Fancy a Tequila?? (RIU Tequila)

Member Name: nessie3105

Product:	RIU Tequila
Date:	20/08/07 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good facilities; great food; good location

Disadvantages: Dining times

My husband and I visited the 'Clubhotel Riu Tequila' two years a go for our honeymoon. We both liked the idea of trying Mexico as a holiday location, as we were looking for a non-European holiday destination and it sounded like quite an exotic location, but with reasonable priced hotels compared to other worldwide destinations.

General Information

Temperatures in Mexico between April and October are 30 degrees plus, so it can become extremely hot and sticky. You also need to be aware of the chance of hurricanes in this part of the world. We missed Hurricane Emily by only a matter of weeks, so we were extremely lucky!!

Plane journey time is about 10 and a half hours. We flew from Manchester airport.

We paid about £2700 for a fortnight break in August, which included flights, airport taxes, in flight meals, coach transfers and all inclusive accommodation in the hotel. The 2008 brochure prices for this hotel in the 'Portland Direct' brochure range from £975 to £1179 per person(May to October), depending on the date of travel. There is a departure tax to pay, which is payable directly to the airport. We made sure we kept this money separate at the beginning of the holiday, so we knew we had enough to cover the cost.

The Mexican unit of currency is the peso. Most shops also use and accept American dollars.

The main language is Spanish.

Hotel Location

The hotel is situated on the Yucatan Peninsula, which is between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean on the South East of Mexico. It is in a resort called 'Playacar', which is 3km from the main town of 'Playa Del Carmen'. This is 68 km from the livelier resort of Cancun, which is where the airport is located. Coach transfer time is approximately 1 to 1 and a half hours from the airport to the resort.

Playacar is a small resort, with a golf course, hotels and residential housing. The beach is within walking distance from the hotel. When you arrive at the resort, you are greeted with large stone lettering which reads 'Playacar', which is quite a nice touch. There are a handful of gift shops and outdoor market type stalls within about a 5 minute stroll from the hotel, with plenty of interesting gifts to buy. This is a nice area to explore during the evening when temperatures are cooler.

The town of 'Playa Del Carmen' is within walking distance of the hotel, although this was not an easy stroll in hot temperatures. It took us about an hour at a slow pace to reach the main town and I would definitely recommend that you take a drink with you. It is a pleasant walk, however, and offers you a town with many more shops, restaurants and cafes than Playacar. 5th Avenue is the main shopping street, which is adjacent to the beach.

I'm sure Playa Del Carmen could also be reached by bus or taxi, although we did not try this option.

The Hotel

We chose the Riu Tequila because of the reasonable prices and the good customer ratings that were shown in the brochure. In the 2008 Portland brochure, the customer ratings are:
Holiday Overall....99%
Accommodation....99%
Location....97%
Food Quality....96%
Bedroom Comfort....94%
It is rated with '4 ticks' and has a 'Gold Medal', which is awarded to hotels that receive excellent customer ratings. It's official rating is 5 stars.
We also chose this hotel because the facilities sounded good and the photographs made it look like a nice hotel.

We booked at the Holiday Hypermarket through Thomson.

We were certainly not disappointed.

All people on our coach from the airport were staying at the Tequila, so we did not have to make any other hotel stops. One of the reception staff from the hotel joined us on the coach and gave us our all inclusive wrist bands and welcome packs. This made check in when we arrived at the hotel much quicker, as we only had to collect our keys, which was a welcome relief after such a long plane journey.

The hotel reception area was cool and tastefully decorated, with a large reception desk, a small shop, comfy seating areas, a fountain, trees (part of the area was open air!!), holiday representative areas and toilet facilities. Overall, we were very impressed with this area, being our first impression of the hotel.

We received a welcome arrival drink, checked in and were directed to our rooms. Our suitcases were left in reception to be delivered to our room by the porters. I think we waited about an hour for our suitcases to arrive, which was a little too long to wait. Sitting out on our balcony in the warm afternoon sunshine with a refreshing drink was nice, although finding something cooler to wear from our suitcase would have been even more ideal. We were not able to give the porters a tip, as we did not have any loose change!!

The rooms were dotted all around the hotel complex, arranged in small blocks of about 16 rooms set on the ground and first floors. The rooms were signposted well and it was easy to find. There are 664 bedrooms altogether, although it does not feel like this many as the apartment blocks are spaced all around the hotel complex. Our room was located on the first floor, just a couple of minutes walk from the pool area.

Our Room

The facilities in the room were excellent. There were 2 double beds, a TV, dressing table, safety deposit box (for free!!), a wardrobe, larger bathroom area, with the toilet in a separate room and the largest walk in shower that I have ever seen. The room also had a mini bar fridge, liquor dispenser, hairdryer, air conditioning, wicker chairs, small table and a balcony area. As it was our honeymoon, we also received a free bottle of tequila.

The room was clean, cool and by far, the most luxurious room that I had ever stayed in. There was a maid service daily and the mini bar, which included non-alcoholic drinks, was re-stocked every 2 days. The towel arrangements that were left on the bed each day were amazing!! Towels were wrapped and arranged in different ways to make animals.

My one tip is to leave your 'do not disturb' sign on the door last thing at night, as some of the room cleans were done at very early times of the day.

Food and Drink

Our first task when we reached the hotel was to book a dining time. I can't remember what the two choices were, but I think the first sitting was 7 pm and the second was 9 pm. I remember thinking that one was too early and the other was too late and whichever slot you chose, you had to keep this for the duration of the holiday. We opted for the later sitting.

The 'Jalisco' restaurant offered a buffet style option of food, with a good selection of dishes to suit all tastes and cultures. We had the same table each evening and waiter service providing drinks. During breakfast, however, you could sit anywhere. The food was good quality and very enjoyable. Occasionally, some food was cooked on the outside BBQ and there were always chefs making some freshly cooked dishes within the restaurant. The desserts were delicious also

Within the restaurant were ice sculptures and character fruit displays, and usually some real life, massive butterflies resting high up on the walls for added authenticity.

The food at breakfast was equally delicious, ranging from continental options, cereals, fruits and traditional cooked breakfasts. Even the fussiest of eaters would be satisfied!!

My two criticisms with the restaurant would be that the dining times were not great and that during the evening, there were long queues for food.

There were also other options for food during the evening. 'La Lupita' restaurant offered a steakhouse option, situated on the hotel complex between the two pools. Or alternatively, there was a restaurant at the 'Beach Club', which was not on the hotel complex and offered more of a Mexican cuisine. Both of these restaurants needed booking in the hotel reception area, which you had to do on the morning of the day and it was a first come, first served basis, with limited availability. We tried the 'La Lupita' restaurant, which made a nice change as it was waiter service. This was a lovely location for a meal, but was rather warm, as it was more 'open air' and did not offer the same level of air conditioning as the main restaurant.

During the daytime, snacks and lunch were also available from the 'La Lupita' restaurant and the 'Beach Club', based on a self service, buffet style option. The food available was varied, hot or cold and drinks were available 'on tap', including beer, wine and soft drinks. This was very convenient and the 'Beach Club' was handy, as it was located right by the beach.

Overall, the food quality was good and there was a good selection of different choices at every meal time. We certainly did not go hungry.

The hotel has three bars and it was always easy to get drinks, even during busy evenings. As the hotel was 'all inclusive', all drinks were included in the price of the the holiday.

My personal favourite bar was the swim up bar, which formed part of the swimming pool. It was so refreshing to slip into the pool in the heat of the sun, swim to the bar and order a cool cocktail...LOVELY!! It was, however, a bit tricky to sit on the bar stools as the movement of the water made it difficult to stay on them.

Other Hotel Facilities

Other facilities available in the hotel included a second swimming pool area, both areas providing sun loungers, free towels and umbrellas. As with all hotels abroad, it was often difficult to find a good location around the pool and the usual 'early morning reservations' were needed!! Sun umbrellas were also limited, but were definitely a welcome relief during the hotter parts of the day. The umbrellas were made from natural palm leaves and were a more attractive addition to the poolside than canvas umbrellas. We collected and returned the hotel towels for the pool and beach every day, so they were always clean and fresh.

Most days, there were photographic opportunities around the poolside with huge Iguana lizards and parrots, that were brought around for guests to hold. My husband and I braved the parrots, but not the lizard!!

The hotel had a small shop, which sold snacks, a limited amount of gifts, toiletries, swim wear, magazines etc. To be honest, the shops that were five minutes away from the hotel were a better option. The size of the hotel shop was disappointing for the size of the hotel.

There were daily activities available around the hotel, including tennis, water polo and salsa lessons. We did not indulge in any of these and the staff were not 'pushy' in trying to encourage people to join in.

As we did not go on holiday with children, I am not sure about the children's facilities, although I think there was a Children's club available in the hotel and I do remember some activities in the evening that were geared towards the youngsters.

The evening entertainment was impressive, varied and entertaining. This mainly focussed around the stage area, which led from the main reception and was surrounded by two large bars, with a nearby disco (we ventured into the disco once – we felt too old, as it seemed to be the area that attracted the teenagers!!) The area was partly covered, partly open air, which was lovely to sit in during the warm evenings. A disadvantage was that this area got extremely busy and it was often difficult to find a seat, especially after our late dinner time.

There was a regular entertainment team. Evening entertainment always began with something for children, although we did not see any of this as it clashed with our dining time. The evening always progressed into a show, usually involving the hotel team, but occasionally using outside entertainers. The shows were song and dance, comedy or traditional culture and we enjoyed every evening. The entertainment was top quality and extremely professional.

Occasionally, there was musical entertainment in the reception area just outside the restaurant, which was a nice touch on the way into dinner.

On a couple of evenings, there were also some craft stalls within the hotel complex, which provided some extra gift ideas and were just nice to wonder around.

As an extra bonus, we could also wander into the nearby hotels of the 'Riu Yucatan' and 'Riu Playacar' and use their bar and restaurant facilities, but not for breakfast or evening meals.

Wildlife

There was some interesting wildlife within the hotel complex. Huge butterflies and moths, snakes, large spiders (although thankfully, we did not see any of these), iguanas and some interesting four legged, furry creatures, about the size of cats, which we do not know the names of!!

The Beach

Although the hotel offered a free land train shuttle service to the beach, it was much nicer to take the short, 10 minute stroll down to the beach out of the hotel and through the pretty covered walkway. This led directly to the 'Beach Club', which in turn, led directly to the beach.

The first time we saw the beach, all I can say is..WOW!! It was a typical white sandy, palm tree beach with turquoise blue sea and the first view was absolutely breath taking. The sand was soft and hot to walk on and the sea was clear and warm to swim in.

There were plenty of sun loungers on the beach and the palm trees provided lots of natural shade. Water sports were available on the beach, some of which were part of the all inclusive package, although we did not try any of these as lazing and relaxing on the beach was just so nice!!

The 'Beach Club' was close and handy to grab a refreshing drink or a snack to eat.

Our Reps

There were two Thomson reps who were available at the hotel. Luckily, we did not need to speak to them about any problems. They provided a fun and informative welcome meeting and they were able to organise our choice of excursions to enable these to be spread well throughout our holiday. Although limited, our contact with the reps suggested that they were helpful and professional. When they joined us on a night out in Cancun, however, they proved to be good fun as well!!

The End of the Holiday

The porters collected our suitcases as efficiently as they had delivered them and this time, we had enough loose change to leave a tip!! Checkout was straightforward, but sad, as we had enjoyed our holiday so much.

Summary

We thoroughly enjoyed our fortnight stay at the 'Riu Tequila' and it was an ideal choice for our honeymoon. The facilities and staff were good and there was plenty to do if you wanted a more active holiday. Equally, it was possible to relax and be lazy in the warm, Mexican sunshine.

Summary: Great hotel choice if travelling to Mexico.