Riu Palace Pacifico - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

7462 reviews

• 

  Many good things to say but BEWARE!

  My wife and I stayed Feb. 14-21 and found our room very clean and comfortable, very good service, good but not exceptional food, and a beautiful beach with a wonderful sunset every evening. HOWEVER, the reason I can only give 3 stars is because of the many personal accidents we witnessed, the RIU put tile around the pool area and when it gets wet is very slippery. We witnessed 2 or 3 people falling everyday we were there. We met a lady who had fallen on the slick tile and fractured her wrist and ended up in a local hospital.

  Feb 22, 2026
• 

  We prefer the Riu Playacar over Riu Riviera Maya Palace

  We booked Playacar after finding out that our go-to Riviera Maya Palace / RMP did not have availability for our week. My husband and I were bringing our son and daughter in law for her 30th birthday. We all loved the layout of Playacar! The adult-only swim up bar infinity pool was in the sun all day and even though the water was cold, it was popular with the guests and we could always find a place to sit. Our room 6201 was perfect! 2nd floor with no one above us and we were on the corner. From the balcony we could see the ocean. We were close to the beach and not far from the lobby. Oscar who cleaned our room daily was friendly, thorough and left us the most delightful towel animals. It had a wonderful walk in shower (RMP had a tub, which we didn't miss). The walkable beach is stunning and the aqua blue water is beautiful! We would spend 2+ hours a day in the water bobbing around watching the fish swim by us. The weather in February was perfect, every.single.day.. Bars, buffets and restaurants were great, Italian ended up being our favorite. RMP has lobster at the steakhouse and we missed that. The only premium vodka was Smirnoff. RMP had a variety of flavored Absolute Vodkas. The Friday night Neon Party fell on our daughter in law's birthday, it was amazing!! Don't miss this, even if you go early and leave after a bit, still go! The free airport shuttle with Destination Services was terrible. After we arrived at Cancun Airport, the DS Rep played games with us regarding taxi rates $120, then $80, after 30 minutes of us refusing he said he could get us a shuttle if we gave him a tip? Then at the hotel we got a call in our room the first morning to come down right away to get our return shuttle voucher, which turned out to be a sales pitch for excursions, then told to come back the day before we leave to pick up the voucher. When we returned the day before we left she barked our pick up time at us which was 5 hours before our plane took off. Considering the travel time to the airport is 1 hour and the check in to gate takes about 20 mins we opted for a private transfer that picked us up at 3pm in lieu of noon. Rather spend our last few hours at the beach than 4 hours at the airport that doesn't have drinking water (only bottled for $5usd). We still made it to the airport 2.5 hours prior to our flight. We preferred the Playacar over RMP and RMP is usually about $600usd per week MORE than Playacar.

  Feb 20, 2026
• 

  Great food , fun and staff

  What a great time ! Gail at the specialty drink station was extremely friendly and always saying hi even when not at his station . Cesar and Luigi at the lobby bar were made a stay very enjoyable ( always had big smiles ) Maribel at the swim up bar was the fastest server I have ever seen . Amazing person. Janet at the buffet was absolutely amazing always asked how our previous day was and what plans we had for the day were . She has been there for 17 years and everyone we talked to that sat in her section said she was incredible. The food was spectacular especially Krystal and Guacamole. The beach was incredible. We did a swim with wild dolphins. Saw around 40 plus at least 15-20 humpback whales including a few baby whales.

  Feb 17, 2026
• 

  Another Premium Experience

  We spent another delightful week at the RPP in early February. It has been renovated in recent years, is located on a wonderful beach, provides many varied drinking/dining options, is staffed by friendly professional folks, and is kept scrupulously clean and well maintained. Thanks to the Elite Club our room was centrally placed on the top floor, away from some of the ground-level noise and with a first-class view of the bay (and playing whales). As usual we sampled a number of the drinking and dining options - with our favorites being the Elite Club lounge, Elite Club beach service, Krystal restaurant, Elite Club restaurant, and La Peninsula for breakfast and lunch. We are "beach people" rather than "pool people" so we enjoyed the Bali beds in the Elite Club beach area for the extra shade and quieter location. (They are also closer to the $35 beach massage parlors.) We are not big entertainment folks so the most we can comment on the entertainment (RIU Party) offerings were that they were loud. Many staff are consistent from year to year and provide excellent service - provided you do some tipping. As you may have guessed, we are fond of the extra pampering we get due to the added cost of the Elite Club. A few suggestions for RPP management: 1) Provide more than one Elite Club desk clerk to expedite check-ins when several EC guests arrive at the same time. If regular guests have multiple staff to check them in after a long day of travel, why do you "penalize" Elite Club guests by making them wait?; 2) Just as the Elite Club offers some premium liquors, why can't there be some higher quality wines offered to Elite Club guests? And perhaps some anejo tequila?; 3) The resort provides minimal "rules" for guests. So please enforce those rules that do exist - enforce the dress code for ala-carte restaurants; keep wet bathing suits off of the lobby upholstered furniture; keep outside vendors off of the private section of the beach.

  Feb 15, 2026
• 

  The staff here are the best!

  This is our second visit to this location and on both trips we’ve met the kindest folks and eaten WAY too much delicious food! I love to practice my Spanish and most employees (who speak English far better than I speak Español) were so patient and cheerful taking the time to help me. Judith who works the dining area near Daiquiri was especially friendly and attentive. She stopped by regularly both to take care of us and give me some of her valuable time to help me practice. I really hope that I get to see her again on a future visit to Riu! If you visit be sure you also try one of the morning RiuFit classes, then in the evening enjoy the complimentary freshly crafted artisan cocktails available in the the lobby. All the staff we encountered here were just lovely to chat with and I look forward to returning in the future.

  Feb 15, 2026