Riu Palace Aruba

I have mixed feelings about the Riu. The first thing I noticed was that while we requested two Queen beds what we got were two queen mattress sets on in a single bed. I traveled with my 84 year old mother and my 10 year old son. This was NOT what I had in mind when I booked a suite with two queen beds. On the other hand the place was kept up beautifully and the veiw was exactly what I asked for. The food was magnificent. One small hitch in that is that when we arrived, Christmas Day, after traveling all day they informed us that we could not eat until 9:30 PM because it was reservation only and we did not arrive in time to make reservations. This was the only day we needed reservations but we did figure out that there wasn’t any restaurant on property that was open at all times so if you missed the schedule you missed the meal. My last comment is on the staff, for the most part both me and my family got the general impression they were angry and not friendly at all. They would serve you but they weren’t going to be happy about it and they would take their time about it. Often we would finish the meal before we got water or coffee. The exception to this was housekeeping. They were awesome. The reason they got as high as 3 stars is based on the quality of food, the upkeep of the property and the housekeeping staff. If it were not for that they would have failed dramatically.

I loved this resort..... from our room, looking out the balcony, was breathtaking, just beautiful. The resort is very clean, the staff friendly and helpful. Excellent buffet. I only have one complaint; the swimming pool water was cold!

This is my second time at this location over the New Years Eve Break. New years in Aruba is fantastic and the fireworks are second to none. Upon checking in the gave us a room and when we entered there were already guests in the room. We apologized and immediately had security concerns. Getting a front row location at the beach is near impossible. The shade areas are far from the water so if you want shade and see your kids in the water you will have to rent a private umbrella which we did every day. If you want a front row umbrella you likely have to be up as early ad 3am or 4am. I was on the beach at 6am and the first 2 rows of shade parabolas were taken. But they dont unlock the chairs until 7am. This was the most frustrating part of the trip. Several people argued over spots and accused others of taking their things and moving them. This is the main reason I'm not coming back to Riu Palace. Getting up earlier than I would for work just so my wife and kids have shade is not much of a vacation. I gave feedback to the guest services saying I would gladly pay for a prime.location but the shade huts are provided by the government and it's a public beach. The food was ok. Breakfast had the best spread by far. The lunch buffets were ok. The dinner buffets usually had a nice meat feature but the buffet hall is a wide open space that lacks any ambiance. The Japanese Restaurant wasnt good at all and many of us left food on our plates as things tasted "off". We ended up going for dinner on the palm beach strip. Lots of great options. Just frustrated again that we already paid for all inclusive. The room was spacious for a family of 4 with a stroller. We tried to order room service once and after an hour we left the room so that's a mystery how that would have been. They play music on the main stage until 11pm so if you are trying to put your kids to bed and your room is near it's loud. I dont find this place to be great value and would reccomend another resort or hotel and enjoy the nice restaurants on the strip.