Stayed at Riu Palace Jan 31-Feb 07, 2013. Very nice resort, very clean and well looked after. Had small issue with toilet not working and safe gave us some greif, both issues were taken care of quickly and to our satisfaction. Beds were very small, ok for 1 person. Food was good, and always alot of variety. Drinks were very inconsistant, group of seven never had a drink that tasted the same twice!! Most nights service was good, very good when Hugo or Mario looked after us. Resort was very big, with many stairs, dont want to forget anything in your room when you head out for day! Bathrooms were hard to locate near pools. Enjoyed stay, overall everything was good!

We stayed at the Riu Palace from January 31/13 to February 7/13 and enjoyed every minute of it. Would go back in a heart beat. Food was great. Rooms were clean. the scenery is to die for. the heated pool was as warm as a bath. some MINOR indifferences were that we could've had a little better drink service in the evenings but not a deal breaker by no means. it would've been nice to have warmer water in the other pools. the sand in front of the hotel is way too coarse. For only $1 you can catch the local bus to cruise into Cabo San Lucas which is great for shopping and sight seeing. Would highly recommend the whale watching tours. Would i recommend Cabo and the Riu Palace...ABSOLUTELY!!

We have traveled on winter AI vacations for the last 12 years and this was definitely one of the best! We stayed two weeks from Jan. 24 to Feb 7th. It started with the partnership between Sunwing and the RIU, which had the registration completed on the bus to the resort, so when we arrived we got our luggage and wristband and were on our way in 5 minutes. Very nice treat!

Rooms: Very clean and functional, double sinks, ceiling fan, a well stocked mini-bar and in-room liquor dispensers, small balcony and beautiful views. Hallways can be a little noisy late nights and early mornings, when luggage is pulled over the tile floors or happy party goers are heading to bed. The noise is brief and did not bother us. Maid service and nightly turn down was a nice treat, a few dollars provided many versions of towel art. Beds were firm, but comfortable, had great sleeps. Although, I anticipated asking for a topper for the mattress we did not. Orange color scheme could be updated for a more modern look.

Pools: 2 swim up bar pools, 2 small kids pools and the large activity and quiet infinity pools. Pools have lots of seating, like chairs, benches and loungers and jacuzzis. The activity pool is heated and it's like jumping into bathwater on a cool day or when the sun is setting. Activity staff did a great job, with anything you could have wanted from stretching class, aqua-size, air gun shooting, darts, volleyball, Spanish class, ping pong, etc. Lots of chairs and umbrellas, although the ones right next to the pool were saved early. If you wanted to move chairs the staff were right there to help. The beach is in the center in an area enclosed by the pools. Lots of shade or room to pull chairs into the sun. Pool service was very frequent for the most part, or you could take a short walk to the bar to get your own.

Food: Excellent! So much variety, it was unbelievable. Sure there were things I didn't enjoy, but that's just personal tastes.The Mexican and Steak require reservations, you can do this 3 days in advance, or stop by the concierge around 6:30 p.m., then they know how many guests didn't show up and you will likely get in. Steak was great, Mexican okay. Japanese is fantastic, served ala carte and open for lunch and dinner with no reservations. Italian is open for lunch in the evening Mexican location. Very nice and relaxing where you can order a bottle of wine and enjoy the view. Krystal is their elite restaurant, you must line up starting at 7am on the day you want to go for reservations. This is a little odd, but the intent is to not end up with a half full restaurant when guests change their mind. It worked, was always full. Food was good, but because they do three dinner sittings, it felt a bit rushed. Main buffet had theme nights every second night, Caribbean and Asian nights were by far the best, but every night was very good. Variety of food in the buffet included, crab, mussels, salmon, grouper, snapper, squid, duck, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, etc. Fresh pasta, Mexican, fruit, meat and cheese plates daily and the service in the main buffet was excellent. We quickly found the waitress we liked, she always looked for us and saved us the good red wine! Kudos to Lineth, you were the best waitress (knew all our names) and made our stay so much fun! Breakfast buffets are service inside and outside. There is also a small 24 hour food area in the lobby bar with sandwiches, burritos, microwavable burgers, nacho chips and pastries.

Lobby Bar: This was by far the best bar, piano music, pool tables, small TV's, great views of the Sea of Cortez and Los Arcos, where from you chair you could see whales jumping. They also had two telescopes for close-up views. Drinks are top shelf, Absolute, Chivas, Beefeater and very nice Chilean wines and Reposado Tequilas. Just ask for it once and your server will remember you. Service from Eduardo and Javier in this bar was top notch and so much fun.

Wifi: was great to have unlimited wifi, it worked very well in our room the entire trip, was somewhat sporadic at the pool, but you could always find a place somewhere. Depending on your device it may take a call to the help desk to get connected, but that also worked well.

Nightly Shows: There was a good variety, but nothing spectacular, but good time-fillers. Michael Jackson show was the best, the audience participation Ideal couple and Karaoke nights were the most fun.

For some variety, you also have access to the Riu Sante Fe, but it is much busier, does not have top shelf liquor and the service is not the same. However, if you missed Asian night at the buffet you could catch it at the Santa Fe, as their buffet food was also very good. The service in every area of the Palace was impeccable, they had plenty of staff and management getting involved in every aspect. The staff worked hard 6 days on and 1 off, and all looked like they loved their jobs. The hotel provided them food and bus transportation to those who got off after midnight. Please, please tip the staff, they so deserve it, a few dollars out of our pockets go a long way.

We will definitely be back to this resort, which is something we have never done to date. Generally, we repeat locations in Mexico, but never resorts. I would be happy to provide any additional information.

I just spent two weeks at this hotel from Jan 17 - 31st. The resort exceeded my expectation and is truly a 5 star. The staff are incredible. Always cheerful, hard working and treat their guests like royalty. The food was terrific. I would definitely recommend making reservations at all the restaurants...what a treat!
What I did notice is that most people did not tip and looked at us rather strangely as we always tipped, and tipped well. The service was even more incredible. When you know how much the staff here earns and how hard they work, leaving a tip for each meal and drink is much appreciated by them. I absolutely loved this place and will return.