Riu Palace review

[snoopy]

This site was so helpful in planning our vacation, I wanted to give some info. back. We (couple-early 40's) were at the Palace 3/10-3/17.First I need to say that we used Shammy as our travel agent. She was so helpful and knowledgable-helping decide where and when to go, researching other carribean islands, giving pro's and con's of resorts, and always responding immediately. The best travel agent I've ever used and she's several states away!
Resort- the most beautiful, "grand", but not stuffy resort we have stayed. Quite european looking with attention to detail throughout the resort. As others have stated, pictures do not do it justice. Employees were constantly cleaning, the resort was immaculate. All staff were very friendly and wanting to please.Most spoke some english. On a couple of occassions I needed to ask the front desk staff for things and needed to ask twice. I realized they didn't fully understand what I was asking/saying. I then found the staff that understood english the best and went to him after this-very minor issue overall. I only know about 10 words of spanish so I should have had a spanish dictionary with me.Very nice lounge area/piano bar (most top shelf liqour available). Live entertainment from 9-10 pm outside the buffet retaurant and the standard shows from 10-11pm. More children than expected-babies to teen-agers. By more I would say I saw about 20-25 per day,all well behaved. One night we heard them running up and down the hall, but generally not intrusive. It was a school vacation week in the southwest we were told.
Restaurants/Food-4 restaurants for dinner, Don Julian (buffet) La Bodega (various grilled meats) Sir Edward (continental) and Mediterraneo steak house. There was an additional restaurant open for lunch and the steak house was general fare at lunch. Don Julian is truly an international buffet. Yes, a buffet can lose it's appeal after a few days but the quality and quantity was better than other all-inclusives. Things such as sushi, caviar, cheeses and cold meats from many countries, lots of various home made breads and rolls, duck, pasta dishes, and several meat, chicken and seafood dishes every night. Unless you like meat very well done, you will not enjoy the meat dishes. Many,many more standard items as well as "what is that?" dishes.There was also a seperate small area serving just mexican food. The only disappointment was the desserts, barring the flan. Just average, same items most days and not home-made. They did have several varieties of hard ice cream at dinner, including coconut, and soft-serve at lunch. There was always fresh fruit available. We thought breakfast was very good- all the typical items plus several varieties of yogurt, fresh juices-try the orange/spinach, looks awful, tastes very good (we have started to make it at home),champagne for mimosas,cheeses and cold meats again ( for western europeans this is typical in the am),and a large selection of pasties,breads and cereals. Eating outside was always pleasant. If you drink decaf., it will be a jar of instant brought to your table. They also serve cappuccino and coffee with steamed milk. Lunch was easiest at the 2 restaurants (outdoor, but shaded) near the beach-both had similiar items ( pizza,hamburgs, hot dogs, salad items,hot dishes,etc.) people went back and forth between restaurants. We went to the buffet 1 day at lunch-very few people, food similiar to dinner. It was a brief escape from the heat and humidity. We ate at Sir Edwards twice. Worth going at least once. You need to stand in line at 7am for reservations for that night. Only seats about 50 people. Food very good and the same excellent service. Unfortunately the menu doesn't change. We did not go to the other restaurants- thinking the grilled meat would all be well-done, it wasn't tempting. The steak house had private parties some nights so this was not an option. The 2 other a la carte retaurants required reservations to be made between 7-11am for that evening. They are firm with their dress code. Men must wear pants to all restaurants for dinner. A polo shirt or short sleeved shirt with a collar was the norm-no ties necessary and only a few wore sports coats. Not too many sneakers seen at dinner.I was told they could get away with shorts at the steak house. With a large percentage of the people there being european, many dressed for the evening. Women wore casual outfits, skirts,sun dresses and some wore more dressy outfits. I only saw a few womwn in shorts at dinner. You choose a seating time the first day there-6:45 or 8:45. These are the same times for all restaurants. At the buffet they seat you at the same table each evening-sitting outside was very nice.
Spa/Gym- small exercise room but adequate- (glancing in) treadmills, stair climbers.weights and a few pieces of nautilus I believe. The spa was very nice. I had 2 deep tissue massages (1 hour $80) which were very well done. A variety of services ranging from about $35-$120. There were 2 jacuzzi's in the spa that could be used even if no service was scheduled. They were outdoors and fresh fruit and water was available.
Weather-mid to high 80's during the day, 65-70 at night. There was 1 afternoon of clouds and rain overnight a few times. Only one day did we find the humidity overwhelming.
Rooms- larger than most.Toilet and bidet seperate from tub/shower and vanity area. Rooms included free safe and a hairdryer. I brought an iron. They will give you an ironing board for the week but if you want an iron they would pick it up after an hour or so. Small refrigerator always stocked with corona (only beer available), water, sprite and pepsi. There were liquor bottle dispensers above the refrig. -750ml bottles of rum(Bacardi), vodka (Smirnoff),tequila(Jose Cuervo) and brandy-?brand. These were also kept full on a daily basis. There is a sittting area then the balcony. Depending on your room, you will either be looking at cement while sitting on balcony or a view if you have the rooms facing the fountains.I wrote ahead and asked for a second or third floor room with fountain view. Got a 1st floor- but they changed us to a second floor without a problem. No fountain view though. People stated that those with a charter didn't get these rooms. Someone asked for an upgrade to fountain view and was tol it was an extra $50 per night. Not worth it to me, rooms the same and very little time spent on balcony. Rooms have tv, phone but no alarm clock. Many have complained of the hard beds-yes they were, but we were so tired each night they didn't bother us.
Beach/Pool-pool was large, clean and beautiful but we stayed at the beach. There were always enough chairs but some people put their towels on chairs early if they wanted to be under a palm tree. It was the nicest beach along the strip of resorts. It was cleaned constantly and the water was great-no stones,seaweed,etc.
Tour- we went on Anna's tour of Tulum, snorkeling etc. As others have said it was so much better than the standard tour-fun, interesting, a great day!
A beautiful resort,a very good choice and worth the extra money.
I will be glad to answer any questions.

[jobob]

Snoopy, your review duplicated what we experienced at the Palace in December. Curious though, were you Apple or Funjet vacation? Just wondering as there have been other posts that those groups don't get courtyard view unless you pay more. We were Sunquest out of Canada and we and several others we know who were Sunquest all received courtyard view rooms. Contacted Sunquest recently to see if their arrangements had changed but they said courtyard still ok if available day you arrive. We want to return later this year for 2 weeks as 1 just wasn't long enough and it will be either the Palace again or we may go to the Riu Playacar and use the money we save for tours etc.
Great review.

[snoopy]

We were with Apple, the person who would need to pay add'l $ was on funjet. TT bad Sunquest doesn't fly from Massachusetts!

[cuffedlinks]

Landlocked here in the Midwest - we used Suntrips and couldn't have had a better room location unless they gave us a jacuzzi suite...Didn't ask for an upgrade, just checked in - and that was at 8 pm or after! I thought surely all the decent views would be gone by that time...

We had photos in the previous forum's Member's Gallery...