Hotel Riu Palace Antillas

It was ok but not great! Food was hit or miss. Breakfast Buffett was good and lunch ok but dinner was meh. Went with family and was sharing a room, which was supposed to be double beds it ended up being a king. Went down to switch and they tried to move us to the street side and not ocean like we paid for. So that was inconvenient. Ended up working out since we were able to switch rooms with other family members but no help from the resort.

Positives first - we had an enjoyable few days at the Riu in December. The staff (not management) make this hotel. Friendly bar staff and waiting servers all across the hotel. Negatives. It advertises itself as an Adults Only hotel. Funny then, how most days we saw children blatantly parading through the hotel and on the beach. There were families literally sitting next to the ‘Adults only’ sign on the beach, see photos. When I raised this with the ad hoc (I say ad hoc as there were frequently times when no guards were in sight on the open entrance from the public footpath which runs past the back of the hotel – see photo) security guards, they said ‘it’s a public beach, we can’t do anything.’ So why put signs saying Adults Only I wonder? When I said ‘but it’s advertised as an Adults Only hotel’, I was told that the actual hotel is. I beg to differ – see photo. There were children in the hotel grounds most days, using the pool, playing with balls, and one evening sitting in the lobby chairs while their parents (from another hotel looking at their wristbands) were using the casino. My point above – no security – they just wandered in. Which did make me concerned about who else might be just wandering in, with rohypnol in their bags etc…. I asked to speak to management on Day 2 and was told ‘oh yes, another guest has complained about the children, the manager knows and will be addressing it tomorrow.’ Day 3 came and went, nothing was done. I asked again, still nothing was done. For the whole holiday. Management either does not care or is incapable of implementing proper 24 hour security to make sure only paid-up hotel guests enter. Whilst the children was an inconvenience, and not the service we paid for, the security issue is of much greater concern. We unfortunately had an extended stay owing to the invasion of Venezuela. The hotel initially dealt with it well, and offered all guests a ‘distress rate’ for the next two days. We could not get a flight out for a week, so we were then told we had to go back onto the full rate (fair enough) and move rooms to a standard room and pay for it immediately now. I explained I couldn’t as my credit card was in the room safe and would I just go and get it. They refused to let me do that, and brought out security (who were apparently now available for action) to escort me in the lift to the room and stand over me while I got the card from the safe. It was completely humiliating and unnecessary, and the male receptionist actually referred to me as ‘sweetheart’ whilst he was patronisingly arranging the escort to our room. They really need some lessons in customer care. To make matters worse, we then found out that other guests had been offered the distress rate for their remaining 5 days. When I raised this with reception and asked why we were being treated differently and discriminated against, I was told this was not true. I said ‘but I’ve just seen the email (they clearly don’t realise guests talk to each other in traumatic circumstances) from Derek to those guests’! The receptionist then got on the phone to Derek and reverted to Spanish. Also not realising I speak Spanish and heard exactly how they were planning to get out of it. By lying. The receptionist told me that I must have imagined the email, and then said they were going to go and make those guests pay full rate or they would kick them out. He asked me ‘not to mention it to them and they would put a letter under their door at 1am so they would find it tomorrow morning’. I was absolutely astounded at this behaviour and that management’s attitude was to lie about it, then resolve it by threatening other guests with eviction. We then found out that the guests’ travel agent emailed them 10 minutes after the call I had witnessed saying ‘you might not want to mention to other guests that you’ve been given the distress rate.’ !!!! It all felt very sneaky and underhand, and discriminatory towards us to be given different treatment and then lied to about it, whilst already under very stressful circumstances, On our penultimate day, at breakfast, we found a cockroach in the bread rolls. We quietly mentioned it to the cleaner instead of screeching and yelling, as we could have done, and management thanked us for dealing with it in that way. The attitude from the front desk staff when we were trying to sort out arrangements for our last few days then suddenly and remarkably changed. We then received a courtesy call from staff in our room that evening asking if ‘everything was OK with our stay.’ We did not really know what to say to that, given the way we had been treated in previous days by the management. Our treatment by management put a real downer on the last few days of what was a stressful and anxious and unwanted, extended stay at the Riu. We could not wait to get out of there and get home. It was a real shame as the other hotel staff were lovely and the island is beautiful, it was the management and their attitude (as well as all the kids and the cockroach) which marred our stay and has resulted in the poor rating.

I went with my husband and we upgraded to ELITE all inclusive luxury status. It was horrible the food was inedible and mostly buffet. The Elite private restaurant was disgusting and had a very limited menu.The drinks were watered down and the plastic glasses were made for children We only got one beach towel per person ,we didn't consider that luxury. Service was not with a smile , we tried to check out and they were very unaccomadating and rude at the front desk. When we checked into our room had no washcloths, no robes, one coffee mug, our safe didn't work they had to come twice to fix it and no glasses small enough to fit under the wall mounted alcohol dispensers. We went out of the hotel for dinner after the first two nights and paid out of pocketful our dinner. We weren't notified of our departing transportation leaving for the airport. We were also supposed to have access to a vip lounge at the airport but it didn't exist. DO NOT BELEIVE WHAT THEY ARE SELLING. The beach was beautiful that saved our vacation

Facts first...entrance not impressive. Super slow check in. Even slower luggage delivery...carry your own to the room. Drinks are good..but in super small cups..like little kid cups. You can only get two drinks at a time per person at bar. Rooms are clean and above average. Beds are comfortable. . Beach is awesome...but no drink service. Beach chairs are cloth covered. Free snorkle and float pads. Pools are very nice. Pool chairs are vinyl padded. . Towel service is horrible. You get a towel card for each person in you group. Extra cards are $20 each. One towel per one card. They sign you towels out and in. Who use only one towel? Most people need onfir the seat...one for the back...one to dry off or put behind your head. . Staff is attentive...not nice..not rude. Very kurt. Short and to the point. No one speaks English as their first language....most are difficult to understand. . Restaurants are super hard to get in. Regular guests can't make a reservation. To go to the steak house you must wait in line..starting at 5:15pm...then at 6:00 they seat the first 36 tables. Everyone else gets a buzzer...only 60 buzzers per night. Food was good...not great. Who wants to wait in line for a buzzer...not at this price. Restaurants advertise that the are open from 6pm til 9pm. But no one gets seated after 8:10. Not at any restaurant. They want you finished by 9pm. That's kinda of sketchy. Note buffet open til 10 pm. .. They want everyone to use the buffet. ...I think this saves them money. The buffet, by the way is very very good. But at the price paid...I don't want all buffet food. . Overall...not 5 star...3.5 star...for food 3.75 star for pool and beach. 3.5 star for hotel. No where close to 5 star.

For a premium “Elite” experience, there was surprisingly little that felt elite. - The 17th-floor hallway smelled like feet, and the carpeting looked well past its prime. - Called the front desk for beverages and bathrobes. Neither ever arrived. - My sister-in-law went two days without body wash despite repeated requests. - The Elite Club restaurant welcomed us with… stale tortilla chips. - Our Kit Kat mysteriously disappeared from the minibar. We can only wonder where it went. - Guest Relations invited us to meet with the manager about our concerns. We showed up. The manager didn’t. - Beautiful ocean view? Absolutely. Elite-level service? Unfortunately, no. Aruba was wonderful, and we still enjoyed our vacation. But if you’re considering paying extra for the Elite Club experience, don’t do it.