Riu Vallarta - All Inclusive

“Foodie's Heaven”

Stayed 7 nights with 2 suites. First ever RIU experience. So many good things I can not list them all. Let's just say we will stay here or at another RIU location in the future. That said, here are tiny annoyances as constructive feedback. The room heater was disabled in Dec and we wanted it hotter… more

Stayed 7 nights with 2 suites. First ever RIU experience. So many good things I can not list them all. Let's just say we will stay here or at another RIU location in the future. That said, here are tiny annoyances as constructive feedback. The room heater was disabled in Dec and we wanted it hotter than 24C at night. The regular Pepsi was still diet. Most buffet drinks tasted weird so lived on 7up and water. The breakfast bacon was always burned. The hamburger patties were usually burned. Only found smoked salmon on the breakfast buffet once. Italian restaurant food delivery was too slow with an hour to get our food. Good things: bell service very helpful with getting a taxi, food options great, nightly entertainment, hotel staff always polite and friendly, and property seemed very safe. At airport get past the room of everyone pretending to be a hotel rep, and get outside airport to sidewalk where there is a real hotel rep wearing white and green. Airport to resort is 30 minutes RIU bus ride. At resort be careful about mosquitos at night. Going to the city by taxi is an hour, no meter so negotiate before riding, and one-ways ranged from 370 to 600 pesos (20 peso per US$). Best go to and leave city tourist area during daylight hours. RIU gift shop t-shirts U$35 each with same t-shirts in the city tourist area 6 shirts for U$20. RIU room beds and pillows were wonderful.

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“Riu Vallarta - Great Vacation”

The staff were kind, courteous and professional. The facility was clean, kept up well, and welcoming. It's a large resort but we never felt crowded. The staff were engaging and not "pressuring". The food was good, consistent and plentiful.

“Great Christmas Vacation”

The resort was nice and clean. Exactly what I needed for a Christmas vacation. The pools were awesome and the Steakhouse was superior. The wait was a little long for the steakhouse but overall a Great experience

“RIU - like other RIUs - I'd go back. Thorough review!”

My family of 4 had a Double Standard Resort view room. I would not normally get a double room but I think that's what was left when we booked, as it was a busy time over Christmas. The double standard was interesting, you had a locked small hallway and within the hallway was 2 more rooms. My hus… more

My family of 4 had a Double Standard Resort view room. I would not normally get a double room but I think that's what was left when we booked, as it was a busy time over Christmas. The double standard was interesting, you had a locked small hallway and within the hallway was 2 more rooms. My husband and I had a room (each our own key) and then my 2 kids (ages 17 and 14) had a key for their room. We could not get into each others rooms. The kids room was set up similar to our room - mostly just the shape was different. Note that every room has a mini-bar and it does not lock. This may be important for some families to note depending on the ages of their children. It was different for us to not have access to where our kids were sleeping and have to bang on their door in the morning if we wanted to wake them up! Our room was on a corner and we had a wrap around patio that looked over the resort and also ocean view. It was great. Pools - I would stay pretty standard. I only went into the adult pool that had a swim up bar. It was hit and miss whether there were chairs available. Most people just had them saved for "thing holders" and others would come and save 12 which was annoying. I did hop over to the foam party which got busy but other than that, the pools were not crammed. Beach - always chairs available. The sand was nice. We had days with yellow flags and days with red flags. Many sunglasses got lost! The waves were rough on the red days - multiple people were injured - I mean broken bones. 2 days after we left, someone drowned just down from this resort. Be careful. Beach volleyball. Vendors on the beach, horse rides, parasailing and massages all available. Food - We wanted to eat at the ala carte restaurants for more "nice" restaurants and I prefer the resorts where you do NOT need reservations. I don't want to be on a schedule. Honestly I think the buffet food was good so I wouldn't worry about the ala carte restaurants. The food here is not great, it's just ok. The stand by the pools for lunch is definitely not great, I'd take the time to throw on some shoes and shorts and go to the buffet if you are hungry. We usually ate a later breakfast, and skipped lunch and then had supper! My kids are picky eaters and still found something to eat. The sports bar does have food 24/7 but again, it is not great. They wouldn't even make more popcorn at 10pm which was disappointing. Bars - fun! Always nice servers. There were some shot recommendations listed on the Facebook page that I ordered and was told I couldn't get more because they take too long to make - even though we were also tipping. I understand, but just something to mention. Smoking - cigarette smell is a big pet peeve of mine so something I comment on for others like me. Their smoking section is right in the middle of the pools, in a grassy area by the towel pick up and just down from the nightly entertainment. Seems odd to have it in a central location instead of off to the side, but people did use it and didn't wander all over the resort smoking. Gift shop - super odd. Only 4 customers at a time and they had packages put together. Like you can't buy just 1 of something without a pack of trident gum taped to it. No idea what was up with that. Entertainment - Eh, it was ok. Got boring and repetitive. After a few nights I realized that it was making me tired and I wanted to skip it. They usually had some live music on the small stage and then a larger option at the theatre, and the live music would start up again afterwards. We went over Christmas which is supposed to be a pretty busy time for them. I have stayed at the Palace but this time had the kids with. I think the food may be a little better at the Palace. I've also been to a RIU in Jamaica. We had to get the double room this time, which I think drove the price up a bit. If I could change that I'd definitely go back. I feel you get a pretty good deal at RIU resorts.

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