My friend and I have just returned from a trip to both Riu Caribe in Cancun (5days) and Riu Lupita (7days). After staying at Riu Caribe, Riu Lupita was a huge disappointment. Let me first talk about the positives of Lupita the refrigerator was constantly stocked, nothing to view but vegetation in the back of the building but that was ok we actually got to see a family of meerkats playing and frolicking behind our porch. The beach club was also fantastic it was beautiful with plenty of loungers in the shade or directly on the beach the food was someone what better than buffet at the hotel but the food was out in the open and attracted bugs and birds. The water was fantastic a bit of sea weed but once you walked out a little further that wasn't a problem. I also had two fantastic massages Felipe was fantastic. Those are the only positive things i could say about the Lupita. Lets talk about the negative. Problem number 1 upon arriving at Lupita my friend and I noticed that we were the only African Americans on the property. At certain times we felt like lab mice being inspected under a microscope that is how much we were stared at every time we walked around the property. I felt as if I had a 3rd breast and I was letting all three hang out. We managed to ignore the stares and got use to the fact that no one spoke to us even when we said hi. Problem number 2 none of the wait staff with the exception of Max spoke even a small amount of English. Not even to understand any thing but pepsi and water. Good thing we knew one or two spanish words. One of the bartenders there was particularly rude. What ever drink we asked him for he act like he had no clue what we were talking about. He gave us a hard time everytime we went to the bar we asked for a fruit punch. The drink they gave at the front desk when you first check in and they called it fruit punch he acted as if he has never heard of such a thing. When we asked the other bartender he immediately gave and made any of the drinks we asked for. . The animacion team left little to be desired. They aren't even mediocre. Problem number 3 on our 4th night there around 11:00 pm there was a major rainstorm and low and behold our room started leaking. Water start streaming down the side of the wall where the t.v and the air conditioner was plugged in. We called the front desk and no one understood that we had a leak finally they said they will be sending someone over. We are still waiting for him to come. We ended up going to the front desk the next morning because it was going to storm again and tell them about the room. They said they will move us to a room that has another room above. They instead moved us to another 1 story building identical to the one we were just in. We were going to put up a fuss but at this point we were just tired of having to pack and move and then having to move again. Problem number 4 the food areas, everything is open air. So the birds and the bugs are a serious nuisance and unsanitary. We would be eating at the buffet (which has little variety) and right next to us at the empty tables the birds would be flying in and eating off of the tables not to mention the bugs flying in your food and your drink.

The only thing that help us maintain our sanity was our nightly trips to Riu Tequila. They were fantastic. Their animacion team was entertaining. They had a decent night club. We at first didn't know that we couldn't eat dinner at Tequilla so we got to eat there one night and the food was fantastic compared to Lupita and there was no bugs and birds to worry about. All in all I would never stay or recommend Riu Lupita unless your French and Spanish. They cater to the French and the Spanish.

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.