Went with my mom for 7 days. Calling the property is a nightmare. I'm about 50% fluent in Spanish and still got transferred 7 times. I just wanted to know how much it would be to upgrade to the villas, since they told my travel agent those were sold out. They told me to ask at check in. My mom needed minimal walking, and a walk in shower if possible, so I really didn't want to leave it to chance. We ended up with the villa, but on the second floor after tucking a tip into the passport at check in. The room was fine. Nice enough, clean enough. The housekeeper seemed to care about her job. The map provided doesn't actually explain where the shared services are, or how far some things are from the home property. It is really annoying having to put a room key in the wall to make the electric work. Just install a timer that people can spin for how long they'll be in the room. Most people don't intentionally waste electricity. Hot water went out for half the day at least. Minibar refills are quick and generous. If you want to swap dark rum for light rum in the liquor dispenser though, there's no hope. They WILL stock you with wine if you ask. (all the wine on the property is semi dry. If you don't like this, ask for wine spritzers, wine and 7up) The buffet is just ok. You can find something to eat if you're a picky eater. (I'm not). Service is decent. The Italian restaurant is terrible. Not only the service, but the food. I've never had ravioli undercooked and overcooked at the same time but somehow they managed it. They need to pay for the check to go to Italy and learn to actually cook. The steakhouse Taino left a lot to be desired. Both for lunch and dinner. My mom had to send a very blue filet back to finish cooking. My steak was well done when I asked for medium. I ate It because good grief, get it over with. Apple cider pie tasted musty, like it was left in a walkin cooler that needed a serious cleaning. (Anything flour based will pick up air contaminants in a fridge or freezer almost immediately) Vanilla Ice cream was excellent. The waiters here dragged their tray jacks around behind them. It sounds like a stupid thing to be annoyed at, but when you've served fine dining before, something like that really grates. It's unsafe, makes an irritating noise, and ruins the tray jacks. Kullinarium and Krystal restaurants boast separate menus on the app. They are not separate. It's the same. However, we dined twice at Kullinarium. The spare rib is phenomenal. Shrimp salad is excellent. The Iberian ham breadstick...things ..are awful. But the second time we went back, they remembered we didn't like them and made regular rolls appese. Angel is the manager here and he is incredible. He cares. He is teaching the waiters under him to serve properly. Alberto is his protege and very much cares about his job also. We skipped the Japanese restaurant based on other people's recommendations. The coffeehouse in the lobby Is very good and the small plates there are great. The ladies are also very sweet. Evening entertainment is ok. There's music and dancing, employees there who try and get the guests to dance. The bartenders in the bar there are probably the slowest and least attentive people I've ever had the displeasure of meeting. I don't know if they're directed to overpour, and then ignore people after, but some serious training is needed. If you get the villas you have access to quiet, adults only pools. Towels are hard to come by. We used the same ones for 4 days because they never seemed to have clean ones to swap out. We chose the middle pool which doesn't have a swim up bar. La Bamba is the bar there. Alexis and Ezequiel are FANTASTIC bartenders. I just wanted soda water and lemonade most of the time, and they were very accommodating. Super friendly guys, happy to just make people happy. The hot tubs in the middle of the pools aren't actually hot, but the bathrooms were clean. We didn't attend Riu Party at all, but the other people who went said they had a blast. There's a club called Pacha that we also didn't go to because they charge for drinks. That seems foolish to do if you've already paid an all inclusive. We went to the shared casino for a full twenty minutes. The blackjack dealer had what I call "magic hands" and tried pulling a fast one, swapping cards on the table in favor of the house. He also didn't deal in order. Places like that you get up and leave. Never deal with a shady casino. …
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