Hotel Riu Palace Antillas

I recently came back from RIU Antilles, Aruba. It is an all-adult resort. Drinks were good, plenty of alcohol. Buffet food was also good, a large variety for any type of cuisine you desired. I am not a vegetarian but many choices, if you prefer. The desserts look amazing and yummy, but sadly no taste. But, thanks, I didn't need empty calories, so not so much to complain. All employees were wonderful, nice and respectful with smiles on their faces at all times. We noticed many employees work at least 12-hour days, every day of the week, as we saw them the entire 7 days, starting early morning to very late at night. My only adverse review is the room. I requested a king bed and got two full beds - made up separately pushed together. That leaves a big crevice in the middle, and you are fighting the sheets all night as they are tightly made on each bed. I think that it is the norm, as I looked at other rooms from the hallway and theirs were the same. We found if you don't tip the room service attendant, you are low on soap, clean towels and a not so clean bathroom floor. After one day of that, tipping the room service woman was a must.

I absolutely loved Aruba. The weather, food, and excursions were wonderful. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Riu Antillas (Adults Only) Resort because of a fundamental and unacceptable issue. If you book through a travel agent, which is extremely common for group trips such as birthdays, weddings, bachelor or bachelorette parties, or milestone celebrations, the Riu requires that all compensation or problem resolution must go through the travel agent. Not uncommon and not a problem. However, the resort does not respond to the travel agent at all. This is a serious problem. My friend and I stayed five nights, beginning December 4, 2025, as part of a group of 11 celebrating a 40th birthday. Three rooms in our group needed to be changed, including ours. We had requested two beds as early as January 2025. When we arrived, the room had only one bed. We were told a rollaway would come and that a room change notice would be placed under our door the next morning. The rollaway arrived, but the promised notice did not. When we called the front desk, no one knew what we were talking about. Only Juliana was aware of the issue. She told us to pack and come to the lobby at 11 AM. At 11, we were told to return at 3 PM. At 3, we received keys to a new room, but that room also had one bed. After another trip downstairs, Luis, the manager, said he would have the beds separated within five minutes. Only then did we finally have two beds. This process took two full days of our vacation. On day three, Luis said he would send champagne by 3 PM and try to arrange a restaurant reservation for our group. We told him that champagne is already included in an all-inclusive experience and that we had already secured a reservation for all 11 of us on our own. Luis explained that any monetary compensation could only be handled through our travel agent, not directly with the resort. We followed instructions, notified our travel agent, and waited in our room for the champagne. It never arrived. On day four, the situation became worse. My roommate reached for a tissue in the bathroom and a roach came out of the tissue box. She killed and flushed it. She cleaned the room, but the incident was not reported to management. Our travel agent added this to her follow-up email to Riu customer service. She still had not received anything other than an automated reply. Later that day, Luis called, but not about the roach. He simply asked if everything had been resolved. When I told him about the roach, he asked if I had called the front desk to report it. I explained that I reasonably assumed housekeeping would report something this serious. They had not. He also seemed surprised that the champagne had never been delivered and said he would have it sent immediately. Did you get the champaign? Because we never did. Luis then offered help with a dinner reservation for our final night. We requested Krystal, a very nice restaurant. He said he probably could not secure it but would check and call back. He never called back. We booked Krystal ourselves and enjoyed the meal. At checkout, Luis acted as though he had never seen us even though we had spoken to him for several days. At that point there was nothing left to say. Our travel agent has been contacting the resort since day one and following up about the incorrect rooms, the missing champagne, the unfulfilled promises, and the roach. As of today, she has not received a single response from the Riu. This creates an impossible situation for guests. The resort requires compensation requests to go through a travel agent, but the resort refuses to respond to the travel agent. This is unacceptable. Aruba was amazing, but the customer service failures and lack of accountability at Riu Antillas (Adults Only) Resort were far below what is expected for a resort that frequently hosts group celebrations. Until this issue is addressed, I cannot recommend staying here.

We loved this hotel last year and this year as well. The staff are amazing, the beach is fantastic, I like the rooms and room service. However 2 things to note: 1. The Steak house is hard to get into unless you line up about an hour before opening. 2. If you are expecting a kid free vacation this isn’t the hotel for you. There are kids around every day. From the lobby to the adult only beach area. So just a heads up.

My girlfriend and I stayed at the Riu Palace Antillas from October 28, 2025 to November 2, 2025 to celebrate my 31st birthday. What was supposed to be a memorable trip turned into an absolute nightmare. I’ve stayed at countless resorts, hotels, and all-inclusives, and I have never experienced anything remotely close to this level of incompetence, dishonesty, and filth. 1. My “Elite Room” Was Not an Elite Room — Complete Scam I booked and paid for an Elite Room, but the hotel did not give me one. They tried to pass off a regular room as Elite, but it clearly wasn’t. I received the Elite bracelet and none of the Elite benefits (besides the terrible elite restaurant, lounge, and private pool area). No app access, no room service, no Elite bag, no tumbler. The app wouldn’t even allow me to make dinner reservations. I had to call the Elite desk and hope someone happened to pick up. This wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was false advertising and total misrepresentation of what I paid for. 2. The Room Was Disgusting The room itself was unacceptable: • Stains on the bed • Footprints on the bathroom floor • A general lack of cleanliness that made us uncomfortable staying there For a “Palace,” this was embarrassing. 3. The Food Is Completely Inedible We tried the food for the first two nights and could not stomach it any longer. Everything was bland, poorly prepared, and simply not edible. We ended up booking dinners outside the resort for the remainder of the trip just to have a decent meal. As a New Yorker with higher standards, this was extremely disappointing. If you enjoy good food, do not rely on this resort. Restaurants near the resort were very good specifically any from the Gianni Restaurant Group. 4. Management Is an Absolute Disaster This was the worst part of the experience. Carlos initially appeared helpful but never followed through with anything he promised. Another manager, whose name I can’t even recall, was rude, arrogant, and clearly not suited for a managerial role. Carlos did manage to secure approval for a partial refund (the difference between the Elite room I paid for and the non-Elite room I was placed in) on October 30, while I was still staying at the resort. But that’s where the chaos began. From the moment I left, I was given week after week of lies and excuses about how the refund had been processed and the delay was my credit card company’s fault. Today is December 8, and I can finally say I received the partial refund, but only because American Express had to get involved and take action. The managers at this resort were absolutely incapable of handling this issue honestly or professionally. 5. I Will Never Stay at a RIU Again This trip, meant to celebrate my 31st birthday, was completely ruined by this resort. Between the bait-and-switch room, filthy conditions, terrible food, and managers who lie without hesitation, I can confidently say this was the worst customer experience I have ever had. Save your money. Eat at Aruba’s incredible local restaurants. Stay literally anywhere else. After this experience, RIU has permanently lost my business.

Photos look great but overall the property is a bit rundown. Hallways smelled like old tennis shoes. If you aren’t waiting in line at 6pm you are unlikely to get a table for dinner. The keys are a known problem and stop working all the time. It took 3 trips to the front desk to get our key to work upon check-in only to have it quit again mid-week. Asked if we would get a refund if we changed hotels. Was told to contact corporate by staff at the front desk. Ask to pay for an upgrade and never got a response. No bar service on the beach. The hotel app does absolutely nothing. Buffets were a kind of dirty and very crowded. There are much better options on the island for the price.