Riu Palace Bavaro All-Inclusive Resort, Punta Cana

These are not the new Riu Palace Bavaro Reviews, they are from the old facility

Stayed 3 nights April 25-27 2009. The grounds are nice and well kept. Most of the staff very friendly. The accomodations are awful. Bed is very uncomfortable. The buffet was not much to speak of compared to other all inclusive resorts I have visited. The buffet did not have much variety from day to day. If you're not staying at a RIU Palace resort, I would bypass the RIU.

Nov 2008 This was my second 2-week trip to Punta Cana. My goal was to enjoy the sun and swim as much as possible in the ocean, since I only had my dad as a company: we almost got it all (out of 2 weeks only 4.5 days showers and storm:) There are 5 Riu Hotels in this complex: Riu Naiboa has no access to the beach, Riu Bamboo is a bit messy and uncomfortable, Riu Palace Punta Cana and Riu Macao are worth spending extra $$. Riu Taino has always ready to help staff, located right on the beach (if you look from hotel enter water from the left-bottom is rocky on the right side), umbrellas are available in each room, TV works when wheather is not good. If you arrive/leave on Thursday you will be dropped off at Riu Naiboa hotel because of the Street Festival. Don't panic-ask a bell boy to carry luggage to Riu Taino and tip him. No food served after 22:00- bring Granola bars just in case. Same for departure-our agent Steve didn't warn us that the bus to airport will not pick us up at Taino-we had to run fast to Riu Naiboa. Waiting for departure all day and have to leave your room? No problem- there are showers in a main lobby, soap and towels, keep luggage in a locker room, eat any time as usual. A-la-carte restaurants are not worth visiting -hard steak, pickles and fries is all you can get there. Buffet had very limited selection of food (no mango, avocado, mexican coconut treats, as I hoped -will go to Barcelo Bavaro Beach next time). Area around complex is well maintained, but conditioner in our suite was broken and made horrible noise for 2 weeks (even after it was fixed). Carry map with you-houses are placed in serpantine-shape fashion (hard to find at night). Bring your own conditioner, shampoo, sun screen (use it even in cloudy conditions), extra pair of flip flops. I proposed to entertainment staff to make their 40 minute nightly shows longer because there was nothing to do for the tourists in their 20-40s after 9:45 p.m.,which they did: invited life band so people could dance, sing and drinkafter the show was over. Entertainment Option #2- Disco Patcha: 5 min walk, pay for the drinks and watch out for the pick-pocketers). Ladies, don't go there alone- local men ARE hot.Also, you can go to Naiboa and Bamboo hotels at night (they start show later) if you are bored with Taino show. Note from European tourists' observations and from my own experience: Canadian tourists females are generally very rude, scream a lot, trying to get everyone's attention and leave 3 chairs "reserved" in a shade while they are away half-day:just take over the chairs, if caught-explain with big smile on your face to the husband of that b*** that it is not allowed to reserve chairs on hotel's premises-read the billbords! If you ARE Canadian-don't make fool of yourself and promote good image of our country. Please.

nice hotel but took 3 days to find our way around its like being in a maze.rooms were average except for the smell of damp must& the beds were like sleeping on the floor.(hard) and they would let the souviner pedellers in 3 nights a week to sell their stuff they were everywhere around the pools/looby/walkways I mean everywhere. other than that the food was good &very clean. staff was very friendly. pools were excellent. other than the 3 riu hotels on the property no nite life after 12.only 1 bar out on the street but its full of the male employes from the hotels trying to pick up tourest girls.closest town is 20 min away

I went with family there for 7 nights, end of January. The buffet is awesome. I've never been to a buffet which has this much of varieties and quality. Drinks are awesome too. You can find freshly made smoothies all the time. The ice cream is so yummy. Trust me on the food they have. I am a picky eater and a good cook, and I love it. But their Asian food is terrible. Try the steak house, very good steaks. Mexican dinner is relatively good, but just going there for the coffee (boiled, not brew, right there in front of you; blended with liquor & sugar) is already worth it. Okay, that's it for the food. The bungalows are so pretty and clean. The maids worked so hard. Please please leave them tip. The waiters and bar tenders too. A dollar or 2 makes their day. I noticed that we were probably the only people who gave tip. Sure, our tickets included everything, but if you see how hard they work and how poor the people are, you wouldn't mind handing out some small bills. Oh, I have to mention this - they go about the resort beach and offer you fresh coconut. It's funny b/c after the 1st day, we never had a hard time finding my family on the beach - they were always surrounded by coconut staffs. Dun forget to buy paintings from shops on the beach. We bought 3 gigantic oil paintings and 4 small ones. You cannot find beautiful art like these in the states for such a low price. My husband is such a great bargainer; you would not believe he got them for 1/4 of the price the vendor was originally asking for. Dun buy their liquor, Perto Rico has better stuffs with better deals. About being careful of the ocean water, I noticed on 1st day that lots of white girls (I am Asian) had rash all over their body. So, I was skeptical about the water. I dipped in only for an hour the 2nd day and a few hours later, there appeared on my hands, up to the elbow brown spots (like freckles). And I was covered with sun block all the time. I got worried and couldn't pint down what could be wrong. I thought it could be the food, the drink, the sun, my liver was not working properly, or the yucky looking beach towels (they should replace them)...but I never got into the water again after that day. It is such a shame b/c the water was so beautiful. Well, a few days after we got back home, my mom told me that she has the same thing on her hands, going to the shoulders, too. Now, that's scary. I am going to wait for a week; hopefully that it is just allergy. If it is not going away, I and my mom will have to go see the doctor. About the Jelly Fish restaurant, we took taxi for dinner there. The place is beautiful at sunset, take a camera with you if you go there. The price was high, as high as any nice restaurant in the U.S. We got 2 orders of the deluxe platter, about $100/each, a bottle of wine and some appetizers. It was very good but we think the cook cheated for what on the plates were so much less than what they've shown us. Anyway, every one said that we should have stayed in the resort for dinner. It was not that worth it for the horrible trip to get there and the money that we paid. Ah, did I mention that beds are not comfortable? We didn't like it. And yes, bring your pillow cases and your own sheets, your own shampoo & conditioner too. I spent $12 for a small bottle of conditioner b/c what they provided was hardly enough. Over all, it was a great value for what we got. The service, the people, the room, the food, the beach...and hearing my dad going on and on with relative about the wonderful trip - it is priceless :) Next time we come back there, we'll stay at the Riu Palace.

Great place to enjoy the paradisiacal beach. The people at the hotel do what ever they have to do to make you comfortable and happy. The entertainment is good; in the morning at the pool area people came from the other Riu Ressorts to the Taino pool area because is so much fun there; salsa, meringue, bachata clases, aerobics, plays and more. If you want to join the activities there is always something scheduled. The bar in the pool is great the best non- alcohol drinks, or cocktails. The food was good, but I do not think the Mediterranean and the Steak Restaurant were as good as I thought to make a reservation, I think the food was better at the Arecas Restaurant. Everything was excellent, I highly recommend this hotel for couples, unless you are not a jealous wife or you won�t mind your children seeing topless. The 90% of the people that stay at this hotel come from Europe were topless is very common, and they do not tip for service, so please, please TIP the guys are the hotel $1 or $2 is OK as tip they are so nice. The only thing it was a pain a literally a pain was the mattress my back was killing me.

we stayed at this resort last week, the service was great, the people could not do enough for you. We were not happy that the guys had to wear slacks every night to dinner, even the buffet. Men wearing dress shorts or clam diggers were asked to leave. If your uncomfortable around topless women even at the pool you better go somewhere else. The restaurant where you had to make reservations was really bad. Our food was cold and the chicken was dry and the steak was tough. It's too bad because the workers there will do anything to please. The entertainment (what little there was) was boring and needed a lot of help.

We stayed at the Taino for 14 days, and would have loved to stay longer! It was the Best Vacation we have had! Food was great, the staff were exceptional! The Beach was to die for, and the pool area always kept you entertained. The entertainment staff were amazing! I couldn't get over their memory for one! They knew you by name after a day or so...we met so many nice people from all over the world! I would say this was paradise. If you looking for a place that's a ten, but yet it's not too stuffy, this is the place for you! I love the beach and thought I would spend the majority of my time there, but the entertainment staff by the pool side during the day were just too much fun! I couldn't stay away for too long...we loved every minute. The only complaint was checking in..I thought the form they ask you to complete ( passport information etc ) could be done at a later time, after you had a chance to relax...but this was the only complaint! Again, if you looking for paradise, if you just want to relax, or you like to get involved once in awhile..this is the place for you! Again, the Beach was terrific. We have been to Cuba in the past, and loved their beaches, but this one, isn't far behind if at all! We will definately be going back, just like so many other people we met there...some six times...GREAT HOLIDAY! Well worth every penny!

I came to Riu Tiano just after 9/11 with a man I had been living with for the first real vacation of my life. My husband of 15 years and I just got divorced and life was in turmoil. Your resort was so relaxing and incredible no words can truly explain it. The most astounding part of my trip however, was not the lavish food, the drinks, or the incredible beach, it was the staff. You see my boyfriend unbenounced to my had a little drinking problem, and I ended up having to babysit him most of the time from making a fool of himself. The staff could see for themselves, but never judged just watched over, gave me a sypathetic smile, and made me a fresh coconut drink when they had time. Now 3 years have passed, a miracle has happened and my divorced husband and I are back together with our children all in one house and would be celebrating 20 years of marriage if we didn't divorce. As i have been told this doesn't happen to many people and I feel blessed everyday I wake up to their smiling faces. If dreams could come true, I would come back to your resort with the man I truly love and my family to really have a family vacation. We have never been on a family vacation before and no honeymoon as my father was dying when we got married 20 years ago. I hope one day we can return to this magical place together.

the entertainers and the servers and maids are very nice and helpful