Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico - Adults Only - All Inclusive

Mixed feelings. Great hardworking and friendly staff everywhere! Beautiful building, green areas and beach. It was my 1st time at Riu and my last one. I thought they will have a 4 or 5 star level per the reviews, similar to an upscale Hyatt or Hilton, but the food and guests environment was a 3 stars hotel. Loud drunks starting after breakfast in elevators, outside restaurants, comon areas, and of course at the pool bar, they are loud, smelly and obnoxious. Also, cigars and smokers all around the beach chairs, you'll have to move around to avoid their groups smoking for hours non stop. The food is 2 or 3 stars, no flavor, even at Guacamole, the mexican restaurant. The restaurants are meant to feed the masses and provide alcohol non stop instead of taste and quality.

Beautiful resort, the beach access is excellent. Clean beach with chairs always available. However, too many people trying to sell wares, sometimes it’s 10-15 in a span of 30 minutes. I don’t think they should be allowed access to a private beach. The buffet was excellent, there were a few dishes that were stale however that’s on par with any buffet. Excellent seafood. The American night wasn’t great. The sports bar has great wings but the service isn’t always the best, we sat for 20 minutes without service. They also don’t play any sports besides Mexican league soccer and American football. We were hoping to catch a hockey game or a World Cup Qualifier game but they didn’t have it. Not really a sports bar. I would give this resort 5 stars but on the Friday night they held a staff party which included closing down the pool and beach area to guests early. They blasted music until 1am, keeping all the guests awake. Not great optics for hosting a customer service event. The music was so ridiculously loud that the inside of our hotel room was rumbling. I’m all for the internal celebration of staff but don’t do it during peak time at the expense of the guests who spend a lot of money to be here.

It’s best to avoid this place. They put themselves ahead of customers. Nice building, some friendly staff and decent rooms but that’s it for the positives. The food is extremely mediocre verging on poor. The pools are far too small for the number of people at the resort. There is constantly noise with loud music and construction. The bathrooms are not convenient to the pool area, so it seems that not many use them (uh-oh). To top it all off, they had an internal RIU employee party for two days during our visit. This event took over part of the pool area and included a band playing at mega volume until close to 1am, keeping everyone awake. The management apparently thought it was ok to put a small group of employees above the hundreds of paying guests at their hotel. Without warning to anyone, of course. Here’s a little business tip RIU…rewarding your employees should not come at the expense of your customers.

Horrible experience at Riu Palace Pacifico in Nuevo Vallarta. This resort is having an event for RIU STAFF and the PAYING CUSTOMERS have been blocked out of restaurants and pools for this event. And now we are being subjected to very loud live music blasting until midnight. This is unacceptable.

My husband and I stayed for a week to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary this November. We have stayed at this property many times over the last 10 years both before and since the major renovation. It has never disappointed us. The staff is always amazing and ready to respond to any needs whether it’s by the pool for towel service, mini bar service, or service in any restaurant or bar. The reception desk is always hospitable as well. Since it has been offered we always book the elite club for the many worthwhile benefits it offers. This benefit includes priority check in in the exclusive elite club bar, a very good exclusive elite club restaurant , comfortable beach cabanas in an exclusive area on the beach with its own bar service , advance reservations at any specialty restaurant , nice mini bar amenities (and the usual liquor dispensers in the room) and special room service options as well as a special breakfast dining area in the morning (with menu service if desired ). It is totally worth the price. Julian and Tomas are two of the best waiters ever and work at the breakfast and lunch buffet in the outside dining area. Be sure to meet them while you are there! They have been working there since before we started staying there ! The waitstaff and bartenders are all amazing. While not expected tips are greatly appreciated by staff and are well deserved ! It is best to bring cash with you and have the denominations you want as they cannot make change at the desk for you. The beach cabanas are well shaded and make for a very relaxing day. The beach is lovely sand and the ocean is warm with no seaweed (like is currently an issue in Cancun and other areas ). The water is not clear blue as the Caribbean was before the seaweed issue but is a better choice than dealing with all the seaweed. People enjoyed the ocean daily and many like riding the waves on the boards you can loan out. There are many great vendors on the beach if you want to shop for great souvenirs and jewelry. Our favorite jewelry vendor is Ramiro who always offers fair prices and a great selection of gorgeous silver jewelry. Be sure to ask for him if you’re in the market! There are many options for sunset horseback riding and pictures. Rodrigo is always in front of the RIU and is our favorite with his pretty horses. The massage tents on the beach are $35 US for an hour and they do a great job. We went to the pink tent twice during our stay for relaxing massages on the beach. There are many other unique souvenirs for sale on the beach. The vendors are willing to negotiate and they are also very friendly and non intrusive even if you do not want to look or buy anything. If you join RIU class when reserving your stay your transportation to and from the airport is included and I highly recommend this. You will also accrue points for future stays. We love RIU palace hotels in general but this one remains our favorite by far !

We stayed oct 31-nov7, hotel is beautiful and clean, staffs are always helpful and provide great services, room is spacious and cleaned daily, drinks in fridge also stocked daily. Big shout out to excellent staffs: Paola in buffet restaurant, Adan and Alonsio in steak restaurant, Jose at beach bar…they are always attentive and always make us feel like home, provide exceptional services. Steak house is the best restaurant, then Krystal, one good thing is no reservation required, only first come first serve. Plenty of chairs around pools and beach, very clean. Thanks for providing us great experience!

I’m joining the other negative reviews because they’re absolutely honest. People really need to filter through the many overly positive reviews of this hotel. The only positive thing I can say about the Riu Palace Pacifico is that the grounds are clean. Everything else was a huge disappointment. Lobby Bar: The bartenders looked bored and uninterested in serving guests. We tipped every single time — even increased our tips to $5 for two drinks — and nothing changed. They seemed like they didn’t want to be there. Swim-Up Bar: Forget about getting a drink here. It’s constantly full of drunk guests who never leave the water, making it impossible to swim up and order a drink. Pools: The pool water is hotter than the ocean — it feels like stepping into a bath. There’s no way to cool off. And when they announced there was a crocodile in the ocean and closed the beach, there was literally nowhere refreshing to go. Food: By far the worst food we’ve ever had at any all-inclusive resort. Maybe the positive reviewers haven’t stayed anywhere else, but this was unacceptable. The buffet never changes — despite claims of themed nights — and the “variety” is limited to the same pizzas, burgers made of mystery meat bricks, and bland dishes day after day. Restaurants: • Asian Restaurant: Completely inedible. • Mexican Restaurant: Boring and basic — tacos and enchiladas you can get anywhere, with no regional touch. • Krystal (Gourmet) Restaurant: The only decent food we had, but the portions were tiny. When we asked to try an extra appetizer, we were told no — one plate per person. Really? In an all-inclusive? • Steakhouse: Atrocious. You have to line up at 5:30 p.m. just to get a table, which is ridiculous since most people are still at the beach then. The steaks were tough and overcooked — we ordered medium-rare and got well-done rubber. Everyone around us agreed it was inedible. Entertainment: The entertainment was terrible. We’re not sure who they’re aiming it toward — maybe older couples who go to bed at 10 p.m., which is fine, but please offer something for guests who want to have a fun evening. The only live music was a Mexican band that played for about 30 minutes, and there was a DJ booth but a DJ never showed up. The nightly shows were the same tired performances seen at many other resorts — how many Michael Jackson shows can you see? They’re all identical. Room Request: When we booked directly through the hotel, we specifically asked for a ground-floor room for my mother’s comfort, and they confirmed it. Upon arrival, we were told there are no ground-floor rooms at this property — every room requires taking an elevator. Very disappointing, especially after being reassured in advance. ⸻ Overall: This was one of the most disappointing all-inclusive experiences we’ve ever had. The clean grounds can’t make up for the poor service, bland food, lackluster entertainment, and overall sense of indifference. We spent very little time in the room, so we were hoping for great food, beach time, and entertainment — but all of that was virtually nonexistent. I truly wish I had trusted the honest negative reviews before booking.

We had a wonderfull week at Riu Palac and plan going back. the food was excellent, room was comfortable and staff very friendly

Have been to Riu resorts in Cancun and Cabo many times, our first trio to Puerto Vallarta Oct 20, 2025. Used private transport to hotel (White Glove Vallarta) and arrived quickly. We were early but checked right in and given wristbands while we waited for our rooms. Very impressed with resort, everything super clean and looked freshly painted everywhere. Our room was very nice with a good view of the ocean from fifth floor, Being close to elevators was nice because the hallways are long. Bed comfortable AC worked great, bathroom very functional. Bar service was quick throughout resort, drinks were well made. Buffet restaurant was smallish but had a good variety of foods although many meat selections were quite disappointing. Link sausage has a distinct liver flavor at breakfast which was not enjoyable. Fruits and salads were very fresh. Seafood fish and shrimp was hit and miss. Deserts where okay, nothing to get excited about. Pools were clean but the weather made them too warm to be refreshing. Many people swam in ocean, no significant seaweed. Lots of loungers, I think the resort was only half full The service in the ala carte restaurants was fair to poor, We ate at steakhouse, Krystal, Italian and Mexican. Food was nothing exceptional there. We liked Krystal the best. Entertainment was difficult to sit through due to the heat but was okay. Loved the cappuccino bar in lobby, quick service and nice little snacks AC was fantastic in our room, lobby and restaurants, thank God because it was over 90 and very humid. Overall very enjoyable.. would go back.. the super clean resort and great service from most staff made the day. I talked to people who booked Elite.. my take away is it wasn't worth the extra fee.

Pools are too hot, no where to cool off or get refreshed, only hot water showers both by the pool and in the rooms. When I asked about cooler water in the shower at the front desk, I was told they didn’t have to ability to make cold water. The tiles surrounding the pool are so slippery I watched someone fall every single day of my trip. Even I slid and had to sit down hard on the stairs on my first morning. This was happening early in the morning before people even got too drunk. So dangerous! The pools also all close at 7pm, even though the sun is still up, for cleaning. This is too early for how many people there are at the resort and how many eat late dinners. The “smoke free” label on this property definitely isn’t accurate because the two smoking areas are located very close to large common gathering areas like the beachfront and large lay in swimming pool. All the smoke blows through the property most of the day. The activities are extremely loud and start very early making resting or sleeping in on your vacation very difficult. Same goes for the hallways and room noise level, very early cleaning and very noisy hallway, virtually no sound proofing. There should be more “cutting people off” from alcohol as my friend who I traveled with was blackout drunk, completed wasted every single night, causing disruptions which bothered me and people around us. I had no control over her but the bartenders could have said no after she finished a whole bottle of tequila in one day. She couldn’t walk by herself by the end of the night and I had to help her. Restaurants are small and don’t take reservations. You also cannot order liquor in any of the restaurants, only beer or wine. If you want a cocktail you have bring it with you or get up during your meal to go get it. While they say they are super allergen friendly, I didn’t have this experience and struggled to eat my entire trip. Only the steakhouse was accommodating but with no reservations available that meant standing outside waiting for a table every single night. We ended often standing outside for longer than we were at a table. Restaurants are also only open for maybe 3 hours per night (6-9) which is quite short for how many rooms there are and the fact that lots of people eat later at night. The room service menu is 7-8 items unless you are Elite club which is quite small considering it’s supposed to be 24 hour room service for an all inclusive resort. The only thing I could have from the menu was fruit with my gluten free restriction let alone other things. On my last full day, I went to the outdoor area connected to the Sports Bar and asked if I could order food to eat outside in my swim coverup and was told, “yes, there’s even a server outside to help you.” After ordering and waiting about 10 minutes for food I could actually eat most of, the server came over with my food and offered me another drink to which I asked for water. When he came back, he informed me I wasn’t allowed to be here without a shirt. I was about to take my first bite of my food and was told to leave and get a shirt. I asked why this was happening now instead of when I arrived and wasn’t given an answer other than, the manager said you need a shirt to sit out here. Which is why I asked when I arrived because I understand and want to follow the rules. Considering I asked, was given a positive answer and sat down outside for almost 10 minutes, I fully assumed this was ok. Irritated but hungry, I left (they wouldn’t let me take the food with me either) when asked to go get a shirt and when I came back they had taken away my food and utensils. With no one around to explain what had happened, I decided to leave because this was insane. I’m sitting outside at a beachside resort but I’m required to have a shirt on, but you waited until after I started to eat to tell me that! So incredibly rude. And when I let the front desk know about my situation, she asked me, “well where is the shirt you went to get?”, almost implying I needed one at all times. And I responded, “I took it off because I’m outside at a beachside where I’ve never been told a shirt was required.” She acted like I was required to wear a shirt to walk through the lobby but it doesn’t say that anywhere I could find. The sit down restaurants where the only spots with a posted dress code. And plenty of girls walked around the resort in way smaller swimwear than I was wearing. I was offered “anything” to make my trip better so I asked for a reservation or a table at the restaurant I could most easily eat at with my restrictions and was told no we don’t make reservations. Only elite parties can make reservations. So it became clear that they didn’t want to help me, aren’t friendly towards people with food allergies who have restrictions and need assistance. Will not be returning to this hotel which is too bad because the staff was mostly great and the beach/weather/grounds were beautiful.