Riu Palace Aruba - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9423 reviews

• 

  Hotel should be closed!! Please don’t make the same mistake we did!! STAY AWAY!!!!

  We paid a high price for a dreadful vacation. The entire main building is under construction. They call it renovations but it’s really a demolition. Construction noise / jackhammers and banging all day every day 7 days a week. If you are going there for some rest and relaxation it is next to impossible. The noise will wake you up first thing in the morning. The noise is so bad it can be heard on the beach. There is just no escaping it. And with regards to the beach, we were never able to find a free palapa. We found that odd considering half the resort is closed due to the construction. One morning, my boyfriend went for a walk at 6am and noticed a staff member going to many palapas (at least 15) and was reserving the palapas by placing towels on the chairs. Not right !! This review is meant for travellers. We ask the hotel to not respond and to keep their comments to themselves. Don’t want to hear that you are “sorry”, don’t say you “aim to improve the experience of your guests”, don’t say “management takes care to minimize any possible inconvenience”, and don’t say “appropriate measures have been taken to ensure a pleasant stay” The hotel should be closed or should disclose the truth about how bad the construction really is ! Aruba is a beautiful island but stay away from RIU palace !!!

  Oct 08, 2025
• 

  Far from a good experience at this property.

  There is quite a bit of poor operations here that made enjoying our stay almost impossible NOT worth the money they charge. Elevators were not working the whole week. You would wait for 20 minutes for the one working elevator, and it would be stuffed with people. The staff were tired of hearing elevator complaints because they have never worked. Room service didn't show up. TV never worked. At least two restaurants were closed every day so you would get a beeper and paged when they could seat you. Then the food quality was very poor. Their only 24 hour food option had about eight booths and always had a wait. A large percentage of the staff do not speak English or just did not want to deal with the guests. Many stood around poking at their phones. Pool is huge but in poor condition. Shower drain was backing up. Saw a few bugs in the rest room but don't know what they were. Restaurants have very limited open hours (4 hours). The buffet was the only food service worth the time. The Casino staff is very rude although I understand it is not operated by the hotel. The beautiful island and weather were the saving grace for our stay, but I'll take a pass on the RIU hotels from now on.

  Oct 04, 2025
• 

  Vacation with the Roaches!

  I would like to express my dissatisfaction with our stay this year. We have not had any television service for the whole week. The excuse was that the satellite was out. Other places on the Island had television service. The elevator in the lobby was not working and my husband has issues going up-and-down steps. It has been very hard for him to get around. Some of the restaurants were closed and our food choices were limited. The all-inclusive price has greatly increased (which we were aware of) and a lot of the food in the buffet was cold and salty. We saw many roaches in the building that housed the Naitilius every day during the whole week. I spoke with a lady who was staying in that building and she informed me that her room had roaches. She witnessed one giving birth and babies were crawling all over. The pool was in need of repair as some tiles were missing. The gym was closed so I had to go next door. We were not able to stay in our normal room and the noise from the shows was irritating at night. We have always enjoyed our stay here but this year not so much. On a good note, the staff and service has been fine. We have been coming here over 20 years but will now rethnk returning. I paid a premium price and did not receive all the amenities that are included. The answers that I received from the Riu regarding my concerns were excuses for the lack of amenities. If the hotel was not able to provide all of its amenities we should have been informed before our trip. THIS WAS THE RIU’S RESPONSE Could not get your room because it was a Trade room. Tv, was a problem with the satellite, it was that the hotel completely had no TV. Elevator was the beauce of construction SAFETY for the guest not to use. for the Theme restaurant. We had some open and rutaded them. The price for the all inclusive was given from January 2025.Cocoaraches was because of construction. It was handled immediately with an outside Company. GYM has a new location at Riu Antillas. It will no longer be open at Riu Palace. So sorry for the inconvenience. Sorry it was not a great vacation. But I can not do much about it.

  Oct 02, 2025
• 

  I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A REVIEW BEFORE- THIS PLACE IS SO BAD I HAD TO- PLEASE READ

  DO NOT GO HERE- YOU WILL REGRET IT This place is awful- Check out the pictures I posted. I have never taken the time to write a review, but I'm hoping someone reads these and it saves them from booking the place. We travel a lot and I was shocked at how bad this place is. Room was awful- mold, broken door, rust everywhere, exposed wires etc. NOT A FAMILY PLACE- I have kids - wouldn't do this again for free- CONSTRUCTION: They are renovating their hotel next door- Heavy construction noise all day long- jackhammers/ load banging- not even close to be being done. Honestly feel this place shouldn't be open to guests right now I truly hope someone reads this and skips this place- many other places in Aruba that are much better and way less expensive- I honestly feel like someone played a joke on me- couldn't believe I paid that much for this place- still bothers me. I complained to the front desk and they offered to change my room- I asked if it was a better room and they said it would be a downgrade- Their was 12 of us staying there and my entire family is still in shock how bad this place was. People in the hotel were also complaining- Have no idea how people give this place positive reviews. Please listen to me

  Oct 01, 2025
• 

  Great RIU experience

  The RIU Palace Antillas was a wonderful place to stay - the room was nice and had a balcony with a view of the ocean and pool. The pools were beautiful - the pool with the swim up bar was lively with games and entertainment while the large pool was great for relaxing. The beach was pristine and the water was as clear as any I have ever seen. We enjoyed the different drinks served at the bar cart each evening in the lobby. The breakfast buffet was consistently good - special shout out to Carmen who worked the omelette station. She works so hard and is always pleasant and makes delicious omelettes to order. We also really appreciated Mariangel - an especially friendly hostess who seemed to be at every restaurant - not sure if she ever leaves. The only negative was the lack of restaurants for a nice sit down dinner. There were no reservations and to get a place at the Steak House required getting in line by 5:00pm to get in at 6:00pm or getting in line around 6:00pm and hopefully getting a pager to eat around 7:45pm. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful and the property was well maintained. Overall, we had a fantastic time, but were disappointed with the restaurant options, which is an important factor in choosing an all-inclusive.

  Sep 27, 2025