I was really scared when I read all of the negative comments about RIU. However, we went in good spirits...I mean a vacation with all you can drink and eat AND on the beach? How can that be bad. We checked in, and was served drinks immediatley! It was great! Went to our room, and it wasn't what we expected. We were there with 2 other couples and had asked for adjoining rooms. We also reserved Ocean View rooms. With out any hesitation, the manager moved us to another room. We then had PERFECT views of the pool and ocean. Ah, it was great! The smell was a little hard to deal with, but we soon realized that if you put your stoppers in the sink and in the bath tub..you won't have that smell. We didnt smell it in our hotel room once, only in the halls.
As far as the restaurants go, we did the buffett most of the time. We tried to get into the Japanese and Gourment restaurants, but they were booked the entire time we were there. We did get into the steak restaurant, and it was pretty good. They do not enforce the dress code, which kinda upset us because my Husband didn't bring "dressy clothes" and we had to go to the mall and buy some pants for him to wear..only to find people wearing shorts and bathing suits. :( Then we went to the Mexican restaurant, and ended up getting up and leaving before we were served. We sat there for 15 minutes and noone came and even took our drink orders. We looked at our menu's and didnt recognize anything on the menu. The buffett was great. We ended up eating their everyday for breakfast and dinner. Lunch we just had the buffett by the pools.
Make sure you ask for your safe box key apon check in. You will need it, the maids will totally go through your stuff if it is not locked up. We did end up "loosing" our visa card while we were there, and you cant call 1-800 numbers from mexico.
Overall it was a great trip and I would totally go back!

We stayed at RIU Palace from 09/05 - 09/12 and here is our review:


Flight/arrival: We flew with Skyservice out of Toronto. The flight was good
and we arrived a half hour early. They were short room for some passengers on the buses, but they fixed the problem quickly. It took just over thirty minutes to get to the hotel and the ride was scenic. Check-in was fast. I had requested a room in the 3000's before we left and we were assigned room 2008. Disappointing. We didn't feel like going through the hassle of arguing for a new room (they were 95% booked), so we accpeted that room.

We wanted to note that on the way to our room we were assualted with a
horrid sewer smell. It is VERY noticeable as you pass the rooms in the
XX40's to XX60's (approximately) and it would pretty much affect all floors. I don't know if you'd be able to smell in in your room, but you can
certainly smell it as you pass that area and it is NASTY!

Our general impression of the hotel was that it is aestheically very
beautiful. They did a great job with the common areas - they are all well
kept, clean and beautifully decorated. At first glance it really looks/feels
like a five-star, but once you actually start experiencing the resort you
realize they fall short of actually meeting five-star standards.

Room: As mentioned we were in room 2008. We had a partial ocean view but it was blocked by some palms. Not the view we were hoping for, but we decided it wasn't worth making a stink over. I should note that we had problems opening and closing our door ...you really had to give it a hard push to open or close it and it was actually coming apart at the seams. The couch in our room had quite a few noticeable stains on it and the carpet had multiple cigarette burns. We were missing a remote and some of the standard hotel toiletries. One day we requested water and still hadn't received it hours later. It took a second request, but we finally got it. The first day we noticed we had a burnt out bulb and requested a new one. We never did get the replacement. Not the end of the world on any of those issues, but it lowered the value of the hotel in our minds.

Maid service seemed to be different for everyone - some people got really
good service and some people got the very basics. We didn't notice any bugs, etc.

On another negative note, there was a residence (we were told not related to the resort) next door to our room and these people own many roosters. Need I say that once they started crowing, they did not stop for hours. Sometimes it started well before sun rise, too ... like 3 - 4 AM. We found it was a bit better with the patio doors closed, but what a pain when you want to hear the ocean waves as you fall asleep, etc. Obviously this is not the hotel's fault, but if you do not sleep like a log you may want to avoid that area!

Restuarants - The reservation system that is in place does need improvement. We did not have to wait long in line, but we couldn't even get a reservation for the gourmet restuarant because it was booked solid for the entire week we were staying there.

We didn't bother with the Japanese (we were told it was pretty good, though) nor the Mexican. We did try the steak house and were completely
disappointed. The service was terrible. I know they were trying, but they
were totally disorganized. They were not serving tables as they arrived
...there seemed to be no method to their madness. One couple who arrived before us and long before many other couples, nearly left and complained to the "manager" that it was taking SO long for their food. When we received our order, it wasn't even correct but we didn't dare say anything for fear of having to wait even longer! The food we did get was alright, however (steak tender, etc.), so it wasn't a total waste. Our friends booked there too and arrived early and said they had a good experience. Perhaps the earlier you arrive, the better the service will be.


The buffet restaurant left something to be desired after the third day.
There is very little variety .. it is repetitive each night. I know there
was a "theme" night each night but if anything WAS changed to accomodate the "theme" we couldn't really tell. I think the quality of the food is better than many other places (DR, Cuba) but it is barely warm and I think this ruins it. They did have some great smoothies, the fresh pasta bar was *excellent* and the mimosas at breakfast were a really nice touch! Service in the buffet restaurants ranged from okay to pretty good. It didn't seem to matter too much about tipping, either. We were pretty disappointed with the cleanliness, too. I really thought other people might be exaggerating about this, but they weren't. There were always dirty plates mixed in with clean ones and one morning I was given a spoon that obivously hadn't seen a dishwasher as it was still dirty with someone else's coffee stains! We never made a big deal about these things ...but, again, just more issues that lowered the value of the hotel.

Pools/grounds - Beautiful! We preferred the "relaxing" pool as it seemed to
be cleaner and less yahoos hanging around. We tried the busy pool one day and were treated to a bunch of drunk, ill-mannered tourists who thought it was amusing to pour beer on themselves in the pool, etc. - charming! Also, we couldn't understand why people thought it was okay to leave their glasses, empty bottles, etc. all over the resort - piled in ashtrays, in the bushes, etc. - get some class people! I think someone on here once said something about a five-star resort attracting 2-star clientele and now I know why! Thankfully, during our stay they were the minority.

We had absolutely no problem with service in the pool bars. We always
received prompt, friendly service. If you were waiting for service from the
waiters who were serving people in their loungers, you did have to wait a
long time. To us it wasn't a big deal - we'd just walk over to the bar and
get a drink.

The pools are huge, not terribly overcrowded and for the most part pretty
clean (save the pool/bar on the busy side). We didn't find them to be as
warm as some people said ...they were always cool enough to be a refreshing change from the hot sun.

The town of Cabo San Lucas was fun!

We stopped in at Margaritavilla for some margs - wow! Expensive ($9US a pop) but HUGE, tasty and well worth it!

Ole Ole - We had already eaten, but joined some friends who ate here for
drinks and a "snack". First round was on the house (nice!) and the food was really good. Our friends had lobster/steak combo and fahitas and we had the tortilla soup and shrimp cocktail. A little costly, but very tasty and worth it after days of repetitive buffet food!

El Squid Roe - We stopped by for a short while one night and it was
packed. They really do alot to get the audience involved and having a good time. It is geared more toward the younger, more rowdy crowd. We witnessed the bar staff run a 30-person conga line passed several 'tequila stations'. At each station they poured a shot of tequila down each persons throat using a shot nozzle that had been licked and sucked by all the others in the conga line. Not our thing but you probably care less if blitzed! Drinks are exepensive.

Office on the Beach - We had e-mailed them prior to leaving to request
reservations for the Thursday night Fiesta. We never heard back. We decided the day after we arrived (Tuesday) to head down there for drinks and lunch. The chips and salsa were excellent and the drinks (2 for 1) did not disappoint!! The lunch was only okay, however, and when we checked on our fiesta reso, we were told they didn't have it in the low season! Nice! I feel if they are going to offer online reservations, at least have the
decencey to reply to people.

Amarone - Can't say enough good things about this place. Awesome! We went there for a gourmet dinner and were not disappointed. We all had appetizers of pasta (lobster ravioli and crab ravioli - yum!) and our pasta entrees were great, too! Don't underestimate the place due to the modesty of the restaurant staff and their descriptions of the meals. We had no room for dessert! A warning - a decent bottle of wine is extremely expensive here! The service was excellent and the atmosphere (we ate out in the courtyard with a jazz band playing) was great!!

Johnny Rockets - We ate here one day for lunch. It was okay ...nothing to
write home about.

The only excursion we did was ATV'ing with Amigos which was a blast! The
ride was fun and the beach was so beautiful! Highly recommend this! Bring cargo pants (or jeans) and running shoes.

We also rented wave runners which was fun. We rented them for an hour but felt that a half hour would have been plenty. Our friends did parasailing and said it was great ...just a little expensive for the short amount of time you are actually in the air.

The beach - beautiful! The scenery is great. Nice view of the arches! I knew that swimming was treacherous from past reviews so wasn't expecting much. Most days the flags indicated you could swim though even at that I don't think I would risk it. It is no joke about that undertow! One thing we were not prepared for is how rough the sand is on the beach. It is not soft by any means! This wouldn't be an issue but for the fact that we like to walk the beach ...so, for anyone with tender feet - bring watershoes!

There were many more excursions and activites we would have liked to try and there just wasn't enough time!

As for the comments like "some people just like to complain" - I think that is unfair. Yes, some people cannot be pleased at all ..but we are not "whiners". We feel that overall we got a good deal for what we paid, but I would never pay for this resort at high season because for US it was not a five-star experience. I imagine others had a better expereince than we did ...but I believe it's important for people to get a variety of opinions so they can make an informed decision. Just because other people may not have had the same wonderful experience as you, doesn't mean they are perpetual complainers.

I would likely to return to Cabo ...but there are other places I have on my "list" to visit first! It was a beautiful place with lots to see and do. So, I say go to Cabo but if you want a true five-star experience then avoid RIU Palace. If you can go with lowered expectations, then you will probably be suitably impressed with RIU.

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.