Riu Emerald Bay - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

6087 reviews

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  Moments Ruined by other Moments

  I really wanted to love this resort, but several factors made it a 2-star experience for us. The Good: The beach is absolutely beautiful and the staff are very friendly and easy to communicate with in English. The food itself tastes great, but be warned: there is very little variety. The buffet is almost identical every single day (if you like the roast beef on Tuesday, you’ll see it every day for the rest of the week). The Bad: The resort's cleanliness is mediocre at best—we saw trash like confetti sitting in common areas for days without being cleaned. There is also a severe lack of shade on the beach, making the afternoons unbearable. Location-wise, you are a 20-minute cab ride from almost everything. The Dealbreaker: The most disappointing part was the lack of flexibility. My 14 year old non-alcohol drinking son lost his wristband in the ocean with only 13 hours left before checkout. Despite our honesty, they charged us a non-negotiable 1,000 pesos. Charging that much for a piece of plastic on the final day felt like a cash grab and left a very sour taste in our mouths.

  Dec 29, 2025
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  Emald Bay Mazatlan Christmas

  Great resort to go to with many great pools and food is good as well. I would really like to see the Bamboo restaurant open more that it is. Seventh year coming and it is always a fantastic time!

  Dec 28, 2025
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  Very slightly above average

  The old original hotel tower needs not only a good interior face lift but is badly lacking maintenance/replacement on electrical switches and outlets , toilet tank parts and replacement or cleaning of filter, fan, coils and grills ..intake and exhaust of the HVAC's fan coil unit located above the suites/rooms entry foyer. The elevator overhead motors are noisy and appear to rattle quite a bit and I could not but help notice the look of anxiety on some peoples faces as they were using them. The front desk staff especially the tall blond haired manager or supervisor originally from Romania I believe and one of the other front desk staff member who had a very good command of the English language with a slight west coast American accent, was quite intuitive for his young age, Aram, If I remember his name correctly where particularly helpful and made all the difference to us in enjoying our stay for the 2 weeks .We noticed also , a cut back on the food choices and the quality since our vacation there in 20 24 which is leading us towards looking at possibly another Riu location or another provider and for us that is a bit unsettling as we have relied on Riu since we first used the brand almost 30 years ago not only in Mexico but elsewhere . However, as we are older, a little wiser and have travelled quite a lot and expect to be travelling a lot more now that we will be both retired, we have become a little more discerning while being conscious of the costs and overall value as we are back in Canada looking now and planning to vacation for another 2 weeks in March 2026 some time. Best Regards and A Happy New Year .....Tomas and Madeleine O. #91683135 and #91745204 ..... an old retired Architect and Interior Designer / Government Employee from Canada..

  Dec 28, 2025
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  A great week in Mexico

  This was a family Christmas Vacation. Going, our goal was relaxing, enjoying our time as a family, getting some warm weather in December, and enjoying the food. The food was excellent. The buffets were fresh and tasty and had a good deal of variety. The Riu app was flakey at times and trying to get reservations at a few of the 'appointment only' restaurants was somehow never possible. However, showing up at those restaurants and being willling to wait for an opening always worked. The grandkids loved the pools and the waterslides. Constant all day fun! The beach is beautiful and very well maintained. If there was any dissapontmentat all, it was the quality of the app, for which so many things depended, the pools being closed at dusk (evening pool time with the kids would have been so nice), and the seeming confusion when we got ready to leave. Standing in the lobby with our bags for an hour and a half, with the staff seeming to have to scrounge for transportation to the airport, was probably not a good way to send people off. When all is said and done, we will seriously give consideration to returning again! Special praise needs to go to the staff who were working over Christmas to serve us with kindness and excellence and away from their own family and Christmas celebrations. It was a Christmas to remember!

  Dec 28, 2025
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  Average . Wouldn’t return.

  Average food, watered down drinks for sure but the overall stay was pretty good. Would not return to this hotel. Liked Old Mazatlan. We ventured into town three different times.

  Dec 28, 2025