January 2012. Stayed at the RIU Palace Mexico. An all inclusive in Playa Del Carmen. We also had the RIU, Yucatan, Tequila, & Palace close by to be able to use as well, Except for dinner. Be sure to get a room overlooking the fountains, Pretty views but be closer to the pool as every night some entertainment would go on till 11:00 PM so if you want quiet stay closer to the pool. No ocean view as the building is a distance from it for hurricane protection.
The room was very clean but the couch was so old it was sagging to much to sit on. We enjoyed our balcony & a comfy bed that had a topper on it. Be sure to get one. The room also had a bar & fridge with micers & plenty of water to use for drinking or brushing your teeth to making coffee. My husband likes Scotch so we asked them to switch a bottle & they just left a full sealead bottle of J&B in the room.
Plenty of hot water for showers. The lobby/ lobby bar always had inscents burning. A bit overpowering for me but mus be used to help with the musty smell. The buffet was always plentful, fresh & something for everyone.Out of the specialty restaurants that you would make reservations for The Brazilian Steakhouse was the best. Fusion was awful & we were 10 minutes late and we were scolded like children and almost turned away. They would have done us a favor as the buffet was better. I am a wine drinker & use to be in the business. The wine is swill.. Just awful. That was a huge disapointment. I would have been happy to purchase a better wine but not available. All inclusive means plenty of drinking But be sure to ask for the rum in your pina colada or else you may not notice any.. We brought plenty of US single dollars for tipping & they sure remembered you & took care of you.
We were about a week early for the warmer beach/pool weather but still enjoyed our stay.
Overall I would go back, find a liquor store for my wine or buy it at the airport duty free & bring it with me. for less than $10.00 US. You can take a cab "Downtown" get away from the inital drop off and walk further away into the nicer section withthe better shops & restaurants. The shop people are constantly barking at you to go into their shops it is annoying.
Across the street from the hotel entrance and just a few yards away is a small shopping area. It is clean & safe & a starbucks is there if you feel the need. Playa Del Carmen is a great location. We liked the securtity felt good. The beach is large & pretty w/ plenty of chairs. I will try a RIU property again. The staff was Wonderful, except tfor the one guy at Fusion. Everyone was friendly. You get your moneys worth. Maybe we will go back after the renovations. I would go again as we really enjoyed our trip.
Avoid room service for food.. this was surprisingly bad.

Just returned from a quick 3 night stay. I want to echo the comments about the great service and beautiful beach area. Every person we dealt with was happy and eager to help. The beach setting is perfect. Palm trees and plenty of chairs. The buffet was perfect for us since we are not big eaters and tend to want variety, but we would suggest you not bother with the specialty restaurants. The food is not "better" and you can get stuck next to people you would prefer not to get stuck next to at dinner. The pool area is way too small for the size of the resort. If you are the kind of visitor that prefers poolside versus beach, this place is not for you at all. I also would do away with the cheesy shows and instead have a DJ and a fun happy hour down on the beach from 5-6pm. If I was to do it all over again, I would probably find a villa that had beach access, buy a few provisions for the day and eat in Playacar every night. But if you are looking for good service at an all-inclusive, this place will not disappoint.

We arrived Feb 3 thru the 9th, with a group of 60 for our 2nd visit to the Riu Palace Mexico after being there last year. We usually go to different resorts so I was worried that I would be "let down" by going to the same place twice but that didn't happen!

As before, we found the resort in excellent shape even though it is planning on a complete reno this spring. Heard many comments "why?". I asked the receptionist about the plans & he said, the rooms will completely be re-done, the alacartes will be changed & upgraded, a 24 sports bar will be added and the pool will be re-done. Am sure there are other upgrades planned along with those.

The beach is the same - long, wide, sandy, sunny, shady and the water a crystal blue. Service was exceptional as before. Rooms were clean, orderly & very function-able. There was some construction going on which resulted in some room changes. A few hair dryers were ""weak" but unless someone tells them - how are they to know? And what a weak complaint! lol

We had reservations at 3 of the ala-cartes. Personally, we enjoyed the Steakhouse the most. As Nebraskans, we think we know "beef" & we can say our steaks were very tender & tasty. Plus they present a sea-food platter as an h'orderve with clams, crab leg cuts, etc.... Salmon was also on the menu. Service was exceptional.

The Krystal restaurant was our least favorite. I had the Sea Bass which was wonderful but it is a very light fish so was glad my hubby had the filet & shared it with me. Their h'orderves are very unusual but all was fun. Again, can't ask for better service.

The Brazilian Restaurant was truly a different experience with all the different meats. From ribs, beef, chicken etc... you are ready to bust! It all is prepared on rotisseries & shaved off at your table. Our Olympus Travel representative arranged for our group to take the 8:30 seating so it was a treat to be able to dine together our last night. Again, the service was unsurpassed.

The buffet is the best - I don't care what anyone says! If you can't find anything good to eat at that for either breakfast or dinner, something is wrong! Service is excellent. Contrary to another review - plenty of fresh fruit is available!! Yes, they do have wine and/or beer or non-alcohol drinks or any other cocktail anyone wants. Service & smiles are the norm.

The beach restaurant was also very good for lunch but how can we eat soo much! The carrot cake was so good, we were tempted to take the whole cake to our table. lol

This year was the first to find a shortage of beach loungers but it happened just one day after a couple days of over-cast skies & showers so everyone hit the beach. We found beach service only one day out of the 7 but we figured out that if the pool isn't busy, it gives them a chance to serve the beach.

Lots of volleyball was played in the pool by our group. A friendly game between the Germans & USA! Both teams had their own cheerleaders and both sides knew it was "in fun". Actually, most of us are all Germans by ancestory!

Free water sports are available. They punch your arm band & then you have usage rights for a 1/2 hour or hour depending on how busy they are.

I was disappointed in the live band in the plaza. It just wasn't as good in my opinion as last year. But, evening rain showers put a damper on the plaza's activities. I was also a bit disappointed on the Superbowl game reception. Last year, they held it in the theatre. This year, the time frame did not interfere with the evening theatre hours but they held it in a conference room & of course, the tallest, biggest guy was sitting in the front row, blocking the view for us "shorties". Oh well, wasn't really a big Superbowl fan this year!

Overall, nightly entertainment was lacking but the other Riu's are available for other options. Two nights, they had guest interactive games. The Las Vegas night was a good show.

Overall, we just can't find much to complain about. The Riu Palace Mexico is well run, a resort with lots of class, exceptional food & service, the best beach & nice functional rooms. Just as it was last year!

I have often wondered how the reviews for the same place can vary so much. In this case, there are two resorts that are called Riu Palace in Playa Del Carmen on the Riviera Maya. One is called the Riu Palace-Mexico. The one next door is called the Riu Palace-Riviera Maya. We stayed at the Riu Palace-Mexico in Playa Del Carmen. It was excellent. The rooms were large and comfortable. The service was very good. The staff bent over backwards to please. The grounds were clean and well kept. The food was not great, but was good. If you stay here, you can go to any of the other Riu resorts in the area. We did not. However I think that this resort was newer than the Riviera Maya. That may be the reason for the various opinions. It is only a short cab ride from downtown Playa Del Carmen. This in a gated community and there is security everywhere. Very safe.