Riu Palace Aquarelle

Kristy Brescia5/5 · 2026-08

Excellent stay. Just returned and I am ready to go back. Huge shout out to Miguel, Paul, and Caressie in the sports bar! They are amazing we visited every morning before headed to the pools. Always a smile and laughter. They became family. Rooms were clean, Staff was all extremely friendly and helpful. Buffet was outstanding, the restaurants were at times difficult to get reservations, but the Buffet basically had the same plus more. Italian restaurant was outstanding 10 stars and we will be back

Rhenelle Mc Sween5/5 · 2026-06

If I could give 10 stars I would! This hotel is absolutely beautiful! The room was clean and well stocked with a great mini bar of alcohol. The food was SO good and there were tons of options, a wide variety and it all tasted great! The range of activities was also really nice, I enjoyed the World Cup activities 😃 what really makes this place stand out is the staff. From Natasha at check-in, to Turf & Alando, chatting with us and giving us great recommendations, to Damitri in the bar always keeping the shots coming, to Avia always there to take your order at the pool, and Andrew at the pool bar always serving us with a smile. Truly a wonderful experience!

Kim Douglas1/5 · 2026-01

My husband and I stayed at RIU Aquarelle for our honeymoon and were deeply disappointed with our experience. We had to change rooms three times due to serious issues, including moldy, musty odors and leaking faucets. This was extremely frustrating, especially given that this was meant to be a special honeymoon stay. The food was subpar and very repetitive. Breakfast frequently consisted of leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, and both lunch and dinner lacked variety. Unless you manage to eat at one of the reservation-based restaurants, it becomes very easy to grow bored with the buffet options. Unfortunately, securing restaurant reservations was nearly impossible—the website repeatedly booted us out. Our only option was to show up in person and hope someone missed their reservation window. One evening, after being very ill, I ordered room service and was served a stale hotdog bun that was rock hard. I have a video showing just how inedible it was. I was honestly shocked that something like that would be served to a guest. The service was inconsistent and often disappointing. While a few staff members were pleasant and took pride in their work, many others appeared grumpy, failed to acknowledge guests, and did not even greet us when entering rooms or passing by. As for entertainment, it was largely boring. The only show that truly stood out was the Michael Jackson tribute, which was phenomenal. Unfortunately, that was the lone highlight. Overall, my husband and I truly disliked our stay. Between the musty rooms, poor food quality, inconsistent service, and lack of engaging entertainment, this hotel completely missed the mark for a honeymoon destination. I would not recommend RIU Aquarelle—especially for young couples.

Michael Lewis4/5 · 2026-07

Nice resort. Awesome staff. Food was ok. Nothing too special at restaurants or main dining area. Bars stocked with mid-shelf liquors. For example, No Hennessy or Grey Goose or Tito’s. Absolute is best vodka available. Check-in and check-out very easy and professional

abinorah francois5/5 · 2026-10

I stayed at the Riu palace aquarelle ,October 11-16 , 2026 with my family and I don’t have any complaints . We had an amazing time . The staff is friendly and welcoming, always checking on US to ensure we are OK. The place is very clean . The food is very good the curry goat , the oxtail , the fish yummm!!. And the buffet served all kinds food and it’s always 5 stars service at the buffet. They have 3 restaurants on site they are part of the all inclusive package , but you need reservations. For ny daughter birthday we reserved at the krystal , food was amazing , service was implacable. And there was live entertainment for the little kids every nights followed by family entertainment like the tribute to Michael Jackson , karaoke , We really enjoyed our time at the RiU palace aquarelle

Jennifer Rajaratnam2/5 · 2026-09

I’ve stayed at several RIU resorts over the years, and unfortunately, this was by far my worst experience. Considering the price point of this resort, I expected a much higher standard and left feeling very disappointed. The check-in process took over an hour. There were more than 40 people waiting, and only three staff members were assisting guests. After a long travel day, this was not a great first impression. We had one family book a room for three people, and they were given two single beds and a sofa bed. I don’t think anyone should be paying full price for a room only to have one person sleep on a sofa bed. At every other RIU I’ve stayed at, rooms have had two proper queen beds when accommodating families. For a resort that is only about two years old, I was also surprised by how run-down everything already felt. I’ve stayed at much older resorts that were noticeably cleaner and better maintained. We even found a cockroach in our room. The entertainment was another major letdown. During the day and at night, there really wasn’t much going on, and the resort felt quite boring. The Michael Jackson show was definitely the highlight of our stay — it was amazing! Other than that, there was a reggae band playing for around two hours straight, with very little variety in entertainment. There was also only about 30 minutes of entertainment for kids during the day and again at night. For a resort that markets itself as family/kid-friendly, I expected much more activities and entertainment geared toward children. The buffet had essentially the same food every day, with only one or two items being changed. After a few days, it became very repetitive. The à la carte restaurants were even more disappointing. We waited over an hour just to receive our food, and the service was extremely slow. The steakhouse in particular was not good, honestly, the buffet had better steak. There are only four à la carte restaurants to choose from, and only two are open each day, which makes the options feel very limited. The jerk hut on the beach was also disappointing. The chicken was extremely dry and not what I expected from a Jamaican resort. I really wanted to love this resort, especially because I’ve stayed at several RIUs and have generally had good experiences. Unfortunately, Riu Palace Aquarelle did not meet the standard I’ve come to expect from the brand. The beach was also very rocky and hard to swim in without hurting yourself.