Riu Playacar - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8759 reviews

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  Great stay at Playacar Riu

  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ — Great stay at Playacar! Overall, we had a very nice experience at Playacar during our one-week stay at the end of October. The price and value were well balanced — not quite a 5-star resort, but definitely a solid 4.5-star in my opinion. Food & Drinks:
The buffet was consistently good with lots of variety. The à la carte restaurants were less impressive — especially the Japanese one, which turned out to be buffet-style too. We tried the steakhouse once and the Italian restaurant a few times and always found something tasty to enjoy. I didn’t like much for the wines offered, so I stuck with Prosecco and beer — both were good choices. Room & Facilities:
We had requested buildings 7 or 8 by email, and they kindly accommodated us. However, our first room was above the steakhouse, making it impossible to keep the balcony door open due to noise and smell . We asked to move and were relocated to Building 6, which we liked much better — it faced a peaceful tropical garden. The room was spotless every day, nicely decorated, and we received fresh towel art daily (which we really appreciated). Housekeeping did an excellent job, and we always tipped generously. Note: the fridge is not restocked unless you request it — we forgot one day and ran out of water, but we survived! 😄 Entertainment & Beach:
Entertainment was great, both day and night — shows at the beach, bar, and theater, plus a fun white party at Riu Tequila next door. The beach was beautiful, with warm, calm water and no seaweed during our stay. Even though the water was a bit murky near the shore, it cleared up further out. There were always plenty of sunbeds available at any time of day — no need to wake up early to reserve one! We loved relaxing by the pool facing the beach, enjoying the music and entertainment. Drinks were served nonstop, and the staff was always friendly and hardworking. Service & Cleanliness:
Service throughout the resort was excellent. The staff really goes above and beyond to keep everything clean and make guests feel welcome. I made sure to tip not just waiters and bartenders but also the cleaners and groundskeepers — they truly deserve it! Overall:
10/10 for cleanliness, service, beach, room comfort, and buffet food. The only downside was the à la carte restaurants, which could use some improvement in both design and menu. Still, we enjoyed ourselves very much and would happily return

  Nov 09, 2025
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  Nice hotel - Not great if you're gluten free / Coeliac

  It's a nice hotel with great staff, but it didn't quite live upto expectations. Positives: The entertainment team. Most of them are brilliant. Billy was so kind and was the only members who made the extra effort with us. My daughters are shy and he really made the holiday extra special for them so a big thank you to him. They were up dancing and had a lovely holiday. April and the gentleman (Sorry I've forgot his name) who do the aqua dance / aerobics are also superb and work incredibly hard. The Neon and White party nights are incredible. They're across the road at the Tequila, they start off slow but once the balloons come out and the music kicks in, you're in for a great night. Most of the bar staff are nice, but they will always prioritise Americans. I tipped 20 - 50 Pesos per order every time but it was never really appreciated and it would never get me served quicker. The staff are fast though and work very hard. Drinks aren't bad but not amazing, knock offs are used. The branded drinks were given to Americans automatically most of the time and it did feel a little unfair. We had the same wrist bands etc. so it wasn't to do with premium drinks bands like some hotels have. They also didn't pay an additional at the bar. The food was good and had plenty of options. However if you have dietary needs its bad. I'll get on to that below. The Bad: The beach is lovely, but we went in august for 14 nights and we managed to swim in the sea twice. The good days the water was still brown but ok to swim in. On the bad days the smell was atrocious. We didn't see the fuss at first and the smell wasn't to bad despite the seaweed/sargassum. But then after a week the smell was sickening on the beach and at the pool. This is everywhere on the coast though and the hotel works hard to clear it. I feel really sorry for them and the tourist industry as a whole. The Food: This is only bad if you have dietary needs, so if you can eat normal then skip all of this. I have Coeliac disease and quite frankly the hotel doesn't have a clue. Next to no one in the restaurant areas speaks English. I don't speak Spanish so I'm in no way suggesting they should. I'm just pointing out it causes issues when communication is vital. I downloaded a Spanish card from Coeliac UK explaining what my condition is and foods I must avoid prior to going. I shown this to staff and explained gluten will make me very Ill and was told no problem by staff. I was then sat down and given warm bread rolls and butter. Straight away alarm bells rung in my head. In the main buffet area they have a cabinet with bread but like all bad gluten free breads its inedible cold, but their is no where safe to toast it like in a lot of European resorts. They had muffins and cookies twice in the two weeks that were nice and they also had little banana breads that would rotate with carrot cakes. They were decent and very much appreciated. Everything contains gluten! White rice, Hummus, sauces, everything mexican including corn tacos contain wheat. Foods that has zero need to contain wheat, contained wheat. Everything is labelled with alergens however items will say they don't contain wheat but do. For instance the mousse says no wheat, but it has crushed up ice cream cones at the bottom. After 10 days I did get ill and was was ill for a week or so after getting back. I did email Riu and the hotel direct to share my concerns but I didn't recieve a reply from anyone. I will say again though, if you don't have a special diet you'll have lots of choice and lots of nice food. The buffet is better than the restaurants however. Their was one Chef who made me gluten free pizzas at lunch. So a huge thank you to the head chef at the pizza station for making me pizzas. Overall the hotel is nice, the staff are nice, the hotel and rooms are kept very clean, the food is good if you can eat normally, the entertainment is decent, Some nights are better than others, but overall we enjoyed the shows and entertainment. You will have a good time. It wasn't anything special but we had a good time. Lack of training around gluten free food, the sargassum and also everyone outside the hotel trying to rip you off (be wary. They will try and charge you £40 for a £2 ball. £9 for 1 bag of lays crisps. Even at the 7/11. Don't expect to find a bargain as they don't exist for tourists in Mexico.) all this did give me some negatives hence the score. I think 4 out of 5 is fair. I don't want to score the hotel low as my circumstances with my diet won't apply to 90% of people but i would advise caution if you're coeliac / celiac and do suffer with symptoms from it. The hotel has a lot going for it. But it also isn't perfect. If they can improve of thr dietary issues I would return however I couldn't as it is. My wife and daughters who return thought.

  Nov 02, 2025
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  FIRST CLASS

  This hotel was more than we expected!! We have stayed at other Riu hotels but this was the best ever! Food ,entertainment both day and night were of a high quality and the rooms clean,fresh and air-conditioning great! One small let down, the steak house only offer one steak (ribeye),but the one offed in the Italian restaurant made up for that . The only show we didn't like was the Abba experience, the group didn't really look like the originals, and rather made too much of the dancers, who covered the singers a lot of the time !! The other shows were good and the one of all the regions in the world was fabulous!

  Nov 02, 2025
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  Relaxing stay right on the beachfront

  This was our fourth visit to the Playacar resort area since 2008. We tend to go back every 4-5 years because we love it there - the beach is stunning! It’s a relatively quiet and relaxing resort, within walking distance of Playa Del Carmen (about 30-40 minutes) along the road or the beach depending on tide times. There are a few taxes you need to pay before travel / at the hotel when visiting this area of Mexico. They are not particularly expensive or a problem but you just need to be aware of them in advance, that’s all. You can easily go on lots of great excursions from here too on bus or boat. We have visited the ancient Mayan ruins at Tulum, which was amazing and went to a lovely and relaxing beach there after. But we are quite lazy really so haven’t ever been on any of the other excursions as tempting as they sounded! We have stayed at Riu Lupita and Tequila previously, both of which were nice at the time. If staying at Riu Playacar, you can also use the restaurants, bars, pools, sun beds and other facilities (all inclusive) at Tequila and Yucatan (both a short walk) during the daytime, which is great. We have stayed at this hotel on our last 2 holidays there and loved it. The staff are welcoming and the service in bars and restaurants was always good. Everything in the rooms is included, with no hidden extras. On both occasions our room was cleaned daily, spacious and comfortable with a selection of different pillows. In the main it was quiet, with only some noise from other guests returning from the bars but not after midnight or anything like that. This time our shower wasn’t very powerful although still adequate. There didn’t seem to be a general problem with water pressure but the hose / head looked quite old, so could have done with being replaced. The food and drinks were lovely and fresh with good variety. We didn’t try any of the a la carte restaurants on site as we love a buffet! So can’t comment on those. This place is great for wildlife lovers - saw some colourful birds, iguanas and raccoons. There was also a little monkey walking through the reception area a couple of mornings and he even joined us for lunch one day in the outside restaurant! He was very cute but his table manners needed a bit of work. Everywhere in the grounds were these cute little Agouti creatures - saw some with baby ones a couple of days. Adorable! I didn’t use the gym because I’d accidentally forgotten to pack all my spandex and lycra but my partner did and said it was good. Although it does start to get busy after 6.30am and you may have to wait a little bit for the machine or pair of weights you want to use. There’s lots of sports activities here if you like that sort of thing - volleyball, soccer, jet ski etc. The entertainment team are good fun too! We loved this hotel and would definitely return again in the future. Very relaxing holiday with only 10 minutes of rain in 2 weeks! Land and sea temperature was just right at that time of year.

  Oct 20, 2025
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  Another fantastic holiday

  This was our 2nd time at the hotel and won't be the last, when we visited last time I travelled with my husband and this time there were a party of 6. On arriving at the hotel you are welcomed with a drink, check in was very easy and the bellman loaded our cases on his trolley and took them all to our rooms. We had 3 ground floor rooms next to each other which was great, the rooms were very clean, the air conditioning worked well, Wi-Fi great and had everything in them that what we needed. The staff work extremely hard all day and night, keep the hotel spotlessly clean and the bar staff keep the drinks flowing. The housekeeping team kept the room clean and the man who fills the fridge kept the fridges well stocked. All the restaurants had excellent food and a different variety of cuisines for everyone's taste, the staff in the restaurants clear your plates away as quick as possible and the waitress Anel deserves a mention as she was always happy to have a chat if she had time. During our holiday we had to visit urgencies due to a small incident. The reception staff, doctor at the Yucatan, the staff at the hospital and the TUI reps were brilliant and made sure we were all alright on the rest of the holiday. The pools are lovely and warm, the sea was clear and beautiful to swim in and whilst you are sat around the pool one of the bar staff come round clearing cups and taking orders for drinks to be delivered to your sunbed - great service. Finally the animation team were great with their entertainment and a shout out to Jesus he made our holiday as he tried to get us involved even though we weren't much good at the activities! the white and neon parties are great at the tequila. My parents went with us this time and found it quite loud as they enjoy very quiet and relaxing holidays now as they are in their seventies and they would not return. The rest of the party would definitely recommend and return back to this hotel and looking forward to booking again soon.

  Oct 17, 2025