Riu Palace Costa Mujeres

This was my first trip out the country and it was amazing. I would recommend to anyone. The people in the hotel are so friendly and everywhere else we went as well. I can't wait to go again.

For my first time in Mexico I can say boy oh boy It was WONDERFUL From the time we step into the hotel to the time we left. Great customer service Clean room amazing food and great drinks I would definitely recommend staying here.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon around 2pm and many guest rooms were not ready. If you are arriving before 3 or 4 pm, be sure to pack a smaller separate bag with beachwear that you can change into in case your room isnt ready. We had to leave our luggage stacked up in the lobby until the room was ready. This was annoying but must be the norm there because the front desk was very casual about it. I thought the number of guests waiting for rooms was alot and would think that the staff would not want to create a large backup at 3pm and be sure that rooms were available. I was also told that I could upgrade to a swim out suite once I arrived, but when I got there they said there were none available. I went online as though I was going to book one and the website said they were available. The room I did get turned out to be all we needed anyway, but it was right above the swimouts and during the 5 days we were there, only one of the swimouts had people in them?? Aside from the check in process, everything else was great! The pools with the swim up bars were always busy but we never had to wait for service. There were other quieter pools too if that is more to your liking. The waitstaff that walked the beach was excellent, brought drinks out to us on the beach. We never had to wait at the restaurants and tried them all, our favorites were the Italian and the Mexican restaurants.The Buffet always had options for anyone's palate. You can book excursions right on property and can haggle the best deal. There were no SpringBreakers and very few families with small children even though this is not adults only it sort of felt that way. The beach was beautiful and we never had a problem finding chairs there or by the pool, no matter the time of day.

Pros: -Beautiful and very new resort -nightly shows are nice to watch (minute to win it on sundays was the best!) -lots of activities during the day, such as volleyball, bingo, yoga -can also purchase additional activities such as painting and massages -plenty of pools -plenty of chairs by pools and beach. never spent more than 5 minutes looking for a spot. Cons: -massages are extremely expensive, even with the $30 spa credit (which can only be applied to the most expensive massage they offer). -Restaurants are just okay, nothing spectacular (although the lobster from the steakhouse and Pepe's by the pool are both pretty good). But this is to be expected from an all inclusive at this price range. Obviously the japanese and italian restaurants won't be the best and most authentic you've tried, but they get the job done and offer variety during the stay. -lots of seaweed at the beach made it unenjoyable, but that is not the fault of the hotel. just a con overall during the stay but I don't fault the resort. -I really wish this resort was adults only, and don't get me wrong, I knew it wasn't adults only when I booked. However, the whole vibe of the hotel made me feel like it was meant to be adults only. The rooms are more of a romantic setting for couples with a nice, deep tub in the middle of the room, however this must be awkward for families as the rooms offers zero privacy. With Riu Dunamar right next door and already being family friendly, equipped with a waterpark and a riuland, my boyfriend and I failed to see why both properties would need to be family friendly. We felt it would have made more sense if Riu Palace Costa Mujeres was just Riu Dunamar's adults only sister property. This would've made the swim up pools more enjoyable because kids were always in the pools with swim up bars! Not sure if they were allowed to be there but it definitely wasn't enforced if they weren't. Overall, the hotel was still a great stay and I'd still recommend this place to others depending on what type of vacation they are looking for! It is isolated so keep this in mind. This could be a great or a bad thing depending on what you want to do. For me and my boyfriend, we were just looking to relax and maybe do an excursion or two. Cheap Caribbean made this so easy since their reps are on site everyday and provide tours for you to choose from. If you are looking to go out every night and explore Cancun and it's nightlife, this is not the resort for you! However, if you're looking to do that me and my boyfriend did, you'll love it (unless you're trying to tan with a super sexy/cheeky bathing suit, cause you'll feel awkward with the kids running around).