Riu Palace Baja California Adults Only - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

2778 reviews

• 

  Fun week in Cabo!

  Just back last week from 7 nights and was very well pleased. We had a partial ocean view jr. suite and had a wonderful view towards the marina. The room was clean and the bed comfortable. The RIU app for room and mini bar requests is great. We don’t like regular pepsi and we were fully stocked with Pepsi black (their Pepsi Zero) upon request. Waters and beer restocked plentifully when needed. The fridge did quit working the last day and even though they said it was fixed it was not. The gym is OK, you can get in a workout, the cardio machines are busy and taken quickly. Good assortment of dumbbells and a a few machine weight set ups. Various cardio machines, benches and mats. Get in by 6:00 a.m. as by 7:00 its full in there. Apparently the Santa Fe has a great gym but I never ventured over there to try it out. The pool is fantastic. We spent most of our time at the upper pool. If you want loungers by the lower pool or at the edges of the upper pool you’ll need to get there early to get your spot. Overall there were always chairs available at the pool area. Drinks at the pool were very good. We were there from a Saturday to Saturday and the first three days pool service was excellent. We had a group of 5 and always tipped 5-7 dollars a round. After the first three days the pool was not as busy and it seemed like staff was either much slower or they were cut down. Even by last Thurs and Friday of our stay it was still inconsistent. The bartenders did remember our orders when we walked to the bar and all the pool staff and bartending staff was very friendly. Pepe’s has good poolside food, each day there was something different besides burgers, hot dogs, nachos and fries. Ribs one day, BBQ wings another, pork and chicken tacos etc. We ate at the Steakhouse (Guacamole) twice, Krystal once and the Italian twice. All the food was good, this is not 5 Star dining but all the meals our group had were flavorful, hot and well prepared. The surf and turf filet at the Steakhouse was very well prepared and had good taste. Our group had a few dinners at the buffet along with lunch and breakfast. Their breakfast buffet was very well laid out and had a number of options. There are made to order omelets as well as several choices of breakfast sandwiches and traditional Mexican breakfast entrees. The fruit was fresh and tasty and the salad bar was nicely done for late breakfast if you like a salad. The resort is very clean and well maintained. There is always landscaping and cleaning going on. The staff is welcoming and helpful. The atmosphere is very relaxing but very easy to get into the fun vibe the staff works on at the pool. While not a hard party resort everyone around was very much enjoying themselves and having a good time. The adults only nature of the resort is very nice. On average the week we were there I’d say it’s a early 30's to mid 50's crowd but there was plenty of 20 somethings. I’ would not hesitate to come back, In fact we are looking at booking a week back in March.

  Dec 26, 2025
• 

  We’ve got the “ick”

  We’ve only been here for a couple of hours but it’s been a disaster thus far. We can’t get on the internet (they give you an elaborate user and password and then when you leave your room you have to remember the paper they gave you to reenter it all). The line for elite club when we checked in and again when our room was ready was ridiculous. The original girl who checked us in was very helpful but when we went back for our keys, Isabel was more interested in flirting with a taxi driver and I sat and sat and waited for her to acknowledge me (as I was standing at her desk). I finally said, please give me our keys. She was still flirting and multitasking so it took her forever to just hand us our damn keys! She didn’t even acknowledge us or tell us where our room was but we figured it out. The room is fine. Bare minimum (no soaps, cotton balls etc… and we are in elite) We ate a late lunch (eewwww not sure how you mess up a chicken taco in Mexico but it was nasty and it made me sick). Then we tried to get towels to sit by the pool and the guy refused to give us towels because apparently you need a special plastic key to exchange one for a towel and ours were in the room. Our room key and black band were not good enough to give us towels so we had to do the 10 minute walk back to our room to get the plastic to exchange for towels. In order to get new towels tomorrow, we have to bring our old towels and get the plastic back. They don’t do any cleaning up. They don’t collect towels (since you have to bring yours back and it’s not close at all). I have been staring at a plate of fly infested fries on the ground near us for over an hour. ICK. If you are expecting anything close to high end, do not book here. If you are here to party, eat crap food and drink cheap drinks, this is your place. This was a last minute decision and I wish I would have paid closer attention to the reviews. We will not be back. I will update at the end of our stay if anything improves but we’re not holding our breath.

  Dec 23, 2025
• 

  Fun Time

  We checked in on a Monday afternoon, so they weren't too busy. The front desk staff were very friendly. Our room was ready and it was amazing with an ocean view. We travel a lot and this was the best ocean view we have ever experienced. The breakfast buffet had everything you could ever want. One thing missing was berries. There was a lot of fruit, but no berries. We only ate dinner at the Elite restaurant, the Steakhouse and buffet. All were good. The Baja California is uniquely positioned on the beach with incredible views. A walk down to the Sandbar for a massage is an absolute must. We were also fortunate to participate in an early morning turtle release. This was right in front of the resort. Whales were occasionally visible from the pool. The pool area offers plenty of loungers, sun and shade, so no need to get up early to reserve your spot. The beverage and snack cart are a great addition. We did go to the Santa Fe for a couple of the parties, was great for people watching. The evening shows were just ok, except the Crazy Show was the best. We will be sure to return again next year!

  Dec 23, 2025
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  My 7th ? review of Baja Riu

  According to my Riu Club bookings I’ve been here now 7 times since they opened about 8 years ago. I came here in September (girls trip) and was back again December 12-19 on a family vacation. We booked private shuttle with Mike Contreras. He is highly recommended and can be found on FB. $180 usd return plus tips. Upon checkin unfortunately my request to NOT be by the Riu Party zone was ignored but I didn’t say anything as she was able to give my parents a courtyard at no extra fee. We stayed regular as Elite club isn’t at all worth it to us. No point in an ocean view or partial ocean view when we are hardly in the room. We also left the resort a few times for excursions and dining out. Also tip well and you can have your option of preferred alcohol. Yet again I didn’t see many people tipping. It’s so unfortunate as the workers are absolutely fantastic and deserve the extra daily tips. Another issue we just experienced the last few trips here is the constant vomiting in the pools causing them to get shutdown for 24 ish hours. The hotel should really apply a charge to those who do this as it ruins the stay for other guests. Another trend we are seeing at this resort is very young people. So if you don’t have patience for young adults being loud all day and all night I highly recommend you don’t stay here. Night entertainment is a bore. The only good night was the karaoke night with rock band. We did a few Riu parties over at the Santa Fe and they are always a blast. Food we haven’t ever experienced any issues here but it gets old real fast so we did have a few dinners in town. Just $16usd for the taxi. We did enjoy the food. No issues at all. Hallways super loud and partying due to the younger crowd the hotel now attracts. I’ll be back again on future girl trips just I feel with my parents I’ll have to try a secrets or dreams resort for them as this place is a tad rowdy. And again and again tip and stop puking in the pools. Riu please start charging for this.

  Dec 21, 2025
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  Don’t stay RIU adults only…kids are better than worse property!

  Went to the Riu Adults only hotel w my wife for 5 days and the only good thing about the place is you can go to the other Riu properties next door. The ADULT ONLY hotel is by far the WORST property out of the 3! The parties are at the Riu Santa Fe and that place has many more dining options and to be honest all of the restaurants at the Riu resorts that allow kids are WAY better than the adults only resort. The facilities at the adult only resort are FAR subpar compared to the other two resorts. I mean you can get sushi/sashimi at the resorts that allow kids and nothing of the sort at the Adult Only resort…wtf!? The band/stage is in the middle of the hotel so no matter where your room is you will def stay up until midnight bc of the noise and NOBODY is at these shows! The place literally sucks. Wish I stayed at Santa Fe and I was surrounded by kids as the food options were better and the stages were more secluded away from rooms where you can actually sleep before 12p if you wanted to. RIU def messed up bad w this option for being their adults only hotel. 👎

  Dec 16, 2025