The Riu is a nice hotel, it's suppose to be like a 4 star hotel, but there are some stuff missing. My main reason of choosing the hotel was that the price was great comparing it to other 4 star hotels. And the facilities were totally new
So here is my review, already posted in TripAdvisor.com
This hotel is kind of a mix. Because its a new hotel their amenities are in very good but also the service sometimes is not that great.
Check in/Check out
Both of them took less than 3 minutes. At the check in, the lady just gave us the keys and a map of the city. It was after that our driver, that took us in a gold cart, explained us more about the resort. We were also offered drinks at the check in
4.5 out of 5 points
Room
It disappointed me. The whole resorts is very nice and new but it seems that not a lot of effort was put into the rooms. They were 2 beds and a sofa bed which was hard as a rock. The tv does offer plenty of channels. There is also a mini bar which is stocked with free sodas, beers and bottles of water. The bathroom was ok, never had a problem with the hot water, but the toilet did not functioned and we had to call someone to fix it. So it does offers all the basics a hotel room needs but it's just very basic and they seem a bit old.
The only "mayor" problem was that 2 times a frog came into the room. Although the first time we handled it, the second time we had a bit of a problem and we were not going to sleep in a room were a frog was jumping around. (And if a frog was there, god know what else could be there). So we called for help and although we solved the problem, the guy laughed at us as we were exaggerating.
So just saying, a hotel which was built in 2009 and have "old" rooms, it's not the best thing
I give 3.9
Check in/Check out
Both of them took less than 3 minutes. At the check in, the lady just gave us the keys and a map of the city. It was after that our driver, that took us in a gold cart, explained us more about the resort. We were also offered drinks at the check in
4.5 out of 5 points
Room
It disappointed me. The whole resorts is very nice and new but it seems that not a lot of effort was put into the rooms. They were 2 beds and a sofa bed which was hard as a rock. The tv does offer plenty of channels. There is also a mini bar which is stocked with free sodas, beers and bottles of water. The bathroom was ok, never had a problem with the hot water, but the toilet did not functioned and we had to call someone to fix it. So it does offers all the basics a hotel room needs but it's just very basic and they seem a bit old.
The only "mayor" problem was that 2 times a frog came into the room. Although the first time we handled it, the second time we had a bit of a problem and we were not going to sleep in a room were a frog was jumping around. (And if a frog was there, god know what else could be there). So we called for help and although we solved the problem, the guy laughed at us as we were exaggerating.
So just saying, a hotel which was built in 2009 and have "old" rooms, it's not the best thing
I give 3.9
Food
Because its an All Included Hotel, the food quality isn't excellent but it is quite good. There is a general buffet restaurant and 5 more specialty restaurants. The buffet was almost the same every day, except for Christmas, and the food was good, but not the desserts. The breakfast was the same every day, which of you are planning to stay for more than 5 nights, it kind of s%cks. And for the Specialty restaurants... Well I was lucky enough to get a reservation for only 1. Because I stayed only 4 nights, and you have to make reservations one day before, there was nothing available. But the lady "got" us a place at the seafood restaurant which was very good, but Im sure the others are better.
So for being All Included, the food quality is good
I give 4.2 pts
Amenities
This resort is big and it has a lot to offer. The main pool has activities the whole day long, which are kind of fun. There is also a bar and plenty of available chairs around the pool (not like in other reviews).
There is also a "relaxing" pool, which is more like a boring pool for older people. There is a kids club and tennis courts but we did not used them. The walk to the beach is long, at least from the rooms at the relaxing pool is about a 7 minutes walk! So ask for a room near the MAIN pool. The beach, although is nice, it's very small, not even 20 meters. All of the amenities are in very good shape and are examples of a 4 star hotel
4.4 pts
Location
It's bad. The hotel is located at the very end of the Strip, although its 1 mile away from the end point. If you want to go downtown, it will take you 15-20 minutes and it costs 15 CUC one way! I spent more on a taxi than on the restaurant. You can also take the red bus which stops outside the hotel and costs 5 CUc pp all day long. But you might end up waiting the bus up to 22 minutes.
Is it the worst location? No, but it's not a good one either.
3.8 pts
Service
Some people are very nice and helpful, but others are sleepy with an attitude of "do it yourself". For example, the waiters at the restaurants are very lazy, I even asked the chef if they had a cheesecake and his answer was : You can check over there, were the desserts are. But I actually asked him because there are no signs at the buffet. But most of the people are hardworking and have a good attitude.
4 pts
Sorry frog, you can't come with us, we aint going to Miami :)
Value
Cuba is not cheap, it's actually the most expensive island in the Caribbean, and Varadero is probably the most expensive city in Cuba. For my dates, all the hotels were very expensive. The Riu was at the same rates as some of other 3 star hotels. So what was my rate? 240 USD per night for 3 people, so it is a normal rate an actually good considering that it's a "4 star hotel" and everything is included. But I wouldn't stay here if it was more than 260 USD per night.
So for Cuba standards, this hotel was worth it.
4.6
Overall
The hotel is pretty and in good conditions. 80% of the time service was very good but there is still something missing so it can be a real 4 star hotel. But remember that is Cuba.
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