Hotel Riu Playacar - All Inclusive

One of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed in. Staff are so friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. We didn’t meet anyone who was any less than helpful and pleasant. The hotel grounds are kept super clean and smart and the groundskeepers work tirelessly to keep it so. The a la carte restaurants are all wonderful, our favourite was the steakhouse! Wow!! We enjoyed the Asian and the Italian one too. We didn’t visit the Mexican but there was always diners in it too so it must be good. The buffet is very good, a bit repetitive but that’s much like many other buffets all over the world. We never would have went hungry. The waiters got to know us and had our table ready and knew what drinks we usually got within a few days. The entertainment staff work so hard too, they never stop! We never had a problem getting 3 sunbeds together, the latest we were down by the pool was about 8.30am but there’s always beds on the beach. The pools are quite small by comparison to other hotels but they are more than sufficient just don’t go thinking you can laze all day in an inflatable because there is isn’t really enough room. The foam parties, white party and neon party were all amazing! But so hot!!! I’ve never sweated so much haha. The rooms were very good, spotlessly clean, fridge kept stocked in water, beer and soft drinks. The bar areas were run like a well oiled machine. The cocktails were all made fresh and never disappointed. The was no problem getting drinks at any point of the day, they even brought a drinks trolley round the pool area and served ice creams and lollies a few times. The toilets at the pool area were spotless too, so nice to see as this is not always the case. All in all we had the best holiday here and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. Any questions just ask x

Great hotel and holiday. All staff were very friendly and said hello every day regardless of their job. Check-in was quick and all requests submitted were met. ATM in the hotel charges around £4.50 per withdrawal. The ATM at the top level of shopping centre across street charges £1.40 for cash withdrawals. There is no rush for reserving sunbeds which was great. There are loads of beds around the pools and more on the beach if required. Many of the beds around the pools have cabana style roofs which are pulley operated at both the activity pool and quiet pool. The pools themselves are lovely and warm and all are not deep which is good for kids - both are around 4 feet 1 inch all round with gradual steps at one end and ladders at the other. The rooms are big and kept very clean. There is a coffee maker (filters and bottled water provided), stocked fridge, hairdryer, steam iron/ironing board and umbrella. The air conditioning was great and ran all the time regardless of whether the key card was in or not. Our favourite restaurants were the steakhouse and the Italian (a la carte menu especially). All the other restaurants were very good also including the main buffet. There is no need to book the standalone restaurants and you can go as many times as you want. If they don't have a table free, they give you a buzzer but we never had a problem getting a seat. Reception can change notes to smaller denomination if needed. They will also supply bottles of water if asked (useful if going on day trips). The bar next to reception do great barista style lattes and coffees made using a proper machine and real milk. The shops directly opposite the hotel are very good. They include a 7-11 that opens 24 hours a day. Claudia and her well run entertainment team work very hard and there are normally multiple activities going on at the same time. Evening entertainment is good and has a kahoot quiz to take part in too. The Rui Friday party is at Riu Tequilla which is only a short walk away, on the other side of the road, and is all inclusive. Nestor in the main buffet restaurant is very friendly and attentive. Couldn't fault any of the staff at all. The grounds of the hotel have wildlife running free - agoutis, coatis, iguanas and monkeys if you are lucky. Lots of birds too so have your wits about you if you are eating at an outside table. Tipping isn't mandatory but is appreciated. Great service is given regardless. Overall a great holiday in a wonderful hotel. Download the Riu app, clicking staying at hotel and pick this one, and have a look at the menus of the restaurants and events going on.

Stayed with my wife, family and friends at the Riu Playacar. The room was excellent, the food was very good and the facilities and grounds were wonderful, particularly the pool area. The entire staff was very kind and friendly and made our stay much more enjoyable. The only thing keeping me from giving it five stars is something that is not really their fault. The entire region is dealing with a high generation of sargasso weed that is making the beach unattractive due to the smell of rotting seaweed. This hotel does a good job of clearing the beach shoreline, but it is a hard battle.

Another great property by RIU! Wasn't aware of no elevators on the property, especially for my mom. But all and all, we weren't disappointed at all.

The resort is very clean and the staff is super friendly. The food was good, just wished there was a little more variety each day.

This place was lovely. It was so clean and so tidy. The bar people were excellent. The front staff were excellent and so helpful and friendly. The cleaners were on it every single day and we had a lovely cleaner called Gloria. She was so nice and helpful. Having a fridge in the room with soft drinks and beers was lovely I spent a lot of time at the beach but there was no such thing as sunbed wars which was lovely. The entertainment could do with a bit of updating especially on international night which really was just a plug for Riu. However, the white party and the neon party were good fun. There was a lot of choice of food IF your a meat eater. I don’t believe Mexico has heard of the word vegetarian. (I am vegetarian). They did a couple of dishes for the Europeans, but this mainly consisted of a pasta dish or lasagne or pizza and chips. One day I couldn’t eat anything except cheese and biscuits. Salads were ok but ingredients were dry due to being left out all evening. There are plenty of alternatives out there for vegetarians, but this hotel didn’t seem to cater for any of that. Not a lot of gf food either. And so if you are a vegetarian or GF person - do your research. Drinks were lovely especially their margaritas and martinis. The beach was lovely but the sea was horrible (now this is not the hotels fault) but together with other hotels they were doing their absolute best to clear all the seaweed). There were piles and piles of the stuff (smelled awful ) it made the sea very brown and uncomfortable. But again the staff worked tirelessly to try and clear it up. Daytime entertainment did seem to be geared up to children, but it is a family hotel.

The only downside we can think of is that the children's entertainment was not in English. They knew we were traveling to a Spanish-speaking country, but it would have been easy to provide entertainment in English as well.

I was very disappointed about the beach. A lot of seaweeds, and very noisy because of truck working all day. I couldn't hear the ocean.

The description of the room on Expedia website was misleading. The description said the room cam accomodate 8 persons, while the 2 rooms with connecting door has only ONE king bed, which doesn't make any sense that 3 persons will sleep on the floor or put themselves at a risk of getting THREE rollaway beds assuming that the rooms can accomodate this huge number of beds. We were 2 families od 10 pesons, booked 2 double rooms (2 rooms each family that accomodate 16 persons).We called the hotel and they said the information on Expedia website is not correct As a consequence we had to cancel our flight, loose our vacation, lost one night (about CAD2000) and we paid for the Expedia's mistakes.

What can I say, amazing!!! Lovely hotel great location, food fine, staff are brilliant, they all work really hard, please be good to them! Entertainment team are excellente!!!! White and neon parties are Fantastic! Only issue is the seaweed but can't do much about it, guys on the beach fighting a losing battle. I don't want to go home!