Riu Palace Punta Cana - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

3749 reviews

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  AN AMAZING HONEYMOON

  Myself and my husband recently stayed here on our honeymoon and we were amazed by the grounds of this hotel. The pictures do not do it justice on how big and grand it is. It is incredible and so clean. The buffet restaurant I would say was our favourite of them all, there was always something different on every night and plenty of choice. The staff are incredible, all of them give great service and we could not fault any one of them. Ray, Raul and Juan in the buffet restaurant looked after us so well for the 2 weeks we were there. Iris and Deisy the staff serving drinks in the evening were also incredible. They always had smiles on their faces. The animation team are great and always had so much energy, I was in awe! We spent the majority of our time by the pool where the bar is. The music starts at 10am and it is not at all loud and you are still able to relax whilst there but also have a party. The only ‘con’ I would say is the rooms need a little bit of modernisation and TLC, especially in the bathrooms. It didn’t bother us too much as we didn’t spend much time in the room and mostly sat by the pool. I would 100% recommend Riu Palace Punta Cana if anyone was unsure of which hotel to stay at.

  Jan 23, 2026
• 

  vac

  everything was nice, except entertainment... Low quality for this type of hotel. Nothing to do .......

  Jan 23, 2026
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  Not luxury

  Here currently last day thank god . The good bits lovely location good looking hotel . The drinks are excellent. The entertainment is poor the food although varied poor quality and tasteless definitely more American tastes normally in other hotels if the food is poor their would be pizza and fries but this place don't seem to know how to make crispy fries and the pizza is the worst we have had in any hotel . I would say the cleanliness is lacking at this hotel such as plates been left from other guests on a table by the pool literally left from the night before and left all day . And general communal areas not cleaned such as stairwells. I've stopped with this chain many times over in Europe but this experience and the last two hotels with them have been noisy rooms after asking for quiet rooms I don't think I will stop again.

  Jan 23, 2026
• 

  Very good and relaxing

  First time in Dominican but not a RIU. Arrived at 2130 and check in was perfect, Michel was very attentive and gave great service. We were given room 1022, great sized room but we noticed water leaking from the bottom of the toilet bowl. We then received a call from reception asking if all was good with the room and so we mentioned the water. Within 5 minutes, a cleaner turned up and dried it off!! We left it until the next day to see if it was a continuous issue. Unfortunately it was and so, spoke to reception who were brilliant and gave us the opportunity to look at 1003 to move. We looked and were happy to do so and had no other issues with the room for the remainder of the trip. Rooms were cleaned daily and beds may be too firm for some but for us, we both said they were amazingly comfortable! Room 1022 was close to the stage and you could hear the entertainment but room 1003 was lovely and quiet, I would recommend! Food was your standard RIU buffet, yes there's plenty of choice but it can be quite tepid and a buffet meal is normally a quick process, 20 minutes in and out! We do prefer to take time and have a meal in the restaurants and used all but the italian one at Luigi's. Krystal was by far our favourite and we used it 3 times. The steak was nice and the lobster/Shrimp rice dish was lovely too. Breakfast in the buffet is far better than dinner/lunch in my opinion with great fruit choices and smoothies. Entertainment both daytime and evening could be improved in my opinion. We recently went to the RIU Tequila in Cancun and felt the daytime team were more engaged with guests. Evening is your standard singers/dancers show which are average at best. Staff are so hard working and deserve a mention for the great attitudes 9.9 out of 10 of them show. Definitely show your appreciation with a few dollars here and there, it doesn't go unnoticed. The beach was clean with minimal seaweed and it's a lovely walk either way. The one gripe we had was the smoking situation. In the RIU Tequilla, they have designated smoking areas. We're not smokers and have nothing against them but when I'm trying to relax on a sunbed or in the evening time, I'm not partial to wafts of secondhand smoke going directly in my face from all directions. I think it would be better to adopt the same at all RIU's and have designated areas. Just my opinion!! So, apart from a couple of minor gripes, we had a nice break. The weather was amazing and we came home relaxed.

  Jan 21, 2026
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  Loved the concept but rooms outdated

  Rooms need more upgrade the drainage system needs repair the water pressure was very weak and the sink had cracks. Jeffrey at Sports Bar was very attentive and friendly the service at the Pool bar was average and the resort didn’t have many good drinks option other than the Purple Rain Drink and Espresso Martini with Bailey.

  Jan 21, 2026