Riu Playacar - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8666 reviews

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  Fantastic

  This is the first time I have been to a RIU hotel and we were very impressed the Santa’s are so polite and can not do enough for you constantly checking your drinks are filled. Constantly cleaning everywhere and everything. Highly recommend and have booked another RIU holiday

  Jun 29, 2025
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  Family of 5 - kids 17, 15, 11 (turned 12 on vacay)

  We had a great 7 night stay at Riu Playacar. As a family of 5 rooms can be difficult to find. We booked the 2 bedroom, which was basically a guarantee of adjoining rooms. The room set-up worked well for us with a main door, small hall, and two separate entrances to our rooms. This was the set-up for 90% of the rooms. I'm not sure what it would be like if you just booked one room, but it was great for us. Each room had two full beds with separate bedding. They were pushed together in the center of the room. The bathroom has a separate room for the toilet and the shower has frosted glass which gives some privacy. Our kids would take turns showering or sitting on the patio to give each other privacy. I found the rooms to be well appointed and clean. Everyone in our family found the food enjoyable and selection abundant. We are not foodies, so extravagant presentation and options were not what we desired. The options were great and I observed staff temping food in the buffets during the service to ensure safety. The staff at all the restaurants were amazing and made of meals extra enjoyable. Our oldest child is studying Spanish and used each dinner as an opportunity to practice. The staff was gracious and encouraging. Their reactions gave her more confidence to speak with staff and vendors during our trip. Our middle child ate over 25 donuts during our stay. He thought they were the best. As we knew it would be from news reports and the time of the year, the seaweed at the beach was intense. It made swimming in the ocean less enjoyable but there was a few days where it was better and we enjoyed some ocean time. My husband and 2 kids, paid for the hobbi sailboat lesson and trudged through the seaweed to get out further into the ocean. They enjoyed this experience. I have read a few comments about the smell of the seaweed, I didn't notice that much unless you were very close. I would also say it smelled more like decomposing grass and NOT rotten egg. Is it a little bummer, yes, but the resort does as best as they can to keep the beaches clean. We also knew that with 3 kids, we would likely spend much more of our time poolside. The pools were nice and very warm. One large pool is the "fun" pool with volleyball and activities throughout the day. The other large pool is the "quiet" pool with no structured activities. We participated in volleyball and water aerobics multiple days. The entertainment staff did a great job! We did the night shows twice and they were fun. They were similar to the ones at other resorts we have stayed at. Between the sun and heat, our group was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, so we weren't up too late. We booked two excursion during our stay. One with the company that provides the transportation to and from the resort to go on a catamaran and to Isla Mujeres. Sadly, there was a mix-up and we were not picked up. We reported this to the representative and did get a full refund a week later. The other excursion was booked through the vendors at the shopping area across from the resort. We went to Tulum and swam in a cenote. It was enjoyable and I would book with them again. All the staff that we interacted with were great and housekeeping did an amazing job. Our youngest celebrated his birthday while we were there and everyone made him feel special. The grounds were well maintained and we saw maintenance out everyday working hard to keep it up. Other things to note. -The resort was very clean. Rooms, common area, everywhere. -Drinks were great at the pool and the kids loved all the fun beverages. -Lounge chairs were easy to get. We put our towels down before breakfast and never had an issue. -No one had any tummy issues, which says a lot about the chefs and food safety that we witnessed during out stay. Amazing! -We took water bottles and filled them with bottled water or water from the bars/restaurants during our stay. - The A/C in the rooms worked well. 3 of the 5 dinner options had A/C (Italian, Asian, and general buffet. The steakhouse and Mexican were outdoors in the same seating area as they is for lunch.

  Jun 29, 2025
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  Amazing stay, great service, staff, food & drink and nothing was too much trouble

  Amazing stay, great service, staff, food & drink and nothing was too much trouble. We woup definately book again. Weather was a bit hit & miss with storms on 3 of the days but apart from this everything was fantastic.

  Jun 28, 2025
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  Price Gauging and Black Mold

  I stayed at this hotel for 4 nights with my teenage son and if I could give 0 stars… I would (May/June). The trip was booked through booking.com for 1 adult and 1 child (age 14). We arrived at the hotel at 9:30pm, 30 minutes before the last restaurant closed. Our issues started immediately upon check-in. I was told that the reservation was made for 1 adult and 1 infant (not a 14 year old child) and they’d require an additional $700 (making our 1 bed room over $400 per night). I told them they were incorrect as I entered the age appropriately, and that a $700 up charge didn’t make sense as I could just cancel my current reservation and make another one the spot for 2 ‘adults’ within $100 of our original price (and two adults SHOULD cost more than 1 adult and 1 child). I was told to pay the $700 and they would ‘fix’ the issue but I’d have to pay now to be able to eat tonight and a key be issued. Almost 1 month later and there has been no correction. Booking.com also offered a special for resort credits. I asked at the desk daily how to get them and they were never issued/no information was given. But to top it off, our mattress was covered in black mold. Completely disgusting and unsanitary. I went to the desk again, daily, with my son to report this as we started to get sore throats as the days went on. They said they would look into it but the mattress was not changed and neither was our room. After the trip I reached out to the hotel directly about all of the issues. The hotel said they had no ‘record’ of us reporting the mold or of the price adjustment. They told me to reach out to the after care team since we checked out. I did and weeks later (today) I got a canned response that they will not be doing anything and even more alarming a canned response about how the mold is not an issue…. Some of the inserts from the response “ Allow us to mention that the humidity in Mexico is about 80% on average all year round.” “ We kindly ask you to keep in mind that the humidity in Jamaica is very high but all our rooms are being regularly supervised in order to avoid signs of mildew.” “ With the controls and measures we take, we cannot conclude a direct link between your breathing ailment and the offered room accommodation. Please understand that due to the mentioned circumstances RIU Hotels & Resorts cannot accept any liability in your case.” Clearly these are automated responses for likely a large intake of mold complaints as we were not in JAMAICA… I have been to the Playa Del Carmen area more than 30 times and this was by far my worse experience. The hotel conditions are not healthy, their advertising is false, their hotel staff is not competent to document and execute issues, they price gauge, and overall the chain takes no accountability. There are many hotels in the area that are far cheaper and far superior. Stay elsewhere. I am attaching photos of the moldy mattress as well some basic room photos. Room 8211

  Jun 26, 2025
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  Great experience for Mum & Son

  Had an absolutely amazing time. Room was beautiful and made immaculate on a daily basis by Nery. From day one, Jasmin, the entertainer introduced herself and always took the time to be personable with us. Alongside Kari, taking the time to remember our names from just a 30 second interaction. Together they made us feel special and truly elevated our experience. Finally, massive shoutout to the Aquafit team April & Jesus, we loved Jesus’s intensity and Aprils dance’s. Thank you all for a wonderful trip, I hope to come back in the future. *note - there was a lot of seaweed which is expected this time of the year. Do not expect to go into the sea, stick to the pools (which are heated) And also be cautious with doing a STEP class on the tiles, this unfortunstely led to my mother having a slip and bruising her wrist (thankfully no issues THIS TIME) From Matt & Jo :)

  Jun 26, 2025