Riu Palace Paradise Island All-Inclusive, Paradise Island

I have to say I was extremely disappointed with this so called 5 star resort. My husband booked the trip as a surprise for me and was so upset. This is our 2nd 5 star resort, and lets just say it was closer to a 3 yet had the cost of a 5 star. The resort is a redone Hotel, very small, no landscape to meander through. You come into a beautiful lobby and are hit with the smell of smoke, smoking is allowed in the lobby and at the lobby bar, there is no way of avoiding it, every time you come off the elevator, go for dinner etc. definately geared to smokers. The pool is small, and since the beach was closed due to high winds and under tow there was no where else to go, packed in like sardines around a 20x40 pool. Which due to the amount of people using, was dirty all the time. No outdoor bar to enjoy in the evenings, you were stuck inside, felt trapped. Entertainment was terrible, 2 of the 7 nights was karaoke, another 2 nights in the row was the same group of men singing the exact same set. Only good entertainment was magician. Rooms were ok, but shower was in the tub. No seperate shower. Had to keep calling down for them to restock frig, which was suppose to be done automatically. Food was average, the only good restaurant was Krystal, and was impossible to get into with the booking reservation rules they had. The day were we leaving our luggage was kept in the lobby for 7 hours until departure, not locked up, along with another 50 guests, needless to say not safe, nor good presentation for the newbies checking in. Unfortunately was a very disappointing holiday, and would not go to a Riu chain anywhere else for fear of another disappointment. The only positive I have to say is the staff was curtious.

As my headline stated, first impressions are important. The RIU definately made a great impression. The entrance was excellent.. very regal. I was a little hesitant on the whole all inclusive bit, but I was very shocked at how great the food was and how friendly the staff was. I was spending my honey moon there with my wife and she was also impressed. I must also recommend the Gourmet restraunt (reservations required). This is also included, but again reservations are required. And no... reservations are not hard to come by. The only draw back was that the rooms were a little muggy.. you know that feeling when its either too cold or too hot and sticky... but that was indeed the only complaint I had. The beach was great.. staff great... location is the best. Being that it is literally walking distance to Atlantis, which by the way is not all that great. and way overpriced. and the staff there treats visitors from other hotels like crap.. Nothing like VEGAS where you can literally casino/ hotel hop. I am so glad that I went with a leap of faith on the RIU. Save your money and stay at the RIU and you will definately have a great time. Lastly right up front.. the wait and bar staff are very nice to the customers... even non tippers!! so tipping is not a requirement for great service.. PS. THE ONLY BEER THEY SERVE IS LOCAL SANDS OR KALICK BEER.. BOTH BY THE WAY ARE GOOD.. BUT THEY DO HAVE PREMIUM LIQUORS!!!

This was our 2nd RIU Hotel Experience. Our first was Cancun. However, Riu Palace Paradise Island All-Inclusive was well worth the money! Our room was across from the elevator (as someone mentioned below). The view was Ok, but the room was very clean! The staff are nice....but like any place that's all-inclusive, a TIP goes along way. The pool was not huge...but it was very social. We met folks from all walks of life. As for the FOOD! It was very, very delicious. The banquet and restaurants truly make up for the trip. BTW...if you look to book a reservation..the names of the restaurants have are different than what's on-line. Our favorite was Krystal. Now here's what cost this Hotel a perfect 10! The Beach had wayyyy to many waverunners and boaters selling rides. In fact, there were numerous times they would come very close to the public in the water with their crafts. THE SOLUTION to this problem is sectioning off a part of the water that falls directly behind the property with rope and flotational tubes. Every hotel and exclusive resort had their property sectioned off EXCEPT Riu!! The other annoying thing about the hotel is the entertainment. Just when you're realxing and dozing off after a hearty breakfast....they play Loud music and put on a mass production for a game of table tennis. I distinctly remember the host being SOOoooooo annoying but trying his best to get loungers to join in on a game they could care less about. You can honestly see they were there to relax and this guy is looking to force them to follow his lead. Obviously, the customers ignored the calls. Another annoying part of this trip was the Music....they played Michael Jackson for (no lie0 a period of 3 hours NON-STOP) Over all...I would definitely recommend this place! Atlantis is Wayyyyy to expensive and you can get a great deal with Riu and still visit Atlantis for their entertainment and Casino.

attention: filbert vargas, general manager rui hotel we want to start out by saying that we were embarrassed and disappointed by your hotel. We recommended your hotel very highly to our cousins and specifically our daughter and her family. My daughter and son in law and their two children came down to paradise island july 30th to august 5th they saved all year for this vacation only to be put in a "newly renovated "room with no working air conditioner and then to be down-graded to a smaller room facing the parking lot, with two beds pushed together. my husband and i were at your hotel for the third time last year (before renovation) and we spoke to you personally and you assured us that all the rooms would be remodeled and up-to-date (you even personally showed us the new rooms. You also assured us the pool would be taken care of as well. Yet when they came down the pool was so cloudy and looked dirty that they did not want to go in. Although they and other guest complained it remained unusable up to the day they left. they spoke to guest who also stayed at your hotel in aruba and said "that the aruba is eveything that your hotel is not"and will go back there. we were planning to visit your hotel sometime in october but now have second thoughts and will most likely go to another hotel. his hotel is located in a area of paradise island that is truly a treasure. However, with a bad reputation preseding it they will never get the comendation it deserves. as i mendtioned in the beginning of this message, we assured all we recommened the rui paradise island that they would not be disappointed and that was quite the opposite. we do expect to hear from you as we feel responsible for recommending a hotel that we thought would be a triple a and instead was to the low end of hotel ratings. .

The hotel was nice ...great beach location ..upon arrival the front desk agent was totally rude...I requested a junior suite...she gave me a horrible room it was really dusty and across from the elevators...I was able to change my room thanks to the security at the hotel of course once I gave him an excellent tip...once you tip well at this hotel you're stay becomes slightly better...the food was good not the best but good...this hotel needs to improve on the air condition ...the lobby was so hot it felt like you were in an oven....the. lobby and elevators need air condition..the air condition in the room was fair but they need to really upgrade considering how much they charge to stay there..the pool looked cloudy they really need to clean the pool better...the night entertainment at the hotel is horrible...the need better entertainment...especially by the pool area ...they need to give the guest better entertainment....they also need better top shelf liquor....the liquor they had was fair...there is one employee who worked at the restaurant who made my stay well I called him 'all state' he was the best but the best server at the hotel....over all the stayed was good but they just need to improve these details and I believe the hotel will be a great location to go on vacation on...but they need to make the waiter 'all state' the GM of the hotel so it can be a five star hotel!

I read the reviews A LOT before I left on this and was a little concerned as to what to expect. All I can say is it was fantastic! I am a 43 male and went with my 68 year old father and we had a blast. From the minute we got there at 11:30 am, they let us check in to an ODD number room on the 3rd floor overlooking the pool and it was perfect. Everyone from the front desk staff to the food service staff were incredibly friendly even though a lot of reviews said everyone was rude? not once did we ever experience anything like that and the bar staff at both the inside and outside bars were awesome. TIP: Bring your own plastic cup and you will be the king of the resort! I bought a couple of orange plastic sexy looking cups and we must have been asked 200 times where we got them and if we were willing to give them up. All in all, me and my dad plan on making it an annual trip and I can't wait until next year!!!!!

We reserved a family suite. This resort had excellent food even at the buffet. The staff was friendly and extremely helpful. The cleanliness of the room could have been slightly better but it was not anything I'd complain about. Our suite was very nice. We really have no complaints about this hotel. We have been to the Bahamas numerous times & this resort was one of our favorites!

There were a lot of things that we liked and disliked about the RIU. We went there to get married at the beginning of April. All of our family joined us, and that part was perfect. It easily accommodated our entire family, kids, adults, etc. There was plenty of entertainment for the kids, and fun for adults too. The room was clean and new, the pool was not over crowded, and the staff was very friendly and accommodating. As for our wedding. The wedding planner was very helpful at the beginning, but as the big day got closer she seemed to be less and less interested in us. On the day of our wedding, barely spoke to us. She handed me my bouquet, told me where to stand and when to go. After that, she never spoke to me the rest of our wedding day, or the rest of our time there. When the ceremony began you could not here the music, and there was little effort made to clear the beach. After the ceremony, my husband noticed that she looked upset while we were taking pictures. When he approached her, and asked if everything was okay, she responded, "I want to go home." During the reception she was no where to be found. She must have left. The crew that prepared our reception dinner did an excellent job in accommodating us. We had several different diets (i.e. vegetarians and vegans) and the head chef and staff were very happy to ensure that we had what we needed. Over all our wedding turned out okay, but it was mainly do to us making the best of what we had and the beautiful beach and water behind us. You really can't loose with a destination wedding, even when your coordinator isn't willing to be a part of your big day. Overall our entire family has said that their time at the RIU was great.

Out of the 5 Riu's we've stayed at in the last 3 years, I would have to say this was absolutely the worst. I find it hard to believe this is a Riu Palace as that is to be their top of the line. Their bad service and lack of variety in their food will hurt the other Riu properties if this would happen to be the first Riu someone has stayed at, which is too bad. Their jr suite is not a jr suite like the other Riu's we've stayed in, but a basic room with two double size beds so I'm not sure why they are advertising it as such. Most of the staff were friendly, however one day they did not clean our room, even with the green sign we left hanging on door to please clean, so they had to come and clean while we were at dinner. We also could not get them to bring us 2 extra blankets for our kids. They brought us 1 and then after 2 more phone calls to the front desk requesting the second, still no blanket. The next day we told the front desk about our problem, they told us they would get a blanket and after all day, still no blanket. I finally asked one of the maids who was cleaning late in the evening and she saw to it that we received the other blanket. As far as the food, it was very disappointing, especially compared to the other Riu's we've stayed at. Breakfast seemed pretty good really. I'm not a breakfast person, but my family seemed to think there was plenty of variety. The only problem most of the time was there were plenty of tables, just no clean ones to sit at. Lunch was basically the same food every day and after a few days of that it got pretty old. Over by the drinks their was this smell of vomit. It was there every day. I could not figure it out. People would come up and smell the milk thinking that must have been it, but it wasn't. I never did figure out what that smell was from. They had a juice machine, but that never worked the whole time we were there. Dinner - even though it was a themed dinner every night the food pretty much seemed the same. It was very disappointing and got really old, fast. We made reservations at the Japanese restaurant one night, cold food and the chicken I got was tough. To big of chunks to eat without cutting, and since I only had chopsticks, I used my fingers and ripped the chunks with my teeth into smaller bites. Another couple we spoke with one night said after visiting two of the restaurants they made reservations at, they didn't bother with any others since the two they went to weren't good. Other than that the place looks nice, was right beside Atlantis, had a nice beach and nice pool, but I wouldn't stay there again. If I had some friends going I would check into another all-inclusive possibly the Sheraton (I think that is what the cab driver told us, can't remember for sure) Again, a big disappointment for the Riu name when the other Riu's have been excellent. Maybe we got spoiled at the others, but I definitely would not come back to this one.

First, I'm not a smoker so this is jaded from the get go; second, this place was overpriced rubbish. I don't take too many vacations so when I do I really hope for the best with the places that I choose. Unfortunately, from the moment we arrived this was a bad experience. The one bar in this place is right next to the check-in in the lobby. Everyone smokes. Everyone! There are no smoking signs up all over the hotel with ashtrays directly below them, usually with still smoking butts sticking out of them. People smoked in the elevator, in the restaurants, by the pool, in the halls by the hotel rooms. This is the place that RJ Reymolds execs come to get away from it all. It was disgusting. Next, the food . . . let just say, stick with the buffet. The "name brand" restaurants literally served the worst restaurant food I've had in a while. The only saving grace, and it really wasn't one because the place is over priced, was that it was an all inclusive resort. We ate at the Gourmet and the Japanese restaurant (I forget the name). This was boarding school food, cold, lifeless junk. Considering there were in general only 4 entrees on the menues for said restaurants, how hard is it to make them and get them to the customer at least warm. At least with the buffet, you can basically prepare something for you that might possibly be to your liking. Not lastly, but for my sanity, lastly for this review, customer service. I guess when you go all inclusive the people working there are in no hurry to get things done. I suppose they figure that they are going to get paid for their shift regardless. The biggest incident for me was that they required me to swipe my credit card to turn the phone on in the room when we arrived. They lost that swipe somewhere. I went back down a few days later because I had to make a collect call. When I checked out I had a 71 dollar charge even though I only made the collect call. The only explanation they could give was that when you pick up the phone the tab starts clicking. Here's my recommendation - go somewhere else. If you have to go to Nassau, go to the Atlantic. It's not all inclusive and it is more expensive but the place doesn't stink and it has many many more amenities. Really though, go to a dfferent island or better yet, if you are going to spend $500 to $600 a night, find a ritz and go there. If I could give this place a zero I would but there was one young man in the buffet (Travis, I think) who really was absolutely exceptional at everything he did. Overall, be warned. Stay away . . . far away!