Very disappointed considering that it was not cheap. The "five" star rating is completely misleading and we would rate it a solid 3.5

For the most part, the staff is indifferent to your needs and they don't go out of their way to make your holiday special or memorable in anyway. The bartenders at the swim up are great only when you engage them in conversation. The coffee bar and lobby bar are hit and miss. We did walk away at one point, as the servers there were more interested in their own coversations with other staff. The place is really busy and best suited to young people who are there to party. We are in our 40's and certainly out for a good time, however, the class of people at this resort speaks to lower income and with only drinking on their minds. The buffet was sketchy at best. I was sick for 2 days. They don't have very high standards for hygiene or cleanliness. The floors are always dirty in the buffet, and that can really be a turn off. The beach was overcrowded, dirty and ranks well below many other beaches we have seen in Cuba. The beach in downtown Varadero is beautiful and virtually empty. My advice to you is this, if you can afford to stay elsewhere, I would say, do it. Take a pass on this one.

This hotel was nice and clean. The food was good but we were only allowed 2 reservations for the week and the remainder of our meals were buffet which got a bit old after day 4/5....

The hotel itself was WAY over accommodated and therefore in no way was it a five star. I had upgraded to royal section, top shelf Alchol was constantly running out, reservations for a la carte were impossible, exchangeable beach towels could never happen and room service was a pipe dream. We were told due to our 10pm departure that we could extend room check out for fee, was kicked out along with everyone else at the regular check out. All in all poor organization way under staffed and resourced would not go back again.

As has been mentioned before,in other people's comments, this RIU is little below standards that have been set other RIU's. But I do see some improvements made, based on comments that were filed a while ago.
The lack of towels situation is still present but getting better.
The food in the buffet was surprisingly good. I recommend looking for the creole type dishes in tomatoe sauce. The meat is tender and there is a lot of flavor. The pasta seams to get watered down as the night goes on cuz they just keep adding noodles and no more sauce. I tore a strip off management when asked about an "a la carte" dinner experience, one of two that you get, that took place at the Sea Food restaurant. I left most on the plate. The food had been prepared hours before and the squid had been kept for so long that it disintegrated to chalk when you bit it. That being said, that was my only food related diappointment that occured over the week.
I think that over all they hotel could benefeit from a Canadian chef's input on what quality is expected by Canadians that represent 60% of the total tourism that visits Cuba every year.
Last but certainly not least, the staff is very friendly and do, for the most part, welcome you to the resort and make your stay a great time.
After all it is your vacation, it will be what you make it, so don't sweat the small stuff.

Staff did not go out of their way to make the experience enjoyable. Most barely spoke any other language but Spanish. We asked for a beach view, but got a parking lot view....

Nice place in some areas it could have been better.

I read alot of reviews about the resorts in Cuba. I am very happy we chose the Riu. The resort was very nice, clean, and expansive. The pools were great, but freeezing! Why do they make them so cold. The nightly shows were great, and the dance club was fun to go to. The beach was nice, but nothing mind blowing.

We went on the catamaran excursion to go snorkeling, and swim with dolphins. The island you eat lunch at is beautiful. The lunch is ok, and the swimming with dolphins is more like stand and touch them as they swim by once or twice. Still it was enjoyable.

The food was by far the biggest disappointment. I know all the reviews say the food is bad in Cuba, and I was not going on vacation to stuff my face. I prepared myself and had low expectations and I was still very disappointed. The Italian and Gourmet restaurants we chose to go to were horrible as well.

We also stayed on the first floor and had ants for a day or 2 before the maid sprayed. The ants bite so be careful.

Cuba is great if you are not to picky or looking for a real 5 star experience. The Riu was a great choice for my first time to Cuba. Also, there were alot of families, so if that bothers you be aware. I went with my boyfriend and it served our purpose for wanting to get away.

The resort was beautiful, very clean, lots of entertainment. The only complaint I would have is that they have 5 a la cart restaurants and we were there 8 nights and were only allowed to go to 2 for the week.

nice for a family with small children and seems to be mainly french speaking guests. beach below expectations, gravel sand, cold and murky waters, cold pools and shortage on towels and sizes. entertainment can be good at times. staff nice but needs more training eg bar tenders no show of skills bottels fips etc. No full bar like other Rui's in room. Will never go back here bored and disapointed

friendly staff beautiful beach and good food at the buffet

chambre ok. plage 20 minute de marche.manger pas térible .beaucoup de mouche quand on dejeuner, souper. mal propre.pour un riu 5 étoil décevent,excurtion jeep safarie ne pas faire aller se promener en pleinne ville de cuba imaginer accident assurance qui va payer la note. attention a ce ne pas se faire attraper

Our fifth trip to Cuba. A very relaxing vacation and a good resort but definitely not a five star. There were a few easy improvements which the resort should make and I hope they are reading this review and make them because I love Cuba and only want to see the very best for their people and the tourism industry.
Main Buffet/Beach buffet--MANY dishes lacked serving utensils...this is an absolute must even for the nuts and date bowls. I actually observed a grown man put his hand into the dish of almonds to help himself !!. Also it is obvious the dishwasher is being overloaded as often the plates are not quite clean and as a result a lot of dishes/cutlery are rejected by clients. Overall food is ok they should shy away from canned vegs and fruits and watch not to overcook fresh vegetables. Also the pizza should be freshly made on site as many people complained about its quality. Bread was delicious but it was often hard to find butter.
Standard Room: The room was very good, comfortable, very clean, air conditioning excellent although a bit noisy and pillows awesome. My husband sleeps part of the night in a chair due to a medical condition. It is too bad the back of the chair is not higher. I do not understand why the resort installed bath tubs which are not at all easy to get in and out of.
Overall Cleanliness: The resort in general around relax pool (I did not go to any other pool) , main bar area/reception area and outside the small tables lining the walkway in front of the reception building--more clean up of the tables and glasses would leave a much better impression and perhaps cut down on the flys. I believe the resort is cutting back a bit too much on their staff as they are working hard. NOTE TO TRAVELLERS BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO SLIP ON THE TILE I FELL ONCE AND ALMOST A SECOND TIME SHORTLY AFTER RAINFALL BUT BE CAREFUL AT ALL TIMES.
Grounds Keeping: No water in many of the small outside cement theme pools near the reception area, they look grouse. If there is a reason why they have not been filled with water (attract mosquitos?) perhaps rethink the landscaping concept and try something else.
Entertainment: We only made the one Michael Jackson show as 9:30 as it is a bit late for us. It was pretty good. Piano players in the bar area are awesome--in spite of the fact they have to compete with the noise from the clients in the lobby. The group The Hurricanes (guitar player Orlando) was five star plus plus--wow!! They played in the walkway area outside of reception bldg--too bad there is not a better outdoor area for this group and they could not play later. They are excellent and I regret I forgot to buy their CD.
Check Out: UNACCEPTABLE...we booked and were given a hospitality room. No problem received the key on time however no towels in the room. We were just lucky we found a maid to get a towel. Very bad last impression of a resort. Why not at least leave a supply of mid sized towels in that room when you know its purpose. There was another traveller complaining about the exact same problem in his hospitality room.
*Airport: If you change your money at the airport when you arrive be sure to count it right there in front of the cashier. I did not and was short changed in spite of the fact that there is an automatic money counter.
Beach: Great beach however more clean up/raking is required....too many cigarette butts everywhere and more cleaning of the garbage laying on top of the clay garbage pots/everywhere would leave a much better impression and preserve the quality of the beach experience. Beach Yoga instruction/class was GREAT.
Overall a nice resort which needs some simple improvements to make it great. The staff were really super.

We wanted a week of relaxation; sea, surf and sunshine. The Riu delivered.
The only experience that was a disappointment was the behavior of some of the other guests. In particular, at dinner on Feb 3, a belligerent guest was shouting and swearing at the staff for speaking Spanish (among other things). Some people should not be allowed to drink!

Hotel was very clean, well maintained. Staff were friendly, food was pretty good, especially the a la carts. Although only allowed to have access to only 2. Rooms were nice, fairly modern. Pools were very clean. Always had clean towels, and beach towels available.

The hotel seemed quite new and the Junior Suite we occupied met all of our expectations

I have to admit, I was fearful of this resort before my vacation. After reading so many negative reviews, I thought I was in for a nightmare. Well, my thoughts couldn't have been further from the truth.
Let me take a minute to give my thoughts on some of the negative reviews here based on my personal experiences.
"there are towel shortages". There were no towel shortages whatsoever during our stay. And we changed our bath towels every day, specifically so we could comment on here that there are no towel shortages.
"there's not enough beach and pool lounge chairs". While the pool was quite crowded on a daily basis, we were able to find a spot eventually. The beach is overloaded with lounge chairs! No problems there!
"the food sucks". Well the food isn't 5 stars, but there are plenty of great options. The buffets were quite good actually. My only concern was the vegetables. Often they seemed pickled. But when there's a pasta station, carving station, fish station and meat station, you're going to be full!
And if there's one area of expertise I should mention, it's the desserts and breads. UNBELIEVEABLE! Fresh from the oven breads. You'd swear you were in an Italian bakery. Overall I give the food 3 out of 5 stars.
What deserves 5 stars? The resort itself. Beautiful, modern and well kept. The Lobby Bar is a great spot in the evenings, and make sure to stop at their coffee stand!
The entertainment was quite good. The Michael Jackson show was well done, and so was Grease. My only criticism is the acoustics. More often than not it sounded like really loud AM Radio.
I would recommend the Havana day trip with stops at the cigar factory and Rum Museum. I especially recommend a day trip to anyone who votes NDP, so you can get a first hand look at why socialism is pure garbage. And make sure to buy a Pina Colada on the way there. The bus stops at a store along the way, and you won't be disappointed! All in all I have to say this resort is great for what you're going to pay. The Cubans are wonderful people and I think the sky is the limit for them. Give it some time and this resort will be world class, guaranteed. One last thing. Beware of constant peddling on the beach. It's really annoying! You can expect someone to try to sell you something at least once every 5 minutes!

We stayed at the Riu Varadero and it was great! We read some the reviews before going and couldn't believe this was the same hotel. No problems with towels or the food. We stayed in a standard room in building 12, the walk is a little long to the beach but it helped wear off all the food! We have stayed at other resorts in other countries and the food and rooms are very comparable, except the price was really great in Cuba. The only problem we had was trying to get back into the Riu after a double decker bus ride into Varadero, the gate guard "Daniel" gave us a hard time and wasn't going to let us back in. We weren't sure if he was trying to get something from us or was just not trained well or if the language was a problem but it gave us a bit of a scare.

I would have to say first that this is the farest from a 5 star as possible. I booked a five star and when we got there we were in a 3 star resort even though when I was looking to book a place and googled 5 star it came up. Not cool at all.

I couldn't say enough wonderful things about this resort. The staff's friendliness and professionalism blew me away. The language barrier is not as tough as people make it out to be. They always greet you with Hola! and a smile :)

The buffets served extensive amounts of food, lots of variety, and if you're not fond of the buffet food, eat at a restaurant on the resort instead (they're all-inclusive as well). They require you make reservations ahead of time, but that's very easy to do.

Our room was beautiful and very large. We stayed in the Royals Suites and had a private pool, jacuzzi, restaurant, bar and reception desk. The internet there is very slow, so beware your surfing time. They charge 5 CUC for 30 mins. I was able to send one long email and one short email in that time.

The nightly entertainment is very good, a different show each night. Dancers are very friendly and very grateful of your praise after the shows. Will pose for photos.

Bar service throughout the resort was always excellent, we tipped almost all the time. You might want to ask for less alcohol than they initially provide because rum is very cheap there and they go a little overboard.

All-in-all, my sister and I have absolutely zero complaints about this resort. If you're hunting for singles, this may not be the place for you, since it's a little above students' price range and you'll meet mostly families and retirees. My sister and I are 18 and 22, and we had a blast, nonetheless.

We'll be back, Riu Varadero!!!

pour le prix mais pas plus 900

The hotel was very large and too spread out for my liking. The request that we made through itravel were passed on to signatur vacations but signature vacations did not pass them on to the hotel and as a result we had problems with our room. We were to women traveling and requested two beds on an upper floor. We were put into a one bed main floor room. It took alot of firm dissicussion for us to get moved to what we had asked for. Not a great way to start your vacation, and again not really the hotels fault, signature vacations is at fault for this one.

Une belle expérience. Beau site, endroit très propre, tout neuf. Chaque édifice comprend trois étages. Nous étions au # 14 près de la piscine tranquille. Ce qui veut dire que pour aller à la plage il nous fallait marcher un bon 15 minutes. Pour ceux et celles avec un handicap physique, il faudrait demander d'être plus près de la plage ou des salles à dîner. Par contre, de petites voiturettes apportent quiconque en fait la demande. Le personnel ne peut être plus gentil. Bien que l'hôtel est un tout-inclus, il est bien de prévoir donner des pourboires pour services personnels rendus. Les breuvages alcoolisés sont servis très généreusement. Nous avons aimé la bouffe - la variété de choix au menu et les présentations montrent une fierté et un désir de plaire, nul doute. Par contre plusieurs personnes ne l'ont pas aimée et ont eu à redire des restaurants à la carte. Nous aimions les buffets et ne sommes pas allés à ces restaurants. Le buffet du midi près de la plage était excellent. Nous n'avons pas participé aux activités à l'autre piscine. Les activités du soir comportaient plusieurs spectacles de danse dont celui de Michael Jackson que nous avons apprécié. La croisière en catamaran est définitivement une à ne pas manquer! S'attendre à ce que la chambre ne soit pas nettoyée à l'arrivée. Les serviettes arrivent en fin de journée, il se peut donc que vous n'ayiez pas de serviettes de plage avant le lendemain. Il se peut également qu'il n'y ait pas de serviettes dans la chambre pour cette même raison - simplement en faire la demande à la femme de chambre. Pour réserver une chaise à une des deux piscines ou à la plage, penser à mettre votre serviette sur votre chaise à bonne heure, ceci pour avoir une place de choix.

We have traveled extensively in the past. Without a doubt this is the worst experience we've had. From the outside all looks lovely but....we were sick from the food from day 2 onward of our trip and are still sick. The food had no taste other than salt, the specialty restaurants were terrible and there was virtually no ice around for drinks. The couple of drinks we had day one were watery and sloppily made. Beach had a lot of garbage and debris on it, cigarette butts, straws, cups etc. You had the pleasure of sewer smell on the way to the beach. Bar fridge unstocked, no remote for t.v, beg for towels daily, lots of beach salesmen, first room had a bed frame broken down to the floor in a V shape, when we complained they told us to come back the next day and they'd see. In the end we complained again so their solution was to add another "hospital" like bed into our room so then there was no room to get around. Wasted day one running around trying to get it sorted out. Day two brought on illness and more waiting from 11 a.m till 4 p.m for another room, which we got and was o.k but then started the begging for towels and any kind of liquids in our bar fridge as we were so sick we needed water to drink at least, which came on day three. The corruption on the beach is blatant and disgusting. Staff would wait for tips standing in front of you unmoving even if you got crap service. We would not suggest this resort to anyone, it was just awful. Disappointed in Sunwing and itravel for promoting it, and Riu for putting their name on it and calling it a 5 star.

I enjoyed my week here with my elderly father.The staff is wonderful and the whole thing was a positive experience. My father got a lot of respect from the Cuban people which made me very happy. I am not a complainer so if you rate this resort a fail then it's you!
The food isn't bad at all once you found your likes. I gained 6 pounds. :-/
Loved the cappuccino in the lobby. Marleyvis at the cigar bar is awesome.

Belle hôtel, propre. Le site estbien entretenu. Les chambres sont propre. Les piscines sont belles et propre. La réception est un peu mal organisé. Nous avons demandé lors de notre réservation que mes beaus parents soient à côté de nous. Ils les ont envoyés à l`autre bout en prétextant leur offrir une chambre royal. Ils ont 84 et 66 ans. C`est leur deuxième voyages depuis longtemps!!
Heureusement, il y a eu les musiciens le soir, la belle culture cubaine avec sa musique et surtout, la belle plage de Varadero.

The good: this hotel is really beautiful, big pools and different areas for party people and people wanting peace and quiet. Lots of restaurants to chose from and the theatre shows were great, especially the michael jackson show (it was the best impersonator i've ever seen). The servers, housekeepers and bartenders were always really happy and helpful.

The bad: I got sick to my stomache (i'm sure it was the seafood or the lunch on the Havana tour I did).
We never booked the a la cartes but i heard some weren't that good and you waited a very long time. but i'm not which ones exactly they were
The main pool and the beach were really far from our building and the beach area was always super crowded but not that bad. We had our towels stolen from the beach (we were only gone for 15 mins) and public relations wanted us to pay for the replacement and they didn't really care.
Anytime I went to the front desk for something, it took forever and people were always complaining and pissed off at them.
I went with my fiance and we were constantly upset that all the staff (men) would literally undress me with their eyes every single time we walked by anyone. Appreciating someones look is one thing but they took it to another level and I never experienced that anywhere else that bad; not even at other cuban hotels.
If you're looking to go to the clubs at night or even into downtown during the day, the hotel is a little far. I like to walk a lot and thats pretty much impossible from our hotel. You can take the bus or taxi and it would take 15-20mins (10 mins if you have a crazy driver).
Some of the entertainment staff by the pool during the day were not too friendly. Their job is too always be nice and fun with the guests and some of them just didn't seem to care and didn't do much but stand around. I went to ask them once for a volleyball and they said I can only use it for a little bit because they only had one ball on the entire resort (2000 people). 5 minutes later they came and asked me for it rudely.
It says that our fridge is restocked daily but it was only restocked when we asked for it.
we had an issue with out room door and it wasn't locking. I called front desk to send someone to fix it and we waited 30 minutes for him and almost missed dinner because of it. He fixed it in 1 minute and wouldn't leave until he got tipped.
On our first day there, both towel huts had no towels all day. The next day we finally got towels and never exchanged them because everytime we did, they had no towels whether it was early morning, midday or before closing. So we used the same towels for 7 days.
The pools were extremely colder than normal and it usually took a while to get in there if you weren't already buzzing/drunk.

We stayed at the Riu Varadero from Jan. 17-24th, 2012. We were in room 10211. This was our 3rd time to Cuba, 2nd time to Varadero. We flew with Sunwing, no issues, great flight. Check in was quick and seamless, although I had emailed ahead of time asking for a top floor, close to the beach and we weren’t given either.

The absolute worst food I’ve ever had was at the Riu Varadero. They don’t do theme nights, so it’s the same food choices day after day. They offered breakfast sausage on the dinner buffet most days, but never at breakfast! For seafood lovers (which I’m not), they always had lobster, shrimp and various other seafood options. We went to the Italian a la carte, it was one of the better meals we had. The coffee in the buffet is gross, but a trip to the lobby bar easily solves that. They do not have diet pop anywhere at this resort, they also only carry sugar, no sweetner so bring your own if you prefer it. I don’t eat eggs, so breakfast was the hardest meal for me. I basically had toast and pineapple for breakfast 7 days in a row. Some days, even the fruit was from a can. 

The rooms were average, nothing fancy. There were 2 adults and 1 child in our room, we started the week off with 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels. By the 3rd day, we had no hand towels left (they take them but don’t replace them), but we were up to 3 bath towels. By the 5th day, we were back down to 2 bath towels and no hand towels. So at no point did he we have enough towels in our room. We also didn’t get soap until the 4th day. The mini bar has a couple of beer, a few varieties of pop, and water. It’s stocked every other day.

As for beach towels, there were plenty. There were times that they were out of beach towels, but it would only be for an hour or two before they got more in. There was also plenty of chairs/loungers around both pools and on the beach. We never had trouble getting chairs, it’s only shade that is hard to come by. So get there early and reserve an umbrella if you want shade. The pools were gorgeous. A little bit cool, but not freezing. Each pool has a swim up bar, that can also be located via the water or on land.

The kids club was great. My 7 year old spent one day there, and he really enjoyed it. They played on the playground equipment, swam in the pool, did arts and crafts, played water polo and marco polo.

We went swimming with the dolphins, and it was amazing. Definitely an excursion I would recommend.

The beach was very, very busy. It’s a sea of beach chairs. You are free to use the pedal boats, kayaks any time. If there’s one on the beach, you just take it. They also offer a snorkeling tour right from the beach at the Riu. It’s $20 cuc per adult, $10 cuc per child. They take you out on a small catamaran about 1 km from shore. It’s a good experience for a child, but not really worth going unless it’s your first time snorkeling. You won’t see anything but a few species of fish, no stingrays, no sea turtles, nothing overly exciting.

All in all, I couldn’t recommend this hotel because the food was just too terrible. When going to Cuba, you know the food won’t be great, but this was just awful. As mentioned, I’ve been to two other resorts in Cuba, both were 4*, and both had better food than this supposed 5*.

Grounds and pool areas were beautiful, but it took 20 minutes to walk to the beach from our room. We asked for oceanview and a king size bed and received neither, instead we got 2 smaller beds side by side and a continously running toliet with a few ants on the floor.Often towels or soap were not left in the room and our room was never made up until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Our biggest complaint about this hotel was the food. It was terrible and the main reason we would never return.

This resort was beautiful.No shortage of anything.Staff was great and very friendly..The maid Odalys was the best.We had a blast and enjoyed it very much...

The 12:00 check-out and 4:00 check-in time does not take into account the travel times of guests. We left home at 2:00 am and arrived at the resort at 11:00am but could not access our room until after 5:00pm. We were exhausted and felt that our first day was a complete waste. Other members of our party arrived at the resort at 3:00am and did not receive their room until 4:00pm - 13 hours later. This is simply not acceptable.

The resort is spralling, be prepared to walk - alot. I would not recommend this resort for those with mobility isssues. Staff are constantly driving motorised carts to and fro on the walkways and guests must step aside to let them pass. Only once during the week did a staff person offer a ride to a member of our group who uses a cane when walking.

The hot tubs at the spa were not working.

Forks were always in short supply at the beach snack bar.

Getting fresh beach towels was difficult - we brought our own.

Getting room towels was also difficult, - we brought our own washcloths.

We chose this resort because it was a RIU and had a 5 star rating. Our experience now tells us that a 5 star in Cuba is the equivelant of a 3 star anywhere else.

Thank goodness for the beautiful beach and perfect weather, we went for sun and sand and we made sure we enjoyed that aspect of this resort to the maximum.