Hotel Riu Yucatan 5*

Chapter One: Once Upon a Vacation --> Riu Yucatan I’ve never written a review before, but occasionally, an experience pushes you outside your comfort zone and straight toward the keyboard. Our stay at Riu Yucatan supplied enough material for a short story. Unfortunately, some of the plot twists came from the bathroom. We understood we were booking a value vacation. Our expectations were reasonable: decent food, a comfortable room, friendly service, and plumbing with a clear understanding of which direction things should travel. We also understand that things go wrong. What matters is how they’re handled. A large resort should be prepared to respond promptly, offer reasonable solutions, and make guests feel their concerns matter. Chapter Two: Trouble in Paradise and the Pipes Our room had both a sewage backup and a sewage odor. We expected a tropical escape, but the plumbing apparently wanted a starring role. The front desk staff tried to help. The first replacement offered was described as a nicer room, but we were told it was near a pavilion where nightclub activity started at 11 p.m. We love having fun, too, but these days, we prefer to get most of it in before 11 p.m. My wife was already approaching DEFCON 1 over the room situation. Adding a nightclub next door would have given me two problems, and gentlemen, you know which one I’d have to answer to. Humor aside, a sewage backup and odor are serious concerns. We expected a practical solution that would let us return to enjoying our vacation. Chapter Three: The Customer Service Quest The front desk staff did everything they could within the limits of their authority. When they couldn’t resolve things further, I asked for a customer service number, which they provided. My call was routed to reservations. I spoke with someone who identified himself as a reservations manager. He told me customer service managers didn’t work on weekends, that he couldn’t assist further, and that I should return to the front desk. Apparently, the resort offered an excursion we hadn’t planned on: a round trip from the front desk to the phone and back again. When I asked him to confirm his name and spell it so I could document whom I’d spoken with, he hung up. That was the end of that chapter. Unfortunately, our problem was still going. Problems don’t take weekends off. A resort hosting guests seven days a week should have someone available with the authority to help when front-line staff have exhausted their options. Chapter Four: The Mystery of the Burger We would have appreciated simple, fresh, well-prepared food. My suggestion would be to focus on doing at least one dish really well at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. An elaborate presentation means little when the taste disappoints. At several meals, I honestly would have preferred fast food. Being from Texas, we take burgers a little personally. These left us with questions. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and returned when service opened, hoping a fresh patty straight off the grill would be better. It looked and tasted no different from the ones that had been sitting out. We weren’t expecting a backyard cookout championship, just a burger we could recognize. We’re still scratching our heads over those patties. I can’t say what was in them, but they looked and tasted unlike any hamburger meat we’ve ever had. Chapter Five: The Secret Steakhouse Tables There was also confusion over outdoor seating. We would sit down with food from the buffet, only to be told the tables were for the steakhouse. Apparently, knowing which tables we could use was another part of the adventure. A small “Reserved for Steakhouse” sign would save guests the confusion and staff the repeated explanations. This is a simple fix that could prevent unnecessary frustration. Chapter Six: The Treasure That Required More Money Our booking advertised “up to $1,460 in resort credits.” We didn’t choose the resort for those credits, but a family planning a budget vacation could reasonably consider them a meaningful benefit when comparing packages. The booking does describe restricted coupons. However, the spa offers we saw included: • $15 off a $219 massage, leaving $204 to pay. • $10 off a $209 massage, leaving $199 to pay. • $30 off a $585 couples treatment, leaving $555 to pay. The spa’s “Save $100” promotion combined six separate coupons for six different services. Using all six would require substantial additional spending. This particular treasure hunt required bringing your own treasure. For us, these offers provided no meaningful value. Families deserve to see the individual discounts, service prices, and purchase requirements clearly before booking. Spending hundreds more to claim small discounts doesn’t make a budget vacation more affordable. Chapter Seven: The People Who Helped Every story deserves recognition for the people who made things better. Three employees deserve individual recognition: Melisa ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Luis ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Selene ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you for your efforts and for helping make our stay better. Your service deserves recognition separately from our concerns about the resort. From our perspective, front-line employees are left trying to bridge the gap between what guests expect and what the property delivers. We hope management listens to both its staff and its guests and gives these employees the support and authority they need to help. The Moral of Our Vacation Story All joking aside, this experience made me think about my kids taking my grandbaby on vacation, saving up, stretching their budget, and hoping to come home with good memories. That’s why I’m sharing ours. Families booking a value vacation deserve the basics done well: a comfortable room, enjoyable food, honest advertising, and a helpful response when something goes wrong. We weren’t expecting a fairy tale. We were expecting a vacation worth the money we paid.

This will be the worst review I’ve ever written. As we stand with a broken pipe and urine and feces in the hallway and in our shower, we are on the phone with corporate trying to get moved to a different property. The property is old. They are renovating it. We already were moved from one room to another. The second day we were here. There was black mold in the shower, black mold everywhere they considered the room renovated. It was not. They moved us to a different room. We’ve been here for two nights. It’s not acceptable either and we should’ve been moved to a higher end property. We tried to sleep in this morning. We have been exhausted. They started working and banging and scraping in the room next to us that was empty before 8 am. The $1460 coupons we were supposed to get for Spa and golf are useless so please do not accept any coupons from any Travel Agent or any package through this company. The food is horrible. We have lived on 7-Up, beer, ice cream, cones, and some fruit. The staff on the scale from one to 10 is a 9. Selene and Luis have done as much as they can. Food is horrible. It reminds me of a bad Cruise I took last year. It used to be the food was average and the Mexican food was all done really well but now it is no longer, the hotel is only at 40 capacity. There was even black mold on our hangers in the first room. pictures supposed to hear are accurate . The corporate number is useless so when you called or someone to help you on a weekend. Please do not come to this property. You will be so disappointed. I was going to say, the rooms were clean and say that the grounds were clean, but after what happened this evening I’m done. We. Are done. Every platform of social media these pictures will go on. The RIU Company does not care about their customer. It’s a parent and every single review that I have read. RIU DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ITS CUSTOMERS!!!