I just returned from a 4 night stay and was very worried about what Riu Santa Fe would be like after reading many poor reviews. Thankfully, it was a very nice stay. It is a more casual resort than the last Riu I stayed at (in Playa del Carmen) but certainly still a good resort with beautiful grounds and scenery. The room was great with a view of the beach pool and the ocean. We were in building seven and there is alot of walking involved but we didn't mind it one bit. We had no problems with service, I requested additional hangers for the closet and they were delivered within 15 minutes. I asked for a late check-out (2 PM) and was granted one. Cleaning in our room was done well each day. We used the gym every day and all the equipment was in good working order. The food is not the resort's strong point, but it is more than adequate. I hope they make a.m. coffee accessible in the future. There is no coffee anywhere near building 7 in the mornings and no in-room coffee either. We really enjoyed the cappucino machines in each dining room though and had about four cappucinos every day! The hallways are noisy when couples are going to bed and heading out in the mornings due to the echo from all the tile. So, I highly suggest bringing earplugs so you won't be wakened. Weather in Cabo was terrific for 3 days, rainy and gray one day and mostly cloudy on one day. We had no problems with theft but did use the room safe for our valuables. We had no problems with food poisoning or illness. Know that you cannot drink the tap water. Use bottled water even for brushing your teeth. If you are heading to this resort in the next month or two, relax and know that you will have a wonderful vacation.

This was my first time in Cabo San Lucas, as well as my first time staying at an all-inclusive resort. The scenery was beautiful, but the hotel basically sucked for lack of a better term. I'll give in to the fact that the Riu Santa Fe just opened in November, but my experience there will make me think twice before staying at any other Riu property in the future.

First of all, we did not get the room we asked for. I was traveling with a girlfriend. We requested two double beds, non-smoking. They gave us a king bed smoking. Also, they did not have the room ready until 5 p.m., two hours after the 3 p.m. check in time. No one offered to carry our bags. We had to be vigilant about getting the room, otherwise I doubt anyone would have bothered to alert us that it was ready.

The room was extremely musty. The mini bar was unstocked, even though a fully-stocked mini bar was included in the price. They did not stock the bar until late the second day. Our repeated requests to change rooms were basically ignored. On the third night, they sent us a letter saying we could change rooms, but at that point we were already settled. Two of the five nights we were there, our room was not cleaned. One night, they came at 7:00 PM to clean the room, just as we were arriving after a long day of sightseeing. So I guess we were supposed to wait while they cleaned the room instead of relaxing? We told the housekeeper not to bother, and he had no trouble blowing it off.

Billed as a five-star resort, the Riu Santa Fe would make someone laugh who actually has a clue about what five stars means. I basically got the feeling that once they had our money, they really didn't care what our stay was like. The employees were friendly enough, but it was basically self-service the whole way. I didn't like being at the hotel or in my room--it was just so huge and uninviting, like a camp for the masses. And when your customer doesn't like being at your so-called resort hotel, you have a HUGE problem.

Don't even get me started on the food, which was dull and boring. The "steak" house had a choice between ribeye and sirloin. I ordered the ribeye rare, and when the waiter came out, he tried to be cute and told me that underneath that shiny metal cover was a cheese quesadilla. Ha ha ha....well, there was my ribeye, rare and STONE COLD. It was completely inedible. I sent it back, but the server had no concept of why. I really wish I HAD gotten the cheese quesadilla. That would have been better by far.

Our checkout process basically captured the whole experience in a nutshell: After all the headaches, I was charged $8 for making two local phone calls to confirm our snorkel tour. I have no problem paying for phone calls, but with such bad service, you'd think a measely 2 phone calls would be comped.

"Sorry" the guy said, rolling his shoulders. He said sorry several times, and I just got the impression that since they know most people won't come back, it doesn't matter what impression they give. I spoke with Oliver, the so-called manager. I paid the bill, but then kindly asked him to call our transportation company to confirm our pickup. Do you think he did it willingly? He first informed me that the hotel would be charged a $1 surcharge, and then he reluctantly made the call.

Geez, this place was so lame.

I would first like to say that when you are staying at a new resort you are a guinea pig. If you want a resort to be working perfectly…Don’t go within the first few months of opening! There are some people complain about everything so there is no pleasing them.

I am a Travel Agent in Canada and I had a great time for my first visit to Cabo. I went Nov 17-24 with my family. It was my parents, myself (21 years old) and my brother (18). We had 2 ocean view rooms in Building 7 (Worth the money!!!!). Yes, the resort is large and there is a bit of walking involved…But you eat so much it is good to get exercise. If you are going to complain, go to a smaller resort.

Food: The food was good. I am a vegetarian and I thought I would find it hard to find dishes without meat, but I didn’t. There were great selections for everyone. I always did the “make your own pasta”. Breakfast is good, the usual from an all inclusive. I enjoyed the “Make you own Omelet”. And by the way, someone mentioned that there is no food available after buffet breakfast closes 1030 am….Well there is in the Mexican Restaurant (just continental breakfast but it is better than nothing).

Drinks: Mexicans do know how to make drinks! Cesar and Yedani were awesome bartenders by the sports bar!!! They work very hard and speak English well.

Rooms: We were room 7412 and 7408. 7408 had a great view of Lands End, 7412 was still good because you could see the Sea and the marina and some of the rock formations. The rooms were clean, new and modern looking. The bathrooms were nice and clean as well, I loved the shower. The mini fridge was great, it was to be refilled every 2 days but if you wanted more after 1 day you could call them and they will bring you more right away. They stock about 6 coronas as well as water, Pepsi and 7up. We called down after 1 day to get more Corona’s and they brought us 13 right away! The liquor dispensers were good as well!


I THINK THAT OUT OF ALL THE HOTELS IN CABO SAN LUCAS..the Riu’s have the best location. It is close to town and the marina and you can see the rock formations and land’s end from the rooms in building 7 as well as from the pool bars in front of Building 7.

Pools/Beach: The pools were good, very big, nice…there were many of them. I stayed in the pool bar in the upper right corner of the resort directly in front of Building 7 most of the day. SOOO BEAUTIFUL! Million Dollar View!!

Going into town…

Pez Gato Tour

We did the Pez Gato catamaran tour that was offered from Sunquest. I spoke with many other people and checked out the other boats myself and this is the best tour to do!! You pick up the tour at the Marina, go to Land’s End and see the Arch. They get very close up, great for pictures. You can see the Seals and everything. Then we started out boat ride…We saw 2 whales a few times! The captain pointed them out, we saw the tails, blowholes blow water, and the whales came up above the water a few times. It was amazing! If you were to go in February you would see 20-30 whales because this is mating season and they come to mate in the Sea of Cortez.

Then we went snorkeling in the Santa Maria bay! This is such a calm bay with clear waters. You could see fish right off the catamaran. Mos people went snorkeling. This is a great area because you feel safe. They give you swimming noodles to use in the water and you can use a life jacket as well. I just relaxed with 2 noodles in the water for the hour and a half. Some people didn’t even snorkel, they just enjoyed the boat and alcohol. Once you were done snorkeling it was open bar and a lunch (with meat and vegetarian sandwiches!!) The ride back was great because they went along the coast so you could see Cabo from the water.

Some people opted to do the water taxi to lovers beach at Land’s end instead of doing a tour. DO NOT TAKE THE WATER TAXIS. They bring you to the beach (which you can only access from water) and then leave you and come back whenever you say. I spoke with many people who were left there and luckily were able to catch another one back to the land. They had paid roundtrip but they did not come back to pick them up so they had to pay AGAIN to get the ride back.

Overall it was an awesome vacation and I have no complaints. There is no point wasting your vacations freaking out about the small things. If you want an elevator make sure you get building 7. If you want a little extra and are prepared to pay the price the Riu Palace is very nice as well and you can use the facilities of the Santa Fe as well.

My family I had a great time and would recommend it for anyone looking for a good vacation spot.

PS: if you knew what the Cabo weather was like you would know the December and Jan are a little cooler..If you want hot hot hot go to Panama! I found the week we went had awesome weather (it was in the 90’s during the day but not humid and it cooled down a bit and night which was refreshing).]

This resort is doing great for just opening and will improve as the weeks go by! Don't listen to the bad reviews...Like I said, some people cannot be pleased!

If you have any questions feel free to contact me! Happy traveling!

The hotel is new and there were are definitely a few problems.
We arrived on Nov 23 and stayed until the 30th. The front desk couldn't find our reservations when we arrived but they were very courteous and quickly got things sorted out.
We found the staff very friendly and very helpful. They seemed to be trying very hard to respond to requests or sort out problems. Hotel and grounds are beautiful. The food needs to be improved especially the booking of and the food at the specialty restaurants.
We had a great time at the ocean front pool and bars. Bar staff were eager to please.
I would recommend this hotel but keep in mind it just opened.
It will only get better.