We spent a week at the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas and we had a wonderful time. I will try to limit my comments to things which have not been covered in other reviews. I can say that I read all of the Trip Advisor reviews for this new resort before we went. I found the tips very helpful and the descriptions accurate.

First, it is important to understand that the climate in Cabo is a desert climate. It gets very warm during the day and very cool at night. It is not tropical, so it is not humid. Because it is dry, it is important to drink a lot of water and use plenty of sunscreen. Also, if you are still thinking about Cabo, you should know that the beaches are not the white sand beaches of the Caribbean. The sand is more coarse and you may want to have sandals for walking on the beach. In addition, the water is cold to very cold in late March and swimming on the beach at the hotel is discouraged most days. There is a big undertow.

As far as clothing goes, the resort is very casual during the day and fairly casual at night. During the day, you will probably be in your swimsuit most of the time. For a week's stay, I would say that three swimsuits are not too many. At night, men are not allowed to wear shorts or tank tops in the a la carte dining rooms. The rule was enforced. For the evening, take long sleeves and even a light jacket. There was at least one night when it was very chilly and the hotel is basically open air. Beyond that, most adults wore nicer pants and a shirt. The women wore capris, slacks or skirts. A suit would be too dressy. For the rooms, the floor is all tile so if your feet get cold, bring slippers.

Our rooms were great. We were in 3151 and 3152 (we were there for our daughter's senior trip, as were many other families.) We were at the far end of the hotel from the lobby but we were very close to the "active" pool. Our room faced away from the interior of the resort and it was very quiet. Our view from the balcony was interesting. If we looked to our right or ahead, we saw sand dunes and the sea. If we looked to our left we saw Costco on the horizon, so we could not completely escape civilization as we know it. (We ended up needing something at Costco. Your membership card is welcome there and it was interesting for us amateur sociologists to compare Costco in Mexico to the Costcos near our home.)

The hotel is very large and on three levels. I do not recommend it for people who have difficulty walking or who are in wheelchairs. There are ramps and elevators but the ramps are very steep and wheelchairs are difficult to maneuver on the ramps. I also do not recall seeing any handicapped accessible bathrooms in the public restrooms.

You are given a bracelet upon arrival similar to one you would wear at an amusement park. My suggestion is to make it tight enough to stay on your wrist, but loose enough to take off at night. They are scratchy and uncomfortable for sleeping. The very nice people at the front desk gave us new ones after the first day so that we could slip them off at night. Be sure to have them on when you go into town. The hotel has a security guard who will ask to see your wrist bands when come back to the hotel gate, even if you are in a taxi. By the way, as of this season, Wednesday is the best day to go to town since it is the day when there are no cruise ships in port.

You will be given both key cards and pool towel cards. You turn in the towel card for a new towel. Since we were there over Spring Break, getting chairs near the pool meant getting up early, especially if you cared about just where you sat at the pool. The beach is less problematic. My suggestion is to keep your pool towels in your room at the end of the day so you can use your towels to reserve a chair the next morning. This will be obvious after the first day, but why be frustrated on your second day? If you just can’t find a chair, then ask one of the cabana workers for help in locating and moving them. They work very hard and are very nice about it.

It is true that you have to wait in line to get reservations at the a la carte restaurants. The Sir Lawrence (gourmet) is worth the wait. It is very small. If you are in a large group, you will have no problems with the other, larger restaurants. However, for the Sir Lawrence, at least our week, you can only reserve one table at a time. They are also supposed to have only one table for six at each of the two seatings. The strategy for a larger group is to get in line early, like 4 or so for the next evening’s reservations, and have more than one member of your group in line with you to get multiple tables. (Pull up a chair, bring a book, relax, get a drink -it’s included.) We had three families with 14 people, so 3 people waited in line for 3 tables.

We had a problem in that we only asked for a reservation for 13 by mistake. My husband went to the front desk to get it corrected the next morning. They fixed it but not all that willingly. Also, we had 5 adults and 9 kids with us so we wanted to put one of the kids at a table for 4 so we could have 5 at our table. The head waiter would not do it. He said he would get in trouble from his manager. Similarly, if you walk by one of the restaurants at night before you have eaten and notice an empty table, you will not be able to eat there on a walk-in basis. With regard to these restaurants, the hotel was incredibly inflexible.

I thought the food was great. However, this is neither “cruise ship” food nor fine dining. At breakfast and lunch, it is all buffet service. If you are watching what you eat and your have willpower, you can do very well at the Riu. They use fresh fruits and vegetables extensively and deliciously. The seafood and fish are very fresh. I especially recommend the Smoothie bar at breakfast (try the cactus juice, maybe mixed with papaya and pineapple or banana juice or have the lady make you your favorite). The prepared salads on the lunch buffets, especially the Italian buffet, were terrific. Keep your eye out for paella at lunch with fresh seafood.

The food service was another story and the most disappointing aspect of the stay, except for the restaurant reservations issue. They simply do not have enough help. Therefore, we often had to stand and wait while we found someone to clear a table for us at breakfast or lunch, especially because we wanted to eat outside at breakfast. They do not change the tablecloths between diners, which is especially amazing since they have beautiful granite tables outside at main dining room. If they wiped them down, they wouldn’t need tablecloths. We often had to find our own silverware. The waiters were generally nice and tried to be helpful. One waiter even apologized to me at breakfast the next day after a particularly hectic lunch the day before. However, it was not his fault. This is a management problem. It may be better during weeks when the hotel is not full.

I did take dollar bills and I tipped most of the time (it’s also my nature to do so), although tips are supposed to be included. I think it was especially helpful for the pool waiters. I think they came around a little more often if you tipped them a dollar after the first drink of the day (no need after the first one). We tipped the maid a few times during the week, since we were rarely there when she was there.

As for the maids, they mostly speak little or no English. I had a nice time speaking high school Spanish with our maid who was a very sweet young lady. If you have some ability, however limited, to speak Spanish, don’t be shy. Even among those who speak English, I found that my Detroit twang made it difficult for them to understand my English. I did better in broken Spanish. If you want to feel more comfortable with the language, I highly recommend Rick Steve’s Spanish Phrase Book. It costs about $8 at Borders or similar bookstores and it really came in handy. It is arranged by different aspects of travel (eating, your room, at the beach, etc.). However, most people involved with the tourists speak at least some English.

If you need to use the Internet, you must pay $4 for 20 minutes, even if you have your own laptop with a wireless connection. However, my husband’s PDA has satellite service and he used that at the pool to read his e-mails. You can ask your cellular provider to add international calling to your service. It works, and my husband used his. I actually took a vacation.

One of the issues was whether the “active pool” was noisier than the “quiet” pool. Having been on cruise ships and sat at the “only” pool, the active pool was very quiet by comparison. If you don’t want to see or hear the noon water aerobics, sit at the quiet pool. Otherwise, we had no trouble taking a nap by the active pool.

The gym has been upgraded since the earlier reports. They doubled the number of their aerobic machines the week we were there. However, they still only had one elliptical machine. Sign up early if you want to use it. If you exercise around 5 or 5:30 p.m. like I did, you may be lucky enough to watch a wedding on the beach below the gym.

We took a snorkeling trip while we were there. We used Cabo Expeditions. Their office is in the Cabo Real shops at the marina in town. You can sign up directly with them. We signed up through the Apple Vacation desk in the hotel. You don’t have to be on an Apple trip to book through them. We got a bit of a break on the price because we had a large group. I would recommend them. Ask for Jose to be your “ship captain.” He is great. However, be aware that the water is very cold where you snorkel. Wear a life jacket. It is so cold you could easily cramp up. Also, they do not have coral reefs there. The fish are interesting but, again, you are not in the Caribbean, and it is very cold so you really have to want to go. We loved seeing the sea lions near Lover’s Beach, the sea turtles, and most of all, we loved watching a mother whale and her baby instead of doing one of the snorkeling segments. But the whales have left and we were lucky to see those two whales. Also, the boat is a large rubber-padded motor boat. If you get seasick, stay home. If you dislike very cold water, stay home.

If you want to go to a really fun bar in town which is not full of Americans (at least until all of you read this and go), go to Mambocafe. It is actually one of a chain with several locations in Mexico. It is located near the marina in town, just past the Cabo Real Hotel. Don’t get there before 10:30. There is a $5 cover charge. It is worth it. We went on Thursday which was Ladies’ Night. They have a great band which starts at 11:00 and it is fun to watch the locals dance. They are great. Eventually, with enough to drink, everyone started dancing. Take the 4 pm dancing lessons at the active pool before you go if you want to pretend you know how to dance the mambo.

We have been on many cruises but we had never been to an all-inclusive resort. The pace is more relaxing than on a cruise. Each day is like a day at sea. The active pool is much quieter, even compared to quiet pools on some ships. The service is definitely better on a cruise and if you are looking to be waited on like on a cruise, this is not the place for you. The food is plentiful but it is different than on a cruise. In some ways I liked the food better because the emphasis is on fresh, lighter foods at the Riu. You can take excursions and do all of the things that the cruise passengers do in Cabo when they are in port, like fish, parasail, play golf, etc. The other nice thing was that “all-inclusive” meant “all-inclusive.” There were very few extras. I feel like the cruise ships nickel and dime their passengers these days.

Would I recommend the Riu in Cabo? Absolutely. The Riu is certainly not for high maintenance travelers and Cabo is not for people who want to spend their week swimming in the ocean. However, we had a fantastic time, met lots of nice people from all over the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and relaxed and enjoyed the warm, dry Cabo days and cool desert nights. Have a nice trip.