Travelled with two adults and three teenagers and cannot fault the hotel in any way. The sheer number of staff attending to cleaning, feeding and entertaining was impressive and all were helpful and cheerful. Only one jippy tummy amongst the five of us and that was only a 24 hour bug, so our biggest worry was unfounded. The hotel takes hygene very seriously.

Food is plentyful and of good quality with a very wide and varied choice at every meal.

Annimation team are relentless in the pursuit of having happy guests but will not pester you if wish to take a more relaxed approach to your stay. How they remain so cheerful and enthusiastic for their 12 hour shifts is amazing.

Slight accomodation problem on arrival which was immediately rectified with a change of rooms. There will always be the odd problem with such hotels, you just have to accept it, however it is how they are dealt with that is important and I cannot fault the Mambo on that front.

For the money we paid I went with an open mind as to the quality of the package being offered. I have to say my expectations were greatly exceeded and have no complaints whatsoever. The flight is a bit of a drag but well worth it to escape the alternative of two weeks in the med with a straw donkey, and probably cheaper too!

Let me preface this review with the fact that I spent 22 years as the general manager of a large hotel chain in the United States...therefore I think sometimes I am a little more picky. I read these reviews before traveling anywhere so will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly in my own opinion. I will notate right off of the bat that if you are American you are the minority at this resort. I think some of our fellow countryman have behaved badly and therefore sometimes we are looked down upon. Saying that here is what we found...
The check process- the staff took all measures to accomodate our requests that we sent prior to arrival. They placed us in a room near the pool and replaced our gin with whiskey..
Rooms-very dated, however pretty clean in my high standards. Our maid was fantastic! Traveling there again though, I would bring mattress pads for the beds. Woke up in the morning with the sheets off (flat sheets) sleeping on a rather dated mattress...yuk!
The staff-all in all they were wonderful! We made some friends of the staff. I would say they are the reason this hotel is so crowded.
The pool-very nice, gets crowded but there is always some activity going on..bingo, horse races, volleyball, spanish lessons, water aerobics, etc.
The food-pretty much gross in my opinion.. The steakhouse was ok, and a nice change, but they cater more to the european crowds (which I guess makes sense considering the mix there) I found much of the meat to be subpar. In addition the dining hall is not air conditioned and it is quite stiffeling in there. You will be hot!!
Alcohol-sweet and pretty awful....stick with the beer
Beach-beautiful, clean and seemed safe. Free water sports such as paddle boats, windsurfing, canoes...that was really nice.
For you foodies out there let me give you a run down on food items you can expect...the cold station rarely changes. There is lettuce, tomatoe, cucumber and few funky salads. Bread is great! There is a soup everyday. On the hot buffet this is what we found......eggs, bacon, funny sausage, funny ham, donuts, potatoes for breakfast. Lunch and dinner saw grouper, carrots, creamed spinach, boiled potatoes, fried cheese, fried zuchinni, pork chops, whole chicken cut up, paella, mussels one night, beef tips, spaghetti, mac and cheese, beans, pork pieces, some dominican specialties like goat, etc, one night was mexican with chicken, beans and salsa...... sounds ok, but some was pretty tough. The pool bar serves pasta hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pizza daily.
All in all we would return. It appeared to be a great bargain to take a family. They had numerous activities for little kids to keep them busy through the day. The shopping on carribean street was way overpriced. Shantytown was scary, stay away. I was almost bit by a HUGE brown recluse spider looking through some things. Make sure you take plenty of sunscreen and some kind of a water/beach shoe. It would nice to bring a towel to save a chair with too...I was afraid someone would steal our hotel towel, as they are $20 us each to replace. The nightly shows were funny only b/c they were sooo bad! But hey, what do you want? We tipped frequently, but did not see too many people doing the same. You should they seemed to work 12 hours days and still seem nice. If you have a RIU card use it for massages as you get a discount. It is a good place if you are just interested in chilling at the beach or pool for a few days. It seems to be a real bargain...

We spent two weeks here on honeymoon. always looking for a freebie, i emailed the hotel before we flew out, explaining that it was our honeymoon, and could we get any free stuff ( i worded it better than that ! ) They never got back to me, but when we arrived we found out that we had been upgraded to a suite free of charge !!
the staff were great and couldn't do enough for you. the food is buffet style and served pretty much all day long. After a few weeks, there is not much choice left, but apart from that it was really nice. ( the steak was always very, very cooked which i think was a health safety thing. bit my wife is a veggie, and she was always fine, if a bit limited in choice ( pizza or fish mainly ) .
The beaches are fantastic. pure clean sea, lots of fish to see snorkeling, lots of activity . I was amazed at how hard the animations (entertainment) team work all day, every day, then all night in the club.
the in resort activities are great, and the excursions are amazing ! we swam with dolphins ( who's breath smelt of fish ! ) went horseback riding, visited little desert islands and went on a catamaran, all booked within the complex.
The cleanliness of the resort was very good. At least two maids visited the room every day, and at every entrance to food areas, staff insisted that all visitors used alcohol hand gel. (about two weeks after we got back, there was a report in the news about a food poisoning outbreak at a resort down the road from where we were, but we did not hear any guests at our resort complain of any illness )
overall . fantastic place, i really want to go back

We just got back 3 nights ago and I am already wanting to go back..

It was a great week. Everyone was friendly except the woman working there. During breakfast i was asked if i wanted coffee and i said no and she gave me a look that could shatter glass and made a UGGGGHH sound. But she brought me the tea.

I would have to say the entertainment crew was very upbeat and friendly. They will ask you to dance if you look like your not enjoying yourself. The food there was pretty much the same thing everyday. I recommend trying the grilled fish. Very Tasty. They ask for a $2 deposit for an adapter for the plugs and when you return it on the last day you dont get the deposit back. I never asked for it anyways.

The maids were very nice and trustworthy. We didnt mean to but we forgot to lock up a ring and $30 US and they nicely rolled it up and put it aside. If you tip the guys that fill the mini fridge they will replenish the fridge with more.

The nightly shows seemed the same. It goes in a bi-weekly cycle so your not seeing the same things unless you come on the wrong week when its all dancing and no real entertainment like our first night when it was a magic show. The guy is so funny. I agree with another review if you dont ask for rum in your frozen drinks then you get none.

I found the gift shop to be under priced. The Shops that are in the middle of the last 2 resorts they seem to have all the same stuff. I would personally stay away from the shops that are at the end of the beach to the right. They try to trap you into buying from there huts. We gave up after the third one because they were pushy and over priced.

All and All i had a really good time and found my experience at this hotel was way better then the experience at any other resort I have stayed at.