Hotel Riu Palace Antillas

Have mixed feelings about this resort. Upon the check-in I did not get a room with an ocean view as it was in the reservation. The lady at the front desk tried to convince me that it was. But we could see the ocean only when leaning over the balcony rail. After I showed her the pictures of the view from the balcony on my reservation screen, I was given a different room with a full ocean view. As I spoke with other guests during the stay, I was not the only one who got the wrong room initially. The sheets were not clean, had stains. They were replaced but the “fresh” sheets had stains as well. Two days before the end of our stay we requested the sheets to be changed and they were not. At least not the pillowcases, because I saw the same stains on them. Overall cleaning was ok. Soundproofing is poor. When someone walks or sneezes in the hallway it feels like they are in your room. The location is great. Beach is clean and beautiful. Overall hotel is like 3 stars, not worth the price of over $650 a night

The RIU Antillas in Aruba (all inclusive adults only) is by far one of the best hotel/resorts that you could stay at. My wife and I stayed for a week in early July 2026 and have already made a reservation to stay in July 2027. ROOM: We stayed in the Elite Club ocean front suite. The suite had 2 large balconies overlooking the ocean and pools. The suite was clean, modern, and very spacious with a large bathroom, walk in closet, and separate living and sleeping areas. DINING: Although there are 6 dining choices for dinner, we ate at just the Atlantis (buffet style) and the Elite Club restaurant. The Elite Club restaurant was excellent ! The Atlantis restaurant changes themes every night and the choices are endless. Daniel, the chef at the Elite Club restaurant was great, both at preparing the meals and tableside conversation. BAR/LOUNGES: Staying in the Elite Club level gives you access to the Elite Club lounge and Elite Club pool bar near a private pool area. The lounge, which has an excellent atmosphere, serves high quality drinks with top shelf alcohol. The same level of drinks are available at the private pool bar. Alejandra and Madeline in the lounge and at the pool bar are great at their jobs, have great personalities and were a joy to be around! STAFF: Staff can make a vacation great or terrible, and the staff at the RIU Antillas makes your vacation great !!! Every encounter with hotel staff was exceptional including the cleaning staff, pool/beach staff, restaurant and lounge staff and hotel management. In addition to the previously mentioned staff, I want to give a shout out to Jose who runs a tight ship at the pool and beach, Jesus in maintenance who took care of an issue we had with the lock on our door, and Lucia with Hotel Management. Lucia can be found walking around the resort and restaurants interacting with staff and guests to make sure your stay is the best possible. Thank you to everyone at the RIU Antillas who helped make our vacation absolutely wonderful !!

I stayed at Palace Antillas and, overall, I had a good time. I was actually planning on bringing my family back and visiting again in December. Up until the very end of my stay, I had nothing but positive things to say about the resort. Unfortunately, several issues completely changed my opinion of the property and the way guests are treated. During our stay, we found used dental floss underneath our sofa, which was extremely unpleasant and concerning from a cleanliness perspective. We also found the mattress to be very uncomfortable, making it difficult to get proper rest. These concerns were brought to attention, but they were ignored and nothing was done to address them. The biggest disappointment came when we were leaving on Friday morning. After waiting at the airport for five hours, we found out that our flight had been canceled and we needed to extend our stay for another two days before we could return home. Since we had literally just left the resort, we decided to return and see if they could accommodate us given the circumstances. When we walked back in, the staff, security, and employees immediately recognized us. They knew who we were and remembered us from our stay. However, when it came time to book another stay, we were treated as if we were first-time guests making a last-minute reservation. There was no effort made to help us, offer any flexibility, or show appreciation for the fact that we had just stayed there and were interested in returning. Another concerning experience happened while we were on the beach. I booked an excursion, and there was a disagreement between two excursion businesses. During the situation, one individual who appeared to be under the influence approached the person I booked with, began pushing him, and acted extremely rude and disrespectful. The situation escalated to the point where I stepped in to try to calm things down. The individual then got in my face and acted as if he wanted to fight me. Witnessing this type of behavior in front of guests was extremely disappointing and does not reflect well on the resort or the level of safety and professionalism visitors expect while on vacation. A first visit to Aruba should be a positive and welcoming experience, and unfortunately, this situation added to our disappointment. To me, this is a reflection of poor customer service and poor business practices. They didn’t just lose me as a returning guest; they lost the opportunity to welcome my family and anyone I would have recommended the resort to in the future. After this experience, I will be sharing my honest feedback with others. Compared to other resorts I’ve stayed at, including resorts in Punta Cana that also have mixed reviews, I believe a company of this size should be able to show more appreciation and provide better service to loyal guests when unexpected situations occur. I was extremely disappointed with how we were treated. There was no attempt to accommodate us, extend our stay, or find any reasonable solution. Future guests should be aware that, unfortunately, it can feel like you are only valued while you are spending money. This experience left a very negative impression of Palace Antillas and made me feel like it reflects poorly on Aruba. The rest of the island has shown much more warmth, hospitality, and appreciation toward visitors, which made this experience even more disappointing. I will be contacting management once I return to the United States because I believe they need to hear how this situation was handled and how it affected our overall experience.

Spent 3 nights at Riu Antilles in July. This Riu is top-notch for cleanliness and similar to other Riu “adults-only.” If you’ve spent time in other Caribbean destinations, it’s no different. There is a beach. There is a pool. There is a pool bar and a lunch buffet (with lots of fresh, local fish). The excursions are similar: catamarans, snorkeling, ATV tours, etc. We were able to get into Krystal and the Aruba restaurant at 6:00 without waiting (party of 2) on a Sunday and Monday. On Tuesday, we went down around 7:45 but the Steakhouse was full for the night; got a pager for the Italian restaurant and were seated at 8:30. No problem getting a palapa each day at various times and there were always open chairs at the pool. Late checkout was $15/person per hour and after we checked out we went to the lunch buffet before asking for a taxi to the airport. Taxi was already pulling up; made it to the airport in 15 minutes. There have been complaints about the room keys cards. They actually changed out the door locks on our floor while we were there to a tap system, instead of the swipe cards.

Sitting in the lobby leaving our honeymoon as we write this. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. The staff is 10/10. Everyone always had a smile on their face and was willing to help or answer questions. If you’re sitting on the beach they bring beach chairs to the palapas for you. Location was awesome a 5 minute walk to downtown. Food was incredible so many options at the buffet. Spa was amazing. The girls who did our couples massages were so sweet and massages were wonderful. Ocean of course was perfect. No waves 0 seaweed. It wasn’t as rowdy as the other reviews were making it seem. Sooooo fun. Would absolutely come back!