WE WERE NOT DISAPPPOINTED
We are a pair of youthful and active Senior Citizens who flew to the Carribean for a first-time visit and stayed at the Riu Caribe despite the mixed reviews on this site. We picked the Riu because it offered substantial cash savings and because it received a good rating by Apple Tours.
Our overall impression is that this a 4-Star venue. It misses the 5th star because the decor is not sleek, plush and modern, because it lacks luxury level restaurants and because the TV's in the rooms are not flat screen or HD.
Having said that, the place is fashionably quaint, beautifully landscaped, immaculate, and geared towards families. Check-in went quickly despite the long lines, although we had to wait a few hours for our room, having arrived much earlier than the check in time. But that was alright becaause it gave us a chance to nose around and schmooze with the Apple Tour Reps.
For a few bucks extra, we advise you to get the "Junior Suite" which provides marble floors, a very large bathroom and a humongous balcony jutting out over the beach and ocean. The air conditioning works great! We did have a balky toilet at 1 point that was fixed within 90-minutes of our call to the front desk even though it was late at night. Also, my lady friend had a major gastric upset on our last night but doesn't really believe it was anything she ate or drank. Instead, she blames it on the sun and some alcohol that she isn't used to. Anyway, her problem cleared up in about an hour and a half and did not reoccur. Another thing to note--some of the nightly shows are held out-of-doors and you might hear some loud music in your room up until about 11:00 PM.
At the beautiful pool, we noted a cluster of 20-35 year olds who liked to drink, yell and cuss but who actually didn't create much of an annoyance because of the fairly loud band music going on. Plus you get to see a lot of string bikinis with major tush exposed and so on. But I digress.
The beach and ocean are spectacular, but you have to be out there by 9:00 AM to get a lounge chair. Some of the Hotel staff speak perfect English, but others have a strong Spanish accent that can be troublesome. Note that you should sign up for the "specialty restaurants" as soon as you can--they won't allow you to make same night reservations, so plan ahead. Food-wise, the Riu Caribe excells in their salads, fruits and desserts. The rest of the offerings are tasty and plentiful. The Chinese and Mexican restaurants are fine. However, the rib eye and the top sirloin at the steak restauant were very tough and stringy during our stay.
You will be close to public buses which charge $1/ person/ trip and run often. There is a Mini-mart off the lobby but it carries only 1 American newspaper (USA Today). Dollars are accpted everwhere at the hotel and in Cancun. There are also ample tours and excursions available to islands, beaches, nature preserves and Mayan architectural ruins. Reps in the lobby can help you with the arrangements. The tour guides themselves are sometimes hard to understand and you might get a little nervous wondering if you're going to catch the right bus back to your hotel after the tour is over. But it all seems to works out in the end.
Even though your tips are included, in the "all-inclusive" deal, bring some $1 bills to hand out. The employees will feel good and so will you.
And finally, if you acknowledge and accept everything we've written in this review your vacation at the Riu Caribe will be memorable in a good way. But if we've written anything that you can't live with or which could cause you problems, it's probably best to look elsewhere.