Okay so to make a long story short..... My husband and I got married in Key West FL 4-5-08 with 22 of our closest friends and family ( LOVE KEY WEST) it was great... But after the wedding we left there to go to Punta cana for our honey moon..... Worst idea EVER!!!!!! when we got there we had to pay 10.00 each for entering the country. you walk 5 feet and they take the card from you.... The guys bombard you to be the first ones to take your bags at the airport so they get your tip.... if you dont give a good tip they call you cheapy cheapy..... Yeh welcome to my country!!!!! So we get the the hotel and a horrible bus ride through thier country where they drive like the police are chasing you... i swore we were in a stolen bus....NO ONE there speaks english....i asked my husband our first night there if he thought our travel agent would fly us home the very next day... well we tried to make the best of it, it was our honeymoon after all....the room was disgusting..... the curtains smelled like someone pee'd all over them... they dont use fitted sheet so you are fighting all night to keep from touching the nasty molded mattress that looks like they got it from a homless shelter, our air conditioner leaked the whole time and had mold and mildew on the ceiling... we had to keep towels on the floor to keep from slipping on the tiles that were covered in puddles of water..... we called to have it fixed and they did come to fix it but as soon as they left and the air kicked on there was a puddle again..... Punta Cana is very pretty but the rude people there make it the worst place EVER!!!!! We will NEVER go back..... we saw people tasting the food at the buffet and putting the spoons back in the food, coughing all over the rolls of bread. your honey moon is a place you would go for your anniversary but we will DEFF. be in Key West next year....Our best advice we can give is DONT GO!!!!!!!!!!

My husband & I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Punta Cana. We stayed at the Riu Naiboa, but honestly spent most of our time at the Riu Taino or Riu Bambu pool and grounds. The Naiboa is a great place to stay for the price, but it's a little further away from all of the festivities...which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want to get away from it all.

Rooms: Rooms are average at best. Very small, and the bathrooms need some serious work. We spoke to the reception person and asked to be moved to a comparable room. Surprisingly, we were offered an upgraded room (suite) which was VERY nice. The service and staff at the Riu Naiboa couldn't be any better. They absolutely bend over backwards to make sure you enjoy your stay and have everything you need.

The absolute best part about the RIU hotels are their beaches...they are perfect! Soft white sand, crystal blue water, and not too crowded, with plenty of lounge chairs to go around. A word of caution to the prudish: the majority of vacationers in Punta Cana are European, so expect to see many topless women. It's not a big deal. Get over it, Americans! Relax and enjoy yourself!!

Food is average...we had plenty to eat, but don't expect spectacular flavor...the food tended to get over-cooked sitting under the heat lamps on the buffet. Veggies & fruit are exceptionally fresh and delicious. Drinks were OK...the only complaint here is that the beer was often served a little too warm for my taste, and the ice in the dacquiries was non-existent at times so it was like drinking syrup. I'd recommend sticking to rum & cokes or other mixed drinks with ice. Oh yeah...and the Mama Juana...stay away! It will send you over the edge in a heartbeat!

This was our second trip to the Riu Naiboa in PC, and we were actually a little nervous going back...we had such a great experience the first time, we were scared that we were going to get 'let down' the second time around. Absolutely did not happen!

Our second stay was just as great as our first trip 2 years prior, and we will definitely be returning in coming years.

We really enjoyed the Riu Naiboa. It was our first vacation to ourselves since having our daughter.
As soon as we arrived, we had a quick check in, which was great after a long trip.
ROOMS:
We checked out our room, which was not entirely ready. However, it was still clean, and our room was overlooking the pool. You could see signs of wear and tear. I would highly recommend staying on the pool side if you want a nicer view, I heard others on the opposite side overlooked a swamp. The only thing I would say about staying on the pool side is the noise from the pool (games) can be a bit aggravating, the Bolero is open until late and there is a bit of noise from the Disco Pacaa but we stayed closer to the other end so that did not bother us. The room has a mini fridge and as often as you want they will give you more water. I found the front desk staff to be very helpful and when we had a maintenance problem with our shower head they fixed it that day and even gave us a small gift to kind of make up for that. It was a nice touch. The beds were not too bad, a bit hard; there is also an in room safe with a key when you check in and the floors between are virtually soundproof (e.g. we were on the 2nd floor and couldn't hear anyone above us), however, unless people were out in the hallways, that was a little irritating as it was noisy at times. The only other thing I would say is that the rooms were not as large as other resorts I have stayed in before, but, that does not really matter.
FOOD:
Wow. All I can say is Wow. Every night was something different I had never tried and all the usual staples otherwise. The great thing about staying at the Naiboa is the fact that you could have access to the Taino and Bambu to eat at also, which was great for variety. By the time you went in and set your stuff down, filled up your plate and came back, there was your a coffee pot on the table. At supper they would get to know you also and set out what they knew you liked to drink even before you had sat down (your server would get to know who you were and see you come in).
Breakfast was handmade omelets, bacon, sausage, bread, yogurt, fruit, juice smoothies, croissants, french toast, eggs, etc. Lunch was the usual hamburgers and hotdogs, PIZZA! :), soup, salad, chicken, mussels, vegetables, desserts, etc. etc.
Snack times had just about as much it seemed!
Supper - unlimited a la cartes, which was great. Italian and Steakhouse are every night (which is awesome!), and Mexican we couldn't even get into, we tried twice. At supper times you have an assigned numbered table and again supper was similar to lunch but a bit more variety and again excellent food.
BEACH:
We ended up spending most of our time at the Bambu beach. We felt it was more covered with palm trees and was a great spot if you wanted access to the pool snack bar (Mama Juana) and pool and beach. It just means you have to walk farther but oh well. If you don't like to do a lot of walking, I wouldn't recommend the Naiboa but really who cares. Walk off all the food you eat. You get to walk down Caribbean Street which is a neat place to get little souvenirs, etc. It is only a 5 minute walk and to the Bambu was 15 minutes. We enjoyed our days on the beach, there was a couple days we could not go in the water due to the fact that it was too windy.
POOL:
The Naiboa pool was definitely the nicest of them all.
STAFF:
The Naiboa staff was always helpful and friendly. There was only one day we were a bit frustrated by the language barrier but it was alright.
ENTERTAINMENT:
There is a Michael Jackson show that you HAVE to watch. We saw that at the Taino. We checked out Grease at the Naiboa and a Latino show at the Bambu.
EXCURSIONS:
We landed on a windy week so our excursions were not as good as they could have been. We went to Bavaro Splash one day, where you drive a speed boat and then go snorkeling and then go back on the speedboat. It was very choppy waves that day. My husband loved the speedboat, I did not. I thoroughly enjoyed the snorkeling. It is a great tour for the adventurous. They tell you at the Sunquest desk not to book at the Watersports desk by the beach (the staff come around every day to sell their services) but I would question this in the future.
We had also booked to go to Dolphin Island but because it was windy we had to go to Manati Park. We had to walk WAY out to a pick up spot by a bus I was sure would fall apart. I only got to spend 10 minutes in the water for $ 85 US - way too much money. But, I still got to do it. In the future I would want to go to Dolphin Island instead. I hear it is much better.
OVERALL: The crowd at Naiboa is more of a younger family oriented spot vs Bambu or Macao was more upper class. Taino was more middle aged, younger people. The Palace was VERY high class people. It really did look like a palace. The cool thing was again you could access other resorts and enjoy live music or entertainment or facilities or food at any of them.
We had a really great time, we met lots of other people around from Canada and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. If you want a cost efficient vacation, Naiboa is the spot. However next time I think we might have spent a bit more money and went to the Riu Bambu instead. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone!

PART 1 (No photos)

Wow, they told me I would like Punta Cana better than Puerto Plata...they where right..
I worked in hotel business for 15 years and I allways critique hotels to the smallest of details. this place, has all the tools to be a incredible hotel, however they where not being used.

Rooms..... old, run down, need renovations, but nicely clean the boose cupboard was stupid, the mini fridge was smart. .
Hallways....very clean, well maintained.
Lobby.....Poor, broken floor tiles, old plastic flowers, again run down and in need of a renovation, but allways very clean..
Elevators.....european elevators, really tight and painfully slow, no venting. Not much the hotel can do.
Restaurants......very clean, great service, good food, fish station is better than meat station, the breads, dairy, cheeses, salads, etc..all very fresh and well stocked up, many options for everyone's taste.
Pool...... ......the best in the entire complex of five hotels, big spacious and very clean.
grounds, very clean, beutifull lucious vegetations, nice paths, lots of garbage cans.
NO DIRECT ACESS TO BEACH, BE AWARE OF THIS WHEN YOU BOOK AT THIS HOTEL. There is a path and road that lead to it but it goes thru a shopping area, very pleasent, clean and entertaining but you have to walk five minutes, if that bothers you stay at the Riu Taino. I didin't mind that, I tought it was fun.
Beach.........hooommmyyygod......I tought I was in heaven, clean fine, huge, beutilful play sand like beaches, sun, sun, sun...I loved it, I have seen hundreds of beaches in my life but this one beats it all..lot's of loungers, showers, palm trees, no algae, they bring you drinks with out even asking, wow i loved it...
WATCH OUT FOR THE SUN IS VERY STRONG, YOU WILL BURN BADDLY IN MINUTES..
Entertainment.........very telented, nice and a fun bunch, the night shows are fun and very entertaining, if smoke bothers you will have a hard time because almost everyone smokes at this resort (lots of European Guests) they love to smoke.
The drinks are awsome, ask for Ricardo the bartender and Yovanny the waiter at the buffet restaurant. Exceptional staff.
There is hookers on the bar by the pool soliciting business, very disceet but they are allways there.