RIU Hotels & Resorts
reviews and complaints

RIU membership number – [protected]
5th May 2017 – Monday 15th May 2017
Riu Reggae, Montego Bay. 3 Adults
We arrived at the hotel and were greeted by staff who were extremely helpful. We checked in and enquired if there might be a possible upgrade available as it was my friends 50th birthday celebrations.
The lady on reception (Elaine) had a look and said that she could move us to the courtyard, this would be quitter and a nicer view. She said that she would organise for the sofa bed to be brought across to us.
We proceeded to our room and found this to be more than satisfactory on arrival. We unpacked our cases and went about the resort to see where everything was etc.
We arrived back at the room to change for dinner and discovered that we still had no bed. We also noticed that the optics were empty and that we only had two glasses, two towels, two facecloths, two robes etc.
We went down to reception to report this and were told that they were working on it.
We went to dinner and on arrival back at the room we still had none of the above, we rang reception and they said that they were still working on it. Bearing in mind we had been travelling for over 22hrs we were all extremely tired. We retired to bed – 3 adults sharing the two beds. I slept in the middle which was hot, uncomfortable and really not acceptable.
The following morning I went down to reception to be told “my lady, we are working on getting you a bed today”. I asked where the bed had gone that was in the original room – only to be told that this had been reallocated! I then mentioned that we only had two of everything in the room and that we needed three.
We went off for the day but on arrival back at the room nothing had been done at all. No optics, no extra towels, no third glass. We rang reception again only to be told that there wouldn’t be a bed available for tonight! I mentioned the laundry and optics and again was told that this would be sorted out.
The bar services man arrived, filled our optics and even went and filled our ice bucket for us which was very kind
The housekeeping maid arrived, documented what items we needed and said she would bring them back but we didn’t see her again!
As we couldn’t face another night of three in a bed, I slept on the concrete floor on a blue fluffy blanket from the top of the wardrobe with a sheet off the main bed! This is totally unacceptable.
I again visited reception and spoke to Jermal who listened and apologised and said he was working on getting a bed, I showed him a picture of where I slept and he was appalled and reassured me that a bed would be found. I explained about the housekeeping and lack of supplies.
We went off for the day and on arrival back at teatime we were thrilled to see a bed, the optics replenished and all laundry items that we needed! We really thought we had cracked it!
Monday – Housekeeping cleaned the room and left only two of everything again – bearing in mind we had a bed so it was pretty obvious that there was three in the room. Another call to reception – supplies never arrived.
Tuesday – we left a note for housekeeping in the room and perfect, we had three of everything but no water in the fridge at all
Thursday – housekeeping – we had three of everything but no facecloths! Another call made
Friday – housekeeping – only two bath towels and no pillow cases on any of the beds? All just left with no covers at all
Saturday – No sheets or blanket on the third bed – starting to now lose the will to live!
As you can see when you recommend a venue to your friends like I have, after staying in heaps of Riu resorts (only joining the Riu card recently) I feel totally embarrassed by the stay that we have had. I know it’s a new resort, I know that there was a terrible accident prior to our stay and that there will be teething problems but the above issues are basics? Its not hard to have three towels? Three glasses? A sheet on the bed?
I am due to be at another Riu resort in September, we have visited before but I am now slightly nervous about this as the holidays aren’t cheap and we do save extremely hard to have our breaks away. Reggae and Jamaica on the whole is a wonderful setting and place and could really be smashing but basics need to be addressed
I very much look forward to hearing from you

Dear RIU Corporation
Up until recently we have enjoyed vacationing at RIU Resorts. Unfortunately, after our vacation May 13-20, 2017 our views have changed. The RIU Palace Resort in Punta Canta, Dominican Republic did not turn out enjoyable. We have been to multiple RIU establishments because of the service, spas, entertainment, restaurants, and accommodations. We went to celebrate a 60th birthday and mother’s day. I will share our continuous dreadful experiences and am respectfully requesting a reasonable credit voucher to another RIU for future travel. I have included our receipt to document we paid over $330 per night for all-inclusive, suite for six nights. Online the palace is beautiful, that is deceptive.
The problematic events started when the Bell Hop was paid $20 in advance to deliver our luggage to suite 3031, after 55 minutes, we went down to retrieve it ourselves. Mind you upon 4 PM arrival there was only seven bags in the lobby and three of them belonged to us. We saw the Bellman and he was chatting with other colleagues and never stopped to offer assistance. While in the largest suite on the resort we were out on the balcony which has three levels, the housekeeper came in the room for night turn downs and locked us out on the balcony and left. Needless to say we had to scream at passing guest for assistance. When the maintenance man arrived, he acted as though our frustrations interfered with his time. When I called to the front desk requesting the manager on duty come see us, the request was never answered. At 9 pm, I went to find the manager’s office. Once announce he already was aware of the events that took place and his response was “Everybody is Happy to stay here and he has had no complaints” and said the maid was worried for her job? I shared with the gentlemen, who appeared to be undisturbed by the days unwelcoming actions, that I needed for him to fix things swiftly because the vacation was a big event for us. I asked him again to come to the room and speak with us, but he never honored the request. He did send flowers and moved us to another room away from housekeeper.

The establishment is old, outdated, physically and medically unsafe for heart and respiratory patients. Our rooms contained visible mold on the vents, curtain liners, elevator was inoperable for two days. We were moved from suite 3031, ocean view to suite 3043 ocean front. Suite 3043 had an awesome view but it was miserable trying to enjoy the balconies view due to the major construction site next door from 7 AM - 9 PM each day except Thursday and Friday. Each day the ocean sounds were over powered by the sounds of concrete trucks, cranes, dump trucks, welding, and crew members. A positive note, Housekeeper Carmen did an excellent job maintaining the room, she was very pleasant and helpful to our needs.
The chefs should be commended on crafting meals with substandard ingredients. They worked magic at presentation but the food was not appetizing most days. The omelet station had a roach crawling in the plates in the warmer. One night I consumed fried chicken only to get to the end to discover it was raw with noticeable blood. I soon discovered the proteins, vegetables, and potatoes that were not consumed the day before were presented the following day with a gravy, barbeque, red sauce or as a stew. The only reason to eat at the buffet was to receive the irresistible customer service from the waiters, Michael, Anny and Margarita. They made mealtime relaxed with their outstanding service. My husband over tipped them each meal because they truly have the message that customer service is paramount. The sports bar should be condemned, along with the ten machine slots

My final disbelief was our pedicures, the staff did a great job but I was so depressed that my pedicure was conducted in a store brought home style foot bowl, because they only have one Pedi-tub, which my husband utilized. You all charged $40 each for this service but don’t have the proper spa equipment.

As you can read the based on this last experience plenty of things went wrong and I am quite sure I am not willing to return to the RIU Palace under such dreadful and disappointing conditions. Our overall experience at this location was not near what we have come to expect from RIU Resorts. Again, I am asking for some sort of restitution for the disappointing stay. I would strongly encourage RIU Corporate Leadership to visit this location unannounced to experience the poor conditions and consider immediate renovations.

We stayed in the Riu Sante Fe in Cabo on 5/1-5/6/17. This vacation was booked through Cheap Caribbean. Our room number was 2218

On the evening of 5/2 I stepped into the shower which had been turned on to warm up the water. I immediately slipped on the tub floor which did not have any protective grippers to prevent falls. I fell on my back hitting my head and re-injured my left rotator cuff. I was briefly unconscious but with the help of my wife was placed in bed for the remainder of the evening. We reported the incident to local management who did nothing for us.

As a result of the pain which persisted for the entire stay, we were not able to enjoy any of the amenities of the resort including the pool and only occasionally left our room. I took aspirin etc. for days but it did nothing for the shoulder pain.

Our anniversary trip was ruined all because a simple safety precaution had not been followed. I have included pictures of the tub. I am not sure if I will need surgery to repair my shoulder but am seeing a doctor as well as our attorney to discuss our options.

We have enjoyed Riu Resorts in the past and would like to continue to, however we feel we did not receive any value or enjoyment for our money from this vacation with you. We expect Riu Resorts to do the right thing here and we would love to try again to enjoy our anniversary with Riu. We think the only fair resolution would be for Riu to provide us with a replacement trip of comparable value to one of your resorts of our choosing. I would prefer not to escalate this to our attorney who will undoubtedly press for a more costly resolution.
Please notify me as soon as you can of your plans to resolve this issue as efficiently as possible for both of us.

Very sincerely, John G. Elliott, III CPA

We stayed at the Riu Clubhotel Funana in Cape Verde from Dec23rd 16 till Jan06th 17.
When we made our booking through Thomson in Feb 16 the hotel was called the Garopa and was closed in June to be refurbished and when it reopened in November it was renamed Funana. Also at the time of booking it was joined to the other Riu hotel and both hotels had full access to each other, including bars, restaurants and pools, but when they both reopened our hotel was graded lower than the other one (now renamed Palace Cabo Verde) and we were barred by security guards from entering any part of that hotel.

Our biggest complaint tho is because of an accident that happened to my partner due to poor maintenance and build quality to the bar area in the pool. Whilst leaning against one of the bar tables in the pool, a 5ft long piece of marble fell off the side of the table and landed on her ankle and foot resulting in being taken to the hospital in a wheelchair and having to endure xrays, tablets and injections. Also because of the pain and swelling it meant she couldn't go on pre booked tours or go into the pool for the remainder of the holiday. We took pictures of everything and will take it further with them.

I am currently still on holiday in Cape Verde and whilst staying at the riu Touareg, I had £150 and €85 stolen from mine and my brothers room next door. The rooms are secure and can only be accessed by staff. I spoke to the manager and the police were involved, I have a police report for the missing money. The police informed us they have a suspect but I have heard no more. And as I am going home tomorrow morning (and looking forward to it) I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't hear any more from them. It seems to be a fairly common problem with staff letting themselves into guests rooms whilst they are out and helping themselves to the contents of the wallets. The manager said he couldn't give us our money back, and the insurance excess is more than what was stolen. I find totally unacceptable that if a guests money is stolen, we just have to accept that it is gone and we won't be getting it back! I want to know what riu will be doing to compensate myself and my brother for our stolen money.

Hello joe w here stayed in Dom few weeks back nice place bit there is a casino operating inside called the diamond casino and has riu resort name n pay tickets so here's my complaint 2 white guys in there operating it and they are jus robing people I wuz fortunately and only lost 1800 hundred after returning home got online and some people lost 30000 tho us and and it's all fixed did my home work and the riu seems not care so I'm write g this probably won't do no good I expect a call back or something and if not I have alredi booked another trip at riu and if I here no response from u all I will be packing about ten pounds of hydraulic cement and they can do a Lil work on there plumbing so what I'm trying 2 say is full riu u r jus as liable as the 2 guys robin g people.

I am due to stay at above hotel in 3 weeks and am concerned about the negative reviews on the reopening of this newly refurbished hotel.can you please look into these comments and check with the hotel.i look forward to receiving a reply from you as soon as possible.thomson are class in it ad a atinum hotel and with these reviews it doesn.t seem like it

My husband and I arrive around 12pm on Sat April 22 2017. We were told our room wasn't ready so we went to eat and walk around. We came back after 2hrs and it still wasn't ready so we went to our suit case and got our bathing suits on. I put my phone in my jacket and put it in the suit case. A couple of hours later our room was ready so we went to our room and I found my phone was missing. I went to the front desk to ask if a phone was turned in and no. I went everyday to the desk 2 times a day and the manager just looked at me and said no. He didn't even go and look. He said he looked at the camera and didn't see anyone going in my suit case. Well how does he know which one was mine cause there was close to a 100 suit cases there that day. I had no way of getting a hold of my family and my phone was my camera. I lost all my pictures which meant the most to me on my phone. I talked to others staying there and they said they had staff use there products or take stuff. It is sickening to know this happens. Now I have to go and buy a new phone and start all over.
So my first time at a Riu was not good at all. Very upsetting and disappointed. This was the first time in 25yrs we got to go on a vacation by our self. I would like to give Riu another chance, so maybe a week stay for free would be nice.
Thank you for reading my complaint.
Dawn Seebauer

Security worker from Riu Cancun saw my friend walking back drunk to hotel and took advantage by calling police to arrest and demanding $300 USD to split between the cop and worker to release my friend. HORRIBLE. We stayed here from April 20-23 of 2017 room 355. I made a complaint to the front desk and was told it would be adressed and I would get a call back. I havent heard anything.

I just got back from Aruba and stayed at the RIU Antilles Aruba hotels and resort. And it was the worst experience ever. I went for a wedding and I was having dinner following the wedding and I was drinking a soda and the glass broke in my hand and spilled all over my clothing. The Director/Hotel Manger Justin Carson (Assistant General Manager) was aware of the accident and never one time came and spoke with me. I went and changed my clothes and request for the manager of the hotel and they told me he was gone for the day and they forwarded the picture to him and made me an appointment for the next day. I then went to the front desk and ask to speak with the doctor on call they called and the doctor gave me direction and told me to drink a lot fluids because this would help if by any chance I had drunk pieces of the glass. I then got out of bed and went to see the manger the next morning and he was very rude, not sympathetic and not professionally for that matter he didn't do anything for me. As we began talking he kept talking about issues that he was having with the people whose wedding I was attending. Which I explained to him several times that I didn't have anything to do with me. And what happen to me was a result of his negligence of the hotel and didn't have anything to do with the hotel. I was very upset and now become very stressed about this event because the manger even went to so far to defamation of my character. As I was telling him how I disappointed how no one including him never check on me never said one word to me after this incident. He then stated how he was upset as well and I asked him what could he have been upset about he said because he received a phone call stating that I was acting irate and screaming in the restaurant asking for manager. I then asked him did a customer or guest tell him that he said no it was one of his employees. I then told him that he wouldn't play that game to try to make me the bad guy because he wasn't doing his job. I explained to him that I didn't not one time yell or scream in the restaurant so don't associate that with my name. I then explain to him that I went to directly to the food manager and ask to speak to him since no one ever came over to speak with me. That was the last inappropriate thing he said to me as a director/hotel manager for me because I am the guest and this happen to me because of the neglect of the hotel. The manger didn't offer me anything for what happen to me. The only thing he gave me disgraceful meeting. I don't understand how a company Rio Hotel and Resort where they charge $500 and night treat their costumer the way I was treated. I upset because after that incident my trip was ruined. I tried to so hard to continue to have fun but it was even harder for me because I was there for two different party I originally came for a wedding that was about 18 ppl and I was then was a planner and set up a trip my aunts 60th birthday which was about 15 ppl which was also at the hotel and stayed because of me. But the funny is thing was after the incident they could tell that he was treating me different or ppl associated with me were treated different. For examples, one group was eating dinner in the buffet and Justin Carson (Assistant General Manager) came over so nice getting them drink fine. I was at the next table with my husband and walked right pass me. The next day some of my family member and myself were sitting at the table he went to table next to us making sure they were ok and too see if they needed anything and then walked right pass us. My husband said how when he would see the manager while he was alone on several occasions he would give him a hand shake and talk to him and make sure he was good and once he saw us together he no longer did that. So many people that were with me felt like that they were getting treated different when with me which isn't fair and unacceptable because I didn't do anything wrong. With that being said, I have spoken to my family lawyer and said that I have a call case for personal injury due to hotel, and defamation of charter from your Assistant Manger. Since I am writing this letter to cooperate I would like to hear a response in a timely manner. If I don't receive a response or hear anything from RIU I will then contact my lawyer and begin with legal action. With the letter, I will include attachment of pictures from the event and I will enclose of the picture that we concerning from the hotel.

To whom it may concern
It has been almost a year and no resolution! I could have sued for my foot / leg. I did not because you said you would rectify the situation. Riu then agreed to compensate us and our party 4 nights and still 1 year later riu has not rectified the situation. I will now be forced to take legal action. It is disgraceful if this is how you treat your customers. I will be reviewing the riu antillas aruba everwhere on the internet and reporting to better business bureau. I fell down your stairs in a power outage that went on for 4 days. I just about got an icepack that they took my room number so i would return it or be charged. There was no communication from management and the manager justin was a disgrace and got into almost physical altercations! There were no emergency lights. Just a glow stick. We had to eat outside hotel. Just miserable and you wont do the right thing. I am appalled and im sure others will be too
Sincerely Richard and Dawn Boccia

I recently stayed at the Riu Palace Antilles the week of April 1-8, 2017. I loved the resort, the cleanliness of the resort, and the staff were very friendly. The food was excellent. However, there were many issues with the fire alarm. I was awoken at 1:30 am Wednesday morning to the power going out. Shortly after, the fire alarm went off for about a minute then shut off. This happened 4-5 times, approximately every 5 minutes. I then heard doors opening so went to check it out. We all started talking, as we were on the 16th floor, wondering if we should go down to the lobby as the alarm went on again continuously. Called the front desk with no answer, so we all decided to go down. Unfortunately I have a torn meniscus in my right knee which made it almost impossible to take the stairs, but had to walk down 16 flights of stairs as we could not use the elevators. When we got down there we inquired as to what was happening but staff had no answers for us. We sat in the lobby for almost 2 hours waiting to find out if we could go back to our rooms. Finally I went to ask, and was told by staff that yes we could go back to our rooms. The alarm had been shut off. This was very concerning, as we did not know the reason behind the alarm and again we were on the 16th floor. We finally fell asleep to be awoken at 6:04 am for a wake-up call that we never asked for. When I went to the desk later that morning to complain, I was told that management would get back to me. They never did. The alarm again went off on Wednesday evening at 7:15 pm while I was getting ready for dinner. I ignored the alarm and finished getting ready. The alarm was still on when I left at 7:30 pm. The alarm was no longer on when I arrived back to my room at 10:00. Thursday night after we were back in our room the alarm went off yet again at 10:15 pm, which awoke my husband. The alarm just went off and on for about a half hour. On Friday night after being out by the pool all day, returned to the room to the alarm going off again around 6:15 pm. This all was very disturbing because there were no answers. We were not compensated in any way for this long week disturbance. As I've stayed at Riu's in the past and am staying in the new Riu Reggae May 6th for the week, I would like some compensation for this issue that didn't seem to resolve the whole week. Please respond as to how you will be compensating me.

To whom it may concern

My name is Deborah Nixon and my traveling partner name is Wanda McNeal.  Over the last 10 years we've traveled to several carrwbean beach resorts to celebrate our birthdays  (April 13th & 15th). In our travels we heard positive reviews about Aruba which made us eager to visit there.   For the last three years we've tried to reserve at Arubas #1 beach resort Riu Palace Aruba  but it was always booked.   So imagine how excited we were when we finally were able to successfully book our stay at Riu Palace Aruba this year.

Upon checking into the hotel on April 12, 2017, to our dismay & great disappointment we were told that the Riu Palace Aruba was over booked and that we were being transferred to the Riu Palace Antillas.  We explained to Johnathan and other front desk staff that we were celebrating our birthdays & that we've tried for last 3 yrs to book Riu Palace Aruba and really wanted the room we paid for.  Unfortunately they still couldnt help us.  Imagine how we felt hearing that nothing could be done.

On Wednesday after giving us the dossapoimting news & before transferring us to Riu Antillas, Johnathan told us that we would get a comp voucher for a week stay at any Riu in the world, with no restrictions or black out dates. We were asked to return to Riu Palace Aruba front desk next day Thursday at 12:30 p.m. to get our vouchers.

We went as directed on Thursday and was told both times that sum vouchers had printed out but not ours.  We returned again on Friday and spoke to Sylvia who said they didnt have them yet. Johnathan had told her the vouchers come from Mexico and that the guy who sends them to the hotel was gone for the dat.  Later Friday we spoke to the front desk manager Josue Santana who advised us he been with Riu 10 years.  He mentioned that due to the holiday the voucher office was closed until Monday May 17, 2017.  He asked Wanda for her email and assured us that the vouchers would be emailed to her on Monday. Wanda spoke to Johnathan one last time on Sunday morning before our departure, he assured her that we would get our vouchers.  We went a total of 5 times during our 5 day stay spending a lot of our vacation time trying to get our vouchers.  As of Tuesday April 18th we still have not received our vouchers.

We were told that we'd have one of the best rooms at Riu Palace Antillas on the 14th floor.  We asked if it was ocean front and was told that all the ocean front rooms were occupied but that we instead would have an ocean view.

We were given room 1409.  If this was considered the best room I'd hate to see what the worst room look like.  This room was nothing like what we paid for.  Our reservations at Riu Palace Aruba was for a beautiful ocean front, double sink, separate bathrooms, jacuzzi tub, separate living space all with marble with a large terrace style room.

Instead we got a room that did not have a ocean view at all, we actually could only see the back of the builfing we were suppose to be in.  That mean everytime we went on our balcony we had to relive the disappointment of being displaced.  Our room had 3 different floorings.  Marble thresholds at the door entrance, marble threshold at bedroom entrance, tile floor in entrance foyer and fake wood style tile inside bedroom.  The room was overall very dated and did not come with an alarm clock ipod ready radio like the room we had reserved.  In fact it had no alarm clock at all.

The ceiling above our mini bar was leaking.  We had to place a coffee cup there to catch the water.  Maintenance never took care of it.  The next day Housekeeper bust the leak & peeled off the damaged plaster  Maintenence should have taken proper action to inspect where leak was coming from n repaired it.

The bathroom had one sink, a small basic tub that was very stained.  The ceiling in front of the sink had some sort of fungus growing on the ceiling.  Our toilet overflowed on Saturday.  Maintenance came and plunged it and left.  He didn't nor was housekeeping sent to clean all the water on floor from the overflowed toilet. We never had enough towels.  They only gave us 2 face towels.  That mean we had to wash our face and body with  same towel.  Although housekeeping stopped by daily to see if we needed more, they never had any face towels.  We would have to wait while they tried to get more

On Saturday we never got new towels so Sunday morning before 8a.m. we called for new towels.  Needless to say no one came.  We had to resort to washing ourselves using the body dry towels.

On Saturday on our way into town we met a lady name Keia Kennedy.  She stayed in room 708.  She also checked in on Wednesday  (same day as us) but after we did.  However she was able to change her room to a ocean front and her view was of the pool and ocean.  That mean the Riu Antillas staff wasn't truthful in telling us they were all taken.  During the bus ride I shared with Keia our experience of being changed to the hotel she was at.  During this conversation a lady interrupted and said verbatim "Oh that happens all the time.  When Antillas over book we send guest to the Palace and when the Palace over book they send to us at Antillas".  I asked her who she was and how she know this? She said she works for housekeeping on the 15th floor.  When I told her my room number her response was "Oh they put you guys on that side...all you can see is the back of the other building".  Her statements validated for me that she did work their because she described the view same as I had.

Keep in mind that we've stayed at Riu hotels & resorts on several of our vacations and until this one has always had a great experience.  Riu had become our top pick for resorts to stay at.

This vacation did not live up to the experiences that we've come to love.  We are used to staff being very friendly, helpful, continously checking to see if we need anything but not here at either of the hotels.  Wanda thought we were perhaps being discriminated against until another Caucasian guest came to us at the pool telling us that her experience so far wasn't good either.  Her and her husband arrived on that Thursday.  She said she was at the pool for about an hour empty handed and no staff came to see about her. 

The poolside entertainment was an epic fail.  What is a pool party if no one was in the pool?  We booked 3 excursions 2 of which were great, we had a ball.  However after being told that the DePalm Island was geared for children, the water down drinks & subpar food.  We tried to get a refund early Friday morning but was told we couldn't.  No where on the receipt or anywhere at the booking stations did it say all sales are final.  We purchased on Thursday and asked for refund less than 24hrs later and feel it should have been honored.  Instead we waisted our full Saturday somewhere we didn't want to go.  Our experience was the same as the people from another resort said it was.

The club mostly played music from the 80's even when the crowd was younger peers. Even the seniors would leave because the DJ was horrible.

This was our worst vacation yet, we spent most of our time "putting out fires" trying to get resolution to unresolved issues to no avail.  Based on what your employee stated it is obvious that it is not uncommon for either hotel to be over booked.

Our vacation was paid in advance and we was out of the country n stuck with taking whatever we were given.  Knowing that this is a common practice makes me sick to my stomach.  It should not be a routine to purposely overbook so that both hotels could be filled.  That's extremely inconsiderate for all of us that travel expecting to get what we paid for.

We are requesting for the corporate office to take action in compensating both Wanda & I for ruining our birthday and vacation.  We would like a full refund for our entire trip which we paid  $1600 each.  In addition to that we'd like to receive our week stay at Riu anywhere with no restrictions as promised by your employees Johnathan, Sylvia and Josue.  We find this request to be fair given the many inconveniences suffered.

Except on Wednesday the breakfast and dinner buffets served the same food. It took staff forever to take drink orders & to bring them back. We could never eat at the specialty restaurants because you had to get there by 6p.m. This was not possible especially when on an excursion.
Please find attached documents supporting the above-mentioned claims.  We appreciate your prompt attention in reviewing our claim & request.  We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely

Deborah Nixon & Wanda McNeal
Disappointed Guest of Riu Resorts in Aruba

I am writing to inform you I am extremely upset after a recent stay at the RIU Palace Cabo San Lucas. My husband and I stayed at this resort March 30 till April 6 2017.

First I must give a few compliments. The grounds are absolutely stunning. Well maintained and extremely clean. Our check-in/out was swift and flawless. The room we were assigned was a beautiful newly renovated Jr suite with an oceanview.

My complaints are as follows: My husband had a designer white button down shirt stolen out of his luggage. I had started packing worn clothing a day prior to leaving (April 5). I know for fact I had packed it in his suitcase but upon returing home it was missing.

Last but definitely not least, our second piece of luggage was discovered that same day (April 5) containing a large amount of urine. I am obsessive/compulsive when it comes to organization and packing. When we arrived I unpacked that particular piece of luggage holding my belongings, re-zipped it and placed it in the closet. Our other piece of luggage was unpacked re-zipped and placed on top. So 6 days into our trip I discovered the soiled luggage. It was still in its rightful place and zipped just how I left it.

I find it extremely upsetting and disconcerting that someone employed at the RIU palace was malicious and vindictive enough to urinate and defile my personal property and leave it for discovery upon check out.

Such actions are irreprehensible.

I have stayed at a RIU prior to this vacation and was extremely pleased (RIU Guanacaste). This is the only reason we chose the RIU Palace in Cabo. After this vacation I would not recommend this resort to anyone and question staying at any RIU.

Sincerely,
Chantal

Hello,

We stayed with you at the Riu in Emerald Bay in Mazatlan this past week

Brian Murphy-party of 6 ppl-2 rooms-#2017 & 2018 from 3/18 to 3/25

I am quite certain that your hotel has bed bugs, at least our rooms did. I started feeling bites by Weds and I wasn't sure what it was, so I didn't say anything, by the time we left on Saturday I was covered in bites consistent with bed bug bites. I am still covered with them. My son also saw an employee with a spray canister and a nozzle going in to rooms on our floor the day we left. Not too mention that the rooms were not very comfortable, especially the bedding, it seemed dirty and it was very uncomfortable. The most disappointing part of our stay. I wanted to give you a chance to respond privately before I write my review of your hotel online.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Jennifer Champ/Brian Murphy

182 Tobin Lane

Gunnison, CO 81230

[protected]

[protected]@yahoo.com

Room 2630 There was no air conditioning for the whole week we were there. I was told the RIU chain is great, HAAAAAAAA! Nothing was done for us what is RIU Customer service going to do for us? Probably nothing but without sounding threatening I will post on social media and make sure everyone I work with and know hears about the crappy room and the fact no one was concerned except for the night the General Manager was there and it was the Sunday and we checked out on the Tuesday early morning. Half the resort was without air conditioning and just looking at the size of the resort it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you are making a fortune and providing crappy accommodations not to mention false advertising for air conditioned rooms which we didn't have. Disgusted! Remember for every dissatisfied customer they tell 10 people who in turn tell another 10. What will RIU do to make this right?

Riu Bachata Management,

My name is Brittney Hoyt and I am an extremely dissatisfied customer writing to you. My boyfriend Percy (Jonathan) Jones and I are Canadians from Winnipeg Manitoba. To escape the cold weather in Winnipeg we decided to book a trip to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic as a retreat. More specifically we booked our all inclusive at Riu Bachata "resort." After arriving at Puerto Plata airport on February 17th, 2017 we opened our luggage before getting on bus # 10 in order to ensure that everything in our luggage (we had two suitcases, one each) was in order. After attentively and prudently checking our two suitcases we determined that everything was fine with our suitcases and got on board the bus that Sunwing organized for our all inclusive vacation. The bus made NO stops, not one. The first stop it made was at Riu Bachata "resort." Upon arrival at the Riu Bachata "resort" we checked in. The woman that checked us in told us to leave our two suitcases with the bell boy in the lobby as he was supposed to bring our suitcases to our room (#227) for us. We said no thank you, however, the lady who checked us in insisted that we let Frank (Francesco) take our bags, indeed, she said, "you two are on vacation, you need to relax." After being pressured to let Frank, the bell boy, bring our suitcases to our room we agreed under the assumption that he would follow us to our room and drop off our suitcases. In fact, we expected him to follow right behind us, however, he did not. The front desk lady who was guiding us towards the direction of our room continuously reassured us that our luggage was in good hands. We arrived in our room approximately 2 minutes after checking in and patiently waited for our luggage to arrive. Twenty minutes pass, and then thirty minutes pass with still no delivery of our luggage from the "trustworthy" bell boy Frank. My boyfriend Percy (Jonathan) Jones then went to the front desk to inquire about our luggage, they told him that our luggage was on its way. After Jonathan got back to the room, Frank, the bell boy arrived with our luggage, he did not speak English and awkwardly dropped off the two suitcases and quickly left our room. Despite the delay I still tipped Frank. He took around thirty minutes to bring us our luggage. Immediately after Frank left we opened our luggage and noticed that our luggage had been ransacked and rifled through, and, even worse we had items stolen from us. Our luggage was supposed to be in the "trustworthy care of the Riu Bachata staff, " however, we lost approximately $450 worth of stuff. I will attach pictures as proof. We packed meticulously, and there is no way that this ransacking occurred at the airport as we checked our luggage after clearing customs and security. Indeed, our brand new electric cigarette was stolen along with its coils and vanilla liquid flavouring. Further, our "noir" brand cologne was stolen, along with a hat completely torn to shreds. The entire suitcase had been ransacked and the toiletry bag which had a lot of valuable items in it had been emptied and left open. After realizing what happened to our luggage while in the "care" of the Riu Bachata staff, I (Brittney Hoyt) went immediately to the front desk lobby to speak to a manager. Unfortunately, the manager was able to make the situation worse than it already was. In fact, I had been at your resort for less than two hours and had been crying my eyes out and miserable. The manager immediately called me "loca" thinking that I did not understand Spanish. However, I have an intermediate understanding of Spanish and did not appreciate being insulted after being stolen from. I invited the manager to come to our room and see the situation for herself, even after seeing how badly our suitcases had been ransacked through, she told us that we had no proof and that we would receive no compensation for our lost items. She said that Riu Bachata did not care to deal with our matter. Further, the manager told me that she had 1200 other happy customers, and did not care that we were not satisfied, another comment that I did not appreciate. We did not expect immediate compensation, however, we expected that management would rectify the situation in whatever way possible as my items were stolen under the care of the Riu Bachata staff. I asked to see video surveillance, however, she said there were no cameras. Further, I asked to speak to her manager, and she said no one had a higher clearance than her, which is a blatant lie. The manager did not care to give me her name or spell it out legibly for me or offer me any solutions, therefore, I took a picture of her and her staff as we suspect they are the ones who stole from us in the first place due to their lack of willingness to help or see any concern with our matter. I will attach the picture for you to see. After I took the picture, the manager threatened me if I did not delete the picture saying that I don't understand how things work in the Dominican Republic. I sit in my room right now with the door locked and a chair against the door as I fear for my own safety after such threats. Again, I will attach a picture of this. If you as management cannot rectify this situation for me, a well paying customer, then I will be forced to take legal action against your company, and will certainly take all steps to ensure that this does not re-occur to other paying guests, or get ignored. My entire experience with your staff at Riu Bachata Puerto Plata has been negatively tainted by this incident. I expect that a solution to this horrible experience will be rectified immediately. If I do not hear from you, I will have to express my concerns with your resort over social media and proceed with legal action.

Sincerely a very dissatisfied guest.

Brittney Hoyt.

We are from Hungary and try to develop Hungarian tourism is Panama. This is not the first time that we bring Hungarians to Panama and we place them at RIU Panama.
But I think this will be the last time.
At the entrance of the Hotel they do not let you in, which is not seen elsewhere in Panama.
We try to visit our clients, pick them up for tours and they do not let you in.
They know you already by your face but they passion is to limit you and clients living in the Hotel.
They explanation is that clients must notify reception that they are waiting for somebody. What?
This is not jail, but a Hotel where you can visit your friends or clients.
I am sure that the little soldiers of the Hotel overestimate their role and their power.
When you explain at the entrance what you are looking for and you obviously are not a terrorist they should let you in.
What disturbs me the most is that they are lying. They said that the recepcionist asked everybody if they were looking for somebody, but they did not find anybody. And this was a lie, because the clients were standing at the reception.
My opinion is that the management of the Hotel does not know anything about tourism and hotels, how this should work properly.
I understand security measures, but to practice it in excess make clients frustrated.
I recommend you no to choose RIU Panama, instead there are other good options.
All this happened several times, but last time 7 of February 2017.

Judit Szabo

I recently vacationed at the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas with my husband and 10 other family/friends. We stayed there from January 6th through January 13, 2017. On Sunday January 8, My husband and I left our hotel room at 2:45 P.M. to walk down the beach to meet with one of the other couples we traveled there with. Upon returning to our room (at approximately 8:30 P.M.) we found our room in disaray, With flower petals all over the floor in the living room area and around the bed. It looked as though somebody threw confetti in the air. We opened the closet door only to find our safe had been broken into and was wide open. A total of $1, 630.00 was taken. Management was called and quickly arrived at the door. We were told by Jorge Ramirez that both the maid and the boy who stocks the mini fridge were in our room while we were gone. When we asked Jorge why the room was left in such disarray and he too saw what it looked like he said "the maid was in a hurry to leave but she apologizes). Are you kidding me? The manager said nothing about the mess.
I guess I would be in a hurry to leave after I robbed somebody too! Are you kidding me? Not only did one of your employees steal from me, but also from the other employees as I was unable to tip bartenders, maids, and wait staff the rest of my stay. We were with a party of 12 people and had 6 rooms between us. The other 5 couples also had their in room safes comprimised as well, with someone attempting to change the key pad to code to try and break in. Management was called to each one of the rooms during our stay. As a business owner, my husband and I travel often, deal with a lot of travel agencies and I write reviews for many magazines such as The Traveler and Conde Nast. We never received a penny from the hotel (and I know you have insurance for this) or comped for this terrible experience. YOU can either reimburse us for our loss or I can write reviews that are not going to be so profitable for your chain of hotels, if people hear you have an inside ring of thieves stealing from the tourists.
I would like to have a reply from you regarding this matter along with a refund .
Thank you
Julie Bauch
222 Rockton Rd. Roscoe, IL. USA
[protected]

Hi, My husband and I had to cut out vacation short after my husband became very ill after something he ate at the Riu Palace Antillas. He ended up in the hospital in Aruba to get IV fluids and we flew home early because he was not getting any better and had to been seen back here in the states for more IV fluids and antibiotics. When we complained to the front desk at the resort no one seemed to care. The trip was awful. Beware if you plan on staying at this resort!