Riu Palace Antillas

We arrived to the Riu and was placed in room 1405 and told we had a "great room", with an ocean view.  We heard at least 5 guests complain about their rooms as we were check-in but dismissed them as being picky.  As we arrived to the 14th floor, the carpet in the hallway was old, loose (a trip hazard) and stained.  As we walked pass the ice machine,  the floor was nasty, the attached photos speak for themselves.  Upon arriving into our room, we found a very outdated suite.  We had a living room with an old dirty leather sofa and chair.  In fact, we would not sit on it as it appeared to have stains.  The bedroom was average at best with outdated furniture and an old mattress that you feel the springs as well.  We had a connecting room with our neighbors, whom we did not know, with a door that had about a 2" to 3" gap.  We could hear conversations, TV traffic and other noises (use your imagination).     None of the rooms in our suite were cleaned to the standards one would expect.  There were scuff marks on the floor, dirt in corners, dust build up on base boards, stains on tables and desks.  Quite frankly,  the prison I ran in Ohio was much cleaner than our room. Our bathroom had a newer countertop but an old tub with an old vent above it that daily dropped a black substance and lint into it.  This made it difficult to determine if it was clean.    Initially, the first day, my husband and I did not complain and said let's not ruin anyone else's experience as it was a group trip.   But by Day 2 our room smelled of pesticides, horrible black residue dropping in the tub, and hearing our friends felt the same about the resort, we were fed up.  I spoke to the resort manager (Edgar) whom appeared unaffected by our concerns.  I showed him photos and at one point he commented "oh that's the floor by the ice machine."  He indicated he could not move us next door to the Riu Palace (cleaner, newer resort) nor do anything for us.  He said we had the best room. One evening I entered my room to find black residue and some object that appeared to be a large lint ball in the tub.  I also found a dirty towel had been folded and placed with what I assumed as clean towels.   I removed the towel and placed it in the sink, called the Front Desk and asked for replacement towels and for someone to clean the tub and left for dinner.  We returned to the room later to find the same dirty towel was re-folded and placed back on the shelf between the clean towels and black residue still in the tub.  When I asked the housekeeper to come into the room so I could show her, she refused until I became upset and insisted.  She had a look of utter disgust when she witnessed the tub and immediately made calls as she refused to clean it.   To say I am disappointed in the Riu is an understatement.  They mislead us by advertising better rooms on the website and seem to dismiss our concerns. When I showed the photos from the website to the management staff and asked where these rooms were, they indicated that was the villa and it was full.  On a daily basis we ate at their sister resort as it was much cleaner with friendly staff.  On the eve before our last day, Riu Front Desk staff tried get my husband and me to sign an agreement stating they upgraded us.  We both exclaimed simultaneously "we were not upgraded" and refused to sign anything.  I think this was an attempt to deceive our travel agent because by that time, our travel agent was communicating with them.  They lied to our travel agent about offering us alternative accommodations.  We all asked. Please keep in mind, we felt trapped out of the country at resort that we already paid for and forced to be left in their hands as they controlled our room stay.  Attached are multiple photos documenting our experience. On a good note, the pool and beach were great, water sports fun, club was nice and the Kukoo Kunuku Party Bus is a must, Google it and ask for Mama!  

The hotel is nice, rooms are ok. A little dated but very clean. The grounds are very well kept. The beach is amazing. Get down to beach early like 7:00am-8:00 to get a palapa or they will all be taken. The staff Junior, Paola, Richard are a few to name that made our trip great. They work so hard to ensure your comfort and enjoyment. The food is good. Different options, a variety of specialty restaurants. View from our room 518 was fabulous. This was a mother daughter trip. We both enjoyed our selves completely. We leave today, sad to go. Another nice thing is that the island has a cool breeze 95% of the time. I guess mosquitoes can’t fly in the breeze, so I only got 1mosquito bite the entire time we were here. Will come back for sure. Everyone is very welcoming and friendly! The island is safe.

My wife and I traveled for our friends 40th birthday and had such a great time! We are a very diverse group of 8 and felt right at home the minute we walked into the hotel. The staff are so kind and attentive, and the rooms are very clean. (A little older but still very comfortable) i think this is what keeps the guests happy. Some of my notes to follow: -loved the champagne at check in -snack bar on lobby floor was great when we arrived and dinner wasn’t available just yet -buffet and food was really amazing, totally exceeded our expectations -make reservations for seatings in the Italian restaurant, steakhouse, and other nice one if you have time—Italian place was my favorite -pack a couple dinner outfits, nothing fancy but cute/casual -reserve your chairs at the pool with your towels by 8 or 8:30am so you get a good spot -great service at the pool, we stayed all day and tipped on average $10/day to our server that waited on us each day (it seems they rotate stations and we certainly had our favorites) -I brought $400 in cash a came prepared with a couple hundred in singles for tipping. -the Riu activities team were awesome! We enjoyed the stretching, water aerobics, volleyball, beer drinking etc.. they were so fun! Do some of the activities it’s a judgement free zone and you’ll thank yourself for it. -the casino was so fun!!! We won some nights and lost some but the staff were hilarious and so nice! -go to the butterfly garden, super relaxing and only $16 each. You can walk, just take a right out of the hotel and it’s .2 miles on left -we also walked to Craft, (take a left out of hotel) it’s a cute craft cocktail bar. -downtown was ok, mostly there for the cruise ships so you can take it or leave it. So much more we could say but will run out of space! Great job RIU