I'll make this one short & sweet.... My husband and I stayed at the Riu July7th - July10th

BAD:
- THEFT We had our travel documents stolen from our room within 1 hr of getting to the hotel (a REAL pain! - little help from staff - they wouldn't even give us a copy of the police report after asking for it 5 seperate times!)
- Our first room had a horrible view, the safe didn't work, and all the electricity went out for about 2 hours early morning
- The reservation system for the restaurants is ridiculous - the only one we wanted to eat at was the Gourmet - but people line up hours in advance to get into this one - no thanks I'm on vacation
- all drinks are served in tiny glasses - so stupid - but they use a little bit larger glasses in the evening
- Atmosphere - if you are anywhere near the swim up bars forget it - it's party central with a bunch of implants floating around- not a place to go and have a romantic/relaxing time
- The beach is not great at all - we've been spoiled by Cancun and Playa Del Carmen (but we knew before going on the trip)
- Service is close to non-existent except for the bars (if you tip)

GOOD:
- Buffet food was better than most all-inclusives I have tried. The guacamole and fruits were SO fresh and tasty.
- The hotel is absolutley gorgeous
- The shows were entertaining
- Our 2nd room was beautiful and had a gorgeous view of the pools and beach
- Stocked mini-bars were a plus


OVERALL -Go to Cancun or Playa Del Carmen - don't waste your vacation in Cabo - especially the Riu Palace!!

We spent 3 nights at the Riu Palace - an all inclusive resort. It was excellent value for money. Unbelievable staff - friendly and helpful. The pools are beautiful, with swim up bars (all drinks included) - food served almost all day - and good food it was. I think all the rooms have ocean-facing views.
I would highly recommend staying here - top value!!

The hotel is beautiful and in a great location.
The food was good.. The buffet provided a wide variety of options. We never waited in line, but ate at the Mexican & Steakhouse. Neither one would have been worth waitingin line for.

The staff was extremely friendly/helpful.

In terms of the safe lock, we were given one at check in. The View in our rooms was beautiful and we never had a problem with housekeeping. I did have to call 3 x to get coronas sent up to the rooms.

I was really worried about the mixed reviews.. Overall the hotel is beautiful, the food is great, the location is wonderful, the service was great. I think they could have better entertainement, better process than waiting in line for food, & I wished they had more activities pool side and get guests more involved. It is a more sophisticated all inclusive than a party place. I was not WOW'D, but I would return back. I recommend this place for couple and families.

I’ve been to two other all-inclusive resorts I’ve visited: Beaches in Turks and Caicos (Caribean), Melia in Cancun. So I guess you can say my review is compared to those experiences.

PROS
Location – Close enough, yet far enough from downtown. 35-minute walk down the beach or a 5-minute, $10 cab ride.
Infinity pools – Amazing! This is a great feature, one that I don’t think many (if any) of the other resorts in Cabo have. It’s great to be able to soak in the pool and look at the ocean in front of you. The swim-up bars also have jets (like a hot tub, but don’t worry, the water is cold, not hot).
Water – The resort uses filtered water for ice and bottled water for drinking, coffee, etc.
Breakfast and dinner buffet - Breakfast was the standard eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes (which are best only when fresh), etc. Great selection of meats, seafood, and vegetables. For dinner, they had a different theme every night (e.g., Italian, Mexican, Oriental, International, etc.). They had enough to choose from that you could always find something you liked.
Chocolate fountain at the buffet – They have this fountain of chocolate sauce for dessert where you can choose from a variety of fruits to skewer and dip into the fountain. Delish!
In-room mini bar – The best I’ve seen yet! You have your own full-size bottle of vodka, tequila, rum, and something else (I forget) and the fridge is always stocked with lots of water (both still and carbonated) as well as soft drinks.
Wait staff – Wait staff at the buffet (Jesus), Japanese and Gourmet restaurants, pool (Marco), and lobby bars were great. Very courteous and attentive.


CONS
Housekeeping was not great. Seemed like they always forgot something whether it was not enough towels or failing to replace the soap, lotion, toilet paper, or bath mat.
24-hour snacks – NOT! They say they have food/snacks available 24-7, but they do not. The dinner buffet closes at 10:30 and snacks are not available ‘til midnight…even then, their snack consists of ham and cheese sandwiches. Period. Nothing else. Maybe you can order room service, I don’t know.
Music at the pools – although I was surprised that they had music from the last 3 years, they have a very limited selection. They played the same collection of hip-hop, house, and Mexican rock everyday. We also heard Michael Jackson and Madonna’s Greatest Hits Cd’s a couple of times.
Specialty restaurants – None are worth waiting in line! The buffet is the best option, at least you’ll have choices.
Salad dressings – They were absolutely awful. They were very watered-down versions of thousand island, French, and ranch that lacked flavor. Even the olive oil and vinegars were bad.
No voicemail - They do not deliver phone messages. Our friends, who were also staying at the resort left messages for us with the front desk and we never received them.
On the side of the resort nearest downtown (not sure what direction that is), there is a private residence. The people who live there do not care if it is 2:00 a.m. on a Tuesday night. They throw loud parties! We had to move to a different room because there is nothing the hotel could do to make them stop.

If you’ve never been to Mexico, don’t expect people to speak English just as you wouldn’t expect people in China, Japan, or France to speak English. Learn some basic Spanish before you go. Also, although Mexicans do tend to cater to American tourists, don't expect the food or service to be of the same standards. Mexico is a whole different country so expect and embrace the differences. If you’ve never been to Cabo, know that unlike Cancun and other areas of Mexico, the sand is not that great (more like gravel) and the water is often unswimmable (strong/rough current).

Overall, our experience was pleasant. We had a great time because we met a lot of great people and our expectations were not that high!