Hotel Riu Palace Paradise Island

I HAVE NEVER BEEN TREATED SO RUDELY BY HOSPITALITY STAFF. EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU ADDRESS AN ISSUE WITH THIS STAFF THEY HAVE AN ATTITUDE, DON’T WANT TO HELP, AND THEN CALL YOU NAMES. Pedro the manager was one of the most condescending and rude people I have encountered. Told me I was “very rude” for being upset we couldn’t eat at an all inclusive resort. And picked a fight because he thought I rolled my eyes at him. He wanted to argue with us about what services we received instead of helping. Apparently the Riu’s idea of all inclusive is cold sandwiches available to self-serve in one corner of the hotel, which isn’t listed in the app or advertised in any way. See photo of the “fully booked” restaurant we couldn’t get reservations to. But then magically had an opening when we threatened to go eat elsewhere. It’s obvious Riu wants to cheat their “all inclusive” guests. Their “themed restaurants” do not have enough availability for the number of all inclusive guests they book so all you get is a cheap buffet. False advertising, bait and switch, fraud. I stayed at the Riu for 4 nights this week and I have no idea how it’s rated as a 5-star hotel. I’ve stayed at nicer Best Westerns. It’s nearly impossible to get into any restaurant besides the buffet. You can’t book reservations more than 2 days in advance and you can’t book the first two nights of your stay. By the time you can book reservations, there are none available unless you eat at 9 pm. The reservations make no sense considering the restaurants are mostly empty but there are no open slots to book a reservation. There are no food options between 3-6:30 besides room service which has a menu of 3 salads, 3 sandwiches and dessert. Room service will text you via the app that it’s being delivered but won’t show up for another half hour to 45 minutes and won’t deliver to your room if you’re not there, leaving you sitting and waiting until they show up at some mysterious time. We arrived at noon and gave our bags to the bellhops while we waited for checkin. By the time we got to our room at 4, our luggage wasn't there so we called the front desk about it. The staff member was extremely rude and told us we were supposed to inform the bellhop of our room number after we had checked in - which no one told us and I don’t know how that’s my job and not the front desk’s. When I asked if we could get our luggage delivered the front desk staff laughed in my face and we ended up getting it ourselves - definitely not 5-star treatment. There’s no adjusting the A/C in the room because the thermostat buttons don’t work so the room is always 62f/17c. Except the day it broke, and it was 77f/25c all day. The king sized bed had 2 single pillows that were so old and worn thin that they had to be balled up inside the pillow case to be usable. The bed has a single sheet on it and there are no extra pillows or blankets in the room. I’ve stayed at Riu’s before and had a great experience. But this was easily one of the worst hotels I’ve stayed at. The staff is rude and treats every request as an inconvenience. Absolutely a huge waste of money to stay here. The only positive was the beach.

My husband and I went in mid June. Before I go into details of our stay, I have to say this. If you're looking for a fancy, state of the art, ultra modern hotel with top notch entertainment and things to do all day, this is not it. However, if you're looking for a clean, friendly, place to relax, the RIU Palace Paradise Island is great. YES, WE WOULD RETURN. We found the staff to be very polite and professional including Eunika & Angelina at the front desk. Our room was 1111 and faced the pools and ocean. It was very nice. Even though it's across from the elevator, there was hardly any noise. The buffet had so much food that we both found what we liked (and didn't like) at every meal. I'm a picky eater and I was fine with it. The fruit and vegetables were very fresh. We went to the steakhouse one night and it was good. Please remember that you cannot make any reservation for one of the restaurants until you have checked in, and only for two days in advance, so the first two nights, the buffet is your only choice. My husband loved the jerk chicken station by the pool for lunch. We tipped a few dollars at every meal, even at the buffet. Shout out to Iris at breakfast - she's the best !! The room was clean and housekeeping made the bed, changed the towels, and cleaned every day. Please note we tipped every day because the staff changes so we did not want only one person getting the total at the end of our stay. Loved the shower pressure !! The bartenders at the Calypso (24/7 bar) and at the pool were good and we tipped there too. The entertainment is offered every evening around 8:15 with games, or a band. The Michael Jackson show was very good. The beach is gorgeous and clean. There are guys there to pull chairs and an umbrella for you. The water is clean, no algae, no seaweed. We had no problem getting chairs by the pool. There are shady areas too around the pool. They have a few people daily by the pool that do some games (trivia, bingo, corn hole) and aqua gym. Sometimes they add in a dance lesson.