My niece and I recently stayed at the Riu in Cabo. We found the staff and the hotel itself absolutely wonderful. Everything was immaculate. Enjoyed all the amenities, from the swim up pool bars, beach, restaurants, and even the nightly entertainment. We are already planning our next visit.
It is wasn't for TripAdvisor and it's many reviews, we would never have found this grand hotel.

Stay at the Riu palace May 25-29 and a great time...went with my husband and another couple.

Check In: The Riu is a very beautiful resort. We checked in and received key cards to room 4055. However, they said they did not have two rooms next to each other with king beds, so our travel companions went to a room in another wing. The first thing we did was check out the view. It was decent enough...set back pretty far with a close view of the pool. We noticed a large pile of concrete and tiles on the floor of the bathroom. And, in one of the sinks, the pipe was laying in the sink with large holes in the wall where the pipe was. They said the room was not ready yet, but we were pretty sure it wasn't going to be ready in a half an hour. So, we returned to the lobby to get another room. Magically, two rooms appeared right next to each other with king beds...rooms 4085 and 4086. The rooms had gorgeous views and we had a veranda instead of a small patio. However, it was directly on top of the disco! It actually wasn't that bad. I guess it was a trade off, great view, a little rumble at night! Overall, I was pleased with the room.

Food: I think the food was just okay. Breakfast is really good, but service isn't very good. We tried the breakfast room service and it was okay. We liked the breakfast buffet better.

Lunch was uneventful, mostly greasy food. But, they keep food pretty full, so it usually isn't sitting out too long.

We tried the buffet dinner once and it was good. We also stood in line the first night we were there and got reservations for the Japanese restaurant, Misaki. I got in line at 5:30 and over 100 people were already in line. Once they opened reservation, the line moved quickly. But, options were limited by the time we were up. We made a reservation for 6:45.

Misaki: When we got there, the restaurant was not very busy. The service was poor an the food was okay. The sushi was good and so was the soup and tempura. The main courses were not very good. And, service was very slow, we would ask for something and not get it for 20 minutes...and there was only three other tables full. We only made reservations for Misaki, the rest of the time we ate the buffet at dinner or went into town. Also, a lady from the hotel came up to us quickly after we sat down at Misaki and asked us to fill out a questionnaire about the resort. Of course, this was a good opportunity to write down my comments. Later, I saw her talking to another and they were inputting data, etc. It was annoying that she disrupted our dinner and I did not see any improvements made regarding our suggestions while we were there.

Service: The bar service is awesome! So many great waiters and waitresses! Geraldo, Mario, Jossy, Ana Paolo...all very great. Our room bar was stocked very well, every day. The maid service was good. Some days we got fresh towels, others not. It was pretty inconsistent, but always clean. We kept our valuables in the safe, so we didn't have a problem. Pool service was pretty good. We had to flag waiters down occasionally, but the pool was pretty packed, so they were working hard!

Pools: Pools are very nice. We never had a problem finding a place to sit at the pools. The Riu activities people are great! My husband and bro-in-law did riffle shooting, ping pong and the beer drinking contest. Lots of fun! The swim up bar pools are not connected to the main pools, So, they are pretty small. They get really dirty and reek of beer. The water is cloudy by the afternoon and gross stuff is floating in there.

Night: The entertainment was good. Didn't really watch very much of it. We were told there would be karaoke, but it never happened. We were disappointed. The shows are cheesy, but they sort of make them that way...the talent works really hard and they do it 6 days a week and work long hours. I think it was good.

Cabo: We loved Cabo! Our favorite was going to The Office...we ordered two buckets of beer, ate and mingled for over 3 hours! Not many people leave in a short period of time, either. It is really a cool hang out.

We also went to Enriques the first night for dinner. It was awesome! The food and atmosphere are really good. Plus, you can't beat $9.95 steak and lobster!

We went to Mi Casa on Saturday night to celebrate our 1-year anniversary dinner. After we were seated, they didn't give us enough menus. We asked 3 times for menus and didn't get them. We ordered 3 blended margaritas and received top-shelf on the rocks. They were not good. We decided to leave and try our luck walking down the street...be spontaneous! We got the checks for the margaritas and it was over $30! But, we found a great place a few blocks away called Panchos Tequila Restaurant. They had mariachi's that sang us a special song and another couple who was also celebrating their anniversary...we danced among the tables...it was really cool. I was so glad we left Mi Casa!

All in all, we had a great time. We really want to go back. I'm not sure if we'll go to the Riu next time, but just because I like to try different places. Also, it's not really a 5 star resort, which was disappointing. But, I think so far Cabo is our favorite destination. We plan on returning as often as we can.

We've stayed at NUMEROUS resorts from South Pacific to the Carribean, and Riu Palace was one never-ending-disappointment. First of all, we got 2 single beds pushed together instead of a king-sized we've asked for. The bed sheets were not changed from the previous guests. How did we know that? There was an apparent footprint on the white sheet. The hotel never changed the sheets, thus we had to resort to just sleeping on one of the singles. Toilet was not cleaned, as we saw disgusting stains/splash/residues the first day we were there. We made a complaint to front desk. Nothing was done. Overall, Riu Palace seemed under-staff for such a large resort, thus it was not maintained very well, considering it has only been opened since December 2004.

Don't bother with the specialty restaurants. If you've never eaten anything but Burger King before, then these restaurants may impress you. Japanese was disgusting. The rolls were sitting outside with flies around, and we were not big fans of frozen sashimi. If you're into fried tempuras, then go ahead and try, but for a person who knows how Japanese sushi should taste like, that was just insulting.

We'll probably come back to Cabo, but we'll NEVER stay at Riu's again.

This is the 3rd Riu that I have stayed at ( Negril, PuertoVallarta) they just get better. The resort is beautiful and clean. The service was excellent. The beach is very clean and pretty however the water is too rough and cold to swim in. That was a dissapointment. The weather was great during the day however chilly and windy at night for the middle of May. I wish it would have been warmer. Went to Cabo Wabo, had a great dinner their and the club was a lot of fun.

The only problem with all the Riu's is having to make reservations for the restraunts the day before and you have to stand in line. Other all inclusives that I have stayed at have you make your reservations for all the restraunts at one time. The food was good. They do need to take care of the bee problem at the dessert table during lunch. I enjoyed Cabo if I ever go back I would go in the summer. I will defintely stay at a Rui resort if there is one where I am traveling.