Riu Palace Aruba - All Inclusive

We did our annual trip to the Riu Palace in late Sept. Our first rip this time of year as we usually go late November or early May. It was a bit humid so I bought some dehumidifier packs (Amazon) for the group and they were great in the room. We had a group of 7 and I had written ahead to ask if we could get on the same floor and they came through. We were in the older Building "C" and our rooms were great. This building was renovated a few years back now but still in good repair and we had no issues. The staff and food were excellent once again. The main building "A" was under repair so the hotel wasn't at capacity so the Buffett and pool & beach were not busy which I like. The noise from the construction was minimal. They redid the Sports bar and put it where the Nautilus used to be. I really like the set up there and the food and staff were excellent and very attentive. All in all another great trip to the Riu. Special thanks to Jefferson & Julia & Anna (who my wife & I met in our first trip in 2007.. Wow.. ) and all the others servers who've we've met through out our trips. Thanks again for another memorial trip.

I would like to express my dissatisfaction with our stay this year. We have not had any television service for the whole week. The excuse was that the satellite was out. Other places on the Island had television service. The elevator in the lobby was not working and my husband has issues going up-and-down steps. It has been very hard for him to get around. Some of the restaurants were closed and our food choices were limited. The all-inclusive price has greatly increased (which we were aware of) and a lot of the food in the buffet was cold and salty. We saw many roaches in the building that housed the Naitilius every day during the whole week. I spoke with a lady who was staying in that building and she informed me that her room had roaches. She witnessed one giving birth and babies were crawling all over. The pool was in need of repair as some tiles were missing. The gym was closed so I had to go next door. We were not able to stay in our normal room and the noise from the shows was irritating at night. We have always enjoyed our stay here but this year not so much. On a good note, the staff and service has been fine. We have been coming here over 20 years but will now rethnk returning. I paid a premium price and did not receive all the amenities that are included. The answers that I received from the Riu regarding my concerns were excuses for the lack of amenities. If the hotel was not able to provide all of its amenities we should have been informed before our trip. THIS WAS THE RIU’S RESPONSE Could not get your room because it was a Trade room. Tv, was a problem with the satellite, it was that the hotel completely had no TV. Elevator was the beauce of construction SAFETY for the guest not to use. for the Theme restaurant. We had some open and rutaded them. The price for the all inclusive was given from January 2025.Cocoaraches was because of construction. It was handled immediately with an outside Company. GYM has a new location at Riu Antillas. It will no longer be open at Riu Palace. So sorry for the inconvenience. Sorry it was not a great vacation. But I can not do much about it.

My recent stay at Riu Palace Aruba was one of the worst hotel experiences I have ever had. The property is currently under construction, which I was not informed of prior to my arrival. As a result, the conditions were far from acceptable: • The water was turned off multiple times, and there was no hot water during my entire stay. • My remodeled room had a severe sewage-like odor, comparable to a porta potty. • A trainee staff member called my room and pressured me to immediately remove my “Do Not Disturb” sign so housekeeping and maintenance could access the bathroom. When I asked for 20 minutes, I was told that was “too long” and that staff would leave for the night if I didn’t comply. • After one of the water shut-offs, I requested to speak with a manager. Instead of addressing my concerns, he brushed me off, said he needed to use the restroom, and never came back. Following the return of the water- floor 7 flooded- elevator opened to a shower! There was no announcements or signs notifying guest- that is a safety concern. • I eventually spoke with the sub-director, Lucia, who was polite and empathetic but unable to provide any solution beyond an apology. This hotel is nowhere near the standard expected for the Riu brand and should not be accepting guests in its current condition. Frankly, it felt like the property should be condemned until construction is complete and basic services are restored. I have been working with *******, who I booked through, to request compensation for this disastrous stay. While Aruba itself is stunning and absolutely worth visiting, I strongly recommend booking any other hotel until this property has been fully renovated and operational.

I recommend this hotel to my friends for our recent trip in August. It was extremely disappointing that it was not the experience I had on my last visit. There is very loud, constant construction with dust and debris flying all day long. The pool is missing tiles in spots which not only looked bad, but were rough to the touch. There was no hot water for my whole stay. After spending the day at the pool and beach on my first full day there, I went to take a shower to learn the water was turned off! No running water in the whole building. When it came back, there was a flood in one elevator. No warning sign saying the elevator was out of order. I was not expecting a 6 floor walk up with no hot/running water for my relaxing Aruba vacation. My ceiling fan was wobbly and loud compared to other guest rooms. Was promised by management it would be fixed, but no one ever came to look at it. The food was cold and it was the same choices every day. On my last morning there, the water was turned off again. The only warning was a sign posted on the bottom floor elevators. Since I was using the stairs, I had no idea I would not be able to shower before checkout. I spent an exuberant amount of time in the lobby waiting for answers from management. Still waiting to be compensated as promised. The only good part of this hotel was the pool wait staff. Billy and Raul were amazing, kind, friendly and attentive.

The first two days, our room didn’t get cleaned at all, which wasn’t a great start. I went down to the front desk to talk to them about it. They sent the housekeeping manager up, who personally cleaned the room and said we wouldn’t have any problems going forward. The next 6 days, the room did get cleaned, as promised, but every single day, housekeeping took every single towel we had (including hanging ones) and left us no clean towels. So we would come back in the late afternoon from the beach or pool or excursion, ready to take a shower and have no bath towels, no hand towels, and no washcloths. There is an app (more on that below) that you can request things through, which we did. Some days they would bring the right amount, other days more or less than needed. One day, they delivered twice after requesting, so I started building a secret backlog in the closet. It was by far the most bizarre experience I’ve ever had in any hotel in the world. The room (and hotel) itself is tired and dated. It should have been renovated 10 years ago, but it gives the energy that they are trying to squeeze every last minute they can out of it. It sounds like the main building is being renovated next year, and it’s very needed. The room itself had an unpleasant smell of mildew and strong cleaning product (probably to try and cover up the mildew). Everything in the room shows its age. The towel rack is falling out of the wall. Paint and tiles are chipping and peeling in multiple locations. The shower door doesn’t close all the way because the hinge is falling out of the wall. The first day, we have a TP holder. The 2nd day it disappeared, and we never saw it again. Housekeeping just stacked TP on the back of the toilet instead. The hair dryer only worked in 10-15 second increments. We called the desk about that one, and the next time we returned to the room, they had removed the hair dryer from the wall and left the exposed (and I assume live) wires just hanging out of the wall. The room has one of those things where you have to put your key in to make the power work. One day, the front cover just fell off, leaving that wiring exposed too. Room keys frequently stopped working, and we had to go to the desk to get them recoded. Everywhere on the property is loud. In the room, the AC unit is on it’s last legs and rumbles all night. Earplugs were key here. One of the other buildings was under renovation, so all day by the pool, the construction noise was present. The buffet has bad acoustics, making it hard to hear to begin with, but some nights there was also live music, making conversation impossible. Outdoor live music is played right below the rooms every night until about 11pm. The main building has 2 very small, very slow elevators. Take the stairs when you can, or budget extra time to get up or downstairs. The pool is nice, but it has almost zero shade, both in the pool and on the deck. The pool umbrellas are made of mesh, so they let most of the sun an

I stayed at RIU Palace Aruba during the week of August 16 and was very disappointed with the overall experience — especially considering the price and the resort’s advertised standards. To start with, the rooms were extremely outdated, with a musty, unpleasant smell. Even worse, we encountered cockroaches in both the bathroom and bedroom multiple times during our stay, which is completely unacceptable for any hotel, let alone one labeled as a luxury resort. The lack of washroom and food options near the beach was another major issue. Every time we needed something, we had to walk all the way back to the main building — which became frustrating quickly. The pool area was understaffed, leading to long wait times and poor service. Getting towels, drinks, or even help with simple requests often took far too long. The food quality was below average, and one of the most concerning things was the mislabeling of vegetarian and vegan food items. Several times, foods labeled as vegetarian actually contained meat or animal products. For people who follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet — especially for religious or ethical reasons — this is completely unacceptable and shows a serious lack of attention and care. Overall, RIU Palace Aruba did not meet basic expectations for comfort, hygiene, food quality, or service. I would not recommend this resort, especially to vegetarians, vegans, or anyone expecting a high-quality all-inclusive experience.