Firstly, I should say that I've been to seven all inclusives, Mexico, Dominican, and once to Jamaica, so I haven't travelled extensively, but enough to know what a good resort is. The Riu Santa Fe is a great resort, the nicest I've been to. My wife and I were there for two weeks, April 12th to the 26th with friends.

Our room was in building three, top floor overlooking the main pool. True, no elevators but I enjoyed the extra exercise. We had a king sized bed which was typically firm. The safe is electronic so there was no ridiculous fees for a key. There was ample closet and dresser space for your belongings. Our maid provided above average service each day. We utilized the liquor dispenser and the fridge, which is stocked with water, Corona, regular and diet Pepsi. We never ran out.

Bars, lots of them and rerely a wait. If you are Canadian, you may be happy to know there is Canadian Club and Canadian Mist every where you go. We tended to be at the beach swim up bar where Marco worked, he took good care of us. Angelica was always smiling and doing something funny. The sports bar is nice, three pool tables, about a dozen computers, lots to do. Isreal works there, he is a great guy, speaks fluent in English, as most employees do. The main pool swim up bar has terrible Pepsi, must be something with the dispenser because it tasted very sweet, so we just brought mix from our rooms. A common complaint is the lack of bathrooms near the swim up bars. That is true, however, it appears there is one under construction by the beach swim up bar.

The food is incredible, I was eating two plates at every meal. I had to restrain myself. How could someone complain with so much variety, egg grill, pasta bar, fish, pork, chicken, salads? The only gamble was the beef, sometimes tough.

Take some time away from the resort as well. We hired a guide who took us to Cabo San Lucas and some other sights. we took the local bus for seven pesos and went to town and the marina. We hired a taxi and guide another time and went to Todo Santos, home of the famous "Hotel California". Across from Hotel California is a bar called Tequila Sunrise where we had the most amazing margaritas. They are so good, you can actually buy a t-shirt with the recipe on it. That was a memorable time, sipping those drinks, admiring the Hotel California and listening to Eagles music.

I'll share something embarrassing with you. I decided to use the laundry service, so I got the form, with the price list, filled it out and sent out about twelve items, t-shirts, shorts, golf shirts. The next day, it was in my closet so well presented on hangars in plastic. When I got the bill, I realized the dumb mistake I made. I mistook pesos for cents and had to pay $61.00. We all had a good laugh at my expense, lesson learned.

The top management, Yvonne, Sergio, and Karen are wonderful people to deal with. We tried to get them to rent the UFC pay per view event. They actually looked into it but thier satellite service didn't offer it. I was impressed with the amount of attention they would offer us. Sergio also assisted with another matter which we appreciated very much.

I had a fantastic time at this resort and would highly recommend it.

Our family of 5 spent a week at the Riu Santa Fe in April. It was wonderful. The rooms were spotless and the grounds are beautiful and clean. Both pool areas are fabulous and very different from each other. The views of the ocean and rocks from the ocean pool are amazing!
The quality of the food was great and every meal offered an enormous selection. Yes, it is all buffet style, but for a large family it is preferable. Everyone can have what he / she wants and come & go as one wishes. For a romantic dinner, it would leave a bit to be desired.
The staff is superb!!! I can't say enough good things about the great young people who work there. The entertainment staff especially are so wonderful! They are fun and courteous and practically adopted my two youngest kids (ages 12 & 14) for the week. My kids cried when it was time to leave.
Suggestions?
The airport scene is a nightmare, with all the time share hawkers. You really can't get through them. Our experience was that you had to "buy" your taxi fare from one of them ($85 one way). We heard that from other people too.
Take the Pez Gato snorkeling tour, which can be bought on the beach in the desk under the RIU's pool area. The tour takes 6 hours, from the time you leave the hotel til you get back, but it is really worth it. At $45 it was the best bargain of the week. The crew is great, the lunch is good, and the snorkeling in Santa Maria Bay was amazing.
Also - you can rent horses right in front of the hotel on the beach, but we chose the Pacific side ride (booked through the lobby desk). Very nice. Two hour ride down the Pacific Coast and through the desert hills. (bring a jacket - it is very windy!).

HOLA!

My wife and two other couples stayed at the Santa Fe from 4-5 to 4-13. We had a great time.

The hotel is magnificent. We stayed in building 4, on the top floor.
The cleaning staff were top notch. We left 20 peso's a day and never had a complaint. The fridge is stocked with soda, water, and 6 corona's every 2 days, but if needed, it can be replenished by a call to the front desk.
There is a huge pool right outside the door of buildings 1-5. There are plenty of loungers available with shade.
There is a bar there that is usually open from sometime in the morning to 5:30PM. There are tables and stools in the water and stools for sitting in the water at the bar. There are also seats at the back of the bar on land. There is a buffet set up in a building at the back of the pool.
In the main plaza there are three bars, a Sports Bar, a Disco, a convenience store, souvenir store, and the Baja California building. One of the bars in the plaza opens in the morning the other not until 5 or so. The Disco opens at 11PM and closes at 2AM. The Sports bar is open 24 hours. There is also a stage with entertainment nightly, with a bar to the left of the stage area. Did not spend much time watching the entertainment.
The Baja has the most diverse menu available in the complex and we ate there in the morning and nightly.
Building 7 is set facing the beach. It is a 1/4 mile or so walk from the lobby area. There is another pool complex there, with two bar pools on each end sandwiching a huge pool with a fountain, and all look out on the beach. There is always a grill set up in the middle with different food choices during each day. There is also a buffet in the building complex behind the first pool bar. These bars close around 5:30PM.
The beach is fantastic. There are beach lounges available. It does drop off pretty quickly and depending on the size of the waves it might be difficult for some to swim. Being from the Northeast the water was a perfect temperature for me. We walked to town from the beach and it took about a 1/2 hour.
There are water taxi's that will pick you up and take you either on a cruise out to Lover's Beach or drop you off down the beach at the Marina in town. Cost is $10. Entering and exiting the taxi can be challenging to the non-athletic when the waves are over 2 feet. We did see one water taxi with a ladder in the bow for easy access, but most of the boats are ladder less.
The Lover's Beach trip is highly recommended. There are two beaches on the Island, Lover's and Divorce. They will cruise you around the rocks to check out the Sea Lions and drop you off and pick you up an hour or two later, your choice. We stayed for an hour. We watched some locals skim boarding on Divorce Beach. Took a lot of pictures. Beautiful location.
We rented a Wave Runner and cruised out to Lover's beach and into the Marina and back. $50 US for 1/2 an hour.
We were going to go fishing. You definitely need to bargain for a fishing trip. We had them down to $250 for 5 hours with bait and fishing licenses for 3, on a 26 footer, but never went.
We did go on a Sunset Cruise aboard the Jungle Cruise, a converted catamaran. They had a bar set up in the middle with Monster speakers above the bar. Once underway, they cranked the tunes and served margaritas and Dos XXXs beer. We were tailed by three guys in a small whaler. They had one guy on the back, wake boarding, putting on a show. At one point he mooned all of us. He also wake-boarded by the boat and picked up a beer from one of the crew members. Everyone was boogieing to the music. The trip lasted more than 2 hours. We paid $32(negotiable) a person. We had a blast. It is my understanding that not all Sunset Cruises are created equal.
A taxi from the lobby to the mall in town cost $3 a person, one way. The Marina area is beautiful. There is a walkway with water front stores and bars lining the marina.
We did stop by Cabo Wabo. We ordered a beer and a mixed drink. $14 US. The music wasn't THAT good so we kissed off after one drink.

Highlights good and bad:

The weather was fantastic, 90 with a breeze during the day and low 60's at night.
The staff is very friendly and courteous.
They will make any drink that your heart desires.
There is no Ginger Ale. My normal Jim Beam and Ginger had to be made with 7 UP.
Corona is the only beer served.
Eat at the Baja. Omelets made to order. Diverse buffet selection. Food is Good, not Great.
Baja is open from 6:30AM to 10:30PM.
Other than that, the sports bar has a cooler with sandwiches, 24 hours, rated 2 on a scale from 1 to 10.
We went to the Steak house one night and it was not that good. The steak was about a 1/4 inch thick. We did not bother going to any of the other restaurants.
Smoking is allowed everywhere.
All of the pool areas are super clean with plenty of loungers and Palm Umbrellas for shade. Excellent.
The walls are paper thin. We had a moaner next door on the last night we were there. A call to the desk was needed. God forbid if this started on the first day.
There are 68 stairs to climb to get to the top floor of our building. Not all buildings are 4 floors.
No elevators excepting building 7.

Well, we went with Riu because we really wanted to go to Cabo. They were offering a great deal so we booked. Booked a room with two double beds but wanted to try to upgrade as was my honeymoon. When called was never able to speak to anyone. One time I attempted to call I timed my hold time and was left on hold for 2 1/2 hours! Needless to say never spoke to anyone!Got to the hotel and they said an upgrade would be impossible as the hotel was 92% full. Was able to let that go but once found the room is at least a half mile from the main area. We did not get our bags from the bell man for 2 hours had to go chase him down. The resort is new so we epected some down falls but it just kept going. We called to have a wake up call and the next day when they called it was an hour delayed from the time we requested. Defeated the whole purpose! Only one restaurant at the resort does not require a reservation and the only way you can reserve a spot in the other three restaurants is to go to the main restaurant between 8-11 in the morning and you pick a number so if you do not get there early you are not able to reserve. Plus, can only reserve one day before so if you stay a week this has to be done several times. When attempting to get change from the front desk tried to get the money exchanged in the same currency given and was only able to get change in pesos and charged $5 to do so. Also attempted to use the phone to make a local call at the front desk and charge $1 each time even if no one answers! Also the beach did not have the abilty to swim due to strong undertide. Right when you step foot on the beach the locals are right there trying to get you to buy things and no way to relax. All in all I would not suggest The Riu Santa Fe to anyone I know. The food and the drinks where good but they need a lot of help!