Paradise in Mexico! The Riu Cancun is an amazing hotel, the location is great, the service is great & the people/staff are great.
------------ Location ------------
The Riu Cancun is in Cancun, Mexico. It is situated about 20 minutes from Cancun Airport. This is great as transfers are easy and not too long, especially after a 10 and a half hour flight. The airport is a reasonable size and very modern. The Riu Cancun is located in the heart of the resort of Cancun in the 'hotel zone', but not too close that all you can hear is constant music/noise/drunks from the hotel. The main club/bar strip is only a 5 minute walk from the front door of the Riu.
---------------- The Resort ----------------
Cancun is known for its party atmosphere, spring break and that general 18-30's atmosphere. If this is what you think, you are completely
wrong. Although Cancun has great nightlife it also has a quieter side to it. The clubs mostly cost an all in price for entry and free drinks all night (not very European, they don't like to bar crawl so much). This is great unless you decide you've had enough and want to leave, after $40-50 you'll think twice. Cancun is very safe and the locals are all friendly, saying hola and smiling, even those who ask if you want to buy any cocaine or ectasy will quite happliy take no for an answer and move on, no hassle. The resort itself is probably less suited to couples/friends who like walks and cafe/bar/restaurants to visit, as there are not many at all.
The hotel are All Inclusive and boy that is what it is. With 4 1/2 restaurants to choose from. One Mexican, one buffet style with rotating themes, an oriental and a Grill and buffet housed in one space. The hotel also has 2 indoor bars and 2 outdoor bars. One nightclub again with a bar. All alcohol is free and you try drinking them dry.
The hotel is situated right on the beach front and has 3 pools, kids pool and many jacuzzi's to choose from (look out for the one on the smaller buildings roof).
All bedrooms have sea views. The hotel is the shape of a large V and all rooms are on the side facing the Caribbean Sea (none the other side). There are 15 floors in the main building and 6 in the smaller building. The hotel has a total of 569 rooms all are complete with unique amenities such as a mini-bar (fridge) and alcohol dispenser (bar) with Vodka, Whicky or Brandy, Tequilia and another spirit which is topped up every other day, as well as the Corona, Pepsi's, Sprite and Bottled Water in the fridge.
You get a safe key ($50 if lost) on arrival (free of charge) for your in room safe, a towel card that you must exchange by the pool for your towel and to return the towel ensures your card back ($20 if lost). There is also a Spa and water activities at extra costs. Although some watersports are free.
The Mexican people/staff in the hotel are great, over accommodating, friendly and very helpful. The guy on reception who checked us in asked where we were from and all holiday he called us the 'London Girls', which was nice to know he remembered us. Bar staff and restaurant staff will also ask your names, it is to personalize your stay, and it does.
The other type of people are the tourists themselves. American's you will love it, completely americanized and full of fellow americans. For those of you Europeans looking at this (like myself), it can be a bit brash and loud for our liking but in all is good fun, the American's are friendly and love to talk (even if it's too much), no-one can say they are unfriendly like us miserable sods from Europe.
The only complaint about the Americanism of it, is the hotel doesn't have enough outside for my liking, in terms of bars, the American's all sit inside in air-conditioned bars (great, except i'm in Mexico and it's gorgeous outside)!!
Cancun is a great central location for many things, visiting the Mayan Temples of Chichin Itza or Tulum, perhaps you want to swin with Dolpins? It is all possible here, i would definately recommend and go back (which i do not tend to do).
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