It's been a month today that I was at the RIU Mambo Resort (April 9th - April 17th 2008) I miss it. I'm always looking at my watch wondering what's happening at the resort. It was a wonderful time. It's great having all three resorts together. You can go and enjoy entertainment and various meals at all three resorts. Nice place to go for a safe walk/jog early in the morning and the grounds are beautiful.
Met a lot of people from Germany, Autria, Austrailia, Denmark, Holland, England, the US and Canada. This is such a wonderful spot...the guest that I spoke with inspirered me to go back again. Plus you get a RIU card to use on other trips. Many of the guest have been back several times. One couple from Holland were there 7 times in the last two years. Another couple from England 6 times, another couple from Newfoundland...I believe he said 9 times. And many 2 and 3 times etc.
I think this would be a great place for a club to be organized...I belong to Rotary and it would be very nice to help out the people that work at the resort. Giving back for what we receive while we are there. This could be done. If you agree please don't hesitate to conatact me at cricket25366@hotmail.com. I would love to here from you and here from the people I met while I was there and there thoughts on this idea.
I traveled by myself to this resort and felt very safe. Many friends from home that I've chatted with plan to go as well. My friends who have been to the Dominican many times have already plan their vacation for next Spring.
The employees are terrific. I arrived 9:30 am, their time and did have a bit of a wait for my room. That was ok, I made sure my shorts were handy. The room was a ground level room and I asked for a second level room and the next day they found me one. It was much more comfortable being there on my own. I met so many people It wasn't like I was there on my own.
My favorite people that worked at the resort that I got to look forward to seeing every day were Sr. Diaz, Lisandro, Tito, Snapy, Judit, Don King, Chicken Legs, Wilton, Rosemarie and many others. The staff at the dining hall were terrific as well and many other's that I met. A very special thank you to Pedro, Bar Supervisor...who is a wonderful, friendly person and one I now consier a friend.
The cleanlyness is second to none. I was very impressed that they offered sanitary cream at all the restaurants and washrooms. It made you feel that the owners were on the ball with keeping a healthy establishment.
There is shoppng right there as well. A full street between two of the resorts..this was another great bonus. Oh and another thing...there wasn't anyone trying to sell you stuff on the beach. It was peaceful and very enjoyable.
I hope to get back to the resort in the Fall or just before Christmas. I'm back in Nova Scotia Canada and it's a wet drizzly day and I wish I was back there for another week. Thats the other thing go for two weeks...one is just not long enough.

Glad I picked RIU Mambo Resorts.

Debra (Deb)

just a few handy tips which will help you choose the mambo out of the 3 hotels which you use .
to start with- the hotel is so clean! everytime you come out of the toilet or going into food area you have a disinfectant for your hands which is fantastic -you get alot of outbreaks normally in areas like these. this hotel is great for the disabled.easy to get arounf and even on excursions i want to point out that they try really hard to get everyone involved- we wetn on the catermeran trip and the staff were fab in regards to getting the disabled involved and taking them snorkelling like everyone else,great entertainers all day long and great if you were poorly-sea sick on the way like me!! hahaha
hotel staff are working 24/7 you dont need to get involved in entertainment if you dont want,you dont need to tip but obviously it is appreciated.hotel has a mix of people which is good,.booked by americans/british/french/canadian and germans that i know of.
Not enough a la carte meals i dont think. but you can use buffets resteraunts in all 3 hotels for brekkie and lunch just dinner at you own hotel.
get a free safety deposit box - i recommend you put all belongings of sentimental or expense value in there.
go to batchata hotel at night if you want international drinks- they have some ie martini- the actaul named stuff.which you dont often get. take mosquito spray if you tend to get bitten and plenty of suncream!we used a bottle in 2 - 3 days between 2 of us and its expensive at hotel.there is a doctor on site if that is a concern for you.mini bar filled very 2 days and optix in the room.
entertainment at night varied aswell which was good.catermeran trip through thomas cook reps was approx 79 us dollars each/quad biking 80 dollars each ocean world varies.can watch the footie in an english pub not far from hotel or on a fuzzy screen in room. but each of the hotels and shops price things up in pesos- at this hotel you get more for your money in pesos.but sum dollars are handy.well i hope this helps with a few questions!!any other help you need just ask!

we stayed at the riu last november, we had a great time the staff were friendly and the hotel was spotless. the food is the best we have had in the dominican and we have been there 4 times now in different hotels, we had such a great holiday we have booked to go back there in november and we cant wait.
the staff were very friendly also to my little boy there is something for everyone i highly recommend

My sister (18), her boyfriend (19), my husband (30), and I (27) stayed at Riu Mambo from April 17-24.

First of all, I must say that I was FREAKING out because of the weather reports for Puerto Plata just before we left. There was supposed to be rain every single day, but guess what! The only rain we encountered was as we were leaving the hotel to go to the airport on the last day. So the moral of that story is, listen to B0BK in the forums, and when he tells you that it isn't raining, trust him.

We arrived at Mambo around noon and were greeted with a drink and were told that our rooms were not ready. Not a big deal, we packed our bathing suits in our carry-ons so they were easily accessible. We were also able to get towels right away.

Our room was exactly as shown in the traveller's photos of Mambo. Spacious, CLEAN, booze was fully stocked. The only thing that I wasn't a huge fan of at first was the fact that the beds are two double beds pushed together instead of a real king size bed. There is a crack in the middle of the two beds, but two people can easily fit on one bed, or else just take the opportunity to sprawl on your own bed! The outlets are different and they sell adaptors at the gift shop. Two prong plugs do fit, however. We were also always getting nice gifts in our rooms; one day we got a fruit plate from the manager, another day a coconut from the gardener, and of course the towel art from the maid. My sister and her boyfriend used their mini bar A LOT, it's stocked with gin, vodka, white rum, dark rum, pepsi, tonic water, and bottled water. The pathways to the rooms are very well maintained - the gardeners take great pride in their work.

In my humble opinion, the best drink at the Riu's was the Mojito. I could really go for one now. Fresh mint, rum had a nice flavour, a bit of sugar, and tonic water. Mmmmmm... The best bet for any drink in DR is obviously rum (that's what they do down there!) My sister drank beer mostly (Brahma) and she compared it to Corona. I also enjoyed the Cuba Libre, Dominican Special and Cocoloco. The alcohol is definately not watered down in anyway and the bartenders are very generous with it, especially if you make a connection with them. The blended drinks are quite sweet, but you can get the bartenders to make them less sweet if you ask. Our favourite bar for after dinner was at Merengue I believe it is called La Plaza. It's a pretty atmosphere and you can still see the stage. If you're feeling adventurous, ask for some MAMAJUANA, it's a herbal mixture that is soaked in rum, red wine and honey. It's kind of like Jagermeister....

We went to all of the beaches at the Riu complex (Mambo, Merengue, and Bachata), and we felt that the Mambo beach was by far the nicest! Nice sand, nice water (a bit of seaweed in areas, but easily avoidable). There was tons of shade at all three resorts and plenty of chairs available. Bachata's beach was incredibly rocky, but if you're staying there, just go hang out at Mambo or Merengue's beach. There are vendors that come by occasionally wanted to braid hair, just say no thank you. Also, there are some shops (shacks) on the far side of the beach - don't go there unless you are really good at bartering (like moi). There are pedel boats, kayaks, snorkle gear and more available (most things for free) at the beach. My husband played volleyball with the animation team every morning. For anyone who might be sensitive to such things, many ladies of all shapes, sizes, and ages do go topless at the beach. It's really not a big deal.

The pools are always where the party was at. The animation team was usually organizing water polo, pool volleyball, various contests, or some other activity. The pool was also where most families with young children stayed. There are no hot tubs at any of the Riu hotels, but there is a swim up bar at Bachata and some really cool in-pool loungers. The pools were a good temperature and were kept very clean - kiddie pools emptied at night, regular pools closed and shocked at night. People got up really early to "reserve" chairs around the pool (the prime chairs taken up BEFORE 6am) . There are still plenty of chairs available with lots of shade. Each pool had a bar with a restaurant beside it.

Speaking of the restaurants...
We ate at the buffet restaurants at Mambo and Bachata and all of the poolside restaurants (Mambo, Merengue, Bachata) for lunch. We had quite the diverse group of eaters. My sister-abnormally picky, her boyfriend-willing to try anything, my husband-also very picky, and myself-vegetarian. There was always something to eat for all of us.
Breakfast was their favourite meal, they LOVED the bacon, custom omelettes and freshly made donuts. My favourite thing about breakfast was the smoothie bar-try the papaya smoothie! I had granola yogurt and fruit for breakfast.
Lunch was typical- burgers (the three of them liked them), hotdogs, pizza, pasta, fries, soup and salad (which included a really good chickpea salad). It was the same at all of the resorts.
Dinner had some staple items and then featured items. My favourite night was Mexican night. Homemade guacamole and salsa, black bean tacos! Yummy! The others had chicken tacos and tortilla soup. Dominican night was also a big hit with our group. There was a big pig roasted on a spit (being veg, I thought it was gross, but everyone else loved it.) Honestly, there was so much variety every night that if you can't find something, maybe you're better off staying at home with a box of Kraft Dinner. We wished that the restaurants were open after the club closed, but I guess you can't win them all. We didn't make reservations at the ala carte restaurants because we were too lazy.

The animation team was FABULOUS! When we wanted to get involved they were there ready to get us pumped, and when we wanted to just relax they respected that too. They are so dedicated! We heard SEVERAL animation team members declare to everyone who was listening "I LOVE MY JOB!!" One of these employees was Stefan, the children's co-ordinator for Mambo. We don't have any kids, but watching him run around, play and dance with the younger guests at the resort (some looked as young as about 2) was so entertaining! The kids ADORE this man and we saw him communicating a lot with the parents. The kids program at Mambo looked like a parent's dream come true! The rest of the animation team just wanted to do anything they could to ensure we had a great time! They are friendly, hard-working (morning to night), wonderful individuals. I would hire all of them to work with me if I could!

We went to a different show every night. We watched most at Mambo and Merengue and one at Bachata. We thought the best shows were the ones that celebrated Dominican heritage. The costumes and dancing were fun and energetic. We also enjoyed the magician. Sadly, we missed the infamous Michael Jackson show (I don't really know how we managed that, but we did). The shows that tried to be American were so bad they were almost good, but just almost. Don't waste your time with Grease unless you're pretty drunk and want a laugh.

The club, Pacha, but we called it Club Cherry was alright. They played too much merengue and salsa and being pasty Canucks, we didn't have the rhythm-even after many, many drinks. We still had a good time pretending we knew how to dance. It also would have been nice to have somewhere to eat after a night of drunken dancing.

The casino is pathetic, so unless you're a die hard slot jockey, don't bother.

All in all, we all had a fantastic time! I was one of those people who was sceptical of the Dominican Republic because of things that friends and family had said. How wrong I was! I'd go back in a heartbeat!