Im going to start this review by saying in the end it will be up to you and what you make of it, don’t make judgements before you even arrive.
Me and my wife went to the RIu Cancun for our honeymoon (7th August – 18th August) and to put it simply, we did not want to come back.
I had contacted the hotel in advanced to let them know I wanted the highest room possible with a sea view. We arrived to find out we were on the 4th floor and so went straight down, and “Adriana” was very helpful in sorting out the change of rooms up to the 15th floor with a phenomenal view. (Yes avoid the 13th floor).
The hotel is beautiful, with loads to do around the area. The main pool, (opposite the stage) is the “party pool.” They had music on all day, there were a few drunk people around but no one was nasty, or rude and everyone just seemed to be enjoying themselves. The pool (as you look at the party pool) to the left of it, still has the music, but just less of the animation team next to it, and is where we spent the most time. There is another one that looks out to the back “quiet pool” and it is just that, cannot hear music, literally a place for you to get your tan on.
The staff are amazing, they work tirelessly, and are always willing to help. They do work for a tip, and a little goes a long way. 2 stand out members of staff for us were FREY (breakfast and lunch) and JUANITA (9-5 shift 24-hour bar). Frey by the second day new our names, our drinks and what time we were going to be down for breakfast and lunch and had the table ready for us as soon as we had walked in. Juanita was lovely to speak to, made a bit of a fuss about you when you came in to ensure you were comfortable, had the drink you wanted, was able to conjure up a new drink that you wouldn’t have tried yet, and so much more. Absolute gems, and an asset to the hotel.
The main restaurant has a wide selection of food and a theme every evening. Although you will get the usual food everyday there will be something different at one of the stations every night as well. You can normally find out in the morning by asking the waiters, what the theme is for the evening so you can plan where to eat if you didn’t want to eat at the main restaurant. For those people that have said there is limited selection of food, it is an absolute lie, I am a massive eater, and to sample ALL parts of breakfast lunch and dinner, took me 3 days, so you will always have something to try. There are 4 speciality restaurants, but we only managed to make it into 2 of them, the Japanese one and the steakhouse. Before I start this bit, I must say it is the first time I have tried Japanese food. So with that in mind, I was very open minded about it, but I think it just wasn’t for me. Their menu is outside the restaurant so you can see what you could be eating. The steakhouse, on the other hand, that was absolutely beautiful – HIGHLY recommended.
As this is a review of the hotel, any excursions we did, I will be putting on their own individual pages on trip advisor, but feel free to message to ask questions… I had loads before I went, so more than willing to help future holiday goers.
A few questions I had before…
Absolute recommendations – Chichen Itza and the Hibiku Sinkhole – Booked through Thomson.
Don’t book anything from the UK – Wait till you get there to book things – If you come out of the hotel, and turn right walk down till you see a little hut with a thatched roof and speak to someone called Junior – We booked a few excursions through him, and he was able to sort us out with some very good deals. (Don’t be afraid to haggle!)
Some places do take credit cards – they normally want US Dollars, as it works out better for them, but Mexican Peso’s is what we used to pay for everything and it was fine.
Exit charge is true – 1000 Mexican Pesos, 45 British Pounds (I think) 100 US Dollars. You pay this as just before you check in.
Not many places that do private dinners, but Columbus is something I would highly recommend.