Riu Merengue All-Inclusive Resort, San Felipe de Puerto Plata

From entering the hotel you know its going to be a great holiday, We could not fault anything at the hotel, the cleaners were always working hard, room always spotless, mini bar stocked daily, food was delicious ( youve got to try the dominican food), waiters/waitresses cannot do enough for you, the entertainment team-well what can I say about them, only that god knows where they get there energy from, there always on the go and forever smiling, everyone that worked there was such nice people. The pool was spotless all the time, clean towels by the pool everyday, non stop drink and food all throught the day that was replenished constantly, games for the adults and the children by the pool daily. Entertainment on a night was ace. The ONLY thing that spoilt this holiday was the local people who came on a weekend for their weekend away, I cannot describe to you what they were like only that they needed to learn some manners and keep there noise down etc, the hotel staff did try there best to keep the noise to a decent level but to no avail.

Where to start - This is by far the best holiday I have ever been on. Just returned from a very short 2 weeks stay at the Riu Merengue and what a memorable stay it was. From the moment you land to the the time you get to the hotel you know your holiday will be an amazing one. I have no faults with any service provided, conditions of accomodation, insects & bugs, beaches, pools or restaurant (no smoking in the dinner hall would be greatly apprieciated though) the choice of facilities in Either of the 3 hotels makes planning your day an adventure, from drinks around the pool to evening shows like Madonna, Michael Jackson or the Africa Show - This is NOT to be missed. Activities for all ages, day trips to suit any experience and entertainment .... i cant think of any word worthy enough for the contribution these guys do. From the staff... to Animation team & Dancers! You all definatly made my stay a very emotional goodbye. I will be returning in the near future to have my expectations exceeded once again & I have already recommended to many the fantastic time I had! The beach is gorgeous, with enough loungers for everyone, so what if you have to walk along to find an empty one.. gives time to soak up the sun and digest the wonderful surroundings. Thankyou Riu

The Rui Merengue was an exellent hotel. There is plenty to do for the adults and the kids, from water sports to the shows in the evenings, there was always something to keep you occupied in all threee hotels. I have read many reviews about the hotel and when I went I was surprised that so many of the reviews mentioned about poor food. Now I am quite fussy when it comes to food but the food at the hotel was wounderful and there was plenty of variety. The Animation team are great and they are always cheerful and they always have a smile on their face. The Animation teams in all three hotels are exellent. When using all three hotels it's great, it is nice for a change of scenery but me and my family mostly stayed at the Riu Merengue as we found that was our favourite hotel. The Bar staff are also very polite at all of the bars and you can't ask for a better service because I would rate the service 10/10. The rooms were spacious and the furniture and the beds were all very comfortable. The rooms were cleaned daily by the cleaners and in the rooms there is a mini bar that is re-filled when asked. The night life is a great atmosphere there was a show on every night but if you wanted something different in the evening there was a night club on site. At caribbean street there is a carnival and there are many stalls and all the shops are open. There is a casino, a gym, beuty spa and many many more. You can also go on excursions which are great because can go and see how the people on the outside live and if you fancy a once in a lifetime oppourtunity you should go to ocean world and swim with the dolphins and sea lions for the day. Me and my family were sad to leave the hotel because we enjoyed our holiday so much and we hope to go again not to far in the future. Overall I would definetly recommend this hotel as it is a great experience to stay there.

Cant find fault with holiday, all the staff were very friendly, cleaning never stopped, even the beach was racked over daily.Food was refreshed until closeing time, there was always something that you liked. The entertainment crew never stopped, and put on some good shows. I would recomend this hotel to any one as there this aways something going on

I recently travelled and stayed at the Riu Merengue resort with a large group of customers. I read many review before going to try and gauge what to expect - but was confused by the broad range of ratings on different sites. Here's my take - the resort is a bit dated, they do a good job of cleaning and keeping it up - but the wear shows through in places if you're looking. The staff is wonderful - very cheerful and the maid staff did a fine job on cleaning our room. We did have the tip "panhandlers" - mostly the porters at the airport and with the transport companies. Take some dollar bills and give them one or two and they're happy - once you see the conditions they live in, you'll feel like you did a good deed. The food is decent to very good, but after a week, I found myself longing for a bit more variety. All in all, if you go with the expectations of staying at a three star resort - you should be satisfied. I had two "complaints" - first, the air conditioning in the room was weak - it just doesn't get cool, nor does it take out the humidity - may not be a problem for some, I just prefer "real" A/C. This also led to the "musty" smell people mentiond. We opened up the doors in the evening an kept the A/C (such as it is) running during the day. Second, I found the beds very hard - this coupled with the inability to cool down the room meant I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked. A few tips: 1) They tell you you can use all three resorts to dine - except for dinner - we went to the other resorts at dinner a couple of nights - no one asked us which resort we were staying at. Most of the food was the same - but the change of scenery was nice. 2) If they do a "special" food event - one day we had a "beach barbeque" - go there. It's a great change of pace and the food was excellent! 3) Make a reservation at the "ala carte" restaurants for dinner to break up the week. The selections are different from the usual buffet - again we found variety was a nice change 4) At the watersports "booth" and on Caribean Street we were able to get change in US dollars - and even saw them break bills for people who wanted change for tips. 5) If you do tours offsite - expect third world conditions at many of the attractions (poor toilet facilities, run down buildings etc) All in all, I would recommend the facility, but with a few conditions, and realistic expectations.

resort in general was great to bad the food drug it down,

I just returned from Rui Merengue after one week vacation (Aug 24-31, 2009). I thought the service and the staff were the friendliest I've seen in a long time. The food was Ok, could use some improvement. The Alcohol's brand Normandy, is a first for me. It takes about ten drinks to feel a buzz. The shows were very entertaining and again the staff is just fabulous. The pool is way too small for the amount of guests and the beach is more like a Rock garden. After the first day on the beach, I gave it up, pretty unsafe. Overall, I would visit again. Please change the Beer. BRAMA?

Friendly staff, great food - wonderfully presented, good entertainment, wonderful Nicole (Sunquest Travel), if you had a complaint, it was fixed immediately - so, to the people and reveiws that are complaining, I don't know where you are coming from. The beach was nice and long and the wind, welcomed, as it gets hot there.

All the staff were really friendly and happy, great food with plenty of choice of everything. The entertainment team where great, very funny and very good at doing their jobs. Difficult to distinguish which was the better hotel out of the three all where 5* very clean and tidy including the surrounding gardens and beach areas. I would seriously consider returning to these hotels if coming back to Dominican. We really think we had vaule for money and enjoyed every mintue.

This resort was GORGEOUS... I am 22 years old and went with a big group of 15-20 friends, and we had a really fun time. The rooms were nice and spacious with nice balconies, and the resort itself was huge... nice pools, bars everywhere (with plenty of local but still effective drinks), the beach right there, awesome activities like kayaking (SO much fun) and water polo (and also ATV'ing for some extra $ which was fun as hell), decent food at the restaurants, nice workers and service staff, fun dance night club. Overall, my friends and I had a great time, and the price tag was not bad at all ($600 for 5 days, 4 nights). Definitely worth the trip!