Riu Playacar - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

8771 reviews

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  Paradise in Playa Del Carmen

  My wife and I have spent several vacations at RIU Playacar in Playa Del Carmen, and each time has been wonderfully relaxing and just plain fun. We have also visited several other all inclusive resorts and Playacar is by far our favorite! Great food choices, cocktails are excellent and great service. We have taken our kids, my wife's elderly mother and aunt and went with several friends, The place is always immaculately clean, service is always great, prompt, and a staff striving to please the guests. The employees always make it their mission to make sure each guest enjoys their stay and go home with great memories. The hotel is family friendly, lots of activities and fantastic shows, and things for the kids daily, including kid's shows prior to the regularly scheduled nightly shows. And, 5th Avenue after a short cab ride or brisk walk, is a very enjoyable experience! It is the perfect getaway!

  Dec 10, 2025
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  Great place to stay.

  Just returned from a fantastic 11 night stay at the Riu Playacar. As it was our second visit here we didn't lose any time finding about the pools, restaurants and bars etc which certainly helped. Food wise we enjoyed the breakfast and our lunch was a mix of pepe's by the beach and the main lunch venue. Our evening meals were mostly spent in the ala cartes which were a mix of full/part buffet and full table service and generally all the food options were good enough. I can't comment on dietary requirement options but if you're just fussy/ picky I'm sure you'll find something to nit pick about but what can't be criticised is how hard the food and beverage staff work so tip when you can as it was always appreciated. Cleaning staff did a great job and will make a special effort to jazz up your room if it's someone birthday. Entertainment wise through the day there was always something going on but if you just wanted to sunbathe you'd be left alone. Went to one evening show which was a house band and a mariachi group which was good. Our room was 4210 and you could hear noise in the early hours from the next door hotel but as we faced the inside rather than out it might not have been as bad as other rooms. TV channels 32 to 40 were almost constant hollywood films and there were loads of sports channels all English speaking. 25 minute walk or a 150 peso taxi ride into fifth avenue with loads of shopping and bars etc. Sellers can be a bit in your face but just be polite and you'll be okay. Oh and we were fortunate enough to see very close up a monkey and it's baby next to the nearby Riu Yucatan hotel. The parent stole a couple of bananas from me but was very gentle and it wasy lovely to see them eating them before walking off. Will likely go back. Cheers

  Dec 09, 2025
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  Do not go if you are a smoker

  If you are a smoker be prepared to walk hundreds of metres to smoke a cigarettes since is not allowed anywhere even if you wipe and not even from your balcony. Life guards/security are rarely by the pool area but they ask you not to smoke or wipe even if there is no one around you within a ten metres radius. Besides that they hardly do any work (if you are looking for extra umbrella you could be waiting for an hour or more before you see one of them ) Besides reception (in some cases) all the staff are very helpful and nice. Drinks were very good and your room’s mini bar is filled with all sort of alcoholic drinks, food is good, although only a few options are great. The Italian restaurant has a good fillet but the rest is far from being Italian; what they called cassata siciliana was an insult for Sicilians ( they just make some names up randomly). The animation team and daily activities are great but most of the nights show were poor. Pool closes at 8pm but pool bar at 6pm (where is the logic in that?). Although we had right to free transportation they refused it on our way in because was not from the airport and and also on the way back because we did not ask for it 3 days ahead which absolutely no sense! There is a private beach but you either walk 10 min to go there or wait for the golf cart that only work from 9 to 13 or 15 to 18.

  Dec 08, 2025
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  Great hotel with lovely staff

  We stayed here for 10 days as a couple and really enjoyed it. The hotel is immaculately clean, the staff are super attentive and are always working to keep things pristine. The staff in every area of the hotel were all so nice and attentive, they really make the hotel what it is. The food was good in all the restaurants except unfortunately, the Mexican was awful (which is ironic given its Mexico!) We ordered enchiladas which were swimming in sauce and had several bones in them. The starters were cold. The food and staff in all the other restaurants were great. The drinks at each bar were consistent and very good, as was the poolside drinks service. We were here in the off season so there was always a good choice of loungers and seats everywhere, nobody gets up at the crack of dawn to claim them. Our only complaints were: 1. that the quiet pool is not adults only, it had many children in it and was therefore not quiet or very relaxing. 2. Unfortunately we had a room in block 4, facing the hotel next door. It blasted loud music till late most nights and till 2am on weekends. The base was so loud that the furniture in our room was rattling. I understand our hotel can't help this but it's surprising that the other hotel has no noise curfew. To make it worse, a few nights into our stay, the people in the room next door to ours had a party till 3am. I called reception because we couldn't sleep and they said nothing could be done. I called back two times because it was unbearable and they ignored my call. Thankfully those people checked out the next day otherwise we would've asked to move rooms. Aside from these issues (some out of the hotel's control) we had a great experience and really enjoyed Playacar.

  Dec 02, 2025
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  Great to come back a second time!

  Lovely 2 weeks back here! We couldn't fault anything, from our clean and comfortable room, great variety of food, immaculate gardens and incredibly hard working staff across all departments. The entertainment staff were fabulous in their enthusiasm and energy and a special shout out for Jesus and his aqua fit classes... Great fun,

  Nov 24, 2025