Riu Vallarta

Where do i begin? from the moment my husband and i stepped of the coach outside the Riu Vallarta we were wowed beyond belief, the check in was super fast, our bags were brought up within 10 minutes. When we entered the room (jr suite with sea view) we were knocked off our feet, the room was clean and spacious the bed was enourmous and the view from the balcony was truly amazing. After settling in we ventured downstairs and the staff were getting people ready to go to the white party hosted at the neighbouring Jalisco hotel, the atmosphere was lovely. The people in and around the hotel were so friendly and helpful. The food was very tasteful and there was always plenty of it, we tried all of the resturaunts and none of them disappointed us. The evening entertainment was ok, the michael jackson night was the best. The pool although in need of some cosmetic work was always clean and the swim up bar was my favourite place to be, the bar staff were exceptionally amazing especially Pedro, the variety of cocktails were plentiful and i can highly recommend the Grasshopper or Pedros singapore sling! The sea was a bit rough at times but the temperature of the water is like having a bath, the beach was always clean and tidy and its worth having a walk in the morning and watching the manta rays surf the waves. We even got to see a couple of wild dolphins swimming out in the sea from our balcony. All of the staff at the Riu are amazing and extrememly hard working, always happy to help and made our stay even more amazing than we anticipated. We tipped quite a bit but they never expected it and were very grateful each time. There is only 2 negatives about this holiday the 1st was the floor in the rooms can get extremely slippery when wet and the 2nd was that the holiday had to come to an end. I sincerely hope that once the renovations are done later this year that they dont change to much of the decor as this is a beautiful resort with so much character and charm. Will definetly be saving the pennies to revisit

I travelled with my daughter 16 & wife, and the hotel was really good, service from all staff was great, and we enjoyed all restaurants, but specially the french one, was good, but i usually spent all time on the beach. The room (double bed, jr suite) is comfortable, the view of the sea beautiful, and my only improvement recommendation is larger beds. But I know this fall it will close for full remodeling, and I plan to come back

We weren’t made aware of the upcoming refurb planned for August when we booked and while the hotel is ok, it’s decor is decidedly dated. Level of cleaning generally is average throughout. Pools are busy and daytime entertainment limited. Hopefully the latter will change following refurb.4 restaurants, no booking required for any of ‘speciality restaurants’ although need to queue ahead of opening. Long trousers only dress stipulation in one. Food good although not much variation from one meal to the next. Evening entertainment ok, weekly ‘big event’ on Friday nights alternating White/Neon nights. Beach ok, sea rough and seldom clear. Lots and lots of midges, although we were mid hurricane season, so if you suffer badly from bites (as my youngest does), this is not the time/place to visit! As a family if we decide to visit Mexico again we will probably head back to the other coast (Riviera Maya).