Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana

Direct access to the beach. We went during seagasm season which was a shame, the hotel did there best to clean it everyday but it did keep coming back. The food wasn’t the best but i suppose the quality just isn’t as good as I’m used to which is no fault of the hotel. The staff were really friendly. After reading reviews of people not feeling safe I was really worried. But I felt safe 100% of the time. I even left jewellery out and nothing was stolen. Maintenance was good. Coffee machine didn’t work, I requested a new one and they had it in my room within 15 minutes. I would definitely return without a doubt.

I am an old timer, in many senses. Not only because I am an old fashioned lover of an elegancy, but also because I was a frequent visitor of this resort. I have visited it some 4 or 5 times overall. That makes me remember how the palace looked before the renovation: it was beautiful, a real palace. And that memory does not allow me to fully accept the new style applied to the hotel — I find it quite cheap. I miss the gorgeous chandeliers in a hallway; rich and comfortable sofas and chairs; nice symmetric stairways, leading downstairs to the main square with the theatre and main restaurant entrance. There was a nice fountain with the sculptures between the wings of a stairway — a popular photographic spot for the couples.It is all gone. Few paintings in Rococo style still are hanging on a wall along with the two old mirrors in golden frames, probably forgotten to be removed or replaced to match a new style. Well, this all seems does not matter for the new young public who now constitutes a majority in a hotel. I guess they found a new simple hotel style to be more resonating with their life style. Adding 3 more large pools with the bars helped, too, I guess. A beach? Very few guys may stand the hot sun there as the palm trees have been cut so thoroughly that they practically do not give any shade. This time I did not visit any fancy restaurants (Italian, Japanese etc) but the main buffet (“Isabella”) was OK. The only complain I might have is about the stakes: they have never been well done. There have been plenty of fruits: papayas, mangos, pineapples, passion fruits and etc. Vegetables were non impressive and same was a coffee in a main buffet. But the new chain: “Cappuchino” (this is exact spelling, nit a Cappuccino) is offering a great coffee and expresso along with the much better cookies and cakes than downstairs. Entertainment: main theatre performances were not bad. Good dancers and a good music. But the smaller scene “concerts” have been boring and not attractive even for dancing. All Spanish language repertoire did not make it easier to love it for guys like me who does not speak Spanish. Trips. I can only recommend one to the farm with monkeys, where you may really have fun with the animals and also taste and buy a great coffee and cacao. That’s it, folks.