We just got back from 5 days in Puerto Plata where we stayed at the Riu Merengue.

Our point of reference for RIU was the Palace Las Americas that we stayed at during our trip to Cancun last year in September. We understood that the Merengue being a "club hotel" was going to be less opulent but were a bit disappointed with the overall experience.

The check in was fine. All the staff at the hotel are ultra friendly and very good. I never at any time felt an underlying attitude from any of the staff. To me, this hotel had the most pleasant staff of any of the hotels I have stayed at in the Caribbean.

The property is quite expansive and there large. The rooms are set up in two floor villas. I personally did not care for it and much prefer the high rise style hotels where one can get up and down in one central area with ease. Mind you we are in our low 30s and our fitness is fine, but our room was located at the left rear of the property near the tennis court and it was quite a trek going back and forth to the room. More than that, the ground layout is quite confusing and even after a couple days we still kept getting lost making our way back to our room during night time as the paths are relatively dimly lit.

The rooms themselves are ok. The furnishings and decor are quite dated. Nothing special. Nothing bad either. Certainly not what qualifies as a 5 star, but would look perfectly at home in a 3 star hotel. We entered our room and noticed a racket coming from our a/c. We asked to be moved later on at night which was an ordeal in that we had to bring our key to the front desk, travel to the new room to make sure we liked it, then travelling back to the front desk with our decision then going back to the room again to wait for our luggage to be moved. Not the most convenient procedure, but the front staff was very helpful and completely willing to do what it took to make us happy. When we moved to the new room we realized the tv did not work and a technician came almost immediately to the room (even though I found out what the problem was). The a/c was not very cool our entire trip but we didn't want to change rooms again so stayed put. The beds are quite uncomfortable and the TV was very small with horrible sound and picture. Still, there are plenty of american channels and we made due. Besides our main purpose was not to stay in the room all day and we didn't. But we did retire at night and found the lackluster furnishings and conditions slightly annoying.

The poor area was a disappointment. The poor is pretty small and ordinary. The loungers are all completely taken by 8am. The Europeans are infamous for putting towels on all manor of loungers to save them. One German gentleman even joked around about this to us. We did not really find it a big deal though since the poor was lackluster in our opinion and we spent most of our time on the beach.

The beach is nice but again nothing special. The beach is long but shallow. What was the worst though is that the Merengue portion of the beach is extremely rocky in the water and it was difficult to even walk in a few feet without stepping on very sharp and dangerous rocks. We didn't really spend much time in the water as a result.

The food was ok. What you would expect of an all inclusive. The selection was much more limited then the Palace Hotels but everything seemed relatively fresh and well seasoned. We did have some serious stomach issues our last day there, no doubt caused by something we ate. This caused a bit of bad ending to what otherwise was a nice trip.

Overall the hotel was an excellent value. We ended up paying around $400 US per person for the entire trip including airfare! For that, we had no complaints. But if you are looking for a bit more luxury and better accomodations we would definitely recommend looking elsewhere. We would try Punta Cana and one of the Palace hotels next time. Riu itself is a good chain though and while there were some minor annoyances and disappointments, they were wall slightly and nothing major. On a budget I would certainly recommend this particular hotel though.

Returned last week from 10 days at the Merengue. Flew with TC upgraded the flight and glad we did. Look elsewhere on the web for flight review.
The hotel is spotless, the cleanser spray after using the toilet and before entering the food areas show how seriously Riu take health problems.

The room was ok, nothing special but everything you need was provided. The blocks of rooms are quite close together, whilst you cannot hear the conversations of your neighbours, you can have a chat across the balconies if you wish. If you need more drinks in your room fridge, you need to ring reception before 6pm as the drinks man finishes work then. We did and from then on our fridge was always fully stocked with what we wanted.

I emailed the hotel before we left, as recommended on this site, however I did not know what to ask for, so my recommendations are: if you want a busy holiday doing a lot of activities, ask for a room by the pool; if you want a quiet holiday reading, talking, sleeping in the sun, ask for a room by the beach; and if you want to get away from it all, ask for a room at the back of the resort.

As mentioned previously, the pool gets very busy early, the pool is also where all the activities take place, and were you will be hassled to play volleyball, waterpolo, dancing, etc. On the beach you are left alone. We found the beach best in the area between the hotels. That way we could not hear the loud music and microphone announcements from either hotel. But we just wanted to read,sleep and tan!

You cannot go hungry, and those who complain about the food must be very picky. The buffet is similar each night, but slightly different. We certainly found enough choice, and if all else fails, there is always pizza and pasta! It is great to be able to have ice in drinks and not worry about salads as the hotel only uses bottled water in food prep. We did not eat in the other restaurants as our waiter looked after us, although we did tip him early on, then again at the end. The drinks may be weaker than we are used to in the UK, but in the heat they were cold and refeshing, just what we needed.

All in all, an excellent value for money holiday and excellent resort. All the staff are incredibly friendly and willing to do anything to assist.

Me + my partner arrived at the hotel on 18th April and stayed for 15 days until sunday 4th may 08. Once checked in we were given a map showing us where our room was, we were on the top floor just next to the tennis courts, The room was great, bigger than i was expecting and extremely clean, u could smell the disinfectant. Our maid cleaned the room brialliantly every day and left a different towel art also.
The animation team were brilliant, they always try to get u involved but if you tell them no they will leave you alone till later, they all try very hard and work from morning till night, they were gr8, especially Mickey Mouse And Bl--ky.
The food - What can i say the buffet was fantastic from morning till night a great choice for everyone the puddings were also great, We never bothered with the speciality restaurants as we found the main buffet to be great and had a few different items each night aswell as the usual, Our waiter Javier was great we tipped him a couple of dollers the 1st two nights then on the 3rd day our table was saved and had flowers and a candle on it, he was great even had our favourite drinks on the table within seconds of us sitting, of course we tipped him each night till the end. The bar staff were also great, a few better than others and they remember u two, Raimon was funny. The beach and pool were great, No problems getting any chairs at all, although yes their is reserving going on but not major. Yes the beach is a lil rocky when u walk out but is lovely to swim with the fish, Take some bread and a snorkel, It's like being in ur owm fish tank, Any questions feel free to ask

Thankfully Continental now flies direct from Newark to Puerto Plata. That keeps the flight costs down.

I stayed at the Merengue over Easter. It was a great trip. The service was incredible, the shows were okay, but I had a lot of fun on a beautiful beach. The only issue with the beach was the surf was closed for several days upon first arriving due to a storm prior to my arrival. Then on Easter, when the surf calmed down, we couldn't take any of the watercraft out onto the ocean due to the DR Navy shutting down coastal vestals in recognition of the holiday.

Nonetheless, the beach was very well manicured, the staff was very friendly. The bungalow style rooms were small, but nice. The complimentary wet bar/drinks in the room were great. We were lucky to have a room close to all the action, some of the other rooms were quite far away from the pool/beach.

The shows were okay, about what I've come to expect, but they made it fun.

One excursion that can't be missed is Ocean World. It is a little pricey, but swimming with the dolphins, the dolphin show, and the sea lion show are something that should not be missed. Ocean World truly made the vacation nearly excellent on its own. Don't miss it.

One great part of the Riu experience is that you can use the amenities at the other two hotels as well. I took advantage of this, to keep it fresh by trying the different pools, restaraunts, and bars. I recommend you do the same.