Hotel Riu Palace Punta Cana

We are currently staying at Riu Palace Bávaro as part of a package holiday with TUI. While the resort facilities are standard for the brand, our family holiday has been completely ruined by a greedy, predatory guest policy and appalling customer service from both resort management and our TUI representative. During our stay, my wristband naturally came undone and was lost while swimming in the main pool with my children. Upon informing reception, I was shocked to be told that the replacement fee for a simple, cheap piece of plastic was an astronomical $250 USD. When we queried this, front desk staff messaged a manager in front of us and actually asked "how much would you be willing to pay?"—proving this is not a genuine security protocol, but an arbitrary, extortionate money-grab designed to rinse registered, paying guests. The hotel relies on a document signed at check-in mentioning the penalty. However, this is signed under total duress: after a long flight with young children, you are explicitly told that if you do not sign, you will not be given room keys or allowed into the resort. That is leverage held over tired travelers, not a fair agreement. The situation became even more indefensible less than 24 hours later when I actually found the lost wristband. I brought the original band straight to reception to prove beyond any doubt that it was never sold, handed off, or used by an outsider. Reception completely refused to issue a refund. Instead of listening, staff repeatedly spoke over me, dismissed every explanation, and made it crystal clear that once they have your money, it's a case of "tough luck." TUI's on-site support was equally useless. The TUI agent couldn't have cared less, showing zero intent to fight or advocate for us. He sent a single token message to the hotel, and when they predictably declined the refund, he simply washed his hands of it entirely. This manufactured drama caused a sleepless night, wasted days of our holiday, and created immense unnecessary stress. I was forced to pay a $125 USD compromise fee to the hotel just to stop the harassment, with TUI offering a meager £50 contribution. I will be pursuing a formal complaint against TUI online upon returning. Be warned: this resort operates on predatory charges, and neither hotel management nor TUI will step up when guests are mistreated over routine pool incidents.

Come with my husband for 2 weeks. The hotel is lovely and grounds are gorgeous and very well kept. Rooms could do with an update but are clean and the maids do a great job maintenance them during your stay. Bars and coffee shop are well stocked and really nice. I didnt use the sports bar but the lobby bar was great and cool. Huge thanks to Ishmael, Rosaris and Osiris who were fantastic additions to the bar service. Great service. Always smiling and really made our time at the hotel so much better. The pools are good. The pool service at the main pool was really good especially from Olvi who was a fantastic member of staff. Always smiling/singing and making again making our stay so much better Always remembered our drinks and was just lovely! The service at the ball/games pool in the afternoons could be improved as we didn't really see anyone about. The restaurants. The main buffet is great. So much choice. 1 thing is the food isn't always labelled correctly. I'm vegetarian so had to be really careful. Vegetable wok was advertised with the veggie sign but had pork in it. Same with soup. Pasta and pizzas were great. Lots of fresh salad. The speciality restaurants I found quite poor being vegetarian. A couple of places I couldn't get anything. Others I just had some vegetables which was fine as my husband eats meat and I didn't want him missing out but a veggie option should be included. For example in the Japanese restaurant they bring you pork gyozas. If they were vegetable then everyone could enjoy. I think if you were vegan and didn't want to just eat salad and fruit all day every day then you would struggle here. Saying that I never went hungry and always found something. Entertainment. We didnt go to any of the shows but they looked busy and sounded OK. Beach was gorgeous! Overall apart from the food which is my personal opinion as a vegetarian I would give this resort 4/5. We had a really great and relaxing stay and we would return.