We travelled from the UK, Glasgow to Birmingham and from there Punta Cana. We travelled this long way as had previously been in Mexico and watched the Macao on the RIU adverts they played before the show and the advert made it look spectacular. Let me start by saying, this an an adults only hotel for a reason......lots of eye opening activity going on, maybe not somewhere you would feel comfortable letting your son and daughter visit.
There is no hand sanitizer around the hotel which i was very surprised at, spoke to the rep who said since covid they have relaxed this service? She went and bought me some as mine was running low, lots of hand touching with staff here, also witnessed many not washing hands after toilet so not sure why they aren't concerned people may get sick.
Room given on arrival was a bit disappointing, on ground floor even though we had requested a high floor but seemed clean, there patio was more like a basement, a high wall making it private but smelt musty and on more than one occasion had to remove cockroaches from the area, not a very nice area to be sat out in. About a week later we had been chatting to other guests who were raving about their rooms and balcony so that did it, my husband went to reception to request a move, the manager complied but wasn't the friendliest encounter but we got moved to a move nicer room on the 4th floor with a great view so was a delight to be able to sit out minus the cockroaches but we did have some nesting pigeons which i enjoyed watching and feeding.
Cleaning was fine, always had fresh towels and full fridge and yes, we tipped every couple of days. The room could be very musty and sometimes taking clothes out the drawers really had a bad smell, what we would maybe do next time is get a wshing done at extra cost so you didnt return home with stinky clothes
Food I would say spoiled for choice, not huge menus but enough to be happy with. Sometimes there was a bit of a wait for the restaurants but there was joes bar in between the Italian and steak house and this was a nice place to have a pre dinner drink.
Krystal had a lovely position near the sea and the Japanese was inside near reception, all tasty meals.
The Cuban bar was a bit fancy but we never spent much time here as the air conditioning was very strong.
After a week we started going to the Bavaro due to behaviour of POOL BAR STAFF, even though we did time from time to time that didn't seem good enough, especially the barman called ANGEL and another boy who had full sleeves on under his shirt. I was patiently waiting at the bar only to be ignored, i let this go on for a bit then opened my mouth so get served, ANGEL then proceeded to almost throw the drink at me, i was very annoyed and spoke to my husband about the treatment. he had a word with him and yes, gave him a TIP, we are not Americans and shouldn't be treated as so, we tipped where and when we could but we cant tip every single person, there are tip jars everywhere, even at the face painting for the RIU parties.
Sports Bar was a good place to pop in to for a drink after breakfast but its not the kind of place i would want to spend inside it as air conditioning very strong but the service here from Batistuta was great, he was very friendly, even though he didn't speak much English and I have limited Spanish he was always talking away, you can get snacks in here anytime of the day also.
The Bavaro has a food court which we used for pizza, Chinese noodles and rice, ice cream, they also have an American restaurant which was great but beware, the portions were huge. We also attended a few shows here at the hotel which was nice to be able to do, we also went to Michael Jackson at the Palace Punta Cana and got the wee mini train back as it was taking people to a casino.
On site Casino, walked through a few times but never played.
Disco was okay if you fancy a late night drink or boogie, was nice to sit outside the disco also.
Gym, very small so we only went a couple of times as it was busy.
Spa, we went one morning and were enjoying until a couple of very loud people came in.
I got my hair braided for 10 dollars, husband had a hair cut which was around £33.
Splash Park, small but fun, take a mat for the slides, I didnt and hurt my back.
Room service was good but you had to wait around 2 hours for delivery.
As a non smoker I went with an open mind as I knew people can smoke anywhere and they did, my husband smokes and was a big surprise when a lady complained about to the waiter one night while we were waiting on the show, little did she know she would soon be surrounded by smoke. I carried a fan with me so did my best to wave the smoke away but not sure why they cant allocate areas, not just the smell, people with breathing difficulties cant feel too comfortable but when in Rome.
Rui parties, go to an offsite venue, we didnt stick around much, there is a pool with all sorts going on and after experiencing the Riu parties Mexico this wasnt really our thing but okay to go along for a short while/
Animation worked hard all day long, they give 100%, done water aerobics a few times but after hurting my back we started going to the Adults only area at the Bavaro which was nice and relaxing.
Beach, we spent about 2 days of the whole holiday here, not much seaweed so managed to get in the water for a swim, wore swim shoes each time. we did get drink service on the beach and yes, did tip. Many sellers going past with various items, parrots, iguana, asking if you wanted to buy anything dodgy, a polite no thanks done the job but you will constantly smell strong weed coming from many areas.
The area in Macao where the shows take place is quite small, didnt always get the friendliest vibe here, we just want to mind our business but we like to dress nicely and this seemed to annoy people hahahaa. The bar staff here were very attentive and friendly and yes, we did tip here. Good quality
Activity in the pools after dark were constant, nudge nudge wink wink but easy to your own. Saw people asleep on couches, sunbeds, saw someone get put in a wheel chair to get back to their room, Many people with their own music booming around.
To sum up, we did have a good 18 nights here, some of the staff were kind and friendly while others just seemed tip driven which did spoil the holiday a bit, we came a long way but we live and learn. Very hot at night, wasted time trying to do anything with my hair as sweat is pouring off you, lots and lots of insect bites even though used wipes etc but i know I shouldn't scratch but did.
Would we return here.......probably not, any questions please ask
