Riu Palace Aruba - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9458 reviews

• 

  Fine, but NOT for young families

  Our family of 4 (two kids, ages 2 and 5) stayed here for the Xmas break. If you are looking for a young family friendly getaway- this is NOT it! Here are some downfalls: - there are serious accessibility issues. No ramps, slippery stairs to get everywhere. Even the rooms have weird steps throughout which can be dangerous for small kids - there are no kid friendly pools, whatsoever - there are no playgrounds or activities for kids - the evening shows were just sad. As an example, one night it was a lady singing over a recorded song, with a drummer behind her. - the hunt for a palapa starts at 5am. I’m not kidding. If you show up to the beach at 6am or later you’d be lucky if you found some shade or half a palapa. But who wants to be on vacation and waking up at 5am? Not a mom with two young kids, that’s for sure. - the buffet had very little options for kids. Other than fries and pizza, chicken nuggets only made an appearance once. It was just slim pickings for picky eaters. All in all, the staff are actually really nice and the beach is beautiful. The location of the hotel is fantastic and close to the “downtown”. But I wouldn’t come back until my kids are older, or until they get more Palapas!!! Really for an all inclusive hotel that’s advertised as family friendly, it didn’t feel family friendly at all.

  Jan 07, 2026
• 

  RIU Palace Aruba

  This was our 18th stay at the Riu Palace Aruba. We started off with a quick taxi ride from the airport to the hotel and was greeted by Riu Palace hotel staff as we walked in the door with glasses of champagne .. nice touch. Reception was friendly/fast and efficient then up to our room #910 main building. I never have a surprise location such as in the “ moldy building “ because I pay for upgraded rooms to start with,( If you book an ocean FRONT room you will not be put in a side building) The room was newly renovated ,however I did like the darker richer wood colour and the marble floors they are like cement tiles now and I get it .. not so slippery ect The bed was so comfortable , so much …the older beds we found were hard and we ended up with hip pain but these are sink into and so comfy. Breakfast buffet: Anything you want replenished immediately and the table staff were quick with clearing plates, bringing coffee/ juice ect , same as for lunch at the Buffet. They have a new lunch place to eat now, it’s 24hours called “ American Country” its where the beach steak house “Nautilus”used to be, large area of outside tables to eat/drink at and nice table and booths inside along with pool tables and a fully stocked bar and coffee machines. We went down to the beach around 7:00am to get a palupa, set it up and went for breakfast, back in less than an hour , never had a problem getting a spot. Diners were great with the exception of one waitress I get can’t get my order proper on how I would like the meat booked and last time she said (after 5 other tables were served after us and people were saying “ oh I feel so bad for you” ) I asked the waitress “ is our meal coming? She says “Wait!” …. Ok. I know this younger waitress has been there the past few times we were there and just not friendly or up beat or happy like the regulars. Anyways, when we see where she is working we just pick another place to go to. It’s not like we are not friendly, we tip min 10$ a meal and are thankful but just get the meat cooked well enough.. she can’t understand that. After dinner we would go grab a special coffee from the coffee bar and bring it outside at the “entertainment bar” ( they have sections for smokers and non smokers so there is no discrimination. After we would go shopping across the street from the Riu all the way down the strip, so many stores and local shops the shopping is always amazing. We would often frequent the casinos at different hotels on the strip! One of the talents they have at the outside entertainment area is a guy called Jersey, this guy is really good, one of our favourites is when he sings margaritaville .. so good. Everyone at the Riu palace is exceptional with a special shout-out to the hotel manager named Junior, this guy is on the spot problem solver , a people’s person , we see him in the morning until past midnight always walking around talking to guests, checking on bars/ restaurants/ staff .. they are pretty lucky to have this guy. In the end our trip was amazing not only because of the hotel but also the one happy island and the gorgeous weather. I will forward to bringing my whole family back here in December to see all the new renovations of the pool and the new steak house ect .. until then!

  Jan 05, 2026
• 

  First time staying at a Riu

  It seems they want to be a great hotel but had lots of gaps stopping this from happening. What they did good was targeting more to a younger crowd with Discos, open liquor bottles in the room and lots of bars with free drinks as it is all inclusive. The pool had lots of music sometimes with aerobics and other times various pool games. The food was hit or miss… as some nights during the holiday was very good and many other nights not so good. However the restaurant setting was nice and included nice musics and a rather entertaining mariachi band a few times. They have a few speciality restaurants but thought the steakhouse was the least favorite with its thin steak. Kristal and the Japanese restaurants were thought to be the better ones. There was a pool bar but no drinks or food service on the beach. The palapas at the hotel were nice but it’s first come first serve so to get the best ones you need to claim it at 4:00 to 4:30am. By 7:30am the palapa were mostly taken. The lounge chairs were frequently very broken. I understand the same first come first serve was around the pool too but we mostly stayed on the beach. Probably the biggest reason I will not come back is the lack of any extra service as I was there just after the Venezuela attack and had a late flight. And the airport was a mess I had two rooms for 2.5 weeks but they would not give any late checkout even though they were not full according to their website. Another large family also had trouble getting a flight and said they were kicked out. Not quite the caring I would expect after a very large amount spent for Christmas and New Years.

  Jan 04, 2026
• 

  Fabulous vacation resort

  We had a great time at the Riu Palace Aruba with our adult children and significant others. We had updated, beautiful, clean rooms. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. The drinks were great (especially the mojitos). The buffet was great. We had no trouble getting into the specialty restaurants and all the food was excellent. it was easy to find vegetarian and gluten free options as well. The entertainment at the pool, the nighttime shows, and neon party were a lot of fun. The beach is pristine. The location is fabulous. We also spent some time at the Riu Antilles and the vibe was very different - older and less fun but nice for a lazy, relaxing day. We did a snorkel trip through the hotel to the Antilles shipwreck and I highly recommend it. We saw a lot of fish and turtles. Our captains were fun. We rented a car for 3 days and enjoyed the state park and lighthouse as well as some shopping in Oranjsted. I would return and highly recommend the Riu Palce Aruba.

  Jan 02, 2026
• 

  Fun family trip -- just crowded!

  We just got back from a family vacation at the Riu, and overall had a great time. I was nervous after reading some of the negative reviews, so our expectations were low. But check-in was easy, the rooms were very nice (recently updated, clean and spacious). The staff was great--waitstaff, bartenders, housekeeping were all accommodating and helpful. Beautiful, wide beach in an optimal location. The food in the buffet was above average and plentiful. The specialty restaurants for dinners were just ok. Nothing terrible, but you have to wait in long lines to get a table, and the food is about the same quality as the buffet. The other drawback is the chair situation at both the beach and the pool. You have to get there by around 7am to secure chairs. That said, we stayed between Christmas and New Years, so the hotel was extremely crowded. At a less crowded time, I think we would probably give the Riu 5 stars.

  Jan 01, 2026