Riu Palace Baja California - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

2845 reviews

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  Great Value, Wonderful Staff & Beautiful Cabo Views

  My husband and I had a really nice stay at RIU Palace Baja California. This was our second RIU vacation, and one of the things I continue to appreciate about RIU is the great value, lots of activities and entertainment, and no timeshare presentation sales tactics. The absolute highlight of this resort is the staff. Everyone we encountered was extremely friendly, welcoming and accommodating. The people really make this property special, and their hospitality made a difference throughout our stay. Check-in: We arrived around 1 p.m. and were welcomed with champagne and water, which was a nice touch. There was a long line at the front desk, but I was genuinely impressed by how quickly and efficiently the gentleman assisting us worked while still giving us all the information we needed. Our room was ready around 3 p.m. In the meantime, the resort held our luggage and had changing rooms available, so we could put on our swimsuits and start enjoying the pools rather than sitting around waiting. I thought that was very convenient. The rooms were modern, comfortable and well maintained. Pools & views: The views are gorgeous! You can see the ocean, beach and famous Cabo Arch from the property. The pools were great, especially the infinity-style pool overlooking the water and the swim-up bar. We also really enjoyed the DJ and music around the pool. Great playlists! Drinks: Most of the drinks were good, although some were hit or miss. The coffee shop was excellent for cappuccinos, iced coffee, lattes and fresh espresso. Agua con gas with fresh lime became my go-to drink for staying cool and resetting my palate. For excellent cocktails in the evening, look for the specialty cocktail cart near the stage! They usually offered two specialty drinks each night. We tried the Tropical Punch and Fruit Mojitos, and both were excellent. We also had a delicious espresso martini made with 400 Conejos mezcal. The RIU Party drinks were a different story. They seemed much more watered down and weren’t nearly as good. If cocktail quality matters to you, I wouldn’t expect the party bars to be the place for great cocktails. We stopped by the RIU Party briefly and mostly watched from the sidelines. 😂 It definitely gets wild! We saw one guest pass out, and security/lifeguard staff responded immediately with a wheelchair. I was impressed with how quickly they handled the situation while allowing everyone else to continue enjoying themselves. Food: Some of my favorites were the made-to-order omelets and chilaquiles at breakfast, the hamburgers from Pepe’s, and the lobster at Guacamole. Sofia was unfortunately our least favorite restaurant. The Italian entrées tasted like reheated/microwaved food to us, although the antipasto buffet, soups and salads were good. Uber tip: Uber can drop you off directly at the resort, but Uber pickups aren’t allowed at the main lobby. This wasn’t difficult for us. We simply walked about 3–5 minutes from the lobby to the edge of the property and met our driver there. Our Uber rides into the downtown/marina area averaged only about $5–$6 USD. One unexpectedly fun activity was blackjack in front of the RIU stage one evening. It was purely for fun—no real money involved. I don’t gamble and had never played at a blackjack table, but I decided to try it because there was no money involved and had so much fun! Our dealer was great and made the experience really entertaining. Would we return? Absolutely. I’m actually considering upgrading to Elite Club on our next RIU vacation. The expedited check-in and access to the Elite lounge/bar with upgraded drink options sound appealing, especially since cocktail quality is something we appreciate. Overall, we had a wonderful experience at RIU Palace Baja California. RIU gives you a lot for the price: beautiful surroundings, pools, entertainment, activities, plenty of food and drinks, comfortable rooms, and most importantly, wonderful people taking care of you. This was RIU trip #2 for us, and hopefully our next RIU adventure will be the Bahamas, Jamaica or Punta Cana! 🌴🥂❤️

  Sep 08, 2026
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  Great service

  Aldo and Karina at agave restaurant was amazing

  Aug 30, 2026
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  Not Worth It

  Rio Palace is fine if you've never really traveled before, or if you're the type who just wants to sit by the pool and eat and drink all day without thinking about planning anything. If that's you, you'll probably have a good time, because that's pretty much all it is. Safe, easy, nobody bothers you, and the food and drinks don't stop. If you've traveled a bit though and you've got other trips to compare it to, it's probably not going to do it for you. The food was mediocre at best and the rooms were about the same. And there's really not much in the way of stuff to do. They put on something maybe four nights a week and it's kinda just a cruise on land, endless food and drinks with a little club type thing here and there, and that's about it. If you want to do anything past that you're leaving the resort, going into the city, and paying for stuff you kinda already paid for in the all-inclusive price. It wasn't terrible or anything, and I could see it being perfect for the right person. It just didn't do much for me. If you want zero planning and a drink in your hand all day, book it. If you're looking for more than that, I'd probably look somewhere else.

  Aug 18, 2026
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  One of the Best Adults Only Resorts Options Yet

  The Riu Palace Baja California, which is adults-only, apparently has the best food quality of three Riu resorts on this same very large property and every aspect of this resort met or exceeded our expectations for a wonderful 7-night stay. Note Riu Baja California is just adjacent to the Riu Santa Fe, which is open to families but is also where the very loud (no children allowed) Riu themed parties are held four days each week, so, ironically, Riu Baja California is really the best and quietest place to relax. The Santa Fe Resort does, however, have several nice water slides, which are very conveniently located just behind the lobby of the Riu Palace Baja California. So, there really is no reason to wander off the Baja California resort except for scheduled excursions. The pool area is very nice and quite accessible to the buffet dining area (with indoor and outdoor seating) and the pools. There is a ping-pong table at the pool area and the staff was very accommodating to set up some pool chair umbrellas to protect us from the sun. During our visit, there always seemed to be enough pool chairs and umbrellas. and the swim-up and pool side bars were well-staffed. As you may have heard, the beach area directly in front of the resort is not safe for swimming (due to ocean currents) but a 15-minute walk down towards the main marina brings safer swimming options and access to the various boat launch companies that can take you out to the famous Cabo San Lucas Arch area and “Lover’s Beach”. Getting into and out of those boats is an adventure in itself (there is no pier), but it may well be one of the highlisghts of your visit to Cabo San Lucas. Baja California also has very enjoyable live theater shows, such as tributes to Abba and Michael Jackson, a burlesque show, a musical salute to Mexico (very impressive) and a new tribute show to all the forms of music that have come through or arisen in this part of the world, The restaurants were all quite good. There are no reservations, per se, but we found that getting there around 6:00 - 6:30 PM usually led to immediate seating, but showing up after 7:30 PM could lead to a wait time of 30 minutes or more, which is something to consider as the theater shows start at 9:00 PM. One nice secret: There is a 24-hour lounge area next to the reception with comfortable tables and chairs and real food (not just old nachos and cold hot dogs) prepared and refreshed on a regular basis, which was a wonderful late-night respite. I would say that our favorite themed-dining spot was the Mexican "Agave" restaurant. The quality of the seafood tacos, and traditional Mexican soups, and any fish or meat dishes was really outstanding. However, to our surprise, the main buffet restaurant was really quite good across all food types. There were many different eggs, cheese and fruit options for breakfast and, through the lunch and dinner hours, the assortments of meat (especially pork) and several types of seafood (especially shrimp) were excellently prepared. As mentioned earlier, there is an indoor (good a/c) and outdoor dining area for the buffet and, in the evenings, they do try to impose a dress code (no swim suits). This was our second visit to a Riu resort in three months (May 2026 at Riu Republica in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic), which was also a wonderful experience. The Riu resorts, in general, cater to a more lively crowd (lots of parties), but in this case with Riu Baja California, the adults-only Baja California had the perfect combination of beach and pool, dining, live theater, and "acess to fun parties but not happening right outside your hotel room", ambiance, which was just perfect for us. This adults-only option cost a bit more but it was worth every penny.

  Aug 17, 2026
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  Average food, except for Krystal

  Good food is a resort must and unfortunately Riu Baja in Cabo didn’t deliver—short of their restaurant named Krystal. The other restaurants were passable, meaning the dining experiences were a mix of pluses and minuses. Krystal was all pluses and we only regret saving it for our last night—we would have gone back!

  Aug 11, 2026