My husband and I stayed at the Riu Aug. 6-9. We specifically chose Cabo because it is only a 2-hour flight from Houston. We then chose the Riu because we wanted an all-inclusive and the price was right. The hotel is on a beautiful piece of property. We loved the beach and the sand and water were gorgeous. We were able to swim every day in the water. Yes, there is a slight riptide but it is not unsafe. There were quite a few people in the water but it was never packed. The water was warm, crystal clear, and we loved it. There are plenty of beach chairs and occasionally a waiter will bring drinks out to the beach. Our room overlooked the beach and it was heavenly to sit on our balconey listening to the waves. The property, view, and beach are what make this hotel spectacular. Our room was clean and spacious. We never had any problems with security.

The food is average. The breakfast and lunch buffets are fine. The restaurants are below average. We were told when we checked in on Saturday that the earliest reservation available was Monday. We fussed a bit and were able to get reservations for Sunday and Monday. It was not worth it. We were only there for 3 nights so not a big deal. If we were staying longer, I would have gone into Cabo and ate dinner elsewhere. In the end, our digestive systems are healthy and it was a relaxing 4 days, 3 nights. The alcohol is also average. Could not find a real good cocktail no matter how hard we tried; requested brand names, asked for doubles, etc. But the Corona beer is plentiful and the wines are good. The bottled water and sodas are also plentiful.

The evening entertainment was fun. We would go again for a long weekend getaway and we would also take our children. For a 2-hour flight and for a relatively inexpensive all-inclusive, it is a nice beach get-away. You are not paying 5-star all-inclusive prices. You get waht you pay for.

This hotel was a joke from the moment we arrived. They told us that since we didn't have our orbitz print-out we had to go to their internet cafe and print out a copy...even though it was closed. The food couldn't be any worse. We wanted to order dominos every night we were there. And the service? I have never seen worse. The power went out for two hours between 7pm and 9pm and we could not eat at the hotel and when I asked if they were going to pay for us to eat downtown they said, "Of course not." When I asked if they could do something about the dog and rooster pen outside our window, they responded, "Of course not." Did I mention room service? Don't order 5 beers and expect them to get there in less than 1.5 hours...but they may come with random towels after one hour. This place is a complete joke. DO NOT STAY THERE.

We visited the Riu Feb23 - March 2 2005 with two 5 year old boys.

We were very happy with the kids club and its employees (Hernan and Arlena are wonderful!).

The quality of food was very good - the reservation system is ever changing and challenging at best. But definitely there was something for everyone.

The airport pick up/drop off/check in and out went very smoothly and the staff held our luggage and allowed us to keep our room a bit later.

The biggest "con" is that I feel the management is a little confused about who is their target market ie. families, honeymooners, wild singles etc.

When we were there, the place was completely sold out with 90% families. The disco with 10% singles was so noisy that no one else in the complex could sleep until 4:00am. Even if the disco was empty, the music was so loud you could still hear it even using earplugs!

The design of the complex is so that you can hear anyone walking down the hallway.

I would not choose to stay again as the noise factor definitely was too much.

First let me start by saying that Cabo San Lucas as well as San Jose del Cabo are beautiful, had a wonderful time visiting both places. Unfortunately I cannot say that my stay at the RIU was as pleasant. Here are my pros and cons...

Pros: The hotels architecture is beautiful. The food is ok not the best, but certainly not the worst. Aside from the front desk staff, the pool staff and the bartenders are super friendly.... I traveled with my sister and we both met many people. Our favorite pool tender was Gabriel he usually works in the "relax pool". The pools temperature was perfect. We also met Armando who is the head of entertainment at the hotel so if you have any questions look out for him he is the MC at the nightly entertainment shows. Very nice nightly shows. I guess thats all my pros for the hotel.

Ready for my Cons!!

Cons: BLOOD on my pillow... Should I write more??? Yes there was blood on my pillow, as I got ready for bed I happend to pick up the pillow and to my surprise there was blood on my pillow, I called front desk and told them about the problem and they delivered clean pillows to my room. In my opinion that indicates that the rooms are not cleaned properly, how can housekeeping forget to change the pillows if they are making the bed??? If the pillows were changed and the blood on the pillow was a stain the pillow should be tossed and not reused, that is very unsanitary. Blood seemed to follow me, the next day I got a towel with a huge stain of dried blood from the pool towel counter Nastyyyy!!!

Next... The minibar had 2 opened half empty Pepsi bottles.... Clearly the minibar had not been checked before the room was vacated. Next... It took 2 days to get the lock for our room safe WHAT!! We had to go to the front desk 2 to 3 times a day and ask for availability of locks, the front desk staff was full of immature BOYS that did not know anything, I had to get pushy to get a lock, Obviously they don't have enough for every room.

Overall this hotel was okay, but with some problems, not a 4 or 5 star hotel more like a 3 star. The pillow insident deters me from returning to the Riu Palace, but will definitely return to CABO, the time spent outside of the hotel like doing activities like riding the ATV's, going on the City Tour, and Parasailing were awesome!! Highly recomend the City Tour!