Hotel Riu Palace Maspalomas - Adults Only

10/10 would not recommend this place. This is definitely the most loosely labeled “resort” I’ve ever been to. I’ve never been to a place I’m paying so much money for that has so many stipulations and rules. First, what people said is true in the reviews. It is very quiet here with 95% of the customers being elderly. There is a strict dress code for attending the restaurants where you have to where pants and a T-shirt. Problem is, I didn’t bring pants because I’m on a hot desert island on vacation, I had to borrow some to get in. There is no convenience store in the resort to get drinks or snacks, so if you need to get a late night beverage or munchies, you have to go into town. The restaurants are only by reservation, no walk ins. The food is as bland as bland can be at every single restaurant. The buffet only serves breakfast and dinner and the restaurants only serve dinner. If you want lunch you have to walk out past the pool where they have a small menu for poolside food. The pool is awkwardly dead silent with no music playing for atmosphere, I’d be fine with even classical music. They have a poolside bar but WONT LET YOU BRING YOUR DRINKS IN THE POOL. When we tried, we were told we had to get out. This is supposed to be a vacation but it felt like daily we were being told we were breaking a rule or we were being inconvenienced. Spend your money elsewhere at a place that knows what the word vacation means. I’m all for rules but it needs to make sense.

It’s so good we made a second trip Our second trip to Riu Palace Maspalomas. We enjoyed it so much both times.

There are many, many great points about this resort. The staff, the food, the showers, everything was great. The reason for only four stars instead of five is because there is a mandatory rule that men must wear trousers to eat inside any restaurant and this was not explained before arrival. Women can wear any length of dress, skirt or shorts but men must be in full length trousers. Only having the one pair that I flew in left me with little options. If you have such strict rules, make sure guests know about it before arriving so I could have packed more appropriately. I’ve checked the booking process and all correspondence and nothing was ever mentioned. I spoke with management while there and the reply I got was, “we need to think about the other guests” but there was just a shrug of the shoulders when I said it was one clear rule for men and another for women which wasn’t fair. It was an annoyance but it didn’t ruin the holiday which was great. Just wish you’d either change the archaic “men have to wear trousers” rule or let guests know who book through ******* that these are the rules.

This was a beautifully clean hotel, and staff were, mostly, very friendly. The location is excellent for exploring the dramatic dunes. There was a very good selection of high quality food, and I particularly liked the healthy/vegetarian corner of the buffet. There are two restaurants that you can book into, which was a nice touch, although choice is restricted there, particularly for non-meat eaters. Having a heated pool was really good for the time of year I was there (Jan). The gym was basic but offered enough for me with bikes, crosstrainers and treadmills with some weight machines. I found it very disappointing that such a luxury hotel would charge me (50 euro) to use the in-room safe. This has been complained about by many other reviewers and the hotel just seem to ignore it. I was also not impressed that, although half-board, I had to pay for water with my evening meal. The water in the bathrooms is signed as non drinkable and you have to pay for a bottle of water from the mini bar. This feels like cheap tactics that you wouldn't expect from a quality hotel, and concerning in a hot country. The only water fountain is at the gym.