My parents booked us this trip for a honeymoon after our wedding. The Riu Bambu was a beautiful resort, very clean, nice vegetation, and the beach was incredible - powder sand, fair amount of shade via palm trees and a relatively calm sea. The swimming pools and poolside areas were also clean and fun. We arrived at the beach/pool at about 9 am each day and we always found a chair, although not always under a hut/tree.

The resort rooms were clean and well appointed; cold AC, provided room safe, cable TV, patio, good mini bar and they always kept the drinks replenished (although I did tip the housekeepers twice throughout the week...). The beds, however, are hard as a rock and the pillows are flat. I realize that you don't usually go to all-inclusive resorts to stay in the room, but by the end of the week, I'd had enough with the bed. Also, the tap water in the DR is not potable, so be sure to brush your teeth with and drink the provided bottled water - my wife and I both did this and we were not sick from the water at all. Other than those two criticisms, the rooms were good.

The food was also pretty good, but by the end of the week I had enough of the "Colonial" food. The dinner menu changes its main entrees, but the lunches and breakfasts were essentially the same throughout the week. There is a large selection however, so you don't have to eat the same things day in and day out. We made reservations at both the Caribe Grill and the Italian Restaurant. The Italian was ok but the Caribe Grill is very good. I would definitely recommend eating there at least once.

The hotel did provide some watersports for free although I didn't use any of it. We did do a full day excursion through our trip representative (Turinter) and that was $90/person (USD).

The resort was also mostly hispanics and europeans (French and German mostly). We were there for 7 days and only met 3 other Americans. If this doesn't bother you, you'll be ok, but it's something to consider if you're not used to being the minority. The people (both tourists and hotel staff/locals) were friendly. One thing that really bothered me however was the prevalence of beach walkers and vendors outside of the hotel. They constantly bother you to buy this or go on that trip or get a massage. It is not so bad at the hotel except for Friday and Saturday nights when the hotel allows table vendors to line the lobby - it's like running the gauntlet when your trying to get to dinner ;)

All in all, aside from the rock hard beds and the irritating vendors, the trip was amazing. I would recommend it to both couples and families alike. There is plenty to do and plenty of time to relax and enjoy the Caribbean!

Myself , wife, daughter and friend just returned from a week at this hotel. I should start by saying that we got less than what we expected. I should give kudos to Apple Vacation personnel, who were very helpful. However, I am not sure where to begin. We got to the room to find it very small for two adults and two pre-teens. The mattresses were like slabs of stone, the shower did not work and the toilet ran constantly. The buffet was set up primarily to appease European tastes. So if you are a person who has a limited culinary tolerance, bring snack food with you. The only air conditioning in the place is in your room, so if you have low tolerance for heat and humidity while outside your room beware. Also note that there is no food available at the pool, and the drinks at this resort are exclusively self serve. There are no roaming waitstaff for drink orders. Speaking of drinks, if you are used to top shelfliquor you will be sorely disappointed. They have very little liquor that is recognizable to most Americans. A working knowledge of Spanish would be a plus since very few people speak English. The shows put on by the Animacion crew are repetative and amatuerish. The specialty restaraunts are also not worth making reservations for. Overall, this hotel is a 2.5 star. Took a tour that was nice, the DR is pretty but we would never go to this propety again. The chief problem is that we usually stay at Secrets properties and this hotel is not even in the same ballpark.

11 of us just got back from a 4 day stretch from this place. First of all I will say the service and staff are MUCH better than Cancun or Cosumel, maybe a little better than Jamica, but too many other things are wrong. First of all our room was bad, I know most people do not stay in the room very much but you need a good bed. We had comforters that looked like what I had in the 70's as a child. They pushed to regular beds together and the bedding seemed to be worn out. The drinks were cheap, real cheap. They were made from large pre-made containers. The food was better than Cancun, but that is not saying very much. Even the famous Carbie Grill was just "OK" at best. I would stick to the buffets if I was going to eat. But 2 of us got sick since we have been back, one girl has been to the doctor twice, both times getting different kind of shots and I have had diarohia for the past 4 days. My wife has some kind of rash that has broken out on different parts of her body.

We did love the beaches, they were the best we have seen. If you are going to do activities book them from the guys on the beach not the people that are in your hotel lobby, because you can negotiate more with the beach guys. But be careful, you must read what they are promiseing you, they will tell you what you want to hear to make the sale but generally what you are getting will be in some form of writting. Like if it says 2 hr "sunset cruise" then it is 2 hours, they might tell you 3, BUT they have no control, they are booking the adventure with someone else who is in charge.

If you decide to visit Puna Cana, I would suggest the RIU Palace Punta Cana, it is a 4.5 star instead of the Bambu 3.5 star. We went over there 2 different days and hung out. We were not suppose to get to drink because we did not have arm bands, but everytime I ordered a couple of drinks I would have a dollar in my hand they the bar tenders would jump at the chance to get the dollar. Otherwise they will tell you "NO". They make your drinks as you order them and they have choices of better liquiors. They also have guys walking around the pool asking to bring you drinks. We did a site visit, including looking at the room and it was MUCH nicer than the Bambu. I would not stay at the Bambu again but might try the Palace.

I would say only about 20% of the people there are Americans, so get ready to hear many Europeans. Also many of the woman do not wear tops on the beach....but 85% of them NEED TOO!!!

My final advice is if you are American then trust American reviews.

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.