just returned from rui tequila late july and still mad!
ROOM. outdated, air con vents dirty what was i breathing ,
no wonder my asthma flared up,
bed hard and bed cloths old and smelt of damp infect so did my own cloths after a while,
towels had a bad smell and were washed done,
had to ask for mini bar to filled on several occasion"s,
had to ask to be moved to a new room on day 3 could"nt stick the damp fusty smell any longer,which wasted a day out of my holiday,

POOL. need to be up early for a sunbed,
not the cleanest insects and hair floating in the pool. was the filters working? actually seen people feeding cats of the plates that we probably ate of later, also a strong smell of sewage around pool area, paint peeling of the bottom of pool. 5 stars i question? your not on the beech not much of a breeze,

ENTERTAINMENT.they do try !a bit cheesey for my likeing,once you watched one week"s show you"l find it hard to sit throuhg another, the kids enjoyed it!
ran out of red and rosie wine on several occasions. corona on tap didnt hit the mark, the corona from our min bar tasted much better and stronger, four every two days was your qouta even with tiping the beer boy didnt seem to work.(i only drink beer or wine)
this hotel is selfservice no waiter service be prepared to que for drinks! again 5 stars i question??????

FOOD. steak house was nice getting your meal set down to you,
you had to be up and book it at 7am!
buffet restarant the food was quiet repetitive more or less same food night after night with diffierant meats and fish not the warmest. 24 hour snaks you could get pizza and burgers etc late at night in the sports bar you had to ping them in the microwave and also hard sandwiches, often ran out of food aswell!!!!

OVERALL.was very let down with the rui tequila standards! i stayed in the rui cancun july 07 was much superior and rated the same. would not recomend the tequila and wont be back!!!!

Transport:
We booked through Orbitz.com and purchased their optional transfers through Grayline.
Grayline representatives were waiting at curbside assisting people with getting on the proper vans for their destinations. There didn’t seem to be any order to the madness, other than if you were pretty, you were given priority service. We watched many people that showed up after us get a ride before us. Once aboard our van, we had stops at several different resorts before reaching the Riu Tequila. Total transport time including loading and wait time: 2 hours. Your driver appreciates a gratuity.

Check-in: The reception people are mostly European, and very hospitable. A welcome fruit punch was given to us as the hotel layout and dining times/restaurants were explained. A room key and safe key are given, as well as stickers with your room number for each of your bags, and porters were waiting. Total time: 10 minutes
As we headed to our room, Manuel, a commissioned sales person with Grayline asked us if we would like to go talk to him about possible tours, and to make time arrangements for our return transport.

Rooms: Our room was ground floor and easy to find using signs. A heavy mildew smell was present during our stay, but we got used to it by day 2. Rooms are spacious, very simple and the beds (two doubles) were firm but not uncomfortable. The ugly thin green bed sheets you see in all the photos are well-worn, but heavy as lead and very warm. There is an extra blanket in the closet if needed. We tested the ceiling fan before the porters left to make sure it worked, and once we manually started it via pull-string, all was well. We reduced the thermostat to the lowest setting, where we kept it for the endurance of our 10 day stay. The safe looked well used and could probably be removed from the drywall with a screwdriver. Nonetheless, our possessions remained untouched during our stay. Small mosquitoes were present on the wall and ceiling of the toilet area, as well as in the bedroom area. I asked the housekeeper to fumigate, and that reduced the mosquito population about 70%. We went to Wal-Mart and bought a plug-in mosquito repellent (about $25pesos) that seemed to help. We didn’t get bit our entire stay.

Housekeeping/Mini-Bar: Our housekeeper, Neima, did a wonderful job. No matter how much sand we tracked in daily, our tile floor was spotless the next day. She was attentive in observing the things we used most, and accommodated us by leaving extra glasses and beverages we liked. Most of the worn and tattered towels we used during our stay smelled musty, like they weren’t thoroughly dried before folding, a few of them stunk to the extent of unusable, not the fault of our housekeeper. The latest we left our room one day was around 2:00pm, and we still received housekeeping. We tipped our housekeeper daily, and on our last night, Neima left us some hand-cut flowers in a water bottle, a very sweet gesture of thanks.

Resort: The resort is fairly easy to navigate, except around the pool areas due to the chairs. There is always a pleasant breeze blowing to take the edge off of the heat. The grounds are very tropical and full of wildlife, not limited to birds, coatis (raccoon things with the long tails), geckos, iguanas, agouti (tailless rat-looking things), and wild house cats. The pools are huge, and look very nice and spacious, with Jacuzzi jets built in at certain areas. Too keep the tropical non-crowded feel, the property is pretty spread out, so get some good walking shoes.

Beach: The beach is a good 10-14 minute walk from the front of the resort, or about 4 minutes via golf-cart shuttle, which runs continuously from 7am-1pm, and 3pm-6 or 7pm. Those big dark colored things you see in the photos are massive mesh-type sandbags that are used to limit beach erosion. They are an eye-sore, but many people like to layout and sun on them and slide off of them into the water. There was never a shortage of beach chairs even on the busiest days we were there. The water is very cloudy and sandy, due to the continuous daily pumping of sand as the resort tries to restore the beach. Taking your snorkel gear in front of the resorts is a waste of time and effort as the visibility is nil. There are fresh-water showers, restrooms, a buffet, and drinks, all at the Riu Yucatan which rims the beach. The clientele at the Riu’s are primarily European, so topless sunbathing is normal. Facing the water, walk to the right for about ½ mile, past all the resorts, and you’ll find some pristine beach and very clear water. There are no restrooms, chairs, shade or concessions down there, so prepare before you walk that far.

Beach Towels: This was a nuisance. You are given one “towel card” per guest, and you must obtain a towel from the “towel hut” located by the pool at the Riu Tequila. The hours are limited, and you can only get one towel per person, per day. You are not allowed to exchange a dirty towel for a clean one within the same day (yes, they actually keep a log of this), only the following day. Should you walk all the way to the beach and discover that you forgot to take your towel, you are not allowed to use the towel hut at the Riu Yucatan, you must walk 20 minutes back to the towel hut at the Riu Tequila.

Dining: There is always food somewhere, primarily buffets, available at the Riu Tequila & Yucatan resorts, until 10:30pm. The breakfast buffet had an extensive variety of dishes, including fresh fruits and omelets. The lunch buffet was more limited, but I will say, their hamburgers and fries are excellent, even if that’s not your type of food. I didn’t care for the pizza at any of the restaurants, but the Spanish and South Americans seemed to love it, their cheese is very different than the mozzarella we use in the United States. The dinner buffet was always varied in the 10 days we were there, serving some standard favorites and nightly themed cuisine. The ice cream is not to be missed! My wife got up early one morning and stood in line to make dinner reservations for the steakhouse, and that was the only meal I was disappointed in. The fried appetizers were good, as was the salad, but my steak (mind you this is a “steakhouse”) was almost un-chewable. The servers were nice and the Baked Alaska was excellent. If you’re hungry after 10:30pm, you’re out of luck with the exception of hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza, and some tasteless sandwiches in the refrigerator at the Sports Bar. One night around 9pm, after eating at the Jalisco buffet, I attempted to take a plate of desserts back to my room for snacking later that night, and was stopped by the Maitre’D and told I could not remove food from the dining room. This was quite embarrassing as he did this in front of a line of people that were waiting to be seated.

Drinks: Your in-room mini-bar is stocked with Jose Cuervo Tequila, and Blat (a Mexican brand) Vodka, Gin, and Rum. Your refrigerator is stocked with Corona (the only beer brand this resort carries anywhere), Pepsi, 7-Up, Orange Soda, Sparkling Mineral Water, Bottled Water (several liter size bottles), and Tonic Water. The bars stock the same brands, and a few top-shelf liquors such as Beefeater Gin. If you do not request a certain brand when asking for a drink, you will get the Mexican brands by default. TAKE YOUR OWN THERMAL MUG, as the drink cups they give you are about 8 oz. Soda, water, reconstituted fruit juice, coffee, tea, Corona and low-grade white, red, and rose wines are available on-tap in every restaurant. All bartenders there are very fast and efficient.

Entertainment: This is the area where the Riu Tequila truly shines. This isn’t the type of entertainment you’ll find in Las Vegas or on a cruise ship, this is homegrown Mexican fun. Every night their actors/dancers put on some form of show that was usually comedy-based. Each actor plays many different roles, and some of the men played better roles as women than the women did, especially the Tina Turner impersonator. Even Michael Jackson would be impressed with the Michael Jackson impersonator. The comedy after 9pm generally tended to lean toward risqué, and I was amazed at how many parents allowed their children to watch the shows. We give our sincerest thanks to all of the hardworking entertainers that made our evening so fun.

Nightlife: After 11pm, it’s either the Sport’s Bar, or the La Piñata Disco. The Sport’s Bar has air hockey, pool tables ($30pesos), and an internet café ($35pesos = 15 minutes, $55pesos = 30 minutes, $80pesos = 1 hour). This is primarily where the younger teenagers that the parents have forgotten about hang out and try to get booze and companions. La Piñata Disco has some good loud house mix music, both English and Latino and a small dance floor. This is where the 18-35 age group hangs out until 2am.
Many people take a taxi into Playa Del Carmen ($60-70pesos) where there is plenty to do until the early hours, from shopping to dining, to nightclubs.

Overview:
The negative: The guest rooms are definitely in need of remodeling. ALL linens need to be replaced. The beach is fairly crowded, and the water isn’t clear due to the continuous pumping of sand. The beach is a long walk from even the entrance of the resort, much less the guest rooms. Though this is a 24-hour All-Inclusive, many of the amenities have limited hours, even the pools close at 8:30pm. Food is pretty much over at 10:30pm, save the fridge at the Sport’s Bar.

The positive: The customer service is overall excellent. The food is decent/good quality and the variety is amazing, no stomach issues in 10 days. The grounds and facility are well-maintained. Entertainment was excellent. For the money, this resort was an EXCELLENT VALUE.

The Riu tequila is totally awesome, we travelled as a party of 3 in July 08. The check in at the hotel was very quick no time taking forms to fill in just straight to rooms, followed quickly by our bags, we had a first floor room which initially did smell musty however at the welcome meeting they tell you that this is down to the humidity and if you leave on the air con and fan it will rid the room of the smell - and it did!! The rooms were a good size and the optics and mini fridge wer filled to the brim!!

The hotel itself is awesome - i cannot see for one minute why anyone would not like this property - i think anyone picking fault is just nit picking and looking for problems that arent there!!!

Yes there is a 10 minute walk to the beach, this is stated in the brochure and if you want to be closer - (just over the rd) stay in the yucatan or the playacar all of which you can use when staying in the riu chain in playacar. we found the 10 minute walk helped walked off the lovely food and drink that we ate and drank for 14 days!!! the beach has sandbags on but this is to stop the beach eroding anymore! The breeze on the beach is very welcome, round the pool in July it hit 40degrees on quite a few occasions.

Staff - from managers walking round the restaurant every day and night asking if everything is ok to the gardeners working all hours keeping the place tidy - they are all so so friendly. THe entertainment staff are GREAT they work such long hours and put on excellent shows every night! Always with a smile. (the michale jackson, mayan and comedy shows are a must see)
The bar staff - especially those at the swim up bar seem to really enjoy their jobs, we got wrong for only having 2 cocktails before 12oclock midday haha - the staff wanted to know why we didnt want more!! You were always greeted with a smile, the bar menu is extensive but they are always willing to make you anything you ask for (try the mexican flag)

Food - main buffet restaurant - had a WIDE WIDE range of food how anyone can say repetitive is beyond me - the only way this food would be repetitive is if you literally started at the top and worked your way down the 7 food stations getting one of everything - yes there was chicken every night - yes there was steak every night but there was always a different sauce to go with it and always something different to choose from should you wish. The steak house was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! VERY VERY nice - i had chargrilled steak and heard someone beside me saying it tasted "burnt" - hmm. We didnt try the mexican restaurant as there was always a mexican dish in the main restaurant.

trips - we did some once in a lifetime trips, firstly we went and snorkelled with the whalesharks which was amazing, you literally swim alongside these huge sharks for as long as you want, on the same trip we saw manta ray, dolphins and a turtle. you get a snorkel on a reef after the sharks followed by a trip to a small island for lunch (with beer supplied on the boat along the way - you didnt get chance to finish a bottle and another was in your hand) we also went on the F1 experience - this is a MUST DO - simon is great (i asked him to swap jobs with me and he wouldnt - cant understand why ha) you go out on a speedboat to the bay of turtles and snorkel alongside the turtles, they dont mind you being there and come up for air etc - we got some awesome photos. They also take you to a reef and a secluded beach for lunch, very very nice, after lunch settles, you race back on the speedboats - very fast and great great fun.
we took the ferry over to cozumel from playa del carmen one day- little tip dont sit outside you get very very wet!!!! Cozumel is lovely for shopping and very pretty, playa del carmen itself is also worth a look 5th avenue with its "tat" shops and duty free.

All in all we had a fab fab holiday and will definitley be returning once the reburb is complete. dont listen to any of the negative reviews - you cant please everyone - the hotel is great, people, food, drink, area. all SUPERB!!!

I took over 400 photos within the 2weeks that we were there unfortunatley they arent saved on the computer i am using to write this review - snyone wanting photos of anything specific feel free to contact me and i will try to oblige.

Just returned from an enjoyable 2 weeks all inclusive.

Location. Not beach front, so not as busy as the Yucutan. No see breeze means very hot days by the pool. 8/10

Room. Out dated, beds hard and old. Constantly got the feeling you weren't alone in them! small bugs around the bathroom area. The A/C was also poor which is crucial in such a climate. Plus point was that we were at the far point of the complex so it was very quiet. Our balcony was disappointing as there were large palm trees right up against it with no real view as such so we did not use it. Our room was cleaned and tidied daily to a good standard. 5/10

Food - Lot's of choice but repetitve by the second week. Steak house poor unless you like your steaks less than 1cm thick. Mexican reasonable. You'll spend most time in the large buffet hall. Salads looked good as was the ice cream 7/10.

Staff - Very good, friendly and willing to help. Reception very responsive in correcting any minor issues we had. 9/10

Entertainment. Great friendly reps though the programme was very repetitive. Once you've seen the shows the first week you don't want to see them the second. Hotel could of done with a bar away from it all for those not wanting to sit through the shows. 7/10

Pool. Clean, though ear infections around the swim up pool bar were an issue for some guests. People did seem to stay a long time drinking at the swim up bar withou getting out of the water :(
Also a lot of stones are kicked into the pool, I cut/bruised my foot as did others, not major no blood. A good layout and plenty of room. 7/10

Beach. Clean water and sand, plenty of sports on offer and plenty of beds. You can also grab a drink at the Yucutan. A lot of sand eroded and a reclamation project is in progress which consists of sinking large sand bags (look like beached whales), looks ugly but everyone seems to have a great time jumpng and diving of them, at your own risk of course! These bags also hinder the statutory walk along the shallows for the romantics amongst you. 7/10

Hotel. Most definately not 5* as stated by Riu and would argue against 4* by Thomson. I visited Bermuda last year same rated hotel 4* which was way out of the league of this one. Decor is outdated, towels are well worn, as are carpets and chairs in main dining area. Also there is regional football graffiti carved into the wood of room and public toilets. By the way 24 hr all inclusive does not mean a chef ruslting up something for you in the middle of the night, it means the left over food and a microwave in the sportsbar. If you want brand drinks ask for them else you get local. 6/10

Overall holiday experience. Good for kids and families, my kids had a great time (boys aged 11 & 9). Not the best for couples seeking a get away. Hotel was closing for refurb (Wed. 20th August 08) 3 days after our return so the place was a ghost town from the Saturday, food got less and less choice, this was very poor. Plus point for those considering this hotel is that you get a completely renovated hotel for 2009 and a new Japanese restaurant! 7/10

Would I go again, probably not to this hotel but would consder one of the Palaces across the road. If you liked Spain back in the '80s and '90s then this is the place for you.

Trips: very expensive with tour op. Ball park figures are as follows (in US $):

Chichen Itza $99 adults, $59 children- 3.5 Hr bus journey each way, or by air $329 adults and children

Tulum tour $38 adults, $23 children

Coba Mayan village, $95 adults, $47.50 children

Whale Shark experience (which did sound really good) $265 adults and children. ps it's a 06.00 am start!

Dolphin Swim $149 adults and children

Captain Hooks Dinner Cruise, $94 adults and $49 children

There are loads more trips varying in prices.

Essentials -

Tipping:
We made sure our cleaner Francisco had a regular tip as we felt he earnt it. It had been suggested in previous reviews to tip for the mini bar. Frankly I just would not bother. Yes you do get extra but we just didn't drink in our room to justify it. It seemed like money for nothing in comparison to someone cleaning our room. we noticed when we did not tip we no longer got Pepsi in our fridge!! you want a drink, go to the bar!

Insects:
They all bite especially the first week, once you get a tan they seem to ease off! Take protection including a room plug in.

Sun screen. If you've noot been this far south use a 50 on the kids, the sun is very strong and above you all day. They will burn on the shoulders, one Belgian child at the hotel was taken to hospital with burns.