Hotel Overview
This beachfront resort was newly refurbished in 2010 and lies on a seemingly endless white beach next to Riu Palace Macao and the Caribbean Sea. The Moroccan-style architecture, with mosaic domes, archways, and white columns with fanned palm trees, adds glamour and distinction. A magnificent pool with a swim-up bar shaded by another dome faces the turquoise sea.
Riu Bambu is the perfect place for families; the kids' pool features a special water play area! RiuLand Mini-Club provides activities for kids ages 4-12. Adults will enjoy the casino and free entrance to the disco. Complimentary 24-hour WiFi is also available in the common areas of the resort (available in rooms for an additional charge).
Adults also have their own entertainment activities throughout the day. Water sports, such as windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, and body boarding are included! One introductory scuba diving lesson in the pool is also included. Every evening, enjoy live music and shows.
Your palate will be delighted with the many dining options available. Guests can partake in Asian, Italian, International buffet, and Grill Steakhouse cuisine. Delicious snacks are available 24-hours a day as well as unlimited drinks. Each room comes equipped with a fully stocked mini-bar and liquor dispenser!
Location
Punta Cana - BeachProperty Information
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Hotel Details
Hotel Advisories
General Policies & Fine Print
Check-in Policy - Deposits or credit/debit card hold authorizations are not requested at check-in. Minimum age of 18 is required for check-in, an ID/Passport will be requested upon arrival.
Convention Policy : Groups traveling together can book this property for their stay taking advantage of group benefits such as 6th or 11th complimentary guest, Group dinner reservation, One complimentary cocktail hour with a selection of appetizers,
One complimentary massage for the group leader, Complimentary room upgrades to the next category, Fruit plate and bottle of wine for the VIP, Private check-in when arriving together, Welcome sign. Applicable with Wedding Collections and Social Packages. Consult
terms & conditions.
Hotel Spring Break Policies - Student Groups/Spring Breakers (either groups or individuals, regardless of age) are not allowed at any time during the year. Guests disturbing or generating complaints from other guests or hotel may be removed from the property,
at their own expense. Parties in rooms are not permitted.
Minimum Age Condition: At least one person 21 years or older is required in every room during February thru May. The Hotel reserves the right of admission and may request guests show passport or official ID to prove age. During the remainder of the year, at least one person 18 or older is required in every room. Guests can and will be removed from the property at their own expense in case of any disturbance or complaint from other guests or hotel staff.
Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price.
Minimum night stay restrictions may apply.
Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
- Early Departure Penalty: 1 Night Applies: Sunday - Saturday 04Jul24 - 23Dec26
- Early Departure Penalty: 2 Nights Applies: Sunday - Saturday 24Dec24 - 30Apr25
- Early Departure Penalty: 2 Nights Applies: Sunday - Saturday 24Dec25 - 30Apr26
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
4469 reviews
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Nov 29, 2024We Had a Great Time Here
This was our first experience with a RIU all inclusive hotel. We had a great time, the food was excellent and the service was incredible. The front desk staff were very accommodating and went above and beyond to make sure we had a wonderful stay at RIU Bambu
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Nov 29, 2024
Family trip
Spent one week at RIU Bambu. Staffs are vert friendly and accommodating. Great place to for get away and the food are just amazing! Going back soon
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Nov 24, 2024NOT A 5 STAR HOTEL
Stayed at the Hotel Riu Bambu in November 2024 for one week with my partner and this was an enjoyable stay. The 5 star rating I think is VERY misleading as this was not a 5 star hotel. Riu need to loose their ego and do their future customers the courtesy of atleast classing this hotel 4 star. The hotel rooms were spotlessly clean, and that's what you want for a hotel stay. Mini bar had 2 colas, 2 lemonades and 4 beers and water and the optics if you want to add alcohol to your drinks. Rooms a bit dated and could do with a spruce up. Service is hit and miss, some staff very friendly some very rude. The all inclusive drinks are good. The pools are also nice and good for kids and adults alike. Restaurants are a bit naff, NONE of the drinks machines work, and that's not an exaggeration, none of them work! If you want a coke or lemonade at dinner you have to ask the server to pour you a coke from a bottle... It's things like this that makes me think is this really 5 star? The food is average and I would struggle to eat it for more than a week. Again compared to other RIU resorts, you wouldn't expect this from a 5 star hotel. This is the Carribbean so you could have some wet rainy days, if rain isn't your thing I would recommend booking a slot in the Riu spa a 10 min walk from Bambu, it's lovely there and free. Hotel evening entertainment - RUBBISH - one evening they put on kids entertainment at 8pm and we all had to sit there and watch a Cartoon for 30 mins... Considering you can't go off the site here (it's in the middle of nowhere) the evening entertainment could be better, again not 5 star standard at all. Overall a good stay, Im just stating the negativities to advise future bookings. Would I come back to Bambu? No. There are other Riu sites in Punta Cana that let you admire the beauty of this country in an actual 5 star standard
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Nov 23, 2024Worse than Terrible
Arrived on the 16th November, check in at the front desk was straightforward and got taken to the room so I’ll start there. The rooms are basically clean but in a state of disrepair and in need of renovation. There was only 1 plug socket in the room which was broken and hanging off the wall. None of the drawers closed properly and sat askew the n the dresser for our stay. The mini bar was never stocked, we were told by TUI this was done every 3 days but a sign in the room said the alcohol was topped up every 2 days, even so we you are provided with 3 large bottles of water which are used to make coffee, brush your teeth and drink, 2 Pepsi and 2 7up for a 3 day refill. One of the lights was out by the bed. There were small bugs running all over the dressing table. The TV has constant static on all channels. The complex is ok. The pool that has the pool bar was absolutely foul. People in there almost constantly. Never seemed to get cleaned and smelled strongly of urine (this could be smelled without getting in because not a chance). We used the TUI exclusive pool which was better than most but had massive chunks of tiles missing all over the pool and was definitely not used by only TUI customers which was never monitored by the hotel. The food was absolutely abysmal the biggest issue during our stay. There are 2 buffet restaurants, 2 themed restaurants and 2 themed buffets. It was initially booked because it was touted as having a large number of a a la carte restaurants and being vegetarian and knowing I struggle in other countries sometimes this is what we looked for. Breakfast was extremely basic. Lots of meat and local delicacies e.g 4 different type of poached egg in salsa but no bacon or sausage. But it was one of the better meals of the day. Felt it catered more to American tasters as there was a large range of sweet options for breakfast. For lunch you had use of the 2 buffets. The colonial was the better option. Mamajuana was open all day so I found that by the afternoon it smelled strongly of hot garbage round by the kitchen doors. Options if you’re not a fussy eater or have dietary requirements for lunch are basic but ok. I was basically stuck with pizza and chips. I’ll say this now too cause it applies for all meals. The food was barely labelled, cold and absolutely tasteless. The 2 themed buffets are small and again barely any vegetarian options. The Asian has 9 different meat noodles but only one cold paneer curry that never changed from the 3 times we visited but was the better of the 2. The Mexican had a small a la carte menu of 3 dishes. All were meat and fish and when asked in the restaurant if I could have fajitas without meat I was simply told no. The salad bar all contained meat so it was like I could eat from there either. For obvious reasons I can’t comment of the steakhouse. The other option was the kulinarium which had a small a lambaste menu but was probably the best of a horrendous bunch. The customer service at this hotel is absolutely disgusting and non existent. First went to guest services to discuss vegetarian options for food as I was struggling. I’ve travelled extensively and have never had such issues before as I experienced and I’m not a particularly fussy eater as long as there’s no meat or fish. The first time I went to guest services I asked where would be the better place to eat and I was told “We don’t cater for vegetarians as they don’t exist in the Dominican Republic” - apart from being factually incorrect I assume it was completely unhelpful. When pushed further and said there should be something that could be done just to provide one main the guy at customer services asked me “Do you eat cheese” well yes “do you eat fruit” also yes. “Well you can have fruit and cheese” I asked to speak to a manager and was told an appointment was arranged for 9am. That never happened. Asked to speak to a manager the next night. Was told an appointment was arranged for 9am. Also never happened. Contacted TUI multiple times who had said that the hotel would meet me with the manager and Head Chef. SHOCK that never happened. We tried to move hotels on day 2 and because of an error from TUI got stuck there for 5 days. RIU Bambu absolutely ruined my holiday and we ended up transferring to the RIU Palace Punta Cana - which although better still has the same issues with food and has put me off ever booking and RIU hotel ever again. I think the final kick in the teeth was when we went to transfer guest services seemed almost irritated that we wanted to leave. I asked if I could call for help to get the suitcases to the new hotel and a bellhop was posted at our door as soon as payment was made so we packed our suitcases hurriedly under the watchful eye not that I would want to keep any moment of that horrendous place. Once we were taken to the lobby I asked if there would be anyway we could get help to get across to the next RIU hotel as I am recovering from a knee operation and my other party member has severe arthritis and would struggled to push 5 cases next door. We were told no you walk yourself along the beach to the next hotel. Also meaning we got into the middle of the next hotel exhausted, in pain and with absolutely no idea where to check in. As a side note they had good carts that ferried people to and from the Casino so I believe someone could have helped. The best thing about this hotel was leaving it, almost every experience we had there was cheap and nasty. If you are thinking of booking this hotel I would seriously consider going elsewhere and I’ve never felt this way before on a vacation. To summarise; Food - worse than inedible, bland, tasteless and cold Customer service - none existent Amenities - basic at best I now have opened a complaint chain with both TUI and RIU. Don’t waste your money, pick a different hotel.
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Nov 22, 2024
Fab holiday
The hotel grounds are gorgeous with several pools, bars and beach access. If you like parties, the RIU party is great and runs a few times a week in the day or evenings. The individual buildings made it seem more private and quiet. There was a good mix of guests from all over the world which was great, but also made some of the entertainment difficult to participate in due to language barriers, but it was still fun to try. Some of the resort could use a little maintenance, just some fixes to tiles or some paint here and there. The staff were great, the bar man at the Blue swim up bar, Christian, is the best bar man i've ever met - and i've met a fair few. He knows how to make everyone feel like family. I'd say if you want a holiday where you can go off resort alone for a walk, then staying in Bavaro would be better, but this resort has everything you need otherwise. The only thing we missed was an ATM in the hotel and maybe a little shop. There is one on the resort grounds but the ATM wasn't working for some of it and the shop was on the expensive side for basic things. Overall, we loved it. Would recommend.
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