If you want to book an all inclusive Riu hotel in Punta Cana, this is the one to pick. The resort is first class. Even though the Palace Punta Cana is newer, its also twice as big and doesn't have a "personal feel" to it. I was constantly amazed at the hotel staff who's job it was to make sure you're having a good time. They seem to know everyone's name! I swear they make posters for them to study each night with the names of the guests.

Food was good, but after 7 days you'll be ready to go home. I'm convinced that one day of stomach problems will be inevitable. Whether its too much alcohol, or the way they prepare they're food, every time I've been to Punta Cana, I'll get a brief bout with "montazuma's revenge."

The Palace Macau has 2 seatings for their buffet, 7pm and 9pm. You tell them whether you want 7 or 9 the first time you go to the buffet. For some reason, we told them 9 and I think we wished we had told them 7. They also have 3 ala carte restaurants. You tell them if you want to eat at one of the ala carte places after breakfast. The seating times if you do these restaurants is 6:30. We did the Carribe restaurant and the Mediterranian restuarant. Both were good, but Carribe was better simply because its located right on the beach and the view at dinner time is amazing.

The pool is great and the hotel has staff to take drink orders. After the second day, we figured out that its way better to relax by the ocean than at the pool due to the ocean breeze. Even though the pool is only 50 yards from the beach, it doesn't get the breeze and you just pour sweat at the pool.

We did the Bavaro Runners Safari Adventureand the Marinarium excursions. I recommend both. the Bavaro runners is very similiar to the outback runners excursion. They drive you all around the island and take you to a dominican home, school. Bavaro runners costs slightly more because they also add a brief horseback ride on the beach. The horses are very docile and aren't doing anything but following the horse in front.

The Marinarium is a snorkling tour. It was good, they take you to a pen in the ocean that has rays and nurse sharks, coral and fish. After you go to a sand bar where the water is waist high and bring out drinks while you're in the water.

Me and my (now) husband spent 2 weeks (Feb 28-Mar 13) at the Riu Hotel Palace Macao in Punta Cana. We had our wedding on the beach at our hotel (see wedding review). I can't say enough good things about it. The staff at the reception desk were very friendly and helpful. We had a million stupid questions and they answered every one of them with a smile (not a sarcastic one either). Our first suite was very nice and clean. We were completely satisfied with it. The second night they were kind enough to upgrade our room since we were getting married. The second room blew our minds. We had his/hers sinks and closests - very convenient! Our balcony off our bedroom had sun loungers. The balcony off our living room area had rocking chairs and a drying rack. The second floor of that balcony (yes, 2nd floor) had a jacuzzi tub for two. Our liquor dispenser/fridge was always full and we had almost every possible "mix" for the liquor. Personally I'm a beer drinker and have to say the room beer wasn't that great. You can however get a good beer anywhere else on the premises and bring it up to your room. I'm pretty sure that if you requested it, they'd bring different beer to your room. We didn't spend a lot of time in our room so it wasn't a big deal. Everything was very clean. Had more than enough clean towels each day. Also fresh flowers each day on the "towel art". The maid had even incorporated the petals from my bouquet that I had thrown out, into the towel art (nice touch). Our only issue stems from laziness. Our room was on the fourth floor and the elevator was on the opposite side of the building. When you come back from a long day in the sun, you either have to walk up those stairs or walk to the other side of the building to take the elevator. So if you have leg/feet problems, make sure you ask for a room on the main floor. We had a slight problem with a water leak in our room. They had a maintenance person there within 5 minutes & issue resolved/cleaned up within the hour. They even called around 2 hours later to confirm everything was okay & called again the next day to check up. The staff cater to your every need to the point where it's almost embarrassing.

The activities/entertainment staff were great - they made it difficult to not participate. At first I wasn't so interested in things like horseshoes, ping pong etc. By the end of the trip we were constantly checking the schedule to see when activities would start because the staff made it so much fun. There were also prizes if you won the competitions. The nightly shows weren't great but they did put effort into them (and they're included so if you don't like them-leave). I'm not an M.J fan but the impersonator was really good.

I was delighfully surprised by the buffett. I've never had mass-produced food that was so good. We went with quite a few picky eaters but never heard anybody complain. There's something for everybody there - huge selection. Was a little disappointed with the steak house. The sirloin was very fatty & thin. Others in our group had ordered other things which apparently weren't bad. I'd really advise against that sirloin though. The Caribe Grill was good. We had our wedding supper there & it was a great venue. Technically there isn't a dance floor there but they didn't stop us when we danced anyway (even encouraged us by playing a particular song again). The Kabuki (Japanese) restaurant by far was our favorite. The Teppanyaki beef was amazing (went back for more). You are also able to visit the other hotels' (except Palace Punta Cana) restaurants. You have to make arrangements at your reception desk the morning of which day you want to go. The only restaurant we didn't go to was the Mediterranean because it was mostly seafood. Every restaurant has a menu posted by the entrance so it's easy to decide which ones you'll go to. Also note that there are 24 hour snacks. Somebody in our party said you had to check that the hamburger meat was cooked thoroughly. There was also snack & coconut parties on the beach and by the pool. You definitely never go hungry at this place.

The beach was amazing. You do have to get there by around 9:30am if you want a lounger. If we didn't get one we would just hang out by the pool until around 2:30pm when the people who did get to the beach early, started clearing out. The staff will even find a table or a cushion for you. There are some free rental items at the beach like flippers/snorkels and boogie boards. We took our own snorkels as I'm not sure how they clean them. We saw some fish while snorkeling right at the beach. Other items were "free" but you had to take a $25 lesson on how to use them first (catamaran etc). Just make sure you check the price listings carefully before you sign up for anything. Our pool wasn't spectacular but was still nice & was quieter than the others. The "lower end" hotels had better pools I thought. It was easy enough to walk 5 minutes to those other pools. Definetly check out the swim up bars!!! Some of the other hotels also had board games available by the pools.

Overall, we were very impressed with our hotel. I'd say it caters to ages 30-50 (we are 29 & 31). It wasn't "party central" but it wasn't dull either. Always had lively music playing but was never deafening. Had more of a lounge around drinking feel rather than a keg party. The great thing about staying at the Macao is that you have access to the other hotels so if you wanted to go party at one of the "younger" hotels you could - then come back and have a good, quiet sleep. I'd say if you have kids, don't stay here though. Not too many kid friendly activities. The hotels on both sides of us seemed to have more for families. Be prepared to eat & drink a lot!!

Tours/Excursions
The one thing about our trip that was very disappointing was some of our day trips. When we got there, our Sunquest (will never travel with them again - I can't even begin to list all of our problems we had with them) rep basically scared us into booking trips with them. Gave us some terrible scenarios about booking with unreliable tour groups etc. One of the excursions we booked with him was the CoCo Tours (Sunquest affiliate) "Bavaro Shopping Tour". This was a total scam. We were told they would take us to a rum factory, cigar factory then into a town to do some shopping (promises of cheaper prices than on the resort). The ride was fun at first. They played some dance music & passed around rum (which our tour guide ended up getting on a lot of our clothes). We first went to the cigar factory where they gave us a sales pitch for their products for about 10 minutes then gave us around 5 minutes to actually see where they made them. Then rushed us out. When we got to the "rum factory" the tour guide flat out said "This is not a rum factory. This is where they paint bottles for rum". They proceeded to try selling us the painted bottles & other items. We then went on to the shopping portion which ended up being at another resort which was exactly like shopping on my resort (why did I pay for this??). We had to pay 1/2 up front to the Sunquest rep then were supposed to pay the other 1/2 when we were coming back from the trip. The tour guides forgot to charge us coming back. All but 2 (they handed the driver cash) of our group walked off the bus (honestly forgetting) without paying. Once we realized our mistake, we were all glad because everybody felt we had been ripped off since we didn't really get what we were promised/paid for. Everybody in our wedding group left a few days later. 5 days after the "shopping trip", me & my husband were presented a bill for 14 people. I'm not sure why they waited until everybody but me and my husband left. We now had a different Sunquest rep at our hotel & he didn't know anything about the situation (as I tried to explain 2 had already paid fully). This was extremely annoying because he didn't want to deal with it either. He just kept giving me his cell phone to talk to the original rep (not sure where he went to). I explained our complaint to the original rep who then gave us a whopping $2 off per person. We talked to several other people on our trips who had been ripped off by this same excursion/company. We had also booked another trip through Sunquest/Coco Tours which was the Contiki Snorkeling trip. While it was somewhat fun, it wasn't what was explained to us either.

The Riu Palace Macao in February is a wonderful way to spend a week. We had a great time; the weather was great with the exception of the last day which was windy and overcast. The food, drinks, and overall service was typically and consistently “Riu good”. There were however a few things that could have easily been better.

The room service food described in the menu was very different from what you received and at times, it was downright inedible. Maybe the Riu chain should investigate a little deeper into North American cuisine. The elevators had graffiti that could easily have been removed, and the pool badly needs repair. I guess this is why the Punta Cana palace was built as the Macao is a little run down.

Upon departure at the Punta Cana airport we were charged $10.00 per kilo ($90.00) for overweight luggage. This has never happened before in the many times that we have traveled to various destinations of the Caribbean. We purchased very few souvenirs and we also left many items behind. Our luggage noticeably weighed less than they did upon arrival. They had asked for American dollars at the Skyservice check in desk and I did pay but when I asked for a receipt, they tried to change the subject. I insisted and another rep from Skyservice came and informed me that is was to be paid in Canadian dollars. Only then did they reluctantly give a receipt. I clearly smelled a rat!

Fortunately I had money left after our vacation. I feel bad for people that would not have the funds and would have to empty their luggage over such a scam by the staff at Skyservice. The crazy thing about this is that we ended up buying big bottles of rum, and a few other heavy items when we arrived at the departure lounge. How does that make sense? When I arrived back home, I contacted Skyservice and complained but I never received a response. So….. I am giving those who read this a travel advisory to always ask for a receipt, buy any souvenirs at the airport, wear a couple of layers of clothes with the pockets stuffed with cameras, phones, keys, shells and anything else heavy.

Me and my (now) husband spent 2 weeks (Feb 28-Mar 13) at the Riu Hotel Palace Macao in Punta Cana. We had our wedding on the beach at our hotel (see wedding review). I can't say enough good things about it. The staff at the reception desk were very friendly and helpful. We had a million stupid questions and they answered every one of them with a smile (not a sarcastic one either). Our first suite was very nice and clean. We were completely satisfied with it. The second night they were kind enough to upgrade our room since we were getting married. The second room blew our minds. We had his/hers sinks and closests - very convenient! Our balcony off our bedroom had sun loungers. The balcony off our living room area had rocking chairs and a drying rack. The second floor of that balcony (yes, 2nd floor) had a jacuzzi tub for two. Our liquor dispenser/fridge was always full and we had almost every possible "mix" for the liquor. Personally I'm a beer drinker and have to say the room beer wasn't that great. You can however get a good beer anywhere else on the premises and bring it up to your room. I'm pretty sure that if you requested it, they'd bring different beer to your room. We didn't spend a lot of time in our room so it wasn't a big deal. Everything was very clean. Had more than enough clean towels each day. Also fresh flowers each day on the "towel art". The maid had even incorporated the petals from my bouquet that I had thrown out, into the towel art (nice touch). Our only issue stems from laziness. Our room was on the fourth floor and the elevator was on the opposite side of the building. When you come back from a long day in the sun, you either have to walk up those stairs or walk to the other side of the building to take the elevator. So if you have leg/feet problems, make sure you ask for a room on the main floor. We had a slight problem with a water leak in our room. They had a maintenance person there within 5 minutes & issue resolved/cleaned up within the hour. They even called around 2 hours later to confirm everything was okay & called again the next day to check up. The staff cater to your every need to the point where it's almost embarrassing.

The activities/entertainment staff were great - they made it difficult to not participate. At first I wasn't so interested in things like horseshoes, ping pong etc. By the end of the trip we were constantly checking the schedule to see when activities would start because the staff made it so much fun. There were also prizes if you won the competitions. The nightly shows weren't great but they did put effort into them (and they're included so if you don't like them-leave). I'm not an M.J fan but the impersonator was really good.

I was delighfully surprised by the buffett. I've never had mass-produced food that was so good. We went with quite a few picky eaters but never heard anybody complain. There's something for everybody there - huge selection. Was a little disappointed with the steak house. The sirloin was very fatty & thin. Others in our group had ordered other things which apparently weren't bad. I'd really advise against that sirloin though. The Caribe Grill was good. We had our wedding supper there & it was a great venue. Technically there isn't a dance floor there but they didn't stop us when we danced anyway (even encouraged us by playing a particular song again). The Kabuki (Japanese) restaurant by far was our favorite. The Teppanyaki beef was amazing (went back for more). You are also able to visit the other hotels' (except Palace Punta Cana) restaurants. You have to make arrangements at your reception desk the morning of which day you want to go. The only restaurant we didn't go to was the Mediterranean because it was mostly seafood. Every restaurant has a menu posted by the entrance so it's easy to decide which ones you'll go to. Also note that there are 24 hour snacks. Somebody in our party said you had to check that the hamburger meat was cooked thoroughly. There was also snack & coconut parties on the beach and by the pool. You definitely never go hungry at this place.

The beach was amazing. You do have to get there by around 9:30am if you want a lounger. If we didn't get one we would just hang out by the pool until around 2:30pm when the people who did get to the beach early, started clearing out. The staff will even find a table or a cushion for you. There are some free rental items at the beach like flippers/snorkels and boogie boards. We took our own snorkels as I'm not sure how they clean them. We saw some fish while snorkeling right at the beach. Other items were "free" but you had to take a $25 lesson on how to use them first (catamaran etc). Just make sure you check the price listings carefully before you sign up for anything. Our pool wasn't spectacular but was still nice & was quieter than the others. The "lower end" hotels had better pools I thought. It was easy enough to walk 5 minutes to those other pools. Definetly check out the swim up bars!!! Some of the other hotels also had board games available by the pools.

Overall, we were very impressed with our hotel. I'd say it caters to ages 30-50 (we are 29 & 31). It wasn't "party central" but it wasn't dull either. Always had lively music playing but was never deafening. Had more of a lounge around drinking feel rather than a keg party. The great thing about staying at the Macao is that you have access to the other hotels so if you wanted to go party at one of the "younger" hotels you could - then come back and have a good, quiet sleep. I'd say if you have kids, don't stay here though. Not too many kid friendly activities. The hotels on both sides of us seemed to have more for families. Be prepared to eat & drink a lot!!

Tours/Excursions
The one thing about our trip that was very disappointing was some of our day trips. When we got there, our Sunquest (will never travel with them again - I can't even begin to list all of our problems we had with them) rep basically scared us into booking trips with them. Gave us some terrible scenarios about booking with unreliable tour groups etc. One of the excursions we booked with him was the CoCo Tours (Sunquest affiliate) "Bavaro Shopping Tour". This was a total scam. We were told they would take us to a rum factory, cigar factory then into a town to do some shopping (promises of cheaper prices than on the resort). The ride was fun at first. They played some dance music & passed around rum (which our tour guide ended up getting on a lot of our clothes). We first went to the cigar factory where they gave us a sales pitch for their products for about 10 minutes then gave us around 5 minutes to actually see where they made them. Then rushed us out. When we got to the "rum factory" the tour guide flat out said "This is not a rum factory. This is where they paint bottles for rum". They proceeded to try selling us the painted bottles & other items. We then went on to the shopping portion which ended up being at another resort which was exactly like shopping on my resort (why did I pay for this??). We had to pay 1/2 up front to the Sunquest rep then were supposed to pay the other 1/2 when we were coming back from the trip. The tour guides forgot to charge us coming back. All but 2 (they handed the driver cash) of our group walked off the bus (honestly forgetting) without paying. Once we realized our mistake, we were all glad because everybody felt we had been ripped off since we didn't really get what we were promised/paid for. Everybody in our wedding group left a few days later. 5 days after the "shopping trip", me & my husband were presented a bill for 14 people. I'm not sure why they waited until everybody but me and my husband left. We now had a different Sunquest rep at our hotel & he didn't know anything about the situation (as I tried to explain 2 had already paid fully). This was extremely annoying because he didn't want to deal with it either. He just kept giving me his cell phone to talk to the original rep (not sure where he went to). I explained our complaint to the original rep who then gave us a whopping $2 off per person. We talked to several other people on our trips who had been ripped off by this same excursion/company. We had also booked another trip through Sunquest/Coco Tours which was the Contiki Snorkeling trip. While it was somewhat fun, it wasn't what was explained to us either.

We spent 7 wonderful days at the Riu Palace Macao in mid January and had a great time. Upon reading the reviews on that resort, it seems like the more recent ones are not all that satisfied. We really had no problems though. We went for my neices wedding and there was 24 of us all together. The reception when we first got there was very friendly. If anything, Alexandra at the front desk rattled through everything a little too quickly. There was some spots in our room that was starting to show its age, but you have to think of the traffic that goes through that resort in a years time.

The food was good all the way around. Someone from our group made it to all the a'la cartes. I think we are all a little spoiled from good old Canadian beef as their steaks were a little thin and fatty but the taste was awesome. I think after 7 days stay at any resort, all the food starts to taste the same after awhile anyway. Our group tried room service a couple times. The first time, nothing came as ordered, but still tasted good, the second time, everything right down to the cheese cake came as we ordered.

I think our only complaint would be the nite life. If you are looking for some happening nite life, the Riu Macao probably won't fit into your liking. We hit all the bars within the RIU resorts and the night life was average at all of them. We just had to be creative and make our own fun, which we did, and the staff were fairly receptive to our midnight cannon balls into the pool! We hit the Michael Jackson show.....it was good. Unfortunately we missed Grease and Carribean night. The best show in the house was our last night there. They brought people up on stage from the audience after their little awards ceremony for the daily activity winners. These people have to act out skits and what not. This show was hilarious!! I may be biased though as two girls from our group was up there, but the whole crowd was in stitches. It was 2 hours of hold your gut laughing fun.

We don't travel lots..we have only been to one all inclusive in Mexico and to Hawaii. This was by far the best we have seen yet. The beach was truly unbelievable and the ocean was the same. If you are looking for a great place to relax and soak up the sun, this beach is for you. Its busy, but we would head down to the beach between 9:00 and 10:00 in the morning and never seemed to have any problems finding loungers for all of us. The staff running the activities grew to know us by name after awhile. Some of our group was always trying their hand at whatever the activity of the hour happened to be. Special thanks to Danny, Puff Daddy (awesome arm), Clarice (?), and Super John and the rest of the crew running the activities. You knew you were in for a laugh.

Our Sunquest rep, Jose, recommended for our size of group the Tahiki Tour. It lasts about 5 hours from the time you leave the resort until you return. You go snorkeling for a bit and then party on on the boat. That was a blast! Those guys know how to show a good time. Kudos to them......

I bought some lava stone souveniers at the beach shops to bring home and thought by bringing them home in my carry on, they should manage ok. Thanks to the roomy and comfy accomodations (ha, ha) on the SkyService flight home, 2 out of the 4 were broken. Probably would have made out better if I checked them in my luggage. I am only 5'2" and was so rediculously uncomfortable by the end of the 6 hour flight back to Winnipeg. I can't imagine how tall inidividuals fair on a flight that long. Also the stewardesses need to find a different job. Its quite obviously, they aren't enjoying that one!!!

All in all it was truly an awesome trip. Thanks Chris and Billi!!!! The Riu Palace Punta Cana is something to see. Unfortunately, being at the Macao you don't have access to any of its grandeur, but you gotta go for a walk through. It is georgous! As for the wedding, it was truly beautiful and romantic. They chose the little gazebo that was described in a couple reviews down. The wedding was 6ish with some beautiful pictures on the beach and the sun at a soft glow.

We just got back home from two weeks at the Riu Palace Macao - and it’s time to do the review! Bad news and good news - the bad first - the Riu Palace Macao (pronounced Macaw) is NOT a palace, it might be a junior palace but it’s NOT a palace in the same league as the Punta Cana Palace or the Palace at Playacar Mexico. We were really disappointed to discover this when we first arrived and even asked for a transfer to the Punta Cana Palace however--and here is the good news--we eventually decided to stay at the Macao and we are glad we did!

The Riu Palace Macau, in spite of not really being a palace, is a great upscale 5 star resort which we really enjoyed. It is definitely better than the Naboi, Tanio or Bambu. As others have stated the only true downside of the Macao is the pool, which is in some need of repair and only really looks great when the fountains are on or when it’s night time and you can’t see what the bottom looks like. The pool is surprisingly small and yet it was never crowded--as opposed to the pools at the other resorts which were always overrun with people. Being a bit upscale the meals were better, there were less children, there wasn’t the same mad rush to sign up for the various restaurants, and the atmosphere was very nice. The people on animation (volleyball, ring toss, bocce, darts, archery) were terrific, and the guys serving drinks around the pool were great. In the end we decided the Riu Macao was more our style than the other big palace and we decided to stay were we where.

One other downside--and this is about Punta Cana and not just the Macao--there’s really very little to do beyond the resort, that’s why not one writes about the excursions they took!! There’s NO shopping, other than a few local stands here and there. The trip to Sonoma Island is a 2+ hour bus trip either way before you even get on the boat. Others we knew took the bus trip to Santa Domingo, again 2+ hours each way, 13 hours in total, they all came back disappointed. I did however take a 3 hour guided tour on ATV’s and it was very good. It was $100 for two on the same ATV or $75 for one. I went by myself and really enjoyed it, felt I had the back country tour and the ATV trip all in one. The downside was, every time you stop there’s stuff they want you to buy.

The beach is amazing, it just goes on and on and on. I am a runner, and each morning I would take a direction and run for a half hour or so, and I never did find the end of the beach. The beach volleyball was also great, every day at 11 and 3:30 people got together and played on the beach court.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Riu Macao (let’s take the word Palace out because it gives the wrong impression) and would recommend it to others. I would also suggest that 10 days might be perfect, 14 days with little else to do was a tad too long.

A few last things, we took Skyservice down and sat in the emergency exit row over the wing and had enough room. Coming back we were in a regular row and felt like sardines! We vowed NOT to take Skyservice again, and not to take an evening flight home, they never leave on time and we always get home late, late, late and feel very tired the next day or so.

About us: We are a couple that has traveled extensively over the past 14 years in the Caribbean 2 or 3 times each year. Without a doubt we are true sun and ocean worshippers who seek out incredible beaches with powder white sand and clear Caribbean blue waters. Furthermore we enjoy personalized service, comfortable and well appointed accommodations. My partner being a private retreat chef here in Ontario, we also seek, good quality food that is presented with elegance and artful mastery. After visits to numerous islands and tropical locals we discovered Punta Cana 6 years ago and now view it as our home in paradise. In Punta Cana we have traveled numerous times to the RIU Palace Macao, once to the RIU Bambu and to the Bahia Principe Club Diamond.

Planning and Booking: Our trip was planned using the very knowledgeable and professional guidance of Robyn at Itravel2000.com. Through her guidance and efforts we were able to find the best pricing and leaving at a date and time that were accommodating to our pocketbook and schedule. She answered our numerous emails promptly and with concise and accurate information. Who ever said that you did not get personalized treatment with an online travel company has never dealt with Robyn, who we will continue to book our trips with.

Departure and Flight with Skyservice: We arrived at the airport within the three hour recommended timeframe and we were able to secure exit seats. I highly recommend attempting to secure these seats when you arrive at the airport (you can not pre-book these seats) as all others are completely unbearable. Our luggage was weighed and we were under weight, so no charge. Be warned baggage over is charged $10 per kilo.

The flight was rather uneventful but made entertaining by the bumbling dialogue made by the head Skyservice flight attendant who stumbled through every announcement that she read. The flight was made further entertaining by the in-flight movie, not because the movie was entertaining, but rather by the further bumbling errors of the same flight attendant who first started the film then 1/5 of the way through after making an error with the sound system for one side the plane, restarted the film, then made an announcement 1/5 of the way through the movie and could not get the movie restarted so she went back to the beginning. Well if we missed anything in the beginning of the movie, we definitely caught it by the third time we saw it! The in-flight snack was a chicken quesadilla and other little packages of snacks such as cheese and crackers. All of this passes the time and tries to take your mind off the fact that you are cramped and uncomfortable and that most of the way you have someone’s elbow shoved into your side —-and that is in an exit seat where you have the luxury of a little more room.

Arrival at the Dominican Airport: As you walk off the airplane the warmth of the Caribbean night air kisses your face and you know that all of the discomfort on the airplane was definitely worth it. You exit the aircraft and walk towards the airport that is an open air thatched roof building. Get ready to smile as you enter the terminal there are two young ladies there to greet you in traditional Dominican garb who you will have your picture taken with as you pass through the entrance. These photos will be available for sale for $5 US when you leave the island a week or two later. The process to enter the island is smooth, have your passport, and blue Dominican tourist ready and wait in line to have them processed. As you wait you will be soothed by the mariachi musicians playing and the warmth of the Caribbean air. The line moves quickly. Once you have completed this process you collect your luggage and head out into the main lobby of the airport, where you will find a Sunquest rep who will point you towards the Sunquest bus which will take you to your resort. At the bus you will sign in and be given an orientation meeting invitation. At this point sit back on the air-conditioned bus and enjoy the scenery out the window and listen to the Caribbean music played.

Arrival at The RIU Palace Macao: Arriving at night the week prior to Christmas we found that the palm trees that line the entranceway to the Macao a glow in hundreds of Christmas lights. The bus arrives and the luggage is taken off (make sure that your bag is taken off as the bus will likely stop at one or more other RIU properties). At reception you are given your tan wristbands, room key, safe key, towel card, and restaurant card along with luggage tags. Reception is warm, welcoming and informative and fluently delivered in English. A attentive bellhop quickly loads your luggage onto a brass luggage cart and shortly delivers your luggage to your room.

The Room: We were very impressed with our third floor garden view room. We were pleasantly surprised to find we were given a corner room with three sliding balcony doors and wrap around balcony that forms into a large hexagon appointed with plantation style wooden rockers, cocktail table and drying rack. The room is appointed with two overstuffed comfortable wing chairs, small bistro table, two night stands, a large credenza that houses the mini bar, large closet that comes with approximately 10 hangers, iron and ironing board. The bathroom comes with tub/shower combination, bidet, well lit mirror, single sink and shaving mirror. The room and bathroom are outfitted with some limited toiletries (bottle of RIU shampoo/body wash, bar of RIU soap and shower cap.) You will also find a bar wall unit that houses several bottles of liquors including gin, rum gin and tequila I believe. The bar fridge has pop (Pepsi, diet Pepsi, 7Up orange soda, tonic and a large jug of water. You will also find two bottles of Bohemian Beer.

Room Service: There is also a room service option for breakfast to 11:00 am and then a snack service including such items as a vegetarian sandwich, a BLT sandwich, Caesar with chicken, nachos and cheese to highlight a few.

Orientation: Depending on whether you arrive in the morning or evening the orientation meeting will be held either on the day of arrival or the next morning. We always attend, but this time we wish we had not, the meeting started 20 minutes late and then all that we were told is where to find the Sunquest book that would list our departure time. Other than that the presenter struggled to explain the tours available.

That was it! There was no information about the resort or the services provided.

Late Night Snacks As we arrived at the resort at 11:00pm the late night snack bar was the only food option. It is located beside the pool. Here you will find a small salad bar and a small buffet serving fried chicken, fries, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and beans with rice. Once you are seated a waiter will come along taking drink orders. After two glasses of red wine were informed that they hand run out. Strange, we thought but decided it was because it was late at night and the waiter was on by himself he was unable to go to the main bar to get more. More on this later….

Piano Bar: Located next to the lobby across from the main buffet restaurant is the 24hour bar. This room definitely has a plantation feel to it, with dark, wide seated wicker chairs arranged in groupings of four around low cocktail tables. Here you can have drinks into the wee hours of the morning along with wonderful cappuccinos. Each evening you will find a variety of wonderful singers and piano players to entertain you. The last session ends around the time that the Pacha Disco opens (I believe that is 11:30). This is usually a wonderful room to sit back in and relax after spending many hours lounging in the sun.

The Showroom: You enter the show room via the piano bar through huge heavy velvet drapes. The art deco décor continues and gives the illusion of entering the showroom of a vintage cruise ship. Most shows are entertaining to watch as you sip an evening cocktail that has been delivered to your table by one of the waiters. The Michael Jackson show (even if you are not a huge fan) should not be missed as well the Cabaret show was extremely well done.

The Main Buffet Dining room: The décor here is definitely elegant and continues that art deco feel. During the evening you will find waiters and waitresses dressed in tuxedo shirts, vests, bowties and pants. At lunch the waiters are now dressed in colorful Caribbean flowered shirts and dark pants.

Kabuki: The Japanese Restaurant is one of four a la carte restaurants for Macao guest to use. You are presented with a lovely plate of sushi and a menu. Next you are given a choice of several starters, entrees and dessert. We thoroughly enjoyed the Dominican version of sushi, then tempura, a wonderful shrimp stir-fry and then we were brought a tempura ice-cream and fruit to share. The food we found here to be very enjoyable but better than the food was the attentive waiter—-he made the evening very relaxing and enjoyable.

The food: There is a wide variety of food served at several buffet stations. During the evening there is always a carving station that always has something delectable. The roast duck and pork were quite memorable. At the main buffet area you will find a fish, beef and chicken entrée at all three sittings as well as a variety of pastas and other vegetables and starches. There is always an abundance of cheeses and crackers at the cheese buffet, decadent desserts and a wide variety of fresh fruits Even the fussiest eater should be able to find something they find enjoyable. For those that are worried there is always French fries, rice, plain pasta and pizza!

Pool and Pool Service: The pool is beautiful with elegant statues and fountains and is wonderful for cooling off in after basking in the sun. While floating in the pool or lounging in the sun, drink service is provided. The service of Jose was very notably attentive and professional. There is an abundance of loungers and a ready supply of fresh towels.

The Beach: Breathtaking and endless. The sand is snow white and soft that extends into the ocean. The ocean bottom is clear and soft without being so soft that it feels muddy. There are lots of sun loungers available. People scope out there spots and do place there towels on the loungers and belongings but this is not a problem. As I have stated there are more than enough loungers and the resort was filled to capacity. Furthermore, your belongs are safe on chairs, though I don’t recommend tempting individuals by leaving cameras on your chair while you go to lunch for an hour but while swimming this would not be an issue. We also left our books and shoes along with our towels beach bag and a couple of $US for tipping wait staff all day and had no problems. I guess the rule of thumb is don’t leave anything on your chair that if it was taken your trip would ruined by.

Departure: The bus picks you up at the resort about three hours earlier than departure and it escorts to the airport and gets you into the correct line. Be sure that your luggage is placed on the bus at the resort before you get on the bus. On our trip home one individual failed to ensure their bag was on the bus and had to leave the country without their belongs which would be sent to them at a later date.

Skyservice: The scale mystery. As mentioned earlier, on the way down our bags weighed under the limit. They were loaded with sunscreen, health care products and gifts. All of these things were left on the island. We did not purchase anything and presto our bags were over weight???? First we were 7 kilos over then we were 5 kilos and finally we were 4 kilos over when weighed by the supervisor. First how did the weight keep changing??? The reason explained that our weight went up on our return was that our bathing suits were wet and maybe sand???? 4 kilos added due to 2 wet suits and sand? Something is not right. We are presently in contact with Skyservice.

The flight home was miserable. We were not able to get aisle seats and we were crammed into the regular seats. We are average build men, one being 5’8 and myself 5’11. My knees were shoved into the back of the airplane seat in front of me so badly that I had to remove the aircraft magazines for a little extra room.

Impressions of the Macao from someone who has been numerous times before: Seeing the Macao is like visiting a great movie starlet from an era gone by who’s makeup is starting to crack. If this is your first visit you will be very happy however, if you are a returning visitor you can’t ignore that nagging feeling that things are not as grand as they use to be.

Management has changed since we were there last and we are not sure if that is a reflection of changing standards.

This was another birthday trip and there was not any recognition made by the staff what so ever —-even at the Bambu my partner was presented with a cake and the room was decorated with balloons and a small painting and bottle of room were left as a present. This was disappointing and totally out of character, especially after numerous emails were sent to R Miller in customer service. Furthermore, when checking in the date was left with the front desk.

The selection of food was good but not as extensive nor varied. The Gala Night fizzled in comparison to other Gala’s.

Previously, in the evening you were given one waiter who you became familiar with and who know your likes and dislikes, red dry wine not chilled for example. It was all part of that small intimate resort service that made the Macao stand out. This was not the case on this trip we had a parade of evening waiters and at times you were not even sure who your waiter was. Breakfast service was lacking as well, quite often your dirty dishes were left sitting on your table. These are all areas that the Macao use to pride themselves with —outstanding Palace service.

The wine, one of the reasons we did not like the Bambu is the terrible wine that they served. The Palace always recieved a better quality wine than the other RIUs. Well the standard at the Macao has dropped to the same standard if not lower. They have also started to chill the wine to try and mask that it is starting to turn to vinegar. It seems on our first night we received the last two glasses of good red wine. Furthermore, at lunch sometimes your drink order was taken and never was filled.

The shows while entertaining are not of the same quality as in previous years.

The toiletries are not of the same standard and not replenished. Furthermore, sometimes you were given fresh towels in the evening and sometimes you were not.

When we arrived at the Macao we were told that we had exchange privileges with all RIUs but the new palace. We were assured that the Macao and the Palace Punta Cana were of the same status but the palaces remained exclusive. So we thought that made sense both Palaces had no exchange privileges with each other. This was not the case, the new RIU Palace Punta Cana have privileges at all resorts including the Macao. Here is the problem with that during our visit. The Palace Punta Cana had been invaded by a group of about 20 drunken mid twenty year olds who were heavy partiers and neither palace was set up for that BUT the Macao’s piano bar and casino were right beside their intimate piano bar. This group invaded the piano bar to get their buzz and every time they wanted a drink because the Macao would give them plastic drinking cups filled with alcohol that could be taken to the disco with them this became their evening hangout. It really did destroy the atmosphere. Management was completely aware of the issue of these individuals who even had the gall to go behind the bar to try and pour their own drinks if the bartender was serving someone else. The final straw was as they announced on their last evening that they were going to make themselves our (Macao guests) worst nightmare. I have to say that this did not happen in the previous years at the Macao not because out of hand partiers did not arrive at the Macao but because the management boldly put a stop to it.

The last straw, cockroaches, never had we encountered them at the Macao but we encountered one in our room and one in the dining room. This is just not acceptable for a RIU Palace. Yeas we only saw two but for us that was two too many.

It is unfortunate that the Macao is allowing itself to fall this way. We loved the Macao and recommended it to many of our friends and family. My teaching partner was prepared to get married there but is now opting for the Palace Punta Cana instead. We loved the Macao’s art deco décor, the small intimate setting and the service that could not be surpassed at any other Punta Cana resort. We had planned to return to the Macao in July with family and then for 2 weeks the following March but have decided against that. Instead we are planning to return to the RIU but this time we intend to stay at the new RIU Palace Punta Cana in our opinion it is worth the few hundred dollars more. We are wondering when they will drop the Palace name from the Macao.

My husband and I just spent a wonderful week (June 25-July 2--2006) at the Riu Palace Macao in Punta Cana. It was wonderful! We relaxed and were pampered the whole week. The hotel is beautiful and the food was delicious. The staff was always friendly and willing to help. I wish resorts in the USA would take a few lessons from the people in the Dominican Republic. We have also stayed at the Riu Yucatan in Mexico and the service was the same...WONDERFUL. When possible, we will always stay at a Riu Resort.

The beach was magnificent! You could be in the shade or sun and still be on the beach. The beach is so clean and comfortable chairs were available at all times.

You must remember that you are in another country and the culture is different. I suggest that you always read about the culture before traveling so there will not be any shockers and you can make sure you show the proper respect.

I will attempt to write this review in an all-encompassing manner! A little side note…my wife and I visited Punta Cana with two other couples, so keep that in mind as you read this review. For those that complained that the Palace was boring, we made our own fun, so I’m not sure what they were talking about!

We stayed at the Riu Palace from April 17th to April 24th. All-in-all, I would rate this a 4 star on a scale of 1-5. (Let it be known that I have never given out a five star except for a hotel in Rome and Venice).

GROUNDS/HOTEL ACCOMODATIONS
The grounds are well kept from the moment you arrive at the compound all the way to the ocean’s edge. There is no trash lying about and the public bathrooms that dot the property are extremely clean…and that is one thing I check!

Our room was well kept, although we did tip a dollar or two a night, I don’t think the service would have been lesser if we chose not to tip. The bed was always turned down…and we always had ample towels or face cloths for bathing.

The free-pour alcohol and stocked mini-bar was very nice. I wrote a note in Spanish one day (with a $2 tip) telling the maid to keep the refrigerator full of cervezas and she definitely accommodated!

To further explain how good the service is…I even broke a glass on the floor one evening and the cleaning lady graciously helped to clean up my mistake.

The only minor problem in our room was the lack of cable TV. Quite honestly, I didn’t even bother to call the front desk about it because I did not have the urge to even flip the tube on!

We did not have A/C problems like others providing reviews on this page, nor did I hear of anyone speaking of A/C or other room problems.

One should remember to bring a power outlet converter because the hotel desk will charge a $5 deposit if you should require one.

POOL AREA
I suppose the Riu Palace pool area is small compared to other hotels that we have stayed at…but having said that, it still is a decent size.

Several other reviews mentioned the lack of kids at the Riu Palace pool. I think we hit the spring break week because their happened to be kids everywhere. We didn’t have a problem with this although some may not like the little tykes running here and there. I don’t think this was status quo because the hotel staff indicated that the Palace was running at full occupancy during our stay largely due to families taking spring break.

Of all the hotels on the Riu property, I would definitely say that the older crowd frequents the Riu Palace but I don’t view that as a negative. Contrary to other reports, music was playing at the Palace pool during periodic times throughout the day. We did frequent the Riu Bambu swim-up bar on several days where there was a livelier atmosphere largely due to the waterside watering hole! Again, there were plenty of kids at this pool, but from what people tell me this is not the norm for the Riu properties.

OCEAN/BEACH
Quite honestly, this facet of the resort is what makes the trip worthwhile. We always had access to plenty of lounge chairs and the views are fantastic. I have yet to visit a beach of this caliber anywhere in the world. We had some well-traveled people in our entourage and everyone agreed that the entire stretch of beach was the best anyone has seen.

The beach is well taken care of and unlike other places such as Jamaica or St. Lucia, there was no loitering on the beach or those trying to force cheap jewelry on a visitor.

Yes, there are topless women on the beach but one should be used to that since well over half of the occupants are European or South American. Speedo’s are the norm for the gents even though most shouldn’t be wearing one. If you’re taking your kids, you’ll need to explain that they just live a little different from those in the States and Canada. No big deal really…

DINING/BAR SERVICE
Let me start off by saying the bar service around the Riu Palace pool is excellent. With a little tipping I found the service to be more than satisfactory. I don’t think tipping is necessary…I just like to be taken care of and I definitely came away with that feeling.

Every bar that I visited on the premises sported the same level of service. Even when we decided to try different drinks and they didn’t meet our liking, they were quick to set us up with something more palatable.

As for the food…it’s very good with plenty of variety no matter where you eat. If one has never been there and is expecting top of the line meats, then expect disappointment. This is not a steak house in Chicago or New York…this is meat from the islands or of lesser quality. So, before you go, have your expectations set at the right level and you won’t be disappointed.

Whatever was lacking in food…the service more than made up for it. These people always greeted our party with a smile, which made the vacation very enjoyable.

The ala carte restaurants were very good, although the Mediterranean establishment left a little to be desired.

In early February we left cold Grande Prairie, Canada for a sunnier location. We were told the Riu Palace was the cream of the crop from our travel agent, and magazines it is rated a 5+ resort. Upon arrival we were greeted with smiles and people ready to help us to out room. English is definitely not the first language and German and Dutch were far more popular. The foyer is grand and spotless. We arrived at out room and it looked okay it was clean nothing fancy. The air conditioning didn't work in fact it poured out hot air. We eventually got a different room that was actually a down grade from what we had paid for. They conveniently overlooked this fact. The new room had air conditioning but now it had 2 double beds pushed together instead of a king. The beds were rock hard and the furniture in the room and on the balcony were falling apart. The maids always did a good job cleaning and turned down our beds though we did leave a 3 US dollar tip each morning.

The phone system for receiving a call was horrible as we had 2 people try and call us from Canada. They were unsuccessful leaving a message at front desk or getting through to our room.

The food was great. We ate at the buffet every night and had no problems with anything. We were amazed at the variety and size. The waiters were good if you left a tip. Each night was some new feature but we found the Mexican and Lobster the best.

The entertainment in the evenings passed the time but was nothing to brag about for size of this resort. The Michael Jackson show was the best and Caribbean Night was nice walk an a few laughs as people erotically danced to someone in a chair. The crowd voted the best dancer.

The beach was amazing. Sand as soft as flour, water clear and blue, palm trees swaying and the sunny always shined. We welcomed the breeze of the water to cool down the air. The one irritating aspect was there were never enough loungers.

Pool disappointing again for a resort with this rating. But who wants the pool when the beach was so excellent.

We stayed at the Riu Palace, and had a lovely time. The weather was AMAZING, not a cloud in the sky, sunny, 85+ degrees, and refreshing ocean and pool. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. It was difficult to come home.

The staff at the hotel were very friendly and accommodating. We initially had a problem with the safe (no key, another patron took it home to New York). It was corrected within 24 hours. Which wasn't a problem, as we arrived late on the first day.

Dinner arrangements on the first day were rather confusing. There are two dinner seatings (6:30 and 8:30). You are assigned a table, and you eat at that time for your entire stay unless you opt to go to one of the ala carte restaurants. The men have to wear long pants, and it is a free for all for the women. It was explained to us that women are instructed how to dress properly from when they are young, and do not need as much guidance. Though, after some of the attire we saw, I would beg to differ!! The buffet was alright, as far as buffets go. We only ate dinner there 2 nights, and breakfast everyday, otherwise we went to the other restaurants. You need to make you reservations for the other restaurants between 7-8:30 in the morning, otherwise they are booked. We enjoyed the view from the Caribe Grille, and saw a beautiful moonrise that lite up the whole ocean. The steakhouse was okay at best. We went to the Japanese restaurant the last night and found it by far to be the best! We wished we had gone there sooner. If you want a cocktail with dinner, take it to the restaurant with you, as wine and beer are served with dinner. We went for a cocktail before dinner, and took it with us to the restaurant. We are big wine drinkers, and though the wine with dinner wasn't a GREAT wine, it was light and thin! Not too bad for the hot weather. Girls, for breakfast and lunch take a long pool wrap and tie it over you bathing suit. Apparently this is proper attire for these times. It keeps you from running around changing cloths.

We tipped the maid every day. A little bit goes a long way. Be careful though, someone had money and a camera stolen from there room while they were there. Lock up when you leave. We didn't have any trouble, and could not have wanted for anything. Plenty of drinks in the mini bar. We took $100.00 in ones, and could have used $50.00 more at least. They worked very hard for the money. Come to think of it, we tipped everyone all of the time, the service was so good! Especially the drinks at the beach!

The beach was absolutely beautiful. It is hard to believe that paradise was only a 4-5 hour plane ride from our cold US home! We did not need any long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts or coats! That was until we went home!!! We did not go on any excursions, for no better reason than being lazy. We quickly got into a routine of eating, sleeping, drinking, reading, and napping on the beach!!

There were a lot of people from other countries, and English was definitely not the primary language of the patrons. Spanish is spoke by the staff, and we heard German, Italian, & Arabic being spoke. We got along fine with the little bit of conversation spanish that we can speak. As long as you can point, and order drinks, you will do just fine!

Allow for extra time when leaving the country. It took us about 2-3 hours to get through the lines at the airport. They hand checked all of the bags before they checked them into the plane. You forget they do not have all of the modern conveniences!!

It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever been on!!

We spent the week of 12/5-12/12 at the RIU Palace Macao. I was a little leary after reading some of the reviews because we were originally scheduled to go to Playa Del Carmen and stay at the Iberostar Paraiso (where I've stayed at before and loved it) but we were pleasantly surprised with the RIU resort. I have heard many good things about the RIUS and now I can vow for all of them.

There are a total of 5 RIU resorts in the Punta Cana area and we were able to walk to any of them but others were only allowed to come onto our beaches not enter the resort from what the sign read. Our room was the most beautiful I've stayed in and I've been vacationing to the caribbean for the last 5 years to different islands and AI resorts. We went with another couple and had a wonderful time.

There were many europeans here and definitely a language barrier with the Spanish but we really had fun with it. I don't expect other countries to learn my language so that I can visit there…it bothers me when people get angry about that. I overheard a woman from Ohio speaking to the girl that ran the ceramics stand asking why they do not require the children to learn English in school because it would make it easier for us and it embarassed me that she was saying that.

Anyway, the atmosphere was very relaxing, there were as many acitivities as you were interested in including, aerobics, aqua aerobics, bocce ball, volleyball, horseshoes, darts and bingo almost every night but the animacion team was not pushy trying to get you to particpate. Once you showed interest in participating though, they would come and ask you as the events went on.

I thought I was going to be disappointed with the pool area because it was so small compared to the Iberostar resorts where I have stayed at also but it was not bad at all. Our resort had very few children or even teenagers for that matter (not a partying place) so the pool was not full at all….we usually only saw between 5-7 people in the pool so having the pool any larger would have been an overkill. If we got in the mood to go party, we would go over to the RIU bamboo and there was definitely a younger age there but for the most part, we stayed at the Palace and really enjoyed ourselves.

I only caught one of the shows which was the Michael Jackson show and it was very good. I really wanted to go see Grease based on other reviews I had seen but unfortunately it was playing the same night we got there and the shows did not start until 9:45 and that's a little late for us because we would get up at 6 am to walk.

The service was excellent and we had no complaints about the food. We loved not only the buffet but also the specialty restaurants we went to which included the Caribe Grill (but they had the windows covered so we didn't get to enjoy the scenery of the ocean like we had hoped)…we also did the steak house and that was very good.

The only thing we lacked packing were wash cloths. For some reason this is not a standard room stocking item and I even wrote a note in spanish asking for a wash cloth and we ran into the maid in the hall and she said that she did not have any. We did get one during the week which she hung back by the bidet so we hid it so she wouldn't take it again. If you are interested in having a wash cloth in your room, you may want to pack one.

We took one exursion, the Jeep Safari which was very good. We were gone all day and saw "much" of the country side. I had read about giving the children candy and we took some along. We did not like the beginning of the ride close to the sugar cane fields where the children would beg and literally run beside your jeep and even jump on it and reach in your vehicle for your bags or whatever you had asking for money. There were several children doing this and made us very uncomfortable. After that section we did not run into this as much anymore. Children would still stand out on the streets but would not beg or run up to you like the first area we went.

This was my best vacation ever. We went to Punta Cana from 8/5 thru 8/12 and stayed at Riu Palace Macao. There isn't one bad thing I can think of.

The place was immaculate, the staff very attentive and the food was tasty and varied. There was something for every taste. One night we Mexican night, another night was Gala night with caviar and vodka at the buffet. Another day they had paella for lunch by the pool.

We could use all non motorized equipment for free every day and we did (paddle boat and catamaran). Towels were brought to the room twice a day with cleaning and late at night. The bar was replenished daily. There was always lounge chairs by the pool and at the beach. We did not need to wake up early for them. If anybody needs more info or wants to see some pictures feel free to contact me.
carmelam@outerstuff.com

HOLA!

We have just returned from our two week wedding-honeymoon at the RIU Palace, and wanted to share our great experience with anyone else who is planning a wedding, or just thinking of visiting this fantastic resort!

We began researching a resort to host our wedding about 10 months in advance, as we wanted to send out our invitations and give our guests plenty of time to make the necessary arrangements to be able to attend our celebration. After pouring over many travel brochures and reading LOTS of reviews off of this great website, we settled on the RIU Palace. The Palace seemed to offer just what we were looking for for our guests – a variety of restaurants, bars and activities, all with an extra touch of class – and it certainly lived up to our expectations! We had 14 guests join us for 7 days at the RIU Palace, and we all had a great experience.

After our uneventful Skyservice flight from Toronto, we were transported to the hotel by the Sunquest bus – about a 30 minute ride. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law to-be’s bags were accidentally dropped off at the Naiboa (the RIU resort next door), but this was corrected within the hour, and thankfully that was the only “incident” of our two week visit!

When we first arrived at the hotel (10:00pm), we were greeted by a variety of hotel staff, and were immediately offered a refreshing glass of juice to enjoy during check-in. The lobby is lovely – open-air, with lots of rich, dark wood and huge flower arrangements. All went smoothly, and as promised in the wedding package, there was a suite available, and my fiancé and I were upgraded free of charge. The room was lovely and very large, with two balconies, his and hers closets, dual sinks, and plenty of room for storage etc. It was a great place to prepare for the wedding, and provided us with a good backdrop for some good pre-ceremony photos with my dad and MOH. We were on the second floor, and although the view was not picture perfect, we didn’t plan to spend much time in the room anyways, so it did not matter to us. (For those of you that are interested in a great view – we were in #3122 – I think that the rooms that are between #3125-3155 have better views) the mini bar in the room is stocked with beer, soft-drinks and bottled water, and is re-stocked daily. A liquor dispenser on the wall contains vodka (Stoli), gin (Beefeater), Rum and Brandy, and is also re-stocked as needed. All of our guests were happy with their rooms, and all of us got settled quickly and headed down to the bar for a drink!

The lobby bar (Café Cubano), immediately struck us as being quite different from the typical Caribbean resort bar. The atmosphere and design are reminiscent of a sugarcane plantation, with all of the dark wood and ceiling fans, and the service is terrific too. All waiters/waitresses are in black tie, and are quick to make sure your drink glass is not empty for long! The bar has lots of “indoor” tables, but also spills outside the walls to allow you to choose a table with views of the gardens and pool. The drinks are great – be sure to ask for premium brands if you prefer – unlike some resorts, here they are offered as part of the all-inclusive package - you just have to ask.

The buffet restaurant, El Patio, was the perfect place for breakfast every morning, with choices of tables inside (A/C) or outdoors on the patio. The buffet itself offered more choices than you can imagine, including a fresh juice bar, bread bar, cereal bar and omelet station. The coffee is great, and the service is even better! If you prefer to sleep late, you can grab continental breakfast by the pool until 12:00, although we never did.

On your first night, you choose a seating time for the buffet – 6:30-8:00 or 8:30-10:00. You are assigned a table, and this is your table and time every night of your stay. If you choose to eat at one of the other 3 a la carte restaurants, your table at El Patio is empty. In order to eat at one of the other 3 locations (Mediterranean, Steak House or Caribe Grill) you need to make reservations with the maitre’d in the morning between 7:00-10:00am.

Lunch and dinner at El Patio are great, and the service is second to none! There are a number of “special” nights at the buffet, including Mexican night and the Gala buffet on Thursdays. The food variety is fantastic, and with the exception of a few staples, changes every night. Two types of soup, bread bar, salad bar, grill, pasta bar, pizza, ice cream bar…..too much! Rather than being the typical “steam table” style, this buffet is all open cooking stations with the chefs right there, so the food is always hot and fresh. We ate in El Patio 8 out of 13 nights, and never got tired of the food!

We ate at all three of the a la carte restaurants several times during our stay (some reviews mentioned only being allowed to eat at each one once during your visit, but this wasn’t the case for us).

The Steak House is beside the pool, and is open air. It was REALLY hot the night before the wedding when we ate there, but again, the food was great, and the service was fantastic! We were a big table of 16 people for the whole first week of our stay, and we never had to wait to be served, and someone was always there to make sure you had everything you needed, and that your drink was never empty!

This is also the location of the International restaurant which is open for lunch during the day. Wood fired pizza (awesome!), French fries, burgers, chicken, beef, pasta, salad bar, NATCHOS!, and dessert bar. We had lunch here everyday, also served by black tie wearing waiters bringing you fresh drinks every few minutes!

The Mediterranean restaurant was also great (located in the same building as the Steak House, and International, beside the pool area), and offered a number of choices of starters, main courses and dessert – I had a seafood linguini that was really good! I hate to keep repeating myself, but again, the service was great!

All of the people working at the RIU Palace were very friendly and very hardworking. They are very intent on making sure that you enjoy your vacation, and never feel like you have to lift a finger. Although it is an all-inclusive resort, we left tips everyday for our maid, our dinner waiter, and often the bartender. Just a couple of bucks a day, but they certainly deserve it! (Pedro, our waiter at El Patio every night was great!)

The Wedding:
We were married on Wednesday afternoon, 4 days after we arrived. I had had some e-mail correspondence with Magnolia, the wedding co-coordinator, in the months leading up to the wedding, and had booked the judge for 4:00 pm on the 15th. I also e-mailed Magnolia several questions about flowers, food, music etc. before we left, but I now realize it was totally unnecessary!! Magnolia was GREAT (I know she visits this site sometimes, so if you read this Magnolia – THANK YOU AGAIN!! You made our day both special & perfect!)

Prior to leaving Toronto, we had set a day and time to meet with Magnolia to plan out the details of our wedding, so all we had to do when we arrived was determine where we wanted to have our ceremony, and which restaurant to have our “gala dinner” in.

I had spent many hours looking at pictures on the internet before we left, and had seen some nice ones of the gazebo located at the RIU Bambu (next door), and we were thinking that it was the location we were going to go with for our ceremony. We spent some time walking around the resort(s) on Sunday (our meeting with Magnolia was at 3:00pm on Monday), and instead settled on a sandy spot at the Palace in the middle of some palm trees between the pool and the beach. Although the Bambu gazebo itself was very cute, there is a new hotel being constructed next door, and you could see the construction going on. Also, although it was right next door to the Palace, we were a little concerned about making our guests walk over there in the heat. It was VERY hot & humid when we were there, and even a 5 minute walk in “street clothes” could leave you looking like a wet rag! We were all staying at the Palace, and decided that we preferred to stay at “our” resort! We chose the Caribe Grill on the beach for our reception, and that was it!!

My maid of honor had created some table decorations and “message in a bottle” place cards for our reception (great job Lis!), and she brought those with her, so we spent a couple of hours in our room “assembling” them (arts and crafts in the DR!), and determined where we wanted everyone to sit at dinner.

On Monday afternoon, we saw another wedding being set up on the grass outside the hotel, and after seeing the flowers, canopy, “aisle” of palms, we decided that it was a better location for our ceremony than what we had chosen. It also provided a little more privacy than the location we had selected, since the garden is surrounded by shrubs/plants, so although bystanders did crowd around, they couldn’t get within 50 feet of our wedding site.

My fiancé, maid of honor, mom & myself, met Magnolia at the front desk at 4 o’clock, and found a table in the bar to sit down and finalize our plans! Again, Magnolia was GREAT! Very organized, and very interested in making sure you get the day that you always wanted. We told her our location choices for the ceremony and for dinner, and she took care of the reservations etc. We chose our flowers, and cake, and opted to purchase some extras that were not included in the wedding package (extra corsages, extra buttonholes, bouquet for MOH). They did a fantastic job on all of these – the hand tied bouquets were beautiful!

We decided to take the pianist that is included in the package for the ceremony, and hired the trio to play for an hour and a half at dinner ($150USD), and we were really glad we did!!! We told Magnolia that we had some stuff for the dinner table etc, and she told us to make sure we brought them to her on the morning of the wedding, along with any special instructions, and she would take care of everything.

The wedding package included the photographer and 24 prints, and Magnolia told us that if we wanted any extras, we should negotiate that directly with Michael, the photographer. We told her we did, so she set up an appointment for us to go and see him that night to discuss the details. We ended up paying $400USD to purchase an additional 10 prints, a poster, and the disk containing all 200+ pictures he took. This was a great way to go, since we can now print whatever we want, create thank you cards etc. We were able to view the pictures the night after the wedding, and picked up the prints and disk a couple of days later.

All of this took 45 minutes, and we were done!! Magnolia told us to have the guests at the site at 3:30, and she would call us up in my room when the judge arrived. She also offered us a second suite for the afternoon of the wedding for the groom to get ready in, which was a really nice touch! (one of the benefits of going in the off season – hotel’s not quite full!)

The day of the wedding, we all had breakfast together, and then my MOH and I went off to the spa for a couple of massages. They offer massage on the beach, however we opted for the more private, AIR CONDITIONED spa instead. The spa is located on Caribbean street (the shopping street in the RIU complex), and was quite nice (did I mention air conditioned!?). My mom dropped off the table seating plan that we had created, along with our table decorations to Magnolia, and we were ready to go!

My MOH and I each went to our rooms to get ready, and then she came over to my room to hang out and wait for “the call”. The flowers were delivered, and my dad came to join us at about 3:15 to wait for Michael to show up. He arrived at 3:30 and took a few shots of us in the room before heading down to the site to get some pre-wedding pics. Magnolia called at about 4:00 to tell us the judge was on the way, and told us to be ready to go in about 10 minutes. She called back right on schedule, and off we went.

The wedding site looked perfect, and everything went off without a hitch. The judge spoke in Spanish, and the translator repeated in English so that we would know when to say “I do”. The ceremony lasted only a few minutes, but it was really warm, so we didn’t care! We all had some champagne, cut our cake, and then we all headed down to the beach for more pictures. Michael, the photographer, was really good, and would take any shots you wanted. Try to give some thought to the shots you want before hand, we didn’t, and with so much going on, we forgot to get a couple that we would have liked. The beach shots are really great, with the sand, and the amazing blue water in the background. We was glad that we chose the more private, garden locale for the ceremony, but love that we took some pictures down by the ocean.

All of this was over by about 5:15, and we all headed back up to the bar for a couple glasses of champagne before our dinner, which was at 6:30. Michael left us at this time, but we continued to take pictures, pictures and more pictures!

The Caribe Grill was a great place for our dinner. They offer a 5 course meal, with several choices of starters, soup course, pasta course, main entrée and dessert (a couple of choices are offered for each). Our table looked great – Magnolia had placed all of our decorations as we had requested, and the flowers from the wedding site had been brought in and placed on the table as well. One of the reasons we had chosen this location was the nice breeze that blew through during the day, but we didn’t realize that the minute the sun went down the breeze went with it! It was hot, but that seemed to be the theme of the week, so we didn’t care! The food was great, and again the service was terrific. The trio was supposed to arrive at about 7:00, and at about 7:15 we realized that they had not arrived. We waited a few more minutes, but when they still weren’t there, we mentioned it to the hostess, and she said she would look into it. A few minutes later she came back to the table with a cell phone – she had called Magnolia at home, when I got on the phone and she assured me that they were on their way! They had made a mistake with the time, but Magnolia told us they would play for an hour & a half as promised, and that we could stay in the restaurant as long as we wanted!

The trio showed up and started to play, and they were great!! It was so nice to have the music during dinner, and later we all got up to dance around the restaurant! They served our cake for dessert (it was great – chocolate mocha with fresh lilies on top!) and we all danced a little longer until we headed back up to the bar.

We hung out and had a few drinks in La Boheme (the “show bar” off the lobby) since it is also air conditioned, and continued to celebrate. The day had been perfect, and we were all very happy with the way everything had gone.

For anyone considering this resort for your wedding – I highly recommend it! The place is beautiful, the beach is second to none and Magnolia made everything SO easy. It was great to have a relaxed, stress free day, and to have your closest family & friends share it with you!

My husband & I stayed on for a second week after all of our guests had gone back home, which I would also recommend. The first week was all about the wedding and visiting each other, while the second week was all about relaxing!!

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