Riu Emerald Bay

I loved cheap Caribbean and they did such an awesome job! Just wanted to point that out! However, RIU Emerald Bay was the worst resort I’ve ever been to. They were so cheap and stingy, it’s not worth your money. They also made us pay for a towel that someone stole off our chair. The food is not great and all the restaurants serve the exact same food, even the ones you have to make reservations for. The service was not good and many of the employees were rude. In the room they never refilled the toiletries and we had to call and ask for more toilet paper. There wasn’t even a blanket on the bed, just a sheet.

It would be really hard to find anything negative to say about our trip. This was our fifth stay at a RIU and everything was great. Only thing I would say that was bad was the elevator service. It was a challenge everyday to get up and down but really that was a small thing we worked around. Had a great time would recommend it for anyone.

This place was great. We had a great time there. The rooms were nice and clean. The minibar was not like any I had seen before. Rather than providing the mini bottles of liquor, there was a wall cabinet that had full bottles of liquor with the pressure dispensers. They provided 4 bottles: Vodka, Tequila, Rum and Gin. The mini refrigerator included Tecate, bottles of water, and some mixers including seltzer and mineral water. They restock every other day, so if you drink a lot of water, that can be considered a down side. They had 4 dining rooms- 2 of which are huge buffet type, and one Mexican sit down and one Asian sit down. The buffets offered a plethora of options including some common Mexican dishes, which I enjoyed because I like to try new things. The Asian dining room requires a 'reservation', but you just need to get your name added to a list. The dining rooms have set hours, so if you like to eat earlier than 6:30 PM for dinner- it could be considered a downside. One cool thing that we enjoyed was the fact that the chef cooked some fish that we had caught on a fishing trip. He even asked us how we wanted it prepared. It was delicious! There is nothing better than eating fish caught that day. The other thing I liked was that the beach vendors had to stay a certain distance away from the resort. On a previous trip to Mazatlan, we were approached once we set foot on the beach. Here, you could get to the beach and relax and enjoy the sun without having vendors approach you. Albeit, they will attempt to get your attention while you are relaxing. The service was impeccable. No matter where you went, dining, the various bars, housekeeping, etc the staff was just awesome. I highly recommend staying here.

As soon as I stepped into the hotel, I noticed a different vibe; sure enough I approached the front desk and the customer service level was a joke. And so it was throughout my 10 days in the property. They need to catchup with their international etiquette making sure you are their priority every time and every way. That ever happened. The new rooms added in the adjacent blocks are like a half a mile from the main tower, not recommended if you have kids or if traveling with someone with health conditions besides they are flat and boring. You will find a hospital room more vivid and interesting. These rooms in general have no ocean view because they face a central garden. They moved me into the main tower and the the ocean view compensated some of my bad decision booking this hotel. This room was old and the bedding stunk just about every day. Dd I mention the bed was also mediocre? BTW looking down from above in the balcony, I noticed the murky water in the two largest pools, another huge disappointment. The buffets were OK but by the forth day, I was getting tired of the same. The lack of dessert in all restaurants and buffets for me was a huge disappointment as well. Their drinks, OMG, their drinks were tasteless as well as their beer, I through away like 40% of them. I can go on and like the poor elevators they have in the entire hotel. You can wait up to 30 minutes to catch an elevator if you are the lower levels. They are usually packed and they don’t stop! Some are out of service, some have have no AC and basically you ride at your own risk the way I see it!! The elevators can’t keep up with the amount of guests they lay have a few and they are basically small. They underestimated the elevators big time when they designed this hotel in scale. I think this vacation could have been a lot more memorable in a good way if things have been different from what I experience in 10 days. I could have mention a lot more negative things about this property but I mentioned enough to consider other properties more seriously. The whole place needs a face lift and they need to water their plants In the lobby because they look sick and dehydrated. I hit the nail in the head about my first impression about this hotel since I put my first foot at the very entry. I must also say that the Mexican people around and the service people in the hotel work extremely hard and are respectful and are welcoming and are very friendly. Nevertheless management is a different story. THIS HOTEL IS WAY OVERPRICED FOR THE SERVICE PROVIDED.