I've been in the hotel business for over 15 years and couldn't have been more impressed with Riu Palace Peninsula. The grounds and pools were kept very clean. The resort was sold out and there was never a problem finding lawn chairs on the beach or by the pools. They offered many different restaurants as well as the buffet that had many wonderful options to choose from for any taste. The service was FANTASTIC! The housekeeping staff throughout the resort was exceptional. There were a few minor mechanical items in our room that we reported (light not working, safe needed a battery) but nothing major that made any impact on our stay. We went deep sea fishing and the Steakhouse Chef met with us to ask how to prepare the fish we caught so everything would be to our liking. The Chef served our table himself and the meal was absolutely fantastic! A few of the wonderful people that took care of us during our stay were: Francisco (AM Dining), Freddy (PM Lobby Bartender), Diego & Bernardo (Swim Up Bar), Tello (Kulinarium), Fer & Elvis (Mexican Restaurant) & the wonderful Chef at the Steakhouse Restaurant.

If you are looking for a relaxing vacation with beautiful views, outstanding service, exceptional food, extremely clean and a very accommodating staff, I would highly recommend the Riu Palace Peninsula.

Great food, attentive staff, and nice rooms. All rooms have ocean views; this was a definite plus; the view is gorgeous. Beautiful lobby with bar with gourmet treat cafe which is 100% included with the all-inclusive. Liquor dispenser in the room even has premium brand bottles.

We recently returned from a visit to the RIU Palace Peninsula in Cancun – January 27,2013-Feb 5, 2013 via Sunwing Vacations (Sunwing review will follow)

We arranged our trip through Margaret Prefontaine at CAA in Winnipeg and got great service as always. CAA always matches the best price online and looks after all the details necessary with the hotel and the airline

The RIU Palace Peninsula is an outstanding hotel. Our 5 star experience started right at the door as we were welcomed to the hotel by Alex the doorman. Always smiling and helpful, Alex will get a taxi for you when required and assist with your entry and exit.

As I use a wheelchair and crutches for mobility, certain portions of this review will refer to issues or concerns that I have that specifically relate to mobility challenges that I encountered at this property.

When we travel, we of course check the reviews and look to see the experiences chronicled by other patrons of the properties that we are considering. With the RIU Peninsula, there were not many reviews due to the newness of this hotel (opened in the spring of 2012)

The lobby and décor of this hotel is stunning although far too much purple for our liking. The rooms, pools and lobby seem more like we would expect at an art-deco hotel in Miami than what we would expect in Mexico and may be too stark for many but we loved it so much here we will have to return.

The staff at this hotel take a really great experience and make it OUTSTANDING. We made many great friends on the RIU staff and I shall try to mention all of them but the list is long and suffice it to say that you will be served “with pleasure” by all you encounter. As a matter of fact, this was one of the first things we noticed; when we would thank someone for assisting us or providing service; rather than the standard “you’re welcome” or the annoying “No Problem”,each time the staff response would be “It is my pleasure”(and delivered like they really meant that)

Many staff excelled in their roles to ensure that our stay was exceptional; Alessa and Victor – went out of their way at the front desk to ensure our room was always satisfactory and that the hotel was meeting our needs on a daily basis; Elio the ever-smiling captain of the serving staff in the buffet-this guy will always bring joy to your heart – mucho gusto encantado Elio!; Enrique – true friend and maitre’d of the Steakhouse a la carte restaurant and captain in the buffet –made sure we were comfortable and got the seating that we desired – Thank you Enrique; Eduardo – waiter-beach, pool and inside provided great service daily; Raul-our friendly, jocular and always indulgent waiter at breakfast and lunch, Susanne –artist at the RIU Art – worked with my wife to create an amazing picture in acrylics – Don’t miss this if you enjoy to paint – very relaxing and lots of fun; David and Paloma of the Entertainment team – David even helped to get me out of the pool in my wheelchair after my swim; Oscar –lifeguard – also helped me to get out of the pool on occasion; Ray and David – Room Service with a smile!;Elvis our fantastic waiter in the Steakhouse and the Mexican a la cartes; and who could forget Ron – the effervescent leader of the RIUfit team – Ron even braved the cool water in the lap pool to help me with stretching and strengthening exercises – Good luck in the fights Ron and thank you for the First Aid.

And I cannot forget Hector Lopez, bellman and RIU hotel ambassador. When my wife found the height of our room on the 6th floor to be not to her liking, Hector took me around to see some alternative rooms, handicapped and non-handicapped so we could find one that would be more comfortable and moved us the same day to a more acceptable room on the 3rd floor. Every day that Hector saw us in the lobby, he would come over with his warm smile and see if he could assist us in any way. I cannot thank you enough, Hector! – When I wanted to review some more rooms on the 1st floor with a view to our next visit to the RIU, Hector found some rooms and pushed me around, allowing me to take pictures of the view, the balconies and the washroom amenities. A true friend, mucho gusto Hector Lopez!

I could go on about the hotel, the great food, the impeccable service, the attention to detail, the pools, the cappacino bar, the 24 hour room service and the daily stocked mini-bar in your room
Speaking of the rooms, the beds were oh so comfortable and the AC worked great! We found the layout from a privacy perspective to be a little odd but we adapted to it. The rooms are quite large and include flat screen TV, radio-alarm-mp3, sitting area and desk, fridge stocked daily with beer, pop and water and a liquor dispenser including tequila vodka, white and amber rum.

Every room has a view and my one disappointment would be that they put the handicapped rooms at the backside of the hotel so you do not have the enjoyment of the full on ocean view

This hotel has 4 pools you can enjoy and an additional VIP villa guest only pool. The four pools include a ramped pool that provides easy access for people like me with mobility issues, a heated pool, an infinity pool and a pool with a swim up bar that housed all the party folks. If you really want to party, you should consider the RIU Caribe or RIU Cancun – that cater to a different clientele.

We took advantage of our Palace gold bracelets to visit and enjoy the food and facilities of the other RIU properties in Cancun (you can use the Cancun, Caribe and Palace Americanos)

Pros
Staff
Service
Rooms
View
Pools
Bars
Food

Cons
Ramp to Pool Level
No Restaurant at Pool Level
No handicap rooms at the front of the hotel

We chose this hotel because it was new and assumed that it would be very accessible to my wheelchair . The hotel does include handicapped rooms – 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 and handicap washrooms at pool level and off the hotel lobby but the ramps to the pool level from the hotel are far too steep to navigate a wheelchair on your own and present significant difficulty for anyone that is trying to assist you . The easiest ramp to navigate, with a slightly better slope is located near the VIP villas and is accessed by travelling through the entertainment area.

I did not enjoy this aspect of the hotel because if I wanted to eat or go to my room I needed help to get into the hotel

I will post pictures of the washrooms so you can see if the rooms will suit your needs
The beach is small but you can also attend the larger beach next door at the Caribe – The loungers are very plentiful both poolside and at the beach and even on days when the hotel was busy we had plenty of room in the pools and no problem finding a shady spot.

We found the food in all of the a la carte restaurants to be excellent and enjoyed the sushi appetizer in the Japanese, the crab legs, rib eyes, lobster and baked Alaska in the steakhouse and the tiramisu in the Italian. Really, If you cannot enjoy the food here….you must have an exceptional chef at home.

Thank you RIU Peninsula for making our 1st stay in Cancun a memorable one. We are looking forward to our next visit with you!

first the good!...awesome hotel!everything was kept very clean and grounds manicured meticulously.everything down to the guys raking away the seaweed each morning and covering the Mayan ruin to prevent damage.Swim-up bars and bartenders were PHENOMENAL even bringing us whatever we wanted on the beach as well.they upgraded our room for free to a nicer one up higher and the view was perfect.the only restaraunt we needed,(or wanted) served HUGE assortment of buffet foods of every kind and the service was impecable. No one would ever starve here!...the bad...the swamp smell of "the lagoon" permeated the upper halls where the elevators were and there was no air conditioning there until you got to your room.it was kind of nauseating.ALL the bars were DEAD by 7pm except the sports bar and the one which had the show twice a week.basically,after 7,unless you were going to an off resort locale,it was time for bed..LOL!,also WAY too much PURPLE everywhere and WEIRD little "mad hatter"chairs all over the lobby...kind of psychadelic decor.oh,and the ATM was BROKEN the entire week of our vacation so if we wanted to withdraw cash we had to go elsewhere.overall though,awesome place and for the price,it cant be beat!