Riu Palace Pacifico

My family and I (hubby, son & myself) stayed at Riu Palace Pacifico from May 11-18, 2019. We contemplated on either going to Jalisco or Pacifico. After reading some reviews, we decided to go with Pacifico as it has "better" food and less noisy. At first sight of the hotel, it was grand and beautiful. The lobby is big and has a lot of chairs to sit at. Check-in was smooth as we were the only ones arriving at that time. We got our room right away. Room - compared to other resorts we've stayed at was cozy. The bathroom was on the left of the entrance way. We had a king size bed. They offered us a roll-away bed for our 4 year old son and placed it in the living room beside the sofa. There was no room for anything else so they placed the coffee table outside in the balcony. The bed and pillows were quite firm. The bathroom had 2 sinks. The bathtub was quite slender and dark. There was a 3 ft opening to the tub which you have to climb up on (1.5 ft tall). There was no light in the bathtub area so it was upsetting to my son who does not like bathing in the dark. The balcony had 2 chairs and had drying racks which was really handy to dry your wet clothes/towels. Food - plenty of choices to choose from at the buffet. There's a small selection of gluten free options which was good for my son and I. We are both gluten sensitive.There are plenty of shrimp, fish, fruits (papaya, pineapple, mangoes, watermelon, strawberries, grapes, etc.), desserts. The carving station has a selection of meats, chicken, turkey, duck, fish. There were also pizza and pasta stations. The food in general was pretty good. Some of the servers are friendly and will chat with you but some were not as friendly as they may not speak English as well. At lunch time, they have a bbq outside the pool area. There's plenty of meat, some seafood, salads and fruits. We went to El Toscana (steakhouse) on Monday evening. Note they close on Sundays. We got there around 7:45pm and the restaurant was full. The hostess gave us a buzzer and told us it would buzz when a table was available. She said it could be 20 - 45 mins wait. After 45 mins, my husband went to check how much longer it would be. He called us in and told us they had a table available. When I entered the restaurant, it was 2/3 empty! Why did they not buzz us???? Anyways, I was too hungry to vent. Our drink order was taken right away. After 20 mins, I had to ask the hostess when our food was going to be taken as our waiter was too busy chit chatting with people by the door. Even when the hostess told him to take our order, he was still wandering around. Most of the food looked like it was pre-cooked as our food arrived shortly after ordering. I had the lobster, my hubby had the steak and my son had the salmon. The food was really good. There's not a lot of choices for salads, appetizer or dessert. We ended up going to the buffet for dessert. After the experience at El Toscana, we decided to just eat at the buffet for the rest of the trip.There are more selection and better for our son too. The pool was really nice, especially the pool bar area. Lots of seating around the pool bar and the depth was 3 ft tall so it was perfect for my son who is learning to swim and does not like the deeper water (4.5 ft). They have a small round infinity pool which is really nice. Most people get up early to put towels on the lounge chairs (although I think there's a hotel policy that says you can't). It was hard trying to find lounge chairs after breakfast when we went to the pool. The tiles around the pool area get quite hot so it's best to keep your sandals near the pool when you get out. There is daily entertainment at the pool in the afternoon. Washrooms - I find there are limited washrooms at the resort. The washrooms near the pool area is in the main building underneath where the Renova Spa is. They are air-conditioned so if you are waiting in line and wet from the pool, it's not very comfortable. They have someone mop the floors on a regular basis as some people are wet when using the facilities. The only other public washrooms are near the elevators inside the lobby. There are showers near there so if you have a late departure and have checked out, you can shower before you leave. I wished there was a washroom in the pool area because if you are on the beach (which is quite beautiful!), and have to use the washroom, you have to go around the pool and down the stairs each time. Not user friendly with children who need to go often. Lobby Bar - after dinner, we would sit at the bar and have after cappuccinos con Baileys before heading back to our room. They seem to only have 1 - 2 servers so service can get really slow. We had to order from the bar to order our drinks a few times. Overall, the hotel is beautiful and clean. Service could be better for a 5 star hotel. We've stayed at various 4 star hotels in the Caribbean side and they have far better service, even at the other Riu hotels. I really did not like having to go through the lobby to get to the elevators to take us to our floor. It can get cold especially when you are wet from being in the pool. Washrooms could be located better or have ones by the pool near the beach that is not air-conditioned. Food was really good and plentiful. I really like the Riu chain but most likely would go to the Caribbean side from now on.

This Was our second time to this resort and it was just as amazing as the first. The resort is immaculate and the staff is always cleaning. Lalo was amazing at the buffet for breakfast and lunch. Jose and Francisco were awesome at the pool bar. We can’t wait for our next trip there.