Date of stay 6th - 21 November 2012
Having stayed at an RIU previously we were not surprised by the impressive facade and grand reception area the lovely grounds and of course the wonderful beach. Sadly there the good bits end. This hotel seems to have fallen between the two preverbial stools insofar as it is a 5 star complex but with a 1960s holiday camp attitude. Our room was constantly damp as were many others, we reported on 3 occasions other faults within the room but they still took 6 days to be put right. Although most staff tried hard its just not up to 5 star rating. Entertainment was reminiscent of an episode of HI-DE-HI and thats being kind!. Restaurant service was friendly but plates were removed as soon as knife and fork were put down with no regard to other people who were still eating. We paid the extra supplement for what was described as a "limited sea view". For this read virtually non-existent. We tipped individuals on a regular basis because we felt that they tried their best to look after us but clearly better training is called for throughout especially Reception whose attitude often left much to be desired.

The property: The Riu Palace Punta Cana - not to be confused with the other Riu Palace hotels in Santo Domingo and the other areas - looks and feels like a palace - great architecture, majestic interior design - especially the lobby, immaculately maintained lush gardens. It is on the beach and as you walk toward the beach you pass fountains, beautifully arranged green plants and the 3-section pool, with a bar. I like the hotel a lot better than The Ritz on Maui and the Fairmont Orhid on the Big Island in Hawaii. The thing that surprised me most is that the staff never stops cleaning, maintaining, caring for the property at all times.
The room: Our junior suite was huge. As you enter the suite, to the left is the bathroom, to your right is the bed and the "living room", with a neat little sofa and the TV. I was a bit worried about the dreaded musty smell everyone complains about when visiting the Carribeans, but there was a very faint smell that went away when we opened the balcony door. Balcony was big too, with nice chez longs and a place to hang your swimming suits. We had hot water at all times, everything was neat, clean, with organic coffee next to the coffee machine. What surprised me was that there was a mini bar with bottles of Stoli, rum, brandy and gin, and a sign that the alcohol is being replenished every 2 days!!! The fridge was full with water, beer, soda and other drinks. All of this is free by the way.
The food: Food was great in all 5 restaurants. We liked everything. Don't forget to get long pants (men) and flirty dresses - everyone dresses up nicely at night and you don't want to stand out by wearing sneakers and shorts. You will also have to make reservations for the themed restaurants (Japanese, Argentinian, Stake House, and Italian) for a feel-good, sit-down dinner. The main restaurant doesn't require reservations. There's so much food and such a big variety that we were overeating all the time. Good thing you could walk along the beach for miles to compensate for these guilty pleasures:)
The drinks: There is so much alcohol - served everywhere (don't forget, you have lots in your room too), and for free, that I got a bit overwhelmed. I guess most of the guests loved the fact they could down alcoholic drinks 24x7. The capuccino/coffee machines were available at all times, in addition to the bars where you could get coffee, tea and al sorts of juices.
The services: Riu Land for kids - worked very well for us. The staff is very friendly and takes good care of the kids. They have children disco every night at 8 and have games and awards for them. My daughter was very, very happy. The daily entertainment was good - games and sports going on al the time. The night entertainment was good too. The staff had good fun games for the grown ups, and we also had a variery of shows - from ballet, to illusionists, etc. They have stores with everything you might need - floaties, swimming suits, gifts, etc. They have a nice gym, and a sauna with lots of offerings. As guests of the Riu palace we could go to 2 other Riu properties and enjoy all the services/restaurants there. We were not allowed to go to Riu Macau because it was the couples only season and we were with a 6-year old.
The atmosphere: Very relaxed. Very laid back. Everything happens effortlessly, things are smooth. It rains every day but nonetheless it's hot. And it's humid. Considering the nature is not very benevolent, especially with the high level of humidity and so much rain - it is surprising how well kept the hotel is.

This resort has a beautiful beach and beautiful grounds. the room was nice, the first room we had was very hot and musty. We asked to change rooms and they were happy to move us. All the workers are very friendly and work very hard. Most of them do not speak english very well but we never had a problem explaining what we needed. One negative is that most of the liquor is rum. The vodka is rum and the whiskey is rum. They refill the bottles with rum every night. Otherwise it is a great resort and I would definitely recommend staying there.

We arrived at this hotel on th 5th of November for 2 weeks. on arrival here the hotel was very impressive. We were allocated room 0105, lovely view over the the 3 fountains in front, set out beautifully inside for my birthday. Reception on arrival were courteous and welcoming and remained like this throughout our stay. The house keeping is excellent our room was immaculate after each clean and the towel creations were unbelievable. We visited all the Al a carte restaurants except the crystal and the food in all was of good quality but we felt let down in each restaurant as there wasnt any ambiance, a simple CD playing with themed music would be sufficent. The pool area is nice, although is in need of maintenance and appears to require an on duty manager around this area at all times to control the food on plates smoking and drinking which on some days was totally out of hand with drunken people in the pool just taking over this making everyone elses day uncomfortable and the pool filthy and contaminated. The waiters around the pool worked very well with Victor being exceptiional. We found the food in general good, this often was let down by chefs not taking note of food trays which were empty. Drinks at the cocktail bar were excellent and were served to a consitently good standard.

The staff generally worked well always smiling and attentative however sometimes a tip made them work in an incorrect manner for example if you were being served in a queue and another person came up tapping his glass with money in his hand he would be served immediately, this happened on several occasions at the pool bar.

The gardens are looked after very well and the men working there were always very polite and enjoyed local bantaner.

We enjoyed this hotel very much and Riu in general. The hotels positioning to the beach is perfect.

We noted on other reviews that people have commented about the staff not speaking English only Spanish, we didnt find this a problem and all the staff were highly delighted teaching you their language.

The entertainment in house worked very hard and were always friendly and polite even if you werent joining in. The evening entertainment should not be lead by the in house animation team giving the same people their certificates every night. a high percentage of the allocated night entertainment was taken up by this. the remainder being of 3* quality.

This is our opinion go with an open mind and have a fantastic holiday, we did!