Hotel Riu Republica 5*

As a Riu member that has stayed in many Riu hotels around the world (Jamaica, Mexico, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Morocco, New York) Including a pervious Riu stay in the Dominican a few years back. This is the only hotel I would NOT return to nor recommend. . Il start with the positives: Rooms were spacious, cleaned daily with fresh towels. The request for fridge top ups was easy and completed. The Jerk Chicken was excellent. Spanish and Gourmet restaurant did the best steaks! Well done to the chefs. The Pool Bar Staff really made the holiday. La Orla bar and Coco bar really made our days, special thanks to Yina, Werbin, Edourdo and Christopher. I hope management recognises how wonderful these staff members are to Riu. They welcome the guests, remember everyone’s drinks, smile and provide a lovely atmosphere. Also Macao staff were great at making nightly cocktails. Beach was beautiful, no seaweed and well cared for. Hotel very large and overall well maintained. The negatives: Guest behaviours!!! Guests carrying stereo’s like an accessory, playing loud music all over the place. We don’t all want to hear it! Ladies eating in bikini tops/swim wear in the evening restaurants and not being challenged. Flasks, another accessory day and night. Why guests can’t walk to a bar and drink from a glass in the evenings? . Pools having late night swimmers. Concern about the safety aspects of this as no life guards. Often these swimmers were drinking or drunk. I’m sure there have been previous incidents and likely to be in the future. Guest safety should be a priority for every hotel and this really isn’t being considered here. Food - typical all inc food. Something for all. Reports of illness but this is probably not the hotel - but guests not using tongs or self poisoning from over doing it with the alcohol! I played it safe and never got poorly but meant very repetitive. Often took a drink to the room and noticed our room glasses were not removed but cleaned. Not sure how the cleaners were cleaning them! I’m assuming with tap water but dreading to think of what cloth to dry! Poor entertainment. Couple of shows were good. No point walking to the garden as Karaoke was not reliable! White and Neon parties poor! No comparison to Mexico! Sorry entertainment team but needs reviewing! Lots of Spanish music….. hotel needs to consider other guest’s language's. Also repetitive songs over and over. No security staff, but lots of cameras. It felt like being in the “ Big Brother House”. Maybe if there was a presence of security guest behaviours might be more considerate but also ensure safety for all. I normally go for a Riu due to its standards. This hotel really lacks any. I would return to the DR but never this hotel. My advice is do some research, google, News, historical TRIP advisor before booking. The same sort of reviews appear but nothing seems to have changed. Consider paying more and going elsewhere.

Hotel is good value for money with a choice between lively and more quiet bars in also has a good choice of restaurants on site I found Diana at the Soana bar and Ruben at the steak very helpful and friendly but all the staff are lovely at the resort to be totally honest We did have issues my my tv when we first arrived but this was replaced on the same day Most of the holiday makers at the hotel do seem to be Spanish speaker but we made friends with many of them and we enjoyed each other's company