My wife and I never went on any vacation since our wedding back in 1994. We both decided to go to Playa Del Carmen, about 50 mins south of Cancun. We were set up at Hotel Riu Lupita.
To sum it up, we had a Fantastic time there. The accomodations were clean, and allways clean. The staff were always kind and courteous. The animation staff was awsome. Bartenders were ready to serve all the time. The restaurants are amazing. The food was enjoyable, everything from the seafood to the roast pork. (pork being my favourite) Every night the menu changed with a different theme. Oriental, Mexican, International, etc...
We went to Chichen Itza as part of one of the excursions. Animals everywhere, from Iguana's to their version of a lemurs, to monkeys. The beach was only a shuttle bus away. About 15 mins. There is a Restaurant at the beach. We had beutiful weather. Topped at 32-36 C. Shows in the evenings were well entertaining and then there was the night club. We would give this Hotel a solid 4 stars. If you're wondering if we would go back?...In a heartbeat!!!! Well done Riu Lupita

Stephen and Nathalie

Well let me start by saying I am a loyal RIU client. I have stayed at many of the other RIU Resorts and the Lupita lived up to what I normally find to be the best.

FLIGHT: Our flight from Vancover via Air Transat left on time and
took 5hours 30 minutes. No frills with this airline but it
works.
HOTEL: Yes the Lupita is the smaller in the RIU chain in the
area but, it was clean, well maintained, and in my
opinion well managed.

ROOMS: Good clean room, stalked mini bar, clean towels, but
sorry to say very poor water pressure for the shower.

STAFF: The staff at the RIU Lupita were excellent, very friendly
took pride in everything they did for us. Always a smile
Very good entertainment crew and excellend shows.

FOOD: Excellent buffett with good choices, one thing I did
notice is that if you dont like 1000 island dressing you
are out of luck it was the only choice. But all in all very
good.

POOLS: The pools were very nice, no swim up bar but that
not real difference. Bar is so close if required. Clean
pools, lots of chairs, and lots of fun.

The RIU Lupita is NOT ON THE BEACH.....This to sum may make a difference but I assure you its so easy to get to the beach it made little difference to me or my son. A shuttle runs every thirty minutes and it takes five minutes to get there so dont panic . We did have a theft of a camera from our room, we made a report to the front desk and the matter was treated quickly and to our satisfaction within 24 hours with real RIU Class. Very please on how the Manager Fernanda treated the matter and resolved it. I would return to the Lupita in a heartbeat with no hesitation at all. If your planning a trip to Playa del Carmen I highly recommend the RIU Lupita resort, its staff, managment.

On arriving at the lupita we wasn,t sure what to expect as i,ve stayed at the larger riu tequilla which i loved an thought i,d be comparin reception was prompt gave us the info we needed with a complimentary drink then straight on to our room which was perfect comfy beds fridge well stocked an nice an clean.as soon as we walked to the room we were greeted by geraldo who turned out to be head of animation an oh my god what a team they were from morning to night they entertained my boys aged 8 an 13 zak my younest loved them all so much he even sat with them for lunch nothin was to much trouble,an they get the mums an dads involved to,i even found him 1 day in the dj booth with dj carlos playing black jack,the complex is very safe no one can just walk in as theres a guard on the gate.we went to the riu tequilla 1 night an couldn,t wait to get back to the lupita its so much more personal.LALO,SERGIO,MEMO,TADEO,RAMSES,GERALDO,FABIOLA,NICKY,AN LORENZO,DJ CARLOS we think your the BEST ANIMATION TEAM IN THE WORLD XXX we cried yesterday when we had to leave. The restaurante staff an bar staff also work so hard an are always smiling there were a lot of different nationallity,s,some a bit ignorant but most were lovely , we met some great dutch girls a lot can speak good english all in all i would definatly go back an recommend the lupita anyone who doesn,t like must be really really fussy.

Overall our stay was great . We stayed in the 2400 block of buildings, no view (except for the dense vegetation) loud AC unit , hard/firm bed but very clean and comfortable room on the 3rd floor. This hotel is much smaller than other Riu's but it has a very nice atmosphere. In-room refrigerator failed on the 3rd day but they replaced the entire unit. The AC made a squeaking noise which they could never fix (thank god for ear plugs)

Buffet and the bar are great. We were very happy with the selection of the food and liked most of it.The staff is very helpful.Beach club is very nice and lunch over there is very good as well. We were using the shuttle every day and it was always on time.

We liked the neighborhood the hotel is located at however we do not recommend to take a walk to the downtown area due to the heat and distance.It is quite far and there is barely any shade. We have done it only once and we were both sun burned.