We had a wonderful two week vacation at Riu Palace Macao.
This was our second time at this resort and we enjoyed it
even more than the first time! The kids (7 years old) had a great time and are already asking when we are going to go back.

- Beach. Never crowded and it has both sunny and shaded areas. The shade is provided by the beautiful palm trees. There is alway a breeze from the ocean, so it never feels too hot.
It is a perfect place to relax with a good book or have a nap.
The waiter is always roaming around, so drinks are easy to get.
There is a hut nearby where you can get massages, which both me and my wife took advantage of and enjoyed greatly.

- Staff and service. The staff is simply outstanding. Everyone here seem to enjoy their work and it shows. They are always smiling and try to make you feel special.

- Rooms. We did not have any problems with AC or moist bedding that some people have complained about. The AC worked fine and the room was very clean. We asked for extra bedding sheets for the kids and they brought them right away, though the next day the maid took them away, and when we called to ask for them again, they brought a whole bed instead - talk about the language barrier! We also asked for extra water (you have to use bottled water to drink and brush teeth) many times and it was always provided.

- Entertainment. There is mini disco that the kids really enjoyed.
Johny does an excellent job with Bingo, always drawing plenty of laughs from the audience. We saw a couple of shows (International and Michael Jackson) and liked them.

- Food. We ate mostly at the buffet. There were plenty of choices and I especially enjoyed the seafood - calamari, grouper, salmon, shrimp, were really good. The sparkling wine is really good and can become addictive. I was having about 5 glasses per day toward the end of the second week. I did not like the red or white wines. The beer was good. The deserts were excellent, make sure to try the stewed bananas: put a couple on top of some ice cream (you'll thank me later) Also, don't forget the fruits, the choices are mostly limited to whatever grows locally, but they taste much better then what we get here in Canada.

- We ate lunch at the Caribe Grill beach bar, couple times. The view and breeze from the ocean makes this place really awesome. Also, they offer burgers and hot dogs for lunch for those who need their fix of junk food.

- Drinks. I found most mixed drinks to be pretty bad. If you enjoy a great Marguerita or a Pina Colada, sadly you are not gonna get it here. Most drinks are made in kind of a big slushy machine, as opposed to a mixer. The bartender just adds liquor to it and here you go. That said, my wife and kids enjoyed virgin pina coladas very much.

Overall the vacation was excellent and we are definitely going to come back in the furture!

We just returned from Riu Macao Palace in Punta Cana and out of 17 people that went with us 13 came home with a severe cold and 11 with diarreah and needed a perscription from the Dr.'s. The rooms and not just one smelled like a combination of mildew, backed up sewer. The food was ok nothing to right home about. The Japanese restaurant was the best (very good). ALL restaurants you had to have pants on including buffet. Pool bar couldn't go in if you were wet. Lunch restaurants you couldn't wear your bathing suit. Beach absolutely beautiful. Sevice and friendliness i'll give that AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. As far as fixing things every day i went down to tell them the phone was broke and that was never fixed needed that i have an infant. the pool was 5ft. all around now some of us are only 5ft or so and that didn't work for them. the pool was also filled with sand all day. I have stayed in several places in the carribean and wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy. The RIU PALACE is absolutely beautiful but so far to walk to get to the pool and beach. All the Riu properties i wouldn't reccomend in D.R.

If you're looking for the best beach in the world, look no further.
Warm water, wide and long, underpopulated sandy beach with a large portion under palm trees. Shade and ocean breeze, with all inclusive drinks that you can either pick up yourself or wait to be delivered right to the beach to you.
This was our third trip to Punta Cana, and second time at the RIU Palace Macao. Hotel is showing some signs of aging, but food and service are still excellent. If you can't find what you like, you may have deeper problems... :-)
Suites are really nice, but not sure if it's worth the money - no special service in the suites, just more space, living room, two balconies, two crappy TVs and same all inclusive mini-fridge and bar with vodka, gin, rum and brandy.
Pool looked decent, but we didn't go to the pool at all - as mentioned, while on the most beautiful beach in the world, it would be a sin to "pool it"...
Entertainment is "so-so" but with appropriate amount of pina coladas, caribbean orange, etc. it's still better than watching TV...
All in all, perfect to relax and enjoy...

We checked the apple vacations web site and found a last minute deal to this resort. The reviews are mostly on the positive side so we gave it a try.

Our stay was SHORT...but more on that later.

Arriving at the Punta Cana airport, we grabbed our luggage and headed outside to find our Apple Representative. You can't miss the flowered shirt, so off we went to the nice large bus for transport. We landed in the evening so you couldn't really see much on the way, and the ride took approximately 30 minutes.

First stop was the Iberostar Bavaro and you couldn't help but be impressed with the lobby. A few people got off, and we headed next door to the Riu.

Check-in was interesting. I'd call it a group check-in of about 30 people maybe more. They were annnouncing instructions to all of us which was difficult. Granted everyone had had a long day of travel, and just wanted keys to their room. After some paperwork and wristbands went on, off to our room.

We had asked out travel agent to request pool view, higher floor, in a quiet location and that's exactly what we received. (#3365) A very nice room, with a balcony.

The fridge was stocked, and we were given plenty of towels.
Yes, the bathroom is aged...but it was clean and perfectly fine for us.

From reading previous comments on this hotel, we knew there had been some problems with the A/C. I packed a table top fan just in case. This worked out great! Our room was comfortable. Would I keep it colder if I could? Yes, but we were fine.

The resort itself is beautiful and well kept. The pool is very nice and the beach is beautiful. Both are a short walk. It sure would be nice to have more restrooms around. One near the beach would be nice.

Yes, they play the chair game, but we could always find them. We even saw a Riu employee saving about 10 loungers front row along the pool every morning we were there. When someone tried to sit there, they were asked and helped (by bringing another lounge chair), to another spot. He must have received a large tip ... we watched those chairs stay empty for several hours. Not sure who they were for.

When it comes to service, high marks for the maid, bar and wait staff. These folks work very hard and they really appreciated the tips. They deserve them. Laying around the pool or on the beach they came around to take drink orders-very nice.

I would say that some food is good...my daughter and I could always find something at the buffet. The pasta station was a favorite. For breakfast we love taking advantage of the omelet station. No real eggs are used here- just the mix, so they were okay.

My husband didn't have much luck finding something he liked. We did try the steakhouse and really enjoyed sharing the "mixed grill." The roasted chicken was really delicious.

What a great spot the Caribe Grill is. We had lunch there one day, and all I can say is, who cares how the food tastes when you have a view like that? If what I heard on the bus ride home is true, this lovely place is no longer there due to a fire. Thank goodness no one was hurt.

By now you are probably wondering why the low marks? This is strictly directed at MGMT.

We arrived on a Saturday evening, and by Monday evening we had no running water in our room. We couldn't take showers, use the toilet, wash our hands, etc...

My husband called the front desk and was told it was not just our room, but the entire resort was having a problem.

Monday morning still no running water. We headed to the lobby right away to speak with our Apple Representative Julie. She was already working the phones, aware of the problem. She was starting a list of Apple guests, room numbers, and the problems they were having. After recording our problems, Julie said MGMT was working to fix the lack of water situation, with the hopes of having it taken care of by noon. We were told to check in with her then if things hadn't changed in our room. By the time we left her, a line of about 10 people were forming to speak with her...

No change by lunch time so back to see Julie. Several folks were already in line. Julie was on her cell phone, running back and forth to speak with the Assistant Mgr at the front desk, and then relay as best she could to the guests.

We kept wondering why she was left to handle all of us on her own? Why weren't we hearing from the Front Desk MGMT? They were across the lobby watching this whole mess of (unhappy)guests waiting in line to speak with Julie for almost 2 hours.

Guests in line were calling their travel agents for help and advice. Some had already spoken to the assist. mgr. with no solutions offered them. It was obvious, the hotel mgmt was not going to take action on their own. One couple gave up on being moved, and were about to pay another booking fee just to be moved somewhere.

I contacted our travel agent for help also. All she could do was contact Apple Vacations on our behalf to report the situation. Her advice was to demand to speak to the GM.

I asked for the GM at the front desk and the assistant mgr came over, along with a gentleman from reception. I was told the GM was busy working "on a problem" and wasn't available. I asked to be moved to the Riu Palace, and was told there was no availability. Another disgruntled apple guest happened to be at the front desk a couple hours later, and witnessed new arrivals being immediately transferred to the palace upon check-in.

They asked me to be patient and wait until 5:30 to see if they could fix the problem. My reply was that we had been patient. I felt bad for their problems, but having no running water was unacceptable.

I asked that they contact the GM so I could speak with him directly. They kept repeating that he would tell me the same thing. The back and forth went on for some time.

We just wanted a shower to use, and a toilet...

Off they went to the back room. I waited for about 10 minutes,and they came out to tell me they would be moving us to the Iberostar Bavaro. By now it was almost 2:00...

Why not be proactive and avoid this entire mess?

We packed, check-out and called for a taxi.

No, they did not offer to transport us to the Iberostar.