Our first time in Mexico but not our first time in a riu palace, this is an absolutely fantastic hotel, rooms cleaned daily, the fridge stocked daily, the food and service was 2nd to none the staff are so nice friendly and attentive, George the beach security guard was so helpful every morning, the bar staff flor, lupiter, and many more were fantastic every day great humour and the pool entertainment was brilliant these guys are lovely people and a credit to the hotel, highly recommend and we will be returning next year

First time we have stayed in a Riu Hotel and we really enjoyed our stay. The hotel is spotlessly clean and staff are always working hard to maintain it. We had a partial sea view room on the 8th floor overlooking the inside of the hotel which treated us each night to the most spectacular sunsets. Food at the buffet was excellent and you would have to be the fussiest of people to not find anything to your taste. We only ate at the a la carte restaurants twice as it doesn’t suit us to queue up and eat early on holiday. Having sampled them we preferred to enjoy the beach till late and then eat at the buffet at our leisure. The staff at the hotel are fantastic and always greet you with a smile.
There was never an issue getting sunbeds apart from the front row around the pool. I don’t know what time these people got up to put their towels out but they were all gone by 7am !
Couple of issues the hotel needs to sort out one of which is the lack of toilets near the beach bar which has been said previously. The hotel lacked atmosphere at night. We didn’t think much of the shows (apart from the beach party) and the majority of people seemed to go to bed when they finished. Often they would have live music after the show which was really good especially the mariachi band but sadly there wasn’t many people there to enjoy it.

Just returned from fantastic 2 weeks in Riu Palace Pacifico, Nuevo Vallarta. Excellent hotel, great standard throughout, food quality exceeded our expectations, international drinks with a wide choice. Room cleanliness brilliantly maintained, nothing too much trouble. Public areas kept spotless. A La Carte restaurants really worth a visit. We went to each one twice and enjoyed each time. Pool area gets very busy and noisy during the daytime, especially the swim up bar which is monopolised by American and Canadian clientele. When and where do they ever go to toilet? Beach area is peaceful with more than ample sunbeds. Sea ok to swim in but waves can be a little rough and strong under currents, especially when tide going out. Service in the A La Care restaurants is very good. Dinner service in Peninsula buffet restaurant usually good and if you are lucky enough to get Marco, he is absolutely first class. So hard working, attentive and eager to please. Many of the other waiters should learn lessons from him. Reception staff are really helpful and can change large denomination Mexican Pesos notes for smaller value notes (20 Pesos - approx 80p) which are really useful sums to give as tips. Tipping is a way of life in Mexico and a little goes a long way in showing appreciation. Taxis are easy and safe to use. A trip to Puerto Vallarta on a Sunday afternoon after 16.30hrs is a must to see the Mallecon promenade which bristles with local life into the evening. Bucerias village is also worth a quick walking trip from the hotel (approx 2 miles).
Entertainment in the evening is not fantastic but we've seen much worse shows and the Mexican Show was very good. There is also usually a "live" band most nights until 11.00pm for those who like to do a little Latin American dancing, which was fun. The entertainment team work hard and are good fun. I have commend the Spanish lessons and my wife enjoyed the stretch classes.
The one thing I would criticise is the service levels at breakfast time outside the Peninsula buffet restaurant. They were non-existantat at times prompting us to get upset and have to help ourselves through coffee or water. This happened throughout the first week of our stay and into the second week, seemingly only changing when the waiters knew we were coming to the end of our holiday and might therefore start giving bigger tips. One guy in particular, Ricardo, made it so obvious that the tip I gave him the first day did not measure up to his expectations that he went out of his way to ignore us for several days. He either needs serious customer service training or sacking!
There is also a lot of comments on Trip Advisor about things being stolen from hotel safes in the room and possessions of value left on display but, let me assure you, we had no such problems. We did take extra precautions by securing the safe with a wrap but everything in the room remained safe and our cleaners did a first class job of keeping the room spotless.
Overall, the holiday exceeded our expectations and I would say that the hotel is certainly high end European four star standard. A really great location, wonderful hotel, weather perfect and cuisine to salivate for. We are very experienced travellers and I would rate this hotel up amongst the good ones. Thanks to all the staff for a great holiday.

Two things come to mind when I think of the Riu Pacifico - great food and good service. It makes for a much more relaxing vacation when you don’t have to line up for drinks or whatever. Drink service was so frequent around the pool and beach that there were never any long waits at the bars. We never had to wait for service at the buffets either. The only line I saw was a group of people waiting every day for the steak house to open

We did not bother to eat at the restaurants because there was always lots of good food at the buffet. Lots of shrimp, shellfish, other seafood and salads and other dishes, such as some of the best pork ribs and beef kebabs I’ve ever eaten.
Entertainment ranged from good to quite good. There is one, fair size pool, which can get busy at times. The hotel is built in the rather gaudy style of the old Riu Palaces, but once inside, it’s quite nice and the grounds are well kept.

We had a rather standard, small suite. Everything was clean, housekeeping was excellent and the bar was well stocked. There’s a nice beach. You can walk to the town of Bucerias in about half an hour if you want to buy some staples or souvenirs at much cheaper prices than at the hotel. The beach can be a bit tough to walk on unless you go at low tide, when it’s far easier.

Just a couple of minor quibbles - service in the theatre was a bit hit and miss. Some tables seemed to be completely ignored. And since there is only one pool, you’re going to share it with kids. Also, the bane of just about every resort we’ve been to, all the best pool chairs are reserved early in the morning by guests who place their towels on them.

Overall, especially given the excellent weather this area usually enjoys over the winter months, I’d highly recommend the Riu Palace Pacifico.

This was our 5th visit to Riu Palace Pacifico, we cannot wait to go back! The staff is amazing, they are so friendly and make us feel so welcomed from the minute we walk through the door. We would name all of the staff, but would run out of room on this review.

The food is great, we always eat at the buffet, we like the various choices that are available, tacos were available every night that we were there. The pool bar is so much fun, the margaritas are delicious and the staff is wonderful. We had fun at the beach party and watching the fire dancers. The sunsets are incredible, a daily event for us. It is convenient from the airport and a quick taxi ride to Bucerias. We plan on returning next year.