Dominican Republic – Amazing options for families and friends
RIU Hotels & Resorts has announced the reopening of the Riu Palace Bavaro, in Punta Cana, after a watershed refurbishment in terms of what the chain offers in the destination and around the world. Following the demolition of the Riu Naiboa, on an adjoining plot, the Riu Palace Bavaro has spread over the former site to include new spaces for its own facilities, providing ample room for its renowned innovative, gastronomic and entertainment areas and allowing it to diversify accordingly. The hotel has a family area with all kinds of water and outdoor activities, its own food and beverage spots, another exclusive area for Elite Club customers and an all-new food court for everyone. All of this is thrown into the ever-extensive package of cuisine, entertainment and services so characteristic of RIU hotels.
Of the hotel’s 994 rooms, 255 are designed for families and groups of friends visiting the destination. They have three ample beds to be able to share the same space together and are located in the new family area of the Riu Palace Bavaro. Here, the youngest members of the family can thoroughly enjoy an area designed with them in mind, with a mini splash park, pirate ship, games park, cinema, multi-sports area and places to get food such as a patisserie, a taqueria, and a grill-style Pepe’s Food station. The Kids’ Club located in this space is also offering a diversified range of entertainment for the three different ages, including the options mentioned above as well as a recreational room and a cupcake-decorating station at RIU Art. And what could be no other way: all hotel guests have access to the Splash Water World water park at the RIU complex in Punta Cana, which is rounded off by the hotel’s nine swimming pools. And of course, all customers over 18 can enjoy the four themed RIU Party evenings held every week at the complex.
The Riu Palace Bavaro’s new tally of 32 places to eat offer something really new compared to RIU’s almost 100 hotels around the world—a food court with all kinds of sweet and savoury food choices. Here, all hotel guests can enjoy an endless variety of food and beverages: a pizzeria, Wok-Poke station, fried-chicken area, a taqueria, another Pepe’s Food, an ice-cream parlour, a sweet station with crepes, waffles and donuts, and a bar. Without doubt, this has been a significant innovation to what RIU offers in the destination which will allow its customers to try out various types of products from culturally-different cuisines.
In terms of culinary options, the Riu Palace Bavaro continues to offer its customers an extensive range of restaurants: the main go-to restaurant for breakfasts, lunch and dinner; gourmet food at Krystal; an Asian restaurant; a restaurant offering Italian dishes; another for Mexican specialities; a steakhouse with different cuts of meat; and the all-new American Country diner offering All-American Favourites. Implementation of the Elite Club service also entails the Elite restaurant, exclusively for these customers who wish to take their RIU experience one step further.
There will be a total of 108 rooms allocated to Elite Club customers, who will be staying in privileged locations with the best possible views, 60 of them with a private pool. This customers customers also have a swimming pool exclusively for them with their own bar, a priority check-in area and a lounge bar. These bars and other beverage points are also the place where they can enjoy premium drinks, as well as à la carte breakfasts. Similarly, all of the usual Elite Club benefits are also implemented at the Riu Palace Bavaro, such as premium spirits dispensers in the room, a minibar with snacks and bottle of wine, potential early check-in and guaranteed late check-out until 1 p.m., a welcome gift and aromatherapy in the room, as well as the possibility of making priority bookings in the hotel’s themed restaurants.
Aside from all the new entertainment and culinary options, the refurbishment of the Riu Palace Bavaro establishes the new style and design that RIU has chosen for all of its refurbishments and new-build hotels: discreet décor in subtle and elegant tones combined with greater and better use of natural light. This is something that can be appreciated across the Riu Palace Bavaro, in the rooms and common areas, pre-existing and new restaurants and all of the eight bars it now has. These include the Sports Bar (open 24 hours), Joe’s Bar (for the best cocktails), the lobby bar, the theatre bar and three swim-up bars, as well as the two already mentioned that are exclusively for Elite Club guests. In all of them, as well as the upgrade in exclusive quality that can be enjoyed by those in the Elite Club, all guests can enjoy the notable rise in the quality and brands of their favourite beverages, something that is now possible in all hotels with the Elite Club service.
This extraordinary refurbishment, with all of its innovations, has allowed RIU Hotels to enhance its options in the Dominican Republic, increasing the quality of its products and services. The opening of the Riu Republica in 2016 and its subsequent extension at the end of 2017 was followed by the refurbishment of the Riu Bambu in 2017, the overhaul of the Riu Palace Punta Cana in 2018 and the recent refurbishment of the Riu Palace Macao at the end of 2023. RIU now has, therefore, a completely new set of hotel options in Punta Cana with a total of 4,528 rooms across its five properties.
