Riu Palace Pacifico - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Visited this property for the first time earlier this month. We visit PVR two to three times a year (25+ times in total) and have stayed in both AI resorts and condo complexes all over Banderas Bay. There is a lot to like about the Riu Palace Pacifico. It’s bright, fresh and modern, and the entire property is spotlessly clean. The staff is excellent, as they are at so many resorts, working hard and often going the extra mile. Examples include (but are not limited to) Julian at the buffet, Junior at the front desk, Luigi at the sports bar, and Lalo and Maribel at the Elite Club beach area. The food is decent, overall, and quite good in some of the specialty restaurants including the Asian, the Italian and the Elite Club. Other positives include the nightly entertainment, the quality of the beach, and the flat, smooth ocean floor free of rocks/coral (no water shoes needed). There are beach vendors but access to the resort is controlled, and they do not solicit to the point of annoyance.

The temperature of the ocean was a welcome relief from the heat but unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the three pools at this property. All of them are heated to the temperature of bathwater – or worse. You can debate the need to heat pools in tropical climates to begin with, but when you have three pools, why heat them all to the same temperature???? Why not leave one unheated (or maintained at a much cooler temperature) to give your guests a choice??? And then there is the swim-up bar, which isn’t built at the end of a large, main pool like at most resorts; at the Riu, the swim-up bar is its own smaller pool and unsurprisingly, between the hot water and the fact hardly anyone gets out to use the bathroom, some days it reeked of urine when you walked by. Guests call it “the pee pee pool.” To call it disgusting would be charitable. Finally, the chair-saving game is in full force at this resort. There are signs forbidding it, but the resort lacks the courage to enforce its own rules.

Breakfast was incredible—honestly, the buffet/restaurants may have been the best part of our stay. Everything served was delicious, and the variety was outstanding. Every bite (of breakfast/lunch/dinner) was amazing, and it truly felt like we were eating like a king and queen every day at Riu. We tried each restaurant on the property, and every single one had its own unique, beautifully presented, and flavorful experience. The food across the board was absolutely wonderful. On top of that, the beach, ocean, and pool were all phenomenal. Everything about Riu felt luxurious and exceeded our expectations. We’ve been to numerous all-inclusive resorts in Mexico, and Riu is easily one of our top experiences—if not our number one. Thank you, Riu, and a huge thank you to the staff and culinary teams. We absolutely loved our stay and will definitely be back! :)

Nothing. We found everything to be great.

Great location on big easy to walk beach. Swim up pool was great. Entertainment nightly right there. Friendly staff. Room very comfortable. Lots of varieties of restaurants and loved the lobby coffee bar. Nice having the 2 different pools and the chairs on the beach. Loved the Friday night neon party!

Food was average and could step up a notch. Good variety but quality good not great.

I like people in the White night,

My husband and I got sick to our stomachs; we ate fish in sauce, which made my husband very ill—he was vomiting and had diarrhea. The fish made me sick as well; we had both eaten the same thing. Our children didn't get sick because they didn't eat that fish. We called a doctor to the room—they offer that service—and he charged us 6,000 pesos for medications that you can buy at Farmacias Similares for less than 500 pesos. It’s a rip-off. I’ve been sick for 15 days. Service was only available at a few restaurants; my children wanted to go to the steakhouse, which requires a reservation—even though they disguise it as a "waiting list." The facilities were very good, but it’s a shame about the poor-quality food and drinks; the piña coladas were very low-grade. Sad, sick, and disappointed