Hotel Riu Palace Aruba — Hotel in Aruba

The location was perfect, and the pool/beach area beautiful, everything else WAS NOT. As someone who has been to several all-inclusive resorts and cruises, I was very disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high but I wanted to share my feedback.

The Room: Overall, while the room was large, it was VERY dated and felt like it was stuck in the 80’s. I felt almost dirty being in the room. SURE, I could have called maintenance several times (we only did twice) but that would require spending more time in a room I felt completely uncomfortable being in. I spend most of my time outdoors by the pool to forget about what I was going back to.

Overview of Room: · the couch had miscellaneous stains, which made me not sit on it · the dresser drawers were broken · the bed frame was broken · The mattress was rock solid and only had two very low quality pillows (I have had better quality pillows staying at a hostile) · our refrigerator worked for about one hour a day so everything in there was constantly warm · we had a beautiful large balcony which would have been nice if there were more than two, what appeared to be, banquet style chairs (?) and a tiny table, not comfortable for lounging. We were also hit with debris from higher balconies when we were out there (I understand that is a people problem and not a resort issue) · other than hand soap and "shower gel/shampoo" there were no amenities in the bathroom. The said "shower gel/shampoo" did nothing and I felt like I had sunscreen film on me the entire week. I eventually resorted to washing my body with face wash I brought from home · the towels had a musty/moldy smell · the air conditioning worked intermittently, leaving the room to reach over 80 degrees F a few times.

The Food:

BIG NOTE: DO NOT stay here is you are vegan.

As a vegan, I have strict dietary restrictions, that I have found increasing accommodation for at restaurants and resorts over the past few years. There is a certain level of reasonable accommodation that I have come to expect to be able to indulge a little while on vacation and I found that the vegan options were lacking or non-existent. Because of this, we had to go off-site for all our meals feeling like we really wasted our money at an all inclusive resort.

Overview of Food: · There were no hot vegan options at any time at the buffet · For breakfast, our options included oatmeal, cereal and fruit. Oh and I cannot forget the raw, unseasoned, cold, tofu. · For lunch, salad with only oil and vinegar was my only option. · We browsed the buffet at dinner and there was also only a salad option. · No vegan options were offered at any of the specialty restaurants.

We had to go offsite for ALL meals except two, NOT ideal for an all-inclusive trip. The entire island of Aruba seemed to be vegan friendly with the exception of the hotel we were staying at, Rui Palace Aruba. We had to spend roughly $500 over 5 days at the restaurants in the direct area.

NOTE: our travel agent did note our dietary needs on our reservation.

Beverage: · Both attempts at drinking the wine on site were disappointing. I stopped ordering any wine after the second instance of red wine being served that seemed to have gone bad (vinegar smell and taste) · The mini bar refill and overall attempt to get bottles of water was a bit crazy. More than daily, we had to order water from the front desk and then wait on average 45 minutes for delivery to our room. There was nowhere to pick it up which is a bit bizarre.

As a very laid back traveler, I was very thrown by this experience.

I reached out to the resorts customer service email, who directed me to the travel agency used who then directed me to the hotels general manager, Edgar Cornet, who then directed me back to resorts customer service email. One big circle with nothing being resolved. I can now add the customer service is also poor with this resort.

There are several other resorts close by with equally perfect locations. I would select on of those if I were you, I know I wish...

I had such a bad experience with the guy from reception that I can't even think too much about the pros when it came to my first visit to Aruba. This guy was working at the reception on Wednesday, August 7, 2024 at 8:55 AM. He was a tall, black male with a baldish head and a huge smile when he deals with white people. I was waiting in line and before me, he was dealing with this old white couple. They laughed and joked around with him. He seemed very nice with them and even said to them have a safe flight back. I thought that I might get the same treatment but when it came to my turn, he put his head down and looked at his computer. He didn't acknowledge me. Like what happened? I'm sorry. Is it because I'm not white? I never felt discrimination in this establishment until I encountered this guy. My husband had already checked out but I needed my wristband cut so I could fully checkout. He even sort of mumbled what's your room number and when I didn't hear him, he said it again more aggressively. Then after he cut my wristband, he didn't even say anything and just asked the lady behind him if I paid everything (we didn't owe anything).....Like he didn't even bother to say ok you're all set..thank you for visiting us. Literally NOTHING. I had my kids with me and I really don't want them to see what I had just experienced. I try to teach them that there are good people in this world and to be kind to others and most importantly, do not discriminate against others. I think this guy just needs to go. The other people we've dealt with at the reception desk were nice and we didn't have issues.

Other than that guy, the hostess from the Don Nicolas Buffet, Yuliet from Krystal, the hostess and the two ladies (drink server and waitress) from the Natilus Steakhouse, they were amazing. They were polite, welcoming and kind. The lady from DePalm Tours was awesome. She's great if you want to know more about the activities and excursions around Aruba. If you go to the beach, you should get your drink from the pool first because there's nobody to take your drink orders out by the beach, which was pretty inconvenient.

The room ac wasn't too great. Sometimes it would work well and sometimes not so much. I didn't like how the soap and the body wash dispensers weren't filled up to the top. The room service menu was so limited. There were so little food options on there. It forces you to go out and eat at the buffet. I was disappointed with this. Sometimes people just want to stay in but that was not an option. We had an ocean view room and it was pretty loud all the way until 11 pm at night.

The food was okay. The buffet food tastes much better than their restaurants. During breakfast buffet, beware of this skinny waitress (tied up hair in a bun) who goes around collecting plates like a madwoman. You will be sitting there eating your food and she'll take your plate away (yes, the plate you are eating from).

I was really disappointed with the food from the steakhouse. I expected better. The crabcakes tasted nothing like crabcakes and it was mainly dough. There was no real crabmeat. It had small chopped up imitation crabmeat. The Carribean lobster had no flavor and it was so rubbery on the bottom. The fries were cold and the vegetables were overcooked. The ribeye was ok but it wasn't cooked the way we asked for it to be cooked. Krystal's food was better. The chilled corn soup and beef shortrib were good.

I was excited to see that the cafe had pastries and baked goods but those macarons were so stale. It just seems like nothing is fresh. The cheesecake was ok. As of now after my experience here, I don't think I will be coming back here. Yes, all inclusive is great but if the food isn't good, it's not worth it. I really hope management can train the reception staff to be more polite and kind to all guests, no matter what race or ethnicity. We're all here on vacation and if you truly want people to come back, you need to learn to be more open...

If you're reading reviews about the Riu Palace, then hopefully this one helps you!

My husband & I, along with our 4 adult children stayed at the Riu Palace January 3-10, 2025. I should preface this by saying that we rented a timeshare at the Riu Palace from a Timeshare owner, so we did not stay in one of the actual hotel rooms (although the timeshare was still part of the hotel!)

Starting this review with the absolute best part of the hotel... Staff... I just cannot RAVE enough about. From the moment we walked in to the time we left... Every...Single...Staff member was incredible, friendly & extremely helpful! A couple of shout outs to Luis (in buffet dining), Eve (hostess) & absolute best for last Karina (timeshare)....of course + many others that I should've written down their names!! -Something to keep in mind is that many of the staff works 6+days a week at the Palace, providing exceptional service on their first day of their shift or last! If you find someone isn't providing you with "what you expect" just know it may be because they're on their 10th hour of their 6th+ day in a row.. Give grace & kindness to everyone! -Karina was an absolute saving grace on what was supposed to be our last Our flight was cancelled (due to snowstorm Cora) & we had no place to stay for the 6 of us. I was in the lobby (for 3 hours), stressing out trying to find new flights & accommodations, when Karina approached me with a last minute availability for just 1 night. She personally made sure we were taken care of! Pool... -Very well maintained & comfortable. -The downside to this resort is that people can reserve their poolside chairs very early (4am+), which makes it difficult to find seating if you're not an early riser. Although there were some days that there were still open chairs at 8am. -Poolside bars were very well staffed with friendly bartenders that had a vast knowledge of mixology! Food... (No reservations taken ahead of time) 6 different places to eat! All very good & fresh!! -Buffet - open for Breakfast Lunch & Dinner -Italian, French & Japanese - Open for dinner. Easy to get into right at 6pm! -American Steakhouse - Open for dinner. You want to go early to try this one. -Sports bar - Open 24hrs - Had refrigerator style packaged deli sandwiches + roller grilled hotdogs & nachos. +a Coffee bar with a few snacks! Onsite Amenities -Onsite boutique - had a great variety of items, especially if you forgot something. -Water activities/gear - Floating mats, Snorkel gear, Kayaks & Paddle Boards available as part of All-Inclusive (+ few other items). -Excursion booking company onsite, which we used for a snorkeling excursion. -Beach had a vast amount of Palapas that were first come first serve (included, you didd not need to rent) Beach... -This was one of the softest & by far cleanest that I have ever stepped foot on! -Water shoes not needed as no sharp rocks, tons of shells or other "ick” -Btw Shelling (to take home) is not allowed in Aruba. Our Timeshare Rooms.. -We had adjoining rooms.. My husband & I had a typical hotel room style with a king sized bed & mini fridge. Our 4 adult kids shared the adjoining room which had a separate bedroom (with king), living room area (with queen sofa sleeper) & kitchenette -The rooms were very clean especially the towels & linens. However you can tell that the rooms run at about 100% occupancy as some of the items seemed quite "used" & slightly dated. -If you need your room to be a 5+ star in every way, then this might not be the best fit, HOWEVER, if you use it for the purpose to just have a place to relax & sleep, then this 3.5-4 Star room is for you. Resort Grounds.. -VERY clean (inside & out). Constantly being improved (painted, washed/cleaned, mopped..etc)!!!

To sum up this review… I was already looking up pricing & booking details for 2026 prior to leaving the resort! Would I go back? In a heartbeat!!! (I went into more detail on TripAdvisor, as Google has a...