RIU Vallarta 2022: Both me and my partner had a fantastic time while at the hotel and we only found a few minor faults, during our stay. We went from June 23rd- July 7th and both of us are 22. This review will be long and in-depth but split into sections for easy reading. Rooms: Our room was very spacious and clean. The bed was huge but not super comfy (everyone has their own preference with mattresses). The balcony had 2x chairs that reclined and a small table. There’s also a small cloths railing for drying stuff. We paid for a partial sea view and I think that was a fair description. We were facing the sister hotel (RIU Jalisco) and during the evening we were able to partially see and hear their entertainment, however with the balcony door closed there was no issue with noise. The balcony door also had a bug screen which we found very helpful. There was a big set of drawers (6 in total) and a big wardrobe that had plenty of hangers (you can also request more if needed) for storing all our clothes. The bathroom has two sinks, a walk-in shower and a toilet. It was all very clean and the water pressure was good! There is also a hairdryer that's got good setting/power (I've got thick hair and it dried it well). There's two big towels, three small towels and two flannels. In the shower there's a body/hair wash. The air conditioning was really good also, and came in handy to escape the heat! There is also a ceiling fan that can be used if you don't want the room to be quite as cold, which we used often while we were sleeping. The room also included a sofa, which we found to be really comfortable. The bar was regularly filled up. If you put the red tag on the door but still want the mini fridge filled up just message on the app and they’ll come and fill it. We done this 4x because we wanted more water. Sometimes it took a few hours to do but it was always done when needed. Overall, our room as very clean, spacious and modern. Wifi: The free Wifi was very quick and easy to use. We got a code for two devices per room, but we managed to connect a third device and we received no extra cost. It worked throughout the hotel and only lost connection a few times while using the stairs and lifts. Restaurants/food: Personally, I would say the food was average. There were five restaurants in total and of those five we visited three of them. Our preferred restaurant was the Main Buffet restaurant called Don Rafael. The food was okay but never amazing. As a Vegetarian the selection was okay but I had to resort to a lot of high carb foods in order to be full e.g. pizza, chips and rice. I didn't feel like there was a lot of specialty dishes catered for vegetarians, in comparison to the meat dishes. My partner is not a vegetarian and he felt that the meat options were also okay, with only a few examples of dishes he felt were very nice. Also, a lot of the fresh salads are washed in what I believe to be local water, so be aware of the chance of getting a bad belly. Breakfast only takes places in the main buffet restaurant (7:00-10:30), and it becomes very busy any time after 9:00, with a lot of frustrated people queuing. Quite a lot of the breakfast items were very greasy and the Mexican breakfast items did not have a lot of filling. Also as a Hash Brown fan, I wasn't happy with how few times they served them. If you find a food/dish that you like don’t expect it to be there everyday, they often change them. Whereas other hotels I’ve been to usually serve the same things day after day. However, the Pancakes and Waffles we had were very fresh and tasty and there were a selection of sauces you could drizzle on yourselves. Lunch was slightly better than either Breakfast or Dinner and often was better than the dinner options. Again, the only option for Lunch was the Main Buffet Restaurant but the queues were never as long as breakfast. Throughout the day, there was also a small Poolside restaurant available but the choices were quite limited. Dinner from the Main Buffet Restaurant was again okay and it could be very hit or miss depending on the theme that evening. However, when we tried the Asian restaurant we found it very lovely! The food was great and the staff were so amazing. The Italian Restaurant was also very nice and I believe they had the best puddings... with the Lemon Cake being a personal favourite. The Sports Bar food was nice but limited and the majority you had to microwave. The labelling in all the restaurants could be a bit clearer and often the labels and the actual dishes were not the same. Overall, the food was filling but often too salty or greasy but food is fuel and it done exactly that… fuelled us for the day! Reception: The reception area is huge with plenty of seating for waiting to check in/out. We found the staff to be very helpful and there were constantly workers keeping the area clean. The Wifi works well here also and it's a good place to escape the sun. Pool area: We were really impressed with the pools. They are cleaned regularly and the sun beds are comfortable. There's plenty of shaded areas for everyone. Some of the beds have wear and tear but that's like every hotel I've ever been to. No matter the time of the day there was always somewhere for us to find two beds. Larger groups of people would struggle to be together though. We mostly sat on the pool to the left (kind of L shaped). We took part in the aqua aerobics in the activity pool and it seemed more lively. We dipped into the pool bar once to have a look at the view of the beach. We only went in the biggest pool (on the far right) once when the foam party happened. Whoever, on a few days the pools were very warm, with it feeling like having a bath. We read about the crazy drinkers and people being sick in the pools before we came but not once did we experience this. If it did happen then it didn't make any of the other pools any busier and we never saw any misbehaviour or rowdiness. Personally, we're not heavy drinkers. We have absolutely no problem with people having fun and drinking on their holidays, each to their own. We could hear people cheering "chug chug chug" at the pool bar but that's expected in an environment of all inclusive drinking and it was part of a fun atmosphere. RANT! We had a disagreement with a group of people about the drinking situation in the hotel. They were complaining about drunk people to the manager and saying they'd seen fights, people being sick and weeing up walls. They claimed that at the Astoria bar (by reception) at 11pm a man came stumbling up the stairs drunk and told the husband he'd managed to buy drugs from the beach. They asked the manager what the drugs policy was, to which she explained was zero tolerance and that anyone caught will be reported to the police. They weren't happy with this explanation or the apologies she gave. The hotel beach isn't private so anyone can walk through it, including people selling toys, bracelets etc in order to make a living . There was a claim from this group that a man was selling drugs on the beach but we only heard this from these people. There was no proof and we can only say that we never witnessed anything like this nor did we hear/speak to anyone else about drug misuse. Throughout our whole stay we felt safe 100% of the time and there are no personal experiences from us which would say otherwise. The ground also complained about the hotel not stopping serving drunk people. The manager explained that the bar staff are instructed to serve people a safe amount of alcohol. However, it is to be expected at an All Inclusive Hotel and there are many ways for people to get drunk even if they are declined service at the bars e.g. the Mini Bar with alcohol in your room or the shops down the road. They weren't happy with this response either. I've been to many places on holiday (self catering and all inclusive) and you will always always always have people that drink too much. You can not blame this on the hotel. If you don't want to be around drunks, there were many locations in the hotel where this could be avoided. The indoor seating by the stage where the entertainment was had many families with children and people drinking sat further back/at the other bars. Please don’t blame the hard working staff for individuals that can’t handle their drink. Quick side note- there are lots of Americans in the hotel. The legal age for drinking in the US is 21, in Mexico it’s 18 so you do get 18+ year old Americans who haven’t drunk a lot and don’t yet know their limits. This again isn’t the hotels fault. Beach: The beach was clean and had plenty of sun beds. The water was mostly quite rough but warm. There's plenty of Palm trees for shade and if you want to you can buy a brolly. There's also lots of people selling stuff on the beach e.g jewellery, teddies, hair braiding and inflatables. As soon as you say no they walk off. There was a beach party when we were there but we didn't stay for long. They had music, food and drinks. If you take a short 5 minute walk along the beach you reach the sister hotel where the neon and white party are held. Be sure to keep an eye on the flag on the beach and read what colour means what. While we were there we were warned about jelly fish. Entertainment: The Entertainment team were absolutely amazing! They really do give their all, all the time. They give all the activities 100% and are always happy and helpful. There is always something on for people to do and they all were/looked great fun. A few activities were Water Polo, Volleyball, Yoga, Step Aerobics, Dance Classes, Spanish Lessons and loads more! If you download the app there’s a day to day list of the activities and the time they’re one. The Evening Entertainment was hit and miss. The parties, neon and white, were good, and had lots of dancers and music. We watched the Mexican night which wasn't amazing and the Michael Jackson tribute was very different to what we were expecting. The ABBA tribute wasn't great either, however we absolutely LOVED the Crazy Marathon show. This was put on by the hotel team and we thought it was fab. They done lots of quick changes into iconic musicians and done lots of dancing/funny skits. However, even though some of the acts weren't great, it made it just as good as it was something to laugh about and definitely made some memories! Staff: We found that around 90% of the staff spoke good to great English. The waiters work so hard and they can't do enough for you. We didn't mind setting our own table and getting our own drinks but if they see you doing this they'll try to stop you, so they can help. Reception, grounds staff, entertainment team and the cleaners were all absolutely amazing. Couldn't find a single fault. Excursions: We done a few days out in the two weeks we were there. A short taxi trip away (240 pesos) you can go the Peutro Vallarta Walmart and the shopping centre/Liverpool centre (it's like John Lewis). Another 5 minute taxi ride from the Walmart (60 pesos) is an Outlet shopping centre. They've got designer brands such as Hugo Boss but also high street names like H&M and Pull&Bear. We picked up a few cheap things for winter in the UK. We also popped down to Bucerias. We decided to walk along the beach ... What a mistake! It was ridiculously hot and took about 1hr 20 with stopping for drinks and finding shade, (TUI said it was an easy 30 mins!) If you want to go, get a taxi as it's only 120 pesos. There isn't really much to see other than a few rows of markets. We were so hot that we didn't stay long so we may have missed stuff. We would 100% recommend the day trip to Las Caletas. There's so much to see and do on the island. We went to the beach and done lots and lots of swimming and snorkelling. We also done a little kayaking. It's really relaxed and remote, there's something for everyone there. A snorkel is 100 pesos pp and there's a number of photo packages available (we paid around £50). There were also Docking fees pp at 30 pesos. Be sure to bring enough money. I think the taxi from the hotel was 140 pesos but I can't remember 100%. Be sure to bring extra cash for any added activities you might want to do. I'd also suggest to make sure to book it directly with Vallarta Adventures as it is much cheaper than going through TUI. There was no extra benefit with booking with the TUI rep, not even a Coach transfer included. By far our favourite excursion was the Wild Dolphin swim. We done this through a company called Wildlife Connection. It cost £57.50pp and it's just absolutely fantastic! You go out on a small boat with a group of 12-14 people of all ages and 2 members of staff. Before you leave Opequimar marina you get an informative talk about the Dolphins and sea life in the local area, which was super interesting. While out at sea (3hrs out on the boat) the staff don't use fish/food to entice the Dolphins in, the Dolphins come to you out of curiosity and wanting to play. Groups of 2-4 get to into the sea and swim with the Dolphins and dive down with them. Goggles/Masks, life jackets, snorkels and flippers are all there for everyone to use. Drinks and snacks were given out at the beginning and at the end. The sea is warm so don't be put off by the temperature. The sea can sometimes not be very clear due to the weather but you are still able to see the Dolphins. We also saw Pelicans and Sea Turtles. We are both against captive animals, unless they are endangered, so this was absolutely perfect for us, it was really a once in a life time opportunity! It's also a third of the price of the other Dolphin excursions like the one through TUI, which we believe uses captive dolphins. We booked directly via the Wildlife Connection website and were able to contact them easily through their Whatsapp and they replied very quickly. Tui: It's been a bumpy ride with TUI. 2hrs before out flight I received and email to say that in-flight entertainment wouldn't be working. They said if we spent £20 on books etc at the airport we would get a refund when home. Luckily we had prepared and downloaded movies and shows to our phones etc, but others had not. We love reading so made the most of the voucher. The flight leaving gatwick was 2hrs48 late due to staff shortages and missing equipment. The hotel TUI reps were very informative about the local area and had lots of advice. Although there advice was only about excursions that TUI supported, as they work off commission. I asked for advice about knowing if Wildlife Connection was a real company and one of the reps said we would probably be ripped off and that it was mostly fake. She advised that we done a Dolphin swim through them. I totally understand that they get commission on the excursions that they sell but she was so wrong about Wildlife connection. Other than that we didn't really use the reps. Safety: We felt incredibly safe when leaving the hotel. The locals are friendly, speak great English and helpful with directions. We got numerous taxis from taxi ranks out and about. All spoke good English and knew where the hotel was. Make sure to get the white and yellow, or just plain white ones. Uber also works here. The taxi fares are cheap and reasonably priced. We didn't go out at nighttime so can't comment on that. Weather: We were there from June 23rd-July 7th. There were some very heavy rain falls but for a matter of minutes. Usually late afternoon, morning time or through the night. It's not like the rain at home it's warm and needed to clear the air. The heat and humidity is next level. We had highs of 33 but felt like 45. On the cloudy days the UV is still very high so don't be fooled, wear your sun cream! Overall: This hotel is clean, well maintained, had fantastic staff and is cheep for a 5*. With it being a cheeper 5* go with an open mind and half glass full mentality. If you do experience the drunks (we didn’t) then remember everyone enjoys their holidays differently and take yourself away from those situation rather than sitting there and moaning. Top tips: 1. Bring bug spray 2. If you like to use straws bring them. You can't find them anywhere. 3. If you have one, bring an insulated bottle (the brand is called Chilli's but you can find cheap ones in Wilko or TK Maxx) We used these every day and it kept our water cold for hours. 4. We brought £250 in cash and used pretty much all of it. We also used the TUI banks cards but didn't really use them too much. 5. Tip when the service is good, don't feel pressured to constantly tip. 6. Chill out in the sun, have a lovely time and make some memories!!…