This was our (girlfriend and myself) second trip to Cancun in the past 6 months. On our previous trip we stayed at the JW Marriott and had a fantastic time so we decided to come back, but stay someplace different. This trip was just as good, if not better than the first.

I am by no means a seasoned international traveler or anything like that, but the RIU Caribe was just what I needed for a fantastic trip. No, it is not a 5 star resort with 5 star quality restaurants and everything, but it's value for the price is top notch. What really made this place for me was the service and friendly staff who always tried to make our vacation as enjoyable as possible.

I'll start with the bad (since there isn't much!)...when we arrived at check in (they bring a drink which is a nice touch) we were "greeted" by a guy behind the desk. His name escapes me, but I remember him being mentioned on this site before as being somewhat unfriendly and this held true on my visit as well. He didn't seem too interested in answering any of our questions or really helping us in any way. That was somewhat disappointing as we'd never been to an AI place and had a few things we wanted to know. Next, and this isn't really "bad" necessarily for me as i basically passed out every night I was there, but the beds are pretty hard! Like I said, didn't bother me a bit, but might bother some....I almost feel like I'm nit-picking for even mentioning it.

The good...drinks were great and there were plenty of them! If you bring your own mug/cup it helps quite a bit as there are small cups available from the bars. However, this wasn't a huge issue when we forgot our mugs in the room as capacity wasn't high and we really didn't wait to get the smaller cups filled back up. The bartenders out at the pool bar are fantastic and keep things moving quickly. They're great! The pool area is large enough to spread out a bit if you feel like it, but we mainly stayed in the "activity" area and met people from all over the place. Things did get a bit rowdy and a few tops came off on our next to last day there, but it was all in good fun and it made for an enjoyable experience. The food was good enough for somebody like me and I have no complaints as I wasn't there long enough for things to seem repetative to me.

All in all, this was the perfect vacation for the price and I really look forward to going back as soon as I can!

The value I got from this trip is fantastic. I paid $538/person 3 nights + air fare + 24 hr inclusive. The restaurants served delicious food in very clean and well decorated restaurants each with their own décor/theme. Not sure why many websites rank the hotel as a 3 or 3.5 star I would give it at least 4 stars.

The hotel location is very nice and you’re surrounded by plenty of white sand beach turquoise blue waters. Riu Caribe beach location is excellent. It’s not the same at other hotels. There are lots of rooms with ocean view which is a must if you’re staying there. Do not get a room without ocean view. Must vacation packages will include ocean view room. Ours was and they gave us another room in the front of the hotel on the first floor without the ocean view. I spoke with the receptionist and they exchanged our room the next morning. They said they had ran out of ocean view rooms and had to wait for a party to leave one of theirs. In the end we got what we asked and paid for. Overall a clean and well kept facility, of course there are some flaws because nothing is perfect. Bathroom toilet wouldn’t flush at one point which was fixed the very next morning while they were doing room cleaning. They probably noticed the water was about to overflow. At least they took care of it and we didn’t have to call or anything.

Would highly recommend this hotel to anyone if they were to stay in Cancun we feel our vacation package was an exceptional value. Maybe the “Swine flu” scare forced the rates down a bit. The 24 hour inclusive is a great deal, would not book another hotel in Cancun without it. I really love the freedom of going out to eat/drink while leaving your wallet in your room/safe. It’s just a wonderful feeling.

We had the most awful start to our holiday-we were a couple of hours in the air when the pilot came on the tannoy and said we were returning to Gatwick due to a fault on the plane resulting in the air pressure falling-great!

We arrived to the hotel about 7 hours later than we should of and there was someone there to take our bags to the room straightaway. During check in someone came over with a drink whist the team explained the cards etc

When we got to the room we were pleasently suprised. Athough it prides itself on being a '5 star' hotel, we have found that 5 star abroad is very different to 5 star in London! We had a wicked few, 2 double beds, plenty of storage, tv, fan and air con! Yes the room could of done with bein updated however im sure many hotels in Cancun are the same. The bathroom was beautiful and clean! Dont bother taking a hairdryer as the one provided was more powerful than my Big Shot!

Rooms cleaned everyday and towels are changed when ever they are put in the bath. Mini bar restocked everyday-although they vary the times. Occasionally my late afternoon nap was interupted!

The welcome meeting was brief but informative. Donna (First Choice) was really good, we came back the next day with the excursions we wanted to do and she went through all of them. We done the bar crawl, swimming with dophins and the park and the pirate ship-all thoroughly recommended!!

The hotel grounds are great-its deffo worth stopping off in reception and watching the terrapins fighting each other!

The beach is beautiful and well maintained, the pool area is great-there is a section if you dont want to get involved with the pool entertainment. And there are always enough loungers! We didnt see anyone get up especially early for them.

The entertainment is ok but being honest i have seen better at Butins-but the shows at Butins are wicked! Make sure you watchin the circus night-brilliant! During the day round the pool the entertainment is repetitive but fun :)

We went to one of the a la carte restaurants once as we preferred the buffet restaurant as there was more choice-we did not eat the same dinner meal during the 2 weeks, the variety at dinner was very good!!

The hotel is a bit further out than Riu Cancun however we saw so many people from the Riu Cancun visitng the Riu Caribe and when we asked why, they said that the Caribe was better! The buses are great-every 2-3 mins, i felt safer on these buses than i do on public transport in London!

The clubs are bars are great, try to plan where you are going otherwise you will be pulled pillar to post! The only bar we would say not to go to is the Bulldog Ice bar. We paid £45 each, the beer was watery, music rubbish and all the tables were reserved and if you wanted one, the waiters would start a bidding war between you and someone else-not impressed at all!

Eating out is really expensive so wouldnt recommend it-but the food is good at Riu Caribe so you will have no reason to!

Had a fab time would deffo go back :)

Me and my boyfriend stayed in the Riu Caribe for 2weeks and had the best time! The hotel is gorgeous and the staff are great - especially the entertainment staff and the Cookie Monster.
Entertainment -
The hotels entertainment was good, the staff tried really hard to keep everyone happy and although at times a little bit cheesy, it was very funny. We went to Coco Bongs with the entertainment staff and it is a must see, it is fantastic in there, and is great for all ages. The staff did there best to make sure everyone was seated and had enough to drink :) Oh and they dont tell u wen u check in where the theatre is and we didnt know that there was entertainment at night for a bout 3nights as its out the way a bit, so make sure u ask at reception where the theatre is.
Food -
The food was very good for an all inc resort, we were there for 2weeks and never went hungry. My boyfriend will eat anything but im quite fussy so was worried that i wouldnt like anything but there was plenty of choice. We loved the marshmallows with choloate sauce the best!
Hotel/Swimming Pool -
The Hotel was lovely and always kept very clean. The swimming pool is a decent size so that one side the people who want to play the games can and for the people who dont they can swim with out getting distracted. The lobby bar can get quite busy at nite so try and get seats quick!
Rooms -
Ok so the rooms werent great as it says in alot of the reviews, they do need updating and the beds are a bit hard, but they are clean and to be honest how much time do u really spend in the room on holiday? The shower is powerful and always has hot water and the hair dryer is very powerful which i thought was fab!
Trips -
We actually on the one trip which was diving, this was one of the best things iv done. We saw sharks, massive turtles and hundreds of fish. We went out 3times :) The only bad thing was that the man who took us out took pics of us then sold us the cd with pictures on it but wen we got back it was a cd with music on it and no pictures!! So check in the sports bar that ur cd is actually of u and not music. We also went to Coco Bongs which i cant rave about enough, soooo good. And we went to Daddy O's which we loved as we like R'n'B music. Also the shopping mall nearby is worth going to have a look at.
Overall -
The hotel was lovely but the staff made it for us. They kept us entertained the whole 2weeks we were there. We met some really nice people who we will stay in touch with. The only problem we have now is where to go next year as no where could be as good as the Riu Caribe. Ignore all the negetive reviews and have a blast!