Riu Lupita - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

5149 reviews

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  Had a great time at the Riu Lupita

  We stayed at the Riu Lupita in March 2026. The resort is small, but we really enjoyed it. The room we had overlooked the quiet pool. The balcony was nice and the maid came everyday and did a great job cleaning up. The fridge was filled with water, soft drinks and beer. We never felt short on water, which was great. The main activity pool was fairly large and a nice temperature. There is no swim up bar, but the main bar is very close. There are lots of activities at the pool. I played bingo a couple of times, and my husband participated in a cup stacking competition. It also had lots of room to just relax and chat with people. You had to catch a shuttle to the beach. It ran every 30 minutes and was always on time. The driver was fun and always gave you a fist bump when you got on. The shuttle would drop you at a stop near 5th avenue in Playa Del Carmen if you wanted to go into town, or take you to the beach. The beach was 15 minutes away. The beach had a restaurant, bar and a small pool. We spent most of our days there as we loved bobbing in the waves. The food was basic but good. I mostly ate tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa or a hamburger. The bar service at the resort was great. The bartenders always served people in order of when they arrived, and they made great drinks. I loved the iced coffee with Baileys. At the main bar at the resort, you could also get lattes and Americanos whenever you wanted. We ate at the Mexican restaurant, the Italian restaurant and the buffet. We liked the Italian better than the Mexican, but both were good. The buffet had a great variety. The resort had daily shows at 9:30pm. The Mexican show was the best one. The others were okay, but I have seen better shows at other resorts. The late night snack bar was actually a fridge of snacks and a microwave to heat them up. It seemed a little odd at first, but actually worked well. The ham and cheese burrito was my favourite. There was a disco open most nights at 11pm. It was back behind the quiet pool and never very busy. We had the most fun on Saturday night as there were more people there then. We felt they should have advertised the disco more as many people seemed unaware of its existence. Overall, the resort was a lot of fun and we would return to it. The staff were friendly and helpful, and I really appreciated how clean they kept everything.

  Mar 20, 2026
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  A Mexican treat apart from the food...and a few noisy Canadians..

  We spent 12 days at Riu Lupita and despite a few issues we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The staff are friendly and accommodating, the rooms are clean, and the wildlife is amazing. We had a ground floor room near to the amenities ( due to my arthritic legs) and enjoyed sitting on the balcony watching the wildlife. Our particular favourite was the 'Big Ig', an Iguana who sat outside our balcony every day and just chilled. we saw some beautiful birds, a monkey, a couple of Agouti's, and numerous Coati's who were like a bunch of marauding scooter skins who roamed in packs to steal whatever they could get their hands on - very entertaining ..My wife saw a Monkey and a neighbour spotted a Deer which unfortunately we missed. There was also an occasional cockroach but that is only to be expected in such a humid location. The let down was the food.. it was ok for the first couple of days but went down hill rapidly. Do not eat at the specialty Mexican restaurant . The food is really poor quality and the beef not fit for consumption. On the plus side the starters and Salmon at the Italian are certainly worth a try but that can be hard to get in as it only has 30 covers. The main buffet got so bad we had to go into 5th Avenue on a couple of occasions to get something decent to eat. I would highly recommend La bodeguita del medio for Cuban food and music, the meatballs, Cuban chicken and rice is well cooked and you get a healthy portion. I would also recommend Pez Vela for superb Mexican food and really attentive staff. Fantastic Fajitas and not overpriced. One of the animation team recommended Karens restaurant on 5th Avenue for food and Mariachi - avoid like the plague. We spent £75 on food that was tepid and inedible and the waiter didn't flinch or inquire as to why we wanted it taken away after just one mouthful, as though it was a regular occurrence. When chilling at the hotel the main pool is good fun and plenty of sunbeds to choose from. The water is warm and the pool is cleaned daily. The staff at the bar are friendly and attentive, they will make whatever you request but at times you may have to wait to be served. You can access drinks and food if needed 24 hours a day as they have a fridge with burritos and burgers in for those with late night munchies. The music taste at the pool is either Latin pop or cheesey 80's pop which is great for a night out in Soho but not really cool enough for an old git like me to chill by a pool. Although they did play some Bob Marley one morning. The animation team work exceptionally hard to engage everyone there and due to current difficulties many Canadians who were headed to Cuba chose to relocate the Lupita, this increased their workload. The Canadians I engaged with with lovely people but some can be very loud - It was their spring break and they wanted to party, as would have I if I was 25 years younger but to be fair I chose the Lupita as a place to chill. We did try the beach one day but it is a bit of a trek and I sat at the sunbeds by the pool which led to my feet being swarmed by red ants which do bite so decided to give that a swerve. The entertainment in the evening is varied and at times really good. I enjoyed the Mariachi and Mexican history show. I also enjoyed the pop star show which kicked off with a cracking Elvis. Give the Michael Jackson show a miss for obvious reasons and the Queen show was a bit odd. I must give a big heads up for Marco the Tui rep. He went over and above to get me some heart medication (which I stupidly left at home) and is a genial and helpful man. A credit to Tui .. We did do a Catamaran trip to Isla Mujeres on the Tui boat Soprano. A superb boat, well fitted with sunbeds and bean bags . It has a great crew always filling your drinks and ensuring you enjoy the day. The down side is the 2 and half hours it takes to reach Cancun stopping at all the hotels in Playacar to people pick up. For those who vape I managed to get one in by keeping it in my pocket. I also bought a disposable vape from a street vendor on 5th Ave for 600 Pesos that lasted a good week and a half. All in all it was a good holiday and a positive first experience of Mexico. Would I return to Lupita ? Yes.. but not when it is Spring Break and I would take a packed lunch...

  Mar 20, 2026
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  Rip Lupita

  A small but everything u need in a resort .

  Mar 19, 2026
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  DO NOT STAY HERE if you're under the age of 60

  By far the worst resort I ever stayed at. It's target audience is senior citizens . The resort is so small . When we arrived I was thinking this is it? I was one of the youngest people there. I was trying to get transferred to another resort in the first day, the sales team claimed there were no other rooms anywhere else. The resort needs upgrades. All channels in the tv were in Spanish with the exception of news channels. We were bored most of the time and the only reason why I stayed the entire 5 days is bc our flights kept getting delayed/cancelled, so I had no choice. The conti(monkey rodents) were roaming freely, digging in the trash and walking right up to people. There's plenty of signs that say don't feel them but ppl still were. I went to one of the RUI parties, returned to the resort and my room and one of the rodents was sleeping outside of my door so I couldn't enter my room. I walked all the way back to the front desk and the specialist didn't seem to care at all. Casually ignoring me and checking in new guests. I finally was able to flag someone down after 10-15 minutes, he walked with me back to my room and the this was still there. He scared it away and I was able to get in my room. Talk about traumatized. There were so many negative things I can't even name them all. The only reason I have one star is bc the wonderful staff.. Carlos, Saymon, and Auturo in the dining area were the best! Delfino the bartender made the late nights fun. Raquel at the front desk seemed to care. Other than that I feel like I wasted my money and time here. I tried to make the best of it but it kept getting worse. This was the first time I couldn't wait to get home. I wish I wouldn't cancelled and book the other room and not listened to my stupid boyfriend. Please don't stay here if you're young or want to have fun. And if you are a poc, do not stay here. I think it was 7 poc total. The entire stay was horrible.

  Mar 19, 2026
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  My 24 yr old son was hot one night when the air conditioner went out in our room. Was charged 50 canadian to clean bedding. So n

  Sweaty sheets paid $50 fine!!

  Mar 17, 2026