Hotel Riu Palace Mexico — Hotel in Playa del Carmen

RIU Palace Mexico is situated in the gated community of Playacar in the Playa Del Carmen region of the Riviera Maya in Mexico. There are numerous hotels within Playacar but of important note are the RIU Palace Mexico, RIU Palace Riviera Maya, RIU Tequilla, RIU Yucatan and RIU Playacar. These are all accessed via the same road, and are within 500-600 yards of each other. Guests of the two Palace Resorts can use the facilities of all of the named hotels, whilst those in the non-palace resorts, can only use other non-palace resort facilities. NOTE: Breakfast and Evening meal must be in your booked hotel, but otherwise it's all fair game. ||On entering the grounds of the RIU Palace Mexico, you'll notice a very grand facade, ramps allow taxi and bus transfers to reach the main lobby entrance, while a set of steps allows pedestrians a more direct route. There are footways on the ramps also, making the hotel easily accessible! Making your way through the double sliding doors and into the lobby, you're greeted by an amazing view. From the huge chandelier, sculpture based seating area, lobby bar, and a further view of the full length of the resort if you care to notice it. ||Check-in/Welcome Desk is to your right as you enter and the RIU Front Desk staff are smartly dressed all wearing welcoming smiles. This hotel offers 4 different room types - The Junior Suite, which are facing outwards to the gardens and neighbouring hotels, The Superior Junior Suite, which are facing inwards towards the glorious fountains of the hotel. The Suite which offers a larger room space of the Junior Suite, and then the 2 Floor Jaccuzi Suite. As at time of writing, TUI only has the Junior Suite and Suite as options, anything else will require an upgrade request - which we did. Our Daughter is Neurodiverse and we felt that the outward view would be somewhat claustrophobic for her. Upgrade was simple and we were very quickly shipped off to our rooms, 2135 and 2136 on the 2nd (top) floor to the left of the hotel, in the end part of the building. My wife & I in 2136 and Daughter & Mum in 2135. ||The Rooms are spacious and well laid out, with a wardrobe/closet with clothes rail and a couple of shelves for clothes, there is also a 4 drawer unit for clothes - we found 2 of us were able to easily store our clothes for a 12 day stay (with spares), and plenty of room to spare. There is an all inclusive minibar containing Beer (Larger), Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7Up Zero, Canada Dry Blue and Canada Dry Yellow - in addition there's plenty of 1.75l bottles of purified water (we had 3 to begin with, drank loads and never ran out). There's also 4 spirits Optics in the room, which are included and contained Baccadi (White Rum), Beefeater (London Dry Gin), Jose Cuevo (Tequila), Smirnoff (Vodka), so you've always got a drink available for your balcony. If you want a coffee in the morning, there's a well stocked selection and a coffee maker there too. Sadly, no Tea - but then they would need to stock 400 different types and brands of tea bags because none of us tea drinkers like the same tea! The bathroom area is open plan with a bath separating it from the room - there is no wall divide. 2 sinks are available, so you don't spit your toothpaste where she's plucking her top lip, and a large shower with enough space to shower and dry. The toilet is separate which is always welcome albeit it is very small - even with the door open conversation with your significant other sounds to you like you're sat in a brick box - which you kind of are. Moving back into the room, there's 2 options - a King Sized Bed, or 2 Doubles (Twins). They can offer the push the 2 doubles together, but we elected not to as it would render the single power outlet unusable, meaning no phone charges over night, and would lead to a single bed-side table which isn't ideal for us - to each his own though. There is a separate living space just 2 steps down from the bedroom, with it's own glass balcony. The living space contains a comfortable 2 seater couch and coffee table, and a small table with 2 chairs so you can enjoy a romantic Room Service Dinner together. The living area doesn't really have a great view of the TV, but then who needs the TV when you have that view! Opening the sliding doors you come out onto the balcony - this isn't a large space on these rooms (although there are larger), but it is enough space to sit and have a drink and enjoy the view before dinner, or in the morning. The rooms are well decorated and maintained, all painted white inside with purple soft furnishings, and pretty artwork on the walls, this really did become a home from home. The room has fully functioning air conditioning (switches off when doors are opened), which is complemented by a ceiling fan keeping the whole room generally cool - even in the heatwave we experienced. ||EATING & DRINKING - We're here to eat, drink and chill our way to our next holiday booking right? We used all restaurants except for Pepe's Grill and Krystal - no reason other than we didn't fancy it. Pepe's felt a bit too basic (we like to sit and eat at a table), and Krystal felt too fancy for us. So i'm covering the restaurants and bars we used....|FOOD:|Don Julián - Buffet (Breakfast & Dinner) - Breakfast first - as far as breakfast buffet's go, this one is pretty extensive - whether you're into pastries, fruit, or more of a full english kind of person, there's something for everyone on this constant conveyor belt of food production. The only issue we ever had here was eggs - the fried eggs were a little under done, and the poached eggs were hit and miss between massively underdone and rock hard - we did discuss with the management and the situation did change, but it still wasn't right. Okay you're catering for hundreds of people, but the production line here just needs a little attention. Everything else though was perfect every day! Dinner (Evening meal), we were very well attended to by Eduard each night we ate here, an absolutel gem who greeted us with a smile and had our table ready for us. Again foodwise, there's something for everyone although there was a shortage in variation for the vegetarians among us. There was pizza, pasta, burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fajitas, tostitos, an extensive selection of meat and fish, cold cuts and cheeses. Then the desserts! Oh my word! The desserts were literally to die for, with the added extra of a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, which kept our 12 year old EXTREMELY happy! ||Guacamole - Buffet (Lunch & Snacks) - Pretty much this was more of the same sort of thing you could find in the evening buffet - but a bit less heavy and a little less variety (it is a smaller restaurant afterall). Service in here we were greeted each day by Fabiola, who was fantastic, so personable and tended to our every need! ||La Bodega - Mexican A-La-Carte (Dinner) - It wouldn't be a trip to Mexico without visiting a Mexican restaurant. Starters are a buffet style with plenty of mexican classics to choose from, chilli con carne, fajita etc. Main courses we just had to go for the tacos. These were amazing and so filling! We also tried the octopus between the table, and whilst this was perfectly cooked, it was smoothered in a sauce that was a little too spicy for me (and I like spicy food!). We loved La Bodega, and were only disappointed that we didn't have enough holiday for a second visit! ||Miyagi - Japanese A-La-Carte (Dinner) - Japanese restaurants are a staple of the All-Inclusive world, honestly I dont know why, it just is! Miyagi was a nice experience, though we felt a little rushed. One of our party had different starters to the rest and so finished first, staff cleared their plate and brought out their main course, which just didnt seem right (we're used to all finishing a course and then clearing away with a break between courses). We did raise this and it was acknolwedged that this isnt normal, so we must've caught them on a bad day. The food was nice, Ramen Duck Soup to start which was extremely tasty, and loads of it! Beef Terriyaki as the main, which was okay, but not a great cut of beef and not fully sliced - the intent was there but not fully executed. Don't get me wrong, the experience was nice and we would've gone back. |||Dolce Vita - Italian A-La-Carte (Dinner) - Honestly I wasn't massively impressed by the Italian. For an italian restaurant there wasn't a great deal of pasta, or even pizza on the menu. It was very middle of the road. Whilst the food was nice, there was nothing here we couldn't have had in the buffet. ||Steak House - A-La-Carte (Dinner) - This is located in the same restaurant as Guacamole, with a beachfront view. Subsequently it's the only a-la-carte without air conditioning. I skipped out on starters here as nothing took my fancy, and went for the Rib Eye for mains - asked for Medium, but came medium well, but that's fine. It came with a florette of brocoli, carrot and a minicob of sweetcorn, which for some unknown reason was cooked in a cinnamon sugar, very weird, but something they should stop doing. ||Lounge 24 - Snacks (24hrs) - this little room of joy was fantastic. Self service drinks and food, generally sandwiches, some cakes and pastries, hot dogs, burgers, chicken nuggets and wedges, all that fun stuff. Ideal for a quick snack before bed, or if your flight gets in late and you're not a fan of room service.||Room Service (24hrs) - obviously this is for convenience, it's a very basic menu of sandwiches, nachos, cakes and fruit, though you can get breakfast delivered, we chose not to. Whilst nice, I would've liked to have seen more exican options here, like fajitas or a burrito perhaps?||DRINKS:|Cubano - Lobby Bar - this is a fanstastic place to meet family and friends for a pre and/or post dinner drink. The Piano is played each evening by a visiting pianist, playing all kinds of well known and lesser known classics. Be warned some folks may sing along and unfortunately one night, someone did very badly completely ruining I Dont Wanna Miss A Thing for everyone there. So if you do want to sing at the top of your voice, please make sure you have the voice for it. Drinks were plentiful and I didn't hear of anyone not being able to get something they liked, be that beer, spirits, cocktails, or something a little more exotic. ||Los Mariachis - Lounge & Bar - Here you will find the evening's entertainment and another bar for chilling out. We only visited once for the Michael Jackson Show, and just found it a little too dark. ||Capuchino - Coffee Bar & Cakes - We visited here almost every day, you can get coffee, hot chocolate, tea, milkshakes, ice cream, and cakes of all different types. If you get the chance, try the Chocolate Cake and Cocolate Milkshake, they're to DIE for! My wife had the little Mango Mousse Pyramid every day, and she absolutely loved them! Well recommended! ||El Palmeral - Pool Bar - ignoring the swim up bar, which is adults only, and is questionable about the water content (people sit and drink all day and never get out), there is a walk-up part to this bar on the rear side, with seating area. We came down here on our first evening for a quick drink by the beach. It was very relaxing, and the service was impecable! ||ENTERTAINMENT:|No trip to an all-inclusive resort would be complete without an amazing entertainment programme. The evening entertainment is the typical sort of corny stuff you'd expect from a resort such as this, MJ, Grease, ABBA, this is in addition to visiting live bands and soloists. It's easy to avoid though if it's not your kind of thing, and is never in your face. The daytime entertainment though provided by the team is amazing, they work so hard its untrue, throughout the day there is always something going on, obviously with the exception of when they break for their well deserved lunch time. ||I will make a special mention to RIU Fit King Gustavo, who ran the AquaGym on most days, his charm and charisma had everyone involved. Me being a larger fella was a bit nervous about getting stuck in, but he gave me a suitable amount of attention that spurred me on and made me feel AMAZING about myself. I even joined him on the pool side on our last day before leaving, and saw just how HOT it gets up there - not only did he keep me active, but he also helped me to gain only 6lbs throughout the whole holiday! Thank you Gustavo you made my holiday what it was (and turned me into a minor celebrity - for those reading who were there, yes i am THAT Andy). ||GROUNDS|Some reviews on varying platforms say that this hotel is old and dated and in need of refurbishment - whilst they are getting a refurb in 2026, we didn't see it as a neccessity - what we saw in the grounds of the hotel in its entirity is a well loved and well maintained hotel - not a single day went by that staff weren't cleaning, mowing, tidying, pruning, and lopping the various parts of the hotel. These guys deserve a raise as it's a thankless task - they really are the hidden gems of the RIU Palace Mexico. ||Overall I would recommend this hotel to anyone, even before refurb its a jewel in the crown of the RIU Fleet, and we cannot wait to return...

Myself, partner and 7 year old arrived on the 12th August for 2 weeks, we swapped to this hotel a week before as we were meant to be going Planet Hollywood. we didn't really know what to expect. ||As soon as we arrived we had a welcome drink, the staff couldn't do enough for us. When we got to the room we had 2 double beds, we asked for a pull out bed for my little girl and they brought it straight away, the safe didn't work or the iron and again they were straight there sorting them.||ROOMS-|We stayed in room 2031, 2nd floor. our view wasn't very good from the balcony but we weren't bothered as we weren't in the room much, when we come out of the room we were facing the fountain in the middle of the resort. The room was quiet. away from the entertainment and reception. |Rooms were cleaned everyday, aircon & fan were really good. we never slept with the aircon as it made the room freezing. fridge was always filled, and someone always knocked on asking if we wanted anymore drinks for the fridge. maids used to make animals with the towels for us. |The only thing we found odd was the bath next to the beds, and it was all open plan. not private for families if they have teenagers. |there was a separate shower and toilet, the toilet didn't have much room. |||POOLS-|we went to the pool at 5pm when we got there and couldn't believe how warm the pool was, we found in the mornings they felt abit cooler but by the afternoon they were like a bath, we actually liked this though as we stayed at the pool until late, they close them at 8pm. ||the staff around the pool are brilliant, constantly cleaning offering you drinks. the gardens were kept spotless, the whole resort was clean. All drinks were nice. |we did take our own bottle to keep drinks cool. ||FOOD-|LA--CARTE |restaurant always had a huge Varity of food, breakfast was always good. my little girl loved the chocolate pancakes & we ate here quite a lot at tea time aswel. staff always find you a table or will make you one up, and come round offering you drinks. ||| DINNER-|Dinner time food is good, you can either eat in the restaurant which is used for the steak house at night but you do have to wear something over your swim wear, they had a beach bar with chips, meat, burgers and hotdogs, you just had to walk over the beach with your food and eat it by the pool bar or by the pool, not many people ate by the pool which we liked as there was no food left everywhere. |sometimes I didn't want to eat in either so I walked up to the lobby bar by reception and grabbed a sandwich, you also have the option to going to lounge 24/7 which had food. |Our first night we ate at the mexican which was nice as they served you, we went to the steak house 3 nights, the meals were lovely. There is no need to book either, 1 time we went they said it was a 45minute wait but we only waited about 20 minutes. we sat in the bar by the pool and had a drink.||we didn't try the other restaurants as our daughter is fussy but we were told how nice they were. ||ENTERTAINMENT|Day entertainment was amazing, there were fitness/yoga/dance classes on everyday apart from sundays. aqua at 11am with Gustarvo who is the nicest funniest man we have met. His aqua was the best, even my partner joined in. We never missed a day. |Gus had us involved in everything, foam parties in the pool, pool games, coconut parties on the beach, the hotel was non stop but it wasn't too loud. The entertainment is mainly in the little pool so we got beds by the bigger pool.||NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT|There was always something on at night time outside, but we enjoyed sitting in the lobby where there was aircon and someone playing the piano. |Fridays we went across the road to tequila hotel where they had a white party or neon party, they alternate them every week. These are amazing nights with all the staff from rui hotels on stage. We were there for 2 weeks so made them both. The hotel paints your face before. we took both bright clothes and white outfits. ||we visited the other RUI hotels whilst we were there and did like the other RUI Palace riu hotel riviera maya, other hotels can't visit these 2. there seemed to be more kids at the riviera maya one. We have been told our hotel is been renovated next year and going be adults only which is a shame. ||BEACH|there were tractors every morning cleaning up the seaweed, there was quite abit the first week we were there, the second week it all cleared up, the water was crystal clear and a nice temperature. ||SUNBEDS|my partner used to get up about 7am to get sunbeds, we found sunbeds had towels on all day and not used. there was always plenty on the beach not used. ||KIDS CLUB|My litter girl loved kids club, every morning she would ask what was on. Marlene who ran the kids club was so good with the kids, they had there own foam party, there was always something on in the morning then afternoons. My 7 year old could come as go as she pleased, but it is very safe. there is a park and indoor area aswel. Even the morning we come home my little girl went to make a goodbye bracelet with Marlene. I never even mentioned kids club to my daughter but because staff make such an effort she wanted to go. ||TRIPS|we booked 2 through the tui rep at the hotel & 1 through facebook|we did xcaret park, which was an amazing day!! expensive but worth the money. there was so much too do there and a show at night. ||boat and buggy trip to Isla Murjeres, the whitest beach we have ever seen. all drinks on the boat were free, we stopped on a beach and had dinner which was included, went snorkelling and a buggy tour around the island with a few stops. ||Jungle Buggy tour to see where some of the mexicans lived, my partner booked this through someone on facebook, it was eye opening to see how some of them live, we got to stop and have some food with them and also buy them some food back, we stopped at a cave and swam in the river there, this was a trip I will never forget. ||We have never stayed at a riu hotel but we were really impressed and will definitely to a riu in Mexico, the best holiday we have had. ||Can't thank the staff enough for making our holiday so special, we met some great people. I am still gutted to be home...

Staff: 3 Lobby atmosphere: 2 Room: 1 Bed: 2 - takes - 3hrs to get a blanket Pillows: 1 - very old and dingy Cleanliness: 4 Décor: 1 Buffet: 2 Guacamole Restaurant: 0 Pool: 3.5, Beach: 4, Bar: 4

Riu Tequila across the street is BETTER! Go there.

The full experience:

We ordered through the site and didn't get a shuttle. I called Riu Palace and asked for help or recommended taxi services. The person on the phone was rude and said I wasn't in the system so she transferred me to a person who couldn't understand English who hung up on me. I tried a couple more times and gave up.

We went with E-transfers Taxi at the airport, they decided to stuff 11 people into a 9 seater van. I spoke with other passengers, we all paid for private shuttles. E-transfers knew we didn't have a choice so they took advantage of us since we paid already. It took about 3hrs to get to the hotel. It was very uncomfortable and it was a really bad way to start a vacation.

At Riu Palace, the front desk people seemed "nice". The lobby is uncomfortable.

We went to get food at the restaurant Guacamole. We ordered chicken and steak with veggies. It took about 2hrs. Everything came out cold and flavorless. Tasted like microwaved about 15 times then left to cool. We ate some of the chicken and left hungry and disgusted. We didn't want to try the other table service restaurants at Riu Palace after that.

The rooms are dated, purples and whites, 3000 lumes fluorescent halogen lights. Our very loud next door guest was drunkenly ordering prostitutes on the phone while blasting reggaeton. Around 9pm he left, but we still heard music coming in. The other Riu next to us, (20 feet away) has karaoke till 11pm. The room windows aren't installed properly, gaps all around it, so you cant actually close it so sound comes right on in.

We talked with the front desk and they gave us a new room. Next to the trash room. They said we should probably leave my things at the front desk and check it out first because they knew it smelled like trash. The smell was eye watering - they did try to cover it up with rubbing alcohol and air spray.

They gave us another room to try out. This time right next to the elevator. It was quieter and didn't smell like sewage so we said we will stay there. This room didn't come with blankets. We requested then as soon as we got in at 930pm. A guy came out at 11:45pm and asked if we still wanted a blanket. I told him we did, since it was a cold night. He came back at 12:30 with blankets.

As for sleep. Very tired, hungry and upset - that night we slept about 3 hours. The room's front door is not installed correctly. There is about a 1 to 2 inch gap all the way around it that you can see people walking past and hear everything though - all the echos of staff doing random things all night long, the elevator up and down. Next day, more sewage smell - throughout the day at random times, a really strong sewer smell bubbles up from the toilet.

Next day we found the larger buffet. It has a nice amount of choices, okay taste. The presentation was nice or sloppy depending on where. I ate more fruits. After that we went on a hunt for ear plugs. To have anything resembling a vacation we needed sleep. We spent about 5 hours searching every pharmacy and Walmart in town. Then eventually we found the last pair at the local gift shop. I have never in my life been so happy to have found ear plugs.

Right across the street from Riu Palace is Riu Tequila. We went there for lunch, they also have BBQ. Everything is better there and everyone; the staff and guests seemed happy at Tequila. We were happy staying at Tequila just for a short time, but also jealous. In our Riu, it felt like the guests were treated like a burden. We went back to Tequila a lot after that (they only let you into the buffet for lunch). The food at Tequila is delicious, looks like art and you have about 3 times as much selection.

I was relieved I only stayed 3 days, I was happy to leave.

I would not stay at this...