Hotel Riu Palace Macao - Adults Only - All Inclusive

Rooms Upon entry the room smelled quite musty, however, after occupying it for a while the smell went away. Nice decor. Bed very comfy. We had booked a pool view and we could also see the sea beyond, which was lovely. Restaurants The main buffet and the Al a cartes were all wonderful. Food excellent. It was great not having to make any reservations for dinner. Only once did we have to wait for a table, and they gave us a buzzer, so we sat in the Cubano bar with a drink. Entertainment/Bars Entertainment here is varied. Some nights it’s quite boisterous and others it’s quiet. We enjoyed the quizzes at 9pm, where you link to the big screen with your phone to compete. We did not enjoy the live music, as it was all Salsa/Spanish and every song sounded the same to us. Not once did they play a song we knew. Not once did we get up to dance, which is very unusual for us. Last year in Mexico they played floor fillers and we danced all night. There is a Sports bar here with a pool table. We love a game of pool. This is SO DISAPPOINTING though. The bar absolutely stank of what can only be described as rotten eggs mixed with smelly feet. You could see every person who came in recoil at it. But worse still, there was frequently NO BARTENDER! We waited and waited and waited, but it’s impossible to get a drink in here. The one time there was staff, it was a young man and a young woman, and they spent the whole time flirting with each other, playing on their phones and ignoring customers. I e-mailed Customer services about this, and they never replied. In the end we just gave up. By contrast, the staff in the Cubano bar were excellent - very smiley and friendly and super fast at getting your drinks. Pacha nightclub This is a short walk from the hotel. Initially when we went in, I was over the moon. It was busy, the dance floor was packed and it was easy to get a drink. However, several Salsa tunes in, I was wondering whether the DJ would ever play a tune we had heard of. Sadly, he did not. Every tune sounded the same. Dance floor full of people dancing in couples to Spanish music. It gets boring. We tried a few different nights and it was always the same. We are usually the last people to leave a nightclub, but we ended up just getting two drinks and sacking it off. Boring! RIU Party Area Now, this is awesome! Exit the hotel, and walk straight on. It's a short walk (I did it in heels), and it's well signposted. There are 4 parties a week. 2 daytime parties (3pm-7pm) where the theme is jungle and pink, and 2 night parties (730pm-1130pm), where the theme is white and neon. We didn’t do the day parties, as didn’t want to peak too soon, but we did all the night parties, and they were fabulous. Banging tunes, loads of things to look at, like people dressed up in weird costumes. Brilliant fun. There is a pool here too. Clientele were a mix of people dressed up, as they had just come from dinner, and people who had come in their swimming cossies, as they were going in the pool. The floor is always soaking wet, this might affect what footwear you choose. There is a bar on the left when you enter - this is busy - if you go to the opposite side of the area you'll find a quieter bar where you will get served faster, also some seats and more places to stand that have a bit more room. Pools There are 3 pools here, one of which has a swim up bar. Unfortunately, there is very little shade, and it’s quite hard to get a sun bed. The pool with the swim up bar is a bit shabby, with lots of tiles broken off, with no shade. We just didn’t get a good vibe at all. However, we scoped out all the other hotels on the complex, as we knew we were allowed to visit them during the day. Most of the other hotels were a bit crowded, with only an inch between sunbeds, however, the Riu Palace Bavaro was AWESOME. This is just next door to the Macao. Go to the beach, turn right, wander along the sand, and the Bavaro will appear. You can tell when you are there, as the architecture is different. Whilst this is a family hotel, there are two pools next to the beach that are Adults Only : a large quiet pool next to a bar, and a pool with a swim up bar. The vibe at this hotel is so much better. Also, there are loads of beds available no matter what time of day you arrive, and I mean LOADS. Plenty of shade too. Also, there’s a huge food court next to the beach that you can go to for lunch - you can get Pepe’s burgers and hot dogs, RFC which is like KFC, noodles, pizza’s, ice cream, and there’s a gorgeous bar for drinks. There is also a buffet restaurant here and 2 Al a cartes, that you can go to for lunch. The American Country restaurant for lunch was amazing. Top notch! In all honesty, if we were going to come back to this complex again, I would book the Bavaro. Everything about it was bigger and better. You can go there at night too, for drinks/entertainment. If going at night, you won’t want to go along the beach : exit the Macao via the front doors, take a left and after a while you will exit the Macao grounds via an archway, and opposite you will see the entrance to the Bavaro. Walk in, and keep left. You will come to the courtyard where you can use the main bar, the sports bar, and the evening entertainment. Pacha nightclub is in between the Macao and Bavaro, so you will see that if you take this walk. Smoking A note for the smokers - you can smoke anywhere you like here. Even in the pools and on your balcony. Lots of smokers and vapers. I’m not a smoker, and this didn’t bother me at all. Husband is though, so this was great for him. Drinks Drinks are top notch. Bar tenders are super friendly. The wine is good. You can get champagne or Mimosa's with breakfast.

Great trip. Food excellent. Staff incredibly warm and helpful. The entertainment and fitness staff work very hard and do a wonderful job of creating a fun atmosphere. There are daily games of volleyball, bocce, bingo, darts, corn bag toss, horseshoe, water polo etc. Exercise classes for stretching and water aerobics. Big shout out for Idaury, Urne and David. We would definitely come back. Our room was on the fourth floor and we had no moisture issues. The hallways were always being cleaned by these incredibly strong women. The beach is cleaned daily. There are plenty of spots to choose from. The overall size of the resort is smaller which initially I wasn't sure about but I ended loving the size. My only complaint is that smoking is everywhere. I wish the smokers would have their own area. I am admittedly sensitive to the stench of cigarette smoke.

This is the review I drafted, I was kind in many areas. We have stayed with RIU 20+ times between Cabo, PV, Miami, San Francisco and finally Dominican Republic. A terrible experience, disgusting attitude from front desk, property was filthy, visible mold on walls, lamps and bedding food was great at Elite, but disgusting everywhere else. Pools were overall dirty and very hot. The property next door had great food, clean common areas and beautiful pools so I know it was possible. Again I thought we were at a PALACE.... The suitcases were gone through on our second day, nothing taken as we locked our valuable items up but the fact our case was completely ran sacked is lame. Never happened in any riu before. This RIU falls very short of the standard set by Riu as a "Palace". If you have stayed in a palace in Cabo, PV, or Cancun you will be extremely disappointed. Good Fantastic location, beautiful beach, very few vendors, loungers and beds scattered in the palms making it very private or open areas to sun bath. The Elite restaurant was fantastic, every dish was on point! Staff was amazing! Our Elite beach area bartender was fabulous!! Never a empty cup in our group. Plenty of chairs and double cabanas around pool, never had a issue securing at anytime of the day. Our housekeeper was amazing, room was always spotless and perfectly organized. Bad Check in Checked my friends room next door to us but had to wait until 3 pm to get room. Completely normal No room at 3, 4, or 5pm then relocated them to a non elite room with double beds. Told the they overbooked and can try for a different room tomorrow. After making friends with my new neighbor, he slipped a $50 to the check in lady and got upgraded them to this room.... At 4pm the next day they were moved back to elite room with no compensation. Lots of lies from the front desk. Food: Food was very hit and miss. The asian restaurant, we spent almost 2 hours at dinner and half our party never received entrees, we finally left and went to buffet. Buffet was decent as lots of choices gives everyone choices. Definitely lower end overall from experience being at RIU. Italian restaurant was terrible.....spent lots of time on toilet for a number of us that ate the chicken parm. The pasta dish was compared to Kraft Mac and cheese...Swimsuits are now ok in restaurants? 🤦‍♂️ Security No security, there was a group of 4-5 people at having a domestic dispute, screaming and crying at 130 am. Called for multiple times with no response for over 30 min from a security guard that come from riu property next door. "No security on-site tonight" Security staff at pools, beach entrances and common areas was non existent throughout the stay. Locals wandering through resort with nobody to stop them. Did not feel safe at this resort. Room The overall room was normal Riu Palace standard but the maintenance is slacking. AC never ran quite right, some days it was fine but it would just shut off in middle of the night for no reason. Strong moldy smell in room. Rain shower head didn't work and regular shower head leaked badly at connection. The front doors dont latch when closed, have to give a hard pull to close securely. Dining area and sports bar Can we find the dead rotting animals and mold in the walls? The smell is horrible in both areas. Literally a moldy, mildew rotten flesh smell, that never went away all week. Common areas: Dirty, far from RIU Palace standard they have set worldwide. Trash, butts, sand, grass clippings and spills left in hallways, stairs and hallways. Sand thick on stairs made for multiple falls from other guests. The same clump of hair was on stair landing our entire trip, clearly no cleaning had happened in a week. Riu can do better but I wasted THOUSANDS Of dollars on crap!

This is our forth year at Macao. Went to another resort last year and came back to the Macao. Small resort makes it easy to get around. Friendly staff that you see all week helps you feel welcome. Special shout out to the entertainment staff. Willie, Richard and Alea were amazing. See you in November 2026. Greg

I had a lovely time at this hotel. Unfortunately my Sweatshirt was damaged by bleach in their laundry on our last day and I did not notice until we were on our way to the airport! I emailed the hotel several times and not a single reply back!! Would have made the trip a whole lot better if I now did not have such a negative feeling towards this unaccountability👎🏼

This is our 6th day. I do have to say that the waiters at the theatre are not the greatest. We’ve had 3 waiters pass us. Never asked if we wanted anything. Had to Ask the same waitress twice for my drink. Maybe they need to have more waiters or for them to take care of their specific area. Not impress

Just returned home from Riu Palace. In our opinion this is the best way to do an all inclusive holiday.  Not having to prebook the restaurants is a great improvement. We tried Asian, Italian and the Steak restaurant and were all great with  Pre drinks at Joes bar. The buffet restaurant also had everything we needed.  We enjoyed coffee, cake and croissants at the coffee shop. Because we were in the Palace we could go to all the hotels in the resort so could always have a change of scenery if needed.  The other hotels were also great, the food court at Bavaro is worth a visit. Thank you to the man on the Omelette station, he made the perfect Omelettes. Juanna round the pool really looked after us. We had great service at the Cuban Bar from Natalia. All the staff were brilliant but didn't get everyone's name. We've never experienced anything like the Riu Parties... they are fabulous. The weather was perfect everyday. We took an Uber to some beach bars and had a great time at Papaya Bar and  Onnos bar. We had room 4021 and yes we did have pigeons on balcony but not enough to bother us. Room cleaning was first class. Our friends were given room 2091 and this had terrible damp issues but were moved the next day so this was resolved. The only thing I would add to the hotel is a beach bar like the one at the nearby Iberostar hotel. We will definitely return to The Palace.

It’s a bait and switch, website looks great and they promote services you don’t actually get full access to. You have to book reservations which are limited. Dont recommend.

A beautiful location and a well run hotel. Great food options and everything seemed fresh with less overdone flavors or sauces. All restaurants catered to any food restrictions or choices.

Me and my husband have been to many resorts in punta cana. This resort is on the smaller side but ihas everything you need. You can always walk to it's surrounding sister properties if you choose. The location is great. Not too far from the airport and beautiful beach! I thought the restaurants and buffets were great. Many options and always something available. The 24 hour sports bar providing drinks and snacks is very convenient. The property as a whole is very well kept and clean. The Waterpark and themed pool parties located within the riu complex are a great bonus. For the most part, the nightly entertainment is average for an all inclusive resort in punta cana. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. We had a wonderful week and will be returning next year!!