I was very eager to stay at Riu’s newest Cancun all-inclusive resort, Hotel Riu Palace Kukulkan in the Hotel Zone for several reasons–it was brand new, it had a new Elite Club room feature, it was on a great stretch of beach right next to Live Aqua Cancun, and I enjoy what the Riu brand has to offer.  I have always liked the Riu properties I’ve stayed at in the past including Riu Palace Las Americas, Riu Palace Peninsula, Riu Dunamar, Riu Playacar, Riu Palace Riviera Maya (pre and post renovations), and I’ve done day trips to the Riu Yucatan, Riu Palace Mexico, and Riu Cancun.  All great properties with their own vibe.  Perhaps that’s what was missing at this new resort for me–it’s so new that it hasn’t yet developed its own unique “personality”.  However, there are still plenty of reasons why you may want to vacation at this all-inclusive; I hope to highlight some of of those reasons below.

First of all, let me mention that Riu is moving away from the common 12 noon check-out time of many resorts in this area of Mexico; check-out at this resort is 11 a.m.  You may be able to get a late check-out, but I’ve found over the years at pretty much any resort I’ve stayed at that this is almost an impossibility.  Perhaps that’s because I typically don’t stay in high end suites at expensive resorts, or maybe it’s the time of year in which I tend to travel, but regardless, don’t count on getting a late check-out in order to avoid a fee if you are running late the morning of your departure.  Also, be aware that if you will be arriving at the resort after 6 p.m., you must either contact the property directly and let them know, or you can email Riu in advance at reservations@riu.com.  If you fail to contact the resort in regards to a late arrival, there is a possibility that your room may be released to inventory after 6 p.m. (read the fine print in your contract).  Online check-in did not work for me, I kept getting an error message; hopefully it will work better for you.

Ok, so now that business details are out of the way, let me proceed with my actual resort review.  This trip to Cancun and the Riviera Maya had a more complex travel itinerary, so I decided to stay at the Kukulkan for only three nights on March 1-4, 2023.  Since I arrived at the resort around 10 p.m., restaurant dinner times were basically over, but that doesn’t mean food was not available elsewhere on-site!  Late arrivals can either order 24-hr. room service, check out the Late Night Buffet which is available from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. (Late Night Buffet is against the wall by Capuchino in the lobby area and offers basics like burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, nachos, etc.), while the Lounge Bar also has a snack setup, but that bar does close at midnight, so late night snacking is obviously not available after that time.

After a quick walk around the property (it’s small and you cannot get lost here), I decided to end the evening at the upstairs Lounge Bar.  It doubles as a sports bar and general bar for evening snacks and casual entertainment with multiple flat screen TV’s along with a foosball and pool table.  It had comfy seating, computer access, indoor and outdoor areas, and large windows to enjoy the marvelous ocean views (obviously you cannot do that at night, but I also came back during the day to take pics and the views were spectacular, especially seated outdoors).  The not so good–service was slow to non-existent, and the night bartender who was there on Wednesday was working very hard to look like he was enjoying himself.  Note to self:  avoid drunken political conversations here.  It’s a very nice bar but difficult to find.  I accidentally came across the initial doorway to the right of the outdoor theater, then I had to climb several flights of steps to reach another doorway, then I had to traverse across a rooftop to reach another doorway to the lounge’s interior.  I never found an elevator to this bar, so I’m not sure how mobility-limited guests could access this area.  Let me know if you found an alternative way to reach the Lounge Bar.

The highlight of this resort were the beachfront pools.  There were four of them; it did not feel like any of them were heated:

• An activities pool at the south end of the property.  This pool is deeper so it can be more difficult to get in/out.
• The swim-up bar pool with its in-pool counters, seating, and tiled in-pool loungers.  This is the busiest pool by far.
• The infinity pool with tiled in-pool loungers.  This pool is fairly deep and has steps to get in/out.
• The northernmost pool has a gradual no-step entry with lengthy handrail which makes it ideal for those with mobility issues.

All poolside areas had loungers but no shade umbrellas.  Instead, there were sliding overhead cloth panels which provided shade.  Be aware that most poolside loungers are gone early in the a.m., so be sure to claim your spot if you want to be in a specific place.  If you sleep in and cannot find any poolside loungers, find a short flight of stairs by the northernmost pool and go down to the deck just below, there are shade umbrellas and loungers there which may be available.  Also, if you are a smoker and want to know where to go to smoke with Mexico’s new laws in effect, there was a roped-off area with about half a dozen seats available on the northern side of the resort by the pools.  It had a sign saying that being in the roped-off area may be hazardous to your health–you can’t miss it.

The resort had a bar cart that occasionally came around to hand out beers and basic drinks poolside; the actual poolside bar was located on the other side of the swim-up bar.  The poolside bar area also had tables and chairs for luncheon dining–Pepe’s Food Grill is just steps away where guests can get street tacos, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, etc.  Don’t miss the street tacos, they were delish!

The beach at Riu Palace Kukulkan looked beautiful but had a relatively small amount of sargassum.  Not bad, but not exactly postcard perfect either.  There seemed to be no attempt by staff at cleaning it up during my stay.  As is typical for east-facing Caribbean Sea beaches in Cancun’s Hotel Zone, red-flagged conditions were present for my entire three night stay, so no ocean swimming for me.

Now let’s talk more about dining options at this resort.  Since I’ve stayed at numerous Riu resorts in this area of Mexico, I know that Riu’s restaurants are pretty much the same with similar food offerings in each.  So I can say with confidence that your best dining bets are Krystal Restaurant or the buffet.  It’s not that the other restaurants are “bad”, but food quality is significantly better at those I’ve mentioned.  First of all, restaurants were primarily congregated along a walkway just outside of the lobby so they are easy to find.  A la carte restaurants like Krystal do not require reservations.  If you have reserved an Elite Club room upgrade, you are supposed to be able to make dinner reservations. but since I was only here for three nights I did not bother.  If you arrive at an a la carte and they are temporarily full, they will give you a device that will light up when your name is up on their waiting list.  Krystal service and food was excellent as expected, that’s why I always wind up at this restaurant when I’m staying at a Riu.  Also, if you drink wine with dinner at Krystal restaurant, they will keep the bottle next to the table so you don’t have to wait to get a refill as you dine.  The buffet was very good with lots of choices, live cooking stations, and the requisite chilaquiles for breakfast!

Evening entertainment was difficult for me to judge since I had such a limited stay at this resort.  Evening shows seemed to be around 9-9:30 p.m. and shown in the outdoor theater which was easy to find since the resort is very contained in a U-shape. I could hear the end of the Rock Show from my room on the 10th floor as I was unpacking, but those who like to retire early shouldn’t worry since noise dramatically lessens after the shows.  Across from the theater stage was a smaller stage for live bands, and if you are already seated you just change your chair around from listening to pre-show music to seeing the actual show on the larger stage.  That was a nice feature.

Since Riu was trying out their new Elite Club concept, I did book an upgraded room–a Jr. Suite Ocean View Elite Club room.  This room category was advertised on the resort website as being on the top floor, but I wound up being one floor down from the top.  The resort has 11 floors with various floors being assigned as Elite Club.  Here’s a photo from inside an elevator showing where you could wind up if booking an Elite Club room…

Elite Club rooms have the following perks:

• Separate check-in/out.  Check-in/out for all resort guests was done at the front desk.  While there was a sign with a separate line to the front desk delegated for upgraded guests, I was directed to any front desk staff available for both check-in/out experiences; there didn’t appear to be any separate staff available for only Elite Club guests that I could see. This was very different than most resorts which offer this perk, there is typically a separate space or room just for upgraded guests along with some snacks or drinks for them as well.  This resort did not offer that kind of privileged check-in/out experience.
• In-room welcome gift.  I did receive a nice letter of welcome plus a bottle of sparkling wine on ice and two champagne glasses in the room when I arrived.
• In-room aromatherapy.  While I didn’t look for the aromatherapy casing within the room, the Jr. Suite did smell very nice so I imagine this amenity was delivered as promised.
• In-room snacks and upgraded in-room liquor.  Riu resorts do not typically have in-room snacks, so this definitely was delivered with an in-room Kit Kat bar, granola bar, small container of Pringles chips, and a fruit bar.  All Riu resorts, Palace and non-Palace upgraded resorts, have a cabinet with bottles of liquor available within all rooms.  Elite Club upgraded in-room liquor included Johnny Walker Black whiskey, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Absolut Vodka, and Jose Cuervo Tequila Reposado (but where’s the rum??)
• Access to premium drinks at select bars.  Don’t even bother asking for upgraded liquor at the swim-up bar, I asked for Tito’s vodka since it was displayed on their shelf and got the same answer for two days–“It will be here in about 20 minutes”…It never came–for two days.  The lobby bar is a much more likely possibility and served great drinks including a delicious chocolate martini.
• Exclusive restaurant for breakfast.  Not true, not when I was there.
• Dinner reservations available at a la carte restaurants.  I don’t know if this is true since I never asked.  If you want to take advantage of this supposed perk I’d ask at the front desk or at the customer service desk.

The room itself was very nice overall–the bed was comfy, the view was spectacular, the shower was large with good water pressure, water temperature, and drainage, but there were two major problems which prevented me from fully enjoying time spent in the room.  I could never access channels from the TV remote, and the incessant wind sounds within the room completely spoiled the room experience.  Now I will admit I am no digital/electronic wizard, but I am not a newbie when it comes to TV remotes.  I’d never seen any like this model before and it was not user-friendly to say the least.  I could have had staff come and figure it out for me, but I’m not at a resort to watch TV 24-7.  The constant in-room wind noise prevented me from sleeping soundly the first night until I figured out that hanging a room robe from the top left corner of my room door solved the problem.  Hello Riu, ever heard of weather stripping???

Room design at this Riu may not be to everyone’s liking with its open-concept bathroom.  While the toilet was separate with its own door, the sinks and shower were open to the rest of the room and the tub was placed between the beds and the sinks.  That may not work for some travel parties staying in the same room.  While I was remiss in taking room photos (I must have gotten distracted along the way), I will eventually be posting a room video on YouTube; until then you can go to my Instagram page (allinclusivegal) and see the short video I’ve already posted on the room.

Would I stay at this Riu again?  While I’m glad I got a chance to experience it, I would much rather stay at Riu Palace Las Americas (adults-only) for its beautiful decor and fun vibe, or Riu Palace Peninsula in a balcony Jacuzzi room.  Is the Elite Club room upgrade worth the added expense? With a few tweaks on the perks within the upgrade I’d say yes, until then, no.

Take a moment or two and look at the picture gallery below; just click any of the thumbnails to get a larger view of the picture.  You can also click the arrows to go forward or back to another picture.

The comments in this review are those of the author/reviewer.  This trip was paid for in its entirety by the author; at no time were any monies or services exchanged for this review.

Location:  20 min. north of the Cancun airport

Telephone:  52-998-689-2253

email:  palace.kukulkan@riu.com