Riu Dunamar - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4554 reviews

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  Lovely hotel and staff

  We enjoyed our stay at this Riu. The hotel was lovely, food was good and the staff was friendly and amazing. We also enjoyed the nightly entertainment.

  Jun 28, 2025
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  Avoid this Hotel

  Room (4126, Ocean View): The room is adequate but falls short of expectations for a 5-star hotel. The bed is uncomfortable, with outdated mattresses and springs that dig into you, disturbing sleep for both occupants. The two double beds are pushed together, creating a gap that caused my daughter to fall through repeatedly until we requested a cheap mattress topper, which only partially resolved the issue. The bathroom is functional but has a see-through glass partition between the shower and bedroom, offering no privacy—particularly problematic when traveling with children. Food: The dining options are deeply disappointing and far below the standard of even a 3-star hotel. Most restaurants are closed for breakfast and lunch, leaving only the Isla Mujeres buffet operational. The buffet offers a large quantity of food, but the quality is poor—dry, bland, and questionably clean. We found bugs in an omelet, and my daughter suffered a gastrointestinal infection on day four, leaving her unable to eat for two days due to nausea and vomiting.At dinner, restaurants rotate closures unpredictably. The Asian restaurant, Bamboo, was open only once during our stay and served food comparable to a low-quality sushi joint—buffet-style with nothing remarkable. Kulinarium, billed as a South American fusion restaurant, was equally underwhelming, with inedible dishes that forced us to leave and resort to hot dogs and fries at the buffet. Las Brasas, the supposed bar and grill, serves flavorless, rubbery meat that’s exhausting to chew, accompanied by lackluster sides like corn.No reservations are required, but expect wait times of up to an hour for a table. The absence of authentic Mexican cuisine is notable—tortillas at the buffet are low-quality. Overall, the dining experience is a zero-star disappointment, with dry burgers, hot dogs, and fries being the only reliable options. Bars: The bars serve overly sweet, watered-down drinks that lack quality or creativity, including subpar martinis. The in-room minibar is stocked but contains low-quality beverages, which we largely avoided. Service: The staff appears overworked and disengaged, with no time for friendly interaction. Unlike other resorts where staff often connect with guests, the service here feels rushed and impersonal. Pools: The resort has four pools: two adult-only with swim-up bars and two for families. The family pools become overcrowded, and water quality deteriorates significantly by the afternoon.Beach: The white sand beach could be a highlight but is marred by excessive seaweed, which the hotel makes no effort to clear. In some areas, the sand is barely visible. The lack of sufficient sun covers (umbrellas, etc.) further diminishes the beach experience. Water World Slides: The water park, intended as a fun feature for kids and adults, is dangerously designed. Four of the five slides end in a 4-foot-deep pool, which is too shallow for the high-speed, near-vertical descent of the red, blue, and green slides. I injured my tailbone after hitting the pool bottom, resulting in significant pain that affects sitting, sleeping, walking, and bending. This is a serious safety concern. Overall: Our stay has been deeply disappointing, with substandard accommodations, poor food quality, unsafe amenities, and an uninviting beach. This hotel does not deliver a 5-star experience and falls short compared to other Cancun resorts we’ve visited. I strongly advise against spending your money here.

  Jun 27, 2025
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  Awesome stay!

  All staff were very friendly! The food was gorgeous! In the room, in the pools, in the buffet and restaurants, everywhere on the territory were clean! Entertainment was at most amazing! We enjoyed every minute of our stay in the hotel! Thank you very much!

  Jun 26, 2025
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  Solid Choice for a Family Vacation - Super Relaxing Time

  We just spent a week here and had a very relaxing vacation with zero issues. The resort is super easy to navigate, everything's super close, no need for restaurant reservations which is awesome, very accessible whether in a wheelchair or a stroller (apart from the beach) but there are no stairs anywhere. People are literally cleaning everywhere all the time - a big hats off to all the hard workers. Tons of families but also a great party vibe for those who wish. Beach - plenty of loungers, decent amount of shade, once the palms fill in a bit more in a few years it'll be even better, drinks handed out by hardworking folks on the beach were appreciated, the sargassum was not TOO bad however I do wish the hotel would clean it up more often. I know it's a neverending job but it would make the beach more pleasant. I can't complain tho after seeing pictures of what they're dealing with elsewhere. We were still able to enjoy the beach and jump in the waves. Pools - kids pools - amazing. Super clean, slides for kids of all ages, tons of families but no real lounger reserving going on, you could always find a seat or wait for a bit and someone would leave. It was nice to move from pool to pool and not worry about reserving a lounger at any of them. everyone was on the same page on this point and we were able to visit all the pools and always find a lounger. I really appreciate the overhead shade tarps. So much more convenient than individual umbrellas even though there were some of those as well. Before our trip looking at pictures I wasn't a fan of the rectangular pools (this is all RIU resorts) and I am still not a fan after coming back. The pools seemed almost too small for the number of people there. It got crowded. And I did really miss the big winding pools of other resorts. If anything, I wish that all the 5 pools were connected. That would leave more space for swimming, throwing a ball around, getting a floaty and hanging out. All the pools were the same depth also - my 7 yr old is too old for floaties but isn't that strong of a swimmer and I had to constantly watch him or hold onto him or keep him near the side. I wish there was a variation in depths. Not a fan of the pools closing at 5(kids pool) 7(all other pools) but it was fine. Never had issues with getting towels. Drinks were easy to get, no real lines anywhere. Bathrooms around the resort - they could use another few but all in all you were never far from a bathroom and they were CLEAN - someone was cleaning them every half an hour seems like. Rooms - really well sized. You get 2 beds and a pull out couch and the ceilings are tall, the room felt wider than average too. Super comfortable when you have kids with you. Very clean - we did have to call to get minibar restocked a few times but they put a lot in there. Love the drying rack on the balcony. Small touch but super helpful. Bathrooms very large - shower huge with great smelling shampoo and conditioner. I wish there was lotion but other than that it was perfect. Food - we ate mostly at the buffet and there was plenty of stuff everyone liked every day - I thought the food was very good quality for the amount there was. No one in our group got sick at all. If something was empty it was refilled very quickly. Great service as far as seating and getting coffee/drinks to the table and clean up after. Everyone there was working very hard. I tried to tip when I could but service was great regardless. Self serve coffee machines were appreciated and pro tip - the lobby bar has paper coffee cups so you can take coffee to go. Also they have soy milk available as well as almond - very appreciated. Overall we had a great time at the resort - my kids loved the RIU parties and playing volleyball which the activity teams organized. None of us were ready to leave after our week... the resort is really far from anything so if you like to leave it (we normally do) it's pricey to catch cabs anywhere. But if you really want to relax and hang out at the resort it's great for that. The people there make sure you are having a nice time without being overbearing in any way.

  Jun 23, 2025
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  Riu Dunamar

  Overall, a great place and enjoyed the 6-night stay. Pros: • Stayed in a “Family suite” with two bedrooms. It was simply awesome that my two teenagers had their own room and bathroom. Both rooms were more than adequate in size. • The staff was always friendly and helpful. And I would like to call out the front desk staff for helping me source a special contact lens solution that I forgot to pack. • Cleanliness of the rooms, pools, grounds, and overall resort was top notch. • The waterpark was a great 1-2 hour diversion for the Kids and I. • Granted that I’m not a “Foodie”, however, the food and restaurants were all good in my eyes. Would note that the buffet selections were a bit repetitive. Switching one of the stations to a unique specialty daily would be a great change. • There was not a push for tips by the staff like you see at some other All-inclusive Hotel brands. I don’t mind throwing a little extra money at some of the service staff that were great, however I tend to wait to till the end of the trip and reward based on the overall experience. • For the drinkers out there, the bar staff were all trained well, and you could expect the same tasting drink regardless of the bartender. Cons: • I wish that they had a “teen area” like I’ve seen in other hotels that have a bunch of activities like table games (foosball, air hockey, etc), darts, and arcade/video games. I don’t want my kids hanging out there all day, however, an area to keep them busy for an hour or two while the parents have a quiet drink somewhere would be nice. It could be a shared feature with the sister hotel next door (like the waterpark). • Seaweed… I felt like more could have been done to try to manage the seaweed. When I walked the beach, other resorts had equipment that did a far better job of cleaning it up. • As stated above, the buffet food was a bit repetitive. Overall, I wasn’t ready to leave at the end and I would definitely recommend. Strongly recommend the “two-bedroom Family Suites” for those with kids who tend to run on a different sleep schedule.

  Jun 18, 2025