Cancun - Riu Playacar

Beach could use a closer bar. No smoke alarms in rooms nor water sprinklers. AC was terrible. Could use new pillows. Overall though, the place was great. Would definitely go again. .. More>

Beach could use a closer bar. No smoke alarms in rooms nor water sprinklers. AC was terrible. Could use new pillows. Overall though, the place was great. Would definitely go again.

SHOWER FLOOR WAS VERY SLIPPERY, DANGEROUS, REALLY. INFORMED FRONT DESK, SAID THEY WOULD LOOK INTO IT. NO CHANGE - IGNORED. ROOM FLOOR WAS CONTINUALLY DIRTY, SANDY. CLEANED OCCASIONALLY. NOT GOOD. .. More>

SHOWER FLOOR WAS VERY SLIPPERY, DANGEROUS, REALLY. INFORMED FRONT DESK, SAID THEY WOULD LOOK INTO IT. NO CHANGE - IGNORED. ROOM FLOOR WAS CONTINUALLY DIRTY, SANDY. CLEANED OCCASIONALLY. NOT GOOD.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. They seemed very happy to do whatever to please guests. Although we did not need much attention, we witnesses many "extra" services being provided to guests. This is refreshing. The staff was happy and seemed to enjoy their jobs. .. More>

The staff was very friendly and helpful. They seemed very happy to do whatever to please guests. Although we did not need much attention, we witnesses many "extra" services being provided to guests. This is refreshing. The staff was happy and seemed to enjoy their jobs.

Great staff!! This was a return trip for us and we will be back again!! .. More>

Great staff!! This was a return trip for us and we will be back again!!

This Riu is small with few facilities. It is understaffed. Beds are way too hard - uncomfortable. .. More>

This Riu is small with few facilities. It is understaffed. Beds are way too hard - uncomfortable.

This was my 8th trip to the Mayan Riviera, the first stay at the Riu resorts, and for the first time in my travel experience I was counting down the days to coming home. I have previously stayed at the Grand Palladium, at the Grand Bahia Principe, and at the Iberostar, so when the Riu was suggested .. More>

This was my 8th trip to the Mayan Riviera, the first stay at the Riu resorts, and for the first time in my travel experience I was counting down the days to coming home. I have previously stayed at the Grand Palladium, at the Grand Bahia Principe, and at the Iberostar, so when the Riu was suggested, (a 5Golden Apple property, the same rating as the palladium and the Bahia) I thought we'd be staying at the same quality resort as the aforementioned. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT as soon as we arrived! We were initially placed at the Playacar. Having read reviews prior to departure, we were aware this would be a smaller property. What we didn't expect was a filthy, old, tired resort where everything you came in contact with, from bedding to couches to blankets smelled of URINE and STALE SWEAT. DISGUSTING!! Our beds were falling apart, the sheets were frayed, and the mattress was covered in rubber sheets. The stench of the blankets and the dirty bedspread quickly made us realize that this was not a 5 Golden Apple property as described by Apple Vacations. We had to spread towels on our beds to sleep on, as we didn't want to touch the bedding. When we asked the front desk manager for a bed topper, we were told it would be provided the next day. Nothing came. The shower had BLACK MOLD, triggering an allergic reaction, so off to the pharmacy to get meds! The a la carte dinners are a joke! The steak at the makeshift steakhouse restaurant looked and tasted like bad hospital food. We left halfway through dinner completely disgusted. The pool was cloudy and yellow. No toilets available in the pool area, so the natural conclusion is, pool probably urine infested too, just like the bedding. This hotel is 20 years old, and according to staff, in need of major renos! By the third day of sleeping on towels and doping myself with allergy meds before entering the room, we were shocked to discover cockroaches. We killed one, then saw babies crawling into the wood doorframe and On the night table. Then, I found a COCKROACH in one of the drawers. Realized it was time to LEAVE. Went next door to the Riu Yucatan and asked if they could accommodate us, having seen one of their rooms. We spent half a day transferring to the Yucatan, but nonetheless the rooms here looked slightly updated (fresher sheets). When we went into the lobby to relax, we discovered that the couches and chairs at the yucatan were just as foul and decrepit as at the Playacar. Ripped up, sagging, again stinking of old sweat; DISGUSTING! We spent most of our days on the beach and walking around playa del Carmen to get away from these foul resorts. Couldn't even relax in the lobby, as the furniture was too foul to sit on. This was the first time I got sick from the foods spent a night purging (not a drinker so it had to be the food). The first time I wanted to stay away from the resort. RIU is a COLOSSAL DISAPPOINTMENT !

We were thrilled with our choice. Nice smaller size than most hotels. Service was excellent. Restaurant availability was excellent. Tons of chairs on beach. Plenty to do. Smiling friendly helpful staff. Very very satisfied .. More>

We were thrilled with our choice. Nice smaller size than most hotels. Service was excellent. Restaurant availability was excellent. Tons of chairs on beach. Plenty to do. Smiling friendly helpful staff. Very very satisfied

Was not advertised. Not sure they had any shows. .. More>

Was not advertised. Not sure they had any shows.

I was very disappointed in the rooms at Riu, the beds were horrendous as was the bedding. I have traveled with apple many times and even brought over twenty people to Iberostar Pariso Del Mar. I have always trusted apple with their apple ratings, in my opinion no way should the Riu Playa Car receiv .. More>

I was very disappointed in the rooms at Riu, the beds were horrendous as was the bedding. I have traveled with apple many times and even brought over twenty people to Iberostar Pariso Del Mar. I have always trusted apple with their apple ratings, in my opinion no way should the Riu Playa Car receive golden apples. Your rooms are a very large part of your vacation, we were not comfortable one night. I would have to reconsider using apple again. The saving grace was the staff which was exceptional!

Beautiful location, very safe, walk to almost anything in Playa Del Carmen. Hotel needs some updating and the beds are too hard, otherwise love the smaller feel of the hotel and the staff is wonderful and very hardworking! .. More>

Beautiful location, very safe, walk to almost anything in Playa Del Carmen. Hotel needs some updating and the beds are too hard, otherwise love the smaller feel of the hotel and the staff is wonderful and very hardworking!

I would not say that this hotel is fivr golden apples was very disapointed in the hotel it self, rooms were of old fashion and the air did not work in the rooms very well was muggy, Apple recomendid this hotel and was not happy with the choice i would not stay there again. Marie Sheets .. More>

I would not say that this hotel is fivr golden apples was very disapointed in the hotel it self, rooms were of old fashion and the air did not work in the rooms very well was muggy, Apple recomendid this hotel and was not happy with the choice i would not stay there again. Marie Sheets

My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful family / friends holiday. There was 36 of us in total for a wedding. The hotel did not disappoint. Check in was fast and easy. All the staff... More>

My husband and I have just returned from a wonderful family / friends holiday. There was 36 of us in total for a wedding. The hotel did not disappoint. Check in was fast and easy. All the staff worked non stop to ensure an all round fabulous experience and the hotel room, grounds and public areas were always spotless. The staff were also very friendly and willing to help. The location is great and the beach / sea were amazing. Food in the buffets was one of the best I have experienced. The specialist restaurants were a bit of a let down however, we preferred the choice and standard in the buffet restaurant. You could book the specialist restaurants easily however, but this may be due to the fact that others also found the buffet better. The animation team were friendly and not obtrusive. They done a great job. The choice of drinks was great as was the mini bar in the room. You could use the facilities of the Riu Tequila across the road which seemed a more busy hotel and had a super chilled Sports Bar. Playa del Carmen is only a short walk (beach or road) or taxi drive away. It was lovely to have a wander about. A must is to visit Coco Bongo which was amazing. My husband and I could not fault this hotel and our travel companions loved it too. Go, you won't be disappointed!

We (two couples in our late 50's) spent seven nights in April at the Riu Playacar. We've been to Riviera Maya many times and often driven through Playacar, and thought it lovely, but this was our... More>

We (two couples in our late 50's) spent seven nights in April at the Riu Playacar. We've been to Riviera Maya many times and often driven through Playacar, and thought it lovely, but this was our first time staying there. Loved it. For the most part we really enjoyed the hotel. I'll get the negatives out of the way first (it won't take long): The rooms are in need of an update, there is no fan in the bathroom or water closet, no light in the shower. The in-room safe is opened with a key, rather than a code, and is on the closet floor - so you not only have to get on your knees to use it, but it's also dark. There are no elevators, which was fine for us but I can see where it would be a problem for some. There is no gym, although you can use the one at the Riu Yucatan - but it's pretty humble. No servers around the pool or beach. The a la carte restaurants are horrible. Now for the good, which far outweighs the bad: After reading alot of reviews, we had a few requests which our travel agent forwarded and much to my surprise, they were met!! The mattress toppers were in place, we got the room location with proximity to our friends and in the building we requested. Those of you who travel to Mexico, know this almost never happens - I was impressed! Checkin was quick and easy, delicious cold beverages were delivered as we got to the front desk. The six hacienda style buildings line the walkway (three on each side) from the main building to the beach which makes the resort feel small and intimate. I'd like to reiterate here that this really is a small resort - and that's one of the main reasons we chose it. We've been places that were so huge and spread out that we didn't really find our way around until it was time to leave. Buildings 1 and 2 are closest to Lobby, Buildings 5 and 6 are closest to pool and beach, 3 and 4 are in the middle. We were in #5 and were not bothered by noise at all. As I, and many others, mentioned the rooms need updating. But they're very clean and the little towel animals were great. The pool is nice and clean, and the bartenders at the swim up bar did a great job! The beach is magnificent!! We typically stay in Puerto Aventuras, which is lovely, but the beaches here are spectacular!! There were plenty of chairs on the beach, although small tables and beverage service would have been nice. The main buffet is extensive and quite good. We've been to many all inclusives and typically see either a proper bar or a limited self serve bar (bloody marys, mimosas, etc) inside the buffet area. There is neither here, but the lobby bar is just outside the main entrance. Wine is offered at dinner. Service was pretty much non existent, but hey, it's a buffet. We tried two of the ala carte restaurants and they were so bad, we stuck to the buffet which got old. Good news, Playa Del Carmen has lots of restaurants and is a quick cab ride away. The evening shows were surprisingly good. We didn't see them all, but enjoyed the ones we did see - yes, we've seen better but we've also seen far worse. The lunch buffet, next to the beach and pool is quite good with lots to choose from including self serve beer & wine and the full service bar (which services the evening shows) is right there as well. Again, no table service but we didn't find it a problem. We booked through Delta Vacations and our rep (Tony) was supposed to be in the hotel lobby every day from 8am to 10am. We met him, as scheduled the day after our arrival, to determine our return trip to the airport - he said "probably 11am, but check back tomorrow to confirm", but we never saw him again. The day of our departure, when he was not there, I went to the front desk - even though the hotel is not responsible for getting guests back to the airport - they placed a call and let me speak with someone who said they'd pick us up at 11. By 11:30 we were getting a bit nervous so I went back to the front desk - they were fantastic!! The young woman (wish I could recall her name and the young man as well) had a cell number for someone with a different company - she called him, I gave him our story, he put me on hold,found out where our van was and assured me it would be there within 10 minutes - and it was. I've heard horror stories about people being stranded at hotels with a front desk staff who did nothing to help them. These two were great!! So, all in all, we enjoyed our visit and feel the hotel was a good value. We read alot of reviews and were neither surprised nor disappointed. If you want 5 star, you have to pay for 5 star. If you want a clean, friendly, small hotel with a beautiful beach, well kept grounds and efficient, friendly staff, this is your place. I would certainly recommend it.

First I want to say that this is a first time ALL INCLUSIVE experience to me so I can not compare to other ALL INCLUSIVE Resorts. Lets start with the Check in: The Check in... More>

First I want to say that this is a first time ALL INCLUSIVE experience to me so I can not compare to other ALL INCLUSIVE Resorts. Lets start with the Check in: The Check in was done very fast it took around 10 minutes with a very friendly front staff that offers you a nice welcome drink. The Lobby itself has at first a very strange taste of colors brown/green,yellow..but after few days you will adjust :) The room itself in our case was in Building 6.. # 3107..the room seemed fine but after the first night we noticed around 20-30 BUGS all over it..not BAD Bugs but just bags..that crawled all over even the sink and my Toothbrush..Another think that was bad is the "mosquitoes" so bring with you a spray unless you want to be massacred by them .. I did ask the front desk to spray the room with "RAID" and they did but it did not get rid of the bugs ..so we asked to be moved to upper level..stayed in the same Building but just moved up to Room # 3607...After that the bug issue was resolved... so I recommend to ask for a room on the second or third floor since I think all first level rooms may have bug issues... Anyhow ..the eds are a bit hard for some for me they are fine,the pillows could be a bit softer.. The rooms itself are fine nothing special but clean and the AC is ICE COLD. The Food: The Food I found myself was EXCELLENT ..we used one night the Reservation and reserved the STEAK HOUSE but it was OK..so we stayed with the Buffet which was EXCELLENT..The choices are great a nd for everybody there is something... One negative thing is the Fruits selection since there are only 3 times of Melon and Orange..Strawberries have been offered only 1 day during the 7 day stay..you would think they have them since we are in Mexico... The Breakfast and Lunch was also Great... The Stuff: The Stuff all I can say is BEYOND GREAT..very friendly and always smiling even some of them you see working hard for 15-16 hours a day... I left every day in my Room few dollars and tipped the staff during Dinner and Bar since they really deserve it. The Pool: The Pool are is nice with a nice Bar, activities such a s Volleyball and Water polo are offered daily... The Beach: The Beach is just AWESOME..White sand,clear blue water..a few shells at the begging when entering the water maybe first 3-4 feet but nothing major...plenty of chairs so no need to rush since there will be space...Football ( Soccer) and Beach Volleyball offered at the beach.. City and Tours: The Down Town is just around 1.5 KM or 1 MILE..you can take the Taxi which costs 75 PESOS or 7 USD or take a 10-20 minute walk..The City itself is nothing major..commercialized with people calling you AMIGO every 2 feet as they try to sell you something..but hey they have to live so can't blame them... At the Hotel they offer Tours ..Example for COZUMEL is 109 USD and for TULUM is 89... If you go Downtown take the Ferry to COZUMEL 32 USD Round Trip per person but do not sit on open deck since you w ill be SOAKED!!! I Rented a CAR and went to TULUM..cost me 30 USD... BOOK ONLINE FOR A CAR since on spot you will pay MUCH MORE!!! While on the ISLAND rent a Scooter..go around since you can find it for 20 USD..some ask for 30-35 but tell them there is another place for 20 and they will give it to you. Easy to get there just straight.JUST FOLLOW THE SPEED LIMIT unless you want to pay 200 USD to the COPS. Last but not least..USD is accepted all over the place...there is a 90 minutes FREE WII-FEE in teh LOBBY but has to be used in one shot...option is to buy a daily pass for 15 USD per day or 7 days for 54... Overall the Resorts states it is 5 STARS but in Reality it is 3-3.5. Regardless the least amount you will spend in the Room so overall I rate this a 4 out of 5. Good luck and sorry about the length :)

My wife and I have just recently got back from a week's stay at the Playacar. This was our choice because we wanted to stay within a budget. Although you could not describe the hotel as a 5 star... More>

My wife and I have just recently got back from a week's stay at the Playacar. This was our choice because we wanted to stay within a budget. Although you could not describe the hotel as a 5 star resort, it was we felt better than the RIU Mayan Palace next in a lot of way's. It is a smaller hacienda style hotel very similar to the RIU Yucatan. There is a main building which houses the lobby and the main restaurant and other facilities, then 6 accommodation buildings stretch down to the pool's, the theater and the beach. It is all nicely kept and the rooms are adequate but not sumptuous by any matter of means, but there again most people are not there to be in a room. The food was very good, although the choice wasn't the same as the Mayan Palace, but well cooked in the main. The beach was great , however, for the first 50 feet into the sea there was a lot of crushed coral, which made the passage into the sea uncomfortable, we hadn't noticed that before on our previous visit's. The show's at night were much of a muchness ( the Grease show was the worst we have seen and really needs to be "put out to pasture"!!) We also got the feeling that the drink's were watered, as with the amount of spirit's poured into the glasses, one should have been legless after two of them, and the pop (cola) did not have enough syrup put in the mix, very watery, which we thought was sad really and a bit of a let down. There definitely needs to be more seating in the lobby area in the evening's as that the only place to sit without the music of the show, so a person has to be lucky to get a seat. A bar to sit in overlooking the ocean would be lovely, but somewhat away from the noise. Overall, we would rate this hotel very highly, it isn't excellent but as there are few niggles, but it the best so far of the RIU's we have visited!! Thank you Tomas and Virginia in the dinning room you were both great!

Stop and read before booking your trip. My husband just return form palya car on May 11 from being there for a7 days. I booked this trip after reading the reviews the cost was 50.00 more than the... More>

Stop and read before booking your trip. My husband just return form palya car on May 11 from being there for a7 days. I booked this trip after reading the reviews the cost was 50.00 more than the princess hotel. We have stayed at other RIU?s before and been very happy with service and food. On another note not this place. The apple person who rated this hotel must have been drunk on tequila. All I can say is what a dump from the time you walk into the entrance way, which looked like driving up to a holiday inn express, to the very small out dated bedroom. I just wanted to cry, and kick myself in the butt for not going to the Princess sunset resort and saved a few dollars. The reviews I read on the place were mostly people from the UK, Canada, and England that rave about this place. I should have known better to look for Americans that have stayed here. The food was ok. Only one place to eat during the day and that?s at the grill. It was just alright but after 4 days we came to realize they were serving exactly the same food every day. The fish every day at lunch and at dinner was grouper and a couple of times shrimp and that was it as far as seafood goes. The service was not up to the standards of the RIU?s we have stayed at all over. Even the staff didn?t seem very happy, they all worked hard but you can see they are understaffed. We are very good tippers and always believe in taking care of those in the service industry since I am in it. If I would tip a server for a breakfast buffet$ 5.00 at the RIU palace every day they would go out of their way. Not so at the Playa car, they could have cared less. Some it all up, if you are looking for a short and t-shirt place to stay and could care less what your surroundings are like, this is for you. However, if you are looking for a place that offers excellent service and food, do Not waste your money to stay in this place. The other RUI?s such as the palace and the Mexican palace are much nicer and so is the service, for what we paid for this resort the other resorts we saw looked much nicer and not run down. Just because its smaller doesn?t mean it more personal if the staff is unhappy. If you go stay out of the orange building it smell like a sewage back up on the first floor, fortunately we were on the 3 rd floor. The orange building was not so nice. Again it?s all run down Tip the bartenders at the main lobby, they do a good job. Posistive note the beach is nice and the beds weren't that hard.