We stayed at the Riu Cancun over the 4th July 2009 weekend. 4 nights 5 days. This review is from a typical family. Mom & Dad, with 2 sons over 21 yrs old and their 2 friends over 21. Overall our trip was excellent. The town of Cancun has grown and is really a serious party town. Here is my review. Cancun is not cheap, don't let anyone tell you Mexico is cheap. We do like nice dinners. Riu Cancun is all-inclusiver but you have to get away for a few meals outside. Typical dinner for 6 with several alcohol drinks each will run you at least $150. As for Riu Cancun: Hotel is nice, slightly above average, its a little old and really needs some updates. However its on the beach and salt water does wonders on buildings. Their pool and beach are the best part of the hotel. It is very nice, we like the beach the best. Pools are very nice, with cool crowd, not to crazy but fun. Food at hotel "SUCKS", someone needs to speak with the chef. Buffets and restaurants are just not good. Our main gripe: beer is watered down, and margarites, darquires are also "extremely" watered down. You don't get what you pay for. Their serve alcohol out of plastic bottles and off brands I have never seen. I do travel alot internationally. Overall hotel is nice, most of the staff is very friendly, except for the check out staff. Rude as it gets. Bottom line I do not recommend and will not return. We will return in the distance future to Cancun but will not return to Riu Cancun. Good luck in your travel. I hope this helps.

Riu Cancun was not what we expected. We expected a mid range resort for a vacation. We normally go to a Riu Palace property. We found that the junior suite had a full ocean view. It was as spacious and as comfortable as a palace room. The lanai was huge and it had a FULL VIEW of the ocean. Outstanding value! The food was far above average in the dining hall in the evening and the restaurants were good. We enjoyed the pools and the convenient distances when we wanted to eat or go to the pool. It was not so huge that you needed a golf cart! Spare me that! The beach was outstanding. Very big and beautiful! We are considering foregoing a Riu Palace in the future and going to this resort. It was relaxing and the other guests were happy and friendly. The staff was outstanding. Maid service was prompt and perfect. Better than the Riu Palaces we have stayed at within the past 5 years. We normally stay at a Riu Resort because the quality is consistent. The Riu Cancun was a huge wonderful surprise. We highly recommend it to older travelers and couples traveling without children! It is child friendly, but it is not so child friendly that adults without children feel out of place! Moon Palace is so into children there is no place or empty chairs for the older adult traveler at pools or in restaurants. You are a minority there and not necessarily a welcome one. Riu Cancun was superior!

I went to the Riu Cancun with my friend for two weeks holiday, I had the most amazin time and im most definatley going back to this hotel next year. I cant understand the bad reviews, as there is nothing bad about this hotel. If people think this hotel is bad, i cant imagine what they are used to, as we were treated like royalty the whole time we were there. The staff are absolutley fantastic, from the waiting on staff to the entertainment staff, you cant fault anything. The food is out of this world, there is every kind of food possible. I would recomend this hotel to aqnyone, and i wouldnt take notice of the bad reviews, they obviously dont know fantastic when it hits them in the face.

I booked this for a Christmas getaway w/my adult children. Our flight was about one hour late landing, but we were relatively quickly put on a transport and taken to the hotel. On check-in discovered that they did not have my preferences/request (or so they said) on our rooms and they placed us in standard rooms in the bowels of the hotel. These rooms were terrible. They smelled like wet dog. The bedding stunk, pillows stunk, towels stunk. I went back to the front desk and told them this was not acceptable - their response was "you can stay in the lobby." Finally they consented to move us the next day (confessed they were over booked and had already given out the room type I had reserved), but we would have to hang around until the rooms were ready. The 2nd set of rooms were more inline w/what I had reserved and quite acceptable. The only issue was that we had to spend a day hanging around and checking/rechecking w/the front desk to move (trade keys, etc.) until the room situation was straightened out. Felt like we lost a day of holiday (exploring, etc.) waiting on them. The front desk (believe me I asked for managers, etc.) was terrible - rude, didn't care, refused to get manager, etc. This really ruined a short holiday get-away and left a bad taste.
Upon return to the states, I did contact our Vacation Booking company (Worry-Free Travel) and have to say that they really stepped up and sent me a future travel voucher ($750.) due to the fisasco on the hotel. I felt this was very generous. Sad thing was, this was a gift & I felt it got ruined & I was powerless to correct it.
Food was okay; good selections.