Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas All-Inclusive, El Pedregal

I went there with my wife on our honeymoon around the forth of July for a week. Overall, we had a lot of fun and the experience exceeded out expectations. However, there were a few things we didn't like. And they had nothing to do with the resort. BAD We were taken advantage of right at the airport by some time-share guy from other resort who pretended to be our driver (we pre-ordered a shuttle service) and made all these promises about free activities and asked for a $30 deposit. Don't talk to anybody once you arrive and head straight to the taxi area. Second, because the area’s economy depends so much on tourism, we felt like being the blood for the sharks. Bring in a lot of singles or small local currency. We felt we were overcharged for the taxi service back to the airport ($60 + tips) and to downtown Cabo San Lucas ($10 +tips for a 5 minute drive). Also, it was a little annoying booking reservations in the morning for dinners. GOOD The place had almost untouched nature. The water was so clean you could see the fish. Our room was excellent and was cleaned daily. As far as food is concerned, breakfasts at El Medano were great. There were so many choices and everything looked beautiful and fresh. I really miss them. Lunches were so-so and so were dinners. I didn’t like beer there and soft drinks, which actually left color stains on my body and clothing after I spilled a few times. Pools weren’t very crowded and were very clean. As for entertainment, we really enjoyed most of the shows and concert. The only thing we didn’t like was that they were too Americanized and didn’t look authentic. There were much better at Mexican flavored entertainment. After about 3-4 days, we got kind of bored and decided to do some excursions into the nearby city. We did some souvenir shopping. Everything else was too expensive there, except for silver jewelry. I was surprised to see HSBC bank there, where I used the ATM to withdraw some pesos. If you want to buy tequila at the duty-free store, do so in in Cabo San Lucas’ airport. It’s a lot cheaper there than in Mexico City through which we flew. We booked some additional activities right at the resort. There weren’t that expensive. ATV ride though the Megrigno beach was very memorable. I strongly recommend for you to try that. Although sunset cruise with CaboRey was a bit pricy, it was worth it. The entertainment and the views were great. The food was so-so, though. You have to come to this place with an open mind to enjoy it. By and large, it was a great

We went with 3 other couples. Everyone in our party had items stolen from our rooms. Shoes, bathing suits, Bra's, and a wallet. Resort willing to do nothing. Dont risk it.

This is my first time ever going to Mexico, so I don't have much to compare it with, but the hotel and the whole trip was great. Many people have complained on here about how their AC was broken, that happened to us to, but it is because there is a sensor on the sliding door and the wall, they must be touching in order for the AC to stay on. This is a smart way for the hotel to be energy efficient, so if you stay here and think your AC is broke, check the sliding glass door first. Th buffet food is good for an all inclusive buffet, however it does get a little old after awhile, which is fine because it gives you a chance to go out and explore other places to eat in cabo. The pools are awesome, two pools with swim up bars, to kid pools, and two other giant pools, which they have basketball, volleyball, and other activities going on (aqua gym). When I was there, it wasn't too crowded, nor was it too dead, so I'm not sure how the service is when its super crowded, but I had good service the whole time I was there. I am not too sure about the reservations though because I was there for a wedding and so the bride had made a couple reservations at some restaurants before we had even came. The shows at night are fun to go to, they usually end between 11 and 12, which then they have a night club that opens until 2am. A lot of the shows also get the audience involved. Upon arrival, there is a lady standing at a little podium with margaritas. Also, whenever we wanted to leave the hotel, there was always someone standing there ready to get you a taxi. The 24-hour room service was alright, not much to choose from though. As long as you put the green tag on your door, the maid will come in and clean your room, a couple of nights we got turn-down service (where they turn your sheets down and give you a chocolate). Another awesome thing is that somone comes in your room everyday to stock the fridge with beer, water, and pop. There is also, a 5th of vodka, rum, whiskey,and tequila in the rooms. You can not swim in the ocean, but if you go a little further down you (a couple miles) you can. However, it is nice to walk along the beach and have the waves splash up on you. This hotel really is a palace in paradise! The only things I can complain about is that the pools are a little murky, in one pool there was a girl who threw up, but since there are so many other pools, i didnt have a problem swimming and also when the floors get wet they are really slippery....haha, i about bit the dust a couple of times. Aside from the hotel, I swam with the dolphins, which was a lot of fun, and you will save about $10 if you book it online before your trip. I also did the ATV tour which was a blast!!! Then, you can adopt a baby sea turtle, this was a pretty low-key activity where they do not get a lot of tourists, but since sea turtles are becoming extcint their is this place they take you to, like 20 mins away and they have a turtle egg farm, and you get to see the turtles hatch and take them to the beach and let them free....this was free, although they take donations (like $25) since they are a non-profit company.

My husband and I went for our honeymoon for only 5 days. While we were there, it was wonderful and we would go back in a second! The food was incredible, the shows were great, the pools were awesome and the views were magnificent! The service was exceptional as well! However, as I was getting out of the boat taxi after parisailing, I fell and was swept away by a wave. It was very hard for me to get out of it as my husband was trying to help me and he was scared that I was going to be pulled away and pushed under. Along the beach in front of the hotel is a shelf like beach/ocean, so if I were to get pulled away, it would've taken me under the shelp, which would have been impossible to get out of. Very dangerous. I would never ever swim there, only in the pools. I don't even think I would do any ocean activities either such as wave runners etc... My husband was finally able to pull me out after almost breaking my skinny arm, and SURPRISE my bathing suit top was backwards and my bottoms were at the botto of my ankles. As soon as I noticed, I looked up to find a full beach with everyone staring, so I turned around, faced the ocean, sat down and fixed my bikini. LOL I will never ever forget that day, neither will my husband, and probably the witnesses as well... The only bad experience we had at the RIU Palace was our last night. The housekeeping must have left our room door open as they were cleaning and somehow mosquitos must have all darted in and laid nests, because all night long we were swatting mosquitos as they were sucking our blood. We made a complaint, but the Palace did nothing. We were up for hours and afraid to sleep and disappointed that the Palace did not some how accomodate us per our multiple requests. We still would go back in a hearbeat! Although, we are trying to visit other countries and states at the moment!

I've stayed at a wide variety of resorts in Mexico ranging across the board in price. The Riu Palace is a great value for what you are spending. The accomodations are decent. Plenty of hot water, always clean linens, powerful AC etc. But it's no over the top luxury. However the setting is so beautufl there's no reason to be inside! All of the rooms have balconies with spectacular views. The hotel grounds are very well kept and the pool is gorgeous and clean. The pool side service is great and they don't expect much tipping. The drinks are delicious all made with fresh ingredients. The food was the biggest let down of my experince there. Breakfast was fine (hard to screw up eggs and bacon) and they always had a plethora of fresh fuits, however the luches and dinner were disappointing. My boyfriend and I chose to eat dinner a few times away from the hotel (We LOVED Ediths in Cabo) which was a nice change from the all inclusive meals. So if you are food snob like myslef, I would recommend eating dinners away. And even doing this I believe the all inclusive was still worth paying for as you can grab drinks, snacks and whatever else you like during the day without worrying about what your spending. (I have no doubt our pool tab would have been outrageous had we been paying drink by drink!!) So if you're looking to go somewhere for a beautiful setting, nice pool and tasty drinks, you should be taken care of.

My stay was terrible. First night AC was out in out room. The people at the front desk said that someone would be right up to fix it. We contacted them 4-5 more times trough out the night. No one ever showed up until the next day. The management wouldn't take the night's fee off of our bill. Most of stay was OK. Until the last day, I fell ill, had to be taken off in amulence. Stayed in an American owned private hospital in ICU all night. Something caused my to be paralyzed and shaking uncontrolably. My organ were shutting down. The hotel dr. took 20 min. to get up to my room before calling ambulence because he was examining someone with a cold. After I arrived in the states two days later, the doc said it was one of the worst cases of food poisoning that he had ever seen (from the symptoms), but couldn't find any traces of bacteria in my system because the antibiotice administured in Mex killed it off. The whole time I was in the Mex hospital, the Riu's private doctor kept stopping by. Not to check on me, but to make sure that the hospital's dr.'s didn't rule it as food poisoning, because the hotel would be liable. it has taken me a year and a half to get back to normal. Long story short... Riu leaves their buffet food out for long periods of time, and served me under cooked chicken. Just be very careful what you eat. I would recommmend staying somewhere else where they have customer service and care about their customers!

GOOD The place is nice and clean. The food is excellent for an all-inclusive. The views are spectacular. The corny shows are cute. BAD The place is too darn big and lots of walkign around up and down stairs that are massive in scope. Heck the whole place and the adjoining Riu Sante Fe are massive in size. The beach is really unfortunate if you like beaches. I gather fro mthe message boards and my fellow guests that most folks are indifferent on the beach aspects. You can not swim in front of the hotel at all. You can not really walk on the beach very well either. Further, it is a pain to even go to the beach with all the stairs and walls.

I was there 7 days, the weather was great, the service was pretty good, and the spa was wonderful. As others have noted, the water is pretty rough, so not recommended for swimming. There were mostly LOTS of couples and some kids, and LOTS of single ladies. Yes, the music is loud, echoes accross the property and goes on until 4am, so if you've got small children or are trying to recover from too many drinks by the pool earlier, it can be a bit tough. I think the single drawback for me was that you must wait for 2 hours in the morning to get a dinner reservation if you'd like to have something other than the buffet in the evening. Be prepared to wait from 8am until 10am when they start taking dinner reservations. I thought the process could be handled alot differently, especially given that the main breakfast being offered is over at around 10am.

I just got back from Riu Palace last night, and after reading all of the reviews got a bit scared to why everyone was complianing..I been to Riu before and personally i like the chain..Im from New York, im used to good class and great places and personally I thought the palace was great, granted you cant swim in the ocean but its not so bad..the pools are fantasic and clean...getting a spot by the pool wasnt much trouble..everyday by the pool someone was coming every 5 min to get you a new drink...food overall wasnt bad but its your typical breakfast, lunch and dinner..but some nights they spiced it up with a diff flavor...the resturants however werent that good...usually long wait for food but the lamb chops were great in the steakhouse..but overall the buffet was much better you pick what you want and how you want it...besides all of this you have the downtown area which is literally 5 min away by taxi which costs 10 bucks..there you have it all..you want a night life, you want resturants, a marina with boats a nice walk at night its just great....and i felt very safe.. i would recommend riu to others

This hotel is very nicely designed with high turrets and excellent engineering. The service ranges from excellent to fair, averaging out to good. The entire hotel is very clean. However, the beach is not good for swimming, because there are a lot of undertoes, creating huge 12 foot(as it seems to appear like) waves. The location was somewhat inconvenient, though it was private, it was a bit too far from the town and the El Medano Beach. My room was rather comfortable and pleasant, and nothing was wrong with it. The bed and sheets are outstanding, though the TV mostly comes with Mexican channels. American TV selection includes FOX News, American Network, Nickolodeon, and Bloomberg. Overall, this a great hotel for people who like sunbathing, but don't like the sea, and an exciting hotel in a private area.