This was not my first time to travel to Mexico so I have an idea of what to expect. When we arrived at the Riu Jalisco my room was ready but my father's wasn't. We were told it would be ready in an hour but it wasn't. They keep putting it off. When we finally went up to our rooms the smell of mildew was terrible. They also do not have enough towels for the size of the resort. When we went to get our towels for the pool we were told it would be two hours. My dad then went to ask for his towel and was told the same thing. A hispanic women walked up right after him and was handed a towel. On another occasion my dad tried to go get some lunch in the restaurant by the pool. He was told he could not get anything without a shirt on, so he went and put a shirt on. A few minutes later a hispanic man walked in without a shirt and was able to eat in the restaurant. The food was pretty good in the Asian and Brazilian restaurant and the grounds were very nice. Overall, it was okay but favoritism was definitely played to the local people everywhere you went!

We booked this hotel for our Honeymoon June 30-July 6. When we first arrived, we LOVED it because we had never been to Mexico before and it was our first experience with an all-inclusive. My opinion of Riu Jalisco dwindled throughout the week, but we still had an amazing vacation.

The worst part about the hotel was the food. My advice is to go early to buffet-style eating and MAKE RESERVATIONS for supper. To make reservations, you need to get up early in the morning and go down stairs and wait in line. It sucks. But it's the only way to get decent food. We ate at the Brazilian restaurant once while we were there and it was the only good food we got at the resort. The restaurants smell unpleasant because of all the mingled mix of all different types of food. If you're eating breakfast, also go early. Breakfast is hectic in the two restaurants, but the food is pretty good. Many times the coffee machines are empty or not working, and the waiters are too busy to bring you coffee, so you are practically done eating by the time you get it.

Another con, as mentioned in many reviews, is all the kids in the adult pool. There is a great kid-pool with slides, etc. but the adult pool with the bar was always full of kids. The water was warm, and my husband and I would be enjoying a fruity drink when we'd get splashed by a rowdy child on a floaty thing and we'd wonder where the parents were. Probably at the bar. That sucked.]

We got massages at the beach-side spa. The massage itself was great!!! (If expensive) The downside is that the spa is located right on the beach next to the daytime entertainment. I pictured a relaxing massage listening to the waves, but instead got a great massage with a crappy atmosphere of kids screaming and hotel staff dressed in opposite gender clothing doing the Macarena :(

The bars are great. Our favorite was the outside bar on the right hand side when facing the theater. Leo is the best bartender I''ve ever seen.

Another great thing about the hotel is the party atmosphere. Different entertainment every night, dancing at the Disco, tequila jello shots downstairs. We loved the fun staff and there was never any shortage of drinks.

We stayed on the 6th floor and our balcony faced the courtyard, so we had a great room. Maid service was outstanding. Unfortunately on the 4th of July during a torrential rainstorm, our roof leaked onto our bedside table where we were charging our camcorder, cell phone, and camera. All of our electronics were soaked when we woke up and none worked. We spoke with the assistant manager, and she told us to contact the corporate RIU. We haven't had time yet, but what they do for us will greatly affect my opinion of the RIU.

My advice if you are staying here is: GO to town. Shopping in the market and eating at local restaurants is AWESOME. Do some adventures--we did Canopy adventure, swam with dolphins, and did Rhythms of the Night. SO MUCH FUN.

This was our first trip to Mexico and we were really looking forward to 2 weeks of sun, sea and relaxtion. Arrival at airport was quite smooth, we were greeted outside by our Reps and given a lovely cold Corona. On arrival at Hotel, it looks very grand outside and the reception was very nice, everything at check in went smooyhly, even though there must have been at least another 100 people checking it at the same time, we were given our room keys and told our bags would arrive later. We were on the second floor room 2135. Was not overly impressed with the room, the smell of damp was overwhelming! The interior of the hotel resembles a block of flats, not what I expected. our bags arrived and we went to explore the grounds. The grounds are kept beautiful, the adult pool was a bit rowdy, so we headed for the beach, lots of people on the beach and it was difficult to find a quiet spot.
After 3 nights in the room I found difficulty in breathing during the night because of the damp smell, I am asthamtic and i really started to suffer, we asked to be moved but they said we would have to wait until Friday, a full week since we had arrived. We asked again on Friday but they only had a 6th floor available, unfortunately I dont like heights so I had to stay put. They did supply us with a humidifier which we had to keep on 24-7 to keep the smell down. I am not a moaner and have stayed in 3 star accomodation with better rooms, but when on holiday you just think oh well its just somewhere to sleep, but when you cant even get a decent sleep it really takes it toll. And the noise in the early hours when people are coming in from the club can be quite annoying too, it seems to echo everywhere.
We tried the adult pool a couple of times but it got too rowdy later in the afternoon, and the water always looked dirty, but Im not surprised with all the alchohol I saw getting spilt, and as for it being an adult pool, there were kids in it every day. We just stuck to the beach and found ourselves a spot by the trees. Not far from the bar! The food was OK but after a few days I was fed up with it, even though you have the choice of 5 restaurants they all seem to serve the same just in a different order. The bolognese tasted just the same as the Chilli! All the meat tasted the same. By the second week I was ill and was down to eating mashed potato and chips, and I wasnt the only one either, we spoke to a few people who had stomach upsets. I am certainly not fussy and have the constitution of a rat, this is the first time ever I have been ill on holiday, and it really bothered me!!
The best meal we had was in Puerto Vallarta itself, proper Mexican food, Fajhitas that looked like fajhitas and chilli with a bit of bite!! It was nice to have a few cold Coronas in the room fridge and we just phoned reception and asked for more when we had run out, which wasnt a problem. The traders who come into the hotel charge an awful lot for their goods, we saw the same stuff in vallarta for a fraction of the price, even Walmart sold the same stuff cheaper, I know they are trying to make a living but ripping off tourists is not good. And there was a guy who would come into the hotel with a young donkey and lift it up on peoples laps for a photo, he was only taking donations, but dare you take a photo without placing something in the bucket, his lady partner will nearly knock your camera out of your hand!! The poor donkey was really distressed and I saw it being manhandled when it was clearly in distress, quite cruel!! i dont think the hotel should allow this. I cant fault the staff all of them were wonderful and polite, there was a few exceptions, but I wasnt bothered by them, the waiting staff were excellent and the bar staff. Look out for Tony in the sports bar, he was one of the best and Ivan one of the waiters. We did tip and usually left between 20-40 pesos on our table. Our room was cleaned everyday and we were left towel animals on the bed.
Oh and the midnight snacks!!!! You will find them in the Sports bar, in fridge, hotdogs and hamburgers which you shove in the microwave for 45 seconds! Certainly not what we expected, thought at least there would be somewhere where they would cook them and put them on a plate!!
All in all it was an experience, Mexico itself is lovely as are the people, but if we were to go again I would definately not go all inclusive. we would probably find a nice hotel nearer Puerto Vallarta and eat at the many nice restaurants that are very reasonably priced.

Be aware all Mexico travelers...the summer months are rain season and high local tourism. We were unaware of these things and will never go back to Mexico at this time.

We will never stay here again. RIU Jalisco was a horrible experience; we lasted there for only two nights. First, when you walk into the hotel room, the smell of musky mold comes at you and never ever leaves you or your clothes. In addition the room had sand on the floor and our toilet sounded like an air horn every time it was flushed. The adult pool that was advertised is no longer there. Both pools are for everyone. The pools are not kept clean at all. Inside the pool we found cups, straws, and rocks all around. It was so dirty that you could barely see your feet because the water was so cloudy. We could not even get a drink at the bar because it was covered in children. When we approached the Apple representative Domingo, he was very unhelpful and only offered to switch our hotel if we would pay another $1500. We ended up going to hotel management to take care of the issues we had. Never again...