Riu Emerald Bay - All Inclusive

Excellent relation price-benefits. All the things that you can need, you have it at the moment.

In general, this is a nice newer property with good facilities. The food and drink at the all-inclusive were better than average. The staff was pretty friendly, the bartenders good and fast. Lots of chairs at the beach an pool. I think we were there at a lighter week so there were no crowds for anything. The only negatives were: 1) The elevators - unbelievably bad. It took 15-20 minutes to get to our room. I can't imagine a busy week. They need to do some serious re-pr0gramming of the elevators 2) The boogie board shack staff was really unfriendly. They seemed to be in a bad mood the whole time.

We spent a lot of time reading reviews on Or bit z and Tr ip Ad vis or before heading out and were very surprised when people knocked various aspects of this resort. The Long and Short: Family of 5 - Mom, Dad, 12, 10 and 10 y.o. boys. Stayed in a single room on 9th floor with 2 twins and a cot. It was 'cozy' but workable. View - awesome. Responsiveness - Excellent. 4 calls to Front Desk (xtra pillows, extra towels/shampoo, clean room after we left DND sign on by accident, noisy neighbor) all handled within 5 mins. Food - Lots of online complaints about buffet. Was not your Sunday High End Mother's Day $30 a plate fare, but certainly ram the gamut of choice. Easy 8 stars plus. Drink - non-stop, and mostly top notch. Tips, while appreciated, did not really seem to affect performance. Pools - chilly, but we spent most of our time at the beach anyhow. Beach - awesome sand, GREAT wave action (some undertow, but nothing to really worry about unless far out) Location - pretty isolated, but that's what we wanted. Cool walks to both sides and a nearby rest. and strip mall to satisfy wanderers. Wi-fi - down first couple days, but after that no issues and pretty quick on iPad. Night Life - they had a show each night, but after full days at the beach and walking, we were in bed by 9 most nights. Occupancy - we went Monday to Monday, and found the weekdays at about 40% full. Weekend hit and it seems to be an attraction for the locals (fair enough) and ran up to what I heard was 80%. This is the only time it felt 'busy' and pools/elevators were affected. Overall, we had a great time and would highly recommend to anyone. We paid just over 4 grand for 7 nights from Vancouver. *Final note* My 12 y.o. and I did a parasail with on beach operators (Bad Boyz?) and the knot they tied undid in high wind when we were about 300 feet up (high enough to easily see down onto the roof of the 22 storey Riu). Fortunately we were far enough out, and the wind was right, that we only ended up with a hard ocean landing. Emphasis on the hard. They were kind enough to refund our money. I'd recommend keeping a close eye on that knot should you go with these guys.

The hotel was beautiful and the staff were very friendly, but the food was disappointing. We were expecting better options on the buffet. The seafood was delicious but there weren't that many choices and we only got shrimp one night. It got old eating the same thing every night. The restaurants that you can make reservations for were just OK. We had fun at the disco but only go there in a group because it was a little sketchy. Heard a horror story about something that happened to a girl the week before we got there, so never walk to your room alone. It would have been more fun if the activities for the guests were better. The swim-up bar was the main attraction. Not much to do on the resort for those under eighteen.

The food was not very good. The activities was fine. The room was not very comfortable. The bed has a plastic cover under the sheets and was not very comfortable when I went to sleep. The liquor in the room was very bad and my wife and I only had a couple of drinks. The beer, Dos exhis (XX) was not the same type I am used to in the United States of America. The chairs in which you sit were not comfortable. The television remote control did not always work. Every morning at 6:00AM we could smell sewage with our balcony door open which overlooks the Pacific open

this resort was extremely clean, easy to get around for all ages and people with disabilities, the food was quite good with plenty of food items to choose from. The beach was simply outstanding and the service was excellent from every area of the resort. I do know that there has been some negative reviews about this resort and Mazatlan but our family of four - including a 17 and 2 year old did feel very welcomed by the locals, we enjoyed the sights, food, and experiences of the area including a parade at carnival on Sunday - 150,000 plus people. I am free to answer any questions but yes I will recommend mazatlan and I will go again and more than likely to this resort.

We felt very safe in and around the hotel area. We enjoyed the ample room around the pool areas and on the beach. We found the staff to be very friendly. Rooms and balconies were very adequate.

I went with three girlfriends for a little getaway, and we had a fantastic time. The staff were perfect -- incredibly hardworking, friendly, fun. The place is spotless. The food was decent. The buffets were really good, and the steakhouse was also really good. We didn't try the other two restaurants because we heard from other people that they were bad. The drinks were amazing! All-inclusive is the way to go! The pools were really nice, but there was no hot tub, which was a little disappointing. The room was very nice, but the bed sizes were strange. One super huge king size, and one really small full/double --- it was more like a slightly oversized twin. It was pretty quiet when we went (january), but we heard it's way too busy in the summer.

I read a lot of poor reviews about the food at the Riu. I found that if I stuck with the buffets, the food was fine. Avoid the specialty restaurants! The elevators were horribly slow and unreliable so give up the view for a lower floor and take the stairs. The Riu is quite far from the old town of Mazatlan so if you plan to spend a lot of time in town, stay elsewhere. It's a good resort for families with young kids but if it is an adults trip you're looking for,....... again...stay elsewhere. The rooms were great and the grounds, including the beach are spectacular.

this resort is in a quieter location. beaches are nice and you can walk miles. the resort is very clean, always someone cleaning. beds were kind of hard for are likeing. quiet during the week and buisy on the weekends. we were on the 4th floor and never had to wait to long for the elevator. food was good. ocean was a little rough. we wood go back and wood recomend this resort. mazatlan is a safe town. dont hesitate to walk around and see it.