Hotel Riu Palace Kukulkan — Hotel in Cancún

(1/2) To start with, if you book the package deal that’s directly on their website it’s not a direct booking with Riu, it actually books through Expedia, there was no info about this until after we got the confirmation email after booking. So with that, you do NOT get the free shuttle that Riu is supposed to provide. In fact, they wont even tell you what company it is or give any recommendations about shuttle services to and from the airport due to the contract they have with their shuttle service. Upon arrival to the hotel around 8:30pm we did not have to wait in line to check-in, but it took about an hour to get into our room due to the problems during check-in. Cesar was the first person we dealt with, he told my husband and i that there were no king ocean view rooms available and we were going to have to have two full beds for two nights. This obviously was not going to work, this is not what we booked. Before giving us this news there was no attempt to talk to his supervisor/manager to see what could be done. So we obviously asked if we could talk to a supervisor knowing they can usually do something more reasonable. I did not get her name, but she basically said the same thing as Cesar except it would only be for one night with the two full beds, again not talking to her manager to see what could be done. So we then asked for the manager, Nacho, he got us into a king partial ocean view room for one night then we had to switch rooms the next day and it wasn’t ready until about 3:00pm. We booked an ocean view for the duration of our stay, but did not get it the first day. There was no compensation for this at all. Nacho did send some chocolate covered strawberries and champagne but this did not satisfy the inconvenience we were faced with. We should have had the price difference refunded for the one night not having the ocean view room. They kept saying the bed arrangement was not guaranteed but there is also no way to guarantee the bed type you want during booking. When the amenities Nacho sent were delivered we had the do not disturb sign on the door, my husband was in the shower, i was using the restroom, we told them not to enter, were not sure if they didn’t hear us or just ignored us but they entered the room anyways to deliver it. The room itself was very nice, but the bed and pillows were extremely uncomfortable, our necks and backs hurt the duration of our trip. Housekeeping started at about 9:00am and it was extremely loud, we did not get to sleep in one time during our stay due to this. They also call at very random hours asking if you need anything so we made sure to take the phone off the hook when we were sleeping. The food at the restaurants was horrible to say the least, there was absolutely no seasoning used on anything. You cant make reservations unless your elite club, so be prepared to wait between 30 minutes and two hours for a table. The Sunakku restaurant was the most enjoyable. We had a group staying together at the hotel, we ate at the La Casa de las flores, we’re almost positive this restaurant gave us food poisoning. The buffet did have a lot of options, but nothing had good flavor since no seasoning is used. At the steakhouse, i ordered filet mignon, i got a flank steak, my husband’s lobster was very tough and was not tender, it was as chewy as the steak. My husband and i went with another couple to the Rossini restaurant, between all of us we used 2 full pepper shakers and a full salt shaker to try and make it edible. Salt and pepper isn’t enough to begin with but the only taste was noodles otherwise. The room service also needs some improvement, the first night we were there we had no choice but to order it since the restaurants/buffet were closed since check-in took so long. We both ordered nachos, the cheese was cold which made the chips soggy and the guacamole was brown before we even got it. We ordered a few more nights after that with different items, but they weren’t any better. Pepe’s fries were the most seasoned thing at the resort and what we ate the most of...

Came here May(2024) for my 10 year anniversary and heres my review. Hotel: hotel is nice.Built in 2022 so it was modern in a way and sleek. This is a smaller hotel since its on the strip and theres minimal walking which we loved. All restaurants are in a row and beach is a short walk from the rooms/lobby.

Service/staff: service was amazing. There was one hiccup at the front desk when we checked in, and the receptionist was rude. Our travel agent left a note to upgrade us and do something special for us. The receptionist said no can do, but after talking to her and showing all the upgrades that came with our booking, she gave us a better room. Bar staff, food staff was amazing.Housekeeping was great and did turn down service every night while we were at dinner.

Food: the food was amazing. All the restaurants had amazing atmosphere and super delicious. If we had these restaurants in our city we would go all the time. The buffet was surprisingly my favorite, always different cuisines every night and lots of variety. They had chefs on every station cooking fresh food and anything you might like that not on the menu. We've been to cancun many times and this by far was our favorite experience in the food department. Also drinks were great. They had a mixology bar cart which offers a special cocktail every night and it was great, (different gin and tonics, aperol spritz, margaritas, old fashions). The bartenders made you anything you wanted.

Rooms: Room was good. We had a partial ocean view and half of another hotel view, we liked the privacy not looking at all the people in our hotel, so we loved this view. Our AC went out 2 days into our trip(2022 hotel) and we called someone out at 11 pm and he came and checked and said it should be good give it 20 min. So we fell asleep and woke up at around 5 am and it was still not working, so we called someone else and he fixed it and started working after 5 min. That annoyed us. We had a bath in our room also.

Activities: This is a big one. All of Riu in Cancun (as far as I know), offers one hotel that has parties( Riu Caribe). So this hotel does not do shows at all. We've only seen silent disco(did not go) one night and bingo another night but it lasted 5 min because it did not work. So very boring night life. We decided to go to the pink party at Riu Caribe during the day and it was intense. They offer drinks but i did not see food (supposed to be all included for any Riu guests). The party was your typical night life party with loud music and foam coming out of the vents. THERE IS NO ROOM at all because all of the Riu hotels only bring people to this resort and its smaller than any of them. So good luck finding room. The resort itself is more for older generation. They had music playing quietly till about 1 pm and activities like volleyball and water aerobics. If you want a calm quiet place this is it.

Ocean/pool: We went in May this time and it was crazy. There was lots and lots of seaweed and the waves were like giant boulders, you couldn't even swim most days. I think we made it into the ocean 2 days out of 8. They had to rescue 2 people because the tides kept pulling them down. So we spent most our time in the pool. The pools were great. They have 4 different pools. One is for the Elite club(almost no one in them), one was a swim up pool(too crazy with drunk people and everyone peeing in the pool), one was a regular long pool which we stayed out almost the whole time, and one was the same pool but far from the regular pools i barely saw anyone in there, mostly for geriatrics. They had staff walking around getting drink orders and bringing you your drinks so you didn't have to get out of the pool. They also had vendors walking around selling stuff like hats, sunglasses, bags, vapes, cigars, ect. The vendors would hide behind the steps to avoid any police which was funny, they didn't bother us at all.

I gave this review a 4 because it was boring with no activities at all, our AC failed on us(which is huge for us since we love the cold) and we couldn't...

Stayed in Mid Jan 2023 Check in was efficient, at about 6PM, our ocean view King room was available immediately. We were given champagne. At other resorts we have been provided a host to walk us to the room and offer a quick tour of the property and answer any questions, not here. Room - On the 2nd floor which is actually higher than you would expect, the ocean view is unobscured, sunrises are outstanding directly out the balcony. We didn't find the bed overly hard as some noted. We enjoyed the large pillows. A warmer blanket was available in the closet. The fridge was well stocked with water, beer and mixers daily. The booze dispense on the wall is nice but we didn't use it much. We didn't have any issues with the shower backing up as others noted. Bathtub in the middle of the room is easy to trip over in the dark, be careful. Plenty of hangers in closet is nice. We tipped a few US dollars each day for housekeeping. The ocean view rooms can be pretty noisy from street traffic as the hallways are open to the main street. Room service - Menu was disappointing and feedback on quality was poor form guests we talked to. We never ordered. Restaurants - Most of the specialty restaurants are probably the weakest point of our stay. Krystal was our favorite. Most others had buffet setups with only the main course and dessert being ordered from the menu. Service usually felt rushed. Didn't have any problem getting into the specialty restaurants with little to no wait. I did enjoy the fish and shrimp tacos at the Mexican restaurant. Steakhouse was just OK, I was disappointed that there were no anchovies available for the Caesar salad. Disappointed that cocktails were not available at dinner unless you got one before you arrived. Generally water and wine are offered. The buffet had a very large variety with changing offerings daily in addition to the same things each day. Very similar to other resorts. Most of the food was labeled. The dinner at the buffet was a nice surprise, the dining room tables are set nicely and service is stepped up. Had a great brisket, and several other main course offerings. I liked that we weren't constantly being upsold on wine offerings. We tipped a couple $ for breakfast and lunch, up to $5 for dinner, depending on level of service. Bars - The Lobby bar area can get very noisy, would be nice to have some acoustic material to keep the echo down a bit. We loved the Lounge Sports Bar. Great view, this is where we got our best mixed drinks. Ask for the booze you want or you will get house. Patron, Don Julio, Absolut, there are good quality options. Fantastic Micheladas. We tipped $1 for every couple of drinks. Beach - Very nice. This is one of the wider sections of beach on the Hotel zone. Plenty of loungers and umbrellas, staff drags them down from the storage area to where you would like them, we tipped for this service. Drink service at the beach is good, tipping ensures continued attention. Property - The grounds are very clean and maintained well. Off the resort - There are shopping options in both directions out the front door of the resort. To the right within 10 minutes walk is a very large shopping area including a cool interactive aquarium we went to for $10 (get $5 discount from one of the guys trying to sell tours). Crossing the street can be a bit sketchy, the cross walks don't stop traffic for you. We felt safe during the daytime off the resort. Shows - Being a new resort, the theater is top notch with great audio, lighting and video equipment. The Michael Jackson show was a good production. Summary - We've stayed at a couple other Riu Palace locations and other higher end resorts. I can't call this a 5 star. Food is the biggest opportunity to work on, then room service. This was our first stay in the Hotel Zone, it's a different experience than going south to Playa del Carmen area. Given the current construction situation though the shorter trip to and from the airport is a big consideration. We didn't run into any of the taxi roadblock issues seen in the...