More about Riu Taino
Riu Taino was a disappointment
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed (myself, wife and 9 year old) at Riu Taino from April 7 to 14th of 2003 and we regretted our choice of vacation for this year. This places needs improvement in the training of its staff (entertainment, kitchen staff, servers, and especially front desk). The staff's english language skills leave a lot to be desired, as thus the food at Riu Taino. Dinner and the food at the Mediterraneo restaurant was mediocre - the place had the atmosphere of a wake!! The service at the especialty restaurants was really bad (they don't know what they are doing!!!), and so was the food at our daily buffett restaurant. The food at the Riu Bambu was of better quality but i managed to find a clump of hair and a piece of plastic wrapping in mine and in my son's food. The beach was beautiful though, but there was not much to do at the Taino, other than go to the Riu Bambu for the nicer pool and better facilities. The rooms were small( and old) and in need of improvement, especially around the small shower area.The front desk staff seemed unknowledgeable, and frankly appeared aloof at a lot of the time. They definetely need training. I talked to people (I speak an okay Spanish and they let me know of their deficiencies, so to speak).When may family compares this place with last year at another Riu Hotel, we all say in unisson : We will never go back to the Dominican .The Europeans were really nice though and my kid played lots with a couple of French kids (despite the language barrier).I guess if you are young and just looking for a disco and drinks, then maybe go there; if not look for a different place. You won't miss it.
Great animation, great place
by A TripAdvisor Member
We just returned from Punta Cana on June 22, 2003. We did not stay at the Riu Taino but spent all our days there. Beautiful pool with a bar inside it. Very beautiful lobby and dinning room, excellent food. We would like to thank Tiko and Romeo for saving our vacation. Great animation, dancing and singing!!! See you next time!
RIU Punta Cana is Paradise
by A TripAdvisor Member
Hi to everybody interested in RIU TAINO, back after two weeks I' ll let you know how it was. Flight from Duesseldorf was right in time and after a short trip with the bus (app. 30 min.) we arrived at Taino.
Check in without any problems, very friendly staff and a nice welcome-cocktail. Speaking english or german is no problem for them. We had a very nice room, well furnished on 2nd floor, nice view into the garden with tall palmtrees and other tropical plants. Located only 2 minutes from the pool, from the restaurants and the beach (partly seawheed, but staff is collecting it in the morning) we felt really happy. The whole day are nice drinks and fantastic food in different restaurants (even burgers and pizza...) available. Long walks on the beach, snorkeling and other watersports-offers from Taino are a gurantee for relaxing days on the water and under palms. It's a very international hotel and so we've met people from Austria, France, Italy, Argentina, USA, Italy, etc. So all we can say is, that we've had two fantastic weeks and still thinking that part of Dom.Rep. must be paradise.
Wonderful Trip
by A TripAdvisor Member
I just got back from the Riu Taino two days ago and the person who wrote from Pittsburgh, PA who wrote on April 27th review was right on the money. Print that review out and take it with you if you plan on going.I went with my girlfriend and my parents and we had an absolutly wonderful time. The staff is amazing. They are so energetic and fun to be around. During the day they have all kinds of activities that include, aerobics on the beach, water polo, soccer on the beach, ping-pong tournament, dance lessons by the pool, water aerobics, etc. etc. etc.The food was very good for the most part. There were plenty of choices. The two a-la-carte restaurants were average. I found the food better at the buffet restaurant in the hotel.The beach is simply beautiful and there is incredible snorkling right off the beach where we saw many specicies of exotic fish and a octopus. There were a lot of Europeans and many women went topless.Yes. I did get sick. But that was because I accidently used the hotel water to brush my teeth and because I drank a lot of booze the entire trip. However, if you are careful, this can be avoided.My impression of the Riu Taino was that it was a younger more "fun" Riu out of the Riu hotels in Punta Cana. There were a lot of younger couples, and honeymooners. Also, it is very close to the beach. Whereas other Riu hotels were set back further from the beach. It is also next to Caribbean Street that has a bunch of stores and the Pachu Disco as well as the Casino that is part of the Riu Palace.Rooms. The rooms were nice and clean. Nothing fancy. I travel a lot for work and I thought the rooms were great.I would definately go back to Punta Cana and if you are doing your research, I would strongly recommend the Riu Taino.
Amazing!
by A TripAdvisor Member
Fifteen of us stayed at the RIU Taino from April 26 to May 03, 2003 and loved it! The food was good but the buffet did get aliitle old by the end of the week. The specialty restaurants were great and a nice change from the buffet. The pool is very nice with a great swim up bar. There were lots of activities to choose from if you wanted to which kept us all busy. The rooms are a good size with a stocked mini bar. There was abit of a language barrier at some of the restaurants and at the evening show but we got by alright. The only problem we had was that someone stole my roomates necklace and $100USD from our room. Besides that we thought the resort was great. It is more laid back than the Bambu or the Palace which suited our group. I would highly recommend this hotel.
Just returned 6/18/03 - Great Time @ Taino
by TripAdvisor Member carlycunn
My friend and I recently vacationed at Riu Taino, Dominican Republic. We had a fabulous time. She and I are single women (Ages 30 and 31). We booked our trip through Apple Vacations. We couldn't have been more pleased with the arrival and departure & the care the Apple representatives took to keep us informed during our stay. Our arrival was non-eventful, smooth. We had orginally booked our trip at Riu Naiboa but we were upgraded because the hotel was overbooked. When we arrived at Riu Taino, we had the pleasure of having Mejia at the reception desk be the person who checked us in. He was a joy! We requested a closer room to the beach the day we checked-in. Mejia arranged a new room for us the very next day. (Buidlings 27 and 28 are closest to the beach .. We were in room 343 & it was a great location as well). Once we got settled into our new room, we were happy to find that he had sent us 2 bottles of rum and 2 souvenirs as well as a plate of delicious fruit to our new room. The pool and beach are beautiful. I went with hopes of getting a great tan. I'm happy to say I got it without much effort :-). The weather was great! It only rained one night at like 2am when I was fast asleep. We were there 8 days / 7nights. I was concerned about the weather because I had been monitoring the forecast on ... We learned after we got there that those forecasts primarily apply more to the inland than the coast. So, if you're watching the forecast and it says cloudy or rain, don't be too concerned. The forecast before we left said cloudy and showers every day. It was sunny every day with a few hours of overcast here and there. If your stay will include a Thursday night, you'll enjoy the activities on Carribean Street. The animation teams from each of the hotels bring the show to the street. Carribean Street is a nice touch to the resort. We also visited the vendors down the beach. I read alot of reviews saying that they are aggressive. I've been to Jamaica, St. Thomas, St. Maarten & found those vendors to be more aggressive. They are persistent but I walked right by many shops without any problem. If you're going to buy from the vendor (which I certainly did), be persistent & negotiate. When you ask how much, they will often ask how much you want to give .. start low no matter how ridiculous it seems. You'll be able to bargain better that way. Make sure you take smaller bills ($10, $5, $1) when visiting the vendors. My friend also went to Wal-Mart and purchased a few $5 wathces and used those as bargaining tools. It worked! We took the OUTBACK Safari tour & I highly recommend it. It's a great way to see the countryside, learn about the culture, and have fun at the same time. It's well worth the cost. The activity around the pool was fun. I didn't really do any of those activities until the day before we left. I was too busy on the beach :-) .. But, if you're there long enough try to get in some dance lessons, acqua gym .. The animation team is like everyone has said .. great! We did tip every now and then (i.e. tour driver, transfer driver from / to airport, baggage handler). We left small trinkets for the housekeeper daily (perfumed lotions, sprays, etc.). Our room was clean. The grounds are really a sight to see. There is one twin bed & one double bed. My friend and I alternated each night. Don't forget to pack wash clothes. There aren't any in the room. Now .. to the food .. which is always a concern. We didn't drink the tap water. I've gone to all inclusive resorts before. After a while, you can become bored with the buffet and the food.It's not an indication (to me) on the quality of food or service. It's just that after a while eating the same things over and over again become boring and dull. If my stay had been shorter, I may not have run into this problem. Breakfast was good. We packed Immodium and other things as preventative measure. I'm glad we had it because we needed it. I became sick on the fifth day of my stay. I stayed in the room all day & medicated myself - eating very little (Sprite and breads). I don't know that it was the food as much as it might have been my greediness .. (mixing all kinds of foods together). My friend also became sick. But, it wasn't enough to ruin or spoil our trip. We didn't let it dampen our enjoyment of Punta Cana. On a scale of one to five, I rate this resort a 4 - 4.5. I will eventually return. I had a splendid time!Don't let the bad reviews worry you. Most of the people we met and talked to there were quite pleased.Another thing to note -- Many of the reviews said that if you pay in American money, you'll get Peso in return/change. This is the case at the resort. However, outside the resort, we found that if we asked in advance if they'd give us US Dollar as change - we got it.It seems that families partiuclarly enjoyed the trip .. I saw lots of happy kids.
All Inclusive is the way to go
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at Riu Taino from June 7-12. This was my first trip out of the country, so landing at this airport, which practically is just a grass hut, was awesome!!!! Our flight was delayed almost four hours from OHare, so we didn't even land until about 11:30 pm, which sucked, because it made it hard to see this beautiful island, and filling out those tourist cards in the dark was not the easiest task. When we arrived at Taino, it was completely dead, about 12:30am, so check in took about 30 seconds. I love how the lobby has no doors or windows, totally open. The thing I'll always remember is HOW CLEAN they keep everything. The grounds are amazingly spotless and every last bush and plant are pruned to perfection. They also keep the beaches very clean.
Our first day there, we walked the beach to the orientation meeting (waste of time) and got lost on our way back. Everything looks the same from the beach!!! Every person we tried asking for directions back to Taino could not help us, as nobody speaks any English there. That is my only complaint, that they should know enough English to accompony vacationers. I was estatic to be topless on the beach, and didn't feel weird about it cause everyone else is doing it too. A lot of thongs too. The pool is absolutely amazing, very cool swim up bar. The all inclusive liquor made the trip, as I know I alone would have spent a few hundred dollars just in booze. The booze is different though, it's their own, no Absolute or Jack down there so don't even ask. It tasts different, but not bad. The OJ is more of a OJ/Mango mix. You room mini bar gets stocked every two days. The food is very good in the main dining room. But, if you want to keep it very casual, La Bamba bar/grill is pretty good too. They put green peppers in just about everything. People start to fill the pool area by 6-7 am, so if you want a lawn chair, get there early. I couldnt believe the amount of people in speedos and bikinis, who were very overweight. Humm, I'm sure they would have never wore that in their neighborhood. I love the little lizards running around everywhere! I love the African Masks I picked up there. There are some really nice treasures to be found there. Everyone I managed to talk to (very few) all said they had diarreah, and I didn't drink the water. I did drink a lot of booze though, all day long. I've been home 12 days and my stomach is still messed up somewhat. Willy and Abel at La Bamba were great, always remembered what I drank. Oh yeah, sand is everywhere, lol! I don't care how many times you shower, you still have sand on you, it's funny. Know how to count Pesos before you enter the store. Ladies, leave your make-up and blow dryers at home. It's too hot for make-up and you'll just sweat it off within 5 minutes and your hair, well lets just say 100% humidity. Just bring some gel and thats it. I could not find one shell on the beach, bummer. I hated to leave, as I love the tropics.
The Punta Cana airport is a smoking airport, very cool. Not like OHare, where they want you there two hours before take off and they cant even give you one smoking room. I loved Punta Cana and would definately go back. Good value too. Our trip was only 583.00 per person for 5 days thru Apple vacations. You'll have a great time.
Photos
Taino
Taino indians ???
Taino - Painting
Taino Dancers at Manati Park, Punta Cana, DR
Forum Posts
Spring Break 2007
by kalina555
my roommate and i have booked a stay at the Riu Taino resort in mid-february. anything we should be told about before going?
does anyone know if it will be occupied by other spring breakers at this time? and how is the night life in or outside of the resort?
thanks a lot!
RE: Spring Break 2007
by TheTravelSlut
I ws in Punta Cana in Sept. 2006 but am not familiar with your resort. I have several tips on my Punta Cana travel pages if you are interested.
My guess would be that not many spring breakers would be in Punta Cana because most resorts are all inclusive and a little pricey for a week.
TTS
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