Riu Palace Aruba All Inclusive

Great, would recommend it to anyone. Weather was wonderful, and so was the staff. Food could have been of a higher quality, not cafeteria syle. Breakfast was the best. My room was fantrasitc, overlooking the pool and sea.

The Riu Palace is absolutely spectacular! Perfect location! The rooms were large and the food in all of the restaurants was excellent. The service and staff were friendly and pleasant and would go out of their way to please you. The only negative was the lines you would have to wait on very early in the morning to get a restaurant reservation, or a lounge by the pool, or even a hut on the beach. The hotel should come up with an easier solution to this problem which many people complained about. However, I would definitely stay at the Riu again!

This is actually my second review of this hotel. I stayed at this hotel last year (October 2009) and wrote a review. This is a more up-to-date version on current hospitality!Hotel OverallThe hotel overall is very clean. Room service is also included in the all inclusive, which is very nice. The best part is the beach. A lot of the hotels in Aruba are near the beach or on limited beach space. The Riu has plenty- and beach combers can use the Westin's convenient clock located at the top of its hotel next door to keep time. The downside- this time, we noticed that there was a bit more "attitude" from the staff. Last time, everyone lived up to the "One Happy Island" motto, but this time, the staff seemed to be cut (maybe because of the economy?) and unhappy. They would still help you with whatever they could, but the smile may not be genuine. Also, the beds were AWFUL. Definitely bring some advil if you plan to sleep on those babies! Sleeping on the floor may be better.FoodThe Riu is equipped with plenty of restaurants. One is a buffet style with some theme nights (like Mexican night and Gala night), but there are also french, italian, steak, and japanese restaurants. These require reservations the day of. Last time I believe I listed the Steakhouse as the best- NOT anymore! It's definitely lacking now.... and one of my friends got sick. The best restaurants right now are the italian and french restaurants. The italian offers various pastas, steak, chicken, etc. The french was absolutely to die for. Unlike the other restuarants, each of the french's choices were to die for.DrinksAnything with rum is recommended (they're known for it!). Biggest thing around is the caiperina (2 shots of rum, sugar, and lime - sometimes they will use lemon instead) and mojitos. The bartender at the Palm Beach bar is also very good at chocolate martinis. Transportation[...] tries to sell you a transportation package to the hotel from the airport (De Palm Services). Don't do it! Aruba is really easy to get around and the bus is not needed. It is convenient at the beginning of the trip.....but at the end, they will make you leave your hotel AT least 3 hours (and more like 4 because they have to stop at other hotels to pick up more people) before your flight. For example, the time we used them, they picked us up at 2:15. Our flight wasn't until 6pm at night. A taxi is cheaper and easier. To get around town, the bus stops outside hotels and it's only about $1.50 to get to town.

4 of us went , had a fantastic time. The staff were truly great. The accomodations were first class. The rooms were spotless, one of our roooms did smell of mildew , the other did not. The beds were very hard also. We rented a jeep, traveling around the island was great ,however the jeep from thrifty was old and ratty. Would recommend this trip in a heartbeat. The dining at the resort was first class.

The stay at the hotel was wonderful, I was not happy at all with all the checking in that I had to do, otherwise I had no complaints. I loved the hotel and the service was wonderful.

My wife & I and another couple (late 50's) had a great time at the Riu, and recommend it strongly. The pool, food and beverages, and romm (Ocean View) were super, except the Tonic they used in drinks sucked. The beach was awesome also. People and service was excellent as well. Only a few minor negatives: 1) Initially there were few umbrellas by the pool, but more were added while we were there, 2) the Salad Dressing Bowls should have a label to tell Ranch, Blue Cheese and Italian apart, 3) Waiting on a line to make Diner Reservations for the speciality resturants at 9:00 AM to Noon every day sucked.

This was our first time at a Riu Palace and we loved it. The service was great, the food excellant and the facilities top-shelf. The rooms and pool areas look just like the pictures....no surprises or allusions. Aruba is beautiful and the are that the Rui is at is awesome. The only thing that we felt that could be improved is the entertainment...the shows at night were not that good. Overall, we would definitely go again!!!

Very nice Hotel. Clean and helpful staff. Food was out of this world! Staff was good, but not great. No Beach Service was very disappointing, and never a chair available at the pool unless you were out by 6:30 in the morning. Drink's were way to small, and local beer is not much. Should have had some different options on beer. No nightclub, and everything but Sports Bar shuts down after 12:00

The food was very good for an all inclusive deal. All bar service was good and the rooms were very nice with huge beds. On site reasonable car rental helped us explore the island. Our groups only wish was for drink service on the beach. This was an awesome hotel with no problems and a great staff.

hotel check in is manual and slow, dont expect any kind of upgrade even if you staed their many times unlike the marriot hotels.