I just spent a week at the Riu Santa Fe and couldnt have asked for a more perfect relaxing vacation. If your looking for a lil' R&R, this is the place to be. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. We experienced nothing but the best. The food was excellent, plenty of choices and abundant. The drinks were refreshing and just the right amount of alcohol. We came at the perfect time of year and was not crowded what so ever. We practically had the pool to ourselves everyday. Everything is at your lesiure at this resort.

TIP: Dont waste your money on the taxi's if you wish to leave the resort. Take the local bus that picks you up right outside the Riu's gates and its only 70 paseo's (about $1). Also, no ATM's on resort so bring all the cash you may think you need. (I used cash to buy from the vendors on the beach and excursions).

Oh, how I miss the daily ice cream runs and bringing it back to eat in the pool and hot sun, it was heaven.

I had read the reviews and really couldn't tell if we would like the Riu. We made the right choice and spent only 3 of our 7 days at the Santa Fe. (4 remaining days at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset which was fabulous)

Here's the deal. To me the hotel was like a giant Embassy Suites. That's not bad but I get one vacation to really enjoy myself and this wasn't it. The hotel is clean, staff is friendly, the pools were nice. We didn't run into any loud party people. I asked for a king bed in building 7 with an ocean view and got it without any problem. Our patio was the size of a postage stamp so we didn't spend much time enjoying the beautiful view of the arch.

Here's the real downside. The food was barely acceptable as most people have written. Breakfast was good, you could find most anything you would want and somethings that you couldn't identify. Lunch and dinner were horrible with the exception of the salad bar. Food included poor pasta, chicken and pork pounded into paper thin portions, over cooked fish, greasy ribs and steak. We were only able to get reservations to the steakhouse and never even made it there. The restaurants would have to be a HUGE improvement to be better than the buffett. In 3 days we ended up eating out twice. Another problem is that the buffet was open air, the AC was running, but the flies were horrible. I can deal with this when I'm outside but not inside.

Drinks....if you like lukewarm corona for beer then your ok. Mixed drinks were ok and I could get a decent G&T. We never even used the drink dispensers in our room. What are you going to use them with? Room service was more than happy to stock only beer for us which was nice but it still wasn't that cold. We took a collapsable cooler so we could ice them down and that helped.

The Sports Bar? it's really more of a game arcade. We were lucky to catch one football game and the remained of the TV's were on soccer and bullfighting. I know I'm on vacation but it would be nice to catch some updates while I'm there.

TV - like most people have said there are few english channels. Parents watch out, porn is pretty available after about 8:00pm. Sound between channels was very inconsistent.

We never went to any pool but those by building 7. The crowd was nice, nothing to out of control, great views. The hotel must be set up for thousands of people based on the number of lounge chairs they have crammed in there. I can not imagine being there when they are at capcity, it would be horrible. They only opened one of the pool bars which was annoying. One day there was a gentleman that wheeled around a keg for refills but only the one day. Service was fine, no complaints and we didn't feel a need to tip everyone.

It's a bit of a workout to walk the beach into town. The beach is a bit steep but I still recommend it. Stop at Mangos on the beach about halfway and have a drink. We had breakfast and they have the best tortillas I've ever had! The further towards town you go the better the beaches for swimming.

The square for the entertainment was huge, again they look like they are trying to make room for thousands of people. We arrived late and had a drink while watching the show. We did laugh a lot and probably not for the right reasons. It was good for one night and that's it. Otherwise it was horribly loud.

The Santa Fe is ok but we would not go back. You can get any number of hotels with great views for less money. To be honest when we compared our bill at the Santa Fe to our bill at the PB Sunset the delta wasn't that much and we enjoyed the PB Sunset a lot more. Eat in town and get some variety. The marina area is rull of restaurants and there are even more just off the main area.

I would recommend that if you go take the following:
insulated mugs for your drinks
fly swater
your own towels - who only gives you one per person?
collapsing cooler - a nice to have on almost any trip.

Hi. I just wanted to write a review since I checked this website quite frequently when i was choosing a hotel in Cabo. My boyfriend and I were looking for an affordable and all-inclusive resort for our week long vacation in Cabo. The Riu Santa Fe was it! Now of course, nothing is perfect... but this was very close!

Check in: No problem.

Food: There are different buffet choices for breakfast and lunch and then specialty restaurants and buffet for dinner. We stuck to the buffet choices almost the entire time! There were SO many choices. Servers were cooking the food right in front of you so i didn't feel like the food was sitting around. We heard bad things about the specialty restaurants so didn't feel like getting up early to try to make reservations. We went to the Mexican specialty restuarant on our last night and it was BAD. Stick to the buffet!

Pools: So many different options! Always someone cleaning it. Water was generally warm because it is SO hot there!

Beach: Nice to walk on. Can't swim because the water is so rough. I got wiped out!

Rooms: Great! Big bedroom and bathroom. Mini fridge stocked with water and soda- that got re-stocked every morning. 4 bottles of liquor in your rooms as well.

Activities: Not all that much to do on the resort (except for cheesey water activities) which was fine for us. We relaxed by the pool most of the time. We did rent a car (bad idea!) and went ATVing which was AWESOME. There are desks set up in the main lobby where you can book all your excursions. Oh and we took a boat around their famous arch which was also great.

Weather: SO HOT!!! And 1 day of rain.

Night Life: 2 bars open at the front of the hotel at night. Not ALL the much to do at night if you don't leave the resort. We took a ride downtown 2x which was very fun but expensive drinks.

Overall, we were very happy with our stay at Riu Santa Fe! So far I've recommended it to everyone I know! Well worth the price.

We stayed at the Riu Sante Fe Sept. 20-26, 2008. The resort is new, the grounds are huge and well taken care of, the rooms are clean, there is a mini-fridge in the room, with water beer & soft drinks, so feel free to drink as you please, the staff replenish all of the drinks every day, we found it very convenient.
We stayed at bldg. 5, good location, which is equal distance to the beach or the buffet.
The food at the buffet was very good, there is everything for every kind of taste. We did not make reservations for the specialty restaurants, they would be either full for the night or closed or the time was tool late to eat a full meal. My hysband though went to the steak house, he liked the steak, but had no dessert.

You can catch the bus right outside the Riu to go to town, the marina is a short walk from where the bus drops you off, a good place to walk & take some pictures, the busses run every 15 minutes or so, they stop service around 8:00pm.

The beach was big disappointment, the beach is not usable, first of all, there are no beach umbrellas, no palm trees, no shade of any kind, it's impossible to sit on the scorching sun no more than 5 minutes before you get a heat stroke. Had we known that ,we wouldn't go there because we both love the beach.
There are also ropes around the sand which means the beach chairs have to stay in the eclosed area, beacuse those waves are so sudden and furious they wipe everyhing from the beach, very scary to watch the angry waters, don't get fooled, it looks calm, but all of sudden huge waves come at you. I took the chair beyond the ropes and the security guard asked me to move it back.

This is were the vendors stay all day, beyond the ropes, (they have their own beach umbrellas!) but it's very hot staying out in the sun looking for stuff to buy.

I hope that helps, if somenoe on this site warned people about the beach we would have traveled to a different destination.