Castles in Bahía de Banderas

"Title: Returned for Our Anniversary — Left Extremely Disappointed We stayed at Riu Palace Pacifico twice — first for my husband’s birthday in November, then again for our wedding anniversary after booking 6 months in advance. Both experiences were disappointing. For my husband’s birthday, despite informing the hotel ahead of time, we were given a room overlooking a construction site and the only “gesture” was a tiny slice of cake in the room. We decided to give the resort another chance because we liked the beach and pool. This time, I again noted that we were celebrating our anniversary and requested a higher-floor room. Instead, we were placed on the 4th floor facing inward toward the lobby with almost no WiFi signal in the room. We literally could not connect to the internet from our room, which is unacceptable in 2026. The service throughout the trip felt bare minimum at best. Multiple mornings at breakfast nobody even came to ask if we wanted coffee or tea. At lunch, I asked for a glass and was handed a paper cup. Poolside drink service was inconsistent, and most of the time we ended up getting drinks ourselves. What disappointed us most was the complete lack of acknowledgment for our anniversary — no note, no dessert, no gesture, absolutely nothing. Even at checkout nobody asked how our stay was. The beach is beautiful, but the service and hospitality were incredibly disappointing. After giving this resort a second chance, we will not be returning. "

"Very nice location, rooms very nice, staff extremely friendly. Not impressed with the steak house. There should be more pools and close the pools later than 7pm. "

"it took 45min to sign in with only 4 groups in front of us. they let two groups skip us also. we did not get our bracelts when we signed in. it cost $6 for gym which was not mentioned anywhere and its a 90min limit. the first front desk lady was very rude. the food was not good anywhere on location. we know so because several othe rpeople complained and the google reviews say everything is rated in the mid to low 3 star while the restaurants outside are 4 stars."

"I was here for my birthday weekend and everything was good. Amenities, friendly staff clean space. The only down side was the elevator would take forever to come up or down. But we used the stairs so it wasn’t a deal breaker. "

"The resort was incredible! The staff was cleaning all of the time and were available for anything we needed 24/7. What really made our trip was the bartenders as they were so friendly and gave great suggestions for what to drink. We really appreciated having so many pools plus an amazing clean beach to choose from. We will for sure be back for another trip soon! The only negative we had was the streak-house was underwhelming, the food was not as good as the buffet food. The wait time was pretty long considering we were the first ones there. We ended up leaving mid meal due to the food not being prepared at all like we had asked. We got the wrong food and the waiter was no where to be seen as he was also serving many tables."

"Only great things to say! We stayed for part of our trip of our honeymoon, and wish we could have stayed here longer. We had the king bed, with the swim up pool, and it was awesome. Big bathroom, spacious room, semi private pool/ patio area. The restaurants were awesome, Lia being our favorite! The menus were elevated and the drinks were good! Music at the main pool everyday, without being overwhelming. This isn’t your huge party hotel, but perfect for nice relaxing time, without getting bored! ALL the staff was helpful and always addressed us by name. Eduardo was our “host” & I can’t say enough good things about him. He helped with all reservations & sent daily activities hosted by the resort and made sure we were taken care of. I know they’re a newer hotel, but take the chance and see for yourself! We will absolutely be back!"

"The hotel looks good, and the staff really tried their best. There is a laundry machine, but no detergent pods are provided — they charge $3 for a single pod. It’s an all-inclusive resort, but if you want to order food to your room, they charge an additional 10% service fee on the order, which has never happened to me at any other resort. They are very focused on going green, so there are no water bottles in the rooms , there is a cooler water in each floor, so you can fill water to your water jug The hotel also doesn’t offer quality alcohol at all, even for an extra charge. I upgraded to a beach-view room for an extra $1,000. At first, they placed us on the fourth floor, where the view was barely a beach view because the trees blocked most of it. They later moved us to the fifth floor, which is a little better, but there are still many trees hiding most of the view."

"This was a fantastic resort for a family! The pool was beautiful, the staff was very accommodating, and the restaurants were great. We booked an ocean view room, and it did not disappoint, we actually ran into some issues with our AC and the maintenance staff responded quickly and when it couldn't be fixed they gave us a new room with no hesitation. We celebrated Mother's Day and my husband's birthday, and the entire staff was welcoming and treated us well. If you're looking for a great beach side resort, I'd recommend!"

"Large deck and full kitchen."