Riu Palace Paradise Island - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

2960 reviews

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  Holiday in paradise

  I traveled with 2 friends from the UK and was concerned about negative reviews. Luckily it was not our experience of this hotel. We had a family 2 bedroom 2 bathroom suite on the 9th floor with a lounge it was amazing. The room was clean, the shower really effective and our lounge area great for 3 friends to chill. All was good at the helpful reception and we never waiting long for a lift to the rooms. We ate in all the restaurants and the food was excellent and service attentive. I liked the steakhouse, we ate their twice and my friend had lobster. The Japanese was also really nice and big portions, you certainly do not starve at this hotel ! I would say do not always believe what you read, as being in this paradise place is so relaxing and special. The beach is great and always got a bed and sunshade. We also never struggled to get beds at the pool. The staff work hard and the cleaning never stops the place is spotless. A tip if you want to visit the Atlantis go after 4 and you can walk round at no cost, the second time we went we went through all the aquariums and predator tank. You cannot get in via the beach you have to go by the road way. We also did the trip to Rose Island to swim with pigs, it was also a fun experience. All in all I would recommend this hotel and the Bahamas, we all had a fab holiday.

  May 31, 2026
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  Wonderful experience!

  Wonderful experience! I was hesitant because of some bad reviews we had read before arriving. We have had nothing but a friendly and accommodating staff, good food, and a great room. Pool is nice and the beach is incredible! Highly recommend!

  May 30, 2026
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  Make sure to confirm your room type before arriving!

  My husband and I recently spent a week at the Riu Palace, Paradise Island. I would rate this resort as average, and doubtful that we will be returning. We are both older and I have some mobility issues and found it somewhat difficult getting around this resort. I’ll go more into detail about that when I list my pros and cons. But if you are considering this resort, I would strongly suggest especially if you’re not going to be booking directly with the resort, to get a confirmation of your room type before arriving. I had booked our vacation through a vacation group and had booked the Junior suite oceanfront room. I was expecting to get an oceanfront room. There appeared to be some miscommunication between the vacation booking group and the resort when it came to room description. It was explained to me at check-in that if I wanted an oceanfront room, then I needed to have booked an “ocean full-front room”, which was not an option on the vacation booking site. I reached out to the resort twice before arriving to-receive confirmation and never heard back… Now I understand why. They could not confirm my oceanfront room because it was not booked as an an “oceanfront full-front. The resort did offer to give us-another room within the same category but on a higher floor. The view that we had from our room was a partial Ocean view, partial rooftop view , and partial junk pile view. We were told that we couldn’t receive a room on a higher floor until the next day so for us it just seems senseless to change to another room the next day because it would still be the same view only higher up. I have attached a picture of our “junior suite oceanfront room”, which is what we booked and what we paid for. Pros about this resort: The beach and the water really are beautiful. And it was nice that the lifeguards on the beach were setting up your chairs, table, and umbrella as you arrived. This was eliminating the towel game of having to arrive at 5 AM and throw your stuff on a chair to ensure getting chairs. I have to say the food was pretty good, even in the buffet. We had dinner two nights at the steakhouse, which was very good. I can’t say that we had a bad meal while we were there. And the servers were very attentive. Room service was included with your stay at no extra charge. It was nice to order a pot of coffee to come up at 7 AM instead of having to go downstairs to make a cup of coffee. The resort itself was very clean and so was the room. I’ve seen some reviews where people complained of a musty smell, we did not have a musty smell in our room. The big pool was not crowded at all and a perfect temperature. We never had a problem getting a lounge chair. The nightly entertainment was also very nice.. But when the entertainment was over, then that was it for the evening, no club. Which was fine for us, but some people might not like this and want to have activity until 2 AM. The cons: The biggest issue that I found with this resort was that it was difficult to navigate if you have mobility issues. We had found only two restrooms within the entire resort. So if you were dining at the buffet, you had to walk all the way past the front desk to use the lobby restroom. Also, if you were at the beach, the closest restroom was either walking upstairs or a ramp, and past the big pool to use the pool bathroom. That is quite a hike! And the majority of the time the ramp from the beach up to the pool area was mostly blocked by carts of umbrellas. It was a real challenge to get bottled water stocked in our fridge. I had requested it through housekeeping, I had requested it through room service. I had to ask many times before we actually got bottles of water. I don’t want to have to get cups of water from the bar to come up to my room to brush my teeth. As for our room, there is no ceiling fan. Also, you could not adjust the thermostat, it’s either off or on. And sometimes it gets freezing cold in there. The shower water had a really bad smell, almost septic. We thought maybe it was just our room, but we heard other people talking about it and mentioning it also. As for the staff, the majority of them are very friendly. We did have an issue one night with a bartender in the Calypso lounge, who insisted that they never carry non-alcohol beer, when my husband had just gotten a non-alcohol beer the night before and also from the pool bar. I rarely drink and when I asked for a frozen drink without alcohol, a couple times the bartenders at the Calypso lounge would laugh about it. So the Takeaway about this resort is, if you don’t mind the having to walk long distances to use a restroom and you don’t mind the entertainment ending at 10 o’clock at night then the Riu Paradise Island might be a good option for you. ( I purposely left out the word Palace because it was definitely not a Palace!)

  May 27, 2026
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  The perfect place!!!

  The food is good, the place is so nice, the beach is awesome, great location, but the service is excelent. Most staff members are s9 nice,. Especially Tweety at the bar, proactive, nice and always joyful. Daphne at the front desk took very good care of us and always so nice. Congrats!!! Definitely will come back!!!

  May 26, 2026
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  Far from paradise

  When you enter the building at the smoker section, this is the first impression and all that you smell. Very little lighting in the lobby. Staff not welcoming. Nothing like other Caribbean resorts that we’ve been to. Then there are the rooms…hallways and rooms are outdated and run down. Temp in the rooms is set to 59 degrees. This can only be adjusted by engineering, who never come. The only bedding is sheets. No blankets. Only a cheap fleece throw. Televisions don’t work in the rooms. This is also fixed by engineering, who again, never show. The view from our room was of a junk yard, where old loungers were dumped. Towels are so old and dingy that they look grey and they are extremely rough. There is corrosion all over the lighting fixtures and refrigerator. We had to call for two days to have our room cleaned. Burned out lights in the shower. The shower barely drains. The only friendly staff is at the buffet. Even the bartenders lack personality. I call the front desk 5 times, no resolution to anything. This has honestly been the worst place I ever stayed.

  May 18, 2026