Riu Palace Bavaro - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

11182 reviews

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  Rosario is the BEST of the BEST!

  The BEST waiter with the BEST customer service at this resort goes to Rosario! We went last year and again this year and both times he was AMAZING! He is super attentive, he is quick, he always makes certain all of our wants and needs are met. He is super polite, He is always smiling and seems so happy and eager to serve us. He keeps our glasses filled and our orders exactly how we order them. He always goes above and beyond! Both times we visited RIU Palace Bavaro..We had him at the buffet for breakfast a few times as well as at the Steakhouse for dinner a couple of times and he is just SUPERB at his job! This kid needs a raise and a promotion! He could definitely teach and train all the waiters how to be better! He’s the BEST! BRAVO Rosario you’re amazing! I will look for him EVERYTIME I go! Please tip him well, he deserves it!

  Feb 18, 2026
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  Overall great experience!

  My stay at the RIU Palace Bávaro was great! Food was good and had a wide variety! My only negative thing was the on-site night entertainment in the theater! Didn’t have much variety and was very boring BUT the RIU Party’s were phenomenal and was a blast attending those! Employees were so nice and helpful! Bartenders were great! Overall very happy with the stay for a week!

  Feb 17, 2026
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  Family Vacation at Riu Palace Bavaro - GREAT Entertainment TEAM!

  Stayed at the Riu from Feb 8th - 15th. Loved the resort layout. Super clean everywhere! Food was very good - loved the shrimp quesadillas at the American Grill. We went back more than once for those and the BBQ wings and mac&cheese. The Food court for lunch was very convenient and always had fresh food at each station. Our granddaughter had ice cream multiple times per day on this vacation as it is in the food court and in the cute little ice cream shop by the lobby. Rooms were very nice - we had an adjoining room with our daughter and son in law and granddaughter so that was really nice. Our other daughter and her husband had a junior suite. I did request the rooms to be close together via email and with my travel agent but when we got there the rooms were not close at all as one was 1084 and the other was 6555. They did change that when we checked in and said that the rooms were "across the hall". That was not true when we checked in as across the hall was across the courtyard building - but we just kept them like that as it didn't really matter as long as they were in the same building and same floor. Beach is Beautiful! They keep it very clean with no sargassum! So many palm trees and different shapes and sizes. Loved that they weren't all planted in a row but very random and lots of chairs. Pools were very clean also - well, we didn't go in the main swim up one - way too many people and as we all know - seems not many get out to use the restroom at all. ;) Entertainment team was the best part about this resort! So much fun and inviting. We had many that we enjoyed talking to all week! Especially Marisol (hope I am spelling right) and Junior. They made our vacation so fun! Lots of cool games and they were all so good with our 3 year old Granddaughter! Making her laugh and giving her high fives. As for any negatives I have - the wifi was not great. We were bounced on and off ALL the time which made it hard to contact other family members. This was the situation all week for us on all different phones so it wasn't an issue with phones. Bathrooms - definitely not enough of them. They are VERY clean but when you are at the beach it is quite the walk to a bathroom. The worst location is the main buffet - no bathroom anywhere near it. Especially hard when you have a 3 year old to get them there. You had to either walk all the way down to the lobby bathroom or way around the buffet and out to the main path to get to the bathroom over by the food court/pool area. We found that frustrating. We would definitely go back to this resort and to Punta Cana. However, we usually like to always try new places. If you anyone has any questions I would definitely recommend adding the group for the Rui Palace Bavaro on your Facebook - was very informative.

  Feb 17, 2026
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  4/5 fun beach vacation

  Landscaping is beautiful. Lobby is beautiful. Beach was very pretty. Went for sunrise in the mornings. Tractor was used frequently to clear seaweed which was appreciated! There are some people walking trying to sell things but they are respectful when you decline. Buffet was the best food for lunch and dinner. Servers Daniel and Paco were great! Joe’s bar was our night meetup. Melvin, Karen and Cristina started every night with amazing drinks. We also really enjoyed Hernandez making a new craft cocktail in the lobby every night. The adult only pool with a swim up bar was where we spent most days. Thankful for Anthony’s great service and entertainment! Asian restaurant- the pad Thai, ramen and gyoza very good! 4/5 stars Steakhouse was ok. Cheesecake was the best thing. 3/5 stars Agave Mexican was the worst service. It was not busy. But still took us a long time to get our food. Food was just ok. Except tres leches was delicious. 2/5 stars Krystal. I felt bad for the host. He was running seating guests, setting tables, cleaning tables and clearing plates from tables in the whole restaurant. The servers refused to remove plates and would call him over when they saw any. I don’t know if he’s just in training but he was working so hard! We appreciated his hard work. The food was just ok. Lobster tartar was the best. Lobster bisque is more like a brown broth with small bits of lobster. 2/5 stars. Italian restaurant- 0 stars. Porkchop dry and Alfredo very bland and watery. Wine is terrible Cons - WiFi very poor but we weren’t here to work so that was ok. A lot of workers are not super welcoming as I’ve experienced in other parts of the world. They act like they don’t want to be here. We would have enjoyed music at the adult only swim up bar pool. They only started playing music at like 4ish? By that point we were usually going to clean up for dinner. Our room was on the 4th floor with no elevator or railing up the stairs. Got a great workout every time but this may not work for some guests. Our water pressure was very low. But I guess that happens at a large resort sometimes.

  Feb 17, 2026
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  Family vacation

  Our first family vacation to the Dominican Republic. Overall value, food and cleanliness was great. Very satisfied

  Feb 16, 2026