Riu Palace Paradise Island (Adults-Only)

What a fantastic 6 days at the RIU. I really have nothing negative to say, accept for the fact I had to leave. First of all the RIU is small compared to other places, but that's just fine by me. It still has it ALL!! Food at specialty restaurants was very good, especially the Steakhouse & Culinarium. And yes, u do have to get there 45 minutes before dinner, but you can always go to the Calypso Bar & have a drink till your buzzer rings or just go to the buffet, which is also very good!! No issues with housekeeping & shout out to our girl DORA who made sure our room was always in order & we had everything we needed. Drink service at the pool was super. Shaniqua took care of all our needs & was consistently there for us. And don't forget Neischa at the Calypso Bar who was always sharing stories & taking care of our drink needs whether it be coffee in the early morning or drinks at nite. Let's not forget about the delicious cappuccino at the coffe bar available from 10 am till 11 pm. I miss it already as I only got home last nite. Proximity to the Atlantis next store is great, as the casino is only a 5 minute walk. So glad we went during daylight savings time, as I stated "we had an extra hour in paradise" because of it. Great place to sit back & relax to enjoy the beach & the sun. CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!!!

I emailed and called to inform the property and management that we had dietary restrictions two weeks before our arrival (vegetarian and vegan). I was told that there was a separate vegetarian menu and that we could also meet with the Executive Chef upon our arrival. When we checked in, we did just that and was assured by the chef that there would be plenty of suitable options for us and that they would make sure that the staff would prepare adequately for us. Long story short, the buffet contained nothing edible for us besides a Morningstar burger, pizza, and plain pasta with marinara sauce. We tried to order from the vegetarian menu (mind you this menu is the same across all the property's restaurants) and was told that none of the appetizers were available, but that they could make us "veggie spring rolls". These turned out to be a piece of lettuce and a piece of tomato wrapped (cold and NOT battered/fried). Completely disgusting. To make matters worse, the ONLY two entrees that we were told that we could order were still not served to us after 45 minutes of sitting in the restaurant. Others had come, eaten, and left before we got our food. We left without eating there and again spoke to the chef, who could do nothing but apologize. Everyone seems to be blaming someone else, but at some point, someone needs to not only take responsibility, but fix the problem. That's where this RIU failed spectacularly. Last point on this was the pathetic "24 hour room service menu", which offered only a veggie club sandwich (and not much else for non-vegetarians/vegans either -- definitely the least impressive and expansive room service menu at an all-inclusive that I've ever seen). When we called to order, we were told that they were "out" of the sandwiches and that all of the room service food was pre-made and pre-bought. They were also unable/unwilling to provide us with any alternate options (knowing that we had dietary restrictions WELL ahead of time). So we had nothing to eat that night. In addition to the lack of stated vegan and vegetarian options, the pool area is small, the "private" beach is actually public and is littered with people trying to sell you everything from a hair braiding to attempting to charge you to use the beach chairs. Beyond that, there's only a single bar which is old, smells musty, and serves a mediocre selection of liquor (the best vodka that you can at the resort is either Smirnoff/Absolut). As for the rooms, our balcony was tiny and provided a view of the ocean which was completely obstructed by construction. The thermostat was also broken, so the rooms were FREEZING -- if/when you opened the balcony door for some heat, the condensation on the floor caused the entire surface to be slippery and sticky. Add that to that the fact that the hotel doesn't provide actual comforters when the rooms are freezing and you're unable to control the temperature. To be clear, this place was utterly terrible. We spent as little time here as humanly possible and that was too much. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place like the plague. I'm sure the reputation management folks will similarly offer empty and insincere apologies, but they don't even begin to make up for a series of terrible blunders. And please don't say that you hope we'll visit you again in the future -- I can guarantee you that we most certainly will not (and will do everything possible to make sure that others like us don't either).

the buffet was excellent so many choices. they have several restaurants only negative thing is that you have to line up outside restaurant at 6 in order to get inside at 6;30. once the line reaches to about 20-25 people they hand out pagers for the next seating at 7;30. we tried the steak house excellent lobster tail. 2 choices of wine also. servers were excellent. dont forget to take single dollars as its nice to leave a tip at each meal. they appreciate it and they give great service. i noticed on the beach that others from a different hotel were parking themselves in front of the riu beach and many had kids. the RIU men were asking them if they wanted drinks and they didnt have the RIU braclet on. we will return to this hotel it was excellent.

We’ve been traveling to the Caribbean for years. This year we booked the Dominican Republic but then changed it to the Bahamas. It was our first time there. Overall the experience was good but not great. Weather was perfect, food was average, the restaurants were a big disappointment (could not make reservations, lines were long to get in, once they filled up they turned you away), we ended up going to restaurants outside the resort and had to pay. The pool was full of sand and the music while good was way too loud. We travel 3-4 times a year and probably won’t be back for a long time if at all. We spent way too much for what we received.