Riu Palace Bavaro - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10718 reviews

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  Gorgeous and very well maintained property

  This hotel is gorgeous- the lobby, pools and rooms are all amazing. The rooms were recently renovated and the layout is so incredibly smart. Everyone who worked there was very nice and we loved the breakfast and lunches especially at the food court. The dinners were OK and some of the drinks tasted better than others, but overall the hotel was perfect! It’s a fun hotel- lots of parties and activities!

  Jun 15, 2025
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  Amazing trip to DR

  Just thought I would do a review now I am home from this stunning place 🏝️🇩🇴😢 Second time visiting RIU Palace, but first time in DR. Firstly.. the actual hotel is beautiful renovated. Fresh and modern. Lobby, bars and rooms are lovely. Pools, of which there are many are fab. There’s always plenty sunbeds and the waiters/waitresses are so attentive. Some days there is little entertainment and other days the RIU guys come round and play games. There’s always music and a good atmosphere. Rooms were lovely, we stayed in the main building and was great location for everything! Towels changed daily and mini bar filled, if you require anything they brought this up to your room quickly. The beach although there was seaweed is just stunning. That view is to die for! We were so lucky as the Weather was incredible. ☀️ Food and drinks - mango daiquiris allll day long were delicious. The buffet, food court and A La Cartes were all fab. The food choices were great. Must try is the Wok place and Crepe stall at the food court. The fried rice is awesome. Our favourite a la carte was the Asian Zen, we would go down for dinner at 8 and usually get a buzzer and go for a drink and wait. We were never refused into a restaurant. And the most we waited was 45 minutes. They recommend 2 small plates each. But we would normally get 3/4 as they are all delicious . The steakhouse, Mexican and Italian were nice too. Our least favourite was the American, the Mac and cheese was nothing fancy and my husband said the burgers were better in the buffet. RIU Parties 🎉 we went to a few of these, during the day ones were better as it was so hot at night and didn’t fancy going up in bikinis! You can walk within 5 mins although they do put on buses. Evening entertainment was ok, some of the acts were good, but at 2215 there was a mass exodus of everyone leaving once it finished. Michael Jackson and the singers/dancing acts were good. But I have Saw better entertainment at other hotels. The sports ⚽️ bar is good for a wee game of pool 🎱 and it’s €3 per game. They will put on games you request if they can get access to it, or stream your phone to tv. We went to casino one night, husband played blackjack won €25 dollars and we left We never made it to Pacha 🍒 nightclub but could hear people leaving and sounded fun! The waterpark was good fun but would recommend taking pool shoes as the ground gets warm. My husband went to the gym several times, equipment is ok, he was able to do workouts but less than what he is used to, but for a hotel gym it was fine. Obviously this hotel isn’t adults only and there was lots of kids about but didn’t impact us at all! The hotel has very mixed ages which is nice to see! The staff work so hard and are so friendly 😃 We did the Coco Bongo excursion. We had done this in Mexico and the DR was just as good, it’s approx £125 each for VIP Gold Member - you get a server, seat, constant drinks, access to own toilet, snack, queue jump! There’s cheaper options but it’s crazy busy! I am dreaming 💭 of coming back as everything was just amazing.

  Jun 15, 2025
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  Enjoyed our stay

  Enjoyed resort, staff were friendly and food was good. Did need to ask housekeeping regularly for towels, facecloths and water where not restocked daily. Beach did have a lot of seaweed but that certainly cannot be controlled by resort-overall happy with our stay!

  Jun 14, 2025
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  Mixed Feelings

  We just returned from a 5-night stay at the Riu Palace Bavaro. We were a family of 5 - husband, wife, 15 yr old daughter, 13 yr old son, and 10 yr old daughter. We had a "2 bedroom junior suite with tropical view" but in reality it is adjoining rooms. It was perfect for us - one room had 2 queen beds and the other room had a king bed. The sofas that are in the rooms are two-seaters and are not pull out beds. However, because my kids are spoiled little people and didn't want to share a bed with each other, we pulled the sofa in from our room and pushed it together with the sofa in their room and it made a perfect little bed for a small-medium size child :) The beds were comfy and room temperature was great. The rooms and bathrooms were very clean. The linens were clean. Housekeeping was great. A previous review complained about towel quality and I am not sure why. The room towels were what I would expect - not super plush and luxurious but they were nice and they were a good size. The pool/beach towels are slightly less in quality than the bathroom towels, but they are perfectly fine and a great size. I have zero complaints about them. The physical resort and grounds are beautiful and very well kept. It is a lovely and aesthetically pleasing resort! When I go to an all-inclusive, I do not expect top quality food. I feel like my expectations are reasonable. I would say the food quality was the worst that I've experienced at an all-inclusive resort or cruise ship. That being said, I would rate it as fine. We could all find something we wanted to eat and it was fine. We only went to the Italian, steak, and Asian restaurants. I was not impressed by Italian or steak (although my husband did enjoy his steak) but I thought the Asian (Zen) was very good. The restaurants do not take reservations and open and 6pm. You pretty much need to put your name down about an hour before you would like to eat unless you would like to eat at 6 - then I think if you got there 5-10 minutes before 6 you wouldn't have a problem getting seated. We saw several large groups (10-15) each night so accommodating large groups didn't seem to be a problem. I never had trouble getting drinks at any of the bars and I was pleased with them. I didn't feel like they were too watered down. This next comment is neither good nor bad, just observation. English as a native language was definitely in the minority. Some of the servers did not speak much English as well (i.e. she didn't understand when my husband ordered a whiskey on the rocks). However, a quick use of google translate and we were good to go. That didn't bother me but I think it's important to note. Here's where my review turns a little negative. Other reviews I read talked about workers being unfriendly, and I have to agree. It was more common to encounter a server or worker who came across as grumpy or disinterested, some even seemed annoyed by a question/normal request, than to encounter a pleasant, upbeat, and happy worker. We did bring small bills and tipped as much as we could and the staff were appreciative. There were plenty of pools and we didn't have trouble finding chairs at any of them. Some pools were definitely more crowded than others, but the resort is huge so I would expect that to be the case. I'll note the pools that were more crowded were also much hazier - whether that's urine, sunscreen, drinks spilling in them, or not enough chemicals... I have not experienced that at other resorts. The beach... I fully admit I am a beach snob. I like pretty water and I want to be able to get in it. I love the ocean. Personally, I would not return to Punta Cana in June or high seaweed (sargassum) season. It was really bad. Fortunately, it didn't bother my kids as much as it did me and they still had fun. The seaweed collects along the beach and for the first 3 days it was just all piled up - it wasn't cleaned up like I have experienced at other resorts. I am sure it is just lovely when the current shifts and the seaweed is pulled out instead of brought in. However, the seaweed issue has NOTHING to do with the resort itself (other than the lack of cleaning it up) and it just seasonal/part of ocean life. Overall I would say I have mixed feelings. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't great and I feel badly saying it, but I'm not sure I would recommend this resort to friends.

  Jun 13, 2025
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  Loved

  This was my first time at an all inclusive resort! It was great! Staff were all nice and friendly! Everyone was very well informed. They were all welcoming as well.

  Jun 12, 2025