The clue is in the title!!!!!

Me & my girlfriend (both 22) stayed at the Riu Bambu for 2 weeks from 19 May - 02 June 2008.

First impressions were good the lobby is nice and the room was fine. We went for dinner in the buffet resturant on the first night and trying to be optimisic i would describe the food as OK!!

Following on from eating there for a day or two we both had constant diarohia for the remaining 12-13 days. Speaking to various other guests during our stay we did not speak to one person who did not have diarhoria. I am 100% convinced it was the dodgy food!!! I have been fine since leaving the hotel.

By the second week of our stay we were sick of eating the same food in the same buffet resturant!!

Brief Overview of Food & Drink:

Breakfast - probably the best meal of the day, however you get sick of eating the same thing after a few days!!

Lunch - The poolside resturant is hot and dirty, the food is the same every day, also the plastic cups are not washed properly.

Dinner - Very similar food every night of our stay, the left over food from the night before seems to appear in the next days salads etc. The buffet room is very hot and uncomfortable. Food is generally of a poor cheap standard.

Al a Carte Resturants - A REAL LET DOWN!!! The steak house and italian are not al a carte resturants (it is self service soup and starter - same rubbish food as main buffet). The resturants are based in the dirty poolside bar which is converted to resturants at night, the food is also very poor.

The Caribe Grill is on the beach front is set in very nice surroundings however the food is again poor.

Drinks - The majority of cocktails come prepared in big containers and not freshly prepared (tom cruise style) as we
had at the Riu Tequila in Mexico.

Beach - Really lovely, however no beach side bar so it is a bit of a hike to get a drink!!

Entertainment - Funny and quite good shows!!!

Disco - Rubbish, drinks are not included.

Pools - Not very clean!!!

Staff - 50% Very Friendly / 50% very rude!! Reception was always polite and helpful!!

Room - beds are rock hard!!

To Conclude

We stayed at the Riu Tequila in May 2006 and it completly knocked spots of this hotel!! Having been to a Riu previously we expected similar standards at the Riu Bambu but came away extremly dissapointed.

If you havent booked yet - don't!!! if you can afford I would recommend the Riu Tequila in Playacar Mexico to anyone.

P.S - I am not a fussy person, just a typical young 22 year old trying to give a honest opinion.

I hope this advise is useful to potential future guests.

Ok :First the flight usa3000 was good,we landed in punta cana and the rep.at airport was nice,spoke ok English.Takes about 25 45min.bus trip to Resort.We go up to check -in desk and and the 2 guys there were rude to start with,said we needed to speak Spanish{which we speek alittle}.We asked about our room on beach which we didn't know until we got there that there are Not ANY ROOMS on beach were you can even see the beach,they are put together like a big city housing apartments.So they put us the closes they had to the beach which was over a football field away.Then the Apple rep.came over told us she didn't have time to answer any questions and told us to not be late for the briefing at 9:30am the next morning.Her name Yugeinly Aristy{JULIE}So from there your on your own except a map she gave with 3 circles on and said this is where you can go with package deal riu bambu resorts.So we go to our room,and there are cock roaches in bathroom,ants everywhere on floor,then the bathtub has a big rusted out spot and the toilet overflows onto the floor the first time i flush it.The airconditioner doesn't even keep it cool.So We go out walking around and all the staff are rude not friendly even though we spoke in spanish,so we go to lunch buffett,it is so hot in there you can't eat cause the heat and smells about make you sick.So we go to bar area by pool and they are rude also,by then it's time to go to the beach,Beach is nice but no bar area for drinks about half football field back to the pool bar area to get a drink.Then we got back to room to change for dinner,they have fixed the toilet from over running but it runs water{sounds loud}the rest of our trip.We dress for dinner again it's hotter then heck in buffett area.We go out to watch the show and again the staff are rude,second day i wake up at 5am always do this and there is no coffee in room or is there room serivce like they say,so i get dressed go down to front desk and ask for coffee and they tell me you can't have it until 7:30 or 8am was not happy.go to breakfast and meet with apple rep.and ask questions about no food after 10pm and no drinks after 12 pool closes at 7pm and swimup bar closes at 530pm not good.and she said so,i can't help you.asked about booking a private trip to the marina for dinner and she said NO only the excursions they offer very rude about it.NO WIRELESS INTERNET HERE EITHER.Can PAY 6.00 FOR 20MIN. BUT NO DOWNLOADING THATS EXTRA,5MIN.CALL FROM ROOM BACK TO STATES COST ABOUT 18.00.Tell her about our room problems and staff and again she says there is nothing she can do about it AND IS RUDE ALSO.the non motoried sports are not free you have to take 35-2hour lessons before they let you use them which they charge you for the lessons. There were 5 other couples we talked to that said the excursions they offer are not worth the money.Only 8min.to swim with sharks/stingrays 45min.party/lunch then back to hotel but takes about 1/2 day or more.Said the dolphine swim was ok but no pictures you have buy theres.THE SHOWS were amauture at best,but they did try.the staff were rude and the managers were worse.the food was all the same everyday and the pool area had mold growing on edges.Only seen them clean it {sweep}the pool once in 71/2 days.Will tell you an honest review about most of the hotels in area and have pictures,if need more info.All around a waste of money and it was our 10 yr.anniversary trip so it made it horriable trip.We travel alot outta country so were not beginners and this was the worse trip weve have ever had.

The Bad:

*The room*
It was disgusting. We stayed on the first floor which was a bit of a hike from the lobby. The bathroom/room was infested with little ants and had a bad odor. The beds are hard as rocks and the pillows are flat and equally as hard (kinda felt like resting your head on a notebook). The water smells that comes out of the showers/faucet and they give you a gallon of bottled water to attempt to brush your teeth with. There was a liquor dispensor with thee CHEAPEST nastiest liquor in it and a few bottles of coke (which are the only bottled beverages you will be given throughout your entire stay...so savor them). There aren't any american outlets nor is there an iron or an ironing board. You can get an adapter (that is old and broken, and an iron that doesnt even steam and is 50 yrs old) from the front desk for $20.

*The Food*
It was absolutely disgusting and misleading. **There is NOT a steak house or an italian restaurant... i repeat... there is NOT a steak house or italian restaurant** There are two places to eat on the resort: The colonial restaurant and the Mama Juana.
The colonial is a buffett for breakfast lunch and dinner. It is nasty. The salad bar has no salad on it just nasty looking slops of mess and it smells by the salad bar the same way it smells in the bathroom. All of the fountain sodas are flat and room temperature.
The mama juana is a buffett during the day and then at night it TURNS INTO the italian restaurant ANDDDD the steak house!!! We went to the supposed "steak house" the second night and got the steak that came with the same veggies that we saw on the lunch buffett that no one ate and french fries. I then got food poisioning from it and was sick for the remainder of my trip. Needless to say we didn't bother making reservations at the supposed "italian restaurant" that was 2 tables over from the "steak house".

*The bars*
They only serve bottom shelf liquor, ONE kind if domestic beer and you can ONLY get it on tap, flat/warm soda, and one kind of white boxed wine and one kind of red boxed wine throughout the entire resort. The only way i lasted through the week was by visiting the little gift shop in the lobby and buying bottled waters and gatorades. One night, we found some corona bottles in the bottom back of the cooler in the gift shop and bought a few. It was worth it.

*The service*
Some people were cheerfull and helpful, but not most. I actually found them down right rude. I called and complained that the adapter and iron (that i just walked 6 blocks to the lobby to get) didnt work. They told me to walk BACK to the lobby and they would give me another one. I got upset and refused and then started going on about how unhappy i was with the room and everything and they ignored me. They finally sent some guy on a bike down to our room and he fixed it with his tool kit.
The day before i was leaving no one would help me to find what time the bus was coming to get me and the other fellow apple vacationers to bring us to the airport. The guy at the front desks words were "i dont know... goodluck man". Also the apple vacation rep that was supposed to be on the resort the whole time... was completely NOT helpful. She didn't speak english and didnt help me either. (Americans are definitly the visiting minority on the resort... you wont find many other fellow americans the whole time your there)

*The Beach*
The beach is BEAUTIFUL and the ocean is teal blue, warm, and clear.

Overall the only good thing was the beach. However, i wouldnt return to another RIU resort if my life depended on it.

We stayed at Riu Bambu from 11 to 25 May 2008. Previously we have stayed at Riu Tequila, Mexico and Riu Bachata, North Dom Rep. The Bambu is a typical Riu Hotel, well kept grounds and very very attentive friendly staff who are eager to please. The rooms are typical of all Riu hotels. Pillows are hard as you will read in other reviews but in the grand scheme of things so what.

This is the most beautiful beach I have been to. Plenty of shade, plenty of sunbeds and very clean - what more can you wish for. Pure white sand, no rocks in the ocean - amazing.

If anything the only disappointing aspect of the hotel was the pool. We are beach lovers which is why we chose this resort so it didn't matter but if you are a pool fan beware. The pool was small and very noisy and busy and looked a wee bit dirty. Too many people hanging around the swim up bar, spilling drinks and smoking cigarettes - just not our scene.

The hotel is a bit older as is the whole resort and the pool and bar areas could do with updating if you look closely but on the whole it is fantastic value for money and the staff, the service and beach more than make up for it.