Riu Palace Tropical Bay - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8601 reviews

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  4 stars

  For context, well travelled and have been working in events and the industry for 20+ years. -Check in went smooth, lady wasn’t friendly but it was late. -Hotel is well maintained very clean -Beach is absolutely a beauty! Clear water, white sand. No need to rush to reserve chairs there’s plenty. -Food quality is where it was average. Buffet is good. A la carte is mediocre. But again lots of selection. -Bar- beach bar- has low quality cocktails but they are having fun. I don’t care for premade drinks. All the popular drinks were premade and and sat in a plastic jug. They would just top it with ice. Daiquiri and the plaza bar were great! -Gym is small and old -Housekeeping is efficient and do good job. - People vape and smokes wherever they want even if there’s designated area -Cappuccino coffee shop only opens at 10am. Which is very late for a good cup of coffee. -Thank you to the entertainment team! You guys are amazing! Quick recap! Some amazing staff some not so much. They work 6 days a week. They are exhausted. No alcohol until 10am. Which rum cream in coffee is a must on vacation. Great beach. Okay food!

  Jan 26, 2026
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  Great staff, clean but basic

  I travelled here for 3 week at the ends of December with my husband. Upon arrival check in was very straight forward and Michael who helped us was great. The room smelt and looked immaculate upon arrival. We where in block 5 which was a partial sea view, however the door to enter the room was basically on the main road and quite loud in addition to being based outside the maids station, the maids shout to each other early on the morning, do not expect a lie in here. The bathroom stocked aqua senses toiletries which on the first week I sensed where being watered down instead of topped up, but this wasn’t the case the rest of the trip. There wasn’t any extras such as shower cap, nail file etc which I presumed where standard in a hotel. The hotel boasts a helpful app so should u require extra bedding, towels or maintenance issues then things can be logged here, which we did as the shower and toilet blocked a couple of times…. Annoying. The food was good and always something could be found at the buffet. The steak house wasn’t great but the Italian… wow!!! Best food we had during our trip. The restaurants need to be booked 2 days in advance on the riu app. The maid only missed our room clean once during our stay so overall the room was serviced well. The 24/7 snack place which had a self serve coffee machine, soft drinks and food is essential to the hotel as the coffee shop doesn’t open until 10am. However these machines were broken on a few occasions leaving us waiting until 10am for a coffee. The beaches are beautiful but there are no toilet blocks so be prepared to walk to your room should you need to go and that one man on the beach who shouted “get your rolling papers” over and over and over for hours… please some people are trying to sleep on their holidays! I would stay here again but it wouldn’t be my first choice. It is clean but basic. For those who are uk based the hotel is a comparison to an all inclusive premier inn. You can use the Sister hotel down the beach called Riu Negril which we did and it was fabulous but I feel this was because there was less than 100 people there due to issues they’d had and had to ship people to other hotels. The taxi prices from the hotel are astronomical and it’s much cheaper to stand on the main road and wait for one to pull over for examples the hotel charges $30 per person for a ride that an on the street driver charged $5 for everyone. The staff are so polite and do not expect tips at all, I couldn’t fault their service or attitude at all. The jerk hut guy was great and so was the food, jerk chicken and some salt and pepper style fish was amazing.

  Jan 24, 2026
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  Beautiful trip to a beautiful place

  Firstly I want to start off by saying the manager at the reception was awful on arrival we were told that even tho we had just done a 10 hour flight and a private transfer of 1 and half hours we was told that our booked room had been overbooked and we must go to the Riu Montego Bay we was devastated it totally ruined our new years the room at MB smelt of foist and it was just a terrible start to the holiday I appreciate tho this also lies with tui !! The rooms and allocation apparently isn’t done by the staff here it’s over seas I do think something should be done about that as the staff on the desk get all the complaints !!Nevertheless the day after we checked in to our room at the Riu place tropical bay the room was spotless the beach is absolutely beautiful and we cannot thank the staff enough special mentions to Andre on the beach he made our holiday he was the best beach bar man ever he is a absolute asset to the team also the girls on the lobby bar are also amazing and jolly too !! It was my 2nd time here and although there was a bit of upset due to over booked rooms the first night the rest of the holiday was amazing and we have booked again for next year we just hope that doesn’t happen again with the over booking of the rooms

  Jan 22, 2026
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  Fabulous Family Fun.

  We traveled with a family of thirteen, January 10th through the 18th. We can't say enough good things about our Jamaican family at the Riu Tropical Bay, as well as the staff members down the beach at the Riu Negril which we visited several times. Food was great, Jerk chicken hut on beach was outstanding, even serving lobster. Beach was calm and clear with silky sand. Drinks were top notch, especially at the lobby bar, where our bar-ladies, Sharon, Alicea and Crystal took care of us daily. Ask for Crystal's signature Jamaican brandy old fashion, you won't regret it! Special shout out to Samuel at the Japanese restaurant for his accommodations to our reservation and his special "drink delivery talent" Kevin at the sports bar down at Riu Negril was fantastic as well. If you want a massage, get the best at Renova Spa at the hotel and ask for Shannon and Kenesha, simply the best! Lastly, many thanks to the (secret host) at the front desk for the room upgrade to oceanfront, WOW. Special thanks from our family to yours! Respect freinds!

  Jan 19, 2026
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  Be ready to be harassed on the beach

  Beautiful beach, Great food, Very clean, Great Staff. The only issue is constant harassment on the beach by a lot of drug dealers, message girls, brad hair girls all day long. This goes on all day long. Hotel does nothing to stop it. How can you relax if your being harassed every 10 minutes all day long by the same 30 people. Real bummer. Its a really nice place. The water is crystal clear. If your looking for night life don't come here.

  Jan 18, 2026