Hello everyone, i would just like to say in the first sentence here that i scrolled through these reviews and read the bad ones and though " yah some people have bad experiences its still a good hotel" or " they are most likely over exaggerating".
This is a completely honest review.

IF YOU WANT TO SKIP TO THE MAIN PROBLEM OF BUGS REFER TO NUMBER 6. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LIST OF ALL THE PROBLEMS I CAME ACROSS, READ ALL!


1) when we arrived we were greeted with drinks which i did like, so far so good, we walked up to the counter and got our room KEY. By room key i mean a literal key not a card. WHAT KIND OF 5 STAR HAS A LITERAL KEY TO OPEN THE DOOR?!
2) after settling in i noticed the green outdated furniture that turned me off right away. BUT they have bottles of booze in the room so the furniture wont matter after a few tequilas.
3) We went to go make reservations at the customer service area. They told us reservations are for 2 days in advance. We had to eat the buffet the first two nights. Slightly annoying but i can understand.
4) One night we came back from our a la cart later than expected and we did not get a good seat in the theater, when i say we didnt get a good seat i mean we were facing the side of the stage way at the back to the point YOU CANT EVEN SEE THE SHOW. The theater should be alot bigger so people do not have to watch the side of a wall the whole night.
5) in the theater the first few nights we had went early and gotten good seats, we were served by a waiter named willy who kept the drinks coming non-stop, WILLY WAS AMAZING! Had drinks waiting for me the second i hopped off of stage after singing like an idiot. BUT when we had bad seats the waiters for that sections would actually walk by and try to avoid being seen and never asks if we would like drinks.. We had to get our own that night .. Thats not 5 star service.
6) On the first night we had found an ant, very small running under our safe and its mexico thats gonna happen (so we thought). The next morning we found a cockroach running along the floor, i had killed it and reported it to the front desk who said they will have someone come up to our room and look for bugs. They did not even ask our room number and i had to tell them we are room number 1136. We had walkedup to the room and waited. Nobody had come. The next day we found another cockroach hiding under a shoe in our room and this had given my girlfriend the creeps so i went down very upset telling them i want someone to come up now and that the first time nobody even came, they said they are sorry and they will have someone come up. A person had come up about 10 minutes later with a can of raid. He had sprayed a wall of our room and left..
I had went to customer service that night to get a reservation and she had said she had heard about our troubles and would like to offer us a bottle of champagne and someone to look at our room again, we agreed knowing the bottle of raid didnt do anything. a person had come up 2 minutes after with a huge steel can and hose reading "FUMIGATION" and sprayed our whole room. The man has said " is ok to breath i think" ... No bottle of champagne either, not like id want it when i can go down and get drinks anyways..
We had went to sleep late that night avoiding our room at all costs.
The next day my girlfriend and i had went to our room so she get ready for dinner. She was doing her hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror when she screamed and i ran in.. Another bug running around her feet. That was it, i paid for a 5 star and this is a 2 star room with 2 star service. I had went down to go tell front desk but a man was taking forever talking to someone there and yelling. I had heard the man say bugs so i interrupted the conversation and asked the man if he had cockroaches aswell, he opened a white napkin and said that he had been having this problem for days. At that second me and this man both started letting the front desk know we were not happy.. The front desk person offered me and the man a another same room 1 floor below but refused to promise there were no bugs. When i had come down to get the literal key for our new room a new girl nadia was at the desk, i told her i am not happy about this at all and she said sorry. I had asked her to guarantee me there are no bugs in this new room, she had said its on a whole new floor and she cannot promise there will be no bugs. After 2 minutes of telling her how not happy we are she had said " i promise no bugs in room".. She said 2 minutes before she cant promise?
That was our last night, we had not gotten a bug for that whole 2 conscious hours we were in that room.

WE MET A COUPLE IN THE ELEVATOR ASKING IF A MAID ASKED IF WE WANT HERSHEY KISSES?!? WE HAD SAID NO AS THIS NEVER HAPPENED.
They told us that a maid had KNOCKED on there door. The couple did not answer as they did not wantt to be bugged, then the maid proceeded to unlock the door and go inside even though the " do not make room" sign was up, the people stood staring at the maid who had only said " hershey kisses?" Reaching in her pocket to grab some, she than left.
Take that story as youd like *cough* stealing *cough*.
I could go on for hours and hours but i will leave it at that. I also have videos and pictures of the bugs and even a bite my girlfriend wokeup with the size of a golf ball.. I WAS DISGUSTED BY THE RIU AND THE WAY THEY HANDLED MY VACATION! I WILL NOT USE SIGNATURE TO BOOK TRIPS EITHER. These problems wasted half of our vaccation.

After reading almost 100 reviews of this resort my boyfriend and I decided to go to Riu Cancun for our annual holiday in Nov. I can't say I'm 100% happy with our decision and I will tell you why:

1. If you are not an early bird (like 7 am early) then you don't really get a full day worth of sun at this resort as it is positioned in such a way that by 2:30 all the pools and by 3 all the beach is covered with shade. Even the neighbor Riu Palace still had sun on its pool after 3 but we only had access to their beach and not their pool. It was really disappointing to end up with a towel wrapped around you due to the wind and no sun and its not even 3 p.m. yet.

2. The buffet even with all its options got repetitive towards the last couple of days if you tend to look for the healthier options. If you don't care about what you eat calorie wise then that might not be an issue for you as there are many unhealthier options available. Also for some reason there were not that many beef options but instead lots and lots of fish dishes which could get boring after a few days. The Brazilian restaurant was a joke. Their food was awful and the portions were hideously small. On the other hand, the Japanese (Kerwachi) and Steakhouse (Maison) were both amazing with some of the best steak dishes I have ever had.

3. There were 4 rather small pools at this resort. One is on the other side of the hotel, very relaxing and quiet and unless that's your scene, it's pretty much useless. The one with the pool bar is very tiny and filled with super crazy and loud drunks that don't bother to exit the pool to use the washrooms and spill their drinks and straws into the pool. I'm sure you get the picture. The other two actual useful pools are also kindda small and would have been so much better if at least they were connected to create a more open concept/larger pool. The beach area is a decent size but still not enough space since almost everyone moves there by late afternoon to catch the last hour of sun. (but to be fair the actual beach itself is quite remarkable with fluffy white sand and gorgeous blue water; so heavenly)

So that was the negative side which for some people are the main points of a holiday: Sun, Food and Pools. However if you are not like me and these are not your main concerns then read on:

1. AMAZING entertainment. Just wonderful. The team are the best I have ever seen. I love these guys. Their pool side activities were great if you are looking to be active which starts at 9 am. Their nightly shows are out of this world. Every night they had us amazed with their talent and creativity. Don't miss the amazing Marathon show no matter what! The clubs were also great. The City, Coco Bongo and Daddy O' are the best and when you go with the entertainment staff you are sure to have a good time. I have no idea were they get their energy as others have mentioned.

2. The rest of the staff were also amazing. They are all friendly and professional with a good attitude. We had a problem with our room per arrival (didn't like the view and the two pushed together beds instead of a king) and went downstairs and had a new room within 2 hours. (tipped the person $10 I might add but well worth it) which brings me to my next point.

3. Our room 608 was just perfect. Not out dated as other reviewers say. It was super clean, perfect size, equipped with a flat screen TV (my boyfriend is obsessed with television :/), mini fridge stocked every other day with drinks, marble double sink washroom which was cleaned spotless along with the rest of the room by the amazing maid and last but not least, breathtaking view of the ocean and we were only on the 6th floor (which was a plus for the days that the 4 elevators were somehow "missing" due to heavy traffic and using the stairs was the fastest option)

4.LOCATION!!! couldn't have been better. Close to the airport. shopping mall right beside the resort. and best of all walking distance to the clubbing district. Not a penny spend on transportation.

So there you have it. This was my review of the Riu Cancun. With this resort there are so many mixed reviews that I must admit, I must have read at least a dozen of other reviews before our departure very similar to the one I just wrote but chose to ignore them because I had my mind set on this resort because of the many other very convincing positive reviews. So if I could go back in time I would stay at the Riu Palace next door and get the best of both worlds as staying there gives you full access to Riu Cancun but not vice versa.

First of all, I must tell you that I have been to several Caribbean destinations and I treat the hotel staff very well by tipping them regardless if it is an all inclusive resort. They work hard and deserve to receive a tip when they provide you with good service.

Now about this hotel. I am shocked that this resort is advertised as a five star, it is at best a 3.5 star. Even the on site Sunwing representative agreed with me that it is not a five star resort.

If you are young and want to be in the heart of the Downtown club area, and don't care about the hotel condition, staff, etc; then perhaps this resort is for you. This hotel is about 15 years old and is showing the wear and tear from the "spring break " crowd.

If your appreciate the finer things in life; including good service, a five star environment, and a newer facility, then do not book this RIU.

The clincher for me was when I checked out of the hotel, the young lady had a very bad attitude and frankly treated us very poorly. perhaps I am wrong, but it seems to me that 50 % of the Mexican people working in the hospitality industry really do not want to be in this business and or are not well suited to be in this business. Then again, maybe the management at this hotel does not treat the staff very well and it shows in their attitude.

If you are reading this report and you want a five star resort, do not stay here!

I would recommend the RIU Peninsula, Dreams Cancun ( opened recently), Ritz Carlton Cancun

I just spent 30 minutes writing this report, and this is the first time I have ever issued a negative report on any resort I stayed in.

Now you be the judge!

We stayed here last nov 5-11. The food & room was ok, the bartenders & waiters are superb. But the front desk are the worst( I hope they will improve since other Riu hotels are really good). Here are some of our bad experiences 1)- front desk don't have a city map. 2)- hotel doesn't have a concierge but only a customer service which is only open from 8am-4pm so we didn't have the chance to try the hotel finer restaurants since we had daily activities & tours, and booking in this restaurants should be done personally even we begged the front desk & all they said is they cannot do anything. Most activities started at 7am till evening time. 3)-Since they don't have a concierge, we asked the help of a lady front desk around 7pm if she can help us book for an xcaret tour & she told us she can't do anything again & told us just to take the bus & just pay at the xcaret terminal (note: we are tourist & we don't know how to go around the city). After asking around, we found out that there is a big xcaret booth just few mins walk from the hotel. I was so surprised what kind of front desk our hotel really have not knowing anything or doesn't bother helping their guests. 4)- My roommate called the front desk & ask where we can get a bottled water refill, they pointed us at the sports bar. After going to the sports bar, the bartender told us that we can get water from the front desk because they don't have bottled water there. Finally, we were able to get water from the same front desk who lied to us over the phone & he was frowning. Base on our experience, I can say the front desks are unfriendly, snobby & looks as if their so tired.

I hope the management will do something about this since it's their frowning faces we have to see everyday & just by their bad reactions, they almost ruined our stay at this great hotel. Again, 2 thumbs up to the waiters, bartenders & maids. They're the best