Hotel Riu Palace Baja California

This place was a huge disappointment, and I left wanting to get a refund. Pros: There are a lot of pools. You can walk over to the neighboring resorts. The bar stays open until midnight. Cons: It's supposed to be a newer hotel, but it looks tired and run-down. There was vomit on the staircases by the Elite section for hours. That tells you everything about how this place is run. The staff is rude, and I don't think it was random. I've stayed at Hotel Riu Palace Kukulkan, and the staff there were attentive and actually welcoming. Here, I was ignored repeatedly. I had to chase down wait staff just to get any service at all. At Guacamole, I sat for 16 minutes before I had to ask someone to take my order. The waitress told me someone else would come. Meanwhile, I watched other guests get seated and served right away. You guess what they look lik. At the breakfast buffet, the waitress looked right at me, walked past me, and went to greet the couple behind me to ask if they needed a table. This was every single day at restaurants, poolside, and just in passing. Employees talking about guests in front of them is disgusting and unacceptable. Staff spoke about guests while standing right there. Spanish isn't a secret language. Plenty of Americans understand it, myself included, and I heard what was being said. Most of us don't say anything back because we'd rather stay safe and not start a confrontation. That doesn't mean we can't understand you. Talking about the people you're supposed to be serving, in front of them, is unprofessional in any language. You have to walk all the way out of the resort to get to an Uber if that is your preferred method of getting off the resort. They do not allow Ubers to come to the front of the resort so the resort is absolutely not accessible friendly. If you like Carnival cruises or crowded cheap, mass-market vacations, or you're new to traveling, you'll probably love this resort. If you are a more experienced traveler and don't mind being on the outskirts, PLEASE book elsewhere! You will have a much better experience.

A great place to spend a few days of vacation, the good points are: - The view from the hotel in general is spectacular. - The hotel staff is very good; Dany, one of the buffet waiters, is the kindest person I have met on my travels. - The buffet food in general is too good, it surpasses several specialty restaurants. - Some specialty restaurants do not charge extra for lobster or cuts of meat. - The coffee shop has variety and the coffee tastes very good. - The shows are generally different from other hotel chains. - The pools are heated and not very deep. - You can go to the other Riu hotels without any problem and use all the facilities. - Its proximity to the marina makes it perfect that you can make plans to go to the arch without having to invest much time in transportation. Points with areas for improvement: - There is no bath kit, comb, sewing kit, shower cap, etc. It seems to me that only those who pay for elite have access to that. - There are no slippers, only for the elite. - There are no lemonades, orangeades, or flavored waters in the specialty restaurants; if you do not drink alcohol, you are limited to soda or plain water. - There is no shade at the pools except for the ones at the bars; on very hot days, you think twice about exposing yourself to direct sunlight. - The gap between those who pay for elite is felt very strongly; they have a private restaurant, private cafeteria, bathroom amenities, slippers, pool area. I am aware that classism exists in hotels, but it is very marked here. Since it is the most expensive of the three in the chain, limiting bathroom amenities is absurd. - The Italian and Asian restaurants are just acceptable. In general, it is a great hotel; I consider the areas of opportunity more like pebbles in the shoe, and since there are several, I take away one star. They are not decisive, but they are annoying at the time.