My wife and I visited there Aug 21-Aug26. We had a great experience. Looking at this before we left we too were a bit skeptical about the place with everyone ranging in opinion from 1-5 but it was awesome. Our view was spectacular. Our room over looked the rock formation and we had a giant balcony that was far enough away from the nightlife we could sit out and listen to the ocean after a day of partying before heading back out.
I do think everyone is dead on when they say the food is so so and especially at the specialty restaurants. We ate at the steak house and were very under whelmed. Speaking with the other guests at the pool this is common place and the service is very slow. We cancelled the reservation at the Japanese place and stuck to the hall. The buffet is the way to go. The service was far superior when it came to getting drinks and a table. The food was still nothing to write home about but they had a wide variety and always some staples and some new things to try.
The pools were great and all of the bartenders were excellent. Even though tips are included in the all inclusive with the Europeans there you throw some cash to anyone and you get another drink before you are half way done with your last, your room made up awesome and first seating on the cab into town.
We had no problems with the place, except the food and are planning to go to another Riu early next year in another location because of our experience.

We just got back yesterday from the Riu Palace. We were there for 6 days. Our experience was wonderful! My first impression of the hotel was that it was a cross between The Palace in Madrid, Spain and the PUENTE ROMANO in Marbella. Both great properties! Check-in was fast and friendly. We were immediately served drinks and then taken to our room. We had a direct view of the ocean. The maids came daily. They know very little English but are willing to try to figure out what you need. We had dinner in the main dining room that night. The food was very good. The selection was great! Each night is a different 'theme' night in the main dining room, but always has some of the same basics. There is some Mexican, but I gather that they are trying to please Americans and Canadians with our standards as well. On the buffet you'd find an array of fruits, salads, desserts, cold cuts, vegetables, dressings, meats, cheeses, a slew of entree's from casseroles to meats to seafood selections. Breakfast is the same way, you can be really healthy or really really bad! Mimosa's are always served! We made reservations (took about 10 mins) in 2 of the dining rooms. We ate dinner in the 'steak' restaurant, but I had seafood Kabob. It was a casual evening and you had waiters to wait on you. The food was plentiful and good. We opted to eat out the 3rd night at a place in old Cabo called 'The Trailor Park'. It is a seafood restaurant. A taxi will take you there for $12.00. It was awesome. I ordered petit lobster tail of course and I was served 2 lobster tails that were at least 3 pounds of lobster. It was 25.00usd for my meal. I'll attach a picture if I can figure it out. We highly recommend it
Beware, there is a 'trailor park' restaurant that is almost in front of the hotel. This is not the real 'trailor park' restaurant, it is a take off of the orginial. I didn't go, it may be good who knows.

In the excursion dept, we kayaked and snorkels with a company called Baja Wild. It was a nice trip to 3 bays and lasted about half the day. The kayaks are double open ocean ones, so if you want a single I would request it. We did a sunset cruise with La Princsesa catamaran. There was an open bar and snacks and a beautiful sunset. We went out to the arch and back.

We also had a his and her massages at the Spa. It was a great massage, they are very well trained, but there was this loud noise coming from somewhere that was kind of distracting. Maybe a pool pump running or something...The gym has an awesome ocean view while working out on the treadmill.

Oh, back to the food, we had reservations at the Gourmet restaurant one night. The food was very good. I had snapper file, mashed potatoes, vegetables, a wonderful salad with feta and olives. My husband had the duck, which was also excellent! Service was fast and friendly.

I noted someone mentioned the 'smell'. Well, there is a horse farm between the hotel and the highway that is very well hidden. We saw it when we took a taxi into town the 'back way' because of road construction. It's huge and you could really smell it as you drove by. I think the hotel is downwind of this property.

I would definitely stay at this property again. It's a great place to unwind, have fun, do nothing, meet great people and make wonderful memories.

We stayed 9-3-05 - 9-10-05. My husband and I had a great time. We hated to return, but, are very relaxed. Do not let the bad reviews turn you off. Sometimes people just need to complain. For restaruant reservations you do have to wait in line, we suggest waiting at 10:45 and you will be 1st or go between 3 and 4p.m. All food was good, drinks were great. The view and hotel was heaven. Still new, so sometimes you have to be patient when it gets busy, but certainly all staff are very accomodating and friendly!!Definately will be back. You can walk into town along beach, its wonderful. Have fun, relax and remember...Your on Vacation!!

First off, let me begin by saying I had read alot of recent reviews for this place, and was feeling a little anxious as to what I would find. Seems most people either loved it, or hated it (lots of 1's and 5's) Me and my girl went down there from Aug/20-sept/05, 2005,Im 42, she's 39.

First lets start with the good, and there was lots of it! The building itself and the grounds were very, very nice. Lots of pools, bars and lounges and the hotel itself was set up very nicely. The rooms were nice and the beach/location were ideal. The food for the most part was excellent, especially in the main buffet area and the Steak resteraunt. The mexican place we heard was so-so, and the Japanesse resteraunt was poorly serviced, food was cold and not the greatest quality. But as for comparision, this was by far the best food at a resort Ive had in mexico,(7 times in last 5 years, always 5 star, but mostly in Cancun/maya riviera area)
Most of the staff in the main buffet seemed to try very hard to please, and we felt very well taken care of, with very few exceptions. Weather was awesome, some would say too hot! Most dealings with hotel staff went smoothly, in spite of the ever-present language barrier, and MOST were resolved to our satisfaction.
Now for the bad. The reviews regarding the "smell of poo" as someone else eloquantly put it are true...some areas smelled a little ripe, and our room smelt a little funky on some occasions after returnng form the days activitys.
The "line up" situation for the resteraunt wasnt too bad, but if you want a good resteraunt/good time, you better line up early. For instance, we got 4 times out, but always too early/too late..and we never could get availability for the gourmet resteraunt. I guess for decent times/selections, thats when you have to line up early and wait..if you go around lunch time..you never wait for longer than 5 minutes.
But what peeved me the most about this hotel, and turned what would have been a 5 star review into a 3 star review, was a couple of incidents I shall now disclose. On our first full day, I had left a 3 dollar U.S. tip for the cleaning staff when we left the room at 900 am, but when we returned to the room at 330 pm, we were shocked to discover the money was gone, but the room was unmade! I immedialtley reported this to the manager (Carlos) who said he would check the key log and find out what happened. A few hours latter he told me it was the mini bar staff who had entered the room, and presumably took the money thinking it was a tip for them. But, a couple things dont make sense. First, mini bar staff only come every second day, and this was our first day. Second, the money was far away from the mini bar...so, whats the deal? Third, and most importantly, the mini bar was NOT restocked,...i had drank 3 beers our first night and they were still missing. Hey, if your taking the tip, do the job! Fourth, even if this explanation was satisfactory, why was the room still unmade at 330 pm..a little late in the day, no? So, Carlos assured us he would make sure the room was made earlier in the day from now on...and I left that initial "tip buisness" on the backburner. HOWEVER, on our last full day, I left (stupidly) a 5 dollar U.S. tip for the maid..and when we came back our room was done..but my girlfriend was shocked to see that someone had rifled through her clothes/drawers and stole about 2 dollars U.S. in mexican change from her purse! There was no doubt about it, I saw her put the change in there myself that morning, and my girl knows how she leaves her stuff ( a little anal that way, lol).The funny thing was, canadian change was left untouched, only the mexican change was taken..after leaving a 5 dollar tip...disgusting! All I can say is if you want to tip your maid at this resort, you SHOULD HAND THE MONEY TO HER YOURSELF IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE SHE GETS IT! Im not sure whats going on, but someone is scaming those tips..I spoke to a few guests who noticed missing cigarettes from open packs,...nothing big, but annoying all the same. Ive never had/heard of stuff like this in 20 years of travel at 5 star resorts. Needless to say, I informed the manager, but what could he do...this sort of thing really soured me on the whole trip and made me feel taken advantage of. I cant prove what was going on, but someone in authority there is making a little extra on the side...tip carefully and watch your small stuff!
There were a few groups of especially loud idiots taking full advantage of the booze bottles in their rooms, but this isnt the hotels fault..but they could have been a little bit more dilligent in making sure the loud, drunken idiots werent screaming and banging around at 4 in the morning through the hotel corridors..hello?..security?
One last thing, the mattress was so hard my girlfriend couldnt sleep until she got the mattress pad..I liked it the way it was, but plan accordingly, she was really [--] after 2 nights of little/no sleep!
Although I saw a few great things about this place, if I end up returning to this area..I wont be staying at the RIU again...shame, a few changes and this could have been a excellent resort :(