My girlfriend and I just got back from Cancun and the Riu Caribe. Here is an overview and hopefully you find this helpful.

Room - The room was good, not great, but honestly how much time will you spend in your room. The view was great with a view of the pool and the ocean. There is a minibar that is stocked daily and there is a liquor dispenser. The room was clean as well. However, the room is a bit dated and the bed is very uncomfortable. There is a safe in the room and overall we felt very secure.

Food - If you have done all inclusive before, you know it is like cafeteria type of food and that's what the food at the hotel was. The breakfast was really good and the "make your own" donuts were quite tasty. Lunch was ok, but it was the same food every day. For dinner, they had a buffet and 3 ala carte restaurants. We ate at the steak house and it was good. The buffet was ok, but like I said, it was a lot of the same food day after day. We got tired of the food, so we ate in Cancun a few nights. However, there is a pizzeria and it was the best food there. They make fresh pizza and I highly recommend it. The hotel does not have room service either. There is a sports bar that has 24 hour service and food. It has burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. It was ok, but good in a pinch if you're hungry.

Beach - The beach was amazing. There are no rocks, no shells, etc.. and just white sand. One helpful hint is that if you want beach chairs with an umbrella, you need to reserve your chair by 9am or else they will be all gone.

Pool - The pool is huge and great as well. There are two sides to the pool. One side is where all the activities are (volleyball, water aerobics, etc..) and the other side is a little more relaxing. Same tip here for reserving a chair with shade.

Service/Staff - This was probably the best part of the hotel. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. At dinner, they were quick to refill drinks or take your plates away when finished. There was always a waiter or waitress around to take your drink orders.

Location - The location is about 2 miles away from the center part of the hotel zone in Cancun. It is about a $10 taxi ride from the hotel to most of the clubs and restaurants. There is also the bus option, which we heard was safe, but chose just to take a taxi. There is a marina that is about a 10 minute walk and you can take plenty of excursions from the marina.

Shows - There is a show every night, but we only saw two of them: Karaoke and the Couples Show. Karaoke was ok. Half of the people that participate speak Spanish and the others speak English so if you don't know Spanish, then you really didn't know the songs that they were singing. The Couples Show was hilarious. I highly recommend it.

Excursions - My girlfriend did a scuba excursion, which you can buy at the hotel. She really enjoyed it and would recommend it. I was a first timer and tried it, but didn't enjoy it. We paid $99 each and part of that is for the scuba training. If you are a first timer like me and decide not to go out to the ocean after taking the training, then ask for the rest of your money back and they will give it to you. We also took a night trip to Coco Bongo. It was $50 and it was through the hotel. That included our one way trip there, admission, VIP admission and open bar. Alcohol is pretty expensive at clubs, so I'd recommend this if you are planning on drinking a lot. Finally, we took a day trip to Isla Mujeres. I give this an A+. We bought this through the Scuba desk at the hotel for $65 each. That included round trip transportation, open bar on the boat, lunch, snorkeling and holding a shark (trust me, it's fun). For the cost and all you get, it is totally worth it.

Gym - The gym was ok. It had some treadmills and bikes, but the weights and equipment weren't too good. The weights go up to 45 lbs and the machine was an older universal machine.