Los Cabos - Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas

We waited for over 45 minutes in the check-in line. I've never experienced that much time before. We we're supposed to have two double beds but received a King. When we asked to have beds split, we we're told it would be done in 5 minutes. I split the beds myself after waiting 30 minutes when no on .. More>

We waited for over 45 minutes in the check-in line. I've never experienced that much time before. We we're supposed to have two double beds but received a King. When we asked to have beds split, we we're told it would be done in 5 minutes. I split the beds myself after waiting 30 minutes when no one responded.

THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE A DIRECT FLIGHT FROM DALLAS TO CABO. IT WAS NOT, IT FLEW FROM DALLAS TO SAN DIEGO AND THEN TO CABO. THIS ADDED SEVERAL HOURS ON TO OUR TRAVEL. ALSO WE PAID $90.00 EACH WAY FOR LUGGAGE AND THERE WAS NOTHING FREE ON THE FLIGHT, EVEN WATER. VERY DISAPOINTING. .. More>

THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE A DIRECT FLIGHT FROM DALLAS TO CABO. IT WAS NOT, IT FLEW FROM DALLAS TO SAN DIEGO AND THEN TO CABO. THIS ADDED SEVERAL HOURS ON TO OUR TRAVEL. ALSO WE PAID $90.00 EACH WAY FOR LUGGAGE AND THERE WAS NOTHING FREE ON THE FLIGHT, EVEN WATER. VERY DISAPOINTING.

I stayed at the Riu Palace the last week of May and it was beyond perfect. The staff goes above and beyond to make sure we are having the best time. Our Apple Representative at the resort, Patricia, was so helpful with us. She took time to explain the different excursions we could do and the discou .. More>

I stayed at the Riu Palace the last week of May and it was beyond perfect. The staff goes above and beyond to make sure we are having the best time. Our Apple Representative at the resort, Patricia, was so helpful with us. She took time to explain the different excursions we could do and the discounts we would receive. I do not have one complaint about my trip!

The resort is absolutely amazing.. everyone is extremely friendly and it is very clean! i woul definitely go back to this resort again! .. More>

The resort is absolutely amazing.. everyone is extremely friendly and it is very clean! i woul definitely go back to this resort again!

The hotel was absolutely beautiful...magnificent. All the restaurants were first class quality and the food excellent. Service was impeccable. Only downside for us was the beds were too hard. This should be rated a 6 apple. .. More>

The hotel was absolutely beautiful...magnificent. All the restaurants were first class quality and the food excellent. Service was impeccable. Only downside for us was the beds were too hard. This should be rated a 6 apple.

The RIU Palace is amazing! CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN Not too crowded, good food and lots of fun .. More>

The RIU Palace is amazing! CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN Not too crowded, good food and lots of fun

The hotel itself is very spacious and clean. The waitstaff in the restaurants and the outdoor pool bar were excellent! The fitness center needs to be updated, their equipment was less than average and outdated. The rooms were quiet, did not have a problem with outside noise during the later hours. .. More>

The hotel itself is very spacious and clean. The waitstaff in the restaurants and the outdoor pool bar were excellent! The fitness center needs to be updated, their equipment was less than average and outdated. The rooms were quiet, did not have a problem with outside noise during the later hours.

The Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas is a great all-incluse hotel. The service throughout our stay was flawless. The hotel was immaculate in terms of cleanliness. Also, the view from the hotel is amazing and the pools are beautiful. If you stay at the Riu Palace, you get free access to the Riu Sant .. More>

The Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas is a great all-incluse hotel. The service throughout our stay was flawless. The hotel was immaculate in terms of cleanliness. Also, the view from the hotel is amazing and the pools are beautiful. If you stay at the Riu Palace, you get free access to the Riu Santa Fe. This is great as there is another large "Vegas style" pool and a few more restaurants and bars to utilize. It allows you to wander about a bit more. The food is good but, like many buffets, it gets a bit tiresome after 2-3 days. Still, having accesss to it all of the time is great for people with childrne. Also, the buffets are HUGE so you can try different things as long as you do not overdo it by trying to many things during your first meal or two. I highly recommend this hotel for anyone who things they might enjoy an all-inclusive experience.

We just returned from a week at Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas. The hotel was beautiful, great pools, friendly staff. Unfortunately, the actual hotel rooms seem to have very thin walls. We could hear everyone on either side of us and above talking, walking, going to the bathroom ALL NIGHT. Our airco .. More>

We just returned from a week at Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas. The hotel was beautiful, great pools, friendly staff. Unfortunately, the actual hotel rooms seem to have very thin walls. We could hear everyone on either side of us and above talking, walking, going to the bathroom ALL NIGHT. Our airconditioner randomly rattled all night which sounded like a knock at our door, waking us up each and every time. We resorted to ear plugs but they did not really help. The televisions in the hotel are the old tube type TV's with grainy pictures and controls that seemed to have a mind of their own (channel down button turned the TV off). Also, for a hotel that seems to cater to Americans and Canadians, they should have had more channels in English. We have stayed at many hotels in Mexico and never had such a limited channel selection (we were trying to watch the college basketball series). The food at the buffet is great for kids. Not so great for adults. Dinner at the most of the restaurants on the compound require reservations. Trying to get a reservation for the restaurants was an early morning adventure. Guests had to be in line at 7am when the reservation desk opened to get into one restaurant (not how I wanted to spend my vacation). We were able to get a reservation for the steak house late in the week and were surprised to see that very few tables were occupied. When friends came by and saw all the open tables, they asked if they could be seated without reservations, no go. They were turned away flat and told to go to buffet or the one restaurant that did not require reservations. We ended up eating dinner in town most nights. The fitness center is in need of a HUGE upgrade. Old equipment, no video monitors, maintenance needed on most of the cardio machines. Very disappointed. We went over to the Riu Santa Fe next door to use their equipment which was more plentiful and in better repair. The shuttle from the airport was a bit of a nightmare. We were sent to a bus by the Apple Vacations rep at the airport. We sat on the bus and waited about 30 minutes for the bus to fill up. Once we started, we were told it would take about 40 minutes to get to our destination. The bus drops guests off at many hotels on the way, but the Riu Palace is the last stop for the transfer bus. It took us 2 HOURS to arrive at the hotel. Needless to say, we took a cab to return to the airport at the end of our stay.

In general the Hotel is clean and the food in the main dining area was good quality and the buffet's were kept clean and well stocked. The staff in the main dining area was terrific-friendly, efficient, service oriented. This was one of the best features of the hotel. The other "best" was the ho .. More>

In general the Hotel is clean and the food in the main dining area was good quality and the buffet's were kept clean and well stocked. The staff in the main dining area was terrific-friendly, efficient, service oriented. This was one of the best features of the hotel. The other "best" was the hotel housekeeping and general cleaning staff. They were always working to keep the lobby and public spaces clean and it showed. But the staff of the hotel who is on the front line-the guys and gals in the gold jackets when you arrive at the front desk were some of the most inflexible, ineffectual, and rude individuals I have encountered at a hotel, even an all inclusive hotel, in a long time. Truly, no one had the authority to solve any problems. It was as if pleasing the customer was the farthest thing from management's mind when hiring or directing their employees. And these are your front line!! Very poor rating on this front. Examples include waiting for one person to hand out bracelets to hundreds of people at once; room changes; key card issues could only be handled by one person. And NOISE!! No one at the front desk cared one bit if people were screaming at the top of their lungs at 2:30 AM. Seriously I went to the lobby and two men in their gold jackets were huddled over some paper work at 2:30 am when there were many yelling through the lobby and in the lobby bar. Our room-an many others- was right off the front desk and lobby so it was impossible to sleep. The disco and the entertainment are one floor below adding to the noise. Which brings me to the next complaint. You cannot rent the rooms off the lobby at the same price as those in the other parts of the hotel and this is exactly what you did. It is completely unfair and unethical. THere is no way those rooms should command the same price. Frankly they shouldn't be rented at all and reserved for offices or something else. I will note this on Trip Advisor as well since I think they cannot get away with this. Finally, Apple. Apple added absolutely NO value to our trip and I will not book or recommend an Apple Vacation again. I see no reason to pay you for nothing. The transfers are set up like cattle cars so that you have to pick up or drop off so many people a 30 minute trip to or from the airport could be over 2 hours. And none of the excursions worth taking are free-everything is extra and not really that special.

This was our second trip to the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas. We first went in March 2012 (got married at the hotel), and recently went back for our one-year anniversary (March 2013). In general, the hotel is very nice. The positives of the hotel include the location, views, service, cleanliness .. More>

This was our second trip to the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas. We first went in March 2012 (got married at the hotel), and recently went back for our one-year anniversary (March 2013). In general, the hotel is very nice. The positives of the hotel include the location, views, service, cleanliness, and large pools. The negatives include a repetitive/ mediocre buffet, outdated rooms, rock-hard beds, and paper-thin walls (can clearly hear the neighbors). In our 2012 trip, it was great: there weren't many hotel guests. It was easy to get restraurant reservations, pool chairs, etc. However, this year (2013) it was completely different. The hotel was packed with high school and college students. Every pool chair was "claimed" by 7AM. The drunk kids runing around and fighting each other was a bit much...not to mention the loud parties going on until 5AM. We asked an Apple representative why the hotel was so packed this year. The representative responded that the hotel significantly lowered their prices around spring break so their rooms would be booked. This really sucked for us....we were scewed by paying a higher price and having to deal with drunkards. Overall, it is a nice hotel. However, there is room for improvement (beds, food, restaurant reservation system, etc) and you can find better hotels in the nearby area. Additionally, I would refrain from travelling here in March.

The Good: - Great location near the city. It only takes 5 minuts to get to the city. That makes it very accessible to shops, restaurants, and activities. I stayed at Barcelo last year which was... More>

The Good: - Great location near the city. It only takes 5 minuts to get to the city. That makes it very accessible to shops, restaurants, and activities. I stayed at Barcelo last year which was 20-25 minutes away which made it pretty much inaccessible.. In my opinion the RIU's location is perfect. Far enough to get away from the crowds and craziness, but close enough to visit for shopping, dinner, etc. - Nice grounds, decent pools. The Bad: - Food was lousy. Probably the worst all-inclusive food i've experienced. Breakfast was barely edible, guacamole and chips for lunch (everything else was horrible), and I didn't even bother to try the dinners. Barcelo's food was much much better. - LOUD! you can hear everybody in the halls. Drunk people in the halls at 3am keep waking me up. Same thing at 7am, so sleeping till 9-10 isn't an option. - The gym had equipment from 1970. Worthless. - "Tube" televisions? Plasma's are dirt cheap nowadays guys! Overall we had a fun time. We barely ate at the resort, but at least the city was really close! I probably got my money's worth just in alcohol Tecate and Don Julio shots all day! I wouldn't go back to this hotel. In fact, I might never go back to an all inclusive mexican hotel all together. Rather pay and get quality when i'm on vacation.

I loved this place. It is very clean, superbly maintained grounds and a picturesque view of Cabo. The room was quite OK-yes the TV was state of the art in1994 and yes the couch has been around for a... More>

I loved this place. It is very clean, superbly maintained grounds and a picturesque view of Cabo. The room was quite OK-yes the TV was state of the art in1994 and yes the couch has been around for a while- but the bathroom is very nice and roomy. The food was excellent, with lots and lots of choice, typically 6 kinds of cheese (cottage cheese is not part of the tally....) this is very good for an all-inclusive. The cocktails though are watery and too sweet, 3 kinds of beer are offered so that is adequate. Although the resort has a beautiful, the ocean is unfortunately not swimmable, due to the undercurrent and big waves, Chileno Bay is a possible alternative-nice snorkelling too- but it is far away - 12 minutes drive-and cabs have a standard fare of 12USD regardless of the # of passengers- in fact they are mini vans that seat 6. All in all I am looking forward to return asap.

Beyond beautiful ! Stayed 4 nights and wished we could have stayed more. Staff excellent, food delicious, and pools amazing. We ate at 3 of the restaurants and enjoyed our meals very much... More>

Beyond beautiful ! Stayed 4 nights and wished we could have stayed more. Staff excellent, food delicious, and pools amazing. We ate at 3 of the restaurants and enjoyed our meals very much. Shout out to William at the Krystal for making our evening so special. Hope to return to the Riu next summer. The only negative was the noise you could hear from hallways and the room next door.

This was my second time at the palace. It was great. But it's over played now. Pools are falling apart and they are always digging up tiles in the resort. If you going to the palace you will get... More>

This was my second time at the palace. It was great. But it's over played now. Pools are falling apart and they are always digging up tiles in the resort. If you going to the palace you will get bored if you aren't a clubbing person or a person to watch their tacky shows. The city is a $12 cab ride and so well worth it. So much to do so much to see. Also, all the "sliver" jewlelry the vendors sell is all fake. Don't waste your money on that. So many nice fish places to eat by the marina.

My cousin and I really enjoyed staying at this resort. We shared a room and had plenty of space to move around. I'll break this review up: Pool: LOVED it! We spent our time at the "party" pool... More>

My cousin and I really enjoyed staying at this resort. We shared a room and had plenty of space to move around. I'll break this review up: Pool: LOVED it! We spent our time at the "party" pool. The entertainment staff was hilarious! We didn't really participate, but had a great time watching! The waiters were very efficient and courteous. I felt like the drinks at the pool were watered down... the Pina Colada didn't taste very good. (However, inside the bar where they are made fresh, they are DELICIOUS!) I loved the infinity part and looking at the beach. The waves were crazy while we were there, and just sitting in the cool water watching was nice. They also served a BBQ while we were at the pool for lunch. That was awesome! Pretty decent BBQ, too. Restaurants: Up and down. We really loved the Japanese restaurant. You don't need a reservation for that. And, speaking of reservations, the policy is ridiculous. For some restaurants, you have to get reservations at the customer service desk on the morning you want to eat there. They would tell us the restaurant is booked, but when we walked by, it was only 1/3 full. We figured maybe it was because of staffing?? I don't know... it was just a bit annoying. We liked the Mexican restaurant - great food and views from the patio looking out over the waves. We tried the Steakhouse... and it left a lot to be desired. I had the ribs, which were really overcooked, and my cousin had the steak. There wasn't a lot of flavor on the steak. The potatoes and veggies were good though. The buffets were pretty good. Breakfast was awesome - we got omelets every day. They offer a pretty good variety of things. Entertainment: We went to one show (we're early-to-bed types) -- the Michael Jackson show. It was GREAT! The actor was incredible - performed just like MJ himself. It wasn't too short or too long - it was perfect. I was surprised at how many little kids were attending the show (it didn't start until 10:00), but they enjoyed it too. The pool entertainment staff was there before and after, and just like at the pool, they were funny, friendly and extremely entertaining. Hotel in General: The hotel was really nice. We enjoyed it there. I wish they had given us a hotel map when we got there; we were a bit lost for the first couple days. The Jr. Suite was nice and had a lovely view of the property. They refill the fridge everyday. They give you a lot of water, which is good because the water in the sinks is non-potable. I did have a few issues though, which is why I gave it 4 stars. 1- Noise. The rooms aren't really sound proofed it seems like... we could hear the drop of a pin in the hall or in the next room, or above us. Luckily there weren't many loud people around us. 2- Bugs! We found a cockroach in our room every day; usually in the bathroom. Kinda gross. 3- Wifi. We found the Wifi to be mediocre at best. They do provide you with a code to use when you check in. That's fine, I understand that. But you have to enter the code EVERY TIME your device reconnects. So when I was on my iPhone and my phone went to sleep, and my iPhone released the IP address, when I would wake my phone and it auto connected, I had to re-authenticate. Seriously annoying. Also, my cousin was trying to Skype with her daughter and husband at home, but it only worked about 50% of the time. She would connect and drop out about 10 seconds later, or a minute later. She tried on her Galaxy tablet, her Droid, my iPhone and tablet. I was getting about .5Mb down and .25Mb up, so I'm not surprised there were connection issues. But even Viber had a terrible connection. I would highly suggest a new Wifi system to the hotel with a bandwidth management system. Activities: We booked through Expedia and arranged the shuttle service to/from the airport. That was seamless. We met with the Local Expert at the Riu Palace and they helped us book a snorkeling trip and city tour. There are several other people near the hotel reception that can help you book activities if you don't book thru Expedia. The Riu is about a 10 minute, $12 cab ride from Cabo San Lucas. San Jose del Cabo is about 30 minutes in the other direction. The snorkeling was cool - took a shuttle down to the marina and met up with the group there. There were a LOT of people on our excursion, but it was a huge Cat boat, so it wasn't a problem. The water is VERY rough though, and the snorkeling area was pretty small, so we kept running into each other. I (HIGHLY) recommend taking a Dramamine before going. But we saw a lot of fish and had a good time. They provided lunch (tacos and salad) on the way back to the marina. It's about a 45 minute boat ride to Chileno Bay where we snorkeled. The city tour we did was a LOT of fun. Started with a glass bottom boat ride out to the arch and around to the other side of the arch. Then we came back and had some shopping time before heading off to a glass factory. That was cool - we watched them make a glass fish. Next was a tequila tasting in San Jose del Cabo... can't go wrong there, right?! After that was a traditional Mexican lunch, which was delicious. Then back to the hotel. My biggest piece of advice regarding activities is to BEWARE of the sales people and timeshare people. They are like vultures. Overall, it was a really excellent experience. I would most definitely stay here again.