Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas All-Inclusive, El Pedregal

My wife and I loved this hotel. We have stayed at other All - Inclusive hotels and found the food was of good standard. There was lots of choice and the menus would vary daily. Our room was kept clean and well stocked. The staff was very pleasant and most spoke enough English to be able to ask anything. There was a variety of things to do on site and you could have as laid back stay or party as much as you wanted. The only thing that was lacking was the water on the beach was too rough to swim in. However if you went over to Lovers beach(by boat) the water was amazing and the snorkelling was second to none.

We chose Riu Palace for our twentieth wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, our event was spoiled by the theft of cellphones and 600 pesos from the room – with no signs of forced entry. The hotel staff filed a report, but our further efforts to seek compensation for this horrid event were completely fruitless, despite sending registered letter to the owners, Mr. & Ms. Riu in Mallorca, Spain. We feel obligated to warn fellow travelers about this hotel, and please do not have a false sense of security, just because it is listed as five star. The day we reported the theft to our travel representative, we found out that we were not the only one robbed; looks like there is an organized gang at this hotel. Just imagine, what could have happened if I accidently entered the room, and faced the robbers! Or we could have been robbed in our sleep…. Also, just to let you know that the ocean is absolutely unsuitable for swimming (actually it is forbidden), because of a huge undertow, and the beach is unsuitable for walking due to a very loose sand, so nobody is using the beach, but the vendors….

In general, the Riu Palace is a great place to enjoy a relaxing vacation. We stayed for seven nights and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had a Jr. Suite on the first floor on the "quiet" side of the resort - nice room, well stocked mini-bar, TV wasn't flat panel but then we weren't there to watch TV, maid service was wonderful. The only downside was that in the evenings there was the smell of barbequed meat in our room - apparently the intake for the air conditioning system was picking up the exhaust from the kitchen exhaust hoods. Food is plentiful with lots of choices. Drinks are okay, order an extra shot if you want as the bartenders are very accomodating, ask for top shelf booze as it is available. Sports bar is fantastic in the early morning (coffee and Kindle). Nightly entertainment is fun. Staff is friendly and very hard working. They are appreciative when you take the time to speak to them (we used our high school Spanish which they thought was pretty funny) rather than being rude Americans on vacation (which we saw a lot of). Exercise facility is sub-par with old equipment that doesn't work. We booked three activities with one of the companies in the lobby - 1) tour of Cabo San Lucas Centro and catamaran trip to go snorkeling; 2) jet ski trip to view the arch and then up the coast to go snorkeling; and 3) ATV riding on the pacific ocean side of the penisula. Lot's of fun! Bring money for tips everywhere you go off the resort - it's expected. The hotel isn't supposed to exchange dollars for pesos but the front desk was accomodating for small amounts ($40 or so). Staying at the Palace also lets you use the facilities at the neighboring Riu Santa Fe - we checked out one their evening shows. We will definitely be going back to the Palace next year!

This was my first trip to Cabo. I went for a friends wedding. I thought the place was beautiful and very clean. I always saw people cleaning and doing work. They were very friendly. I think it definitely caters towards couples. And since I'm single, I was hoping for more of a singles scene. But ohh well. I spent most of my time in the pool near the pool bar with friends from the wedding. The only thing I didn't like was there were 4 restaurants and it was nearly impossible to get reservations unless you did it a few days in advance between a certain time in the early morning. They also put on neat little broadway plays every night. The place is HUGE. You will get tired of walking so much. Also the NBA championship was going on and I couldn't get any post game coverage of the Mavericks win because there's no ESPN :( I watched the game in there sports bar. And we all enjoyed watching LeBron not get a ring :) The sand is very hard to walk in. It's beautiful but gritty. The food was pretty good. I would compare it to a nice cruise. The room service only had a few menu items but the chicken cesar salad was awesome!! Also each room comes with a mini bar stocked with free liquor, pepsi, orange drink, waters, tecate and dos equis. I really enjoyed myself. Like I said before the place is stunningly gorgeous. And amazingly it wasn't very expensive. I'm from New Orleans. We flew into Houston first. That took 47mins. Then we flew to Cabo and that took 2 hrs and 20 mins. Not very long. And customs was a breeze coming back. Except for my friend from New York who had to stop in Arizona. Do not book your flights near each other because of customs, you could miss your flight. I went on a 12$ boat ride to Lover's Beach. That place was amazing. What a pretty place and the rock formations are awesome. Saw some seals swimming also. Again though, walking on the beach there is like walking on an elliptical machine for a looong time. Anyways, I hope I've been helpful. Enjoy and had a safe trip!

I will try to be as fair as possible. I've seen to best and worst all-inclusive resorts This hotel is good for: new travelers to all-inclusive resorts, groups(on a budget), small weddings (on a budget), Luxury Travelers that don't expect a true luxury hotel. 1. We will start with check in: Ranking- 3/5 The lady was very nice during check-in, but she didn't explain all the amenities the resort had to offer. Ask about the water sports a free activities. Plus they did not offer us a free cocktail on check-in. Little... I know, but its an example of attention to detail that more luxury resort have. We also had to ask for the bellboy to take our bags to our room. That service should be automatic. 2. Our Room: Ranking- 3/5 The rooms need updating...period! Wishlist: IPOD alarm clock, LCD TV, modern bed and window linens, In room safe needs a pad lock and not a physical key!, and the shower/tub is a death trap! Tub: way too narrow, be careful its easy to fall a break your arm/leg 3. Restaurant: Ranking- 3/5 The thing that makes this a hassle is making reservations. We just started showing up to the specialty restaurants and taking missed reservations. Half the early reservations are missed bc people are still having fun. Food was fairly good. I didn't try the steak house... bc I'm from Texas! lol 4. Alcohol: Ranking- 4/5 Alcohol is about the same from Isla Mujeres to Cabo (all over Mexico), you wont get the best...but good enough. The heat works against intoxication. You are using the calories from the alcohol while you are playing in the sun. 5. Pools Ranking 4/5 I liked the fact that they had an activity pool and a quite pool. 6. Hotel Overall Ranking 3/5 Good hotel, but the lack of attention to the detail that matters earns it a 3/5. However, for the inexperienced traveler it may be a 4/5. Tip- bring $50-$100 of one dollars bills, find out the conversion rate before you go. I took out 1,000 pesos at the ATM and my bank said it was $87 and not $100 (like the natives in Cabo would like for you to believe)

We spent 5 nights there and enjoyed the hotel grounds and the land's end sights. Will go back in a minute, except we have a Europe trip and a Key West trip next this year. Best spot on the western side of Mexico. They have 5 - 6 resturants of different types of food for your choice and the buffet menu was great. Service was very good also.

I'm a world traveler of 5-star hotels from Abu Dhabi to Tokyo. This place has very pretty common areas - and that's where the good news stops. The rooms are inexcusably 2-star, dank, smelly air and water, with 1980s amenties (no flat screen TV, no satellite, no internet connections, no iPod docking), a true Motel 6 quality bathroom. Hotel was filled with 24/7 loud, power wasted, double-fisted (plastic surgery addicted) drunks...at BREAKFAST..who came for the free booze, which was also disgusting. The free drink options were extermely limited to mostly well brands and bad tasting watered down mixes. Served in plastic tiny cups from the 70s. No wine was worth drinking at all, at any restaurant. The food was inedible, xcpt for the decent gourmet breakfast buffet. The "Mexican" restaurant was hardly. The sushi place looked very nice, but was supermarket pre-made junk. The food was obviously re-used from one joint to the next. The pool - the chairs were cheap plastic backyard quality topped with stained, very hot vinyl seats that nobody could put their feet on. Towel Nazis limit you to one each, and they were old, scratchy, thin towels. The "entertainment" was blaring loudspeakers of cheesy cruiseship bingo or tequila vollyball that nobody joined in with, with just a little unremarkable music. The tennis court has a 1 foot warp right down the middle, and is cracked everywhere. The nightly stage shows were a joke, worse than the worst cruise ship show you can imagine.. The overall experience was truly disappointing given the mostly excellent service, extremely nice staff, and obvious attention to the beautifully manicured grounds along the ocean. If only a sliver of the law mowing budget went into renovating the rooms to the 21st century, finding decent food, stocking a full bar and wine cellar, a modern coffee bar, gym, spa...well, you get what you pay for.

We had a great time at the Riu Palace. The staff are hardworking and friendly. Beside the resort is a area with bushes and sand where stray dogs live. There was a female and her 3 pups that came to the resort down on the beach. You could see them below from the party pool. They would come and laze there in the shade under a tree. We made sure they were well fed when we were there. If you see them and you love dogs, feed them as they are very hungry. Also, saw two starving cats on the resort too and fed them. Thanks!

We had six people in our party ranging in age from 23 to 58. Everyone had a great time. The staff was very eager to please. Two people in our party went to the spa and had a back massage and facial. They said it was wonderful. The rooms and all the buildings were kept very clean. There is a safe in your room with a key for your valuables. You always saw someone cleaning or sweeping the floors. My husband made the statement that if you stood still long enough they'd probably clean you. :) You could walk along the beach, but the current is to rough to swim in. The swimming pools, jacuzzis, swim up bars more than made up for that inconvenience:) I feel like we got our money's worth and would highly recommend this place to others.

The food was really good - even in the buffet! The steak house was a bit disappointing - order the lamb though my son had it and it was good! The only disappointment was that it was VERY hard to get reservations - even when you went down at 7 am. They have Don Julio at the lobby level bar everywhere else it is Jose Cuervo but that is ok. Take the bus it is 1 dollar to go to downtown and picks you up at the gate outside the hotel.