Riu Bambu

We came to the RIU Bambu, one of the most famous hotels in Punta Cana.

It’s one of the best-known resorts in the area, both because it’s one of the oldest RIUs and because it’s a very active hotel, with atmosphere, parties, music and a lot going on all day long.

We picked it because it usually sits in a mid-to-low price range for Punta Cana and because, on paper, it’s a pretty popular 5-star hotel.

So we wanted to check whether it’s really worth it, whether it’s good value for money, whether it’s above what we expected or whether, on the contrary, you notice a bit too much that it’s an old hotel.

We stayed three nights at the RIU Bambu, and we tried the pools, the beach, the parties, the water park, the à la carte restaurants, the buffet, the activities and the room.

We were there in July 2026 and paid €176 a night. There were four of us in two rooms: Javier and his partner, and his business partner and hers.

And in this review we’re going to tell you everything good, everything bad and what kind of traveler we’d recommend this hotel to.

Because I’ll tell you one thing up front: the RIU Bambu can be a very good option for one specific profile, but we wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.

The moment you walk in, you realize it’s a big resort, with architecture that’s pretty typical for the area, but in a more colonial style.

It’s not so much the typical Caribbean resort of wood, bamboo and over-the-top tropical decoration, but more a hotel with low buildings, light colors, white areas, gardens and a more classic style.

The hotel has plenty of green areas, palm trees, paths, low buildings and the general feel of a big Caribbean resort.

In terms of facilities, it’s pretty complete.

It has several pools, lots of bars, restaurants, activities from morning to night, a beach, a snack bar, a sports bar, coffee shops, themed restaurants and access to the famous RIU Parties, which for me are the hotel’s big strong point.

But let’s take it step by step.

We’ll start with one of the first negatives: the check-in.

For us it was very slow.

It’s not that the staff member was standing around doing nothing. The process itself was just slow.

We came with two rooms and we were easily half an hour from the moment they started checking us in until we finished.

And of course, when you arrive from a trip you’re hungry, you’re tired and you normally expect check-in to take 5 or 10 minutes, not half an hour.

The positive is that the room was ready before the official check-in time, about two or three hours early, and that is appreciated.

But they should speed the check-in process up quite a bit.

I don’t want to imagine what it can be like at peak time with a lot of people arriving at once.

And now we come to what was, by a long way, the worst point of the RIU Bambu for us: the room.

For me, this room does not look like a 5-star hotel room.

Honestly, it looks more like a 3-star room, or at most a very basic 4-star if I’m being generous.

The moment you walk in, the feeling isn’t good.

It looks old, worn out, with a look that reminds you of the typical 1970s beach house that was never fully renovated.

The room needs an urgent refurb.

In our experience, the room piled up too many negative details.

There were a lot of little bugs in the access corridor and around the door.

The fridge was pretty noisy. The room phone didn’t work for calling reception.

The bathroom smelled of drains.

The toilet didn’t flush well and you had to pull the chain several times.

The towels smelled bad.

There were only 3 sockets and, on top of that, you don’t have one next to the bed. There was only a USB port on one side, but these days a lot of people no longer use old USB chargers.

You also had to unplug lamps or move things around to charge your phone.

We didn’t like the air conditioning either. It blows straight at the bed, it’s pretty powerful and it doesn’t regulate well by temperature. Even if you set it to 27 degrees, cold air comes out as if there were no middle ground. In the end it’s pretty much on or off.

And on our terrace, which faced the garden on the ground floor, we had another problem: when the sprinkler came on, it soaked the terrace. We were working with the laptop and it suddenly got the laptop and our clothes wet. Luckily nothing happened, but it could have been a serious problem.

That’s too many details for a room in a supposed 5-star hotel.

To be fair, the bed was not the worst part.

It’s a fairly firm bed, and it seemed fine to me. It’s not a spectacular bed, but it’s not a disaster either.

The pillows, on the other hand, are pretty basic. You only get one per person and there’s no pillow menu like at other resorts we’ve tried.

The room is about 28 square meters.

For two people it can be enough, but if you come with a family and kids it can feel a bit tight, especially compared with other, newer resorts in Punta Cana, where the rooms tend to be bigger.

So the problem isn’t just the size. The problem is the general feeling: old, not very comfortable, badly sorted out, and with details that shouldn’t be in a hotel of this category.

Last year we stayed at the RIU Palace Bavaro, which is renovated, and the difference is huge.

That one does have rooms that feel genuinely 5-star. At the RIU Bambu, the room falls well short.

And after the worst, let’s go with the good things, because the RIU Bambu also has a lot of strong points.

We thought the pools were pretty fun.

The water was cleaner than at other resorts we’ve tried recently, although at the end of the day, around 18:00 or 19:00, you do notice a bit more dirt, leaves or bits in the water.

But it’s not something that stops you swimming or ruins the experience.

The pools have loungers in the water, lots of sunbeds around them and plenty of atmosphere.

That said, these are not quiet pools.

There’s music here, entertainment, people drinking, games, dancing and a lot going on.

If what you want is to sit by a pool reading in silence or taking a nap, this is not your hotel.

At the RIU Bambu, the pool is for drinking, listening to music, doing activities and being in the middle of the atmosphere.

To really relax, better the beach — or change hotel.

The beach was one of the hotel’s positives.

We thought it was pretty.

It’s a big beach, with a huge amount of natural shade, lots of sunbeds and plenty of space to be comfortable.

Of the beaches we’ve seen in Punta Cana, and we’ve visited quite a few resorts by now, this one struck us as a very good beach.

You have enough sand for the kids to play before you reach the water, volleyball and football areas, and lots of space.

And the best part: on the beach you can be calmer. You don’t have the pool music right on top of you, and it’s a much better area if you want to relax, read, rest or just look at the sea.

For us, the beach is one of the best things about the RIU Bambu.

The water is among the cleanest we’ve seen in Punta Cana, and we’ve checked it in two seasons: July 2026 and October 2025. It doesn’t quite get to crystal clear, because there’s always a little seaweed, but it’s very little compared with other parts of the destination.

The RIU Bambu has a huge number of activities during the day.

From roughly 10 in the morning until 11 at night there are things going on.

You’ve got volleyball, football, water polo, games on the beach, darts, dancing, aquaboxing, TRX training, activities for kids, a pirate show at the mini club, magic, games, competitions and pool activities.

Some activities overlap, so you can’t do everything. You have to choose.

We thought the entertainment team was pretty good, especially because this hotel is very focused on creating atmosphere.

It’s not a hotel for sitting still. There’s always music, games or something going on.

And now we come to the big reason a lot of people choose this hotel: the RIU Parties.

For me, this is the strongest point of the RIU Bambu.

The RIU Parties are some of the best parties we’ve seen in the Caribbean.

They’re held in a shared area for several RIU hotels, very close to the RIU Bambu. You can walk there in a few minutes.

Both the party area and the water park belong to the sister hotel, the RIU Palace Bávaro, about six minutes away.

They’re adults-only parties and they usually have different themes: White Party, Neon Party, Jungle Party and Pink Party.

Sometimes they’re in the afternoon, from 15:00 to 19:00, and other times at night, from 19:30 to 23:30, depending on the calendar.

The parties are almost like a festival. You’ve got a DJ, dancers, shows, foam, unlimited drinks, current music, reggaeton, Latin music and a huge atmosphere.

We thought the DJ was very good.

This isn’t the typical hotel party with weak music. Here the music works really well, the atmosphere is very well looked after and people genuinely have a good time.

There are also pools inside the party, quieter areas, VIP areas and a lot going on.

The best part is the good vibe.

We didn’t see a weird or uncomfortable atmosphere. It’s a big party, with a lot of people, but with a good feel.

In fact, we went to Coco Bongo in Cancún back in the day and, personally, I liked the RIU party more.

For a hotel in this price range, having access to these parties is a huge plus.

We’d give the RIU Parties a 10 out of 10.

One tip: if you go to the RIU party, try to go without your phone, or with a GoPro-type camera.

There’s no secure locker area where you can leave valuables.

There are little cubbies for leaving a T-shirt or flip-flops, but I wouldn’t leave a phone, a wallet or anything important in there.

What we did was go first with the camera to film a bit, have a drink, see the atmosphere, and then go back to the room, drop our things off and come back without a phone to enjoy it properly.

If you go with your phone, you end up watching out for it not getting wet, for it not getting stolen, or for where to leave it.

And the point of this party is to get in the pool, dance and forget about everything for a while.

Another positive is that you get access to the RIU water park, which is next to the RIU Palace Bavaro, about a 5 to 7 minute walk from the RIU Bambu. It’s a pretty fun area and it works for both kids and adults.

It has slides for babies, for small children and for adults.

There are gentler slides for anyone who isn’t after that much adrenaline, and others that are pretty high, with free falls, for the brave ones.

If you like water parks or you’re traveling with kids, it’s well worth going one morning or one afternoon.

Let’s move on to the food.

And here I have to say that the food was one of the positive surprises.

If the room was clearly the weakest point, the food is above what we expected for a hotel that competes quite a lot on price.

We thought breakfast was pretty good.

It has a huge variety, especially American and English style: eggs, meats, pancakes, pastries, fruit, hot dishes, breads and lots of options.

The pancakes were very good and there was plenty of fruit.

The only negative we saw was on the terrace: they need to keep the birds under better control.

The moment you look away, the pigeons and other birds get onto the tables to eat leftovers, and we saw waiters walk past without shooing them away. I think they should pay more attention to that.

It’s not a drama, but at an outdoor buffet I think you have to be more careful.

A practical tip for the buffet: before you get up to get food, sit down at a table first and order your coffee or your drink.

Because there are quite a lot of people, if you go and get the food first and then come back to the table, it can take a long time for someone to come and take your coffee or drink order.

Better to sit down, order coffee, water or whatever you want to drink, and then go for the food.

That way, when you come back you already have it on the table, or at least they’ve already taken your order.

We also liked the buffet lunch and dinner quite a lot.

There’s a lot of variety, they change a fair few dishes and you always find things that are tasty or different.

It’s not a gourmet buffet, but it is good for the price of the hotel.

There are few things where you’d say: “I don’t like this” or “I wouldn’t have it again”.

Overall, we thought it was a good buffet, especially if you compare it with other resorts in the same price range.

The buffet closes later than the à la carte restaurants, so it’s also a convenient option if you get back late from an excursion.

We found the à la carte restaurants a bit weaker than the buffet.

We tried the Japanese and the steakhouse.

The Japanese was okay, but I wouldn’t go back. Very basic in flavor and preparation, I’d say.

We liked the steakhouse more, although it also falls a little short of other steakhouses we’ve tried at Punta Cana resorts.

The meat was pretty good, but the starters were weak.

The big problem with the à la carte restaurants is the system.

You can’t book, and they work first come, first served, with a limited quota.

Even if it says they open from 18:00 to 21:00, it can happen that by 20:00 they’re not taking any more people.

What happened to us was that we got back late from an excursion, around 20:30, we went to several restaurants and none of them took us, even though some had free tables.

We didn’t like that.

We understand that they have capacity limits, but if the restaurant is open until 21:00 and there are free tables, it’s odd that you can’t have dinner. Especially for Spanish families, or anyone who eats later.

The positive is that the buffet closes later and is pretty good, so you always have an alternative.

The all-inclusive is fine, without being spectacular.

You’ve got several bars, a snack bar, a sports bar, pool bars, coffee shops and drinks included during the day.

The snack bar is okay and there are options for a bite between meals.

That said, the alcoholic drinks are not recognized brands like Barceló, Beefeater or similar. They’re more like white-label brands or the hotel’s own brands.

That doesn’t mean they taste bad, but it’s worth knowing.

If you’re after an all-inclusive with premium brands, this isn’t it.

Even so, taking the price of the hotel into account, the all-inclusive does its job pretty well.

We thought the staff were a bit better than at other resorts we’ve tried recently.

I wouldn’t say they’re spectacular or that they stand out enormously, but we did see more friendliness, a better attitude and more good vibes.

The entertainment staff stand out quite a bit, as tends to happen at this kind of hotel, because they’re used to interacting, joking around and lifting the atmosphere.

At the RIU Parties too we thought the staff were very professional: dancers, security, waiters and the organization in general.

If you ask for things politely, they normally try to help you.

Overall, the staff are good. Not perfect, but they left us with a positive feeling.

The hotel, in general, looks nice and well looked after.

The gardens are pretty well maintained. We saw gardeners pruning, cleaning and looking after the green areas every day.

The low, cottage-style buildings look nice and give you that feeling of a big Caribbean resort.

The beach also looked well looked after.

The big contrast is between the common areas, which are generally pretty good, and the rooms, which clearly need renovating.

Let’s go with the scores point by point.

• Cleanliness — 6.0. Our experience was uneven. One room was better, but in the other there were bad smells, towels that smelled bad, little bugs in the corridor and by the door, and a feeling of poor cleaning.
• Bed and pillows — 7.0. The bed is fine, on the firm side, but the pillows are basic and there’s no pillow menu.
• Bathroom — 6.0. The bathroom was one of the weakest points: a drain smell, a toilet that didn’t flush well, a shower with a loose holder and an old feel. A 6, and I’m being generous.
• Room size — 7.5. For two people it’s fine. For families it can feel a bit tight compared with other Punta Cana resorts, because it’s only 28 m².
• Breakfast — 8.0. Very complete, with a lot of variety and a good standard for the price of the hotel.
• Lunch — 8.0. A varied buffet, with plenty of tasty dishes and good value for money.
• Buffet dinner — 8.0. In the same line as lunch. Fine, varied and better than expected.
• À la carte restaurants — 7.5. The steakhouse is good, the Japanese didn’t really convince us, and the no-booking system could be improved.
• All-inclusive — 8.0. It does its job well for the price, with bars, a snack bar, drinks and access to the best party in Punta Cana, although without premium brands.
• Pools — 8.0. Fun, lively and with a good atmosphere, although they’re not for relaxing.
• Facilities for adults — 9.0. If you like partying, the hotel stands out enormously here because of the RIU Parties.
• Facilities for kids — 7.0. It has a water park and activities, but we don’t see it as one of the best family options in Punta Cana.
• Beach — 8.0. A very good beach: big, pretty, with natural shade and lots of sunbeds.
• Staff — 7.5. Fine and with good vibes, especially entertainment and the parties.
• Extra for the RIU Parties — 10. It’s the hotel’s big differentiator. For us, some of the best parties in Punta Cana — and if you’re after a party and a good price, this is your hotel.

Our average score comes out at 7.7.

The answer is: yes and no.

I’d only recommend it for one very specific profile.

If you’re a couple, a group of friends or even a family with older kids looking for atmosphere, music, partying, activities and access to the best parties in Punta Cana, then yes: the RIU Bambu can be a very good option in this price range.

If you’re coming mainly for the RIU Parties, this hotel makes a lot of sense.

Now, if what you’re looking for is peace and quiet, nice rooms, rest, a family resort for small children or a more premium experience, this wouldn’t be my hotel.

The rooms are well below the rest of the resort and they need renovating.

I also wouldn’t choose it for families with small children, because although it has a water park and activities, there are considerably better hotels for that profile.

So my summary would be this:

If you want a party, atmosphere and a good price, the RIU Bambu can be one of the best options in Punta Cana.

If you’re not after a party, I’d look at other hotels.