• Moving in on the Riu Naiboa’s former site has given the chain the space to offer what it never has offered before: 32 food and beverage points, including a food court, exclusive kids’ areas and a select Elite Club zone

• Among its 994 rooms are accommodation options for families and friends and others with the exclusive Elite Club service benefits, making this a real watershed refurbishment for RIU in Punta Cana

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.