Club Hotel Riu Merengue (Riu Merengue Clubhotel)

Member Name: lynton1983

Product:	Riu Merengue Clubhotel
Date:	17/05/09 (4 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Food / staff / cleanliness / facilities.

Disadvantages: Entertainment (in my opinion).

Although it has been a year (Apr / May 2008) since I stayed at the Riu Merengue in Puerto Plata I had such a good time and have such fond memories that I thought I'd still write a review.

The Merengue is one of three Riu hotels on the complex, being inbetween the Mambo and the Bachata. I cannot really review the other two fully but having spent some time using their facilities (mainly pools and restaurants) myself and my girlfriend (I'm 25, she is 29) both thought the Merengue was the nicer of the three.

We were welcomed to the hotel with a refreshing drink whilst the keys were handed out to all the new holiday makers. For us this was a quick and painless process. Your bags are then brought to your room by one of the numerous helpful staff(will discuss staff in greater detail later).

The rooms were very spacious with a large bed (consisting of 2 pushed together). It was spotlessly clean and the fridge was well stocked with beers, water and soft drinks. There are also a number of spirits in optics but we did not sample these. Apart from sleeping and changing and the odd afternoon snooze out of the sun, we did not spend too much time in the room. With regards the fridge, this was restocked every other day. I had heard that if you left a little tip in the fridge you got preferential treatment! I tried this, as I thought the beer was particularly good, and found that on the day I left the tip I got as much drink as could be put in the fridge but for that day only. For the rest of the holiday you got standard replacements.

The maids that clean the room do a fantastic job. Towels are replaced, any mess is tidied and on the few occassions that I left money or valuables lying around (there is a safe in the room so there is no need to do this) they were always there when I came back - not that I had any reason to expect otherwise. The maids are also experts in the are of towel animals!! So on occassion you would find your towels left in the form of a bird.....a nice little touch I thought.

Whilst on the subject of staff, I would say they all, without exception, were happy and friendly despite their obviously very long working days. The groundsmen that you see as you walked around always greeted you with a smile and an "ola" and would also regularly offer you a coconut that had fallen from one of the many palm trees. The bar staff are also fantastic. With it being an all inclusive resort, the bar was often busy but there was never a long wait to get a drink. I tended to tip a few dollars every now and then to the bar staff as the service, in my opinion, deserved the recognition. This resulted in my wait at the bar in future being less than it had been previously!

The food was also good for an all inclusive restaurant. I had read review before I went thay complained of the food on offer being repetative. To some extent this is true but there is such a wide variety of food available that there was no way you had to eat the same thing every night. I am not a fussy eater and obviously had no problems, my girlfriend on the other hand can be quite picky. Despite this she found plenty to eat without it feeling repetative. They also have theme nights which adds to the variety. The food quality was also of a very good standard with freshly prepared food cooked in front of you that was very tasty.

Hygene was not an issue in the restaurant either, with a member of staff standing in the entrance to greet you but to also squirt some hand wash type stuff into your hands.

The entertainment provided by the entertainment team would be the only negative aspect as far as I was concerned. Whilst there is no doubt they work extremely hard trying to include everybody (they leave you alone if that is what you want and at no point are you hassled) I found the entertainment to be a bit childish for a couple in their 20's, however there were people of a similar age loving it so I think it's just a case of personal tastes.

The beach was also fantastic. It is so large that you never struggle for a bed or for somewhere to put your towel. My only regret with the beach was that it wasn't until the last week that I bothered to get a snorkel and go for a swim. I was very surprised at the amount of fish that was so close to the beach. Being the Atlantic the water visibility was not always great but when it was it was a great experience. If you can, pocket a bread roll from one of the restaurants and take that with you. The shoals of fish will practically eat out of your hand. This provided me with hours of enjoyment whilst my girlfriend roasted on the beach!

The various excursions seemed very popular..the only one we took part in was to go to the local sea life centre and meet the dolphins. This was a great experience and along with all the other shows they have there was well worth the effort and money!

My tips would be:
to bring insect repellant - we had a slight issue with mozzy bites in the second week but nothing major.

tip the bar staff - not only because they work hard and deserve it but because it meant I got served quicker which matters when it is a bit busier.

don't stay in the crouded parts of the beach immediately in front of the hotels. For the sake of a 5 / 10 minute walk you can find a lot more space.

Enjoy!!

Summary: A fantastic holiday location at excellent value.