Staying at Riu palace Costa Rica last nights entertainment was armed police and gaurds dealing with a drunken American football team who had started fighting and throwing things several of us guests tried to calm the situation , but the situation had gotten out of hand I realised that security would be needed the only staff at front off desk was oscar the bespectacled receptionists and of course when he realised when he was going to be asked to help he ran away . Not appearing again until after the police had taken the football team into custody and left . It may have been his supper time which alongside of I am counting money are his favourite excuses for not helping guests , shame we could not calm the lads down spoilt it for themselves and everyone else

I am currently staying at the Rui palace Costa Rica this is a great hotel with excellent staff and attention to detail , saying that they have got my room wrong despite emailing the hotel three time and emailing both first choice and Tui I got the wrong room , I have sorted this myself by handing over bank card to an obnoxious man called oscar at reception he took the payment seven times and I waited five hours to get in my room this was only achieved when a helpful lady called Christina came and helped. So not to serious a problem , but the five hours I spent in oscars company are my real concern , he explained to me I was not important and only a guest were he has the important job of counting cash , this was the reason he did not bother to try to help me he was counting 2000 dollars for forty minutes and I am not important . If this level of stupid abuse was all I would not bother typing but over the five hours I was waiting I saw this attitude many times with many geusts the worst being an amputee who was also made to stand at the desk and was told by oscar that he felt he did not need the room that he had also booked as oscar felt he should be able to manage the gentleman is a multiple amputee and I was disgusted by his treatment by oscar . I have been at this hotel for a week now and had similar stories related to me this bad apple could seriously affect what is an excellent team this cash counter who is obviously incompetent needs taking of the front desk and putting out of the way we're he can no longer insult guests, it does not take seven attempts to take a payment it does not take forty minutes to count 2000 thousand dollars . I will not know if I paid for room once twice or eight times until I return home I have written to Rui but received no reply . My days currently finish pushing Tony the amputee back up a very steep ramp as so far no allowance is made for this husband and wife or their needs . Oscar is both a bully and a smug prat and Riu must be held accountable for this person

We are currently saying at the riu Touareg boa Vista and I have to say I have not got a clue where you get the five star rating from unless you found two on the beach.
I understand that everything has to be made or run at a unit cost per head , but really this place is a joke. We appreciate the staff are mainly young but at least should be trained to some sort of standard. I don't know if they don't fully understand English or are just taking the proverbial. We are not big drinkers but prefer the drinks we do have to be drinkable and consistent,not flavoured ice water. Maybe this is a directive to the staff to serve as little beverage in the drinks as possible pack them out with as much ice as you can only give a splash of spirit and make the rest up with flavoured soda water .
Personally I would pay more for branded drinks made properly and enjoy them.I would have thought more from a company like yours but obviously your no different from the rest cheap and not so cheerful.
Then there's the matter of the WC facilities or should I say the lack of them especially in an hotel of this size and guest numbers, none of the restaurants have any toilet facilities and from what I see only five very limited capacity WCs in the entire complex .
The food is barely warm with limited choice.
The hotel is clean and reusability well maintained with some staff be very pleasant.
I appreciate that this was a third world country not that long ago and experienced staff would be in short supply but your bar staff need a serious lesion in bar management and bar skills.
Yours sincerely mr Paul Grice

Sent from my Huawei Mobile

Upon my arrival to the RIU the front desk and bell hop staff members were nice and welcoming. Our luggage was taken to our room but due to the location of our room we were moved to another room. The next morning after returning to our room we noticed that we were robbed by the housekeeper Stephanie Guzman. She stole $400 and an ipod. After reporting this to the front desk staff and security
a bogus internal investigation took place that went no where. I requested to have the police notified and after 2 days they showed up. No one spoke English and I was dependent upon hotel management to assist with helping to translate and file a complaint. The General Manager Victor Merino [email protected] was a complete jerk and did nothing to assist but everything to say it was our fault for not locking everything up and trusting that the staff at the RIU are for the most part trustworthy. We got in to a loud shouting match in the hotel lobby and he ran off stating that he no longer would deal with us because he no longer could speak english. This was only day 2 of 7. My wife and I travel a great deal and this was the worst experience and riu we have stayed at by far. I would never return here or panama due to my experience at the riu. The food and specialty restaurants were mediocre at best. This was far from being a 5 star resort. The resort is about a year old but show a great deal of poor craftsmanship. The main lobby leaks and areas through leaks when it rains. The beach is nice but the landscaping on both sides of the property are horrible. After speaking with multiple guest the also experienced theft and was given the run around as well. Management does not care and will do very little to resolve any issues. All of the alcoholic beverages were bottom shelf with no options for top shelf. Very little activities for children and adults. We took a private trip to the panama canal which was nice. If you still insist on visiting Panama You may want to the your chances staying in Panama City at another hotel. That may not be all inclusive but a better place to stay. Again the food was edible but far from great. We were traveling with our son who was scared to move around the resort after we were robbed and we were scared to leave our baggage I our room unattended. My wife a day I took shifts leaving the room and watching the housekeepers for the rest of our stay. We would leave the do not disturb sign up everyday as added security. Do yourself a favor and stay at another resort. Bookit is usually on point with ratings but this time was a total miss. The Rooms Division Manager Alberto Torino assisted me with a variety of issues due to the theft, I went to the police station a then to court to make a formal complaint. One whole day waisted. Alberto was a gentleman and did more with assisting me than expected and more than Victor Merino did aside from stating that employee theft was my fault. Please beware and it is important to read reviews before traveling. If I did I would have seen the other negative reviews and went elsewhere.

i am having a problem with a riu hotel and a scam that is going on in this particular hotel but i cant find an email address for their head office in spain, does anyone have this?

DO NOT JOIN THE RIU CLASS membership. We have stayed at the following Riu locations - Palace in Punta Cana, Palace in Mexico x 2, Lapita in Mexico, Panama City, Los Cobos x 2 & recently had 80 guests in Los Cobos for a wedding. Joined the membership over a year ago, trying to get a password, over a year has gone by and at least twenty emails to their customer service department, to no avail. We were thinking of Riu Montego Bay this April but I WILL NOT BOOK AT ANOTHER VACATION AT A RIU HOTEL, their head office customer service is very poor and even though I have loved the on site service, if they can afford to treat a customer this way, why give them any more business

I gave up on RIU 6 years ago.
We were family of 18, everyone got ripped of by additional charges, front desk had rudest, nastiest &^%$ working there. They forgot to call for our ride to airport. We had to grab a cab. I wrote letters after letters to get refund... useless. As long as I can afford to go on vacation I will never spend a dime at RIU.