Barcelo vs. Riu Y.

[crizzybeach]

Help, need some opinions.
Was leaning towards the Riu Y., but the Barcelo looks good two. A few questions about the Barcelo for those of you that have a minute. Shammy, are you out there??
Distance from town - access to Playa for night or day excursion?
Beach/Pool- better? more or less crowded than Riu Y.
Family - are you surrounded by little kids and teens?
Night Time - is there enough to do at night Dancing??
Please read post from last night. It describes what my husband and I are looking for - all opinions welcome.
Riu Yucatan Pool

<HR style="COLOR: #555576" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Just wondering what the deal is with the pool pics. at RY. Expedia shows a great looking pool, most other sites show a marginal motel type pool (even dated looking).
This will be our first trip to Playa and I am doing a lot of research. Mostly getting confused.
My husband is a 43 yr. old dancing fool so we do not want to be too far from town due to the nightlife. The AI's are appealing just so we do not spend all of time trying to figure out where it is safe to eat. However, we do want to take in a little local culture. We want a great beach and a fun crowd. (Two big Riu's fun or stuffy?)
The Shangri La looks great but there is no way my sports fan husband can go without a TV in room (topless wife or not).
Does anyone have any suggestions for a 20 yr. married couple who still likes to have a good time?
Please help - want to book something soon.
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[Shammy]

Already answered your PM.

[NDS]

Originally Posted by crizzybeach

Help, need some opinions.
Family - are you surrounded by little kids and teens.
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The Riu Y did not have very many kids and teens when I was there this past week. This surprised me a bit because kids in the USA are out of school. I can't comment on the Barcelo.

[Shredman]

Originally Posted by crizzybeach

Help, need some opinions.
Was leaning towards the Riu Y., but the Barcelo looks good two. A few questions about the Barcelo for those of you that have a minute. Shammy, are you out there??
Distance from town - access to Playa for night or day excursion?
Beach/Pool- better? more or less crowded than Riu Y.
Family - are you surrounded by little kids and teens?
Night Time - is there enough to do at night Dancing??
Please read post from last night. It describes what my husband and I are looking for - all opinions welcome.
Riu Yucatan Pool


<HR style="COLOR: #555576" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Just wondering what the deal is with the pool pics. at RY. Expedia shows a great looking pool, most other sites show a marginal motel type pool (even dated looking).
This will be our first trip to Playa and I am doing a lot of research. Mostly getting confused.
My husband is a 43 yr. old dancing fool so we do not want to be too far from town due to the nightlife. The AI's are appealing just so we do not spend all of time trying to figure out where it is safe to eat. However, we do want to take in a little local culture. We want a great beach and a fun crowd. (Two big Riu's fun or stuffy?)
The Shangri La looks great but there is no way my sports fan husband can go without a TV in room (topless wife or not).
Does anyone have any suggestions for a 20 yr. married couple who still likes to have a good time?
Please help - want to book something soon.
<!-- / message -->

We just got back from the Barcelo and loved it. We haven't been to the Riu. We're a family of five, so probably looking for something different than you are. However, there were more young couples and young families than there were oldsters like us, so I don't know why you wouldn't feel comfortable.

Don't know where the Riu is, but Barcelo is about 40 minutes or so down hell's highway from downtown. I have driven in Cities all around the world (even where they drive on the wrong side) and have never been more afraid for my family's safety than on the road to town. There was a multiple fatality the day we came home and it was horrific. If you need to be in town, I'd just stay there and stay off the road. I imagine the locals just think its a badge of honor, but seriously, the road is under construction and people routinely pass you with oncoming traffic and just expect them to get out of the way. As we saw on the way out, sometimes they don't. Our driver passed cars that were going the speed limit on a two lane road with oncoming traffic. It's just stupid. I had to basically threaten to pummel him if he didn't slow down. He perceived the iminent pummeling a greater risk than missing out on being first to arrive at a fatal car crash and acquiesced. I rented a jeep and drove the speed limit on the shoulder to stay out of the way of all the crazy Mexicans who were apparently late for an accident. Sorry for the rant.
The beaches and pool at the Barcelo are awesome and there is a disco that opens at 10:00. I wouldn't say that it was a party atmosphere though.

[crizzybeach]

Are you talking 40 min. from downtown Playa?

[Shammy]

It's not 40 minutes from town, it's about 20.

It's 50 minutes to the Barcelo from the airport (when not making any stops).

[K and P]

We liked Barcelo over the RIU's by a long shot, but everyone is different.
We liked the larger layout of Barcelo and the massive pools, which ment no overcrowding like at the RIU's.
Barcelo has a brand new disco and a fantastic beach, rooms are nicer too not that rooms matter that much but....
RIU's are ok but very crowded we would not return and I think that was one of the main reasons.
Barcelo is just more of a real resort to have fun in or just relax.