My wife and I stayed at the Riu for 4 nights. The 5 star hotel would have been beyond our financial ability if we hadn't found an offer that reduced the price substantially, almost 75%. So, I strongly suggest looking arounfd for deals.

All of the people that worked there were very friendly and helpful. The front desk had people that spoke excellent English, which we needed. When asked, they gave us change for larger bills so we could tip workers in American dollars, a small detail that didn't go unnoticed. In fact, all of the workers were great, and truly seemed to like each other. They would greet each other with a smile, sometimes with a hug or a pat on the back and always seemed to support each other. How refreshing! That atmosphere directly resulted in an enjoying atmosphere. I would be remiss if I didn't mention two workers in particular. Both worked at the pool area. Hovacio worked relentlessly to keep the place clean and comfortable. Although his English is limited, it was good enough that his sense of humor was obvious and his kindness was perceptibly genuine. He was a pleasure to be around. However, Natali, who worked at the pool side bar, is a special human being. Her smile was infectious, her care was pure, and her personality is second to none. We just wanted to be around her. The world would be be much better off if there was more "Natalies". By the way, if you read this Natali my invisible friend says hello:)

The rooms were very clean, roomy and comfortable. The bathrooms were large and had 2 separate and roomy sinks . The shower area had 3 ways to wash up including a hand held spa style, a rain style shower head and a typical tub style. The water pressure was great. The tub itself was a bit hard to get into because we are older, but for most this would not be a problem. The view of the city and ocean was spectacular in our ocean side room. There are of course skyscrapers that block some of the ocean view. Still, it was easily visible and relaxing to observe.

The hotel has 4 places to eat and 2 bars; a sushi bar, a Spanish restaurant, a pool side eatery and a large breakfast buffet area. We ate at all of them. The breakfast buffet was spectacular and had anything one could want. All of the juice is made from fresh fruit, for example. Now, that takes a lot of work. Although the food was good in the other places, it was nothing special. We don't like sushi but the red snapper, which can be prepared 3 ways, was good. At the Spanish restaurant we had a seafood/rice dish that had plenty of seafood, but too much squid which was a bit rubbery. We simply didn't eat the squid. Surprisingly, we preferred the pool side food although it had a simple menu. The only complaint is we don't like switching beer midstream. They ran out of Balboa beer which should not happen at a 5 start hotel.

My wife and I plan on staying there again when we have to stay in the city next year. I guess that's the ultimate compliment. We highly recommend staying there if you need to be in the city. We hope Natali and Horacio are still there.