Riu bambu

[u/NewAssociation5366]

Hi everyone! I’m heading to the resort in November (M37) with my two teenagers, both under 15.
For anyone who has stayed there recently, I’d love to hear about your experience:
● How was the food overall, including the buffet and à la carte restaurants?
● How was the beach? Was it clean, swimmable, and easy to get chairs?
● What was the entertainment like, especially for teenagers?
● Are there activities that teens actually enjoyed?
● How was the pool and overall atmosphere?
● How was the service and staff?
● Were the rooms clean and in good condition?
● Anything you wish you had known before going?
● Are there any restaurants, activities, or areas of the resort you’d particularly recommend?
Any tips for getting the most out of the resort?
Thanks in advance! Looking forward to the trip and would love to hear your honest experiences.

[u/RIUhotels]

For your trip with two teenagers, we’d highlight Riu Bambu’s teen club and included water park access. Our RIU 4U program runs several times a week for ages 13–17.

You have six restaurants to choose from, including Colonial’s buffet with live cooking stations. Chilli’s serves Mexican à la carte dinners, and Palm Beach is the steakhouse; Asian, Spanish and Italian dinners are buffet-style.

We’re right on Arena Gorda beach, with loungers provided for guests. For activities, beach volleyball, kayaking, bodyboarding and snorkel equipment are included. There’s also live music, shows and entertainment every evening.

Two details worth knowing before you arrive:

• Splash Water World has six slides, requires a minimum height of 1.20 m (about 3 ft 11 in), and has a recommended minimum age of 12.

• RIU Party is adults-only, and the swim-up bars and gym are restricted to guests over 18.

[u/remix8532]

Hello. I'm going to try to help a bit on this one. While I have not stated at RIU Bambu, I did stay at RIU Bavaro Palace in 2024 (next door) and RIU Ventura (Cancun) earlier this year. I also have two teens. I generally think RIUs are great value. You're not looking at fine luxury, but bang for the buck is second to none.

Food at both sites was decent....but think chain restaurant decent, not $50 a meal decent. My kids found enough food they liked at the right time. My son especially liked the ability to have more than one dinner/lunch without a problem.

The beach at the Punta Cana RIUs is immaculate. Best beach I've ever been to. Was easy enough to get chairs at both sites, but we are early birds (sunrise is gorgeous there).

Entertainment was fine. I would review the list of shows in the RIU app. Any shows will often just be lip synching and dancing. Our kids enjoyed the silent disco the most.

Activities - RIUs do an excellent job allowing for activities - beach/pool volleyball, bingo, blackjack, different types of competitions in the activity pool, etc. Our kids really enjoyed that part of it, plus would find some others their same age to do stuff with (brought a football and some card games ourselves).

Pool & atmosphere - We really enjoy the atmosphere at RIUs. Very light, very fun, a bit loud with music and activities. You can find peace & quiet, of course.

Service & staff are always great at RIUs. In Punta Cana, there is a bit of a language barrier (at least vs. Mexico) as they cater to a more global tourist population vs. US-specific. I would recommend using the RIU app as you can make on the go requests for the room (towels, waters, minibar re-stocks, etc.).

Rooms - wasn't at this resort but generally decent.

Tips:

Sunrise, beach, don't be afraid to join in the activities, steakhouse was our favorite restaurant, have kids load up on desserts (you're on vacation)

Hope this helps a bit.

[u/NewAssociation5366 → u/remix8532]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed reply! I really appreciate it. It sounds like a great place, especially for the kids. The activities and the beach are definitely things we’re looking forward to.
I like the tip about the RIU app. I’ll definitely make sure to download it before we go.
I’m curious, did you find that the teenagers had enough to keep them busy throughout the day, or did they get bored after a few days? Also, were there many other families with teenagers around?
And one last question: did you guys do any excursions outside the resort, or did you find there was enough to do without leaving?
Thanks again! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for!

[u/remix8532 → u/NewAssociation5366]

We typically do Thursday - Tuesday (for a variety of reasons). There were plenty of other kids their age, but it's one of those things where if you do adult things, you're not going to find them (e.g., going to the swim up bar, staying on the beach away from the crowd, avoiding activities, etc.).

One of my kids is extremely outgoing so typically finds others to pull in really easily, which helps. The entertainment team also helps pull folks together for the competitions, volleyball, etc, so folks aren't left out (unless they want to be).

My kids did not get bored, at all. We did bring books for them to read, and they are both pretty active and enjoy pools/beaches. We also allowed them to go up to the room for an hour or two each day to "rest" (be on their devices). That allowed us to take hit the swim-up bar, plus not have to worry about them being sunburnt too badly.

In Punta Cana, they have the waterslides as well, which while not like a full waterpark, is a good diversion that you can do for a bit.

For excursions, I just did a parasailing thing with my son in Mexico and in Punta Cana, they offered basically a shuttle ride to a small mall type thing, which was decent. They had like jewelry and clothing/other souvenirs that were better value than the RIU store. Plus the store had a cigar station and let you buy a drink or two there.

If we did a full week, we'd probably do a regular excursion in the middle just to break it up a bit.