Hotel Riu Vallarta - All Inclusive

Overall we were very happy with our stay at Riu Vallarta. Excellent buffet, clean and modern rooms, fantastic staff and service. Our only reason for not giving full marks relates to the fact that the a la carte restaurants were impossible to get into. Every night at least one (often 2) was closed for maintenance. i would also like to see the TVs upgraded to Smart TVs to allow streaming from ones device.

If I could give this hotel a Zero star rating, I would. This trip was to celebrate my nephews’ birthday. The food at the restaurants was so horrible that we got sick. In the middle of the night, the morning of my nephew’s birthday, he vomited in his room and was sick for the rest of his special day. Instead of empathizing with us, the hotel charged us $205 American dollars. I can understand being charged if an adult in my family vomited from being drunk, but being charged for a child that got sick from the hotel’s food is very disheartening. This incident alone is enough for our family to never return to this hotel and to leave a zero-star review. We expected understanding and basic compassion, especially given that this involved a child who became ill, not reckless behavior. Instead, we were met with an excessive charge and no empathy whatsoever. This completely overshadowed what was supposed to be a special family celebration and left us extremely disappointed with how this situation was handled.

This trip was a girl's trip to celebrate a friend's retirement. It is an absolutely beautiful resort. It is well kept, and very clean. The staff are uniformly friendly and good at their jobs. Our rooms were always clean, and our minifridges well stocked. We did try to get our pool chairs by 0745 as it was not easy to find a chair that was not saved if you were much later than that, and the sun is brutal! The two less positive things about the resort were the quality of the coffee, and the fact that the specialty restaurants were difficult to get into. The coffee was truly terrible- although the staff were great at serving cappuccinos and other coffees- the coffee tasted nothing like coffee. Of the four specialty restaurants, the two best were closed two of the seven nights we were there. The Asian restaurant was a buffet and really not very good. To get into Kulinar or the Italian restaurant, we had to be in line by 5:15 for the 6;00 opening. In the Italian restaurant- which was great- over half of the restaurant was still empty when people were turned away. I'm sure that many people never had the opportunity to get a seat in a specialty restaurant here. Overall a good experience which could have been great- with better coffee, and better access to the restaurants.

Beach Not much bar service, it was easier to just go get drinks as the bar was close by. TIP- find a bartender and confirm they'll be working that bar all week. and slide them $20 on the first day and you're set for great drinks and service . Mojitos were excellent, not sweet! The ocean was safe and fun for boogie boarding/body surfing. We saw a lifeguard on duty a few times. Lots of beach vendors and in fact we booked a fishing charter with one. ($362 USD for a four hour trip for up to 4 people) Everyone holds beach and pool chairs. It's a thing at EVERY resort. We had no trouble finding beach spots but pool spots away from the kids pool were trickier. Palapas / umbrellas can be rented for the day from beach vendors $15 USD Activities / Pool Mimi was a nice stretch/yoga leader, we attended every session available. Especially enjoyed it when it was held near the water. Child friendly resort and kids stayed in the kids pool. Hotel Smooth Check in. All the staff that served us were polite. We liked our room, the bed and the safety and cleanliness and modernity of it. Yes, the showers had glass only and no door, which made for easy access. The water in your room is non-potable so be sure to use the water in the mini bar, which is replenished every other day. No complaints whatsoever. Lovely daily towel art was cute! The complaints about noise are legit but mostly it's because of acoustics, not because of hard(er than typical) partiers. Our room faced away from the courtyard and we were glad of it. Other hotel guests were sometimes unaware of how noisy they were on the way to their rooms in the hall. Large comfortable spaces were available to play cards and hang out in in the lobby and bar areas. Food Everyone in our group stayed healthy. Fruits and veg and drinks are all made /washed using treated water. Buffet was good and had lots of variety each day. Yes, after 7 days it seems like you've tried it all, but that's the nature of feeding so many people. We found it very easy to eat healthily and avoid deep fried foods and focus on the healthy choices. (Tip - non fat unsweetened yogurt is at the SALAD bar in the mornings.) All lunches had sushi and (good!) ceviche available , most of which was reasonably good. Omelette stations and lots of Pizza and pasta choices daily. Saturday night was Mexican night at the buffet. Specialty restaurants The steakhouse is not worth the wait. (There was no steakhouse open on Wednesday night. It may have been because of a wedding but it was on the beach, so it was not clear why.) The Italian was the best and we went twice. The "Asian fusion" at Nirvana was just another buffet, nothing served to you. (We are from Vancouver. Wouldn't bother going, it's better at home.) Kuliarum was good. We found that if we waited til the line-up was gone (it tends to start forming for most of them about a half hour before opening, and then went to grab a buzzer right away we were able to eat usually within an hour of getting the buzzer so about 7:00 or later) If you are leaving the resort at 11, the sandwiches in the sports bar are restocked every morning. Grab one for the trip home with some fruit (One burger, one fry and a milkshake at the fast food place at the airport ws $42 CAD !!)

Todo, desde la amabilidad en el check in, la calidad de los alimentos, la limpieza y comodidad de las habitaciones, las múltiples albercas según lo que desees, su playa con bastos camastros y toso su equipo de entretenimiento.

Una mini sugerencia es agregar fruta a su barra de snaks en Pepes food

Easy check in and check out, Very friendly staff and very clean resort. One big drawback that was noticeable on this our third 2 week stay was the increased amount of smoking all throughout the resort, This is supposed to be a non smoking resort and guests were smoking outside the à la carte restaurants, at the pools, and very much so on the beach. Our room on the eight floor had a strong smell of cigarette smoke coming through the a/c vents. Guests were also smoking on balconies as well. No enforcement of this rule seemed to be evident. The food was very good as usual. There was always at least one restaurant closed as it seemed the closures were rotated. The nighttime entertainment is in need of improvement although our expectations are not high the quality is not as good as it was the last couple of years. For the price we paid booking months in advance it was fair value for the cost. A/C in room very loud was our only room complaint.

From the time we arrived until our departure this was an awesome experience! The staff was excellent, always working and asking if we needed anything. Mimi was especially excellent! She coordinated the water activities, was always so upbeat and made our stay far more enjoyable. The food was excellent with many options to choose from. Serving staff were attentive and always asking if we needed anything more. Pools were great too. The entire resort is extremely clean with staff always wiping surfaces down and cleaning the floors. We booked 3 excursions through the Nexus staff and they were all very good. We would certainly stay here again as this resort was awesome.

L’espace, les employés très courtois et serviables, la propreté, le buffet excellent avec du choix. Beau mobilier. La chambre était confortable et spacieuse.

Les oiseaux noires trop présents. Les chaises, coussins et tables à l’extérieur du resto étaient remplis d’excréments…. Impossible de s’assoir, d’ailleurs mon conjoint a salit son pantalon.

Room was very nice. Good view, proximity to the beach, food was great.service in the big buffet was very good, as well as the specialty restaurants .

Room credits were not easy to use. B/c I used booking.com instead of booking with hotel direct, no airport shuttle.

This is an excellent facility. There’s activities for all, games, entertainment, three pools something for everyone. Staff are super friendly and easy to interact with. Restaurants are all excellent (but I do recommend lining up 60-90 minutes early as there aren’t any reservations).

The hotel advertises “Free Shuttle” but when I emailed to arrange a pick up was told there wasn’t a shuttle. I heard someone talking about the shuttle so I asked at the front door - he said there wasn’t no shuttle but could get a cab (at my expense). I asked at the front desk and they wanted to know the room number to answer my shuttle question 🤷‍♂️