Hotel Riu Bambu

Tina0089 wrote a review July 2026
Roselle, New Jersey

Family Fun and Relaxation

We had an amazing time. Most of the staff were very friendly. We did have a few hiccups, but management was willing and quick to rectify it. Some people who need very special shout outs...Rene (front desk manager) was very professional and accommodating, Francis who work in the Colonial restaurant greeted my family every single day with a beautiful smile and always made sure we were taken care of, and Smith, another front desk staff whose attitude was so pleasant and contagious and went above and beyond to secure our needs. There was another front desk manager who was a woman who helped us but I can not remember her name(begins with a Y or J). If you're looking for an everyday turn up vibe with your kids/family, this is definitely the place to be!

Date of Stay: June 2026

ivap22 wrote a review July 2026

RIU BAMBU

We recently stayed at RIU BAMBU(WE LOVE RIU) and had a wonderful experience in several areas. The real highlights of our trip were the housekeeping ,restaurant and bar staff and front desk-Smith you are the best.Our room was kept spotless every single day, and the waitstaff in the restaurants were incredibly attentive, friendly, and hardworking.However, there are a couple of areas that need improvement. The animation/entertainment team felt a bit lackluster and could use more energy to engage guests(bocha game on the beach). Additionally, the towel desk was quite unorganized, making it frustrating to get fresh towels when needed.Overall, it’s a beautiful property with a great food and cleaning team, but the management really needs to address the entertainment (11 years ago was excellent)and towel services to make this a 5-star experience.

Date of Stay: June 2026

kamarrag2020 wrote a review July 2026

Fantastic two weeks

Absolutely fantastic two weeks spent in riu Bambu. The TUI exclusive area with bar and pool was especially amazing away from the main busy pool. The bar tenders always bringing amazing atmosphere and can have a good laugh with them. A special shout out to Luis Miguel on the TUI bar always puts a smile on everyone's face!

Date of Stay: July 2026

Freedom59959072702 wrote a review July 2026
Telford, Shropshire, England

Overall I was disappointed, not terrible, but stayed at better Riu's, so expected more

Overall, I was disappointed.
I didn't get off to a good start, the room I was given hadn't been cleaned from the previous guests. To be fair that sorted fairly quickly and I was given a new room.

The whole hotel is in need of a face lift.
Rooms felt outdated.
Lots of tiles from the pools are breaking off, leaving quite sharp edges in places.
Pools themselves didn't really seem to be cleaned that much, fair bit of rubbish seems to be there from one day to the next.
And the areas around the pools didn't seem to be cleaned at night, as there were still spilled drinks under the sunbeds in the morning.

The air con in the room is very loud. I recorded it at 68db, equivalent of vacuum cleaner! I complained about it and supposedly someone looked at it, but it was just the same, told reception and it was checked again, but no better. I spoke to other guests who said the same, had to turn it off at night to get any sleep.

Also had an issue with room card one day that took 4 attempts to fix, wasting over an hour.

Buffet restaurant is middling, I've had better and worse. Waiting staff not always the most attentive with offering drinks.

Other restaurants were variable, I enjoyed the Asian and stakehouse (although steak was pretty cold). Mexican was ok too. Italian was disappointing, as just a buffet, not really what I was expecting.

The whole place seems to be more oriented to Spanish speakers, staff could speak English, but often seemed overlooked. I do try to learn, but my skills are limited.
I would say 80-90% of guests were Spanish speakers, which is no problem, just need staff to remember not everyone does.
The sound system by the pool is only one speaker, so that is cranked up loud, so a bit much if you are near it. There is a Tui only pool area, maybe that was better for that, but I didn't go there.

Take care in the shops by the hotel, no prices, so they really do try it on. Asked for $40 for 2 small souvenirs, then went to $10 almost immediately, probably would have taken less. The Tui reps did warn about this.

On a more positive note, I enjoyed the Partys, that's what I came for as I've been to other Riu's and enjoying them.

Bar staff friendly, especially in the pool bar.

Beach is nice enough, does have a lot of seaweed, but can't blame the hotel for that.
It's the Atlantic side, so don't expect clear waters or a typical Caribbean Sea. It's also public, so you will get locals trying to sell you things, although I didn't find them pushy at all, not like other places I've been.

Water park is small, but enjoyable enough, slides were fun. I went early so was quiet, never had to queue for slides.

Never really had an issue getting a sunbed by the pool (by the bar side) also have shades that can be pulled over.

Daytime entertainment/games around the pool could be announced a bit better, but if you saw it then you could generally join in.

I only really saw one evening show, which was ok.

I've been to 2 other Riu hotels and honestly thought they were a better standard. I was expecting more from Bambu.

Date of Stay: July 2026

465mrsbm wrote a review July 2026
Manchester, Greater Manchester, England

Would never return

We stayed here for 2 weeks in June 2025 as a family of 7 . We had 2 separate rooms next door to each other , that was the best part of the holiday.
I can honestly tell you that rui bambu is the absolute worse hotel I have ever stayed in. The food was disgusting no taste wots so ever . Same food meal after meal . The staff was hit and miss. In the whole 2 weeks I was here I never saw anybody clean the swimming pools. What I did see vomit in the main pool. Told a member off staff and all they did was scoop ot out wiv a tiny fishing net. Absolutely disgusting. The beach was full of sea weed so thats was impossible to swim in the sea. Now let's take about the so called specialty restaurants.... the food is exactly the same as it is in the buttet restaurant only the serve it to you... how ever I would of served that food to my dogs. I promise you if you book this hotel you are going to be extremely disappointed. If I was you I would book a totally different hotel. I can honestly say if they gave me this holiday for free I would definitely decline. I would never come back to this hotel or its rui chain every again... they are the worst hotel brand ive ever stayed with. I actually could wait to fo home... disgusting hotel.

Date of Stay: August 2025

louisemQ1029VH wrote a review July 2026

Honest review 3rd visit

3rd year in a row our family of 4 have stayed here.
My sons 7years and 15years myself and husband absolutely love this place. It was the first place I decided on to spend my 40th and it didn’t disappoint.
Not far from the airport, probably around 40 minutes.
Check in nice and easy and the reception staff are very friendly, free wifi for up to 8 devices and easy to set up. Concierge to your room. I stayed in one of the smaller rooms but the views and noise level is better than the larger family rooms. The rooms are cleaned and beds made daily, and are of a good standard (yes they are slightly aged but not dirty). The shower is powerful, you do not need to bring shampoo or showergel unless you like your own, we dont bother purely for weight in suitcases. Beds are very comfortable even the sofa bed for our teenage son. The balcony is of good size to sit and watch the world go by. Lizards are everywhere outside, my son loved this part of the holiday and managed to hold a few, very sweet. Fridge stocked daily, a long with bottled waters, if you tun out just go to reception they are so helpful. We had slight issues with our card for the door but they did have a couple of powercuts during the day which couldnt be helped and reception rectified this as soon as possible. For a big complex most people do respect others during the night noise wise and we all slept like babies.

We used the tui exclusive pool which we love as it is smaller and always plenty of beds throughout the day, the bar staff all bery friendly, but our friend A Ramone and also Luis by far exceed the best customer service. Both remembering the while family and just made it so much more like home from home. Plenty of choice for drinks and mocktails. The pool was great for cooling off and keeping my 7 year old entertained, even learning to swim this year. Cleaners around the pool every morning and very cheerful. The beach is beautiful (yes there is seaweed) but every morning they clean up as best as possible.

Food
The main food hall opens at 7, and then you have the italian (of an evening) that opens at 8am for breakfast until 11am. This is quieter and i preferred eating here purely for that reason. Lunch 12-4 huge choice for the whole family. Restaurants of an evening were amazing, we loved the chinese, steakhouse and Mexican. Entertainment of evening pretty standard but suits us.
Just a really lovely place to go for a family. Please do not be put off by previous reviews

Date of Stay: June 2026

asan2562 wrote a review July 2026
Montreal, Quebec

Family Vacation

My family and I stayed at the Riu Bambu from July 2 to July 5, and overall we had a very enjoyable experience.
The service at the front desk was excellent. The staff were friendly, welcoming, and very helpful throughout our stay. We were assigned a room on the first floor, which initially concerned me because I usually request a second or third-floor room to avoid issues with bugs. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was very clean, well-maintained, and completely free of bugs.
The food at the restaurants was very good, with a great variety of options and plenty of fresh fruit available every day. There was something for everyone to enjoy.
The resort has six pools, but we spent most of our time at the Blue Pool, which was located near our room. The pool itself was large, relaxing, and much less crowded than the main pool near the lobby. Unfortunately, this is where we encountered the only significant issue during our stay.
The Blue Pool did not appear to be cleaned and maintained as frequently as the main pool. There were often leaves and dead bugs floating in the water. On our last day, since our flight was not until late in the evening, my grandchildren wanted to spend some more time at the pool. When we arrived, we noticed cigarette butts floating in one corner and what appeared to be a large clump of hair at the bottom of the pool. This was disappointing, especially considering how well-maintained the rest of the resort appeared to be.
I believe the resort should consider closing the pools at a designated time each evening. The night before our departure, there were guests still using the pool around 10:00 PM, and unfortunately not everyone treats the facilities with respect. At other resorts I have visited, staff were routinely cleaning the pools early in the morning, at the very least removing any debris that had accumulated overnight.
Overall, we had a wonderful stay and would recommend Riu Bambu to others. The staff, accommodation, food, and overall atmosphere were all excellent. My only concern was the maintenance of the Blue Pool, which did not seem to receive the same level of attention and cleaning as the main pool near the lobby. Addressing this issue would greatly improve the guest experience.

Date of Stay: July 2026

paulmG5856OF wrote a review July 2026
Basingstoke, Hampshire, England

Lovely holiday

Spent a great 2 weeks here with my partner and her son.
Staff were great always ready with a friendly hello and conversation, helped me bring back some gcse Spanish memories…! Any request done via the app was completed promptly like extra pillows and mini bar restock.
As mentioned by others the rooms are looking a bit tired but they were clean, spacious enough for us and the aircon worked well.
Grounds we immaculate with the gardeners constantly working on them.
We stayed by the Tui pool which was a lot quieter for us which is what we preferred. Only complaint is that non Tui guests can’t seem to read that it’s an exclusive area so maybe a walkthrough by a member of management to check would be good.
We couldn’t fault the food, preferred eating earlier in the evening when it was less chaotic in the buffet restaurant, we didn’t eat mostly in the À la castes and service was great.
Beach was lovely. Obviously has a lot of seaweed but there is nothing that can be done about a naturally occurring thing and they clear it as much as they can.
Would I return - yes
Would I recommend it - yes.

Date of Stay: July 2026