Iberostar or RIU, which is better?

memomuffin · 01-17-2004

I have a similar link that turned into this topic but I know for me it's the Topic Subject that gets me interested so the question remains,
Has anyone been to both of these resorts? Which ones exactly have you gone to, when, and which is better and why? At the rate i'm looking at now, I think I may have to go with the Riu Playacar but we'll see......
Thanks so much for responding... Regardless of where we decide, we know (2 of my gals and I) will be there for a week in March (the 13-20).
I'm so looking forward to basking in the sun and partying it up in downtown PDC! 8)

iwannaplaya · 01-19-2004

just got back on 1-17 from the iberostar and it was wonderful. Everything was great. I have no complaints. I am now asking myself why I live in Wisconsion.

memomuffin · 01-19-2004

iwannaplaya,
Which Iberostar did you stay at? My boyfriend and I were at the Lindo in November and we had a blast. Did you write a trip report? Probably not considering you just got home 2 days ago. I wrote such a long winded, detailed trip report that it took me forever to finish it. I love hearing about how others spend thier vacation time so maybe you'll fill me in on some of the highlights.
I look forward to hearing all about it; until then, take it easy-Memomuffin

iwannaplaya · 01-20-2004

We stayed at the Iberostar Quetzal. I have not written a trip report. Don't know if I will get around to it. I'll try. It was the best vacation I have ever had. Total relaxation! Biggest decision to be made was if we were going to lay on the beach or by the pool. Next biggest decision was what to drink. I know alot of people don't like all inclusives but for us it's the only way to really have a vacation that is stress free and totally relaxing.

spolich · 01-21-2004

(posted in Riu's as well...)Hi,
I would like to share our experience at the Riu Yucatan with all. There were 6 in our group; my wife and I , my three daughters, and my oldest daughter's boyfriend.

Overall, we had a fantastic time at the Riu Yucatan. The beach was fantastic, and although a little crowded, we were always able to get lounge chairs (for 6). It just took a little snooping and asking, but never a problem.

We had a ton of fun at the pool, and met people from the US and England. don't remember any names, but the Coco-Loco's were sure flowing!

Take a walk down the beach (south) and you will come across some really nice rocks off the Playacar area. It's a great place for taking some nice pictures.

The food isn't the greatest at the Yucatan, but hey, are you really going for the food? It's good enough to keep you as full as you want...but I must mention that the french fries are fantastic. The alcohol wasn't name brand, but just to emphasise again, are you really going for the quality of booze you get? There is enough alcohol there to swim in (enough, I might add, to allow my daughter's boyfriend and I to become real buddies..sorry I digress)

The Yucatan is the only Riu of the 4 that has a gym. It can get pretty crowded, considering guests from all 4 hotels share it. And there was a guy there that once he got on the stand-up pedal bike, he stayed on it for like an hour-and-a-half..so much for sharing!

Back to the Hotel, The dinner arrangements are hard to take. You must make a semi-permanent reservation for diner for every night at either the 6:30 or 8:30 sittings. It's a little better than cafeteria-style food, but there is a lot of it. There are also two "theme restauraunts" that individually either serve Steak and Seafood. You have to make separate bookings for these restaurants on the morning of the day you want to go. And I mean morning. There are only about 70 seats, and there is a lineup at 7:00AM.
They insist that you cannot make reservations for another night, but after two unsuccessful attempts trying to book the seafood restaurant, on the third morning, I went down at 6:15AM, only to discover that a Wedding Party had made prior arrangements for the complete early sitting! Well I, as well as a group of other disgruntled guests insisted that if the Wedding party can reserve, then we declare our group is a wedding and want to book for the next night! I think the manager got our point, and reserved for the group of us over a span of the next three nights. (yes, men need to wear pants)

There is one other incident that really ticked me off, and I have tried to contact the Riu main Office to voice my concern. Here is the situation;

There is an arts and crafts wagon beside the pool. My kids are good at art.
We bought 3 clay figures on Wednesday, and my girls went to work creating their little masterpieces. On was a clam shell, one was a frog and one was a jewelry box. They spent several hours over the next three days painting and decorating these items. The last step was for the proprietor to take them to his shop and "fire" them so they would be completed. My daughters explained on Friday that we would be going on an all-day excursion on Staurday, and he said to pick them up on Sunday. So, Sunday, the day we are leaving, comes around and lo and behold, the arts guy never shows up!!
So I go to the front desk and explain my situation to Diana and Zigy. They tell me to leave it with them, don't worry and they would talk to the guy and have our items shipped to our house. Well since January 12, I emailed them 3 times, got their number from our travel agent and called them on January19, at which point they told me;
1. Diana doesn't work there any more
2. The Arts and Crafts guy hasn't been around for a couple of days and
3. Yes, they have seen my emails but haven't looked into the matter yet!

Finally, today on Jauary 21, they tell me by email that the arts guy has given the items to another lady who said they were hers! (are they kidding me?)

Anyhooow, it's not the $25.00 i am hot about, it's the memories lost from the crafts that ticks me off. I suspect the kid does this on a regular basis, takes them home, removes the personal effects, and re-sells them for $30.00US...just a hunch...

I have told my travel agent and the Riu that although I love Play Del Carmen, and we definitley plan on coming back to the area, the Riu chain is off my vacation list of Hotels. They will not see another penny of my money! Life's too short to have people tick me off like that. There are plenty of beautiful hotels in Playa Del Carmen. I may get better or worse treatment at another one, I don't know. But I won't go back to a Riu.

Hope this helps you to make your decision...

happy Travelling,

Regards,

Spolich

jmvasile · 02-23-2004

We went to the IB* Paraiso and the Riu Tequila last year. The Riu Tequila is the best of the 3 Riu's (not including the Palace) It has the best food, pool, landscaping, rooms, property,lobby, bars etc. I beleive this is to make up for the fact that you have to walk to the beach. Hey, I like that, who couldn't use exercise at an AI. The beach is in front of the other two RIU"S. The Yucatan is the next best, although it has a very small pool, andthe selection of food is not quite as good. The Playacar is a very distant third. I personally would not stay there, even my kids kept asking when we could leave. Again, that is my opinion and I don't speak for anyone else.
The IB* Paraiso was fabulous, the lobby was gorgeous, the rooms were very attractive (MUCH nicer than RIU), the property was lovely, it had amazing wildlife everywhere, including ostriches and peacocks !! The pool was to die for, it's over a kilometre to walk around the whole thing so I've heard. The food was great, particularly the buffet, and I am picky,picky,picky.The entertainment was the only sour note, but I don't care for all the shows anyhow, so I wasn't bothered. The Riu Tequila had a fabulous show by comparison.

Anyhow, if you go to the Riu's choose the Tequila, but either way, you should be happy

Kavi · 02-23-2004

We also stayed at the Paraiso Del Mar last year and loved it. Going to Riu Tequila March 1-8 - wanted to be closer to Playa. Sounds like it will pass but not measure up to the Paraiso. It was fantastic, but as said before the entertainment left quite a bit to be desired (a little too hokey). We are also wondering if the preset times for meals will be a problem, if so I'm sure we'll just go into town (dying for Captain Bob's Chipotle Shrimp - totally awesome!!!) Hopefully we did not make a bad choice w/the Tequila. I'll post a trip report when we get back.

jmvasile · 02-24-2004

Hey Kavi,

You did not make a mistake. The Tequila is a very nice resort and you know how it is, a person can find something to bitch about if the effort is made (at least I can). I guess I had expected the Tequila to be better than the Paraiso BECAUSE it was a 5 star and the Paraiso is a 4.5 star. This goes to show me that as Steve from Playa Maya pointed out, the hotels set their own rating (who knew that?? !!) Anyhow, that was what bothered me. But the truth of the matter was that the Tequila was just different. It is beautiful, the food is pretty good, maybe not as good as the Paraiso but certainly better than the other RIU"S. The pool is lovely, the lobby is very,very nice and the entertainment is far superior actually to the Paraiso.The beach and ocean,which is part of the Yucatan is absolutely to die for. So do your self a favor when you're there, check out the other two Riu's and see for yourself that you chose the superior resort. And then forget about comparing anything, have a drink and say "What the heck, it's not snowing, the sun is shining and I'm here and that's all that matters". Cheers....Jackie :P

Kavi · 02-24-2004

Jackie

Sounds like it will be great. If the beach is fantastic and the drinks are good we'll be more than happy and we are pretty low maintenance! Doesn't really take much to make us happy. Being in Playa rather than cold dreary Illinois is definitely a plus, can't wait to leave. Thanks for the input!

01-17-2004	#1 (permalink)
memomuffin way into it Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 138	Iberostar or RIU, which is better? I have a similar link that turned into this topic but I know for me it's the Topic Subject that gets me interested so the question remains, Has anyone been to both of these resorts? Which ones exactly have you gone to, when, and which is better and why? At the rate i'm looking at now, I think I may have to go with the Riu Playacar but we'll see...... Thanks so much for responding... Regardless of where we decide, we know (2 of my gals and I) will be there for a week in March (the 13-20). I'm so looking forward to basking in the sun and partying it up in downtown PDC! 8)

01-21-2004	#5 (permalink)
spolich lost on fifth Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Aurora, Ontario, Canada Posts: 12	Trying to decide??? Read this!!! (posted in Riu's as well...)Hi, I would like to share our experience at the Riu Yucatan with all. There were 6 in our group; my wife and I , my three daughters, and my oldest daughter's boyfriend. Overall, we had a fantastic time at the Riu Yucatan. The beach was fantastic, and although a little crowded, we were always able to get lounge chairs (for 6). It just took a little snooping and asking, but never a problem. We had a ton of fun at the pool, and met people from the US and England. don't remember any names, but the Coco-Loco's were sure flowing! Take a walk down the beach (south) and you will come across some really nice rocks off the Playacar area. It's a great place for taking some nice pictures. The food isn't the greatest at the Yucatan, but hey, are you really going for the food? It's good enough to keep you as full as you want...but I must mention that the french fries are fantastic. The alcohol wasn't name brand, but just to emphasise again, are you really going for the quality of booze you get? There is enough alcohol there to swim in (enough, I might add, to allow my daughter's boyfriend and I to become real buddies..sorry I digress) The Yucatan is the only Riu of the 4 that has a gym. It can get pretty crowded, considering guests from all 4 hotels share it. And there was a guy there that once he got on the stand-up pedal bike, he stayed on it for like an hour-and-a-half..so much for sharing! Back to the Hotel, The dinner arrangements are hard to take. You must make a semi-permanent reservation for diner for every night at either the 6:30 or 8:30 sittings. It's a little better than cafeteria-style food, but there is a lot of it. There are also two "theme restauraunts" that individually either serve Steak and Seafood. You have to make separate bookings for these restaurants on the morning of the day you want to go. And I mean morning. There are only about 70 seats, and there is a lineup at 7:00AM. They insist that you cannot make reservations for another night, but after two unsuccessful attempts trying to book the seafood restaurant, on the third morning, I went down at 6:15AM, only to discover that a Wedding Party had made prior arrangements for the complete early sitting! Well I, as well as a group of other disgruntled guests insisted that if the Wedding party can reserve, then we declare our group is a wedding and want to book for the next night! I think the manager got our point, and reserved for the group of us over a span of the next three nights. (yes, men need to wear pants) There is one other incident that really ticked me off, and I have tried to contact the Riu main Office to voice my concern. Here is the situation; There is an arts and crafts wagon beside the pool. My kids are good at art. We bought 3 clay figures on Wednesday, and my girls went to work creating their little masterpieces. On was a clam shell, one was a frog and one was a jewelry box. They spent several hours over the next three days painting and decorating these items. The last step was for the proprietor to take them to his shop and "fire" them so they would be completed. My daughters explained on Friday that we would be going on an all-day excursion on Staurday, and he said to pick them up on Sunday. So, Sunday, the day we are leaving, comes around and lo and behold, the arts guy never shows up!! So I go to the front desk and explain my situation to Diana and Zigy. They tell me to leave it with them, don't worry and they would talk to the guy and have our items shipped to our house. Well since January 12, I emailed them 3 times, got their number from our travel agent and called them on January19, at which point they told me; 1. Diana doesn't work there any more 2. The Arts and Crafts guy hasn't been around for a couple of days and 3. Yes, they have seen my emails but haven't looked into the matter yet! Finally, today on Jauary 21, they tell me by email that the arts guy has given the items to another lady who said they were hers! (are they kidding me?) Anyhooow, it's not the $25.00 i am hot about, it's the memories lost from the crafts that ticks me off. I suspect the kid does this on a regular basis, takes them home, removes the personal effects, and re-sells them for $30.00US...just a hunch... I have told my travel agent and the Riu that although I love Play Del Carmen, and we definitley plan on coming back to the area, the Riu chain is off my vacation list of Hotels. They will not see another penny of my money! Life's too short to have people tick me off like that. There are plenty of beautiful hotels in Playa Del Carmen. I may get better or worse treatment at another one, I don't know. But I won't go back to a Riu. Hope this helps you to make your decision... happy Travelling, Regards, Spolich

02-23-2004	#6 (permalink)
jmvasile lost on fifth Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 12	Iberostar Paraiso is better than RIU hands down We went to the IB* Paraiso and the Riu Tequila last year. The Riu Tequila is the best of the 3 Riu's (not including the Palace) It has the best food, pool, landscaping, rooms, property,lobby, bars etc. I beleive this is to make up for the fact that you have to walk to the beach. Hey, I like that, who couldn't use exercise at an AI. The beach is in front of the other two RIU"S. The Yucatan is the next best, although it has a very small pool, andthe selection of food is not quite as good. The Playacar is a very distant third. I personally would not stay there, even my kids kept asking when we could leave. Again, that is my opinion and I don't speak for anyone else. The IB* Paraiso was fabulous, the lobby was gorgeous, the rooms were very attractive (MUCH nicer than RIU), the property was lovely, it had amazing wildlife everywhere, including ostriches and peacocks !! The pool was to die for, it's over a kilometre to walk around the whole thing so I've heard. The food was great, particularly the buffet, and I am picky,picky,picky.The entertainment was the only sour note, but I don't care for all the shows anyhow, so I wasn't bothered. The Riu Tequila had a fabulous show by comparison. Anyhow, if you go to the Riu's choose the Tequila, but either way, you should be happy

02-23-2004	#7 (permalink)
Kavi way into it Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Springfield, Illinois Posts: 114	I hope we're not disappointed in the Tequila We also stayed at the Paraiso Del Mar last year and loved it. Going to Riu Tequila March 1-8 - wanted to be closer to Playa. Sounds like it will pass but not measure up to the Paraiso. It was fantastic, but as said before the entertainment left quite a bit to be desired (a little too hokey). We are also wondering if the preset times for meals will be a problem, if so I'm sure we'll just go into town (dying for Captain Bob's Chipotle Shrimp - totally awesome!!!) Hopefully we did not make a bad choice w/the Tequila. I'll post a trip report when we get back.

02-24-2004	#8 (permalink)
jmvasile lost on fifth Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 12	Kavi and the Tequila Hey Kavi, You did not make a mistake. The Tequila is a very nice resort and you know how it is, a person can find something to bitch about if the effort is made (at least I can). I guess I had expected the Tequila to be better than the Paraiso BECAUSE it was a 5 star and the Paraiso is a 4.5 star. This goes to show me that as Steve from Playa Maya pointed out, the hotels set their own rating (who knew that?? !!) Anyhow, that was what bothered me. But the truth of the matter was that the Tequila was just different. It is beautiful, the food is pretty good, maybe not as good as the Paraiso but certainly better than the other RIU"S. The pool is lovely, the lobby is very,very nice and the entertainment is far superior actually to the Paraiso.The beach and ocean,which is part of the Yucatan is absolutely to die for. So do your self a favor when you're there, check out the other two Riu's and see for yourself that you chose the superior resort. And then forget about comparing anything, have a drink and say "What the heck, it's not snowing, the sun is shining and I'm here and that's all that matters". Cheers....Jackie :P

01-19-2004	#2 (permalink)
iwannaplaya toe in water Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 41	just got back on 1-17 from the iberostar and it was wonderful. Everything was great. I have no complaints. I am now asking myself why I live in Wisconsion.

01-19-2004	#3 (permalink)
memomuffin way into it Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 138	iwannaplaya, Which Iberostar did you stay at? My boyfriend and I were at the Lindo in November and we had a blast. Did you write a trip report? Probably not considering you just got home 2 days ago. I wrote such a long winded, detailed trip report that it took me forever to finish it. I love hearing about how others spend thier vacation time so maybe you'll fill me in on some of the highlights. I look forward to hearing all about it; until then, take it easy-Memomuffin

01-20-2004	#4 (permalink)
iwannaplaya toe in water Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 41	We stayed at the Iberostar Quetzal. I have not written a trip report. Don't know if I will get around to it. I'll try. It was the best vacation I have ever had. Total relaxation! Biggest decision to be made was if we were going to lay on the beach or by the pool. Next biggest decision was what to drink. I know alot of people don't like all inclusives but for us it's the only way to really have a vacation that is stress free and totally relaxing.

02-24-2004	#9 (permalink)
Kavi way into it Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Springfield, Illinois Posts: 114	jmvasile - tequila Jackie Sounds like it will be great. If the beach is fantastic and the drinks are good we'll be more than happy and we are pretty low maintenance! Doesn't really take much to make us happy. Being in Playa rather than cold dreary Illinois is definitely a plus, can't wait to leave. Thanks for the input!

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