Riu is a strong Spanish hotel company offering sound, all-inclusive vacations at competitive prices. They rarely buy an existing resort; they build new resorts while creating a sense of familiarity. Visitors know what to expect from their Riu travel experience.

Riu’s five Riviera Maya hotels are all located adjacent to Playa Del Carmen; guests can enjoy exchange privileges between them (with certain stipulations). Riu has three classes of hotels: Palace, Classic, and Club Hotels. Guests of “Palace” resorts (their best) enjoy the best service, nicest accommodations, and some extra features not found in the other hotel categories. Riu Palace guests can enjoy the amenities of the other Riu brands; guests of the less expensive Rius do not have access to Palace-level resorts. All Riu guests wear color-coded wrist bands. All Riu guests must make dinner reservations with the concierge; evening meals must be taken at the resort where guests are staying.

Riu Palace Mexico and Riu Palace Riviera Maya opened in 2002 and 2007 respectively. Both are very grand in size and architecture; the Palace Mexico resort seems less contemporary than Palace Riviera Maya. All Palace rooms are large enough for a sofa and television on the dresser (rather than flat-screen TVs). All rooms have a balcony or patio. Patios in ground floor rooms are defined by railings - they do not open directly to the resorts’ lawns. Standard rooms are on the long hotel wings, facing toward the exterior of the resort; there are views of foliage as well as traffic on the service roads. It’s worth the extra cost to upgrade to a courtyard-facing room. Riu has maintained much of the natural vegetation and planted many trees in the sand between the resort and the water’s edge; many rooms may have a partial oceanview obscured by foliage.

Riu Playacar is a Classic-level property. Riu Playacar is a boutique hotel, more intimate, narrower than all the others, and much easier to get around. It does not have a kid’s club. Riu Playacar is a good choice for adults traveling together who want a less expensive Riu experience. Other Riviera Maya options are Riu Yucatan and ClubHotel Riu Tequila.

Please contact the travel agent below to book your perfect Riviera Maya vacation:

Steve Lord
All-Inclusive Vacations, Inc.
1595 Iris Street
Lakewood, CO 80215
Colorado (303) 980-6483
http://www.All-InclusiveVacations.com/

Tags: Cancun resorts, destination weddings in Mexico, group travel to Mexico, MEXICO, Playa Del Carmen resorts, Quintana Roo, Riu Resorts, Riviera Maya all-inclusives

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 9:22 am and is filed under Hotel Review, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.