We enjoyed our stay at this resort. The rooms were clean, comfortable and had a mini fridge and bar. We had a view of the ocean and the Riu Palace hotel next to us. The service was great but we found the food to be average in the a la carte Restaurants. They were not as good as we have had at other resorts and we have been to many.
They beach area is not as beautiful as in other parts of Cancun or the Riviera Maya. There was no drink service on the beach during the day. The mojitos were very good!! There was lots of seaweed in this beach area but the staff do their best to clean the beach each day. The pool area was very nice and they had activities each day.
I would say this is an average hotel with great service but would not return due to the beach...not what we prefer.

Though we enjoyed our stay, we are not planning on returning to this resort.

My sisters and I travelled to Mexico for the first time November 2012. After reading several reviews of Riu Caribe on Trip Advisor, we decided to book our stay with them. We called twice in advance to ask for rooms together and were told that arrangements would be made. Unfortunately when we arrived late in the evening our rooms were not even on the same hall. The gentleman checking us in was very kind and found rooms a few doors apart on the second floor near the atrium. We stayed in those rooms for only two nights. Every other night or so a performer would stand in the atrium and perform with a microphone and full accompaniment. The amplified base made it so that we could hear and feel the sound all the way in our rooms, though the music stopped around 11 pm. When we asked for rooms away from the noise we were give seventh floor, ocean view rooms (an upgrade) at no additional cost.
The service at the Riu was by far my favorite part of our stay! The wait staff, check-in attendants and cleaning staff were all very accommodating. The hotel staff decorated our room very nicely for my sisters birthday! The also made an extra trip to clean our room late in the evening after I had been sick.
The food was average and repetitive. It was also rather institutional in taste and quality. The specialty Asian restaurant was tasty but not impressive. The Steak house had a very nice atmosphere and the staff was fantastic, but the food was average again. The Mexican restaurant was a thoroughly unenjoyable experience. The maitre'd told us to go and change before we could keep our reservation. When told we had no formal clothes they grudgingly seated us. The embarrassment of the situation was not eased by the fact that they did not speak English very well. The formality of this setting seemed unnecessary when we discovered that the food there was of no better quality then the food served in the rest of the resort.

The beachfront was lovely if not somewhat crowded. My only complaint would be that we could hardly find a place outside where we were free from the smell of cigarette smoke.

The mattresses are a bit hard. I had no trouble sleeping!

The Massage therapist and quality of massage were both excellent.

First time in cancun, wow what a place!
The hotel is clean and bright (EasyJet Colours), our room was comfortable and a good size with a dark blue and white colour scheme with a free mini bar. We had a noisy room the first night right above the entertainment in the main hotel bar/lobby area, ask for a room from floor 5 upwards or around the wings of the hotel for a good night sleep.

The main bar area was always busy at night, the bar staff work hard and are very friendly, you normally don't have to wait too long for a drink and your glass is normally full straight away.

The staff are very friendly and attentive in the restaurants, there are four restaurants, the main restaurant is a Buffet, just walk in. Steakhouse, Mexican and Asian you must book a table the same morning or the day before if you wanted to eat in them . The fried ice cream is to die for in the Asian restaurant!
We had dinner in all the restaurants the food was good but if you like cold food then try the steakhouse, the baked potato's and veg are normally cold (left to stand) but the steak was real good, cooked fresh so nice and HOT!
The pool area is quite noisy around the swim up pool bar but you do have a choice to relax in the other quiet pool area where you can get great pizza from 10am onwards. Sunbeds did not seem a problem to get in the mornings as there are plenty for everyone.

Don't book the trips with the tour operators, take a bus ride to town (experience on it's own £0.50/$0.75 each way) and book through the the local tour guides you can get 2 for 1 for the same trips.
Take a trip to Island Mujeres, take the blue and yellow ferry it takes 20mins and hire a golf cart for the day, see the island it was great, good beaches and shopping.

Came to this resort for holidays October 16 to 23, 2012. Upon arrival, the first thing I noticed was that this resort, although nice, was not as nice as pictured on Riu's website. We arrived around 10am, and while checking in we found out our room would not be ready until 3pm and none of our room requests could be fulfilled. Prior to going on this trip, we requested a room on an upper lever facing the inside of the resort. Although when booking this trip we were assured they would do their best to accommodate us (being return Riu guests), this was not the case upon arrival. We got a room on the main floor (side facing) with no view.
The lobby is not air conditioned, and with 40 degree weather, was uncomfortable to spend any time in. The pool and beach area are nice but felt a little cramped, and the buffet was good but lacking in selection. After speaking with the manager about our issues, he recommended that we upgrade to the Riu Peninsula next door as he was unable to do anything for us. After getting a tour from Victor (the manager) with another couple we met at the Caribe, we all decided to move to the Peninsula and it was worth every penny to upgrade (paid $350 more).
Overall, I would give the Riu Caribe an average rating. It's a fairly nice resort with newly renovated rooms, and all of the amenities one would expect.