This was the first time for us at Cabo and the first time for us at a Riu resort. This trip was for my boyfriends birthday and I tried to go all out with the ocean view suite and plans to go on a sunset dinner cruise, dinner on the beach in a private cabana etc...The best part of the riu resort was the frozen drinks you get at the moment you check in. The view of the ocean was the other nice part. As for the rest it was hard to deal with. The room which was the most expensive -full ocean view suite was damp, dirty, full of bugs, and incredibly smelly the whole time we were there. There was no soap,shampoo or conditioner when we got there and to make a call on the phone to the front desk in order to request anything might take you a while since there are no buttons directing you to the various services. After pressing on different buttons in order to try to figure out how to reach them and finally finding out that the 9 button was the front desk, the person on the other side was rude and not much help since I had to keep calling in order to finally get some soap and shampoo 2 hours later. There was no remote for the TV and we got one sent to us in the same manner with attitude even though we were constantly pulling out 5 dollar bills (at check in and with everyone that brought us the things that should have been in the room in the first place) The cleaning of the room really freaked us out since the only thing the maid was doing was making the beds....not cleaning the bathrooms except for taking the dirty towels and not replacing them with new ones and not cleaning the floors- the dead bugs in the corners before we were leaving the room were still there after she "cleaned". We had to constantly beg for towels by diling "9". The food was horrific...the drinks bland...the service bellow average. We wound up eating out at the main beach in the "Office" which was the best experience we had in Cabo...great food, a lot of fun and amazing service...everytime I looked at our waitor he ran(not exagirating) to us to see what we needed. We also ate at the marina which has a great choice of different restaurants and its right next to the mall which was also nice and most of all airconditioned.
Back to the Riu and the spa which I had called 1 week in advance from home and booked a couples masage overlooking the ocean outside. It is called ocean harmony and this was to be done on my boyfriends birthday in the morning and I had made special plans for the whole day and since we were there only for 3 days I had to plan ahead and try to get everything into the scedual that I wanted to surprise him with. We get to the spa 15 minutes early and I am trying not to let him know what is about to happen but the lady at the front desk tells me that yes someone booked this for us but they shouldnt have since it is not available for that day, the terrace where the masage is to take place is taken all day and they didnt know how to contact me to let me know since the reservation was made before we had checked in and they didnt have our room#. I was crushed and furious since I dont think it is that hard for the spa to comunicate with the front desk and ask for our room # by giving them my last name, which they did have, and contacting me in advance so that I know to change my plans.
The Caborey dinner cruise was fantastic...the food was very good and the views incredible. That was the highlight of his birthday except for the fact that I spent the night alone since my boyfrind got food poisoning from the breakfast we had at the Riu that morning instead of being at the spa and he spent most of the boat trip in the bathroom throwing up and sweating.

I would not go back. We live in Vegas and so maybe we are spoiled with the hotels and the service here. Next year maybe we will stay in vegas for his birthday and just get the most beautifull suite, limo, dinner at the most expensive restaurant , the whole day at the spa and service to the max for the money I spent in Cabo. We would also spend a lot less time traveling.

My wife and I celebrated our 10th at the RIU from Sept 17th thru the 22nd and I am sitting here back at work wishing for more vacation!!!

Please take all the negative comments with a grain of salt, most that complain do so to hear themselves and we saw this first hand on our trip. Its vacation and that means be nice and go with the flow you will be much happier that way.

I booked our trip thru travelocity and during this process you can add vouchers to your trip for things like the shuttle to and from the airport to the hotel, strongly recommend this it made things easy and comfortable. Time share people, you wont even notice them if you just walk outside and board your shuttle.

The hotel was amazing, views from a post card thru out the resort.

Food- Buffet- Very Good, all u can eat , lots of variety, fruit was my favorite best watermelon I have had in a long time. Great thing about a buffet is if you dont like something get something else.

Speciality Resturants- Mexican, Pretty Good , always found something that I liked we ate here once.

Steak House- Service Great , food ok, not the best steak but I never expected the best steak so it was cool.

We never ate at the others so no comment on those, also on the reservations, I stood in line the first day for about 10 minutes and scheduled both meals, drink in hand mind you!!

Rooms- Comfortable, Great View from balcony, cold, I mean cold AC!
We smelled the foul smell others mentioned a time or two but nothing to ruin a trip over, It smells in the states too from time to time, no biggie and it wasn't all the time.

Pools- spent all our time at the quite side, it was great. Drink in hand, beautiful lady next to me and views that are incredible absolutley loved it!!!

Nightly Entertainment- Fun to watch, didn't stay long we spent alot of time at night away from the resort exploring the town and shopping and such, but what I saw was entertaining.

Service- The staff was great, we decided before we left the the states to get 100 bucks in ones and tip, this I feel made all the difference. We had waiters pulling us to their section when walking into the buffets, The pool bartenders had my drinks of choice memorized by the 3rd drink, knowing they would get a buck, more alcohol just say double shot, no problem!!
I recommend the Miami Vice!!!

Room was always made up nice with little animals made from the towels and such, 3 bucks to the maid a day and I would leave a couple of bucks inside the mini bar fridge to make sure the right people got the tip and our fridge stayed stocked. Put all your valuables in the safe and lock it and that made for worry free fun.

We also took a trip into Todos Santos thru apple tours and it was a blast , great tour guide that taught us alot about mexico and I found the best Mexican food ever at a place called Tequila Sunrise, amazing food and cheap. Its right across the street from Hotel California.

I was very happy with our choice in hotels and would go back in a minute.

I was nervous to follow through with my reservations at the RIU after reading reviews, and was going to try to change to the Hilton instead, as the family we were traveling with decided to do. After arriving at the RIU, I toured the grounds, and found no smells whatsoever! I spoke with some guests, and they said the hotel had recently took measures to prevent this, and it was no longer a problem. Apparently the RIU management had heard the bad feedback, and ended this problem. I was SO GLAD we did not tranfer to the HILTON!!! Our friends who did tranfer there came to visit us at the RIU and were insanely jealous. They felt like chumps paying the Hilton's ridiculous prices for food, and saw how great the food at the RIU was. Also, they did not realize until getting the bill the final morning that their three teenagers had been charging drinks and snacks to the room. Their food costs at the end of the trip were ridiculous.
The RIU was beautiful and had wonderful service. We have stayed in 5-star resorts on Anguilla and St. Maarten, and were very pleased and found the service at this resort impeccable. Would highly recommend it!

My husband and 2yr old daughter stayed at the Riu from 9/17 - 9/24. I will say that the place is huge and we had gotten lost a few times in the beginning. Floors are not numbered correctly, many guests commented on that situation. The grounds and overall appearance are just beautiful. Pools are above average. Pool bars are a bit of a mess, even seen a man vomitting on the side then continue drinking! The food was average not too tasty. Big selection though. Mexican restaurant was good. Italian buffet in the afternoon was great, beautiful view and nice breezes. 100+ degrees everyday and the evenings are very warm. Service was very good most times. You will have to wait to be served sometimes - water, silverware etc..nothing that we could not handle though. Seemed to be short staffed there. Front desk - wonderful. helped us to get the perfect room after 4 attempts. All this I say after having a very sick child for 5 of the days we were there and I got sun poisoning ( 1st time in my 41 yrs of life). Not much of a vacation for us, but staying at such a nice resort helped ease the pain. Overall good value for this resort, would we go back? YES!