Hotel Riu Palace Bavaro - All Inclusive

Overall: The Riu Palace Bavaro is a lovely hotel. The rooms, décor, grounds, etc are all really really nice. It’s also huge! We had a fantastic holiday and we will be coming back. Food/Restaurant's: The food in the buffet restaurant is fantastic. I’d go so far as to say it was the best buffet restaurant food we’ve ever had on any holiday. Lots of choice, loads of fish, seafood, meat, veg and fruit options. I am unable to comment about the al-a-carte restaurants as we could not get into any of them. They do not allow you to book them in advance, they operate a first come, first serve system. We tried once to go to the Asian for a table for two. We were given a buzzer. Told to get a drink at the bar and the buzzer will go off when a table is ready. We gave up after an hour, returned the buzzer and went to the buffet! After that we never tried any of the others. We holiday in a lot of Riu hotels and this is the thing I find the most frustrating. They all have a different system for the restaurants. Some allow you to book via the app, some via reception and some like this one, not at all. Why not more consistent and why not all book via the app? It’s just a good job that the food in the buffet was so good. Entertainment: The entertainment is good, much like many of the Riu’s in the Caribbean. We have been to Jamaica quite a lot in recent years and I would say the entertainment and the animation team here are a little more laid back than in Jamaica. Jamaica just has a little more of a crazy/party vibe going on. Nothing wrong with it here though, so it’s just a matter of personal taste. Riu Party: This is where the entertainment gets to rival Jamaica! They have a dedicated party space/night club that is available to guests of all the Riu resorts that are all next to each other in this complex. Regular buses take you from reception to the Riu Party venue and bring you back. It’s all included in your All Inclusive, including drinks at the venue. This is where they do the foam parties, white nights, etc. It has foam parties in the afternoon twice a week and parties at night, also twice a week. It’s great! DJs, music and professional dancers. And the bus ride to and from is crazy! The only downside to it is that if you decide not to go to one of the Riu Party events, then there is no show and very little entertainment in the hotel that night. Pools: There are loads of them (8 in total) including some adult only ones. Plenty of loungers/sunbeds and no trouble getting them any time of the day. One of the main plus points for us was the shade around the pool. My wife likes to stay in the shade. Unfortunately, in a lot of the recently refurbished Riu hotels the shade now provided is not good. Gone are the Palm Leaf parasols, replaced by small parasols with lightweight, light coloured material. They do not offer good shade. The Riu Palace Bavaro has full concrete structures around the pools with loungers under them. These provide total shade and due to there being plenty of loungers, you can always still go on one out in the sun, if you want to sunbathe.