We are a 40ish married couple and we enjoyed a fantastic week at the Riu Caribe in Cancun in early May 2007.
This was our first trip south and now I believe we may be spoiled.

The first thing you notice when you enter is the beautiful high ceiling in the lobby, with plants hanging down from all the balconies inside...turtle pools in the floor and a wonderfully open feel.

Check in was quick and painless, and whenever we needed anything the desk staff were more than helpful... In fact, every staff member we encountered was polite, cheerful and eager to please.

The food in all the restaurants was very nice, with the "Steakhouse" a-la carte being the best experience...perfectly cooked steak with corn, spinach and potatoes, served on a spacious deck overlooking the beach.

We did have a lunch at a sister Riu hotel (The Riu Cancun) further along the Hotel Zone, but were not nearly as impressed with the quality of the buffet.

If you're thirsty you're never far from a bar, where they'll make you up whatever you want...and there are often waiters roaming the beach taking orders or just walking along with trays of drinks to hand out.

The pool is beautiful, and if you want to join in the games, there's always something going on in the section closest to the swim up bar.
Lots of music and exhortations of "energy, energy!"
There's a shallower kids section as well.

The beach is very nice and very safe, with lots of sand and the water was not too rough like many hotels further down the strip.
... and no matter how full the hotel seemed to be we never had a problem finding a lounger in the shade.
If you want a quiet area, the end by the outdoor massage area is very nice.
It was also pleasant to stroll the beach in the evening, and there always seemed to be security personnel keeping an eye out, so it felt very safe.

Our favorite after supper spot was in the lobby bar where we were well looked after by Fernando and Juan.
They like to keep a drink in front of you at all times, and Juan was especially having fun mixing up all kinds of shooters and just handing them out at random.
The nightly entertainment in the lobby bar was very nice as well, with the mariachi band being the best.
Other nights there were different duos of keyboardist/singers of varying degrees of talent.
The karaoke night was possibly the best/worst entertainment, but no matter how bad the singing it was still enjoyed by all.
The evening shows in the theatre were lots of fun...very colorful and lots of dancing and humour!
If you want to dance yourself, for extra $$ they take groups out to a different bar every night, with the promise that you are heading to "the best bar in Cancun!" (Be prepared for a late night...you don't head out til nearly 11pm)

A couple of things to note, where there is such a big, high ceiling in the lobby, the noise carries up to the rooms that are closest to the lobby opening. If you want quiet before midnight or 1am, you might want to try to get a room above the 4th floor and/or further down the halls away from the lobby. Also, some of the ground floor rooms can only be accessed from outside, through a patio door... and while they are convenient and close to the pool and beach, if you were hoping to leave your door open to catch a breeze at night, you might want a higher floor.
We had one the first night and decided to move...no big problem, we just had to wait one more night until another room became open.

Something we've read about in reviews of Cancun resorts is the abundance of nuisance timehare hawkers.
This is not something we encountered at the Riu Caribe.

All in all, we would highly recommend the Riu Caribe Cancun.

My wife, 2 daughters and my mother-in-law stayed at the Riu Cancun for 9 nights from 4/12 to 4/21. We are repeat vacationers to the Caribbean and are seasoned travelers. Our impressions and comments:

• Process from plane to hotel transport is a bit of running a gauntlet. A variety of officially dressed workers (government? private? unknown?) repeatedly canvassed us to follow them or to be escorted by them to another checkpoint. They very aggressively lunged to grab hold of our luggage. All such “services” of course are expected to culminate with a tip. Advice: ask for and go to your specific tour rep.
• The food a the Riu Cancun was varied, fresh and plentiful for every meal and every day of our stay. The changing cuisines were delicious were and served elegantly. We enjoyed the variety and quality of the general dining room so much that we chose not to visit the “specialty” restaurants. The waiters were courteous and professional and their service was excellent (we tipped to show our appreciation).
• Front desk staff was exceptionally courteous and accommodating.
• Rooms are nicely cleaned and refrigerators well stocked with beverages. Though we are not “drinkers”, we found various drinks to be quite delicious and well prepared.
• Entertainment was varied and enjoyable.
• Criticism: public bathrooms should be cleaned more often, elevators are too few for such a large tower, food preparers and counter staff should wear sanitary gloves, quality of regular coffee was rather poor (much better in DR and other Mexican areas), smoking is too unlimited and invades even the segregated “non-smoking” areas, beach front is public and is often visited by local population (so there is no automatic comfort in leaving chairs and belongings unattended, though hotel security patrols).

FLIGHT
We booked with Sunquest and flew on SkyService. Was not impressed at all with SkyService, as we arrived 4 hours early at the airport to get the ‘unreservable’ exit row seats, only to be abruptly removed from the ones we wanted, and were given, and told they were reserved for a VP of the airline. Whatever. Flight was unremarkable, food was pretty bad, flight staff was great. All I can say about Sunquest and SkyService is book early, and take advantage of the free early-book upgrade package. You can avoid paying the $10 for seat pre-selection and you get a coupon for headphones. Another note with regards to SkyService; they feel that a 50 minute wait for your bags to arrive in Vancouver after you get off the flight is not unreasonable.

ARRIVAL
Landing in Cancun, we had to line up outside the airport for about 30 minutes before we were allowed into the immigration / customs hall. You have to fill out an immigration card before you can enter. Immigration was easy; they stamp your card in 2 places, your passport, tear the card in half, mumble something in Spanish at you and wave you on. Our bags were waiting for us in the customs hall, we avoided the baggage cart salesmen “It’s a long walk to the Sunquest bus” – It’s not. Maybe 200m. Customs was funny. Press a button, green light you go, red light you get searched.

Arriving at the bus area, we were able to find out which van we needed to get on easily, loaded our bags and found seats. Then we waited and waited and waited for the Sunquest rep to arrive. They never did, so our driver eventually left. The travel agent in Vancouver assured us our bags would be transferred to the hotel automatically, but this did not seem likely to happen.

CHECK IN
We arrived later in the evening, around 7pm local time. Check in was quick and painless. A short form to fill in, then we were given our wrist bands, towel cards, room key, and safe key. We were unable to locate the Sunquest rep anywhere in the hotel. This was to be the case for most of our stay.

A note here. We had called the hotel directly a few days before we left to check that our room preference requests had been passed on from the travel agency – Flight Centre – and found that they had not. The hotel was great at that time about accommodating all our requests.

ROOM
We got room 1417 on the east side, near the middle of the main building.

The room was small, but clean and comfortable. Almost all the rooms on this floor are adjoining, and the walls are not very soundproof. The small child next door was noisy in the morning, and the people above walked around on the tiled floor in hard shoes late at night. There’s a switch on the balcony door that turns off the air conditioner when you open the door. However, this is not hard to bypass if you know what you’re doing.

The bed was hard, but I like that. Extra blankets were in the closet. A door separated the bathroom, closet, minibar, and entry from the rest of the room. This door has a closer on it and is hard to wedge open. The cleaning staff wedged it for us with a matchbook on the 2nd day.

Hot water pressure and availability was often very poor. If you want to shower before dinner, don’t bother between 4-6 unless you like a cold shower. I do, but my partner doesn’t.

The view was fantastic, looking north and east. Rooms on the 13th floor have a concrete ledge, and I suspect that the downward view might not be as good.

http://img171.echo.cx/my.php?image=resizeof14545124pq.jpg

FACILITIES
There were major problems with the elevators all week that we were there. They would not stop, get stuck, not move, etc. One in particular was very bad, and trapped people a couple of times.

The beach was great. It varied from rocky with lots of fish at one end, to sand, sand, and sand, at the other. You could pick where you wanted to be, how much surf you wanted, etc. Parts of the beach and pools get shaded in the afternoon, but you can just move to the solarium on the roof of the ‘short wing’ or to the west end of the beach for all the sun you want. Snorkels and masks were free for the asking from the hotel, SCUBA was free in the pool, and it was too windy for sailing the week we were there. Lots of fish by the slab reef, and people were finding shells all over.

People tended to reserve beach chairs with towels, but you can just remove them when you want to sit down, and put them back when you leave. There are signs everywhere asking people not to reserve the chairs so don't feel bad about this. There are also stacks of more chairs so you can grab some if they’re all full.

The pools were nice, clean, and cool. We stayed out of the “wet ‘n drinking”, or as we called it, the CessPool. It was obvious that people were just drinking and peeing in it. Also, the cigarette butts floating around were pretty ugly.

The quiet pool on the east side was by far the nicest. The hot tub was not hot at all. We couldn’t find the heat control. It would have been nice on some of the cooler days.

There were lots of organized activities if you’re into volleyball and pool games. The staff did a good job of keeping people entertained.

FOOD
The food was not very good. I’d give it 3 out of 5 at best. Some items were great, but they tended to go very fast, with lines forming, and people hogging large portions. This happened with the prawns and the fresh calamari that I saw.

Quantity does not equal quality.

I was disappointed with the lack of fruit. Lots of melons, but no oranges, apples, grapes, or strawberries. You could not get fruit in your drinks, except bananas. I like drinks made with real fruit, not sugar syrups. At a 5-star, I expect a blender full of real fruit, served to me in a fresh coconut. However, I’ll make do with what’s available.

All the beef at the buffets was soaked in some kind of tenderizer that had unpleasant effects on my digestion. The oil in the deep fryer needed changing badly, and was too hot; many items were coming out scorched. There was a reasonable assortment of vegetables, all boiled or fried with a lot of oil. In general, I found the the food to be very oily.

You had to get up pretty early to make reservations at the Brazilian rodizo or the Japanese restaurants. The dress code was not enforced at either. The food in the rodizo was substantially similar to the main buffet. The food in the Japanese restaurant was better, but one thing I’ll say is that Mexican sushi is kind of funny. I think we’re spoiled here in Vancouver with so many great sushi places.

The wait staff and bar staff were fantastic. Always smiling, always friendly. Willing to teach you a few new words of Spanish if you asked.

At the bars you had to ask for the premium liquors, otherwise you’d get whatever was in the well. A tip with your first drink would ensure you continue to get the good stuff without asking again. I found the bar staff to be friendly and engaging. They also work very hard, and appreciate the tips.

CONCLUSION
Overall, I’d say that I was very satisfied with this trip. The few inconveniences were far outweighed by the positive experiences. I don’t know that I’d stay at this hotel again, as I’m the kind of person that likes to try new things, and the food really turned me off. Playa Del Carmen and Cozumel were both highly recommended to me by other vacationers I met.

CANCUN TIPS
I travel a lot for work, however this was my first trip to Cancun. Here are some things I feel may make your trip a little easier.

If you call your local bank, you can ask them to get some Mexican money in for you. Ask for small bills. 20s and 50s and 10 peso coins. We could only get coins from a money changer at the airport, but the small bills are handy. Change is not always available in Cancun, which I found odd, but that’s the way it is. You may find yourself getting a stack of ten 2 peso coins in a plastic roll rather than a 20 peso bill as change. Taking a big stack of US singles is good for tips as well. You can also get pesos directly out of bank machines in Cancun, using your Canadian bank card.

The local bus service is great. It runs 24H and the busses are minutes apart. 6.5 pesos for as far as you want to ride. The drivers are very aggressive, and will accelerate and stop rapidly. Sit down quickly and hang on. Don’t worry about having exact change. The drivers can make change. Don’t give them big bills though.

If you do take a taxi, ensure you agree on the price to the destination before you even get in. There are no meters in the taxis, and if you don’t have a clear agreement, you may get a nasty surprise at the end of your trip.

I found the markets to be quite tedious. The merchandise was the same from stall to stall and the vendors were very pushy. Some of them actually tried to take my arm, and to haul me into their stalls. I had to warn a few people not to touch me. The prices and merchandise in the mall across the street from the hotel were about the same as the market, and the vendors don’t harass you. The marketplace in Cancun proper was much nicer than the one in the hotel zone. For example, no one there offered me ‘blow’ or ‘x’. Don't be afraid to walk away from a stall. If you haggle well you can generally get the merchandise for about 30% of the initial price.

I found that an easy way to blow off the timeshare salespeople is to tell them that you're leaving later that day.

The day trips that can he had are fantastic. Our trip to Xel-ha and Tulum was absolutely incredible. You can save a lot of money by simply going across the street to the mall and booking your trip there. The Sunquest rep in the hotel, once I was able to catch her not chatting on the phone, wanted $107USD each for that trip. I got it in the mall at Maro Travel for $65. If you’re going to Xel-Ha, make sure you bring “biodegradable” sunscreen. I can’t recommend this park enough. It was fantastic. Tulum is very cool as well. Walking amongst the ruins of a city that’s thousands of years old is not something you get to do every day.

I wanted to go to Chichen Itza as well, but ran out of time. Our tour guide at Tulum mentioned that he'd been told that the gov't was going to stop letting people climb the pyramid at Chichen Itza in a month. He said it's getting damaged from all the visitors.

We were advised against Xcaret. Apparently it’s more for kids, and has a more ‘Disney' feel to it. I don’t know.

Parc Nizuc was lame. The only reason we went was so my partner could do the dolphin experience. You can’t bring in food or water from outside, and they search your bag coming in. Once you’re inside, everything is very expensive. Not at all worth the $29 entry fee.

Definitely take a day and go to Isla Mujeres. I would avoid the package tours here. If you want to keep the cost down, you can take the city bus to the public ferry and pay $2.50 to cross. Rent a golf cart for $35-50 for the day and you’re set. There’s a lot to see and do there. The sea park, tortoise farm, a small Mayan ruin, and the downtown markets. Whatever you do, don’t miss “Playa Norte” This beach was incredible. Deep, soft sand and water the color of the sky and warm like a bath. I didn’t want to leave. The level of civil infrastructure on the island surprised me. I saw fibre optic splice containers and hybrid fibre/coax nodes on the poles. You can sip a corona and do email if you want.

Just returned from the Riu Cancun - Lovely Hotel but would never stay there again for a few reasons. Mainly the beach is not very wide and the sun goes behind the Hotel very early leaving the pool deck shaded and cold (2:30pm), therefore everyone must find the sun for a bit longer on the beach (until 4:30pm at best) and gets very crowded (bar service is sporadic on the beach) tipping doesn't seem to help anywhere on this resort. The pool is heated but you don't see too many people leaving for washroom breaks even though they are consuming a great deal of alcoholic beverages hmmm..... not very hygienic to say the least.

The rooms are nice and clean - nothing spectacular - bring your own hand soap, the bars are very tiny and the shampoo is in a little package no conditioner. They refill your fridge every other day but if need something they are replenished right away when you call. The staff are very friendly for the most part EXCEPT the bar staff who can be very grumpy and rude with the exception of Carlos who always remembered what you were drinking and refilled it before you even needed it - he received great tips from us. The other were plain rude and had the nerve to looked shocked when you stopped tipping them due to there conduct, you felt like you were putting them out.

Activities are minimal - more around children. Nothing exciting.

I would not recommend this resort if you like the sun, it was sooooo disappointing to be shaded in so early in the day. snorkelling was great, many fish, starfish, king crabs etc... even a scary barracuda.

If you go to Isla Majurees (spelling may be off) take you drivers licence to rent a golf cart, you can enjoy the Island much more.

Oh and if you like wine this is NOT the resort to go to - they only serve Mexican wine and it is sweet and horrible, if you want another type or want to see a wine list they are shocked and say you have to pay extra, that was fine with us - but they never ever brought us the list and would act like they forgot - very strange - we asked 5 or 6 times then gave up - not sure what the problem is around that.

All in all it was a nice place but not the atmosphere we are used to - you can hear sirens when you balcony door is open and they clean the beach with a motorized loud contraption early early in the morning - you can here it through the glass door. Oh and you can here your neighbour next door - loud and clear..........

We have stayed at many Sandals Resorts and last year we were at the Eldorado Royale in the Mayan Riviera - I would highly recommend that resort it is beautiful, clean, friendly and has a great wine list and the food was lovely - actual restaurants not buffet buffet buffet......

Hotel was nice and clean in appearance. The first night I had a hamburger that was not cooked - red in the middle. The next day, I had a meatball also not cooked in the middle. The food in general was nothing exceptional. The specialty restaurants required reservations by 7am. We upgraded to a junior suite - which we very disappointed in - it was not much bigger than a standard room in North America. The room had a musty/smokey odour - there are no Non-smoking rooms. The bed was rock hard. The supplied bar soap was tiny. I found mold/mildew growing on the ceiling above the shower. There is no heat in the hotel - the week that we went was unseasonably cool and the room was very cold - had to use 4 blankets. Late checkout was denied due to "overbooking". We will definately not be returning.
Date of stay: Jan. 14/05 to Jan. 15/05

Hey there folks,
IMPORTANT NEWS: IF YOU ARE TRAVELING WITH A CHILD ALONE YOU WILL NEED A DOCUMENT STATING THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TAKE YOUR CHILD ON A TRIP, FROM YOUR SPOUSE, AND THE DOCUMENT MUST BE NOTORIZED BEFORE YOU LEAVE IT IS THE LAW NOW ALL OVER THE WORLD! IF YOUR SPOUSE IS DEAD A DEATH CERTIFICATE MUST ACCOMPANY YOU IN ORDER TO TAKE YOUR CHILDREN ON HOLIDAY. ( I DID NOT HAVE A PROPER DOCUMENT SIGNED SO I NEEDED TO GET IT STAMPED AND IT COST ME IN MONTREAL AN EXTRA $5.00)MEXICAN AUTHORITIES WILL ASK YOU FOR THIS DOCUMENT!

Left on holiday with Sun quest vacations and will use them again! Went with Sky service and the people who work on that airline are amazing! The service was second to none and the stewardesses were so helpful and happy! First time in a long time that I have seen happy people like that on an airline. It actually seemed that they loved their job. The food was bearable too.

I only booked 2 weeks before I left and after my agent gave me 3 choices I decided on Mexico. The other 2 destinations were Cuba, and a cruise.I got a great price but better yet a great place. I chose the Rui Cancun, in Cancun because I was taking my son with me who is 13 years old. It is an all inclusive 5+ star hotel.and it has a kids club. We arrived on time, and got our room, it was really nice and clean, ocean front however I had ordered 2 double beds and there was only a king size one left they were all sold out.The bathroom was very nice and large all in marble giant bath tub etc. Food was good there were only 3 restaurants instead of the 5 that the brochure told about. On Christmas eve they made a dinner which was fantastic. Otherwise it was buffet style and you chose your own food there was one restaurant serving Brazilian style food however to get a reservation was not great you had to go really early in the morning an book it before 7:30am otherwise they said they were always sold out even though the restaurant was only half full! It was a hassle each day to get the reservation, I went 3 days in a row and finally after arguing with the reservation guy he finally relented and let me in but you really had to fight to get in there and believe me the fight was not worth it. The grounds of this property were beautifully done with an assortment of pools and the beach ( go to the right of the building closer to the double infinity pool that is were the beach is calmer and has no rocks like the other side.) The bar pool was very nice and heated like the other ones. It got very busy people were tagging their chairs with the beach towels, otherwise you had to search for a chair each day, and sun to sit in. It gets very hot each day so check your sunscreen to make sure it dated correctly before you put it on. The beach is very clean however when walking becarful there is glass around for some reason.Remember to bring a bottle of water, and drinks and towels if you are beaching it. The dinner shows were a tad boring the Michael Jackson was very well done however if Michael gets busted for his antics this show will finish very soon. The kids programs are very well organized even teen programs too.

My favorite tour was the Alternative tour, Maya Encounter, it is an adventure tour you need to be healthy for this one. Your visit includes a tour to the tallest ruin called Coba, than you rappel off a cliff, zip line through a jungle, eat with a Mayan family food is very safe there, get blessed by Shaman, than you canoe over alligator infested waters to walk again in the jungle to a mineral pool that you climb into to experience the limestone caves. It was very exciting and our guide called Vargas alias Dr.V was very good and made sure you did all the things you paid for. It is a very interactive tour. Cost $100 each person. We went swimming with the dolphins my son loved it we did interactive museum cost $65

Favorite shopping places: Cowboy boots go to Plaza Caracole I= name of store (Roger Boots) ask for Pedro, he will find a pair of boots for you in your budget. The array of designs are unbelievable and very good quality product and he and wife and friends will give you great service he also has allot of leather goods which make great gifts at reasonable prices

Plaza Caracole for silver jewelry is also very good. It is right across from the Rui Cancun there is a market nearby however same complaint too aggressive.Bargain for price, walk around there are a ton o places. La Isla Mall great place to shop but a tad expensive. Great fashion buys and allot to do there.

My husband and I (ages 42 and 39) vacationed at the RIU Cancun with our daughter (age 11) and son (age 7) from June 12th, 2004 thru June 19th, 2004. What a GREAT holiday!

We booked our tickets travel/accomodations through SunQuest with Bel-Air Travel and got what I think is an excellent rate.

The early flight (6:10am) departed from Toronto’s Pearson Airport and arrived on time in Cancun. Not much to report about the flight other then tight seats and “not-so-good” food.

Alex (our SunQuest rep) met us at the airport and we were bussed to the RIU Cancun. We were escorted to the lobby bar area for a debriefing and to fill out some check-in paperwork. We were greeted with a punch drink and were offered the opporutnity to move next door to the RIU Palace Las Americas however, we declined as they did not have a KidsClub. From what I heard from guests staying next door, I think we made a good decision (I’ll explain why later on in the trip report). Since we arrived early, our rooms were not ready so we took a stroll around the hotel to familiarize ourselves with our new home!

The weather was miserable. Lightening, thunder and torrential rain was being forecast for the entire week! UGH! Within the hour, the lightening and thunder ceased and the rain calmed to a “sprinkle”. My husband and the kids changed into their bathing suits and jumped into the pool as I sat under a shelter thinking:”Is this what we are going to go through all week?”

Luckily for us, the afternoon of the second day, the weather changed for the best! The sun came out, the clouds disappeared and we had fabulours weather!

We checked into our room (659A) in the annex building as we requested. Though the room was not luxurious, it was clean, confortable and good enough for the week. One thing I should mention is that we never had enough towels. On several occasions, we called reception requesting more towels and our requests always went unanswered. One morning we requested a wake-up call at 7:30am and the call didn’t come till 8am. When my husband asked, why the call was not made at 7:30am, they replied that they have 7:45am written in the book! If they indeed had 7:45am indicated in the book, why were they calling at 8:00am! Oh well…

Each morning we went to the Don Juan restaurant for breakfast. They had a great buffet including Mexican fares, eggs, pancackes, french toast, bacon, sausages, ceareals, assorted juices and fruits. The food was always good.

For lunch we always dined at the “La Mision” restaurant (casual buffet) and enjoyed the burgers, paella (one of my favorites), nachos, etc,. This restaurant had two soft ice cream machines, which the kids enjoyed a lot. They also prepared great french-fries!

One evening, we made reservations at the “Corazone” restaurant for Brazilian “rodizio”. The food was OK, but not anything to rant or rave about. Though the hotel insists men were long pants to dine at this restaurant, they did not turn away the men who wore shorts neither did they turn away the one man who wore his bathing suit!

The drinks were great and plentiful though the glasses are quite small. Not a big deal since we aren’t big drinkers to begin with.

The animators were excellent! Hats off to Alex (responsible for keeping the teenagers busy), Rita (for the little kids), Andrea, Raul, Arael, Israel, Abel, Erik, Juan, etc,… they did a fantastic job and really look like they are enjoying their work!

The pools were very nice though they were quite packed (espcially the one that had the swim-up bar). The water got too hot around 2pm so we moved down to the beach each afternoon.

The evening shows are held in “La Fiesta” theater. The Grease Show , the Tropical Show and the Michael Jackson show were all great. We missed the Broadway Show and the International Show since we went to Playa Del Carmen one evening and Xcaret the other. I was told we missed two great shows. The performances are very professional and they bring in professional dancers.

We rented a Geo Tracker from the Budget car rental in the hotel and went to Playa Del Carmen one evening. 5th avenue was under construction so we didn’t walk all the way to the docks but we did stop for dinner at a Rodizio restaurant called “Espadas”. The food was amazing and put the “Corazone” restaurant at the hotel to shame.

We also went to spend a day at Xcaret. Last year we had visited the Xel-Ha park and this time we wanted to see Xcaret. In comparing the two, Xel-Ha was much smaller and had less to do, whereas Xcaret was larger, had an underground river and a fantastic evening show. Xcaret was also a lot more expensive. The swimming at Xel-Has was nicer though.

We stayed at the "Riu Cancun" from "April 12th - 19th" the place is exactly and better than the pictures.

The people are wonderful and friendly and when you call the front desk for something you will have service in minutes.

If you read about anyone complaining about the food then they have a real problem. The food was absolutely plentiful and good.

Especially the restaurant you could have barbeque steak / chicken ect every night if you wanted to. All the restaurants were great. We never ate in the one that you have to make a reservation for because all of them were the same.

We brought lots of American one dollar bills because they make very little money down there and they really appreciate the tipping. You don't have to but what's a dollar or two for all the hard working bartenders and waiters and women who clean your room. I felt basically it was nothing for us to give and a huge thing for them to received and they truly do appreciate it and don't expect it at all. If you don't tip they won't treat you any differently.

My only complaint was that my older son loves to play "Beach Volleyball" and you have to be very very careful there, because they have poured sand right on top of tarmac and he cut both his knees opened and they were bad. I hoping my sharing this with the hotel has made them aware so this doesn't have to happen to any one else. After this incident with my son we watched and it happened to others each day.

If you read any negative reviews don't worry because I'm a very very picky person and a clean freak .... just go and enjoy your vacation and have fun and laugh and have fun and laugh and have fun !!!!

The sand is like white silk ....

Date: March 2-9, 2004

We've just returned from a week at the RIU Cancun all-inclusive resort and we have a lot to share. As we relied on these reviews in planning our vacation, we're happy to provide a lengthy review. The RIU Cancun is a 5-star property located in the Hotel strip area of Cancun at the "top corner of the seven". Our week there was everything we could have asked for and we would definitely return there or to another RIU property. So here we go:

Tour Operator
This tour was offered by Sunquest in Canada and we purchased our tickets through Anrose Travel in London. Jenny at Anrose was efficient and informative. Our tickets arrived a couple of weeks before we left and Jenny had us in and explained everything. We flew directly from London to Cancun on Skyservice on an Airbus 320. Good plane .... not a lot of legroom but apart from that a normal rather non-descript flight.

Upon arrival in Cancun, Sunquest representatives identified themselves and ushered us to air-conditioned tour busses for the trip to the hotel strip where passengers were dropped off at the door.

Check-in
Check-in at the RIU Cancun was accompanied by a welcome cocktail. Check-in was handled quickly and efficiently. We had originally requested a room high up but were assigned 4th floor accommodation. A word with the check-in clerk and we were reassigned to an 11th floor room with no questions asked.

Our Room
Our room was immediately available following check-in which took place at about noon on the 2nd. The room was spacious, immaculately clean and had the following amenities: king-sized bed which was a bit hard, a fully stocked bar with 4 bottles of liquor, a mini fridge containing cerveza, bottled water and soft drinks which was replenished daily. The bathroom which was tiled contained a spacious tub/shower combination, a double sink, hair dryer, soaps and shampoos and plenty of towels.

Every room in this property faces the ocean. The corridor leading to the rooms is glass-walled and faces the lagoon-side and the shopping area. Our room faced east and had a private balcony. There was some construction taking place at a new property immediately beside us but we did not find it to be intrusive ... we were more captivated by the continuous and seductive sound of the waves on the beach (as we're writing this and looking at the snow on our deck we only wish we were back there!) ... anyway back to the present ...

The room was cleaned daily by "Maria" (go figure ... a woman by the name of Maria in Mexico ... who'd have guessed!!). We never really met Maria as we made a point of spending as little time in our room as possible. We did leave her a $1USD tip each day and had purchased some small lotions and such before our trip to leave her. The room was always immaculately clean. Again, the floors were tile throughout.

Due to the construction of this property, the rooms were extremely quiet. We never heard our neighbors or their TV. By the way the TV stations include Spanish language and English with Spanish sub-titles. Again, TV was not the reason we went to Mexico but it was nice before bed to check-in with the news. CNN and MSNBC were available.

The Property in General
This RIU property was just under a year old at the time we were there. It is an impressive property with a 15 story tower and another 6 story building. There are numerous pools, including 2 infinity-pools, outdoor bars and a swim-up bar. The main pool/bar area is lively and has a lot of poolside padded lounge chairs. The infinity pool area directly below our room is more secluded and away from the action, more suited to those seeking a quieter time. There are two "hot" tubs (tepid is more accurate) ... one on the solarium that is atop the 6 story building and a larger one that is on the east (quiet) side.

The Beach area contains beautiful fine white sand and is immaculately groomed early every morning by RIU staff who remove kelp and any other trash that has been left behind. There are padded lounge chairs and grass sun-shelters along the beach. The sand is deep and plentiful (as a point of comparison, we went for a walk one day up the beach past other properties. A couple of "doors" west of us there is a hotel with about 2 inches of sand on top of what is very obviously rock! That was one indication that our hotel was a cut above). The water at the beach contains a line of concrete blocks about 15-20 feet from shore, obviously placed there to prevent beach erosion. Watch out for these. There are a few spots where there is sufficient space between them that you can do some body-surfing without worry .... but like I said watch-it.

The grounds surrounding the pools and hotel are well-maintained and pleasant with grass, hedges and palm trees as well as good supply of comfortable, padded lounging chairs. A point of interest here is that on one occasion we witnessed a maintenance worker washing the leaves of the plants outside.

The Food
The food was, as far as we are concerned, excellent. Some reviewers have identified that the food at all-inclusives can get to be the same after a while. We can understand that criticism but c'mon they are feeding 2000 people every day. We think they did a great job of preparing a wide variety of foods that were delicious and consistently of fine quality. An effort was made each day to offer some unique variety and a different theme in addition to the standard fare.

Standard fare included a pasta bar, Mexican food bar, grilled meats, salads, cold meats, fish, a variety of potatoes, rice, vegetables etc. Fresh fruit was always available morning and night, Breakfasts included again a Mexican food bar, breads, cereals, eggs of various incarnations, meats, etc.

If we could say 1 meal was least impressive, it would be lunch. Worst-case description would be mundane, but that's it.

The Staff
The staff at the RIU were wonderful. Without exception all were pleasant and friendly and always with an "hola" or "buenos dias" for you. If you make the effort to learn a few Spanish phrases and use them consistently with the staff, not only do they obviously appreciate it but will take the time to try and teach you some more Spanish if you're inclined. Not everyone could speak English well but those whose job was direct customer service were well-spoken in English. The rest had basic English.

Entertainment
The RIU Cancun has its own theatre and there was nightly entertainment in the theatre provided by either the RIU's own sports and entertainment crew or on certain nights, by entertainment troupes that were brought in. Entertainment starts at 9:45 pm but the place fills up quickly so you should get into a seat between 9:15 and 9:30. It's a gas so you shouldn't miss it.

Each evening there are also vendors and artisans who set up stands outside the main dining area to sell there wares. We found them to be more expensive than vendors in the numerous flea-markets in the area.

Shopping
There's lots of shopping in the area and you should come prepared to dicker over prices. There are flea-markets galore where you can get Mexican silver, shells, ornaments, t-shirts, souvenirs etc. etc. Don't pay the asking price. The culture there is to expect to negotiate prices. Our experience is to expect to pay 30 to 50% of the asking price. Get used to hearing "... give just me a Mexican minute senor ..." or " ... it's my turn now senor ...". If you go with the attitude that this kind of thing is pushy and intrusive ... then don't go to the flea markets. If you look at it as entertainment and a chance to speak with the locals, you'll have a blast. The people are indeed warm and friendly ... but not unwilling to take your shirt in a negotiation if you let them!

As for Mexican silver ... you can get some great deals but watch for this: silver in Mexico is regulated by the government and legitimate pieces of solid pure silver are marked. Look for 2 markings which are a "must" and one other optionally. The first two are the word "Mexico" and the quality of the silver ... either 925 or 950. Optionally you will also see the jeweler's licence number, but not always. "925 silver" is what you will see the most and is kind of like 10kt gold. "950 silver" is like 14kt gold and in the rare instance you find "975 silver" it's like 18kt gold ... higher levels of purity. If you buy silver without these markings you're probably getting ripped off and are buying silver-plate.

Oh yeah ... in old Cancun you can find a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to satisfy your need to shop more conventionally. >:-)

Transportation
You can easily move around the Cancun area using the public transit system busses that are continuously driving around the hotel strip and into old Cancun where the locals live. Cost is 6 pesos ... about 60 cents. Busses are not air conditioned and drivers are aggressive on the road. Using this mode of transport will let you taste the local flavour but if you prefer to stay above it all you can take a taxi ... but be prepared to pay. Again you should negotiate the price with the driver before you hire him. We can't advise you any more on this as we used the busses.

The Water
While we weren't paranoid about the water and although we had been advised that the water in Cancun was fine, we did exercise caution nonetheless. We drank only bottled water which we also used for brushing our teeth. We did not avoid salads that might have been washed in local water although we did not eat a lot of them either. Ice cubes, we assume, came from a filtered source as we could see the dual filter system behind the ice machine on our floor.

Conclusion
That's about all we can report except to say that the vacation was outstanding. There were no major surprises and we were not disappointed that we selected this property. We would definitely return here or search out other RIU properties for a future vacation.

We have been lucky enough to have two wonderful weeks at the Riu Cancun from 1st Jan 04. It was the first time we have stayed at a Riu hotel and it will not be the last. Nothing was too much trouble for the friendly and helpful staff. The food was wonderful - I deify anyone not to find something that they like. The Brazilian restaurant was great- for those who have never had Brazilian before - they just do not stop serving the meat, they will serve vegetarian meals if booked at the time of reservation. It is worth a try for something different. The service is very good, they made my birthday very special, with a cake and a song!

We had a corner room and it was very large, the maid service was excellent.

The only down side was that we found quite a lot of broken glass on the beach- the was not the hotels fault - but the idiots who take glasses and bottle onto the beach with no thought to anyone else.

My wife and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary at the RIU Cancun from 11/3 - 11/7. It was very enjoyable. We chose the resort based on a special deal running in Atlanta and internet reviews. My wife and I are from Atlanta, GA and in our early 30s. We did not bring our son with us.

After reading reviews, I made certain requests to my travel agent including room location and stressing that it was our anniversary. For good measures, I emailed to resort directly. Would recommend that if you have any requests prior to arrival. They were very responsive and did exactly as I requested (although I do wish I had made a different request . . . more to follow). We arrived shortly before the "official" check-in time and upon a nice presentation with a welcome drink were told to come back in 30 minutes for the room key. No problem since we were starving so we went to get some food.

Got our room key and, as I mentioned before, it was exactly as requested in my email. As high as possible (14th floor out of 15) and the room closest to the middle of the resort with a King bed (room #10). I found out in emailing the resort that only rooms 1-10 on each floor have kings, the rest have two doubles which can be pushed together. I knew there was construction on both sides of the resort so I opted for the side with the king beds. It was a mistake. The south tower (which is about rooms 1 - 18) face towards the lighthouse. The closer you get to 1, the closer you are to the construction and the more restricted the view. The construction on the south side of the resort is much worse than on the north (maybe half finished as opposed to almost complete). They work from appox. 6:30 to 6:30 and you do hear jack hammers, especially if you want you patio door open. My wife and I decided to give it a try for one night but requested a move the next morning. The desk was very nice but could not make a change until the following day. We were then moved to the north tower (428) with a nice view and very limited noise. If you do stay in the north tower, it is always better to be as high as possible. If you are on floor 7 or lower, get as close to the middle as possible. Otherwise, your view could be blocked by the resort's annex that contains the jr. suites.

As for the room, very comfortable with a nice balcony. Nothing too fancy but one of the nicer bathrooms in resorts I have been to. Very clean. Never a problem with service (cleaned room in the mornings) and well stocked fridge with 4 hard liquor dispensers (rum, vodka, tequila and brandy). TV with maybe 5 - 10 English stations rest in Spanish. Beds were firm but not an issue. Pillows fine. Bring soap.

We were surprised one night with champagne left in our room. I am only assuming that was done because we mentioned it was our anniversary in the email or with the travel agent. Good pick-up.

Resort grounds/buildings were very nice and impressive. Based on driving by all of the resorts on the strip, would rank it in the top 5 just on appearances. All well maintained and cleaned thoroughly.

Pools - Were clean and nice. Never too crowded. Not one big pool. 4 smaller ones. Never ventured to the "quiet side" but can't believe it would be quiet with the construction right next door.

Beach - Nice light brown sugar, soft sand. Wouldn't consider it white but I am from the Gulf Coast of FL. Water clean. A little stirred up at times. Decent waves while we were there. There are rocks at some points of the beach but that makes decent snorkeling. Plenty of area to swim without rocks though. Non-motorized equipment nice (hobbiecats, kayaks, water bikes). The beach is not overly wide but big enough to not be an issue.

Only complaint/thought about the pool/beach area is the shade problem. Even in the morning, I would estimate that 1/4 of the pool area is already in the shade of the hotel. By noon, at least half and by 2 nearly all. You are forced to go down to the beach if you want to be in the sun. Never an issue with us but know some people might be turned off by it. It is just a fact on where the resort is located. Not sure how much this is a problem with other resorts in Cancun.

Food - Very good for an all-inclusive. If you go with the mindset that you want to be served or expect 5 star food, you will be disappointed. This is the 4th all-inclusive I have been too and it was easily the best. The food was generally fresh and plentiful. Since we were only there 4 days, never an issue but might get bored after 7 days. Although in the main dinner buffet area they have different themes every night, they still cook the same meats but put them in different sauces. Wasn't overly impressed with desserts but the ice cream was good. Thought the homemade pizzas were good as well as the fresh guacamole. Seasoning generally good too. Never got to go to the Corozone cause couldn't get in. Get there early in the morning to book. One day I got down to book 15 minutes after opening and it was booked already. They do not fill up the restaurant for either seating. Probably 40 - 50 people max. If you made enough noise, I am sure they would make you a reservation more than one day out. Wine was not very good but tolerated the white. The mixed drinks are as strong as you ask for. They will generally make them weak but hey, ask for another shot if that is what you want. If I made one recommendation, it would be to have more full service restaurants. Surprised there is not at least one more considering the size of the resort.

Service - Very good. Never an issue with attitude or unwillingness to do anything. One waiter even wanted to buy my hat off me. I just gave it to him and he was so thankful. The rec/entertainment staff were good. Always trying to get you involved but not pushy. Plenty of rec activities going on from 10 - 1 and 3 - 5 if you desire but same ones every day. The resort brings in some "professional" entertainers during some of the nights (not the recreational group). These were ok. Actually enjoyed the one night when the recreational group was in charge better. Ms. RIU Cancun night. Their energy was great.

There is a late night disco but never went. Not sure how many people do. If interested in that, most would probably go to the local bars/clubs.

Smoking - You have to expect it at almost any Caribbean location. We do not smoke. Fortunately, there were not that many problems. We ate outside most of the time and tried to avoid sitting by anyone who obviously smoked. Sometimes it couldn't be avoided but being outside helped. The resort did have a non-smoking seating section inside that is a nice touch. You will definitely encounter heavy smoking during the nightly entertainment. Although the ventilation is pretty good, you just can't really avoid it. I am always concerned about the smell of smoke in the rooms. It helped that this resort is new. Even so, in the room we moved to, we could smell smoke at times. Not sure if it was from next door or in the air conditioning system.

I am just returning from a one-week stay at the RIU Cancun. We had a good flight and it was on time. The only hickup was that the room was not ready when we arrived at 10:30, but expected it and we were ready to start to enjoy ourselves anyway as soon as all the formalities were done at the front desk.

Hotel: very beautiful, clean. Lobby very grand

Pools: clean, the view if breath taking. I found the swim-up bar sooo nice. It has little alcoves where you sit and there is table in front of you, that way you do not have to be standing at the bar with a lot of people, but just sit down and enjoy the company of your significant other or friends.

Beach: I was a little bit disapointed about the beach. I knew there were rocks by seeing them in the pictures posted on the internet. I had heard of the rocks in the water and also about the broken glass. I strongly recommend water shoes. I had brought mine but there is nothing more enjoyable than to walk bare feet in the sand in the ocean.

Room: we were one of the lucky ones. We were given a mini suite which made it even better. We were on the 5th floor of the 6-floor section. We had a very big terrace; the only draw back was that you could only see the ocean if you were standing on your toes. Not all the suites are like that - only from 550 to 557 inclusive have the non view. As far as the fridge, it was replenished only twice during the week, but this did not bother us in the least. If you really want to have a drink, there are so many bars available. As I was celebrating my birthday during the week, we were presented with beautiful towel arrangements on THE day and a birthday wish from the hotel + a bottle of wine + a beautiful reproduction of a mayan mask. Very nice touches.

Service: Was the best that I ever saw.

Food: I can only speak about the buffets, which we enjoyed. A lot of nice touches.

Other: I found the buses were great and cheap, we even took one to go to Playa del Carmen (air conditionned & cheap). We went to visit the other RIUs (Palace, Yucatan & Tequila) in that corner and enjoyed their hospitality.

Yes there was construction going on on both sides of the hotel, I guess the biggest of the noise is at a minimum now; a lot of work has been done on those 2 buildings (RIU Palace and condos Punta Cancun).