RIU Playacar All Inclusive

Plenty of food, decent drinks, friendly staff, nice beach and entertainment... will probably go back sometime.

My friends and I stayed at the Riu Playacar in July 2012. The hotel is actually 3 star not 5 star. But, the pool, beach and food are great. The staff and guests are very nice also. I especially liked that there were palm trees on the beach instead of beach umbrellas. The hotel's alcaholic drinks are not watered-down like the disco's in town. The air conditioning in the room is not so great. The chamber maids are cheap with the soap. They want you to use your old soap from previous days. Its not fun to go out and beg them for more soap. The thing to look out for is that the scuba diving company wants to be fully pre-paid in advance, before they train you for it. They will not give a refund if you can not actually go on the scuba diving trip for medical reasons, or if you don't like the starter class. They do their best to avoid a refund. They are not like American companies that give refunds to maintain customer satisfaction. Before the scuba diving is paid for, they are so nice and friendly. But, if you want a legitimite refund, suddenly, they become all about the money and not so friendly. So, as far as the scuba diving is concerned in this hotel, its "Buyer beware!"

I will start by saying this property/airfare package was a good value. The property set up and beach setting was nice, not extraordinary, but nice. Long narrow property. Three buildings on each side of a main corridor. Each building has rooms facing the corridor and rooms facing the property lines (on each side) We had the unfortunate luck of having two rooms which faced the property next door. The Wyndham's main physical plant was directly opposite our rooms. Constant drone of large air conditioning units, laundry services, etc. Delivery trucks arrived at 5am each morning, backing in (beep beep) and loud loud employees receiving the deliveries. What a nightmare! The food was very very average. Apparently not for lack of trying. However, food was bland and had many cross tastes (steak tasted like shrimp) "Specialty" restaurants were a bit of a joke. This was a very average experience.

Lovedeverythingaboutthisresort.Planninganothertrip

RIU Playacar was a big surprise to us. We thought last year we had a good time at the Hotel next door, but they cannot hold a candle compared to RIU. I remembered last year how the check-in took forever, but at Riu it was smooth and fast and willing to change rooms for us if we didnt like what we got. We had 2 room adjoining and the set-up here couldnt be better. Instead of having a door between each room they have an entry door for both rooms and then a seperate door for each room about 10 feet away!!!! Great idea. A Hotel is a Hotel, but its the staff that makes it a place you enjoy. The staff at RIU Playacar is amazing ! Front desk, Bartenders, Servers, Maids, but I have to single out the RIU Entertainment Staff Headed by Pablo, they work really hard off for you and always have a wonderful smile and willingness to go out of their way for you. I must single out a few of them because I think they deserve it. Alexander, Isra, Maria and Oscar. These young men and women put in long hours ( I know its paradise ) but its work for them and are the finest we have come across. The beach is spectacular actually mind blowingly beautiful. The Hotel is the smallest of RIU's in the area and its makes for a more comfortable environment. Food was good in the Buffet, but I wish they would have more main course foods to choose from. Quality of what they made was good though. Steakhouse is good but dont expect an 1 inch thick steak, but you get a lot of food. Steakhouse is served to you. Jade the Japanese Dinner was only ok. It was billed like they cook the food in front of you, but its also a buffet style dinner. Should have known Japanese food in Mexico might not be the best anyway. Rooms are ok stocked bar, sodas and yes WATER!!! which is huge down here. It is stocked every other day which is perfect. Beds are firm for sure and the pillows are flat, but if you require a pad for the bed or more pillows they are more then accomodating. I would rate this Hotel for its Star rating of 3 stars to be a 4.9 out of 5 with the only ding being that Jade rest. Highly Recommend this place,

My wife and I just returned from 5 days at the Riu Playacar in October 2011. Some of the other reviews were a bit concerning, but we loved it. We found the staff to be friendly and attentive, but remember this is Mexico and it's not considered at all rude to request a waiter's attention there. The mattresses were firm, but not uncomfortably so at all. Yes, the bed was 2 doubles pushed together, but we kind of liked that - we could be together when we wanted to, but we each had our own space, too. The crack wasn't uncomfortable. The setting was beautiful. There is free parking, but the spaces are a bit tight. The beach was in good shape. We ate at the buffet for every breakfast and dinner, but we were usually away at lunchtime. I'm a vegetarian and lactose-intolerant, and I was still quite satisfied because the buffet is huge! It included: chef's station with about a dozen items (heuvos rancheros, bacon, roasted veggies, meats, rice), another chef's station with pasta, pizza, burgers, bruschetta in the evenings and french toast, pancakes, plantains, donuts in the mornings, an area that was a juice bar in the morning and nacho bar in the evening, a dessert station with at least 10 items, a bread station with a variety of breads (evening) and pastries (morning), 3 soups, and a salad bar with the regular salad stuff on one end and then rotating stuff like fruits, deviled eggs, pate, cheeses, etc. on the other end. All signs in English, Spanish, and German. I speak a little Spanish so I always tried that first, but if it got over my head, the staff was always comfortable switching to English.

We had a great time at this resort! We've been many places in the Caribbean and seen beautiful beaches, but I must admit we were impressed with this location. The only complaint was the beds, they are hard as rocks! We requested mattress toppers and that helped a little, but they should really upgrade those mattresses. Other than that everything was perfect, even the food was enjoyable!

We had a great time after the rain stopped. (forgot to check their rainy season!). Rented a car to save on the price of the excursions, but don't rent from the guys at the hotel, they're higher. You can go to 5th ave and find things cheaper. If you like to snorkle Xel-Ha was great!

I have vacationed in the Cancun/Playa De Carmen area 5 times now. The Playacar resort is my favorite so far. I liked the smaller, more cozy atmosphere. The beach is spectacular. The staff at all locations on the resort were especially friendly and seemed happy and not too over worked. I also liked that we were eligible to use two other resorts, both in walking distance. My two biggest complaints were: too many people smoked. People smoked around the pools, while they were in the pool, and also where there was food. My second complaint is how dirty the swim-up bar pool was. The pool was actually a different color and it had a bad smell.

Service Excellent. Food Great. Rooms very nice. Only one thing I didn't care for. Beds were hard and the TV was lame. But I wasn't there to watch TV. Out of 5 stars I would personally give it 4.5 I would give it a full 5 if the beds were more comfortable.