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Mexico Pacific Coast Nayarit Riviera Nayarit Nuevo Vallarta Nuevo Vallarta Hotels Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico
Weather is much better than in the forecasts!!
Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico
Review of Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico
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Reviewed July 1, 2016
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Jun 2018 Kathryn M Fri
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We are just leaving the Riu Palace today... sitting in the lobby waiting for our shuttle to the airport... Fri Sat thought I'd write the review while it's all fresh! We were here for two weeks! First.. don't let the 1 2 weather forecast deter you from booking! Everyday was beautiful even though it showed rain.. there was some rain usually late at night or around dinner time but always lots of sun for beach/pool time! 7 8 9 Some really cool thunder storms in the evenings to watch! Food - decent buffet food! Lots of 14 15 16 options, after two weeks a little the same but that's cuz we were too lazy to change it up and use the other restaurants! I even noticed a gluten free area for the breakfast buffet for those that are looking 21 22 23 for that! Service in the buffet area was always great! We were always served coffee (decent), or beer or wine with dinner without having to wait (wine wasn't the best, typical all inclusive wine but 28 29 30 the sparkling wine was more manageable) Beach - loved the drink service on the beach!!!! Jose worked so hard and always with a smile! This is something you don't find at every hotel and it's so nice to have! Two guys had to work the whole beach but by the time you finished a drink they were back asking if you want another! Waves were bigger than I thought they were going to be and you... More
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Weather is much better than in the... - Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico
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la toscana
jacuzzi suite
specialty restaurants
partial ocean view
breakfast and lunch
sports bar
michael jackson show
entertainment staff
make reservations
guacamole thomson rep
krystal restaurant large pool
peninsula buffet
garden view
caribbean side
hotel is beautiful
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Reviewed June 29, 2016
Three Times - Still a Charm James T Marshall, Texas
139
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My wife and I, along with our two children (22 and 17), just returned from a one-week stay here. It was our third within one year. So obviously, we like this place. Very clean. Decent food. Great pool and awesome beach. Complementary sailing. Cheap beachside massages nearby. Great bartenders / wait staff. What is not to love? Well, maybe a few things (see below). We had booked the oceanview Jacuzzi suite for us, but Funjet messed up our reservation, and we both had normal suites. They were both on the 8th floor with nice views of the pool and decent views of the ocean. We highly recommend being on the top floor for the views, and getting the oceanview Jacuzzi suite if you can swing it. It is lavish. This time, it rained during several of the days - not long but hard! They are apparently in need of roof repair, as the 8th floor was covered with rugs to absorb water and keep folks from slipping. Actually happened in our room. The maids are awesome, and kept it in hand. But that was a little different than our first two stays. We actually found the food to be even better than before. It is not all top shelf, but I can not believe a lot of the reviews. All I can say is they must all be used to eating at a lot higher level than we do. We found a lot of good things to eat. We enjoyed breakfast a lot - , the grill cook is the bomb. We especially enjoyed Guacamole (Mexican) and La Toscana (decent steaks). We also loved the service from Mario at the Japanese restaurant. The change from last time is that now no reservations are required. We did not find that to be a problem. They do enforce the dress code for men, as my son discovered. Ladies gained access with some crazy outfits! Discrimination (only teasing - kind of)! We would agree that the buffet was good at night each time we tried it. The hand cooked tacos were great. Everything is located in a very small footprint here, and it is never very long to reach any location. We also enjoyed the shows. I think Michael Jackson is alive and living near Bucerias. That show was very good. My wife liked the Vegas Show, and it was good too. The Block party show was fun too, and put on be the Activities folks. Our whole family really LOVED Armando. We almost took him home with us. Eddie was fun too, and we enjoyed dining with them. The Mexican heritage show was a little bizarre, but still interesting. Give them all a try! Free drinks anyway. The rooms were nice, and cleaned very well. A small tip to our maid - Herlinda - gave us nightly turn down service. She was very kind. The beds are firm but comfortable. Our A/C was excellent (room #8051), but our kids (#8037) did not cool well at all even at full blast setting. One of the elevators was out when we arrived, but was back in service within a day. the bath amenities were decent quality, and were frequently replenished, as were the towels. BTW, the towels are awesome quality. The pool is a little warm, but it is huge, with a lot of water lounges for sunning. The bar is convenient and most of the staff are excellent. It never felt very crowded. We were "those people" that got up early and reserved our chairs. We liked the covered seating facing the beach on the rear side of the pool. Excellent view, nice breeze, frequent wait staff appearances - all made these seat great, as well as being closer to the grill where ribs / fajitas / chicken was grilled each afternoon. We used the beach equipment service on several occasions (boogie boards, kayaks, and catamarans). Andres was mui excellente, and called us by name each time we came. The waves were huge at least two of the days we were there. It is a wonderful swimming beach, though the sand is very "pebbly" and hard on tender feet. Down the beach toward Bucerias are several open air massage tents, offering 1-hour massages for $15 per hour USD. With a tip, $20 was a great price for the service, and we went back twice. This is as good a deal as we have found. The only negatives were 1) our reservation problem (not Riu fault), 2) an incident with the bellman on departure, 3) being ripped off on price in the gift shop on currency conversion and 4) the aforementioned leaks on floor #8. To expand slightly, on #2 the bellman told us it would be $40-50 USD for a cab ride back to the airport. I decided to walk down the entry to the cabstand, and was taken to the airport (albeit in a VERY tight compact car) for $14 + tip. I have a very strong impression that there is a kick-back scheme going on with the bellman, but can not prove it. On #3, my wife and daughter bought some merchandise from the gift shop adjacent to the sports bar. They were ripped off by have their USD cash exchanged at a very low pesos to dollars level. When they realized it, they were told by the shopkeeper that they would have gotten a good exchange rate if using a credit card, but not for cash (Huh?). When they complained to the front desk, the Riu staff said that the operator was leasing the space and Riu had not control over them (Really?). It was not a lot of money, but BUYER BEWARE (caveat emptor). All said, the problems we encountered take our rating down to a "4" from the previous "5". This is still a nice place to stay, but we will probably try another resort next time. You will not go wrong with this property. Room Tip: Get the upper floors if possible. Better breeze, less bugs, less noise. Much better views. Stayed: June 2016, traveled with family Location
Rooms Service
Ask James T about Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico 2 Thank James T This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed June 29, 2016
Great staff Lorraine B Westbury, United Kingdom
10
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The staff at the Riu Palace Pacifico are second to none. Nothing is too much trouble for them, even when dealing with Brits.... We're not the best tippers!. The hotel was beautiful, stunning decor and spotlessly clean. Reception staff are probably the best I've ever dealt with around the world, polite courteous and very helpful. Checkin was quick and very painless, within 10 minutes we were in our room, which was clean bright and very comfortable. The only thing I can complain about would be the pool area and that was nothing to do with hotel it was the guests!!! I know we are on holiday to enjoy ourselves but some people are just plain rude. Smoking IN the pool and using it as an ashtray, this is whilst children are swimming around them. I know this may sound petty but it's just plain disgusting.. We did three excursion. Rhythm of the night was amazing and well worth seeing. Hidden Mexico was brill, our guide Sonis was amazing, so knowledgeable and passionate about her country. Finally the Dolphin Extreme, out of this world!!! Yes as you have probably read the photos are very expensive but there's no pressure to buy them. All in all a great holiday Stayed: June 2016, traveled with family Location Sleep Quality
Service
Ask Lorraine B about Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico 3 Thank Lorraine B This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed June 29, 2016
Great 20 year anniversry trip Casey W
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4
We just returned from a 10 day stay. Everything was fabulous. Room was cleaned every morning then bed turned down and room straightened in the evening. everyday. Food was great. We ate at every restaurant and loved not having to make reservations. I would recommend not showing up too late. Most of the specialty restaurants close around 9 and we showed up 1 night about 8 to the steak restaurant and they were booked. Best advice is show up between 6:30 -7:30 and if you don't get right in they will give you a time to be back and you can go to the piano bar for a drink before dinner. We spent very little time in the pool so can't comment on what others have complained about and that is people staying in the pool bar all day and peeing in the pool. We spent most our our time at the beach. Two important thing to remember here. One is the guys bringing drinks have a lot of people to take care of so if you don't want to wait a long time to get a drink order one when they bring you one. Then when they come back in 30 minutes you will be ready for the next. Also, when you get in the ocean there is a little trench a few feet out caused by the waves. At times it can be 4-6 feet deep. Go just past this and it gets more shallow and the sand is incredible soft and clean and no shells or rocks. Really fun to play in. We left the resort about 5 times and had no trouble getting a taxi and getting any where we needed. Downtown was about 20-25 minutes away, but we enjoyed the sight seeing. We did walk to the other 2 Riu's nearby and definitely liked the palace better. We also walked to Bucerias to the flea market and not sure I would recommend that. Especially in June. I would recommend a taxi. If you do walk stay on the beach until you see it on your right. We left the beach early and ended up walking through some shady areas to get there. Be prepared to be hounded by all the vendors trying to sell to you. Once they see you Riu wristband they will tell you they work at the Riu as a bartender,maid, server, etc and they have this business also and trying to feed there family. I didn't recognize any of them from the Riu and am sure this is just a tactic to get you to buy from them so cover your wristband. All staff at the Riu was super friendly and helpful. My wife is already trying to talk me into returning with our children in December. We will see. Room Tip: Ask for a high room Stayed: June 2016, traveled as a couple Value
Rooms Service
Ask Casey W about Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico 4 Thank Casey W This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed June 29, 2016
Worth a visit Whiskerss London
33
60
Thoroughly impressed with RIU Palace Pacifica, from the moment we stepped into reception till the time for us to go. Reception might be the wrong word to use as it turned out to be a large, ornate room with extremely high ceilings and polished floors, tastefully finished off with a display of lilies in the centre of the hall. Minimally furnished which only enhanced the size. My wife was really taken with it. Checking in was the fastest I’d ever experienced and within minutes we were at our room. We’d upgraded to a Junior Suite with sea view, and as soon as the door opened we were not disappointed. The suite came with a small lobby area containing a fridge and coffee making machine. Being Brits, we took teabags and used the coffee machine to heat water for our tea. There was a large walk-in closet for clothes with a safe into which we stuffed two tablets, passports handbag, digital cameras, jewellery box. The main room contained a large four poster bed, separate seating area, plenty of drawers and a large flat screen TV (which we never used the whole time we were there). There was a large bathroom area with two sinks and separate shower / toilet rooms. There was also a whirlpool bath which we made sure we used. We found the bed comfortable, and I like a fairly firm mattress. The room was clean and well maintained. We could not fault Housekeeping; fridge was replenished daily, we had more than enough towels and we got towel art left on the bed daily. The room came with a balcony that overlooked the central gardens and a veranda with two sun loungers and a Jacuzzi, which we made use of daily. We saw housekeeping working hard cleaning the accommodation areas and, based on what I experienced and saw, assume that all rooms were maintained to a high standard. The hotel has a large dining room and four speciality restaurants. All meals in the main dining room were buffet style. We thought there was a lot of choice and the food was good and varied. We thought it one of the best we’ve experienced. The downside is the service in the evening was sometimes a bit hit or miss e.g. we had our table cleared in the middle of our meal whilst up at the buffet, but mistakes occur. That said, we had breakfast on the terrace each day and had great service. We only had one meal in one of the speciality restaurants and that was the Mexican. I was very impressed. The food was excellent, the service great and I loved the room. Again, high ceiling and lovely décor. Wished I’d asked to take a couple of photo’s. I had red snapper and my wife had the lamb. Also thought the red wine was better than in the main ding room, but might be my imagination. Snacks can be obtained from the sport bar. We don’t generally do snacks but decided to indulge ourselves one day and had some cake which turned out to be moist and really good, so we went back again! You can also get hot food, coffee and sandwiches if you want them. There are microwaves to heat the food. Or you can just have a beer and watch the sport! The swimming pool is central to the hotel and very popular with a swim-up bar that is very busy. We spent our time on the beach where there were lots of sunbeds. Shade is provided by trees though you may want to hire an umbrella for $10 per day, time unlimited, if you want to be closer to the surf. Beware of the surf as there is a strong backwash after the waves have crashed. As a result, there wasn’t huge numbers of people in the sea. Additionally, I didn’t see any lifeguards on the beach. Fortunately, I did see several bar staff on the beach so didn’t go short of orange juice and beer. If you like body boarding or wind-surfing, then this beach is for you. Take water shoes if you like walking a beach when on holiday; the beach has a slope and the sand can be coarse. As I said, the pool tended to be the centre of attraction. Word of caution, we saw people claiming sunbeds as early as 06:15 in the morning. There is an Animation team on site to keep you occupied and entertained during the day and a large theatre for shows in the evening, which appeared very popular. Or you could just read in the piano bar and have a quiet drink. Locally there is a supermarket up the road, some 20 / 30 mins walk, where you can pick up toiletries, pepto-bismal etc. We were made welcome and got loads of chocolate there; was 3 – 4 – 2 day. There are also a couple of small shops and a bank in the mall. If you do walk put some deet on. Close to the RIU, about 30 mins walk through scrub land, is a village where you can do some souvenir shopping. Reminded me of Sharm so didn’t stay long. Getting about is by taxi. They do rip you off so make sure you ask and agree a price before getting in. I didn’t and ended up arguing with one driver. Or you could take a local bus which goes to a Walmart a few miles away. We really enjoyed our stay at the Palace Pacifico. We found the staff attentive and helpful throughout the Palace. Hopefully we will go back there. If you do stay here, don’t forget to tip; it’s always appreciated. And take some dollars as prices universally seem to be in dollars. Stayed: June 2016, traveled as a couple Value
Cleanliness Service
Ask Whiskerss about Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico 4 Thank Whiskerss This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Reviewed June 29, 2016
Second visit even better than the first time sunloversLincoln lincoln
7
26
This was our second holiday to the Riu Palace Pacifico and it was even better than the first time, which was an excellent holiday as well. We were a little apprehensive about returning as we have never returned to the same hotel for a second time before as we thought we may be disappointed because we had such a great holiday the first time. This was not the case and our two weeks turned out to absolutely brilliant, some of the staff remembered us from our first visit which made you feel special. Service at all the bars was excellent but our favourite was the Colibri bar where Andreas, Maurellio and Francesco never ceased to amaze us with their cocktail skills and could make you just about every cocktail known. The pool always seemed very full especially in the area of the swim up bar but you could always get served at the seating area overlooking the beach. We liked to sit on the beach every day, there were always plenty of beds and shade to be had under the palm trees. The beach waiters were very attentive especially Jose Louise, Cesar and Veronica who were always very cheerful and had a smile for you. The sea could get rough at times but was safe to have a paddle in the edge, quite a lot of people used body boards to surf on. We used all the speciality restaurants and found the quality of food excellent, not one complaint, they even got the fillet steak perfectly cooked every time. In the Mexican ask Alonso to make you a flambe coffee, he is quite the showman.The buffet restaurant had a massive selection something for everyone and quality as good as the other restaurants. Every morning at breakfast, we had Ricardo serve our table and nothing was too much trouble for him always cheerful and friendly. The room we had was on the 8th floor and it had a lovely side sea view, the maids kept it spotlessly clean. We had one trip into Puerto Valarta and had a lovely walk along the Malacon where there are lots of unusual bronze statues. At the end of it there are a few beach restaurants and we had an excellent meal in the Blue Shrimp who also serve a mean margarita, if you like seafood we highly recommend it. Overall another brilliant holiday at the Riu Palace Pacifico, would we go back for a third time. You bet we would Room Tip: Higher floors have better views, the side sea views are good Stayed: June 2016, traveled with family Sleep Quality
Cleanliness Service
Ask sunloversLincoln about Hotel Riu Palace Pacifico 2 Thank sunloversLincoln This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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