My husband & I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Punta Cana. We stayed at the Riu Naiboa, but honestly spent most of our time at the Riu Taino or Riu Bambu pool and grounds. The Naiboa is a great place to stay for the price, but it's a little further away from all of the festivities...which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you want to get away from it all.

Rooms: Rooms are average at best. Very small, and the bathrooms need some serious work. We spoke to the reception person and asked to be moved to a comparable room. Surprisingly, we were offered an upgraded room (suite) which was VERY nice. The service and staff at the Riu Naiboa couldn't be any better. They absolutely bend over backwards to make sure you enjoy your stay and have everything you need.

The absolute best part about the RIU hotels are their beaches...they are perfect! Soft white sand, crystal blue water, and not too crowded, with plenty of lounge chairs to go around. A word of caution to the prudish: the majority of vacationers in Punta Cana are European, so expect to see many topless women. It's not a big deal. Get over it, Americans! Relax and enjoy yourself!!

Food is average...we had plenty to eat, but don't expect spectacular flavor...the food tended to get over-cooked sitting under the heat lamps on the buffet. Veggies & fruit are exceptionally fresh and delicious. Drinks were OK...the only complaint here is that the beer was often served a little too warm for my taste, and the ice in the dacquiries was non-existent at times so it was like drinking syrup. I'd recommend sticking to rum & cokes or other mixed drinks with ice. Oh yeah...and the Mama Juana...stay away! It will send you over the edge in a heartbeat!

This was our second trip to the Riu Naiboa in PC, and we were actually a little nervous going back...we had such a great experience the first time, we were scared that we were going to get 'let down' the second time around. Absolutely did not happen!

Our second stay was just as great as our first trip 2 years prior, and we will definitely be returning in coming years.

We really enjoyed the Riu Naiboa. It was our first vacation to ourselves since having our daughter.
As soon as we arrived, we had a quick check in, which was great after a long trip.
ROOMS:
We checked out our room, which was not entirely ready. However, it was still clean, and our room was overlooking the pool. You could see signs of wear and tear. I would highly recommend staying on the pool side if you want a nicer view, I heard others on the opposite side overlooked a swamp. The only thing I would say about staying on the pool side is the noise from the pool (games) can be a bit aggravating, the Bolero is open until late and there is a bit of noise from the Disco Pacaa but we stayed closer to the other end so that did not bother us. The room has a mini fridge and as often as you want they will give you more water. I found the front desk staff to be very helpful and when we had a maintenance problem with our shower head they fixed it that day and even gave us a small gift to kind of make up for that. It was a nice touch. The beds were not too bad, a bit hard; there is also an in room safe with a key when you check in and the floors between are virtually soundproof (e.g. we were on the 2nd floor and couldn't hear anyone above us), however, unless people were out in the hallways, that was a little irritating as it was noisy at times. The only other thing I would say is that the rooms were not as large as other resorts I have stayed in before, but, that does not really matter.
FOOD:
Wow. All I can say is Wow. Every night was something different I had never tried and all the usual staples otherwise. The great thing about staying at the Naiboa is the fact that you could have access to the Taino and Bambu to eat at also, which was great for variety. By the time you went in and set your stuff down, filled up your plate and came back, there was your a coffee pot on the table. At supper they would get to know you also and set out what they knew you liked to drink even before you had sat down (your server would get to know who you were and see you come in).
Breakfast was handmade omelets, bacon, sausage, bread, yogurt, fruit, juice smoothies, croissants, french toast, eggs, etc. Lunch was the usual hamburgers and hotdogs, PIZZA! :), soup, salad, chicken, mussels, vegetables, desserts, etc. etc.
Snack times had just about as much it seemed!
Supper - unlimited a la cartes, which was great. Italian and Steakhouse are every night (which is awesome!), and Mexican we couldn't even get into, we tried twice. At supper times you have an assigned numbered table and again supper was similar to lunch but a bit more variety and again excellent food.
BEACH:
We ended up spending most of our time at the Bambu beach. We felt it was more covered with palm trees and was a great spot if you wanted access to the pool snack bar (Mama Juana) and pool and beach. It just means you have to walk farther but oh well. If you don't like to do a lot of walking, I wouldn't recommend the Naiboa but really who cares. Walk off all the food you eat. You get to walk down Caribbean Street which is a neat place to get little souvenirs, etc. It is only a 5 minute walk and to the Bambu was 15 minutes. We enjoyed our days on the beach, there was a couple days we could not go in the water due to the fact that it was too windy.
POOL:
The Naiboa pool was definitely the nicest of them all.
STAFF:
The Naiboa staff was always helpful and friendly. There was only one day we were a bit frustrated by the language barrier but it was alright.
ENTERTAINMENT:
There is a Michael Jackson show that you HAVE to watch. We saw that at the Taino. We checked out Grease at the Naiboa and a Latino show at the Bambu.
EXCURSIONS:
We landed on a windy week so our excursions were not as good as they could have been. We went to Bavaro Splash one day, where you drive a speed boat and then go snorkeling and then go back on the speedboat. It was very choppy waves that day. My husband loved the speedboat, I did not. I thoroughly enjoyed the snorkeling. It is a great tour for the adventurous. They tell you at the Sunquest desk not to book at the Watersports desk by the beach (the staff come around every day to sell their services) but I would question this in the future.
We had also booked to go to Dolphin Island but because it was windy we had to go to Manati Park. We had to walk WAY out to a pick up spot by a bus I was sure would fall apart. I only got to spend 10 minutes in the water for $ 85 US - way too much money. But, I still got to do it. In the future I would want to go to Dolphin Island instead. I hear it is much better.
OVERALL: The crowd at Naiboa is more of a younger family oriented spot vs Bambu or Macao was more upper class. Taino was more middle aged, younger people. The Palace was VERY high class people. It really did look like a palace. The cool thing was again you could access other resorts and enjoy live music or entertainment or facilities or food at any of them.
We had a really great time, we met lots of other people around from Canada and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. If you want a cost efficient vacation, Naiboa is the spot. However next time I think we might have spent a bit more money and went to the Riu Bambu instead. Would definitely recommend this place to anyone!

PART 1 (No photos)

Wow, they told me I would like Punta Cana better than Puerto Plata...they where right..
I worked in hotel business for 15 years and I allways critique hotels to the smallest of details. this place, has all the tools to be a incredible hotel, however they where not being used.

Rooms..... old, run down, need renovations, but nicely clean the boose cupboard was stupid, the mini fridge was smart. .
Hallways....very clean, well maintained.
Lobby.....Poor, broken floor tiles, old plastic flowers, again run down and in need of a renovation, but allways very clean..
Elevators.....european elevators, really tight and painfully slow, no venting. Not much the hotel can do.
Restaurants......very clean, great service, good food, fish station is better than meat station, the breads, dairy, cheeses, salads, etc..all very fresh and well stocked up, many options for everyone's taste.
Pool...... ......the best in the entire complex of five hotels, big spacious and very clean.
grounds, very clean, beutifull lucious vegetations, nice paths, lots of garbage cans.
NO DIRECT ACESS TO BEACH, BE AWARE OF THIS WHEN YOU BOOK AT THIS HOTEL. There is a path and road that lead to it but it goes thru a shopping area, very pleasent, clean and entertaining but you have to walk five minutes, if that bothers you stay at the Riu Taino. I didin't mind that, I tought it was fun.
Beach.........hooommmyyygod......I tought I was in heaven, clean fine, huge, beutilful play sand like beaches, sun, sun, sun...I loved it, I have seen hundreds of beaches in my life but this one beats it all..lot's of loungers, showers, palm trees, no algae, they bring you drinks with out even asking, wow i loved it...
WATCH OUT FOR THE SUN IS VERY STRONG, YOU WILL BURN BADDLY IN MINUTES..
Entertainment.........very telented, nice and a fun bunch, the night shows are fun and very entertaining, if smoke bothers you will have a hard time because almost everyone smokes at this resort (lots of European Guests) they love to smoke.
The drinks are awsome, ask for Ricardo the bartender and Yovanny the waiter at the buffet restaurant. Exceptional staff.
There is hookers on the bar by the pool soliciting business, very disceet but they are allways there.

Ola!

My wife and I stayed here Mar 16-23, 2008. We loved it. The food was great. Restaurant reservations were not always easy to get, get up early to have a good chance, like 6:00am. Italian was okay but Steakhouse was awesome! In the end the buffet had more than enough to choose from, so don't worry if you miss the a la cartes. Was very windy for most of our stay, likely to do with the full moon, still warm even though, waves were great to play in, some undertoe as well, be careful, watch your kids please. I never needed long sleeves, so there you go, it's nice.

As you know you have access to RIU Taino and Bambu as well, just have to go to your own buffet at night. You can also walk around the others not included, no one kicked us out. We ended up living at the Bambu a lot, but slept at Naiboa of course. Bambu is just a little more compact and things are closer together. The beach there had more shade, smaller palm trees to sit under, etc. The rest of the beach had taller palms, nice, just not as shady, and not as much of a beach stretch to the water, near Bambu you have a treed beach area, the open beach, then the water, that's ideal, perfect and nice!

We wished we had of booked the Bambu in the first place, but the walk each day to and from was good, though we didn't want to (our own laziness), helped with all the food we ate!! You'll be sure to put on about 5 lbs at this place in one week. Kid you not!
All in all, our room was fine, had a problem with the shower, but they fixed it quickly, and gave us some rum for the trouble and a souvenier. So they really tried to go the extra mile here we thought. Also, if your water jug runs out in the fridge, just get more at the front desk, we did. No probs, or they will be by with it later. If you ever meet the guy in the hall filling the fridges, he'll hand over as much stuff as you want!! No probs.

We did the Bavaro Splash excursion, but was so windy the water kept getting in my eyes, and the salt really stings, so I did not enjoy the speed boat I got to drive. On a nice day, this would have been a great excursion, just think twice if it's not going to be a calmer day on the water. Or, bring a mask, or goggles to keep water out, that would be okay then. My eyes were really red from all the salt, the way home, the salt was drying on my face, and my shirt was stiff with it, not kidding.

Overall, nice place. Staff are great, and so thankful we tipped them sometimes. They work hard and are thankful to have work. If we stopped going to the DR, they have no work, so think about it the next time you are frustrated over something on your trip. If your spanish is bad, just learn some. They try hard to speak english, so we should give a little as well.

Some reviews on here, wow, some people are spoiled and should be ashamed of the things they comment on and say about these resorts and hard working people. The world does not center around you/me as individuals, look beyond yourself (me too), and enjoy a new culture, and love the people you are so very blessed to meet there.

The worst part of my trip was witnessing the vacationers who seemed to have an attitude, wanting everything just so...they are plain and simply very spoiled and really should just stay home and hire a butler to dance for them. It makes no sense for the rich to go to the DR and complain about it. And yes, there is garbage on the side of the road outside the resort, I expected that. Think deeper and outside of yourself for a minute, maybe there's a reason for the way life is there? If you were born in the DR, chances are you'd live the way most of them do. Our gov't here is far from perfect, their's I am sure is the same, with less money to go around for services, etc. Be willing to understand that everyone in the world is not like you, book the Naiboa, enjoy the locals who work there, the food, the sun. Leave a smile or two behind, make a difference in someone's world for a change, tip a few bucks here and there. And relax, some people were so uptight, I need time off just from watching them fuss and butt into line all the time. It must be okay to be rude in some countries? Not in Canada eh!

This trip has opened my eyes to appreciate other people in the world who God loves. He truly loves all people and I am so thankful for the honor to visit the DR.

The other bad part of the trip was all the second hand smoke, nothing against smokers, but I didn't deserve someone else's habit in my face all week. I didn't spit in anyone's face, why should they get to smoke in mine? I love the new Canadian laws. The closed in areas were sometimes really bad, made the shows unenjoyable, so we left and walked along the beach under the moon, no biggy.

We plan to go back, just maybe the Bambu this time since we lived there so much and liked it, maybe with less walking I can gain 10 lbs!!

And do catch the Michael Jackson show, it was pretty cool! He had the moves down pretty well. Very fun to watch.

Just go, the negative reviews show up even in the 5 stars places on here, so ignore them as they are hardly worth your time read.

Cheers to the Naiboa! Thank you to everyone who worked hard to make my stay a fun one! See you soon Punta Cana.