Riu Cancun

Stayed here for 10 days in the summer. Should be a 4 star in my opinion. Food very samey, not much choice. Not much to do or much entertainment. There's many better places to stay, I don't think I'd stay in a riu again. Didn't like the decor or the sky rise rooms setting either.

We booked with Tui, my advice would be too book a private transfer the hotel is so close and we were sat on the bus waiting for it to leave for an hour! Not sure what the people were doing but not what you want after a long day of travelling. We had read previous reviews about the rooms and their views. On arrival we were told we had a standard room and no view, but thought we’d chance it as I had sent two emails to the hotel to request a view, as we have stayed at lots of Riu’s in the past and one earlier this year so thought they’d sort us out. Plus read that some customers got sea views anyway, as most of the rooms are sea view. They clearly just put people in the bad rooms to get money from upgrades. We got put on floor two with a rubbish view so went straight back down to upgrade for 150 dollars for 11 nights. The next view was excellent, a lovely view of the quiet pool and the sea. It’s worth the upgrade and is actually quite cheap to upgrade compared to other resorts. However, the rooms are basic and quite dated. Definitely not 5 star but a nice touch with the optics. The location of this hotel is excellent if you are looking for nightlife or shopping, you can walk to everything in 5-10 mins and you feel completely safe. There is also a cheap bus service that runs 24hours that you can take. If you want a great night out, Coco Bongos is a must we have been 3 times now and have enjoyed it every time. The hotel is well kept and nice views from the infinity pools, however a lot of the sunbeds will be in the shade for most of the afternoon and the sun disappeared completely from the pool at around 3:45/4:00pm which is a shame. So you have to get up at like 6:00am to get the best sunbeds, which we didn’t do. We ended up moving down to the beach, some days as early as 1pm! The staff were pretty good and we didn’t feel like we needed to tip them, we did however tip a few dollars here and there for good service and when we visited the a la carte restaurants. The food is good quality and cooked fresh, but it is quite repetitive. It would be nice if they had some extra lunch options like a beach BBQ or somewhere outside for lunch or even if the sports bar served cooked food (rather than help yourself to nachos and microwave burgers). The a la cartes are okay, nothing special. But can use them as many times as you want. One day we had a lovely burger at the steakhouse so went back but the second time it wasn’t as good! This was our second time in Mexico and one of the reasons we came back was for the excursions. highly recommend Xplor which we done for a second time but at night this time. The daytime version is definitely better! Was actually quite cold at night so not as enjoyable as the water is freezing. We also done the Xenotes tour for the first time and it was fantastic. Highly recommend both of these excursions and Coco Bongos of course! Personally we wouldn’t stay at this hotel again, there are better hotels available at the price you pay. We got a good deal but spoke to some couples who paid a lot of money and I don’t think it’s worth it as it’s quite a standard resort. We stayed in Playa Del Carmen and the hotel was better, the location was nicer, better beach more wildlife etc. I think this hotel is good if you want to party and visit the nightlife every night but Riviera May is definitely nicer and better value for money in my opinion!

We read all the reviews before coming here mostly the negative ones but came with an open mind and we aren't hard to please at all. First impressions the hotel complex looked amazing really nice. Checked in so we could see the room first before paying for an upgrade. Couldn't see anythin from the annex building floor 5 just a wall so stayed there for one night then had no choice but to upgrade the following day. The upgrade is such a scam omg it's ridiculous and can only be paid in cash. We paid more than enough as it was but we wanted to look at somethin better than a fricking wall. So paid 180 dollars well the rooms are an absolute state disgusting actually an anyone who tells u different are fricking lying. The mould omg is totally pathetic. Worst rooms I've ever seen anywhere beds full of mould. Sheets never changed towels are refolded and put back up I was so ragin about that ffs we spent thousands of pounds I would like fresh towels and a clean mould free room. Fridge is restocked every 2 or 3 days depends. I through a bottle of Pepsi into the bin there was only a mouthful left in it it had went flat the fricking cleaner lifted it back out an put it in the fridge Jesus I was mad. The key cards are always timing out it's a torture. Most staff are nice an friendly but all in all I'll never stay here again or recommend it to anyone its an absolute scam and disgrace of a hotel but each to their own I've stayed in better premier inns.