Hotel Riu Caribe 5*

We booked Riu Caribe to celebrate our anniversary, but unfortunately it turned out to be one of the most disappointing holidays we’ve had. We arrived to find we’d been given two single beds despite requesting a double bed. We then had to change rooms twice in the first two days, spending hours without a room while waiting for the next one to be ready. The reception staff were some of the rudest we’ve ever encountered. Rather than listening to our concerns, we were spoken to dismissively, repeatedly told we were wrong, and made to feel like we were an inconvenience. It completely ruined the start of our anniversary. Our final room had numerous issues. The air conditioning barely worked, the balcony constantly smelled of rotten eggs, the shower water regularly stopped while in use, and we even had yellow-coloured water coming from the sink. As shown in one of the photos I’ve uploaded, there were also times when no water came out of the tap at all. A maintenance worker attended once and said he would report the issue, but despite us complaining again on several occasions, nothing was resolved. One night an intoxicated guest repeatedly banged on our door for around 40 minutes. We called reception and were told security would come, but nobody ever arrived, leaving us to deal with the situation ourselves. Other issues included getting stuck in a lift when it stopped working, a power cut, repetitive food, and an undercooked steak that looked more like a lamb chop than a properly cooked ribeye, so I sent it back. During our stay, both my boyfriend and I became unwell. We cannot say for certain what caused it, but given that we never left the resort, it was another disappointing part of our holiday. What disappointed us most was RIU’s response afterwards. Instead of accepting responsibility for the overall experience, many of our concerns were dismissed or disputed. This hotel fell well below the standard we expected from RIU, and sadly we would not return or recommend it. There are far better hotels in Cancun with much higher standards of customer service.

Not sure where to start but we as a couple travel the world but do not usually travel to the same place twice (the world is so big so what's the point?). Anyway before I start the Mexican people in general are so warming and friendly whenever you pass them in the street, I've been to places in the world where the people are nice in the hotel but not so much outside when they are not gaining gaining from you. So back to the hotel, the staff and facilities, food and drink are all amazing. You can do as little or as much as you'd like to in the socialising/activities aspect. If you'd like a quiet holiday, sorted. If you want a party holiday you're good to go as well. Beach is perfection, there's so much choice of food that even a picky vegetarian will be happy and if there's not something then the staff will be happy to cater for your needs with a smile. The Shangri-la is a particular favourite of ours and if you're a Brit it's pretty much having a mix between an Indian and Chinese takeaway as an option of every night of your stay. The staff here put in 100% always with a smile on their faces and no request is ever too much. Few people who made our stay so nice were Viviana in the buffet, Isis and Alberto (?) in the sports bar, Israel serving drinks on the trolley outside, Alexis on the entertainment team, Felix and Mauro in the swim up bar and Lili in the lobby bar to name a few but you cannot fault any of the staff. The TUI rep was also great, we have been here a few times now and will be returning again and again.