I am a travel agent having just returned from a weeks stay at the RIU Bambu.

Worth remembering that at the Punta Cana airport, the arrival of the luggage can be quite slow, and there are no drinks facilities in the arrival area, so do purchase a bottle of water before leaving the aircraft.

Transfer to the hotel approximately 30minutes.

Accommodation is low rise, ground and first floor only. We were positioned in the 401, very very slight seaview if you stretched your neck. Outlook onto the gardens and the neighbouring hotel Punta Cana Macao.

Rooms adequate, tip - have the air conditioning and fan on, it keeps the room lovely and cool. The room perhaps was a little dated, though very clean, tidy and functional. There is no turn down service in the evening - don't get me wrong did not effect my hols, but worth remembering with regard to towels, and not having to tidy the room before going out for dinner!

Mini bar is restocked regularly, and you are provided with a large bottle of water for cleaning teeth etc.

Safety deposit box is in the room, and you are given the key and the lock on arrival.

Pool area a little limited, and extremely popular, so often busy and noisy, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. With the fantastic beach area, why be by the pool! No issues with sunbeds, they are plentiful. Lots of shady areas if needed, and whilst popular due to the vast size of the beach you can still be positioned away from everyone. Water very clean and refreshing. There were a few beach sellers, but they did not pester you, if you were not interested, they kept on walking and did not come right in amongst the sunbeds etc.

Lots of watersports for those that are interested, from banana boat rides, paragliding to kayaks etc.

Excursions - we did not do any excursions this time, but I used to live in the Dom Rep, so do highly recommend the Monster Truck excursion - its a great insight into seeing the Dominican life.

Typical holiday purchases - paintings, jewellery, coffee & rum stalls are positioned in the reception area many evenings, though do barter a little with them.

Beach / snack bar situated close to the beach. Drinks area self service and open from 10am.

All Inclusive food - the selected was good. Though I feel with all inclusive you never have a proper meal in so much that I go around, picking up lots of different things as it looks appealing and then end up with a plate full of too much variety. Its hard to be disciplined when your on your hols. Always a good selection of meats, particular red meat at meal times. Fish is plentiful, and well worth trying. Salad bar available, as well as Pizza and pasta. Service in restaurant was sometimes a little disappointing, waiter service was often slow, but again, did not impact on my holiday. People often say that the food is the same, its not, its just that we put it all on our plates, rather than being mindful and selecting different things at lunch & dinner. Food was hot and well stocked. Desserts fantastic, cakes, fruit and ice cream all available. At breakfast they had a fruit smoothy section, well worth trying.

Unset tum - people often write that they have suffered. I had a dodgy tum one day, but put that down to the fact of the amount of fruit I was consuming, my body adjusting to eating at a different time of day, the heat and perhaps a little over indulging! Its worth remembering we do not normally eat & drink as much during the day at home, and we do need to give out bodies time to re-adjust!

A la Carte Restaurants - a little disappointing in so much it was the snack bar through the day. Either side of the partition were the Restaurants in the evening with a side for Grill and Italian. The food selection was very limited, though the food was OK and so was the service. Starters you helped yourselves, and had the main meal and dessert served to you at the table. We went once, but found it lacked atmosphere, and overall not what you would normally expect from an A la Carte Restaurant. Reservations were taken from 7am in the morning, there were a steady flow of people, making reservations. Don't expect to come down for breakfast at 10am and still find that you can make a reservation though. It's certainly worth trying, but be realistic with your expectations.

Evening Entertainment - the team worked hard with shows and activities. The stage and bar area got very busy and hot in the evenings, we used to get a couple of drinks and go and sit on the beach, it was lovely and cool and very relaxing listening to the waves. We were lucky it was a full moon, so nice and bright.

Hotel areas very clean and tidy, all inclusive cocktails enjoyable, great selection of soft, alcoholic and hot drinks. Main brand for Dom Rep is Normandy, which is adequate for a social drink etc. Wine I found to be a bit of an acquired taste - am sure it must improve the more you have!!

Weather - we were really lucky with the weather, 2 showers, one at breakfast which lasted about 5minutes, and the other one afternoon on the beach which lasted no more than 10minutes.

At the airport check in does take a little while, so again worth taking a drink, as typically you get stuck in a queue that does not have a ceiling fan nearby.

Tip - there are a couple of snack bars in the food hall, Wendy's and a Pizza place, as well as somewhere you can buy crisps and drinks etc. We sat in the food hall area, which had huge ceiling fans however, if you go through to the departure area and the duty free its air conditioned!

There area few duty free shops, but what you expect from a small caribbean airport. Therefore, do not rely on getting what you want there. All prices are in US dollars. On the inbound flight the airline had run out of many of the duty free items, especially cigarettes, so do consider when is best to buy your duty free bits and pieces. The exchange rate for the dollar onboard the aircraft is shocking, and there are hefty charges for using your card, so it might be worth actually having sterling with you, then you don't get caught out.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me.

When I first booked this trip I was very nervous after reading all the negative reviews. I honestly don't know what the people who wrote the negative reviews are talking about..This was my first all inclusive trip to an island and was beyond happy with the vacation

The flight..

The flight was good and we were greeted by friendly people when we arrived in Punta Cana..

The hotel..

Riu Bambu exceeded our expectations..The staff was greatly helpful and were always there when we needed anything..We were greeted at the lobby when we first got there with a drink in our hand..The rooms were very nice and very clean..The bungalow set up made it feel like we were really on a vacation..We asked for a room closest to the beach and a second story room and they were more than willing to give it to us..There were 3 of us and they even gave us a cot so we would be more comfortable. We always got extra towels and everything without even asking..The pools were very nice and clean..There were always chairs around and we didnt have to get up early to save one..The beach was absolutely amazing and the water was beautiful..There was an abundent amount of chairs and once again we didnt have to get up early to get one..The food was good and we were very satisfied with the buffet that we never even went to the restaurants..They have an entertainment team that works hard during the day and at night to keep us happy and smiling..They put on great shows at night..I was very happy with everything with the hotel and the amazing service we got

Excursions..
We did the dolphin swim at manati park, horseback riding and parasailing..They all were amazing and decently priced.

I am a very picky person and enjoyed every second of my trip and would definitely go back in a heartbeat..I already miss it!

My husband and I stayed at the Riu Bambu from 6/8-6/15/08 for our 5 year wedding anniversary. Although we are easygoing people, I did some massive trip research prior to booking the resort, which included perusing the many review from this website. Returning from my own FANTASTIC trip, I wanted to add my own thoughts for future viewers.

First off: The Riu Hotels and Apple Vacations are fantastic to work with, and I highly recommend using either of them. Apple Vacations made everything very easy and took great pains to make sure that everything was easy to understand. The only thing which was slightly annoying with Apple was that they don’t appear to use computers or even an alphabetized list to check guests in. This resulted in a few (very scary!) moments in which the Apple rep could not find our names on the printed out list as we were waiting to get our boarding passes. As it turns out, she was just spelling our names incorrectly, but I did note that the names were not alphabetical in the list, which required her to look quite extensively for our names. Other than that – smooth sailing all the way. Likewise, we found the Riu Bambu to be spacious, clean and accommodating. Speaking of…

Accomodations: Most of the rooms feature two double beds which are pushed together. My husband and I were perfectly content with this arrangement, but folks who are used to a more spacious bed may not like this as much. Prior reviewers are correct, the beds and bed accoutrements are nothing special – but then I urge the reader to keep in mind that this is not your home environment. The beds/pillows may not be great, but most people have flown a great distance to be in the Dominican Republic and quite frankly, should have better things to do than to lay in bed all day. This was a non-issue for us. There was one slightly obnoxious thing which bothered us – the maids clean the rooms at (what appeared to us to be) completely sporadic times. We seriously had everything from not having our room cleaned until 7 p.m., to the maid waking us up at 9 a.m. to clean the room. We finally tired of this and simply put out our “Do Not Disturb” sign every time we were either in the room, or knew that we would be returning to the room shortly. (For instance, when we would go to breakfast, we’d put out the sign so that we could then later return to our room to change into our bathing suits, slap on some sunscreen and make our way to the beach without being interrupted by a room cleaning.)

Bathrooms were spacious and clean, and we absolutely loved the minibar with its glass bottles of beverages. (Something we haven’t seen for quite a few years in the US!) If you like washcloths, bring your own, they don’t have them at Riu Bambu. I read a review from someone who had issue with the lack of drawer space. We were only at the Riu Bambu for a week, so we didn’t even bother unpacking. However, there was a SUBSTANTIAL amount of closet space for hanging up one’s clothes, and had you needed additional clothes hangers, I’m sure the front desk would have been more than happy to provide you with the same. Bathroom power is 110v but it does require a special plug, which did not accommodate my beloved hair straightener. However, fellow appliance junkees need not fear – as I soon found out that the front desk will also provide you with a plug adapter at your request, free of charge.

Grounds: Grounds were absolutely beautiful. I have no complaints in this regard at all, whatsoever. People who left their personal beach trash (i.e.: empty glasses, etc.) on the ground were obnoxious, but a Riu employee would come around to pick these up at least once per day. They also had an employee who went around picking up trash off the beaches, and the groundskeepers do an excellent job. We were amazed at the (very small) amount of time it took the grounds men to trim the hedges…with their machetes. (The hedge trimmings were then quickly swept off the pathway by a worker wielding a large palm frond.) Seriously, these workers could teach a thing or two to some of the city workers I know, who take 3 days to trim hedges around town using mechanical hedge trimmers and vacuum equipment. The beach has wonderful loungers, but the choice spots fill up quickly. However, despite the fact that we would only get on to the beach by 9:30 at the earliest, we were still able to maneuver our way into good half-sun/half-shade spots. Some people complained about resort goers “reserving” loungers with their towels, but you just need to get over this. It happens, and you’re going to do it too. We would often get out there, sun for a few hours, then get some lunch, leaving our towels (and hats) on the loungers to reserve our spot. This is fine. There’s beach enough for everyone, and boy is it gorgeous.

Food: Yes, it’s an all-inclusive, and they have to feed a LOT of people every day, but I still had no problem finding something to eat every day that I enjoyed. Breakfast at the Colonial was great – and I particularly liked the fresh smoothie bar and choice of meats/cheeses for breakfast. Honestly, the fruit was only so-so, which disappointed me, particularly since it was mango season when we were there and the only mango I had was really crappy. Oh well. Here’s one thing my husband could not get over: they don’t have black pepper – only white. I tried to tell him that the only difference is aesthetic, but he just couldn’t stop missing the little black flakes. The waiters that bring coffee (in the a.m.) and wine/beer (in the p.m.) are great. The Ala Carte restaurants are ok. I recommend trying them all at least once. Since the menu doesn’t change throughout the week for the ala carte restaurants, there’s no point in multiple visits unless you want to try something else on the menu. The Colonial, meanwhile, has fantastic specials to keep an eye out for. When you make reservations for Caribe (and you should) – you’ll need to get to the Colonial to make the reservation by 7 a.m., otherwise you’ll find the restaurant all booked up. Caribe has multi-course dinners which are tasty – but super-filling, so go hungry.

Drinks: Anything you want. (Except tap water.) Seriously. I saw everything from top shelf liquor to the wondrous pina colada slushie machines they have constantly churning. (Make sure to tell them to add rum to your slushie drink of choice – otherwise they may not!) I particularly enjoyed the Dominican version of the Bloody Mary, which had a huge dose of lime. Also, make sure to try the Coco Loco, which is the Dominican “standard” drink, and makes a great alternative to dessert. Yum! Which brings us to…

Tipping: I must admit that we went a little hog wild our first day on the tipping. In retrospect, this was silly and had we to do it over again, we would only tip the following persons: 1.) your maid. Tip her well in the beginning ($5-10), and she will take great care of you. I honestly think that the quality of our room cleanings depended upon the tip we left. 2.) the guy/gal that brings your room beverages (this is NOT necessarily the maid!). We usually left a tip inside the little beverage cabinet. This ensures that your beverages are regularly replenished – which is nice when you return to your room and are vegging out between beach, shower and meal. Otherwise, I would only tip servers/bar staff if you found one that really did a fantastic job for you, or that made a really complicated drink. Some don’t even care about the tips, and you are just wasting your money. It’s just not possible to “win over” a bartender one tip at a time…they see too many tourists. If you feel bad about this (and I can understand this, because these workers DO work 12+ hour days!), just remember that you already paid a substantial amount of money to be there, and there are thousands of other guests at Riu Bambu who will also be tipping as well.

Entertainment: Riu Bambu offers every possible entertainment that you could want, from stretching on the beach in the morning to pool aerobics, dancing lessons, horseshoes, darts and nightly entertainment. The nightly entertainment is hilarious, if a bit predictable, but the Animation team will keep you laughing throughout. Now, this is a purely personal reaction, but I felt that the “Animation” team, while great, was a bit pushy. Perhaps they have to be, and they certainly were not OVERTLY pushy, but I just didn’t enjoy their assertive attempts to get us to “join in”. Had we been there with our entire family or with another couple, I’m sure that this would have been different, but it was just the two of us on our own little romantic getaway, neither of whom really had any desire to do “beach Olympics” or be humiliated on the stage. (And you will be.) There were several times when an Animation team member would approach us with something like, “Hey you, you want to do a-stretching!” (This is stretching with a Dominican accent.), and I would have to firmly tell him/her that, no, I wanted to a-read my book on the beach in the sun. Again, these are just my personal thoughts, and I know that MANY people vastly enjoyed their entertainment offerings. For a romantically inclined (and admittedly reserved) duo – it just wasn’t our cup of tea.

Daytrips: We only had 7 days in Punta Cana, so we didn’t end up taking a day trip. We had toyed with the idea of the Saona Island trip or the Outback Safari trip, but in the end, the cost didn’t end up being worth it for us. I should mention that Saona costs $95 per person (with the hidden tax and fuel surcharge factored in), so you’re going to end up spending nearly $200. In the end, I’m glad we made this decision, because we heard from someone who did take this trip that it wasn’t worth it. Namely, they complained that the bus ride was super long for what amounted to a fairly boring boat ride and several hours on an absolutely gorgeous island…which was covered in mosquitoes. (Hey…dengue fever is nothing to joke about.) Saona itself is just as beautiful as the pictures indicate, but the mosquitoes are relentless. Of course, this was ONE person’s experience, which I cannot vouch for, and they were there during the rainy season. Another person may have a completely different perspective. The parasailing looked like fun, but we had been warned not to do this by Apple because injuries have been known to happen. (Ouch!) I must admit that there were a few times where two separate parasailers came awfully close to having their strings entwined, and I can only imagine the awful scene that would have ensued.

Miscellaneous thoughts: One thing which surprised me, both because of the prior reviews that I read and the input of a co-worker who had been to Riu Bambu, was that we had been told that we did NOT need to speak Spanish to get along well here. While this is probably true, I think that I would have been a little lost if I hadn’t spoken just a little bit of Spanish. By and large, it would have been okay, but there were definitely communication breakdowns (at the front desk even!) which were facilitated by the fact that I could understand (at least some of) the rapid fire Spanish which was being thrown at me. Now, this is a Spanish speaking country, and it is completely legitimate that a visitor should be expected to speak the native language. This just took me by surprise because I had distinctly been told that nearly everybody at Riu Bambu speaks English well, and it was a non-issue. Not so. The front desk people speak it fairly well, the waiters/barstaff speak it well enough and the maid (at least mine) didn’t speak English at all. Bottom line: it’s easier to get around here if you know at least a little Spanish. If you can, I recommend bringing a small pocket dictionary.

I had read the reviews suggesting that we bring our own insulated mugs, which we did, but in the end, I don’t think this was worth it. Quite frankly, I was perfectly content to trot my sand encrusted butt up to the bar every time I wanted a new beverage, and bringing the mugs ended up being just one more thing I’d have to remember to clean up, put in and take out of my beach bag everyday.

Don’t forget to bring a CRAPLOAD of sunscreen. That Dominican sun is HOT stuff. We ended up using 30-45 SPF the entire time, and ran out so quickly that we had to buy additional sunscreen at the resort – NOT something I wanted to spend $40 on! Don’t bother with the spray on stuff, one can is probably only going to last two people a day and a half. Just pack a LOT of the lotion sunscreen, and make it at least 15 SPF or higher.

By all means, go to the Caribbean Street thing on Thursday. It was a good time, and gives you one of the best opportunities to barter away. Bartering was new to me, so despite my prep, I must admit that I was probably a little overzealous the first couple of times, and I’m sure that one particular cigar vendor was laughing all the way home. However, I got the hang of it eventually, and would recommend that you not be intimidated by the “bagging” procedure as I call it. This is the pressure tactic that the vendors will use when they think they’ve got the deal made, of putting your wares in a bag while loudly yelling out their desired price, and shoving the wares at you. Cigar guy got me. Wooden carver guy did not, and I end up reducing the price even further, and getting a little wooden turtle thrown in for free. Be prepared to show the money and walk away, and don’t pay any more than 50%.

One more thing: I must admit that as a romantic trip for two love birds, I was a little concerned before we left about the “family” element here. (People without children know what I mean.) However, we were delighted to find out that this was a TOTAL non-issue. While there were lots of families present, we didn’t have a single bratty child or obnoxious parent episode. Riu Bambu does an excellent job of providing children with fun things to keep them occupied, and although I doubt this was intentional, most families kept to the pool area, which allowed the adult couples to have pretty much exclusive use of the beach. My experience here has confirmed that Riu Bambu is not only an excellent place for families to vacation, it maintains the romance necessary for vacationing childless couples as well.

Overall this trip was wonderful. I enjoyed every moment of it, and I’m sure you will enjoy the Riu Bambu as well.

Dont go to this resort never again this hotel is so poor and run down, dirty, pool filthy dirty,food awful,beds dirty,bathroom old and in bad state,nothing to do with no shops, bars, resteraunts, you are just stuck at hotel, animation team work hard to please you dont go cancel now!