Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico - Adults Only - All Inclusive

My husband and I had a great visit last winter, so we brought my family with this year. Because of recent events, everything is scaled back but we’re not given anything in compensation. Tonight (sunday) the app shows one restaurant open and the buffet hasn’t been open at all in the evening for an alternate choice. How can this be? Occupancy is way down so we requested ocean view (to make up for lack of restaurants being open) nope. They put us on floor one right above the entertainment so our balcony view is of the roof along with loud music until 11pm. It is a lot of money for a crappy view and lack of food choices. Very disappointing and I’m embarrassed I suggested this place for my family along with the high price!

First off, in March 2026 PVR is very safe and there are no lingering issues related to El Mencho, but this has really impacted tourism in the area. Overall we had a really nice stay at the Riu Palace Pacifico. This class of Riu allows you access to the neighboring property (Riu Jalisco) which is nice because this property is not very large. This side is an adults only resort and draws an older crowd which is nice for a more quiet, upscale experience. The hotel itself is very beautiful and very well maintained. It was incredibly clean throughout. Quite possibly the cleanest property I’ve ever been to. Very Art deco style and a lot of open spaces. We were really surprised that everything closed so early. Restaurants complete dinner service by 9:30, so for those on Pacific time, you need to be at dinner by 6:30 your time to have full time for a meal. They weren’t able to accommodate our group of 7 at the steakhouse, so we had to do the Italian restaurant because they only have a few restaurants open at a time. The food was decent for this level of all inclusive. As a note for vegans, I was able to find options here-and-there but after more the two days you may feel disappointed. I’ve eaten a ton of Beyond Burgers, which I appreciate they have, but you can only eat so many. You can ask at breakfast for a tofu scramble with silken tofu and they have soy/almond milk for cereal. They have a ton of pool areas and ample seating with lots of shade. You do need to use towel cards, which I find inconvenient. There is no designated bathroom for the pool which is strange. The swim up bar is nice and service at the pool is quick and consistent. The drinks were pretty good with mid-tier alcohol unless you upgrade to the Elite Club where they have Grey Goose and other comparable liquors. The property only has two bathrooms; one behind reception and one below ground near the pools and restaurants. This means you can be dressed nice for dinner sharing a bathroom with all the pool goers with wet bathing suits. It diminishes the experience a bit. The Elite Club has its own lounge, restaurant, and beach cabana area. It’s nice if your whole party upgrades, but they are strict about not allowing anyone without the wrist band in. When we arrived we had a nice bag, a tumbler, and a bottle of sparkling rose. Our room had really nice views of the full property and the ocean with a balcony for watching sunsets or having morning coffee. Standards rooms have a collection of liquors in the room and beers and sodas in the mini bar. Elite Club rooms are larger with better views and have upgraded liquors with some snacks (trail mix, pringles, and a Kit Kat). The double beds are comfortable, however the king beds are incredibly soft and you sink in like you’re being sandwiched which was uncomfortable for most of our party. The spa was very easy to get into and our services were really relaxing. The spa is basic with a steam room and a whirlpool. We got an 80-minute treatment and had a 25% discount making it really affordable. The activities staff were great and got people involved … lots of water aerobics and water volleyball attendees. We really loved the Tibetan singing bowl meditation by the beach!

We went to this Resort for our wedding. The timing of our trip turned out to be very unfortunate since we went 4 days after the drug cartel incident. However, even given this situation, we felt very safe and protected on the resort. The resort was only about 25% full so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful, our room and the rest of the resort was very clean, the views were great, and the service was outstanding. The food was very good but not amazing. Some of the restaurants were closed throughout the week because of the incident from a few days before but we had no trouble getting into each of the restaurants. Our favorite was the steak restaurant where the service was outstanding and the stakes and other dishes we're very good. There are three pools with one of them having a swim up bar. Some of the best food was cooked on the outside grill near the pool. The food at the sports bar was also very tasty. One negative about our room is that we upgraded to an Oceanfront room and The View was somewhat obstructed by the roof overhang of the floor below us. This was the case for most of the ocean front rooms and I wish they had designed the hotel with narrower rooftops on the floors below. The view is still amazing but was just somewhat blocked by the roof. We will definitely consider going back to this Resort and I highly recommend it.

This hotel is not worth the cost. Rooms worthy of a 1 star hotel. View was of roof and tops of trees. Food was limited, specialty restaurants usually closed or impossible to get into. Menus limited and poorly executed. Buffet food was mediocre at best (think McCains frozen hash browns ) and got less and less selection as time went on. We were there for our 59 anniversary and when asked for a better room were told this was as good as it gets. We were directly above the party theatre which was very loud from 9-11:30 every single night. It did not make for a pleasant stay. We spoke with two managers but really got nowhere. Definitely do not recommend.

This is the fourth RIU I have stayed at and the 7th one I have visited and I have never experienced the most unfriendly bartenders, pool servers and front desk staff. Nothing like that at any other resort chain either. We were a group of 15 ranging in age from 23 to 83. We tried to be friendly to the staff and were always tipping but the staff seemed miserable and you felt like you were bothering them to place an order. We even witnessed one of our pool severs roll her eyes at us. The servers in the restaurants and buffet were friendly at least. The renovations at the property are nicely done. The rooms and the grounds were well kept and clean. There is a step down in the rooms to get to the couch & balcony that is very unsafe. The step doesn't run the whole opening and the rooms are very dark. A motion light near the step would be beneficial. The tiles around the pool are extremely slippery. We witness many people falling with and without shoes on. Pool tables in the sports bar were never used as apparently you not only have to pay for them, you have to get coins from the front desk to put into the slots. With the resort not having a lot of entertainment on the property you would think they could let you use the pool tables for free. The RIUs were always a great resort for service, good food and not having class levels. The food here was average and very salty. And if you want to make reservations or maybe get better service you must have to pay extra for the Elite Club.

A fantastic resort, rooms, check-in, food, staff, cleaning, pool, beach, 5 out of 5.

I m here now until Saturday morning. I have brought at least 150 people to this resort every January or February for the last three years. This year they are liars and thieves. They are charging me for all of the restaurants to be open, but they’re closed even the buffet. When I ask for some sort of restitution or refund, they said they can’t. They say the price includes specialty restaurants and buffets but when they can’t offer them, there is no that is stealing from me. They say all the roads in Puerto Vallarta are closed and that’s why their help cannot come in to work. That’s not true. This town was only under an alert due to cartel issues for two days. They never notified anyone that restaurants were closing. I cannot believe any truthfulness from the people at the front desk.. Think twice about coming to this resort, they obviously don’t care about the satisfaction of their customers. They only care about the money that comes in the front door. Thieves.

- Check In was a breeze. Rooms were not ready but enjoyed beverages while waiting for room which did not take long. (Junior Suite Partial Oceanview) - We were travelling with another couple and had requested rooms close together. Request was granted - Large Clean Room on 4th floor – large bathroom, dressing area and a sitting area with couch and table - Our room had good views of the ocean when on the deck. Looked down on the main walkway of Resort - Maid service – room cleaned each day and fridge refilled - Felt it was time to replace the mattress in our room as it had definite sags in the mattress - #4024 - Buffet – good variety each day – lots of fruit available all day - Buffet was decorated lovely for Valentines Day - A la Cartes – Enjoyed all of them – Asian, Steak House and Italian being the favorites – no need for reservations (the best!) - Steak House was a little difficult to get into as it filled fast but enjoyed the lobster offered - Dress code for A la Cartes was comfortable – No need for long pants and shoes for the men - Enjoyed the pools and the beach equally but beach was a little breezy (Our weather was fantastic) - Bar Service at the pool was a little sparse – (made no difference if we tipped or not) Found it was easier to just go the bar and get our own drinks sometimes - Lots of sun and shade at pools - Snack Bar at pool was good - Riu Entertainers were not real inviting to join activities. We had to keep track of the activities on the RIU App or we would miss an activity we wanted to join - Pool Towels were accessible all day long - Valentines Photo Booth was fun – and giving out Roses was very thoughtful - Bar Service at the Lobby Bar was good – enjoyed Lobby Bar before dinner – Kristel took very good care of us - “Drink of the Day” bartenders were also great - Nightly entertainment was good – great dancers and variety – especially enjoyed the “Silent Disco” and the “Michael Jackson” show - Was a little disappointed with the Sports Bar. No grab and go food available. Had to order off a menu and could not take out - Wanted to play pool in the Sports Bar one evening but the bartender did not have tokens for the pool table. Had to search out change (in the lobby) in order to play. - Not a large resort area. If you wanted to walk you had to go outside of the resort - Walked to the other nearby RIU’s many times - Could walk miles along the beach - About a 20 – 30 minute walk to Bucerias – on walkway or beach - Confectionary and Pharmacy stores just outside of resort - Found the overall resort and grounds to be very clean - Attended RIU Party at the nearby RIU resort - Communication was a bit of a problem sometimes as we speak English - Enjoyed our stay and would recommend - Felt the resort needed more bathrooms – Bathrooms were located under the Buffet/Lobby/Beach. Need a bathroom in the Sports Bar/Entertainment Building. Presently a very long walk to a bathroom. - Average age of guests was probably 50-60 years of age - Excursions – did City Tour which included the Boardwalk and Rhythms of the Night Dinner Show NOTE TO RIU PALACE PACIFICO: Enjoyed our stay February 1 – 15, 2026. Just a note for the wellness of the employees. “Drink of the Day” cart. Exceptional bartenders but feel the hotel needs to provide a Fatigue Mat for the bartenders to stand on during their shift. They have to stand in one spot for a great length of time. One evening we were sitting in the lobby and noticed the bartender was having leg pain. He kept bending his legs and could see the pain in his eyes. Please provide these bartenders a Fatigue Mat to stand on. Something very easy to fix for the wellness of these employees

Entertainment is to look at, Their is lots of bat rays in the water, water snakes . Not to inviting to go swim. I prefer the RIU palace Costa Mujers .

My wife and I stayed Feb. 14-21 and found our room very clean and comfortable, very good service, good but not exceptional food, and a beautiful beach with a wonderful sunset every evening. HOWEVER, the reason I can only give 3 stars is because of the many personal accidents we witnessed, the RIU put tile around the pool area and when it gets wet is very slippery. We witnessed 2 or 3 people falling everyday we were there. We met a lady who had fallen on the slick tile and fractured her wrist and ended up in a local hospital.