It has been a year and a few months since our trip but I remember it like it was yesterday.

Our trip was January 29-February 5th 2006 and it was for our HONEYMOON which makes this review all the more important. We are ages 30 and 34.

Prior to this I have stayed at the Riu Cancun and the Barcelo TuCancun in Cancun Mexico and LOVED it! It was my idea to go to Punta Cana, because our travel agent said everything in Cancun was destroyed by the latest hurricane (that is the last time I ever listened to a travel agent), but I did some research and we were really looking forward to it. Especially since we would be on our honeymoon here.

Airport-- was fine, no problems here. You have the usual "luggage pushers" that are very pushy and try to take your luggage away from you so they can get a tip later. We sternly but politely tell them no. Immigration was a joke, my husband asked a fellow american later (very hard to find by the way) -- "did we go through immigration at the airport?" They said yes it was the desk where the guy looked at your papers and waved you on through.

Check in--No problems here but we were a little disappointed with the location of our room. We were on the ground level and no view of the ocean. I had hoped since we were on our honeymoon we would get a little special treatment but there was none. The fridge is basically a cabinet to hold drinks in...it was never cold. Everything else was great about the room. Loved the beds, I sleep better on those firm ones anyway.

Restaurants--The information we were given about the buffet restaurants was very confusing. We know enough spanish to get by and speak it when the opportunity is there but this was the most backwards set up I had ever seen. We ate at the buffet one night and made reservations at the resort restaurants the rest of the week. THIS IS THE WAY TO GO!! We LOVED the reservation restaurants and felt very pampered by their service. I am just a down to earth country girl and never had a dinner quite this spectacular! The table was set to the nines and candle lit for romance. You would choose from an a la carte menu and all of the food was EXCELLENT at these restaurants and made to order. We ate at the Caribe Grill and Mama Juana's. The vino was drinkable but not what I am used to...but it was nice to drink as much as we wanted at no extra cost. We would always slip our waiter a $5 (or more if he was extra attentive.) For breakfast and lunch the buffet's were fine and we could always find something we liked. We thought the coffee was AWESOME. I read a review where they said it was instant. If it is I am highly surprised and want some in my kitchen cabinet. LOVED the coffee!

Beaches and Pools--I don't do pools when I have a beach nearby (I dont' have a beach in Tennessee but we do have swimming pools) but from what I saw they were completely full anyway. The beach was amazing. Always very clean and peaceful. The palm trees remind you that you are in Punta Cana and that you are in paradise. The water was gorgeous and nice to swim in. One thing to watch out for is the gardeners that are passing through and picking up the coconuts that fall from the trees. We made the mistake of making eye contact with one of them and he asked us (in so many spanish words that we could recognize and motions with his hands) if we wanted him to cut it open so we could eat it. We said yes and he did with this huge machete. After he gave it to us he holds his hand open for a tip. We had no money with us and my dear husband had to run to the room while I was left there to try to talk to a man who spoke ONLY spanish and was holding a very sharp machete. We will NEVER do that again!! Later in the week I saw another gullible tourist that fell for the same thing. I felt like a big dummy.

General experience--I didn't realize I would be so out of place there. There were very few Americans and I too felt that they treated us badly just because of where we were from. The front desk personnel never had time to answer our questions and when they did they tried to act like they did not understand what we were saying or they rushed us along. I am always a patient and courteous person and I was appalled by how I was treated here. I could always sense irritation by the bartenders or wait staff because I was American. Yet the europeans were treated far better than we were. I was honestly dumfounded that I was treated this way here and it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth for the region and the hotel. Also there were two seperate occasions where the power went out at the resort. It was out for HOURS. We were also told by the front desk it is not safe to leave the resort and not to be on the beach at night. I would have loved to experience some of the culture without being required to pay $100 or more for a day trip. So we didn't venture outside of the resort area's...we walked to the other Riu resorts of course...without these places we would have went stir crazy.

We stayed at the RIU Bambu for 1 week in early April 2007. This was our second trip to Punta Cana, our first to the Bambu.

Rooms: Very clean, comfortable, decent sized rooms. They had 2 double beds, a small table and chairs, an in-room drink dispenser, fridge with soft drinks, beer and water that was restocked frequently. The balcony had 2 chairs and a little pull out rack for drying your towels and bathing suits on: a little detail but a thoughtful one. The bathrooms had tub and shower. There was a ceiling fan and a screen on the balcony door, so there was not a need to have the A.C. on all the time. The maids kept the room clean at all times.

Grounds: Beautiful! Very well kept and clean. Quite mature trees and plants, so very lush appearance. Shade was always available. Lots of loungers. Nice pool area. Swim up bar and main bar all within a few steps of the pool area.

Food: Quite good actually. Tons of choices at the buffet. Hot food was kept at good temperature and the cold foods were always kept chilled. Never heard of anyone getting sick. We ate one night at the Macao, it was okay, but after that we just stayed with our main buffet as we always found things we liked. One night they had wonderful smoked salmon, and that was the main part of our meal! The fresh fruit was lovely, especially the passionfruit, or Chinola as it is called there. I had never eaten it before, and watched other people as they consumed platefuls of it. One taste and we were hooked, and then every meal for the rest of the week had Chinola as part of it. Unless you are ridiculously picky, I can't imagine you not being able to find things you would enjoy eating.

Beach: It is beautiful. Pure white, talcum powder soft sand, that stretches for miles in either direction. The water is wavy, but gentle waves that are fun to swim in, not the kind that drag you under. The turquoise colour is amazing. There are lots of palm trees on the beach, and lots of sun loungers, so if you wanted shade it was easy to find. There was always a breeze blowing. The first 2 days it was very breezy, and at times you were being sandblasted if you were at the beach. After that, it calmed down, but still breezy enough that you never felt sticky with the heat.

The shows at night were a bit hokey, but enjoyable. The animation staff work very hard all day, then perform in the shows at night. It's a long day for them, but as Oliver said, he loves his job!

Photos
Our group traveled to the RIU Bambu from May 4-11, 2007. In our group of five we had three in our early 30’s and two in their mid 20’s. This review is from the early 30’s point of view. This was our BEST vacation yet!

Flight to Punta Cana:
We flew Air Transat down from Toronto. The seats are a little tight but better than SkyService. Mind you I am 6’4” so anything other than club class I will find tight. The flight down left on time with no issues. On the plane you get your ‘blue’ immigration forms and you also get the $10 entry card. The flight was very smooth with no turbulence and the flight left on time. At the Punta Cana airport we got our luggage’s and headed toward our bus with no issues. Our driver Leo was excellent navigating the bumpy roads. When the new highways are finished I think the trip will be much faster from the airport. This time we didn’t notice the bumpy roads as much. The trip to our resort took about 35-40 minutes since we had to stop at the RIU Tanio, Palace Macao and the Palace Punta Cana first.

Arrival at RIU Bambu:
When we arrived at the Bambu our luggage was taken by the porter and we headed to the Front Desk. Check-in was very smooth and the people at the Front Desk were very friendly and explained everything to us. We were also given a welcome drink. It was a fruit punch type drink. It was refreshing after the flight and bus ride. After we were given the room key and safe key we put the room number stickers on our luggage and we were taken to our rooms. When you get to your room the porter shows you where everything is and after he left the Front Desk called and asked us if everything was to our satisfaction. The call made us feel like we were important and that they wanted us to feel at home.

The Grounds:
The grounds at the Bambu were beautiful. Every morning we would see the groundskeepers trimming and cleaning the grasses and palm trees. The walkways were always clean even the ones by the beach.

The Rooms:
Our room number was 1215 which means Building #12 and room #15. We had a second floor room. The rooms were not huge but for the amount of time we spend in them they were perfect. We asked for a King size bed and what we got was two doubles pushed together which worked well. The bed was huge! The mattress was firm but we like it that way. Each person got two pillows and they were plenty. When you walk in the mini bar is on the right and then on the same side you have the closet with the safe. There is a table and two chairs on the opposite side and the good old 20” RCA TV on the desk across from the bed. To the left you get the washroom with Tub/Shower. Water pressure was good and there was plenty of hot water. We did not see one bug in our room. The room was cleaned each day by at least 1pm. We don’t usually go back to the room until about 4-5pm. We never found the room not cleaned and we always had enough towels and amenities each day. The air conditioner worked very well and the fan was a dream to move the cool air around. A few nights we turned down the air since we found it cold! The balcony is fair sized with a small table and two chairs. There is also an expandable clothes rack for drying towels or bathing suits. We found the rooms very adequate.

The Food:
The food, where do I start? The food at the Colonial Buffet was AMAZING!!!!! We ate here every night (Even the night we tried an a la carte). There was plenty of choices each night and the theme nights were awesome! We can’t rave enough about the food. We ate breakfast and dinner at the main buffet and we never had any stomach problems. All the Hot foods were Hot and the Cold food were Cold. There was more than enough selection for everyone in our group and one person was a vegetarian. We tried one a la carte while we were there. We tried the Caribe Grill at the Palace Macao. The food there was ok but we ended up going to the main buffet anyways since we were still hungry! There is no set seating times anymore. You can eat when you want and you can sit where ever you want. They had people help you find a seat if the buffet was busy. At lunch we usually ate at Mamajuana’s which offered a great lunch. Not as much selection as the main buffet but the food here was also excellent! At night the Mamajuana restaurant splits in two to create the Steakhouse and Italian restaurants. We never tried these as the buffet was excellent.

The Pool:
We didn’t stay at the pool at all since we are beach people. I did go for a swim each day in the afternoon to escape some of the hot sun at the beach. The pool was kept very clean and the pool Jacuzzi was nice. The pool water was nice and warm each day from the sun. The pool has steps to get in from either the main entrance and there are also steps by the Jacuzzi. The swim up bar was very busy and the bartenders were excellent.

The Beach:
The beach was awesome. It was always cleaned each morning. There were plenty of chairs to be had. There was plenty of shade as well if you need it. The water was very calm and nice and warm. We had a few waves on the last two days but nothing to be worried about. What more can I say about the beach in Punta Cana? Excellent!

The Entertainment:
The staff was great. They always had activities going. They would always try and get you to participate but were not pushy if you just wanted to relax. I tried a few things and it was great. They are great at making you laugh. We didn’t watch many of the shows as we were pretty baked after all day in the sun.

Flight to Toronto:
The flight back go Toronto was also uneventful. We had a bit of turbulence but it only lasted a few minutes. We were actually about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

We were at the Riu Bambu from March 25 to April 1/07. The resort was fantastic. We have been to the Bahia Principe and the Punta Cana Grand before. This resort is by far better than the Grand and we enjoyed it even more than the Bahia.

This was our fourth trip to the Domican Republic. Every year my wife and I start out by looking all over the world for our yearly excursion to warm weather. Again this year we couldnt break away from the pull that the Domican Republic has on us. What a great place to get away, the people are great and weather is always nice.

Rooms are not big, pillows were terrible but all else was great....very clean... Hint if you don't want a musty smelling room ask for one on the second floor. Ours was on the second floor. Very musty smelling upon arrival but was odor free for the rest of our stay by running the AC when we were out and turning it off for our own comfort when we went to bed. A good idea is to bring a room freshner. Visit the Riu web site and you could get a map of the resort...stay away from block 24 your room might end up looking at the washrooms.....block 21 nad 22 can be noisy ...too close to the night entertainment...blocks 6-12 are exposed to the noise of delivery trucks at the Palace next door...so go for centre blocks....15-20, 25-31 and ask for a second floor...more privacy!

All workers from the bottom to the top were absolutely amazing ...always greeting you with a smile and "good day" etc. The workers put in very long hours (10), get $250 a MONTH, work 11 straight days before getting three days off to go back home to their families who live 2-3 hours away yet despite this they were always cheerful and often singing away as they did their job....so be kind and bring a few dollar bills for a tip...we always did. They were so appreciative.

The resort does an excellent job at cleaning up the pool areas and walks. Everything is spic and span very early in the morning. So for the person who wrote that towels should be removed from chairs if left after 7 let me tell you that they are! The towel seen in the morning were put there by early risers. My husband and I always got up to catch the sunrise (7), we then get our chairs on the beach and go for breakfast. At nine o'clock there still are plenty of chairs available both by the pool and on the beach but if you think you can find a chair in your perfect spot after 11, you're dreaming! You will find a chair here and there but you'll have to go looking. The beach is cleaned every morning...picking up butts and garbage left behind by the people who were too lazy to use the garbage cans...

The buffets were great. We were there two weeks and were impressed with the fact that they did try make it interesting every day. Granted some things were repeated but then again try going to a buffet back home every day and see the variety you get. One day they had such an awesome cheese spread it was to die for...and I don't mean Kraft slices but Brie and Camembert and Blue Cheese...amazing. We always ate in the main restaurant...The Colonial...even for lunch as it was much better than having lunch at the Mamajuana by the pool. There the lunches seemed skimpy. It was much more plentiful in the Colonial with awesome pizza at every meal. The wine in PC is AWFUL so unfortunately I settled for beer with my meals and it was good. For those people who miss their food from back home they did serve hotdogs and hamburgers at the side.....ugh why go the DR for hotdogs! They always had three types of pasta and I was pleased to see that it was cooked correctly "al dente" and not mush, melt in your mouth pasta from a can. They use imported Italian pasta! Their meat dishes are so so. Chicken and pork are usually ok but forget the beef "vacca" as it is so overcooked it is tasteless.

Drinks are usually without alcohol unless you specifically ask...for example gin and tonic is ok but if you ask for a pina colada there is no alcohol unless you ask. The cappuccino from the machines are good.

Entertainment: day time games were ok. Night shows were mediocre....music is often tooooo loud...acoustics are not very good. They had BINGO every day at four thirty with nice prizes...t-shirts, bottles of rum etc....Cucchi made bingo fun but La Titi just wanted to get it over and done with so he'd give double prizes for one line and hence end the game quickly. 8:30 Bingo at Taino was much more fun...more prizes and a much fairer way in distributing.

The Taino is next to Palace Macao ( to your right )at the end of the bricked beach path.(very safe to walk here...the only way to go from one resort to the other...well lit with people constantly walking by) Palace Punta Cana which just opened on the other side of Mambu ( on the left)is lovely but I much prefer our beach. If you like to go to the Casino at the Palace Macao....don't dream of coming away a winner....your best bet is the roulette....if you play the slots...limit your amount and leave if you have even a $20 win...whatever you do DO NOT get hooked in to the game called "eight ball jackpot" (not sure if that is the name) Greeters at the door will give unsuspecting visitors a FREE $5 dollar chip. The greeter then walks you down to the table where you play....they place a cord near your area so no one could come near....you throw 8 balls into a wooden bin....you WILL win on the first throw I assure you but then watch as you are lured in for the big bucks....and you will come out a loser....if you don't believe be watch next time you go there. How come the man in charge adds up the sum....do you really know if the sum he gives you is correct ??????? You don't stand a chance. I've witnessed quite a few become losers in no time.

If you plan to buy things you are much better off on Carribana street....cigarettes were $2.50 vs $4.00 at the hotel....postcards and jewellery are also best bought here or at least make your self familiar with the prices. At the hotel everything is priced in pesos...but you can pay in dollars...be aware that they round the price off to their benefit...eg. 32 peso to a dollar....bought something for 80 pesos was charged $3....a pack of cigars from the vendors sold for $25 yet the same ones from a vendor on Caribana street was $10.....By the way no matter what the package says the cigars are from the DR and not Cuba. I wouldn't buy the vanila extract....plastic bottles aren't sealed...who knows what's added to them.

Please don't compare 4 or 5 star hotels to 4 and 5 star hotels back home....star rating is just to give you an idea it is not a universal grading...so the 4 and 5 star rating for the DR or Mexico is comparing hotels in similar areas of the world.

Arrival to Punta Cana
Lets take it one at a time. First the arrival. The entry into the Dominican has changed since we were last there. It is $10 per person to enter, you are given a form to complete at the airport, then after completing you advance to pay the $10 and receive a bar-coded ticket. Next, 5 feet away a person takes the ticket, scans it in and keeps it. There is no blue/green card to keep up while you are in Punta Cana.

We were then greeted at the airport by a porter who literally took our luggage from us – no surprises here they are really aggressive. He was helpful in showing us to the Vacation Express (VE) kiosk, where we were given our bus number. You have to listen to the person at the kiosk yourself, or you might get on the wrong bus to the wrong resorts. The porter heard the wrong number and we had to correct him. The porter continued with our luggage (2 bags on wheels), and showed us to the bus. We were greeted by the Coco Tours guides Lina, the VE representative and Eddie, bus driver, who were both delightful, friendly and helpful. Some language difficulty, but nothing you didn’t understand. So far, so good.

Arrival to Riu Bambu
We’re dropped off by the Coco Tours crew. Lina stayed with us for questions. My reservations were not found on the list for check-in. I showed my voucher and was given a room. Whew, not a good feeling. Things at the time of check-in seemed a bit disorganized which was a bit disconcerting.

The Room #3002
Upon arrival, immediately I’m struck with the musky odor of the room, but didn’t dwell on it. It appeared spacious enough. Took a minute to figure out how the light switches worked and what they controlled, but was successful. We loved the pine and mahogany doors and furniture. The bathroom was pretty and well stocked for our arrival. I tipped every day $4-5 for maid service, but the bath gels were never replenished, neither was the bath soap (bar).

That night I realized how cheap the bed linens truly were, along with two of the smallest “do nothing” pillows I’ve ever seen in any hotel I’ve stayed at, in my 25 years of travel. The sheets were worn, with small bumps all over that were scratchy. I didn’t expect this. I mean when I stayed at the Barceló and at the Melia, this was not to be had there. I felt like I had been booked at a Motel 6. I tried to not let it spoil my trip, and tried to ignore it.

The building was noisy, really noisy as the doors slammed shut and you could hear them resound throughout the entire building. The maids start early cleaning the rooms – opening and slamming the doors. Kids ran up and down the hallway, and you could hear them in the room. You could hear the upstairs rooms as they flushed the toilets, sort of annoying at 2AM as folks came back from the discotheque.

The mini-bar
The mini-bar was well-stocked upon arrival with two of each of the following: Pepsi, 7-up, diet Pepsi, local beer, tonic water, club soda. It was restocked with Pepsi, when I was drinking the diet Pepsi. This meant, that there were no more diet Pepsi in the mini bar. I relayed this in a note to the maid, but nothing was ever done about it.

We all know you can’t drink the water. The resort supplied a gallon jug of water for the room. Again, I asked in a note to the maid for individual bottles, but they were never delivered. She didn’t speak English, so I’m thinking she didn’t understand my requests. I never saw anyone stocking the mini-bar, and I wasn’t going to wait around for them to show up. What was I supposed to do?

The Grounds
The grounds of the resort were pretty, not as pretty as the Melia Tropicale, but they were pretty. However, there was an awful smell in the air late in the evening (10PM-ish) which I attribute to an incinerator. It lingered till the morning. A really disgusting odor!

Still the plants were lush, the sidewalks and walkways were clean and well kept, though there were signs of wear where some tiles were broken and not replaced in the common areas of the lobby/pool. The buildings’ exteriors were well taken care of. It reminded me of the Barceló's painted buildings.

Service
Overall, the service was good. Not great, but good. It seemed as though they were short-handed. For example, at night from 8PM till midnight, there were two girls who were working the entire crowd for the shows, in the theater seating area, as well as the plaza seating area outside The Plaza bar. They picked up the dirty glasses, but didn’t take orders for drinks unless a patron who requested something specifically stopped them.

The bartenders were the hardest working employees at the resort (and I tipped them every round of drinks), second to the cooks, maybe. However, unless you specifically asked, they didn’t add alcohol to the mix-drinks (daiquiris, pina coladas, mai-tais, etc.) The frozen drinks that were pre-mixed in the machines, I mean. Oh, that’s another thing. I hate mixes! I can’t believe it. Neither the Barceló or the Melia used mixes for their frozen drinks, at least I was able to watch them make banana daiquiris and see them add a real banana to it, even if there was a base mix used. Not here ~ nope pure mix. Yuck! I’m sure it must have something to do with costs, but I really think I paid enough to see bananas used in the drinks.

At dinner, you’re assigned a table and a time. It was like herding cattle, I swear I felt like I was going to graze – really didn’t like this. Anyways, there was a person assigned to a section. We got a young man who was really attentive.

Not the case at breakfast or lunch, where you get to sit anywhere, from 5:45AM to 11AM and again from 1PM. During the breakfast or lunch times, service was iffy. But again, it seemed like they didn’t have the personnel there to attend to all the folks.

I needed an extra room key, it took me two trips to the reception to get it. The first excuse was that the manager who had the key to the keys wasn’t there.

I wanted change for a $20USD, it took three trips before I could get this. Again, I was told the cash was not there, they just took all of it to the bank.

Not only were these instances inconvenient, I wasn’t received warmly when I asked. I put them out. Yep, they acted like you stupid American gringo, why are you bothering us with this? Yet, there was no one else around. So what, they just plain didn’t want to work? There were enough guys behind the counter, at least 3 each time.

Food/Restaurants/Buffets
Another highlight!

We stayed at the Riu Bambu where we had the Colonial Buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was the Mama Juana, it was an open air buffet/grill that began serving at 11AM. Now, I was told there was a buffet at the Naiboa and the Taino, but that was a 15 minute walk and NOT CONVENIENT! So, we were captive to the Colonial and the Mama Juana. We experienced the same thing with The Plaza Bar. It was the only one conveniently located where we were staying.

Besides being limited to only the Colonial Buffet and The Plaza Bar, the dishes were icky! ICKY! The plates had left over food stuck to them. On the outsides of glasses, when they began to condensate, they became slippery and you could feel the grit from food. God knows what was on the inside prior to the beverage. They just were not clean, which I attribute to my two days being sick. Yep! I got sick here. Diarrhea for the first time at any of the three resorts I’ve stayed at in Punta Cana. No, I didn’t drink any of the local water (knowingly), and I didn’t leave the resort. I got something there ~ probably from the dirty dishes. Again, I think there were too many guests for the number of people working, maybe? Or maybe they’re making so much money they just plain don’t give a damn. Heck, they got mine!

Moving on, the Colonial breakfast was absolutely our favorite meal. Lunch at the Colonial was repetitive and if you ate dinner there the night before, you saw “leftovers”, which is only good if you liked it the night before.

Dinner at the Colonial was my least favorite. The qualities of the entrees were just so-so. With the beef, you had a 50-50 chance of getting “tender tasty” or “shoe-leather”. The grilled fish fillets were always good, but sometimes had bones. The pizza there was usually good, but went so fast that you only got a single slice every 10 minutes or so. The veggie dishes were good.

One thing I noticed was that they left food out in the open for long periods of time. I wondered about spoilage for the salads using mayonnaise and the cold-cuts. I stayed away if I didn’t get there early on.

Glasses for drinks were rather small in the Mama Juana. They used the 6-8 oz. juice tumblers and 6-8 oz. plastic solo bar cups. There were no real 12-20 oz. glasses to be found, anywhere.

Coffee was instant. Yep, in the Dominican Republic they served instant Nescafe.

I didn’t try the specialty restaurants. I was afraid they’d be too much like the buffet ~ barely passable.

The Beach
The beach area was absolutely stunning. But first you had to get past the plastic straws, plastic cups, cigarette butts and sea grass that had washed up, to see it.

I remember at the Barceló, they had men raking the beach three times a day. I thought that was indicative of the care they took of the place, and the pride they showed to their guests. Sort of like they wanted you to enjoy their beautiful place, they way they liked to have it seen. Like driving a freshly washed car, with shiny wheels. I’m always most proud of my freshly washed car. But not here at the Riu Bambu. It was like they took it for granted that the beach was pretty and didn’t see a need to care for it. Well, they should rethink that strategy, because I’d go back to the Barceló for their beaches, I wouldn’t for the beaches at the Riu.

The Pool
Oh, that’s right there was a pool. It was so crowded that you couldn’t get in it. You had to be outside “staking your claim” on your pool-side lounger, for which most everyone kept all day.

The pool is absolutely not suited for this large a resort.

Spa
Well there was one on Caribbean Street, but that was really far away. There wasn’t a Jacuzzi or whirlpool available like at the Melia. Of course, the new Palace Punta Cana had one, but not sure if it was available. And even if it was, it was also a good walk to get to it.

In summary
I wonder if the complex is over-utilized and understaffed for the number of guests it serves.

It was my least favorite of the three resorts I’ve been to, and I saw less value in the services due to poor quality at a fine quality price.

I can’t get past the cheap worn linens!

I can’t get past the poor quality foods, and the lack of choices on the buffets, and the lack of buffets and bars to choose from. I mean we had broccoli on the buffet 6 times, brussel sprouts 4 times, okra and tomato 3 times. French fries every time. There was a spinach mixture that showed up 3 times. If I wanted to go to a different bar, it was a 15 minute walk, in 90 degree heat at 90% humidity, not an ideal situation to me.

And I’m terribly saddened by the care shown in the beaches, or lack there of.

Dear Debbie, Thank you for such a wonderful site. It was very helpful, especially the packing list and what to expect when you arrive. Below is my review of the Riu Bambu.

We spent three nights and four days at the Riu Bambu in mid-May. The trip was arranged by Apple Vacations. We will never arrange a trip through Apple again. The only thing that pleased us during our stay was the USA3000 flight from Philly Intl, the beach at the RIU Bambu, and the wonderful British friends we made by the pool bar.

Flying USA 3000 was wonderful. Plane left at 6:00 a.m. We were given juice service and a coffee cake immediately after takeoff. Later, we had a choice of egg sandwich on a bagel or biscuit during flight. We also had movies. Well above what one expects of an airline these days. Plane landed in Punta Cana at 9:35 a.m. We had the entire day to play!

Met the Apple Rep who took us to the bus. There was a 45 minute bus ride, with little air conditioning on the bus.. We were told by Apple Rep who left us with others on the bus, we would meet our Apple Rep in the lobby at 5:00 p..m. that day. Arrived at RIU Bambu, the bus driver dropped us of on the sidewalk and made no attempt to help us with our bags. There was noone to help us up the steps with our bags. We went to Reception Desk. There were no welcome cocktails like we read about in reviews. There was nothing but a Front Desk. We were more than willing to wait until regular check in time, 3:00 p.m., as we already had our suits on. However, Reception said they had a suite available for an additional $50 USD per night. We agreed and paid the $50 USD per night. What a rip off and mistake!!!
TIP#1: When upgrading your room, if you think there is a jacuzzi, based on things you have read, ask before paying the additional upgrade fee.
The bellman helped us to our room. We arrived in room 107, on the ground floor. Upon entering the room, we were kicked to the floor with the stifling heat and humidity and an otherworldly odor of mustiness in the room. The flowers decorating the towel art were even dead! We quickly turned the air on and went to the fridge for a drink. The fridge was well stocked but hot, yes hot. With regard to water, you are given a gallon jug, but you are not given individual bottles of water.
TIP #2: Bring a few of your own bottles of water from home. This way, once they are used, you can refill them and put them in the fridge. Also, if you like iced tea or other drinks, get some individual serving size of say, Crystal Light, to pour into your water bottles.

We were in our room for a few minutes when Reception immediately phoned to ask if everything is okay. We told them the fridge was not working and the air was not on. This initial phone call was a nice touch. The only problem was, it was not effective. Front desk sent two repairmen who scratched there heads and told us it was fixed, in Spanish. I do understand and speak Spanish semi well. Repairmen told us it would take a while to cool down the fridge. We were very thirsty and hot and decided to rinse off in the shower and head to the bar and the pool. We went in the bathroom and found the left sink's hot water faucet was running, not dripping, running. And, for a suite, there was no jacuzzi! (Refer to Tip#1) But, we were thirsty and hot and just wanted to get a drink and get wet. We phoned front desk and told them about the running water. They said, "No problemo!" We unpacked, we figured the air would start to cool off the room, and fridge would get the drinks cold. Wanted desperately to get a cool drink and a dunk in cool waters.
TIP#3: Do not unpack or leave your room, until everything is to your liking and functioning properly. Once you leave, it is a real pain to change rooms.

From reading the reviews, we knew to go directly to the Plaza Bar. Drinks at the Plaza Bar were most welcome and delicious. As advised, we asked for the Dominican Special and it was special and delicious. We would soon find out that the drinks were the only things delicious at the Bambu. We went to the beach. Found paradise! Any description of the beach you may read, does not do it justice. One must see to believe. The beach is lined with palm trees and the water is warm and turquoise. It was beautiful. We had no problem finding a lounge chair. We spent a few hours on the beach and then went to the pool bar, had a few more cool delicious drinks.
TIP#4: The Bubba Keg or insulated container is not just good for cocktails. I found it useful for water to keep hydrated between drinks.
TIP # 5: By 2:00 p.m., there were no lounge chairs available, but someone offered to save us a lounger. Naturally, we said yes and tipped a few bucks. For back-up towel, bring your own beach towel. Not only does it distinguish your seat from anyone elses, at the Riu Bambu, they ran out of clean, dry towels around 3:00 p.m.

When we went back to the room, it was still ungodly hot in the room. The drinks in the fridge were still warm and the faucet was still running. Worst of all was the stench. It was still there even though we had the Oust Air Freshener fan running and a jarred candle burning!!
TIP#6: Bring Oust Fan, Air Freshener Solid, Jarred Candles and/or Glade plug-ins.
TIP#7: If the room still smells that badly with all of the air fresheners running, GET ANOTHER ROOM - THE MOLD IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM.

We showered and dressed for dinner, sweating the entire time. Please note, the bathroom had two sinks, a toilet, bidet, tub with handheld shower but no exhaust fan and a hair dryer that does not work well (Bring your own with the proper adapter). Additionally, there were two hooks next to the shower to hang your robe etc. The bathroom was spacious enough for the hubbie and I to do our thing and not bump into each other. But, beware, the shower head has a life of its own and on one day, the water was turned off, so you could not flush or wash hands. Yes, toilet articles are supplied but bring your own. The toilet articles supplied were of the cheapest quality I have ever seen. No big deal though because I never use the toilet articles a hotel provides. Did not even bother to take them home for the little one. Also, in the interest of avoiding sickness, I would recommend bringing your own liquid anti-bacterial soft type soap and sanitizer. Every time I washed my hands with their water, I sanitized after. I even carried around travel sanitizer to use in public restrooms. Finally, we found a card in the bathroom telling us, in the interest of conservation, discard dirty towels in the tub and only those discarded towels would be replaced. Found this very impressive.

TIP#8: Yes, you need to bring your own face cloths/washcloth. The room came with two bath towels and two fingertip towels. Find your housekeeper on day one, tip her well, and tell her how many towels you would like daily. Our housekeeper was great about giving us towels. Also, you might want to ask for a few extra towels to put on the floor. The floors were marble and very slippery when wet. We never received a bath mat for the floor. Finally, in tip#8: make sure there is always a spare roll of toilet paper in your bathroom. If the roll in the holder is filled, they will not leave another. If and when the REVENGE hits, it is quite possible you could go through another roll. Also, in the event of the REVENGE, pack wet wipes. The toilet paper is standard one ply. We use the standard one ply at home, but, when you have the REVENGE, Charmin is a dream.
TIP#9: Two glasses were in the sink area. To avoid rinsing your toothbrush with the water from the sink, I advise storing your toothbrush in a glass full of mouthwash and using the mouthwash to rinse. Prefill it the night before. Also, if you are not a morning person and the first thing you do when you rise is brush your teeth, put a hand towel over the sink to remind your morning brain not to use the sink water. If you do not want to go the mouthwash storage route, ask for an extra gallon of water each day to keep in the bathroom. Also, bring a back up toothbrush in case you do accidently clean one off with sink water.
Now that we have covered the bathroom, I will return to our trip.

We left for dinner. By the way, long pants are not required for men at the buffet for dinner. They are required for the a la carte restaurants. Ladies, do not over dress, you will be sorry. The lobby, Plaza bar and theater are open air with no air conditioning. As expected in a subtropical island, it is rather humid and we did not have any days of a cool ocean breeze. So, my advice, wear a light sun dress and little makeup. Don't even bother packing a light sweater. Unless you are always cold, you will never need it and will actually wish you were in your bathing suit. Finally, on the way to dinner, we stopped at front desk and told of the faucet and the air. Front desk, told us,"No Problemo, we will take care of it."

Dinner at the Colonial Buffet.... When you check-in, you are given a card with your room number on it and which dinner seating you prefer: 6:00 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. When you arrive at the buffet, show the card to the maitre'd. He will assign a waiter who will escort you to your table. (Don't loose your card, this is your I.D. for renting water sports. It is not your pool card though.) If you would like an outside table, now is the time to ask. But, I do not recommend one because as I said, as expected, there is no cool breeze in May, at least not during our stay there. With regard to the food: I don't know what these other people who gave rave reviews of Bambu food usually eat, but I would not let my dog eat off of that buffet. Everything had an odd taste and things on the salad bar looked like they had been sitting all day. One reason the food looks like it has been sitting is that the room itself is supposed to be air conditioned and has ceiling fans, but with the open doors and the inside cooking, it is cool but not comfortably cool. In other words, it is relief from the outside, but after a few minutes, it is warm again. Okay, back to the food: Yes, there is pizza, but, it does not resemble US pizza(No, corn and hot dogs are not acceptable toppings.) Yes, there is pasta, but, again, it does not taste like any pasta dish I have ever eaten, unless you stick with the pasta with butter sauce and garlic. There was a carving station, but the meat was not recognizable. We often referred to the meats we found here as...MYSTERY MEAT. There are a variety of veggies, but if they were common veggies(I.e. corn, carrots, brussel sprouts), they appeared frozen, not fresh. Local veggies were obviously fresh and some were served deep fried. They have a large assortment of breads, but I found them to be mostly stale. My saving grace were the papas fritas (french fries)Even though the chefs were working hard cooking in front of you, it all just looked, smelled and tasted gross. After devouring the fries nightly, my dinner usually consisted of desserts. The desserts were pretty good, but again, some were melting because of improper cold food storage.
TIP#10: Firm rule: if you do not know what it is...don't eat it. It just might be goat stew! Also, it is faster to get your own water, soda or wine.

After dinner, we tried to watch the show. We were in a sub-tropical climate and the theater was open air and there was too much smoke (FYI I am a smoker. If a smoker complains, it is real bad.) We decided to take a stroll on the beach under the full moon. What a delight! We walked almost as far as the shopping stands.
TIP #11: Bring a small flashlight to light your way. Take a cocktail with you for the walk. It is the nicest walk you will ever take in your life. Also, for the beach, if you smoke, bring a travel ashtray to use at all times. This way you are not polluting paradise.

After our delightful walk, we went back to room, it was still hot. We figured out the master switch by the door, turned off the electric and the air conditioning. So, we left a note on the switch asking that it not be turned off. Also, the rooms do not have digitally controlled thermostats. From what I have read, the newer builds are installing digitally controlled thermostats.
TIP #12: Bring post-it notes to leave notes for the housekeeper and fridge guy. We put the note on top of the tip. For the housekeeper, we left it under her name card and for the fridge guy, we left the note and tip in the fridge, so the housekeeper would not take it accidentally

We slept poorly but were glad we brought my own pillow cases and top sheets from home, as the linens and the room smelled of moldiness. Barely slept in the heat of the room. Have allergies to mold and throat started to close during the night. Thankfully I brought all of my allergy meds and inhaler with me. Also, Hubbie figured we should keep the bathroom door closed so the air would have less area to cool off. Hot water faucet was still running in bathroom.

Next day...Breakfast. It was wonderful. Everything you could and would want on a breakfast buffet. We filled up on breakfast. You really can’t mess up breakfast.
Lunch at the Mamajuana...we noticed recycled food from dinner and breakfast. Plates that were on the breakfast buffet were simply moved to the Mamajuana. They also served leftover things from dinner. Yes, there is a chef to replenish some of the hot things. But, since it is open air, all food is sitting out in heat. The cold foods are not sitting in ice. They are sitting on top of what appears to be a cold ceramic type thing. I bit into a croissant sandwich with bad mayo. Stuck with eating fries. Dinner was the same as the previous night. On day 2, in addition to the mold allergy in high gear, what little I ate, gave me the Revenge. I was up all night. Thank goodness for Imodium. No, I did not drink too much and yes, I drank the bottled water only.

During our stay, the fridge never got the drinks cold. We resorted to getting ice from the Plaza bar and filling up a trash can to use as a cooler to keep them cold. The air conditioner never truly cooled the room off. The running hot faucet was never fixed and the smell never went away. 24 hour all inclusive means that all during the day and night, at the Plaza Bar, there is self-serve ice, sodas, juice, keg of beer, coffee and hot water and tea with condiments and popcorn. The popcorn was always soggy. Again, this is due to a sub-tropical humid climate. They would have been better served to have individually wrapped crackers or something like that.

Positives: The room was spotless and we had extra water every day. Although the water was in a gallon jug, not individual bottles. We also tipped $5 daily to the maid and $2 daily to the fridge guy. The workers can't help if the place is bad. The drinks were delicious, but you do have to ask for alcohol and ice. In fact, although the liquor put in the mixed drinks was local, at the swim up bar, you could not really tell the difference when you are drinking a fruity type drink. Also, we found that at the Plaza Bar, the drinks were quite strong...3/4 alcohol with a splash of coke for a cuba libre. We had to ask for a glass of coke with ice and the alcohol on the side. Otherwise, we might have done something stupid like eat the goat stew.
The bartenders at the Plaza were very friendly. Also, if you want better brands, i.e. Stoli Vodka, Johhny Walker Red Scotch, go to the Plaza Bar. If you are drink specific, bring your own from home in your carry-on and bring along your flask and a funnel to put the liquor in your flask. Additionally, there is a liquor store on Carribean Street, but I don’t know what they had or the prices.

The beach is paradise. No words can do it justice. We enjoyed the long walks.
TIP#13: Securely attach your own beach towel or colorful t-shirt to your lounger so you don’t loose the lounger during a walk.
Again, bring a travel ash tray, if you smoke. Again, the insulated drink holder is a must. By the time you get the drink and walk it to the beach, the ice is completely melted and the cups are small.

POSITIVES:
ACTIVITIES: The animation team worked very hard. The organized games around the pool are fun. Get involved. Make a fool of yourself. You will never see anyone again so, who cares. The shows were corny but the animation team deserved applause for all of their daily hard work. The shows reminded me of summer camp. We enjoyed renting a kayak and sailing. We enjoyed walking to the beach shacks to purchase our things. We never went to the disco because we were not willing to pay for our drinks. For the most part, by 12:00 a.m., the Bambu is dead. If you are looking for a party place, go to another resort.
TIP#14: You must bring the card that you took to dinner with you to rent anything. Only one rental per room each day. They would not allow you to book for your entire stay. When you arrive at your rental time, book for the next day. The insurance costs $5 USD.

Negatives: Mold stench in room was overwhelming. We think it was because it was a ground floor room. Things that were put on the drying rack outside on the terrace, never dried. The air conditioning worked, but was not effective. Fridge worked, but things never became cold. Hot water faucet ran the entire time. Food was awful due to, in my opinion, poor handling and lack of training in the way food perishes in heat. If the cold foods were kept in ice, yes the ice would melt, but the water would be cold and the ice could be replenished regularly. Ice works much better at keeping things cold. Even though our initial impression was that Reception was on top of things, it could not be more untrue. We complained nicely and tipped and the things were never changed. Also, housekeepers tend to knock and come in(two did). So, make sure you use the security latch in your room. Our room did not have a, “Do not disturb” sign. Make your own. With regard to the pool area, if you are bringing kids, talk to them about Europeans and toplessness. Someone actually was topless while sitting at the swim up bar! YUCKKK. There really is no bathroom at the pool area. You must walk to Mamajuana. While there, I noticed, not many people got off their swim up barstool.

Oh, did I forget to mention our Apple Rep? Where was the Apple Rep when all of this was going on? I don't know...never had a meeting in our lobby at the Bambu at 5:00 p.m. on day one, like we were told. Apparently, the Apple Rep doesn't even come to the Bambu. The Apple Rep stays at the Riu Palace Macao and we were expected to walk to the Palace to meet the Apple Rep!!!! Guess the Apple Rep had the inside scoop on the Bambu!

Coming home was another misadventure. We were told the bus was leaving at 4:20 p.m. for a flight leaving at 7:45 p.m. Departing was grueling. After you wait in the heat, in a long line, an agent goes through every piece of luggage and purse by hand. Luggage is weighed and limit is enforced. Noone checked carry on size though. Only one side of the Punta Cana Airport is air conditioned. If you are flying USA3000, you luck out with a flight, but you wait in a sauna of an airport. There is a Wendy’s (never so happy to see fast food) and another café type shop with cold bottled drinks. The duty free store is very inexpensive: carton of cigarettes were $22 USD. Americans can bring home 3 a piece. 18 year old Glenfiddich Scotch was $50 USD. You can use a charge card at the duty free store. If you have leftover pesos, you are stuck. They are unexchangeable.
TIP#15: Don’t even bother exchanging to Dominican pesos. Everyone takes and even prefers USD. Bring small bills. When you are purchasing something, the first price given is in pesos, then, you divide the peso amount by the exchange rate. Bring your own calculator or use theirs.

When I arrived home, I opened my suitcase and guess what? I brought home an unpurchased souvenir..... all of the clothing in our suitcases, unworn and dirty, were wet(no I did not pack them with wet suits)and smelled of mold. I had to wash them three times to get the smell out. Had to air out suitcases for two days. This is fine if you go camping but, not at what Apple calls, a five apple hotel.

We loved Punta Cana. We loved the beach. The workers are hard working. We even loved the vendors we discovered after we passed other resorts on the beach. We met wonderful British people who helped us forget the room and food nightmare while we were with them.

Will we ever visit Punta Cana again.....in a heartbeat. Will we ever stay at the Riu Bambu.....I wouldn't advise my exhusband to stay there. Oh, wait a minute, perhaps I will. LOLOL We should have paid closer attention to negative reviews. Not all people are whiners. Many have legitimate complaints.

My advice to anyone traveling to Punta Cana...read reviews and forums. Find someone who lives in your area who has been to the hotel and read their reviews. People who live in your area are more likely to view things the way you do. Don't know where we will stay next time, but I do know we will not return to the Riu Bambu! But, I can't wait to return to paradise...Punta Cana and the beautiful beach.

FINAL TIPS
Debbie’s Packing List was very helpful. The only things I would add are: a small soft side cooler in the event your fridge does not work properly and a surf safe. The surf safe is a small rectangular plastic case, the size of a pack of cigarettes that is attached to a rope you can wear around your neck. When sailing or going to swim up bar, it is a safe dry place for cash, key, cigarettes etc.
Don’t over pack on the clothes. During the day, the only thing you will probably wear is a swim suit and coverup. I found it useful to bring inexpensive sun dresses to use as cover-ups so I would be properly dressed for breakfast. Once at the beach or pool, I used a sarong.
Bring snacks, just in case you do not like the food or you get the REVENGE.
Bring some type of cooling foot spray. After a day in the sun and in flip flops on the beach, the dogs are barking!
No matter what time of the year or weather going on in your place of destination, either have your summer clothes or swimsuit in your carry-on or wear them under your clothes. We found it easier to leave Philadelphia in our Punta Cana clothes. You are going to a sub-tropical climate. As soon as you walk off the plane, it will be quite humid and hot.
It is helpful to speak some Spanish. I wrote everything I thought I would have to say on color coded index cards in English on one side and in Spanish on the opposite side. Each color was for each area: housekeeping, bartenders, front desk, vendors etc. I laminated the cards in the event of rain and for future trips. If caught not remembering, I simply read off my card, or showed my card to whom ever I was speaking to. Everyone thought it funny, but appreciated it, especially housekeeping staff.

Dear All.
Just arrived back after two weeks at Rui Bambu, had a very good relaxing holiday.

On arrival the room did smell musty like everyone says but this was not a problem. Had to kill a cockroach that first night , that scared the rest did'nt see anymore.Most impressed with the mini bar in the room but then the bars were good around the resort as well.

Apart from the last evening dinner in the a-la-carte restaurant every other meal we had in the Colonial, the choice was very good but after two weeks we had enough of the same old thing every night. Our best meals were at breakfast, Mr Tortilla cooking fresh omelets in front of us to our choice. Entertainment was quite poor at night apart from when outside resort artists entertained a few times, the in house crew just played stupid party games, two or three seemed to be in love with themselves.

Mosquitoes were a plenty but there bites did'nt seem to last as long as there European buddies.We had a few tummy upsets but I had more Imodium then Boots.

We had some good excursions the best being the swim with the Dolphins, the scary part was the flight to get to Dolphin World, this was on a 50yeay old plane.

Biggest down to my good holiday was being ripped off at the Airport on leaving by 70 dollars because I was 7 kg over weight.

I have just returned from a 7 day trip to the RIU Bambu...with a friend that I met form the USA. Let me start by saying that previously I have only vacationed in Cuba in a 4-4.5 star resort so I was eager to see what the RIU offered with its rating. Let me focus only on the positives to star......

BEACH- AMAZING I loved it, there was nothing that I could have said negative about it (at the time), as a Canadian I quickly adjusted to the many many women who were topless (and did not seem to care) and to ready availability of sunbeds even later in the morning. I spent ALL of my free time on the beach with no disappointment (aside from the hot feet from walking CONSTANTLY to get a drink at the bar), I LOVED the beach and if it was not for what I am to reveal later I would return in a minute. Let me say DO NOT turn LEFT at the resort beach....I did and I looked down and there were

ACCOMIDATION- It was what I expected from all that I have read. The room was clean, but small. A lovely tip on the first day assured that I had the fridge stocked with what I wanted on a daily basis (they say they only offer fridge service every 2 days) There was a problem with a LOUD scratching soud in the walls of our bathroom.....disturbing loud (even for a country girl :)) We called for someone to check into in and they sent a woman with a spray can who immediately announced that she could not speak English.....this sound went on nightly (we were only there at night) (this I NO SPEAK ENGLISH IS COMMON AND MY RETURN AFTER 3 DAYS WAS "ME NO SPANISH") It was very clean daily, but according to other reviews....yes tip, gift, it did not matter.

FOOD- I am an EXTREMELY picky eater and I will say that sometimes I struggled to find something that I enjoyed..... The food was amazing, I just have my likes and sometimes they were not there....my fault. not the resort.

STAFF- WELL this is where my concern is "ME NO SPEAK ENGLISH" is more more common than it should be....and not believed by me anymore...... my friend found that you had to give them money to answer you in English (5 US dollars at least), I did not have the same experience......... I learned from the workers there that many can speak English but choose not to (for whatever reason). I did not have that problem after a few days.....Which brings me to my BIG concern (1 of many )(at least 4 that I can think of) called my room CONSTANTLY....wanting to go out for drinks, "give me a massage" ETC. My friend and I were what I believe to be an abnormality to the resort, 2 single women alone....and believe me it became old very very fast. That annoyed me beyond belief and when I threatened to tell the "Director: I was laughed at.. I saw another girl attempt to complain with no results (we had a conversation later), The rest I have to write holds no positive and I have spent 12 days considering before I have written this review. I will say that the shows were carzy and I loved them, but alas.....within 10 minutes everyone was in bed, my friend and I joked that if you got drunk you would be kicked off the resort...I BELIEV THAT.....it was SO sloe

POOL- There were NEVER seats, they were taken EARLY in the am and there was nothing left, plus there was lots of shade around the pool....now I wish I had tried harder to get a seat, but I was always unsuccessful (even at 8AM) Since I have gotten back here to Nova Scotia I have been ILL. It stared with a SEVERS (Dr.'s words) chest infection which ran its course) to my most recent and SEVERE..... I have a very RARE skin disease which is transmitted through the feet to the rest of my body (lower torso) from the sand on the beach., It is a very rare parasite which spreads all through your legs and ITCHES and kills with bites (my Dr. was only able to diagnose with the assistance of a travel doctor) I will be SCARRED for life from this and the untreatable ITCH.....

We stayed at RIU Palace Macao in 2004 and loved it a lot. So my husband, who is not really a beach person, wanted to come back. This time we were traveling with kids and decided to pick a more kid-friendly Babmu. We stayed at Bambu from April 6 though 11.

Our flight on United and hotel transfer via VIP tours were uneventful. (Apple busses are much better and newer than VIP though.)

At first it seems that all the RIU resorts on the same property are similar. But then, why is there price difference for your package, and why are those "low" ratings in reviews. Well, here is a big difference: Palace will pamper you all the way; Bambu will provide you some comfort. And the lower price you pay, the less you get. Through our whole trip we could not stop comparing Palace Macao and Bambu. Well, you really get what you pay for.

Rooms: fairly good size room with bamboo decor. We had a standard room in building 2 on the first floor. The king bed is made up from 2 double beds pushed together. We also had two single size beds squeezed in for kids. So beds were taking most of the space from wall to wall. There is a strong musty smell in the room (and you will bring it back home on your bags). We put laundry sheets everywhere, but they did not help much. The beds are hard, but we did not mind that. The mattresses have MOLD. (later in our trip I think I discovered the answer, why --- and it's not due to the tropical climate!) There is a mini fridge with soft drinks and beer, liquor dispenser, and safe in the closet. Hairdryer is provided in the bathroom. You get daily maid service and every other day service for minibar. The maids do not accept gifts, only cash. Tipping does not change anything. Palace Macao provides maid service 2 times per day, and they also do the turn down