Hotel Riu Palace Península

Awesome hospitality we all enjoyed our stay beautiful property cannot recommend the steak restaurant but the buffet restaurant was great our servers were great highly recommend and would return

Like the other Unilocaler mentioned, if you’ve ever had buffets at Las Vegas, the Riu’s food will disappoint you. This was also a huge downer during my stay. It wasn’t necessarily terrible, but was not delicious as I hoped it would be. I ended up getting some travelers diarrhea too. Not sure why.
Service was awesome! Everyone was so nice. ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Activities they try to sell you is ridiculously expensive. You can get it cheaper outside the hotel.
Mixed drinks had way too much juice and not enough alcohol. Had to tell them to add two extra shots each time just to get it somewhat right.
One thing I liked was that we were able to hop to other Riu’s and surprisingly sometimes they had better food. The party or family crowd seems to vary from Riu to Riu.

First time in Mexico for our 2 year Anniversary and it was awesome. Everything was perfect. We booked through Costco travel. We had a great experience! I didn’t want to leave. Our room was on the 6^th floor and it was beautiful and breathtaking.

Absolutely no complaints. Beautiful property, great rooms, good entertainment. It is a bit far from the airport but heap shuttles can get you there and back for under $ 30 UsD.
My only complaint is that most restaurants close at 8:30pm which isn’t the most ideal but we made due. Other than that, the foot is great!

I can not afford opulence on a daily basis but I like to spoil myself on occasion to experience it. I’m usually disappointed and this place is, thus far, no exception.
booking: you can not show up to a RIU hotel and book a room.
all room booking must be done online or over the phone thru the call center (with slightly higher prices than the web site).
lucky for me I had cell service while in Mexico and was able to do so online.
the room, a villa jr suite with Jacuzzi was $ 1250USD for three nights.
a LOT of money for a hotel for three nights in my book, especially considering it is in Mexico, but the lobby and, more importantly, the grounds (pool, etc) looked very nice and well maintained.
restaurant booking: one to two days in advance. you can not book any earlier than two days in advance. however you also can nut book until you have checked in, so you can’t do so when you book your room our even two days prior to arrival.
so if you arrive on Tuesday evening at 7pm your only dinner option is the always available Italian buffet, regular buffet or severely limited room service.
Wednesday evening dining? same thing.
Thursday, our last night is allowed for a dining room booking.
walking around tonight the restaurants are not even full.
so the same old «all Inclusive» Bullshit I have grown to abhor.
I have to say the buffet is actually not bad. not something I’d want to eat everyday but it has a great variety of mostly mediocre food, which is actually kind of fun because you can take a little bit of a ton of different things and nibble on them and be full. the tiny arancini are a really delicious standout (in the Italian restaurant). also the salad bar is quite decent in the standard buffet.
no mixed alcohol drinks are available for order at any food establishment. you can bring a drink in from the bar but you may only order beer or wine in the food areas.
pool: want a towel? you need a towel card. how did I find it? a guy in the elevator told me. no one bothered to say anything at check in. we ended up just taking two which we returned but clearly could have absconded avoiding the $ 220MXN lost towel/​lost card fee. I don’t understand these towel cards (common at all inclusives I’ve been to)…are we going to steal peach colored towels?
I’ll update as the stay progresses.

Really loved this resort! Went with a group of 5 for a girlfriend’s birthday trip! We did all-​inclusive so all food/​drinks was included.
Check In:
Check in was pretty easy. If you’re going in a group, be sure that your rooms are located next to one another in advance. Thankfully, the lady checking us all in was able to put us next door as we overlooked this minor detail. The resort isn’t spread out, but it’s a decent walk to rooms on the other side of the building and the elevators stay busy the entire time.
**DO NOT LOSE THAT WRISTBAND THEY PUT ON YOUR ARM. The lady told us it costs $ 500 to replace. You better believe I never took that bad boy off! Ha!
Rooms:
The rooms are very modern, the beds are super comfy, and they have an actual bar dispenser set up in the room located right above the fridge which they stock up with all your favorite beverages and additional liquor. Only thing I didn’t care about was that the room was powered by sticking your key into a «key holder» (don’t know what else to call it) attached to the wall. So when you took your key out, all the power (including the AC turned off). It made the room a little hot when coming back in after a long day in the Mexican sun. Other than that, the rooms kicked ass.
Tip: Ask for an ocean front view. The higher the better. It’s worth the extra money. Avoid getting a room close to where they have their daily night shows. It’s LOUD. But if you’re drunk, I guess it doesn’t matter right? Lol
Wi-​Fi:
They have free wi-​fi. It’s decent, but does drop alot when you’re out on the resort verses in your room. For newbies traveling out of the country, leave your cell phone in airplane mode the entire time (or you will be charged data/​roaming fees) and when you get to the hotel look for their wi-​fi connection. If you wanna skip all that, just pay the 2 – 3 bucks a day through your phone provider and set it up before you leave the country. That way you have phone service even if you go outside the resort.
Spa:
OMG, their spa was glorious. I treated myself to their 90 min massage that lady knocked every kink that every existed out of my body. It was $ 114 bucks I believe. But it was worth it.
Gym:
The gym is located inside of the spa and is pretty decent as well. Nothing fancy, but all your typical cardio machines with a few racked weights. Very clean. They also have an indoor sauna and covered jacuzzi on the 2^nd floor of the spa as well.
Food:
I’d rate their general lunch/​dinner buffets a 3.5ish out of 5. Now their breakfast buffets were yummers and the omelet stations were dee-​lish!
Reserving Restaurants for Dinner: Be sure to make your restaurant reservations as soon as you get to the resort. Smart thing to do is to have 1 person checking everyone in and another person making restaurant reservations. They run out very quickly. However, the Italian Restaurant near the lobby is open every day to the public.
Beach/​Pools/​Resort Grounds: All were very nice and clean. Loved the swim up bar area the best. Ask for a Miami Vice drink if you go! Check out Nikki Beach while you’re there too. It’s literally down the street from the resort (about a 20 min walk and a 5 min local bus ride). Located across from Señor Frogs.
Shopping: Hop on a local bus (R1 and R2) for 1 US Dollar one-​way to take you to the Fashion Harbor Mall. They have lots of mid-​high end name brand stores (Zara, Nine West, Guess, Louis Vuitton, Nike, etc.). Bought cute shoes and clothes that aren’t even sold in the US stores! There’s another mall that’s close by (across from Señor Frogs), but I felt that you could get decent souvenirs at that mall location verses clothes/​shoes/​etc.
That’s all I got, but would definitely go back and visit this resort again!

I don’t know where to start, what an amazing hotel! This is the 6^th Riu I visit and the best by far. I’ve been to two city plazas and 4 all inclusives in 4 countries and Peninsula stands out. I like the first class service. That’s what made us chose this hotel. I like the servers in the pool and beach area this is a nice treat. The food was wonderful even at the buffets better than the best Vegas buffet. The staff a friendly and it’s perfectly located near a very cute market. I can’t wait to go back. I always like to give something that could be improved but I really can’t think of anything. Great liquors, beautiful bars and beach areas. Nice crowd. It’s worth the extra price compared to the other Cancun locations. It’s beautiful

I used to be a fan of Riu. I’ve been there multiple times in cancun and Costa Rica. This is the first time I’ve been here with a child and I have to say I’m disappointed.
I’m staying here right now and I’m already wishing I was back home in Chicago.
Don’t get me wrong, the staff is generally great and nice. The food is wonderful. But I called ahead and specifically asked to be booked in a quiet room. In fact they told me when I checked in that I was booked in a quiet zone. It’s not quiet.
Throughout the night, drunk guys are yelling at each other in the hallways and slamming doors. Asking them to keep it down does nothing. Reporting them to customer service does nothing.
I just told customer service 30 minutes ago and I’m still hearing drunken yells in the hallway. A vacation that’s supposed to be relaxing has me getting 5 hours a sleep a night rocking my kid as he is startled in the middle of the night from drunk guys in the hallway.
In cancun, people will get drunk. I don’t think it’s too out of line to ask them not to be dumb in the halls of a quiet zone. But maybe I’m to naïve.
If you have no children, this place is great. But with a child now, I’ve had no rest or relaxation. I would stay away with kids unless you want to calm your kids from drunks in the middle of the night.

Beautiful resort and extremely helpful staff!
We stayed here in July and had the best time. The fact that it was in all-​inclusive resort was definitely a plus. Their buffets were not a disappointment at all! Sometimes when you think of a buffet you think cheap or horrible food but everything we had was great. We ate at the Italian restaurant and steakhouse as well and they did not disappoint. The different pool options and beach were a plus. It was at the edge of the hotel zone which was perfect as you were away from the chaos but near enough if you wanted to walk about.
The most impressive thing was that the bar was included with the rate. Bar had premium liquor too! The bartenders were very attentive and super sweet. What I do recommend is that although it is all-​inclusive, make sure to tip staff including housekeepers. This is how they make their money.

Excellent hotel, did not give 5 stars due to the art deco stile of the main lobby. The room are very nice, the pools and beach fantastic. Small but good fitness center. The food is the fantastic part of the hotel. The all inclusive system gives you the chance to enjoy everything on the hotel. Highly recommend it.

Outstanding Hotel. The food was excellent from the buffets to the interior restaurants. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. Live entertainment was great but Elvis singing was lacking a bit… haha. If we ordered something or asked the staff to bring us anything, it was there immediately and the front desk called each time to ensure we were satisfied. I recommend this hotel to everyone.

Beautiful resort.
This is an all-​inclusive resort but be sure to tip your servers. Their customer service is excellent.
The buffet area is open ²⁴⁄₇ but be sure to book reservations for the specialty restaurants with the concierge near the front counter.
Take full advantage of the representatives offering day passes on jet skis, catamarans, sail boats, gliding, etc. They are all terrific experiences.
If you get a chance be sure to visit Isla Mujeres. We traveled by catamaran and the trip included alcohol and a buffet lunch.
Be sure to check out Xcaret and Xplor as well.
There’s a mini bar in every room.
Resort has many many bars. Two in the lobby, one of which is for coffee and pastries only.
Several swimming pools and one with a pool bar.
Awesome vacation.

Expedia gave this resort 4 ½ out of 5 star…
When we checked in to the hotel, Andre was really nice and gave us a free upgrade from our original junior suite to the villa suite jacuzzi. That felt like a plus. The Villa is in another section somewhat away from the main lobby where everything was. It is located in a quieter and peaceful section. Seems like it was more for newlyweds and couples that wanted their alone time vs. a bunch of girls wanting a getaway.
The décor was nice and pretty. The quality of the décor on the other hand, was poor. The walls are pretty thin. I could hear the mumbling sounds of the guest next door when they talk. Thank goodness it was our friends so it’s ok for me to hear them say where they will be putting some of their stuff in their luggage! The bathroom was small. Lacked lighting at the shower stall. They give you this tiny little dim light and the they already use dark color décor in the shower, so it made it more difficult to see when you shower.
There’s not much to do in this resort. The food was so so. Drinks aren’t strong at all. Mostly felt watered down. There’s not enough shows, or a good show for that matter. Everything is finished by 12am, except for one really bright sports bar that is open 24hours. There’s no clubs or lounge. Not enough bars. Not enough pools, there was 1adult pool, again., mainly for couples that wanted alone time. 1 kiddie pool. 1 pool that they use mostly for volleyball. 1 pool side bar. 2 regular pools. I think thats about it. The water is very very warm. I’m thinking it’s the sun beaming down, but jumping into a pool of warm water was not what i was expecting on a hot summer day. Then the beach… So much rocks, seaweed and ants everywhere. Felt very dirty.
You have to make ressies for most of the restaurants and they will only allow you to make it a day prior with only two times to choose from, 630pm or 830pm. So other than that you only have an option of buffet for breakfast/​lunch/​dinner, or one italian restaurant that doesn’t require any ressie. Something to keep in mind, the steakhouse restaurant is outdoor seating with ceiling fans. So you may possibly be sweating during the meal. But the positive note to that is you have a view of the beach and you get to watch the beautiful sunset.
Last but not least, the WIFI is terrible!!! It keeps cutting off whether you’re in the room or anywhere in the hotel. Skype moments are so choppy and sometimes takes forever to connect.
A little disappointed in this «All Inclusive» hotel.

Beautiful hotel the staff on the other hand is terrible. We were judged the moment we got there. We were there for my friends wedding and were treated horribly. A staff supervisor disrespected the bride and did not get an apology till we had to complain about the staff. They threatened to cancel the wedding and kick us out. We’re on vacation and want to have fun we weren’t being sloppy just having a good time. They lied about an altercation they assumed was us cause we have tattoos and we’re young. The bartenders ignored you unless you were a female. It seemed like they wanted to put a curfew at the hotel. If you’re young and want to party this hotel is not for you. Two thumbs down

My first time doing all inclusive, so maybe my review is a little skewed since I have nothing to compare it to.
Pros:
— Stayed in adult only villas. Although we didn’t get an ocean view since we weren’t in the high rise, this gave us more privacy and easier access to the beach and pools, and the adult-​only pool was steps away!
— Adult only pool: super peaceful and maybe only 2 other people there besides us. Was basically our own private pool!
— Drink service. Whether we’re in the pool or laying out on a chair on the beach, I felt like royalty having cocktails brought to me!
— Hot tub outside on our balcony/​patio, AND one inside right next to our bed.
— Day beds & hammocks! There are so many of these that you don’t have to fight for them. What’s more romantic than taking a nap in one of these on a white sand beach?
— Free snorkel rental. Nothing much to see out there, but the option is nice.
— Buffets are pretty good. Wide selection of food and good quality, I especially loved all the fresh fruit and smoked salmon for breakfast.
— Alcohol: room comes fully stocked, and all the mixed drink options they have are delicious. We had dinner at Krystal (one of their nicer restaurants) and they basically just gave us an entire bottle of Don Julio and plopped it on our table to have our way with it. AWESOME. I also had the best margarita of my life here (also made with Don Julio).
Cons:
— Cleaning people come in regardless of whether there is a do not disturb sign?!
— Their «24 hr snack bar» is kinda lame. just pre made sammiches, some muffins, gas-​station-​grade nachos with cheese, etc. Not a huge deal since you can order food yourself elsewhere, but I would only come here if I was really really desperate.
— The beach is kinda rocky. If you’re the type that likes taking LONG walks on the beach, its not really do-​able here b/​c theres giant rocks that separate this resort from the one next door… The sand itself is soft, but it’s not one huge long stretch of beach, nahmsayan?
HUGE CON: making dinner reservations for their specialty restaurants. Everything gets booked pretty quickly, so we tried to book literally the moment after we checked in. We had alot of trouble booking the steak restaurant, but we continually went to the restaurant when it opened and they had a last minute spot for us. I would recommend trying that!
Overall I had a great time here, and I am dreaming of the next time I get to stay at an all-​inclusive resort on a tropical getaway…

Solid 3.5 This is the only review you need. We arrived 2÷15−2÷19. This was my first time staying at an all inclusive. Coming from Las Vegas I will say the hotel was beautiful, customer service was great, staff friendly, cleanliness. Everything was up to my expectations except THE FOOD. :(
Which is a main price decision factor in choosing an all inclusive resort to begin with. The food was t-​e-​r-​r-​i-​b-​l-​e. Some items at best, were average. I started to dread every meal time. But ate only bc I had to. If you love food or if it is even somewhat important to you, I’d advise staying elsewhere.

Finally the eagle has landed. Yay we made it wtf we got to wait in this incredibly long line to check in yuckville. So we wait and we get Fanny who’s a sweet person and asks us why we were staying there I mention our anniversary and we get upgraded to a higher ocean view suite oh yeah I’m liking this. I then ask about getting resos for the restaurants she tells me where to go and I wait like twenty minutes and get told you can only make them two days in advance um big bummer not so liking this eek. After having been to other all inclusives Im used to a certain type of service. Our first visit to the buffet was um yuck. Admittedly it was an off hour but lukewarm food is just not my forte so I made a chicken salad yay me. Breakfast at the buffet this morning was wayyyyy better I can highly recommend that! I’ve eaten at the Japanese restaurant and it was ok nothing to brag about but it was better than the lunch buffet. Drinks Rick entry of alcohol and very tasty so far they are great everywhere I’ve gotten one. The trick is getting someone’s attention to get one and dollars in hand work miracles. Warning we travelled to the flea market in La Fiesta and yes my friends it’s let’s make a deal and you will be hounded to death so if you’re squeamish avoid this area at all costs. Now onto the rest of our vacation!

Bellísimo Hotel el Riu Palace Península con las mejores instalaciones muy estilo moderno contemporáneo. Se encuentra ubicado justo al frente de la hermosísima playa caribeña. Tiene además piscinas entre jacuzzi, el spa, gimnasio, baños de vapor, etc.
La comida es exquisita hay varios restaurantes de buffet y los de especialidad podrás encontrar todo lo que se te antoje y de excelente calidad. Es un hotel todo incluido hay diferentes actividades a realizar y si solo deseas descansar existe una área exclusiva para mayores de 18 años, revisa bien este dato a la hora de reservar.
Las habitaciones son muy amplias y como el hotel es prácticamente la más nueva propiedad de Riu en Cancún, bueno se dieron el lujo de decorarlas con accesorios de excelente gusto, me encanta ver que cada vez los hoteles aun que sean de alguna cadena vayan ganado terreno en lo nuevo en cuanto a decoración se trata. Excelente hotel!

Took my family there, main areas are great but the rooms are disappointment: cheaply done and starting to chip and brake, not so clean.
Food: specialty restaurants are awful buffet better. Coffee is so so.
Beach — no good, rocks everywhere.
Pools are great but you are there for the ocean :)

To be honest, I wasn’t that huge of a fan of this resort unfortunately. The place did look newer than most so that was nice, but I felt it was just a façade from everything else.
Check in takes about 20 minutes which I thought was outrageous! They put on wristbands for you that you have to wear the whole time you’re there, which I wasn’t fond of (didn’t want tan lines! lol) but wasn’t a big deal. I booked the adult villa area where it’s a separate building from the main one and has its own pool which was nice, the ad was for the separate pool and jacuzzi on the deck for each room. Kind of pointless though when you try to use the jacuzzi and the water just comes out in a small leak… it would take days to fill the jacuzzi tub! Another thing that bothered me about the room was that one of the sinks were clogged… and i was brushing my teeth and noticed this little black speck in the water, i take a closer look and it’s a small little worm!!! WTFF!!! haha i was absolutely horrified to say the least, and i did just use the bottled water to brush my teeth and started to do the same for washing my face. my friend’s room, their toliet started to clog too.
Onto the actual resort, they have ⁴⁄₅ restaurants, some of which you need reservations, and you can’t make them until you get there, and you need to book 1 – 2 days in advance! Otherwise you’re just stuck to the buffet and italian restaurant. The way they have it set up is that there are two seating reservation times only: one at 630, another at 8:45 or something. I’ve stayed at another resort in punta cana where the restaurants just operated like regular restaurants, which was way better. I felt this was their way of being cheap and lazy so they didn’t have to have the restaurant open all day. The staff is always really nice and friendly, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t like the way the system works. They do have free wifi in the rooms though so that was nice, even though it would stop working half the night.
Overall, the hotel was nice-​24 hour sports bar, friendly staff, pretty strong drinks so that was a huge plus (they had don julio tequila so we definitely took advantage of that!), and the resort was nice with day beds, several pools, swim up bar (you don’t really swim up to it though, the pool was tiny unfortunately), and free snorkeling gear to use, but there’s just so many things that they could really change to make themselves better instead of just repainting the buildings to look new. I haven’t stayed at any other resort in Cancun so I couldn’t compare, but the other resort I liked was a Dreams resort– if there is one, I think it’d be in your favor to compare whether it’s worth it to stay here or another resort.

First vacation to cancun and we had originally chose this place because it was very modern. We stayed a week and enjoyed every minute of it. Staff were on the ball in all aspects from front desk to bars, restaurants and maid service. Friendly vibe. Good drinks. Great views of the beach and fun poolside atmosphere. Would def stay at another riu based off this experience.