but the rest is average. We did have a wonderful time on the beach. Room was average size but the bathroom was small. We couldn't open the door without hitting the toilet. The food choices in the cafeteria never really changed and there is no where else to eat breakfast or lunch. And the food quality was average at best. At least it kept us from overeating while on vacation. Drinks were good and plentiful. We had stayed at the Riu Palace next door a couple years ago and liked it much better.

We booked an Apple Vacations 5 Apple Square Deal and the Riu Bambu is the resort chosen for us. We were at the Riu Bambu Feb 18-25. The beach at this resort is one of the best in this area. As we walked the beach in either direction some resorts had their chairs so close together you could not put a glass down. The Riu’s beach was very spacious with palm trees providing natural shade as needed. There were always chairs available. Not so at the pool. That was the famous “chair save game”. The pool area was very crowded and noisy and very little breeze. There was no bar on the beach, and the restrooms were quite a hike from the beach. The only bathrooms were next to MamaJuana restaurant, so these were used by the pool, beach and restaurant guests.
We had room 505 which was a ground floor room with a patio. Excellent location. Close to the beach, and close to lobby, theatre, restaurants and bar. Room had a bed, a small round table, two chairs, and a dresser and nightstands. The closet contained the digital safe (no charge) and a generous amount of hangers. Always hot water no matter what time it was. One day the toilet was not running properly and upon reporting it, they responded immediately and corrected the problem. Bath gel and shampoo packets provided. No washcloths even with a note left requesting this. Mini bar included with room. No coffee pot. That would have been a nice touch. The bed was very firm. Only a sheet and the dirty looking drab spread. No blanket. With the AC as cold as it was, a blanket would have been welcome. If you wanted an extra key for your room, just go to front desk and pay a $10 deposit which is refunded upon returning the key. Maids usually cleaned the room in the morning.
Food: Buffets always provided a generous array of foods. Always hot and always refilled. Great service The one thing I noticed is that there were two egg stations in the AM but only one would make omelets and the other egg station did not make eggs per your request. He just kept frying eggs and putting them in the warming pans, some over easy, some sunny side up, some scrambled. The alacart restaurants required you to reserve at 7am that day. Crazy to have to set an alarm just to make a reservation. We did one day for the steak house and it was ok, but would not bother to do so again. No snack bar at pool as so many resorts have. MamaJuana was open air, but under a roof and people were in swim attire in there which was acceptable.
WIFI free in lobby-90 min per day. User name and password is on the wall behind the front desk.
Entertainment staff was always busy with games on the beach and at the pool. Never pushy. We only saw a few of the shows at night, pretty much the same as you see at other resorts. Marino at the Plaza bar was the best. Lots of children at the resort. Massages were $60 for 55 minutes. There was a flea market about a mile down the beach. Easy walking.
One thing we were not informed of was that you had to pay $10 per person to enter the country.
One of the most negative things at this resort was the way they handled the beach towels. As the day went on, you could not get a clean beach towel. We like to exchange our towels for clean ones and take the towels to the room with us. They would not give you a clean one. And as the week went on, they wouldn’t even let you take the dirty one to the room. They actually posted Towel Guards on the walkways to catch you. In our case all I wanted the clean towel for was to use as a blanket because the AC was so cold. We found that by going along the walkway over by the kiddie area, there were no towel guards over there. It is a shame they treat guests like this at a 5 star resort.
The resort was clean and the service was good. There was constant grooming of the landscape and cleaning and painting of buildings. We heard there were some rooms that had been refurbished and were really nice. The water was not drinkable. Bottle water was provided in your mini bar. If you are looking for a resort with a small footprint, with a beautiful beach then this is the resort for you. Note the beach waters are a bit rough, not the calm waters you can float in as in some areas of the Dominican.

My girlfriend and I have recently arrived home from the Rui Bambu (12th - 26th February 2013), I must admit we were slighly worried by some of the reviews but we still booked based on instinct and also we read a fair amount of positive things. We were not disappointed and we had an excellent break that will live long in the memory.

Firstly, the main reason we chose the area was for the beach. We were not disappointed. The area is beautiful, the water is crystal clear and there is the option of talking lazy walks along the beach, relax in the numerous sun beds or indulge in some watersports (or para-sailing for the more adventurous). There a quite a few guys trying to sell stuff on the beach, but if you politely decline they are no bother.

There are two pools, the main pool which the resort uses in many of the brochure photos is nice enough, but it gets very busy and noisey. Many of our American friends tend to set up camp in close proximity to the swim up bar and don't really move. When we wanted a break from the beach we opted for the other pool, which is smaller but is a lot more pleasant and chilled. It depends what you like, the main pool can be vibrant in the afternoons when the entertainment staff get in full flow, this will appeal to some people.

We thought the staff were all excellent! We actually got angry when we read negative comments about any of the staff. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion and people have different experiences, but we thought the people made the resort. Our cleaning lady was very friendly, we tipped her, gave her a few gifts and we showed her that she appreciated her hard work. You have to realise that these people are not our slaves, they need to be respected, they work extremely hard and get paid very little. The reception always dealt with everything we asked and had no problems with language barriers that a few people complained about! Everything we asked of the staff was done with upmost efficiency - a quick mention about our rep, he was top notch and was always there for us. The bar staff at the main bar really were great and made our holiday! Ramon, the barman, became our friend and all the bar people were very friendly. He greeted us everyday with 'my family' with a big smile on his face. To me small touches like this are far more important than people worrying about how much choice there is at a buffet and what the beer is like. We actually sat talking to the bar staff and had a really enjoyable time. Yes the drinks were not always first class, there was no consistency in the drinks but that is the charm of the place. People who want better - pay to go to a better resort!! In fact I don't want to be rude and tarnish a whole population, but a main negative was not the resort but was the attitude of the Americans who were there. We found them to be rude, arrogant to the extent they thought they were better than the staff, impolite and just taking over the place. I don't think in all the time we sat at the bar we heard a 'please' or 'thank you', it was more like demands shouted at the staff. I have read reviews saying that 'the staff don't seem to like Americans', is it any wonder they don't! Again this could be cultural, but we didn't like it so I will mention it. I'm not an American hater, I have many American friends across the pond, it could be that the hospitality industry is so strong in the US, this cannot be replicated elsewhere.

The rooms are adequate for what is needed whilst in the Dominican, you don't go all that way to sit in your room. Do not expect 5* luxury as the rooms are quite dated, although was exactly how we expected. The food is not to everyone's taste, you cannot expect out of the world food in buffet style restaurants, but there is lots of choice and we had some very enjoyable meals. The flexibility with the second buffet restaurant was great as you could grab a bite to eat from the morning until around 5pm, you could often get tables with glourious views of the beach.

Overall we would agree with people that this shouldn't be a 5* but a solid 4* or just below. You need to pick your resort carefully, pay more money and you can stay at a better Rui resort if you want real luxury. We paid a reasonable price for a resort at an excellent location with friendly staff. The gardens are beautiful, the rooms are comfortable, but dated, it is not luxury but if you want a great holiday with great people on a superb beach then please don't miss out on this resort!!

Oh yes room location! We did ask to be moved as we were close to the entertainment areas (room 2115 I think), but we were moved to a room in the 800s and this was nice and quiet. Also don't listen to people saying some rooms are too far from the beach/resort, the furthest walk will take 3-4 minutes through beautiful gardens, does this seem like a chore to you!

I hope this review helps, enjoy your holiday!!

had a great time at the bambu our room was nicely done. we found the staff that looked after our hotel section were very friendly and looked after any request we had.my wife and i found the pools to be clean,the grounds were very well maintained,the beach was very well kept considering the amount of people on the beach we felt it cosy not crouded and for the most part the people were frienly as well.we felt the sellers were a little too agressive but if you were polite with them then no problems. The food was also very good one would have to be a very picky eater to not find something to eat , while ther we also tried the steak house and italian restaurants my wife and i though the meals and staff were very good again lots to eat . You neede to get up for 7 to book a table at the restaurants becausee they book fast but i,m an early riser so that wasnt an issue. we took the saona island full day trip and we would highly recommend that one it was a fantastic time again though the sales people getting to the boats can be a little agressive. after the trip our bus broke down in the parking lot and we had to wait for a new one which took an hour ,we felt that wasnt too bad ,some people were a little disgruntled but that stuff happens and if you are on vacation you should be relaxing anyway.any how back to the hotel i would recomend this place based on our experience one really cant complain when thw sun is shining the beer is could and the oceans roar in the back ground ,. nice place