It feels so good to be back in the STATES! Words can’t explain. While I’m gearing up some goodies for my other blog posts on Cabo, I wanted to take some time to discuss my first ever “all-inclusive”. My 100% honest review. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
During our stay we enjoyed the Riu Santa Fe All-Inclusive resort, for 6 days and 5 nights. During this week long vacation, I was able to really see the ins and outs of this resort. Riu Santa Fe is about 45 minutes from the closest international airport, but thanks to the resort and our travel agent- we had round trip transportation to and from the hotel. Make sure you make those accommodations!!
For this blog post I will rate the hotel from the the room, food, alcohol, staff, and hotel activities. I will try my best to give a clear honest opinion.
Overall: The resort was nice. I will rate it a 7 out of 10. And here is my reasoning why:
The Room
- The saying, “You get what you pay for!” Is 1000% accurate when it comes to our room accommodations at the Riu Santa Fe. The room was decent…I’m not going to say it was a 5 star room, but maybe 3.5? We stayed in Villa 6 our first few nights, and then THANKFULLY the lovely Riu staff upgraded us to Villa 9. If you are going to stay at the Riu Santa Fe…Villa 8-9 is where you need to be. When we upgraded, we went from having a 3.5 star experience, to almost 4.2 star. (We can’t touch 5 stars yet). I will give my Villa 6 room a 6/10 rating, and my Villa 9 room a 8/10 rating. Just a disclaimer…the bad part about staying in Villa 8 or Villa 9, it is considered the party zone. We heard music literally until 1-2 am.
The Food
- I am a complete foodie, but I’m also realistic. You are reading from a girl who went to Cuba and only had one good meal the entire time. My expectations are always pretty low. But I really wasn’t prepared for how low my standards could go. The food was edible. I knew every day I could fill my self up with a carb and a protein. Sadly, the food was the absolute worst part of the entire trip. The good part, there were several a la carte restaurants that you can attend for dinner only. We picked between Mexican, Italian, Steakhouse and Asian. For the a la carte restaurants, you must look semi-decent, so it was refreshing seeing everyone look cute for dinner. Unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough for them to have a high rating on my list. I will say, the food can possibly resemble cruise food (and that is a stretch). The food receives a rating of 3/10.
Alcohol
- When I heard unlimited alcohol, and 24 hour bars…I was all in. But, little did I know, I was in for a rude awakening. For some reason, my drinks were a tish bit watered down. So unless you are a shot girl- be prepared to drink a lot to feel the buzz. Now, I will say the tequila was straight from the bottle, and STRONG. So during the day I stuck with my margaritas, and at night I switched over to full shot mode. I will tell you now, they do not have an alcohol list while you are booking with them. So let me enlighten you…don’t expect Hennessy or any premium liquor. Expect Bacardi, Jim Beam, tons of Tequila, Smirnoff, Dos Equis and Corona. The alcohol selection receives a rating of 6/10. Small tip: There is an alcohol dispenser in your room (with Tequila and Vodka), and the staff refills the mini bar every day with liter water bottles, Dos Equis beer, and sodas.
The Staff
- The staff at the Riu Santa Fe was absolutely amazing. The nicest people I have ever met. They were available for anything and everything you would ever want or need. I made sure on my last day to tip some of my favorites and of course the housekeeping staff. I give the staff a 10/10.
The Pool Parties/Pool Atmospher
- I will not steer your wrong on this. These parties could…and possible did..top my favorite Vegas day parties (preferably at Drais). Now, I will put a disclaimer out there, that the group we came with was about 18-20 people. With this group size, we probably could’ve been our own party. But furthermore…the vibes at the infinity pools and the pool parties were nothing short but amazing. 10/10. During our vacation, we attended a Neon, Jungle, and all White party. All great options! For just enjoying some pool fun in the sun, a tip is the beach chairs are first come first serve, and the swim-up bars can become very crowded around lunch time.
The Vibes
- I’m not even going to sugar coat it for you. The group I went with was A1. We all knew what we were here to do…have fun! So the vibes were amazing. The resort was super clean, and the views were breathtaking. There were days that I would sit in the pool and just watch the sand. How weird is that?! Riu Santa Fe has 5 very large pools, swim-up bars, great night time entertainment, and plenty of bars. It was just an overall good time! I give the overall vibe of the resort…an 8/10.
Even though the resort was fairly decent, it doesn’t mean the fun wasn’t up to par! Our group had an AMAZING time, and I thank Riu Santa Fe for hosting us…stay tuned for more details on our adult spring break!
Infamously Yours,
Joi
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Thanks for this review. I have stayed in the Riu Montego Bay (horrible rooms) and Costa Mujeres. I was wondering if this Riu would be better. The room comparison is helpful. The first room reminded me of the rooms in MoBay. The food in MoBay was much better than the food in Cancun too. I try to tell people that from my experience each Riu is different. Staff in MoBay was delightful. Mexico was just meh. Did you do anything off the resort?
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