This is my first review. a few of us go away every year, and with me being in a wheelchair, we always stay at the RIU'sfor the handicap room. Emerald Bay was clean, good food, every room is an ocean view. saw alot of locals eating in the buffets, people walked off the beach into the hotel (we know by the wrist bracelets). The friendly atmosphere was not there, compared to the other RIU's. no decorated towels we always get, no decorated fruit at the buffet tables, staff was nice, but not "friendly". and yes, we tip lots, more than most average people. Guess we got spoiled at the other RIU's.

Was at the resort from February 1 to 8th, 2013 and was very happy with the resort. The food was excellent; there is food for everyone, children could enjoy pizza, pasta, hamburgers, hotdogs, etc and adults could enjoy seafood, mexician, and everything else the resort had to offer. The waiters and staff are very friendly and helpful. You always saw staff cleaning the resort and the rooms were clean and comfortable. Check-in and check-out at the hotel was very easy and quick. The gym and spa is very good. I had a massage at the spa and it was very good and the prices were much the same as I pay here in Edmonton. If I had to pick one negative thing about the hotel, I would have to say the entertainment in the evening was not that great. There was a nightly show at 9:00pm that lastest for an hour and than there was really nothing else to do other than hang out at a bar. There was no variety or opportunity to do anything else. The resort is a ways from the Golden Zone so you would have to take a cab to get to the restaurants and bars.
There is a good restaurant at the end of the beach and there is a small market down the street that has a great coffee shop called Looney Beans. There are shops there, a sports bar, massages, and a few other restaurants. If you are missing your Starbucks Coffee we found the one and only Starbucks in the Golden Zone. Its behind a bank if you need your fix!
I see someone made a comment at the age of people at the resort and I have to agree with them. If you are young and want to party this is really not the resort for you. The average ages of the people at the resort when we were there was 35-65 years old.

We are a family of two adults and two young teens who just got back from the Riu in Mazatlan. We had a great week! I can't say enough about how clean it is. The rooms, the public bathrooms, the pool areas - all immaculate! The food in the buffet restaurants has abundant choice and is delicious. The staff are so very friendly and most of them speak passable if not fluent english. The front desk is very helpful and open to your requests (we got extra pillows, a cot, and one gentleman helped me translate the ATM machine). We didn't do any excursions because the resort was fun and relaxing all on it's own!

Our favorite bits: The beach at this resort is huge - always chairs available. The sand is great, and there are no rocks at all (only sand) in the ocean for hours of swimming and boogey boarding. The sports bar was great for watching the Superbowl! The staff was amazing and all the rooms have a view of the ocean. The shows were fun and the entertainment staff were great. Amazing sunsets!! My 14 yr old son went para-sailing and loved it. Our kids were too old for the kids activities, so perhaps a teen club or the odd teen activity would have been fun.

What we weren't so happy with: although there was no smoking inside the hotel, it was hard to find a spot at any of the pools where you could breathe fresh air. It would be nice if one of the pool areas was smoke-free. Any drink requiring a syrup (daquiris, slush margaritas, etc) seemed to be made with aspartame, so I switched to Gin and Tonic.

If we were to do it again: We were on the 4th floor, but I would have enjoyed the view from a bit higher, I think. We never once stayed up till the disco opened (11pm) because we were exhausted from all the ocean playing, but I would be interested to check that out. I also would have brought some school supplies from Canada to give to some of the friendly staff and vendors we met.

I really enjoyed my stay at the Riu which was the first time I've ever been to Mexico.The room we had on the fifth floor was large with a king bed and double sink in the bathroom. It was very modern and clean. The view was spectacular which was west facing so we could watch the sunset over the ocean every night from our patio. The staff were very friendly and a lot of fun. Service was excellent. I enjoyed the food a lot and selection was very expansive. Desserts which were mostly bland and gelatin-based, so if you're a big dessert buff you may be disappointed. I was also surprised at the lack of fruit selection as well, though what they did have was very good (pineapple, papaya, and melons seemed to be the recurring staples there). Drinks were awesome, and as a Canadian I was very impressed at how well they make Caesars. The pools were very lovely (but cold!!), though the pool bar got a bit nasty on busier days. I was also disappointed that there was no hot tub. The beaches were very clean, though the tide is very strong and probably not the best swimming for young kids or weaker swimmers. It seemed more like an adult resort as there weren't as many families and young people there as I thought there would be. Most of the guests were Canadian which also surprised me a little too. They do have free Wi-fi there for 90 minutes a day though you can only access it from the hotel lobby. Overall, it was a terrific holiday and a beautiful hotel worth going to!