"Worst All Inclusive Resort in the DR"
My fiancée and I recently stayed at RIU Republica for our engagement trip, and unfortunately it was one of the most disappointing resort experiences we’ve ever had.
The problems started the moment we arrived. Check in took well over an hour while we stood in the heat waiting to get our room. During that time, hundreds of guests were leaving for what appeared to be a party excursion, filling the lobby with constant yelling, chanting, and screaming. It was chaotic and certainly not the relaxing atmosphere we expected from an adults only resort.
Speaking of “adults only,” I think the marketing is very misleading. If your idea of an adults only vacation is a resort primarily filled with 18 to 25 year olds partying nonstop, then this may be exactly what you’re looking for. In our experience, nearly everyone on the property fell into that age group, and we saw very few guests over 30. The atmosphere felt much more like a spring break destination than a peaceful adults only getaway. Trash was frequently left around the resort, and the overall environment was loud from morning until late at night.
The pools were another major disappointment. They were so overcrowded that they were almost unusable. People were packed shoulder to shoulder, constantly stepping over one another, making it difficult to relax or even move around. Every swim up bar was overwhelmed, and waiting 15 to 20 minutes for a drink was common, only to receive a cocktail that tasted heavily watered down. To make matters worse, there was a strong unpleasant odor around many of the pools and other water features throughout the resort, making it even less enjoyable to spend time there. This wasn’t limited to one pool or one bar. It was the experience throughout the resort.
Our room was another major disappointment. The air conditioning never cooled the room below approximately 75 degrees. By the third day, we contacted maintenance. The technician told us he was aware these rooms simply do not get much colder and that there were no other rooms available. We ended up paying for taxis into town just to purchase fans so we could sleep comfortably for the rest of our vacation. No guest at an all inclusive resort should have to leave the property and buy fans just to make the room livable.
The food was consistently poor. Buffet meals were mediocre at best, but the specialty restaurants were even more frustrating. Instead of serving tables individually, it seemed like everyone in the restaurant was served in waves, resulting in dinners that routinely lasted around two and a half hours from start to finish. Spending that much of your evening waiting for food is not how we wanted to spend our vacation.
The drinks were equally disappointing. The liquor throughout the resort tasted heavily diluted, and bartenders generally would not make drinks that weren’t already listed on the menu. The bottles provided in the room were among the cheapest brands available.
One of the biggest disappointments involved our engagement. We informed the resort in advance that we would be getting engaged during our stay and asked if they could help us do something small or special to celebrate. We were assured they would. After returning from our engagement, absolutely nothing had been arranged or acknowledged. It was an opportunity to create a memorable moment, and it was completely ignored.
The only truly enjoyable part of our trip was leaving the resort for excursions. Ironically, we did not book them through the resort because the excursion prices being offered on site were dramatically higher than what we found by booking independently.
Overall, this resort was not the relaxing, quality all inclusive experience we expected. Between the lengthy check in, overcrowded facilities, unpleasant odors, hot rooms, poor food, watered down drinks, party atmosphere, lack of customer service, and failure to follow through on even simple guest requests, we left extremely disappointed.
We traveled here to celebrate one of the biggest moments of our lives. Instead, we spent much of the week wishing we had chosen another resort. We would not return, and based on our experience, we cannot recommend RIU Republica to anyone looking for a relaxing adults only vacation.
