wedding to the honeymoon suite. the suite was amazing it had a balcony thta had a winding stair case that led to the rooftop (all enclosed for safety and privacy) wre ther was your very own jacuzzi. We are planning on going back for our 5 year anniversary to experience the romance all over again.

My wife and I stayed at the riu macao for 8 days in jan.for our 25th anniversary.We stayed in a jacuzzi suite.What a great room!Very clean.Bed was hard but very comfortable.Lots of room.Windy and rainy the first day or so, but the rest of the days were nice.A little on the windy side which we were thabkful for,otherwise it would have been to hot to lay out,especialy at the pool.We probably ate to much and drank to much,but what the hell.So much food of all kinds.Most of it good.Checked out the other Riu's as they are close to macao.Defenitly Macao was best.Seemed to be closer to the beach and a step above the others,except the palace. The palace sits to far back from the beach,and a little to big.All inclusive is the way to go!