Another spring has come and again I made the trip down to Cancun for a week in the sun. returned to the Riu Palace Peninsula as I have has a great experience there the last two years and this one was no different.
Many of the same staff who are very friendly and helpful.
Now I am not into a lot of partying or doing the tourist trips. My Ideal vacation is a quiet pool, with lots of cool drinks. Sun and good food. And the Riu Palace Peninsula provides all of this. I make sure to get one of the villa units which are off to the side a bit and are restricted to Adults only and have a separate pool area dedicated to the units.
It is a bit of a walk to the restaurant areas which are located on the far side of the resort from the Villa’s. However you also get much less foot traffic past the pool and your units, if you decide to spend the day on the beach instead of the pool it is a short walk to the beach area.
Waiter service by the pool starts at 10:00 am until 6:00 pm, the sun is usually going down by then and the pools close at 6:00 as well.
My usual routine consisted of waking about 6:15 when the birds in the gardens started squawking, a quick Shower and shave then over to the sportsbar which is the only facility open before 7:00 where I got a double Espresso and Bailies to start off the morning. I would then go back outside to enjoy the coffee while watching the sun rise.
7:00am and the buffet is open for breakfast. Here you can enjoy everything from a freshly made smoothie to a full English breakfast with sausage and baked beans. Custom Omelets are available as well as a large selection of cold breakfast fixings and fresh cut fruit, cheese and meats.
By 7:30 I was done with breakfast and laying by the pool.
Starting at noon they have a BBQ down by one of the main pools featuring Burgers, Hot dogs, Chops and some flank steak along with fries and condements. If you don’t like this there is a full buffet put on in the steak house with pizza, ribs and salads as well as sandwich fixings.
I would usually stick it out by the pool until 3:00 when I would return to the room for a shower and a short nap.
5:00 pm and I am at the Cappuccino Bar enjoying a couple coffee’s and watching the other guests as they return from the pool area to the rooms in the main hotel.
6:30 and the Restaurants are open for dinner. They do not accept reservations at this resort for any of the restaurants it is first come first serve. I am usually waiting for them to open the doors.
Many of the guests here are from south America or Europe and they tend to eat later so there is usually not much of a crowd at 6:30.
After dinner I either visit the Piano Bar for an after-dinner drink or back to the Cappuccino Bar for another coffee. Then down to the chillout bar located near the villas and the beach. It is a quit location with mostly conversation and quiet background music.
Being outside and during the day they serve the waiters who work the beach and the VIP Pool as well as anyone who needs a break from the sun. The evenings can be cool if there is a strong wind. Usually on the days when you have had rain during the day it can be quite cool.
Usually by 10:00 to 10:30 I am heading back to my room to get some sleep before starting it all over again.
There is a show bar that has stage acts usually running from 8:30 to 10:30 nightly.
Saturday night has a beach party with a DJ and music and once again it usually shuts down around 10:30.
Wednesdays around 3:00 pm they have a foam party at one of the main pools on site, again with a DJ.
Rain Days If it rains of course nobody is on the beach or the pools, in the lobby they set up a number of gaming tables with Black Jack, Roulette and Poker playing for fun and prizes.
The sports bar and the piano bar fill up early and by the time the rain finished most people were far drunker than if they spent the time out by the pools.
Some of the restaurants have some issues with the rain as they only have screens on the outside wall the rain does make it thru and they end up moving the tables in by about 10 feet to keep them dry. Some of the hallways are affected as well and they have a crew squeegeeing up all the water non stop.
