Riu Palace Antillas

We have stayed at a handful of Rius and love them because we know what to expect. It was clear to us as we reviewed others’ reviews, people either have WAY too high of expectations or just LOVE to complain about any and everything. Trust me on the below!!! The food is never as good as the local restaurants but it’s always pretty good. The themed restaurants require you to stop by, but never a wait more than 30 min. And if you can’t wait (mind you free drinks if you have to wait ;) ), there is the buffet which always has a great choice of food. If you can’t find food you like at the buffet, well, you are way too picky/high-class. The pool is great and the beach is even better. Aruba is windy so be prepared. The beauty more than makes up for it. The staff at the Riu is better than any I have EVER seen. No matter what duty or person, they all are willing to help out and always have smiles. I can’t express enough how awesome this crew is!!! Was extra impressed with the WiFi as it reaches around the pool and onto the beach which was totally unexpected! I would come back in a heartbeat. I love the resort, the staff and the location. Anyone who says differently has totally unrealistic expectations!!!!!

Highly recommend this hotel to everyone. Best service, food and amazing beach. Rooms have incredible view and are very spacious. Casino is a fun place to stay. After 3 times visits, we love the place.

This is the adults only resort but next door is another Riu and you can use their facilities as well. I have to say the hotel needs an update. The halls are a bit musty, the rooms are outdated and the pillows smelled really mouldy so I called down for new pillows. The buffet is really good with lots of variety from Lobster, jerk chicken, grouper, swordfish. The seafood and beef I felt were delicious. The restaurants were not great. It says online that you can make reservations but this is not the case. All the restaurants are first come first served so there is a line up of about 70 people at 5pm so you won’t get in to any of them. We managed to get into 2, one at 8:30 and by the time they took our order everyone had eaten all of the food that was at the starters/ apps buffet. The lettuce was brown and I had to ask if they could bring out more food as we hadn’t even tried the app bar. We didn’t end up getting anything. The soup was lukewarm as well. The room service consists of salad, sandwiches and chips and cheese. There are no burgers, fries, chicken fingers or anything really warm. The nacho cheese sauce is cold in the “to go” cafe. You cannot bring any food from the buffet back to your room. So if you’re not feeling well or want to eat in your room good luck. The demographic I found was much older. If you are younger in your 30’s or 40’s the older Riu might be better. Overall, I think it was decent. We went outside to eat at some of the restaurants including Papiamento which was delicious. I found the beach was beautiful. Soft sand, lots of frontage, ocean swimming is great. I found it really windy there so the sand kicked up in your eyes and face all day. The pool is a great alternative. The smaller pool had about 100 people in it a day so the larger one is better for those who want some space to relax. The location is great right on palm beach and you can take a 20 min walk to Eagle Beach which is also very nice. The other direction takes you to the Hilton and further down the beach is the Ritz. You can take a taxi into town for about 12- if you want to walk around.