Riu Bambu - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5057 reviews

• 

  Disgusting hotel!

  where do I start. Was originally booked to go to Jamaica but our holiday was cancelled due to hurricane Melissa so was rebooked and was told Riu Bambu would be a like 4 like what we had originally booked in Jamaica….what a scam. This is the lowest budget Riu I have everrr stayed at and I’ve stayed at a few! Now I been to Benidorm many times so I’m not necessarily fussy, but this hotel was absolutely disgusting! Rooms were old and outdated with your bath room sink in the the bedroom, as this was apparently their upgraded room lol. Pretty much no1 spoke English in the hotel, I understand I’m in another country but being one of the only English speaking in hotel with specific rist bands for “English speakers” you were 100% looked at differently by staff and guests. Basic level drinks I’ve never heard off. Food was disgusting. People having s*x in the swim up pool. The pools were the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed! Skin, split flies hair floating everywhere (I have a video!)and to top it all off on the second night after coming back from the club at 2am we were greeted with cockroaches in the room! Enough was enough. Went to the TUI rep first thing in morning. He offered us a transfer to another hotel at a cost to us. The other hotel (Hotel Baávaro) was an absolutely amazing and was the level of holiday I would have expected from the start! Riu Bambu needs to be demolished. I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy!

  Nov 10, 2025
• 

  Disappointed

  I’ve booked through TUI and upgraded to a family room which is an absolute samples. The first room they showed us to already add guests in it. Our current room is not a family room. It’s a standard room with a sofa bed pulled out I had to pay extra for this. The sofa bed is very uncomfortable. I asked to move hotel and we told I would have to pay almost US$2000 which is ridiculous and this or a Spanish speaker the staff don’t serve you food itself in comparison to other real hotels is pretty poor standard of the room is dire pass saving grace is our lovely cleaning lady i’ve been staying at Riu hotels for a number of years and I’m a member of Riu class however there was no riu class checkin available on my arrival. I was completely ignored. I had to stand for almost 20 minutes before someone decided to take that they wanted to check me in. This is the worst example of a riu hotel that I’ve ever stayed iny husband is celebrating his 60tj and we have decided that we have to do this outside of the hotel as a close relative has come to celebrate with us and we are informed that we would be charged $190 for him to come and visit us here The moral Of the story is do NOT upgrade to a family room as they don’t meet the standard And don’t bother to come to this hotel if you are not a native Spanish speaker as you do do not get the same level of service Do not come to this RIU of you are used to the amazing other hotels eg Senegal and Cape Verde where the service is as it should be I am in room 203 and I have compared the room to a standard room and all they have done is pull the sofa bed down And for that I had to pay an upgrade fee

  Nov 06, 2025
• 

  Honest reviews

  Hello all we are a family of 4 my husband, myself , and my 2 daughters. We will be arriving on the 16th of nov 25. Wow next week weve been waiting for this moment for 165 days counting down the days till we get there. We are very excited to be there. The hotel looks so beautiful. We picked this hotel as its our birthdays out there mine is the 17 of nov my daughter will be celebrating her 18th birthday on the 19 of nov and my husband the 24th of nov. My daughter will offically be an adult and shes so excited to party and order her first drink. I have been reading reviews on this hotel and to be honest its not looking to good with some exceptional excellent reviews thats what ive been focusing on. Im going to give my own honest review We will be reviewing the hotel, beach, pool, food. Staff front of house we have heard the people from dominican republic are very friendly. We used to go to cuba every year and yes it is a poor country but the people is what made it . Yes that hotel was a little dated too but we didnt spend a lot of time in the room we enjoyed the cuban culture and music and the staff is what made it. So friendly and helpful in understanding my daughter needs. Thats why we keeped going back every year for 7 years. So tine for a change this is why we picked riu bambu as my girls are getting older now. We will also review the the room as we can see from pictures people have posted thats its a little dated but thats not what makes the hoilday there just minor things and over time things go like this we have our 15 year old daughter with us who is autistic so we have asked for interconnecting rooms. So she next door to us with my other dughter ive put in a request for this and on the top floor. My job is a house cleaner and hotel cleaner i see the photos of the standered of cleaning people put up ànd i know these poor cleaners have such a quick turn around to get the room cleaned and in the heat i know they try there best so people try to understand.. cant wait to meet you all and have the best time at the riu bambu. See you soon.

  Nov 05, 2025
• 

  Lovely Stay, But Some Details Need Attention

  We had a lovely stay at the hotel overall. The staff worked very hard, especially in the restaurants and bars, and we really enjoyed the Riu parties- neon, jungle, pink and white parties. You can bring outfits with you (if you know about these parties in advance!). Riu party is in the pools or you can dance next to these- super fun! However, communication with guests could be improved. For example, the time of the Riu party was changed from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. without any notification. On another occasion, we were told the party was cancelled or finished, but we could still hear the DJ and music playing until around 11:30 p.m. The food was very good during the week, though we noticed that the quality dropped a bit over the weekends, and on a few occasions, some of the vegetables and fruit seemed a bit old/ not fresh with a specific taste. The receptionists were very kind and helpful — we had an issue with a broken bed, and although it wasn’t properly fixed the first time, once we reported it again, it was replaced the same day, which we really appreciated. Rooms were cleaned very well- sometimes we had to go to the Reception to get water as it was not delivered to our room every second day as promised. We had a gap of 5 days with no water, etc refilling. The cleaner was amazing! We really enjoyed TUI area- there are lots of sunbeds to stay at any of the pools but TUI area was really quiet and the staff at the bar super friendly. No sea shoes required as the beach is sandy. NO stones in water- sand. Snorkelling- it was pretty wavy so we could not do snorkelling. Further away, the boats used the area so no snorkelling there. Weather- humid, hot (32 feels like 38), presently warm rain (even if we had warnings about Melissa hurricane). No jumpers needed in the evenings- too hot! 26 degrees at night time! Basketball- we asked for a ball and were given for about 1.5 hours. I would advice to take your own basketball if you like playing it- the court was always empty. One inconvenience we faced was with the room key cards. During our stay, they frequently stopped working, and we had to visit the reception several times (4-5 times during 2 weeks holiday) to reactivate them. The day before we left, I had to go to the reception five times, and eventually we found out that the cards had been activated for the wrong room number (1702 instead of 1707). That was quite frustrating, especially after being reassured earlier that the issue had been fixed. We were a bit confused of why there was a full room renovation with painting, etc for several days in front of our room as we had bad paint smell in the room. First week there was a room renovation in the same corridor but a bit further inside the corridor, the second week- the room in front of us was fully painted (spray painted) with doors open. I think this should be avoided when people (esp. with small children) live in the same area. Despite these few issues, we still had a nice stay and truly appreciated the efforts of the hardworking staff. The staff in Collonium worked really hard- they would not stop moving! Despite the fact that a mouse/ rat fell on one of the tables and ladies made a huge fuss about it (they had dinner at that table and the mouse fell right on the table from the ceiling!), it was a cosy, air conditioned area to relax from heat. The area by the pools look clean and tidy, the beach is amazing, lots of sunbeds. Advice- always buy and take with you Bug spray to any of the hotels in Caribbean- if not the bed bugs, then it might be bugs in the beach towels that bite a lot. If not these, then tiny ants in the rooms or 1 or 2 huge cockroaches will show up! We had one and the last one! Dead... Hit by the shoe! None of these creatures dared to come back again. The black Bug spray from Amazon worked miracles!

  Nov 04, 2025
• 

  Disappointing Stay at Riu Resort – Poor Maintenance, Mediocre Food, and Unreliable Service

  I stayed at this resort for five days with my husband and three sons (ages 1, 7, and 9). We’re from New York and were traveling with a group of 20 for a family vacation. While I didn’t personally choose this resort, I’ve stayed at other Riu properties in different countries, and unfortunately, this was by far the worst experience. To keep things organized, I’ll break my review into categories. -- Accommodations - We stayed in a standard suite with adjoining rooms, both equipped with European outlets. At first glance, the rooms appeared clean, but upon closer inspection, they were not. The bed skirts were visibly dirty, and the mini fridge had a sticky drink spill that wasn’t cleaned for two days despite housekeeping’s daily visits. My aunts room had something sticky on the night stand when she arrived, which was covered by a pile of ants and other critters. She ended up having them relocate her to a new room, which they then upgraded. The telephones in both rooms didn’t work and took three days to fix. One room’s TV was completely broken and had to be replaced; the other was missing a remote. We also found a roach in one of the bathrooms on day two. To make matters worse, one of our room door locks died twice during our stay, leaving us locked out for over an hour each time while waiting for maintenance. -- Food - The international buffet was inconsistent—mostly disappointing. My children stuck to burgers and fries, as most other options were unappealing. On two separate occasions, two of my sons vomited shortly after eating from the buffet—one after pasta and ground beef, and the other after pancakes and eggs. On the last night of our stay, a mouse fell from a ceiling vent onto another family's table. It took the staff a long time to catch in, which lead to mass commotion with all other guest dining. A major frustration was how slowly food and drinks were restocked. The soda machines frequently ran out and were often turned off rather than refilled. We tried all the specialty restaurants during our first three days. The only one worth revisiting was the Palm Beach Steakhouse, which became our go-to for the rest of the trip. While it wasn’t exceptional, it was the best option available. Many of the “specialty” restaurant dishes reappeared at the buffet either 1 or 2 days later. The Asian restaurant was the most disappointing—it wasn’t hibachi-style as advertised, and we left most of the food uneaten before heading to the steakhouse instead. --- Beverages - If you enjoy Pina Coladas, you’ll be fine here, but most other cocktails were underwhelming. I eventually found one tequila-based drink (“Mariachi”) that was decent. The bartenders only prepare drinks listed on the menu, and there’s no champagne available—so mimosas are not an option. Another concern: the water served in restaurants is tap water and do not offer bottle water as an option. Bottle water is only left in the rooms and restocked daily by the housekeeping staff. Personally, I avoid drinking tap water when traveling abroad as it tend to disagree with me. The waitstaff at the restaurants didnt know if the water was bottled or tap, but one if the bartenders confirmed with me that it is filtered tap water. --- Hotel Staff - Housekeeping was the most helpful and consistent department. Waitstaff were polite but often hard to find unless you tipped regularly, which seemed to make a noticeable difference in service. The front desk, however, was disappointing. Once our phone was fixed, I tried calling multiple times and either couldn’t get through or was hung up on. When I accidentally locked my key in the room, I was given replacement keys three times—none of which worked. When I called to ask for help, I was told “no” and had to track down a maintenance worker myself to open the door. After 11 p.m., the resort feels understaffed, with only one front desk agent, two bartenders, and one or two maintenance staff visible anywhere. --- Entertainment - Music around the resort lacked variety, though staff didn’t mind guests playing their own speakers, which helped. The nightly entertainment was mediocre compared to other Riu resorts, with minimal guest participation. Activities weren’t well advertised, so unless you happened to be nearby, you’d likely miss them. --- Beach & Pool - Although I didn’t spend time at the beach, it looked cleaner and more pleasant than others I’ve seen in the Dominican Republic. The pool area, however, isn’t ideal for small children—there are barely any shallow sections. I recommend bringing your own life vests or floats since the resort doesn’t provide them. My kids visited the Waterpark with some of my other family members one day and was back at the pool within the hour. They said they had fun but, there just wasnt a lot to do. There’s only one towel station, and while it’s restocked often, it can run out quickly—especially after rain. --- Technology - Wi-Fi was unreliable and frequently disconnected, especially during rain. Coverage was inconsistent between the lobby, pool, and rooms. The RIU app is poorly designed—it constantly freezes and requires you to reselect the resort every time you open it. The digital key feature doesn’t work at this location, yet the app repeatedly prompts you to activate it, blocking access to the restaurant menus. -- Final Thoughts - I would not return to this resort and would advise friends and family to avoid it. While my children enjoyed being on vacation, their fun came from the warm weather and family time—not the resort itself. Overall, this location fails to meet the quality standards I’ve experienced at other Riu properties.

  Oct 28, 2025