good deal, but ac not strong enough

christopher Nov 16, 2009

Went fishing with our group and not one bite. Not one all day with six poles. Not worth the money. The room had a mildew ... smell. A fair price for what we got, but would rather pay more and get more. The staff was great, but the food was average.

time off

vladi Nov 2, 2009

it was good untill check out do not use the phone in the bedroom or eve touch it because they would charge you a furtune just ... for trying

Relaxing and Quiet

Yesse Oct 26, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

While there I relaxed by pool. The entertainment could have been better. I love the Dominican Republic. The food was ... excellent, the people were great and the drinks were good. Overall it was an enjoyable experience the rooms could be remodeled with better bedding.

had a blast we will be back soon sept 09

jersey travelers Sep 7, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

ok we arrived on tuesday check in was at 3 an arrived at 1130 or so . they dont belive in early check in but they watched our ... bags an we were able to change into our swim suits an use the pool till they were ready paola at they front desk was sweet kind an understanding always making sure all was good when she saw us in the reception area they all were nice the people that work at the resort are very hard working they have a group of people that run all the activities called riu anamation they were great u have [...] an [...] that dance there buts off an help everybody enjoy there stay walking around the pool always providing there smile .you have [...] that does the bingo an if you mess up an dont have a bingo his saying is in da pool it was great at bingo if you win they give out coffee rum shirts it was fun smiley the laugh you can walk outside an here his laugh an locate him fast these people were hard to say goodbye too they were awesome they have water polo volleyball soccer on the beach . pool areobics merengue lessons spanish lessons step areobics bingo so much stuff to do we dont have kids but they have a place the kids can go to an play with very friendly staff every kid i saw there was always having a good time they had shows at night for the kids that they would have the kids get up an dance an sing an all types of things. most of the staff can speak up to 4 languages english spanish german an i thin french that is huge because we been to resorts like sol melia that they dont know so much an its difficult .the club pacha was fun its open from 10-2am ok if you walk in there from 10 to 1130 you will be like this place is horrible but people dont show up till 1200 then its a great time so i recomend getting there 12 am an you will have 2 hours a night of great dancing . the food was good always different variety in the main eating room fresh fruit fish dominican style dishes italian ,salads .there is a guy named junior he is very attentive an hard working they all are hard working you would appriciate there work compared to the way waiters work in the states they are on top of every thing as the manager keeps a eye on how things are run .the drinks at the bar people who i saw on here wrote weak drinks there crazy drinks were strong an they had all different drinks to choose from they always had a drink of the day .theres a bartender by the pool bar named [...] very nice guy another hard worker .the rooms are nice very clean its not the ritz but its nice clean an thats all i needed . casino in riu bachatta was a lil dissapointing small unorganized the dealers like robots unsociable look like rocks need to lossen up but who cares not there to gamble when there so much fun stuff to do when you look up the weather before you go to dominican republic dont be alarmed it said it was going to rain on the computer it rained 2 times both at night when we were sleeping an if it rains its usually very limited for 10 mins then it dries up beach was nice pleanty of chairs had a bar by the beach If you choose to go on a tour go on the outback safari this tour takes you to a house where you see how dominican people live very sad you will feel lucky for what you have but some of the money you spend on the tour goes back to the people like the house you go to then they take you to a river beautiful picture opts there after that they take tou to a farm show you different types of fruits how the make coffee an chocolate you then have a chance to buy some at very cheap prices they take you on a boat ride after you have something to eat then you stop by a school an see how the school is with the lil kids wonderful smiles if you take this tour you can bring pencils crayons books paper candy to give to the kids you are not allowed to hand out money i wish would have known next time then they take you to the beach to boogy board great beach great time they also have rum an coke rum an sprite water beer during the whole trip this ...

Ok for the price

renren Jun 24, 2009

The staff was friendly and excellent did not like however that you had to have dinner at the resort and reservations for ... la carte could only be made in person at the main dining hall between 7 7:30 am . Room was also out dated stuffy and damp. Close to the beach and lots of activities to do off site. Also beware the resort is very euorpean so expect to see a lot of topless young and old sun bathers

Riu Mambo, June 09

Bob Jun 22, 2009

Basically, you are paying for what you get with this hotel. For the money you spend for the all-inclusive I would say that ... the trip was of a moderate value. I would recommend the hotel to either couples or families. For any young adults (21-30), I don't know if this is the place to stay as you may become bored since you really cannot leave the resort area and there isn't too much to do otherwise in the resort. There are alot of bars throughout, but these can become tiresome as the drinks are watered down. Before going, I had read the reviews of people saying that the drinks were watered down and I thought that they were ridiculous, but it is actually true. The best bet is to just find one bartender and start tipping him. If you start flashing some money, they will be definitely willing to make your drinks a little stronger! The shows that they have at the hotel at night can be kind of lame and geared more towards the older crowd or young children. A positive aspect of the hotel that in terms of it's location on the beach I would say that it was definitely a plus. You are right by the gift shops which are fun to walk over to, or there is a large lookout point that you can walk over to as well. The view there is very nice. Plus the hotel staff was overall very kind and courteous. A warning though- we booked a trip through the Scuba hut located on the beach. We were waiting downstairs in the morning for the bus to come pick us up for the trip when an hr later it never showed up. We went to the Scuba Hut and they told us that the trip had been cancelled. No one had ever notified us that the trip was cancelled- so be careful when booking any trips. This trip in particular was a trip to the Sousa Islands. I think that what they do is that they will book people for a trip but if they do not get 10 or more people total, they will just cancel the trip. So be careful! Other than that, it was a fun trip. The pool at the Bachata is definitely the nicest and the food isn't that bad. There is alot of choice for people who are picky eaters.

Dont go if your young & love excitement

Young Travelers Jun 21, 2009

The location of the hotel was not the best. You cannot tell you are in a carribean island, because the beach was not ... beautiful turquoise but brown and not inviting. We are a young couple and we enjoy young couple activities. The resort was filled with rude plus sized nonamerican guests. The staff was very friendly and was happy to help but there was also no AC in the room for the first two nights, and the bed was THE most uncomfortable bed I have layed on. The access to the other resorts was a definate plus as the Bachata hotel had the best pool and the best crowd. We will never return to this hotel, in comparison to other vacations this vacation was mediocre. I do not recommend it for anyone who is trendy and between the ages of 21-40. Its a good place if you are just starting to vacation and this is your first resort.

ok if you dont like a/c

spanky Jun 15, 2009

employees were nice and friendly but the food was par at best and the liquor needs to be a better quality. rooms nice but the ... a/c and fan in afternoon was imposible to nap thank god for the ocean breeze under tree at beach need more shady spots tho

Good place to stay

Caren Jun 12, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

The Riu Mambo staff was great and the service was excellent ! The Coco tours rep though was terrible ! He is the contact ... person Orbitz have for the shuttle back and forth to the hotel and tours you may want to do. He is hard to get a hold of and has an attitude. I had to seek him out of the 3 hotels ( total waste of time ! ) just to book my return shuttle! The nightly entertaiment was always in poor production and they always seem to drag it out. Thank goodness we were there for the beach and the sun. By the way the food was great too and the safari tour and paradise island is highly recommended !

Pretty good

Wandy Jun 8, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

I enjoyed the activities they had available. Scuba diving and deep sea fishing was not free but snorkeling, paddle boat, jet ... sking, and kayaking was free. The horse back riding was a nice experience as well. The pools were always clean and the beach. The staff was always nice. The food was decent but got me and two other people in my party sick for one day. The rooms could have been cleaned a bit better but received clean bedsheets and towels everyday. The AC in the room sucked though. The entertainment was ok, it was not all that. The club on the premise was boring. Overall it was a good place to stay and the price was good.

mini vacation

johanna Jun 2, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

We had a wonderful time I'm definately going back to spend more time would recommend to all my friends ...

Don't Spend Your $$$ Going Here!!!

Dominican Shorty May 29, 2009

I had to ask the waitress 2x's for water. The rooms were not cleaned that well. I also found a bug on the bed. The best ... resort to go to where the staff are friendly, the service is excellent and the food is delightful is in Macao Palace in Punta Cana. I wanted to check out Riu Mambo because you are able to go to the other 2 sister resorts (Bachata & Merengue) but it's not worth it. The best resort in Puerto Plata is Iberostar which I went to in 2005. You should also check out Ocean World, and it's only 10-15 minutes away from Iberostar. If you are planning on going on Tours, check out www.isairatours.com I totally recommend it!

The "OK" Vacation

Lisa May 24, 2009

We started out with moderate expectations after reading multiple reviews from many different sites. Overall, I would have to ... say it was an "OK" vacation. It was very affordable and although we had been to Punta Cana we had never been to Puerto Plata. I will try to give an unbiased review. Check in was the usual as far as the Riu chain goes. If you find unfriendly staff it will be at the front desk. Our first set of rooms, we had 3, were on the bottom level, there are only two stories. We were also all in three different buildings, there are 12, I think. After requesting a change, we did all get put in the same building on the top floor, it was the last building but its a give and take system. I will mention that I had called the hotel prior to arrival and been assured that we would all be in the same building on arrival. All in all, the rooms are clean, the maid service is exceptional. The one thing that we were surprised about is you cannot drink the water in your room, not even brush your teeth. They do bring you a milk like jug any time you need it to keep in your fridge. The rooms are older and small, nothing fancy but do-able. You have to bring your own blow-dryer and an adapter for the plug is needed which the front desk is supposed to have. They didn't. But again, you are on vacation, its not that important to fix your hair. I only mention so much on the room because we spent more time there than usual on this vacation, due to the rain. Our first clue should have been when we noticed that every room came with an umbrella in the closet. From three on it would cloud up and rain. Not a Florida or Hawaii shower, but a torrential downpour that may last until the next day. This is one of the reasons its important to be on the upper floor, the rain blows in the hallway and under your door flooding your room. You only get one room key, not room card but an actual key. It makes it hard when you split up and have to always figure out who has the key. The grounds are kept spotless and it was beautiful when the sun was shinning. The beach was well kept just remember, it is not the turquoise blue of the Caribbean. The hotel staff was friendly and the sightseeing and excursion staff was also very likable. The entertainment staff was a little off. There were a couple that were very good and tried hard to get the guest to play in the games and activities and the rest were so busy flirting with each other that I am not sure they even realized that there were people around. The meals were filling, but not over the top. I sure didn't loose any weight being there, but didn't gain any either. That may be due to all the walking. It was a 10 minute walk to our buffet, pool, lounge area from our room, again not a bad thing unless its raining. I did read prior to going that the alcohol was not added to your drinks unless asked for. This is true. If your an early riser, stay in bed, there is no coffee available until 7am. The best thing about this vacation is that is exactly what is was, a vacation. The phone wasn't ringing, you didn't have to get up and go to work, no cooking or cleaning, no everyday problems to worry about. All in all I would have to say its a starter vacation. If you had nothing to compare, had been no where else, this would be a great place to start.

good for the price

dad May 19, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Check in was a nightmare, we had to wait 2.5 hours before we got a room and then with my wife having a bad knee, we were ... given a room way out. and we had to climb like 20 stairs to a second floor landing to get into our rooms. we had to go back to the main office and ask for a room in the first floor,and also closer to all the activities. The Staff was Great and made the entire vacation a wonderful memory.

great trip

maggie May 14, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

I'm going to list a lot of negative things first because I believe thats why people read these, to make an informed decision. ... We booked our trip with Orbitz.com. It was air, hotel, round trip airport transfers and travel insurance we stayed for 7 nights, May 2009. I had sent an email about 5 days prior directly to hotel requesting a first floor room near the pool due to hubby's slight mobility issue. when we arrived around 7pm, there was an envelope already with our key and resort info. We got the room closest to the front lobby and pool, 108. it was a perfect location for him and much appreciated. the tv remote had a mind of it's own. i was watching a channel for a good 15 minutes when suddenly the set starting rapid fire changing chanels and would not stop. noone was anywhere near the remote! we shut off tv, turned it back on, it was fine for a few minutes then the same . turned it off again and, you get idea. we called the front desk and someone came very quickly, said the tv was bad and very quickly replaced it. That was amazing. The king bed i requested turned out to be 2 full size beds pushed together. however they had seperate bedding and nothing holding them together and would regularly slide apart creating a gap as large as 6 inches. Otherwise the beds were very comfy, not hard at all. The bedding was a top and bottom sheet and very thin (it is after all a topical location) bedspread. The bedspread appeared stained, which didnt bother me so, however on peeling back the sheets the pillow case on 2 of the four pillows appeared dirty and so did the sheet. we got the impression the bed hadn't been made up with clean sheets since the previous occupants. Surprizedly, we did not call for housekeeping to remake the bed, even though my husband is quite the neat freak. It had been a long travel day and I suppose we were grateful for the prime room location, plus had already called and complained about the tv, and we didnt want to be high maintenance. There were no extra blankets provided in the room, which you would think should not be a big deal, but here is what happened to us the first night: we were coming out of an unusually brutal winter in chicago and even though spring is arriving it just couldn't get warm enough fast enough for me lately. My tolerance for cold is at about zero. the room felt chilly so we kept turning the air conditioning up a bit at a time till finally it was too humid and warm. So I said, its the cieling fan blowing on me that is making me so cold with only this thin sheet and bedspread over me. If we set the air on just a bit to remove the mugginess and shut off the cieling fan I;ll be perfect. Well, we could not figure out how to shut of the fan. round and round we went playing with the switch on the wall, tinkering with the switch on the fan while standing on the bed and that darn thing would not go off. it wouldn't even slow down. spinning quickly in either direction no matter waht we did. it would slow down to the point of stopping and we'd think, "finally its off"' only to have it reverse directions!. To add to the circus was these crazy switches on the wall that would turn the fan off, but also ALL power in the room. All lights, air or t.v.! then we couldn't figure out how to leave just the bathroom light on without turning off all the power. it was crazy crazy. yet it was late, hubby was getting very cranky with me and the room, so finally we managed to have everything off but the bathroom light and that fan and we went to bed. Believe it or not, I froze all night long. Because of that fan I was so cold! If there would have just been a nice thick blanket in a drawer somewhere i would have been fine. I even put a bath towel over me! I was wondering, "Why did I come here, I could be in Alaska!" O..K., not off to a great start. The next morning, woke to a beautiful day. The grounds and beach are wonderful, the staff are so friendly. When we vacatio...

Service improve needed

Kuro May 13, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Nobody took our suitcase to our room. We had to carry it and find a room by ourseives. The staff told us wrong direction to ... the room. We have to walk back to the frontdesk with a suitcase, then go opposit direction. Plus there is no hair dryer in the room! But the all staff were friendly, variety of foods at the buffet was great.

What a wonderful weekend!

IES May 11, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

Good: Staff is very friendly and makes you feel right at home from the minute you arrive. The animation crew really makes an ... effort to get you involved in all the activities but will leave you alone to relax if that is what you want. The resort is beautiful and the grounds are very well maintained. All three resorts are connected and you have access to all bars, pools and entertainment. Although we did not travel with children, this is a very family friendly place. I would definitely go back and recommend to others. Not so good: The beds in the room were not very comfortable. The food is pretty much the same all the time. If you like to eat burgers, hot dogs and pizza, you will be in heaven but otherwise things could get a little repetitive. Overall, we had a wonderful weekend and would return to Riu if we travel back to the DR in the future.

Would Go Back in a Heartbeat!

Drewsparky May 11, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

My girlfriend and I stayed at the Riu Merengue for the week of 5/2/09  5/9/09 and we had a wonderful time. We cant wait to ... go back. This was a much better deal/accommodation than previous trips to Club Med Turkoise and Club Med Cancun. The property is gorgeous and you get to use all three properties (Mambo, Merengue, and Bachata). We originally booked the Mambo, but it was full when we arrived and we were put in a really nice room at the Merengue. Overall we got a great deal through Orbitz.com ($625 per person from NY). Everything was included  flight, transfers, room, food, drinks and activities. I don't know how anyone could complain about this vacation. Activities The round-the-clock activities ranging from horse shoes to water aerobics, darts to crazy games in the pool  kept us busy. There was always games going on and we even played in a dominos tournament. Entertainment Each night there was a show at each of the properties and we always saw a good show. I really enjoyed the Michael Jackson show. The magic show was crazy and fun too! Food/Drinks The buffets, steak restaurant and Italian restaurant were excellent. It was worth booking the 2 sit down restaurants because the food was very different from the buffet. Previous reviews said that the sit down restaurants were the same as the buffet but just much slower. This was not true as the food in the restaurants could not be found in the buffet. If you wanted alcohol in the drinks all you had to do was ask the bartender. I always asked for extra alcohol and always got a good strong drink. The booze, soda and water in the rooms were a real bonus. Tips Bring a washcloth, soap, electric converter, insect repellant and lots of sunscreen. The bars of soap are incredibly small. We knew this before we booked so I packed a bar of soap. Also an iron and coffee maker is not provided in the room. This was a great vacation and I would go again to Riu in a minute!

Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful~

Tiffany May 5, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

My boyfriend and I went to the Riu Mambo April 20-27, 2009. It was beyond what was expected. You pay for one but get to ... "play" at all 3. There is a gazebo up on a hill that you can walk to and the view from there is breathtaking! Also included are many water-sports and snorkeling. The staff is A+++ all the way. So very friendly and will go out of their way to make you happy and comfortable. Anyone who stated that the drinks were weak were wrong. If you want it stronger all you have to do is ask and they will gladly oblige. It also seemed as if each bartender had their own "special" and look forward to serving you one or more of them. The food was very good and lots of it! Our luggage was lost and we didn't get it for 2 1/2 days, the staff were very helpful regarding this and despite not having any luggage for the first 2 days we still have a wonderful time. I would recommend this resort to anyone and we are already planning on going back!

excellent

happy , felis y contenta May 3, 2009

Would recommend to a friend!

my experience was very good, and next month i will go again, and i invited my daugter and her husband ...