First off, I would say the service was not the problem, it was more the way the hotel worked itself that was difficult. For example, we PAYED for a FULL FRONT ocean view, and were given a room where we had a view of other rooms and when we were would literally lean over the balcony and look all the way to the left, there was the ocean. So we had to have our room changed which was a hassle. The hotel staff was very kind and helpful, however, under hotel policy, the room we where given is considered "full front ocean room." Which I thought was false advertising. And I saw numerous other people in the same position as us waiting to change rooms because they were dissappointed with there "ocean front view" that they had paid for. The service and hotel staff was WONDERFUL. Laura, she is from Pechuga, Mexico, was the sweetest and kindeset woman and ever so helpful. She worked behind the front desk and was more than an advisor but a friend. I will miss her! All the staff is very friendly and always say "Hola!"
THE POOL AND OCEAN:
The reviews about the pool and ocean are very true. The pools are absolutely freezing temperature no matter what time of day. However, it can be kind of nice when it's really hot to help cool down. I travel all the time to Mexico and this was the first time I've ever seen a pool SOOO empty every time of the day. Another bummer about the pool is that they close it from swimming at 8 o clock PM! Which is absolutely ridiculous. I have never been to a hotel where the pool is closed SO early at night. They also advertise how much beach front they have, however, it is ALL unswimmable. Not one person swims in the ocean because it is so dangerous. The red flag is always up. Honestly I had a great time at the hotel, but being someone who loves to swim in the ocean and in the pool, comfortably, I would honestly recommend you consider other hotels.
THE FOOD:
Now at home, back in California, I am by no means a high class eater. And even I was dissappointed with the food. Yes, there are alot of options at the buffet, but it is all absolutely TASTELESS AND BLAND. I LOVE desserts and I could not find one that was at all fullfilling for me. So if you are a big lover of food, this isn't the place for you. There are other restaurants beside the buffett restaurant, however, for the good ones, you literally have to wake up by 7:30 in the morning to get in a reservation before there all taken up. Now, while these restaurants did have better tasting food than the buffetts, it was by no means tasty. So that is the downside about the food. Also, drinks have no alcohol in them, you can ask for more but they barely put any in still.
AND IF YOU OR ANYONE IN YOUR FAMILY IS ALLERGIC TO BEES, STAY AWAY BC I HAVE NEVER SEEN A PLACE MORE PLAGUED BY BEES IN MY LIFE THAN THIS HOTEL.

My overall advise to people looking to stay here is, if you love swimming in the pool and ocean, and having decent food to munch on, this probably isn't the number one place for you.

We stayed at the Riu Santa Fe from June 7-14. Checking in was a little unorganized. We were in building 7 and had a ocean view room. The room was average but the view was beautiful.

It was very hot during the day but at night it got cold and windy. I would suggest bringing a jacket. The pools were a little cold and the beach was beautiful. There was no pool service with people coming to ask you what you wanted to drink and that was disappointing. There was always places to suntan so you don't have to reserve spots.

Wasn't too happy with the buffet as we found it got a little boring. Tried to make reservations but you have to be there by 7am and then come back again later. We ate in town twice and it was pricy but nice. Went on the snorkeling tour and ATV tour. there was too many jelly fish in the water so we couldn't snorkel but the ATV tour was fun.

We didn't find the staff overly friendly. We tipped our maid everyday and didn't receive anything special. We have stayed at alot of Riu resorts and I would not stay at this resort again. I would go back to Mayan Riviera and stay at the palace.

Oh ya and to get into the rooms the key is tricky and to get the doors open. They don't have the card keys which we found to be very odd. They started construction outside our room at 7 am and we were not impressed.

This was my 6th time to stay with Riu Resorts. Once again it was a joy, and well worth the money. 5/30 to 6/6/08.

A hint to fellow travelers: I always book direct thru Riu's Group dept. (you'll need to book 10 to 15 rooms to go thru groups)
This will always get you a better rate, and most always get incentives for you and your group. This time they offered us 15% off to anyone in the group at their spa. (plus a good room rate for all of us)
Spa service was great Many of us took advantage of thier weekly special, at an additional 15% off.

This resort is spread out. Lots of walking back and forth. Which you get use to after the 1st day.

I was a little bit disapointed in that Riu does not make it clear - Most All of this resort is NOT on the beach. Only rooms in bldg 7 and that pool are on the beach.
The rest of the resort is behind building 7 and Riu's Palace.

Only bldg 7 has elevators. 1 thru 6 is having to use stairs.

1 thru 6 you'll get a pool or desert view.

The pool that is Not on the beach has all the activities. We were torn between "Do we want to see & be on the beach OR do we want to do the daily activities?"

The resort is very nice and kept clean. Most all staff were very nice and helpful. All could speak some english.

This Riu resort/Santa Fe, is listed at "Hotel" Which we now have learned is a lower ranking in the Riu scale.
Example: No coffee maker in the rooms. Shampoo packets vs dispencer on wall. No room service. Elevators no elevators. Not all better brands of alcohol at the bars. At the pool, you have to go up to get your own drinks. ect.

Riu resorts listed as "Club" is for families with children. Alot of activities for kids of all ages.

"Palace" has all the extra's - a resort with lots of eye candy too.

The food at Santa Fe was wonderful at all 4 restaurants & the buffet. Resv needed at each of the restaurants. Was nice that we were allowed to ware dressier shorts to dinner vs at other Riu's had to ware pants.

We loved that, almost every evening in the main plaza area - Riu would set up a few pre dinner activities, along with a Brazilian grill and coffee bar! Yumm. Vendors would also come in to sell their wares.

Evening shows were very nice and entertaining.

We had our 9yr old daughter with us this trip. She was a bit on the board side. Not alot for the pre teen and younger to do. (there is a kids club on sight = is for 4 or 5 yr old and younger)

All in all, wonderful time was had by all 40 of us!! We/I will be staying with Riu again!

My friend and I went from June 9th-14th. The resort itself was beautiful and spacious. Not too big. The food was okay but it got a bit redundant. The drinks were plentiful and the only bad drink we had was a peach martini. Our room was a garden view that overlooked the horses and dogs and barren areas-not much of a garden. The shower did not drain and the refrigerator was broken. We asked at the front desk for someone to fix both and were assured it would be taken care of. Two days later we got moved to another room only because we pitched a fit after being told they couldn't fix the plumbing. That room had working plumbing and refrigerator but the ac went out and never came back on. The room next to ours had the same problem. The resort was not accomodating and we met with resistance the entire way. The caliber of people was far below that of other 4 stars we have stayed. Many people in the pool area were throwing around racial slurs as well as having tattooed swastikas on their backs. Apparently parents these days think it's a good idea to take their high schoolers on a drunken graduation celebration -not sure who was worse the high schoolers or their parents. Either way, this resort does not cater to a higher caliber of people. There are other resorts I can recommend that were so much nicer. At this rate, the resort will only attract the drunk, young and racially biased crowds we saw there. I will never go to stay at a RIU again!