Although it is a “Riu Palace”, the service was not up to snuff. We actually got better service at other, less expensive Riu “club hotels” then we did at the "Cabo" Palace. We stayed 10 days and they forgot to clean our room on 3 of them. My wife’s $70 bottle of perfume was stolen from the room during our stay. Management was very apologetic and reimbursed us for it. But honestly, are we expected to keep our perfume in the vault?

On the other hand, our friends were staying just a few doors down from us (different maid), and they said it was wonderful. No such problems. Go figure? Just goes to show you how much the maid can make a difference in your vacation experience.

The management said they are having problems keeping good help at this hotel and by next year these problems will all be solved. I won’t be back to find out.

The food was O.K., but again not up to other Riu hotels.

For a much better, all around, all-inclusive experience, may I suggest the Riu Palace Mexico in Playa Car? They really have it together. Would have went there this year if it wasn't for the hurricane.

Can you hope for 100% perfect vacation? Yes you can! In Riu cabo San Lucas, all inclusive and it is really all inclusive. 24 h!!! All you can drink and eat, including a minibar and bottles of Tequila, Vodka,... in the room all for your enjoyment and totally free. I have been to all inclusive before: In Curacao, it was good; In St Maarten, it was terrible. So I was a little skeptical about service, food and everything. The hotel is huge and spacious. Rooms are new and very clean. Initially we did not like the room we had ( I mean the view) and we changed it. We had to wait for about an hour for our luggage to be transferred from room to room. This was about my only annoyance during my Thanksgiving vacation!! They have 2 huge pools exactly the same except that one has all the activities and the other is more quiet. 2 swim up pools separate from the main pools and whoever was in an all inclusive before knows that this a big advantage!! ( being separate!). People are polite and gracious. They periodically lean to ask you if you would likew a drink in the pool. They have a friendly kids club and a gym looking at the rocks and the sea. 2 of the 3 treadmills were not working but the bikes, stepper, elliptical and weight machines were. They also have a small spa. Ask for Samuel. He gave me the best massage ever called Renova. A mixture of Lomi Lomi, reflexology, swedish, stretching,... I also got the "ocean experience" massage at 7 pm outside facing the ocean( It is still private!). They have 4 restaurants with dress-up codes and an open buffet with daily themes. The restaurants need reservation in advance. There are at least 4 bars open concomittantly or consecutavely. As of activities, we rode horses on the beach and jet skied for extra. Kayak is free but did not see any so is the diving demo in the pool (free). Oh, the only strange thing I found about this hotel is that they charged for playing pool!! There were 2 nights were they had big screen with X box for kids as well as daily disco for kids. Pasha discotheque opens at 11 pm but cannot comment on it. If you are a diver, go to Cabo pulmo, the only live coral reef on the west coast. Finally, this hotel was 100% full but did not disappoint me in anyway. I'd say THUMBS UP!!!

I just want to say that all of those people with very poor reviews of the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas are oh, so very wrong!!! My husband and I were there November 8 - November 22/05, and loved every second we were there. The hotel, on first impression, was beautiful!!! And once in the hotel, the beauty never faded. Two glorious weeks of excellent service, fun goofy activities, and relaxing entertainment at night, and plenty of dancing, even if we did it on our own sometimes. The beds were slightly hard, but we just asked the front desk to put a padding on our bed, and it softened it up. No problem!! Yes, there was a smell on occasion, either sewer or Pepe La Pew (skunk), but as I am home now, I notice similar smells, more than I ever smelt them at the resort. Once again, no problem in our lives. We loved this resort so much than we are going again next year same time same place. Thank you Riu Palace!!!

Just got back from Riu Palace in Cabo. This is coming from a person who is FAR from a complainer, and usually goes with the flow...BUT...

The Good:
The place is absolutely breathtaking. When we arrived, we were definetly impressed. The place is outrageous!

The room was very nice. Clean and had a great view of the ocean. Maid service was great.

The Bad:
The drinks....are so watered down, I don't even believe there is actual alcohol in them. I am not a big drinker, so TEN drinks at the pool should give me at least a buzz, right? NOTHING!!!! I tried this for a week, never even dizzy!!!

The food....breakfast is decent. You cant mess that up. But as the day goes on, the food gets worse. Lunch is ok, and dinner basically -----. We read the reviews on the food before we left. The 1st 2 days we said the food wasn't bad....by the 3rd day, we ate out every night. The Office is a must for dinner!!!

The Ugly:

The pool....omg, what can I say about it? Like swimming in dirty ice cubes. The swim up bar was FILTHY every day at 7:30 a.m. Things (?) floating from the day before. So so nasty. People were eating in the pool, spilling drinks. I didn't expect a pristine pool with hundreds of people in and out. But this was downright unswimable. I almost lost my breakfast when a huge chunk of who knows what floated by me. GROSS!!!

BTW, we are nice tippers (from NY BABY!!) and that got us absolutely nowhere! We would pass $10 bills around, and staff would dirty look us, like we were cheapskates!!!!!

But hey, you get what you pay for. We still had a blast in Cabo, though I would not recommend staying there. Horseback riding at sunset is a must!