Picked this location for a family vacation, unfortunately there are some significant issues here.

Approximately half of the rooms face the courtyard which is beautiful to see but all the evening entertainment originates from there including the late night disco. Bopping music can be clearly heard in the rooms as late as 2am. This is followed by the drunken loud behaviour of patrons yelling and screaming. If that’s not bad enough you’ll experience everything going on in the rooms adjacent. Because the hotel is often sold out as it was then, we were unable to switch rooms.

With the lack of sleep you’d at least like to enjoy the pools during the day. However if you dropped an ice cube into either of the pools it would not melt. Both swimming pools were freezing cold. I would watch person after person take one step say “it’s freezing” and head back out.

If your looking for a party hotel and don’t care about cold pools you’ll love this place. Food, bars and the beach are fine.

I just wish Riu Corp would not have falsely advertised this as a family friendly hotel.

We just returned from our 7 day vacation and it was wonderful. I’ve now been to more than half a dozen all inclusive resorts so I have a little bit of reference to compare to. We went with my family of 4(ages 5,8) as well as my parents. I have to admit i was a little bit weary because of reading some negative reviews before we left but I couldn’t have been much more impressed with our stay. We met lots of people from all over and almost everyone had a good experience....some people are just miserable and they choose not to have a good time.

PROS
-Food
Hard to pick the best part of this resort but I think you have to start with the food. The buffets for all 3 meals were very good...tons of options and while they were the same most nights you could eat all kinds different food so it was easy to change it up. If you are wanting things like lobster and higher end foods then this isn’t the place for u and you’ll have to pay five star prices. We ate at a couple of the more formal restaurants(Italian, Asian) and they were both very good. It was really nice not to have a reservation so you can come and go as you please. The kids are a little more picky so we usually are and then took them to the buffets to top off their meals.

-Service
Wow did the employees working here leave an impression. Every person was so friendly. Every waiter/waitress was super attentive and happy to help with whatever you needed. The bar staff were very quick and seemed happy to help as well. I didn’t really see any of the favoritism that I read about but we’re a pretty easy going bunch. If you want to get a drink at the swim up bar you’re gonna have a wait a little bit when u go in the middle of the afternoon. The maids were also very nice and my kids loved receiving an Hola to them in the hallways. Two people who we noticed that we wanted to acknowledge are Guadeloupe from the swim up bar and Amaury who we ran into everywhere. They were so pleasant every time we would run into them.

-Rooms
The rooms very basic but very clean and it had all we needed. We had to family room(bunk beds) which were perfect. 4 bottles of booze to choose from and a full stocked fridge was perfect when the kids needed to get to bed early.

-Entertainment
This is another place the resort was amazing. They have daily games you can take part in and it’s a way to meet some new ppl on your trip. They also have a kids show at 8pm daily and my two girls loved it. The kids usually didn’t make it much past 9 so we only say a bit of the nightly shows but they seemed to be fairly good. They had a “white party” on Friday night and I would say that was the highlight so be sure to bring a white shirt or pants for that.

-Beach
Extremely clean and not overly crowded. They had a few people selling things but they weren’t overly pushy at all. The resort also included the use of kayaks(only until noon so be sure to go early). The two guys that work there were also very friendly and worked very hard pulling them in and out of the water

Cons

-it wouldn’t be fair to write a review and not mention things that could be improved.

-The pillows in the rooms are not very good so if you’re picky about this u might want to try and bring your own.

- It took a long time for our bags to get to the room after check in. I understand the bellhops wanting to take them for u because that’s where they make money but you are better off giving them a tip and taking them yourself

-the kids pool was freezing cold. Not like many of them seemed to care but it would be nice if they were heated even a little bit

-you can only change your towels once per day. Having two smaller kids who spent the entire day in the pool means we have wet towels very quickly. Would have been nice to be able to change them as needed.

I’m not usually one to go back to the same place twice but my family and I are seriously considering doing this all again next year. Thank you very much to everyone who made this holiday so amazing

Me and my boyfriend travelled from Manchester to Puerto Vallarta. The RIU Jalisco is about 20 mins from the airport, which is great after a 12 hour flight!
We arrived at the hotel and were greeted with prawn canapés and margaritas, a fantastic start to our holiday in Mexico.
The bell boys assisted with our suitcases which was highly appreciated.
The reception staff were friendly and they helped organised a special meal on our first night as it was my birthday.
The room was spacious and clean. You could argue they are slightly dated but that makes no difference if you ask me, as long as it is clean and tidy I’m happy. There were 2 double beds, a flat screen telly, a balcony with the best view, a shower room and of course the best part, the stocked up mini fridge and optics! The rooms were cleaned daily and when we arrived we had a bottle of tequila on the bed as a happy birthday gift from RIU which was a lovely gesture.
The weather was perfect for the 14 days we were there (11/12/19-25/12/19) and the sun sets are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.
The hotel grounds are stunning and are very well kept. There was lots of Christmas decorations up which was very festive!
There are multiple bars across the complex. We enjoyed spending time in the sports bar which is 24/7.
The options on the all inclusive were endless and there were a lot of branded spirits available which was excellent.
The food was fantastic. There are 5 restaurants. We really enjoyed eating in the Asian restaurant and the Mexican restaurant. The best thing about the restaurants is you don’t need to book and they’re open till 10:30! Which is great for us that don’t like to eat early. A highlight for me was also being offered a mimosa every meal, my new favourite drink! (Champagne and orange juice freshly squeezed).
Nachos and tequila are on tap 24/7 so I don’t think you need much else!
There are water sports available on the beach which some are included in the price. The beach itself is gorgeous and if you walk right around 50 mins you reach the town of Bucerías. The horses on the beach, the man selling coconuts and the smell of fresh shrimp are just part of the beach experience that you can enjoy daily as the beach is around 50m from the pool. We also saw dolphins wild in the sea from our loungers one morning which was one of my highlights. There are also pelicans which are fascinating to watch.
We had massages on the beach which were 20 dollars each if you walked slightly up the beach.
The pools are lovely but I personally prefer the beach, there are less iguanas on the beach! Although they were friendly I’m personally not a fan of them but they don’t bother you.
The hotel entertainment was on every night. Our favourite was the white party which was amazing. It was like being in a nightclub!
There is a nightclub on site which we only went to a couple of times after the entertainment finished.
There was also foam parties on each Saturday which were good fun.
The hotel put on a gala dinner Christmas Eve which was fantastic.
Overall we had the best time and I’ve never felt so relaxed. The Riu Jalisco is great value for money and I would highly recommend.