Riu Palace Baja California - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

2799 reviews

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  Fun in the sun

  3 couples for 60th birthday trip. Fun, clean, mostly good food (Italian, steak house ok), tip extra for booze upgrades.

  Feb 23, 2026
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  Not the best….

  This resort has beautiful, well maintained grounds. They only allow for 1 towel per person and the food selection was just ok. The grilled fish and omelette stations are great.

  Feb 21, 2026
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  What a disappointment.

  Background: Mid-forty husband/wife couple. We look for good food, nightly entertainment, great beach, and cleanliness when booking a vacation. We have previously stayed at two other RIU palace properties: Pacifico in Puerta Vallarta and Kukulkan in Cancun. We have also stayed at many other various brand all inclusive resorts. Pros: Friendly staff, great food, lay out of resort, gym facility, cleanliness. Cons: 1. Beach: harassment by beach vendors was relentless. No relaxation to be found on the beach because of this. The vendors infiltrated the beach right up to resort walls and stood in a group at bottom of the stairs. Every 30 seconds we had to fend one off. If you didn’t want their initial offer of a hat/sunglasses/bracelet, the offer moved to “weed.” They also set up their “spot” just outside the roped area which completely impeded resort goers view of the beach/ocean. What’s the point of the roped of beach area if the vendors are allowed to disregard it? RIU needs to address this. This is the main reason we will not return to this resort. 2. Pool: the chair game is real strong here. Not policed at all by Riu. Chairs are claimed prior to 7am and then NEVER used the entire day. They have plenty of chairs to go round, but we struggled to find one by the the pool because of the games being played. This is our third RIU palace resort and the first time we experienced this. 3. Birds: this resort has been inundated by seagulls. We were pooled in several times while in pool area. RIU needs to address this. Never experienced this in all my years going to all inclusive resorts in Mexico. This is the second reason we will not return to this resort. 4. Nightly entertainment: when compared to Kukulkan this resort had more entertainment. However, when compared to Pacifico, this resort had horrible entertainment. None of the shows were engaging. We left shortly after they started all nights. The best entertainment we had here was the resort goer karaoke! We won’t be returning to this resort. Strongly considering another brand resort after our experience here.

  Feb 19, 2026
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  BEWARE: UNAUTHORIZED entry into room and REFUSAL to provide any assistance on shuttle service issue that made us miss ou

  If you want your belongings stolen from your room and you want to miss your flight with their shuttle service, then this is the hotel for you! UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY INTO ROOM: I wish I had read the reviews more carefully before booking, as the complaints about unauthorized room entry appear to be more common than you might expect. We kept our “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door for all three nights of our stay. On the second evening, I returned around 5:00 p.m. to find our bed made and the living area partially tidied. Alarmed that someone had entered despite the sign, I immediately checked my suitcase, where I had intentionally hidden an envelope of cash for staff tips beneath a specific bag and out of plain sight. The bag had been moved, the envelope was exposed, and cash was missing. To make matters worse, the room was not fully cleaned—empty water bottles and a champagne glass were left behind. This partial cleanup strongly suggests the entry was deliberate and hurried, occurring at a time when staff likely knew we would be away. I would also caution against relying on the in-room safe. Based on both our experience and similar reports from other guests, hotel staff appear to have access, and valuables may not be secure. SHUTTLE SERVICE: Our reservation included complimentary airport shuttle service. Unfortunately, we were booked on the wrong shuttle and did not arrive at the airport until just five minutes before our scheduled departure. The time we were originally given should have allowed us to arrive roughly two hours before the flight, which seemed reasonable when we looked at the times. As the service provider coordinating these transfers, the hotel should have ensured we were placed on an earlier shuttle. On the day of shuttle service, we found out they were making a second stop at the adjacent hotel (Riu Santa Fe). We didn’t leave the premise for another hour from our initial departure time. This is a huge mistake on their end and their failure to recognize the appropriate time it takes to get from the hotel to the airport. There was no indication to us that there was another stop and made us to believe the shuttle was direct from the hotel to the airport. We relied on the hotel’s judgment, as they simply asked for our flight departure time and arranged the transfer. After the incident, I contacted RIU by phone and email, but they declined responsibility and instead directed blame to their third-party partner, “Destination Services”. We booked directly through the hotel, which communicates directly to Destination Services. At the end of the day, the hotel arranged the service and failed to provide it. Surely, they should rename their company because the last thing they can provide is a service to your “destination”. Because of this error, we missed the only direct flight home that day. We were forced to rebook at our own expense onto a flight with a layover, stay overnight in another city, and return home the following day. Don’t bother with their shuttle service. In fact, don’t bother staying at their chain of hotels. They will put blame on others and refuse to help the guests.

  Feb 18, 2026
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  Lack of accountability and poor management ruined our stay

  Riu clearly does not prioritize its guests' experiences. What would have been an okay stay turned into a nightmare due to their third-party transportation partner, Destination Services. While Riu offers this service directly on their website, the fine print distances them from any liability. When we booked, we received a confirmation email from Riu, not the transport company which naturally led us to trust the service. We relied on the departure time they provided, but it was nowhere near sufficient. The shuttle stopped at two additional resorts, and we watched our flight time slip away on Google Maps before we even reached the airport. We ultimately missed our flight. When we approached Riu management, they showed zero empathy. They immediately hid behind their terms and conditions, stating they weren't responsible and that we had to deal with Destination Services ourselves. While I understand legal terms, the lack of basic customer care for a service sold through their own platform is unacceptable. The manager's attitude was essentially "you're on your own." Consider this a PSA: do not trust their shuttle service. Riu needs to retrain their staff on empathy and reconsider using a more reliable transportation partner instead of simply deflecting blame when things go wrong.

  Feb 16, 2026