Riu Palace Pacifico Adults Only - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

7411 reviews

• 

  Great Hotel

  We had a wonderfull week at Riu Palac and plan going back. the food was excellent, room was comfortable and staff very friendly

  Oct 31, 2025
• 

  Quick Trip to Palace Pacifico

  Have been to Riu resorts in Cancun and Cabo many times, our first trio to Puerto Vallarta Oct 20, 2025. Used private transport to hotel (White Glove Vallarta) and arrived quickly. We were early but checked right in and given wristbands while we waited for our rooms. Very impressed with resort, everything super clean and looked freshly painted everywhere. Our room was very nice with a good view of the ocean from fifth floor, Being close to elevators was nice because the hallways are long. Bed comfortable AC worked great, bathroom very functional. Bar service was quick throughout resort, drinks were well made. Buffet restaurant was smallish but had a good variety of foods although many meat selections were quite disappointing. Link sausage has a distinct liver flavor at breakfast which was not enjoyable. Fruits and salads were very fresh. Seafood fish and shrimp was hit and miss. Deserts where okay, nothing to get excited about. Pools were clean but the weather made them too warm to be refreshing. Many people swam in ocean, no significant seaweed. Lots of loungers, I think the resort was only half full The service in the ala carte restaurants was fair to poor, We ate at steakhouse, Krystal, Italian and Mexican. Food was nothing exceptional there. We liked Krystal the best. Entertainment was difficult to sit through due to the heat but was okay. Loved the cappuccino bar in lobby, quick service and nice little snacks AC was fantastic in our room, lobby and restaurants, thank God because it was over 90 and very humid. Overall very enjoyable.. would go back.. the super clean resort and great service from most staff made the day. I talked to people who booked Elite.. my take away is it wasn't worth the extra fee.

  Oct 30, 2025
• 

  Beautiful place but not coming back

  Pools are too hot, no where to cool off or get refreshed, only hot water showers both by the pool and in the rooms. When I asked about cooler water in the shower at the front desk, I was told they didn’t have to ability to make cold water. The tiles surrounding the pool are so slippery I watched someone fall every single day of my trip. Even I slid and had to sit down hard on the stairs on my first morning. This was happening early in the morning before people even got too drunk. So dangerous! The pools also all close at 7pm, even though the sun is still up, for cleaning. This is too early for how many people there are at the resort and how many eat late dinners. The “smoke free” label on this property definitely isn’t accurate because the two smoking areas are located very close to large common gathering areas like the beachfront and large lay in swimming pool. All the smoke blows through the property most of the day. The activities are extremely loud and start very early making resting or sleeping in on your vacation very difficult. Same goes for the hallways and room noise level, very early cleaning and very noisy hallway, virtually no sound proofing. There should be more “cutting people off” from alcohol as my friend who I traveled with was blackout drunk, completed wasted every single night, causing disruptions which bothered me and people around us. I had no control over her but the bartenders could have said no after she finished a whole bottle of tequila in one day. She couldn’t walk by herself by the end of the night and I had to help her. Restaurants are small and don’t take reservations. You also cannot order liquor in any of the restaurants, only beer or wine. If you want a cocktail you have bring it with you or get up during your meal to go get it. While they say they are super allergen friendly, I didn’t have this experience and struggled to eat my entire trip. Only the steakhouse was accommodating but with no reservations available that meant standing outside waiting for a table every single night. We ended often standing outside for longer than we were at a table. Restaurants are also only open for maybe 3 hours per night (6-9) which is quite short for how many rooms there are and the fact that lots of people eat later at night. The room service menu is 7-8 items unless you are Elite club which is quite small considering it’s supposed to be 24 hour room service for an all inclusive resort. The only thing I could have from the menu was fruit with my gluten free restriction let alone other things. On my last full day, I went to the outdoor area connected to the Sports Bar and asked if I could order food to eat outside in my swim coverup and was told, “yes, there’s even a server outside to help you.” After ordering and waiting about 10 minutes for food I could actually eat most of, the server came over with my food and offered me another drink to which I asked for water. When he came back, he informed me I wasn’t allowed to be here without a shirt. I was about to take my first bite of my food and was told to leave and get a shirt. I asked why this was happening now instead of when I arrived and wasn’t given an answer other than, the manager said you need a shirt to sit out here. Which is why I asked when I arrived because I understand and want to follow the rules. Considering I asked, was given a positive answer and sat down outside for almost 10 minutes, I fully assumed this was ok. Irritated but hungry, I left (they wouldn’t let me take the food with me either) when asked to go get a shirt and when I came back they had taken away my food and utensils. With no one around to explain what had happened, I decided to leave because this was insane. I’m sitting outside at a beachside resort but I’m required to have a shirt on, but you waited until after I started to eat to tell me that! So incredibly rude. And when I let the front desk know about my situation, she asked me, “well where is the shirt you went to get?”, almost implying I needed one at all times. And I responded, “I took it off because I’m outside at a beachside where I’ve never been told a shirt was required.” She acted like I was required to wear a shirt to walk through the lobby but it doesn’t say that anywhere I could find. The sit down restaurants where the only spots with a posted dress code. And plenty of girls walked around the resort in way smaller swimwear than I was wearing. I was offered “anything” to make my trip better so I asked for a reservation or a table at the restaurant I could most easily eat at with my restrictions and was told no we don’t make reservations. Only elite parties can make reservations. So it became clear that they didn’t want to help me, aren’t friendly towards people with food allergies who have restrictions and need assistance. Will not be returning to this hotel which is too bad because the staff was mostly great and the beach/weather/grounds were beautiful.

  Oct 30, 2025
• 

  Did Not Disappoint

  The early October weather teetered on stormy, most often sunny with clouds, perfect! It was super hot, between 29 and 32. Hurricane Priscilla passed by without reaching shore but churning up the ocean enough to remove most of our beach and pound the Malecon in Puerto Vallarta. Yellow tape, diligent life guards and massage providers(!) kept most people back and safe, protecting what was left of the fragile edge. Within 3 or 4 days most of the sand had been pushed back inshore. The beach came back. Staff seemed extra kind and efficient, especially Diego at the beach, Tomas at Peninsula Buffet, our unnamed cleaner for room 5025. The only complaint is there needed to be one more server at the quiet pool. Yes it was impressive to see how many drinks she could stack and deliver. Salvadore and Louisa at the Steak House made the effort to keep us happy. Just being there was great. Having staff recognize us and chat made it greater. The staff at Krystal, ditto, Krystalin and the maitre de’ quietly took care of our needs with a smile. This Riu Palace's buffet is one reason we keep returning. The selection at every meal is fresh and higher quality in our opinion. Yes some dishes are too salty, but often a version of a food is available in plain form. Chopped spinach instead of cooked with cheese, or quartered avocado instead of guacamole. Saltiness is the natural state in most resort buffets, so I work around it. The fruit selection was very complete and the cucumbers were amazing. My husband was impressed seeing freshly prepared steak at lunch and dinners. I enjoy grilled fish. Other guests can be idiots late at night and early morning, totally unaware that their happy hallway conversation just woke up X number of fellow guests. Another reminder is to not converse on the balcony when it's obviously quiet elsewhere. We had an air-conditioning leak twice, which was fixed pretty much immediately, the 2nd time around 9 pm. The front desk always had at least 4 staff and we seldom waited long. The main lobby gleamed and a specialty drinks cart changed every night. The theatre was too hot to stay long, but drink service seemed timely. In any case if a drink wasn't forthcoming there was always a properly staffed bar nearby. We tried the 24-hour Sports Bar Restaurant. The first time the food was better, but the staff was good both times. We felt welcome. We would like to return.

  Oct 29, 2025
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  A Very Pleasant Stay

  Overall, this resort was amazing! It was very clean; the food was above average and they had a nice variety of dishes (even as a non-meat eater, I had plenty of options). The fitness center was probably one of the best I’ve seen on a resort. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. One thing that needs improvement is the evening entertainment. A variety of nightly entertainment would’ve been nice. But we still had an amazing time! We would definitely stay here again!

  Oct 18, 2025