Riu Bambu

Food was terrible. Sheets were not changed from previous vacationers. Staff are super friendly and gracious. Have low expectations before coming to stay at this property.

We had a great time at the Riu Bambu! We are a family of four with two children, ages 10 and 9. The resort is beautiful and the grounds are well kept. There are several pools on the property, some are fun and energetic with a party atmosphere are some are peaceful and quiet. We prefer the pools with a lot of activity because we have kids. The beach is gorgeous with white sand, blue water and a ton of palm trees if you prefer to relax in the shade. There's volleyball, soccer, and other activities directly in front of the hotel (parasailing, tubing, banana boat, etc...). If you have children, the Splash water park is a must! If you walk through the resort, it takes you 5 minutes to get there! The park is small but has some really good slides and a children's splash area. It is very clean and well supervised. My kids loved it! We thought the food was great but please know that we are not picky eaters. The breakfast and lunch buffets were standard but the dinner buffet was exceptional. There were so many dishes to choose from, so if you didn't like something you could try something else. The kids were happy because they always had pasta, pizza, burgers, fries and ice cream! They also have other specialty places to eat if you get tired of the buffet. The rooms were standard, comfortable and clean. The service was very good especially at the bars. These people work very hard! We loved our trip to Punta Cana and loved the Riu Bambu. Don't listen to the negative reviews. Now if you are used to 5 star hotels with fancy accommodations and food as well as an adult only atmosphere this might not be the place for you. But if you are looking for a nice resort, clean rooms, pretty beach, lots of swimming pools, good service, good food, plenty of bars (including 2 swim up bars), lots of fun for the kids then this is the place for you!

I went Aug 4th-8th. (By the way, the weather was great, it only rained once for 5 mins late in the day) Pros: The hotel is beautiful!! Our room looked exactly as pictured. Modern, with floor lengthen (selfie) mirror. The staff is friendly and super helpful. Our first room had plumbing issues and we were moved immediately. We were able to get towels. There was always a place to sit at the beach. The beach was clean, not too crowded. No crazy waves, not a lot of seaweed. The entertainment was great! There was always something fun going on. The bathrooms were always clean. The drinks were great. Speciality Restaurants were great. Go to the 'disco'! When we first heard of it, we thought it would be corny (two females ages: 27 and 28), ohhhh noooo- it was so much fun! Better than some clubs I've been to in the US! The water park was a blast. As old as we are, I had so much fun! Didn't have to walk far to get there either. Cons: The bed wasn't super comfy. They didn't give us daily clean linen (I'm sure they would have if we had asked). Speciality restaurants were a little hard to get into. It would be perfect if they opened maybe just an addition hour later, but the food was great! Buffet food was okay. Not great, just okay. Overall: totally worth the money! Not 5 star, but pretty near it! I would definitely recommend to a friend. Tips: brush up on your Spanish, reserve speciality restaurant seats early.

We have been coming to the Dominican Republic for 8 years and have never been disappointed. We stayed at the Riu Palace Punta Cana in May 2017 because the Riu Bambu was closed for remodeling. So we came back in August 2017 with our 2 granddaughters and we all had the best time ever. The remodeling looks great and the staff was exceptional. I will upload photos soon.