Amazing staff!!

We had a amazing stay at the Riu, very clean and amazing friendly and entertaining staff!!! Plenty of seats at both the pool, and beach. Lots of food to choose from at the buffet. Only minor concern was the seaweed at the beach

A little piece of heaven great weather

hotel a bit dated but great service pleasant staff. clean linens towels etc. service front desk very helpful especially Evalissa the bar also great staff @village bar especially Raymond. Beach facilities great more footwashs needed near 1132

RUI merengue

The grounds were clean and staff friendly. I found that the food was a struggle, not a lot of selection. I enjoyed the entertainment and the beach was nice, i liked that the beach was private and you could go with out being hassled by locals to purchase stuff.

Ok stay-boring for kids

This resort is good for a nice relaxing vacation, there wasn't alot for kids to do at this resort though. I have been to Dominican a few times now and I was a little disappointed in the lack of interaction with the animation team. In the past we got to know the people working on the resort during our stay and at this resort I can't even tell you their names. The food was great, probably the best food with all my stays in Dominican. The rooms were always kept very clean. The A/C didn't work prett [... lire plus]y much our entire stay but the rooms were sleepable with the ceiling fans. There were always chairs available on the beach and the pool with a group of 11 thats hard to find usually. Overall the resort was good but don't think I would return. Not for the price we paid.

Amazing all around!

The Riu Merengue was excellent!! The food was excellent, wide variety and something for everyone! The staff was great, big smiles all around! The resort was very clean and well kept! Loved the beach! Would recommend to anyone and can't wait to go back!!!

Nice resort for the price

Stayed for a week with my family. (March break 2015) Kids aged 9 & 14. It is a nice family resort but not alot of activities, especially for my 14 yr old. The grounds were very lush and well maintained and the staff friendly. The rooms were clean but very dated. There are 2 sections - the Village and Garden. I would suggest the Village section - if travelling with children. The pool area is quiet and not over crowded. We walked over to the Garden section and the pool there was VERY busy and crow [... lire plus]ded. The beach was nice, but due to the rough waters, you can not see the bottom. Which is a little unnerving when "things" brush by your leg. :) Selection of food was good. A little bland, but enough choices to keep us happy. Since this was our 1st visit to DR, it's hard to compare. Put it this way, I would go back, but I would try a few other places before I do. Just a note: Obviously this has nothing to do with the resort - for the 7 days - it would rain for 30 min in the morning and the same at night. Not sure if it's due to the mountains surrounding the area - but thought it worth mentioning.

Clean Resort

The resort was nice, clean and the staff friendly, the food was ok, plenty of choices. We took in two al la carts and the food was very good, the steak was delicious and the service was great. The entertainment was good, and the entertainers were nice, however one or two of them (I believe one of them was security) were rude and annoying and chased our young adult girls everywhere, we could not leave them alone. The beach was nice, clean and well maintained, but again we had people constantly di [... lire plus]srupting us to buy stuff etc. We ended up having to get mad and tell them to go away!! Biggest Problem......... we had issues with our room, the air conditioner did not work all week (thank god we had a fan on the ceiling), it overflowed twice, maintenance had to come and drain it after if flooded our room. Our toilet plugged up and our room was full of tiny ants, they were even in my clothing and suitcase. We went 2 days with NO hot water....our kids had two rooms across the hall from us and they did not have any issues with their room except not having hot water..... The last day we had a late flight and the hotel wanted us to pay extra to keep our room so we could shower before our flight. My husband fought that at the front desk and we ended up keeping the room free of charge. We made the best of it and had a nice warm sunny vacation, better than snow!!! Fair enough vacation for the price we paid.

Had a great trip !

The resort and beach were very clean, rooms were always taken care of. However we had no hot water during our last two days there. The food was good but got very redundant, there was never a change in selection from day to day. The daily and nightly entertainment was okay, Ive seen better, and Ive also seen worse. the beach was okay, alot of seaweed, but still enjoyable. Service at the bars was great, however all bars on our resort closed at 11, and we had to walk 10 minutes to Riu Bachata, in o [... lire plus]rder to get 24 hour bar service. Overall, we had a great stay at Riu Merengue but I would never stay there again. We made the best out of what we had.

Amazing service througout this resort!

Service was excellent throughout the resort, including the reception desk, room, pool, restaurant, and bar attendants. Your concerns were promptly addressed and the employees seemed very happy in their employment. They were always smiling and polite. We visited the Bachata a couple of times....they were not so happy and also not so polite. Beach was lovely and loungers were always available. Occasional bar service on the beach was a welcome change as well. Pool area was great; not an "endless"  [... lire plus]but more than adequate. Very clean, and lots of huts and high-end loungers. Rooms were spacious, clean, well equipped, and the balcony was amazing! Buffet restaurants were nicely decorated and clean. Thanks to Domingo, who made our week very special with his excellent service ( definitely an asset to be appreciated. He is "cruise ship" quality and you don't often find that kind of service in an all inclusive). Unfortunately, other than the omelets, crème brule, carrot dishes, and pork dishes, the food was not as good as I've experienced at other resorts. Wine and tea were terrible, as well. Room for improvement here for sure. Only went to one a la carte (the Steakhouse) and we were not impressed with service or the steak. I've been to 7 all-inclusives and this was the most disappointing. I specifically asked if the steak was tender and told that it was "very" tender. Yeah...I could have played hockey with it. The entertainment staff were excellent, around the pool, beach and resort as well as at the evening shows. The dancers (and choreograpy) were spectacular. The shows themselves could use improvement; too much lip sync and a little tired in the themes....couldn't take another version of "Grease". The only real negative aspect of the resort is that there was too much "smoke". There should be designated smoking areas (not in the lobby main walkway). Non-smokers should not be subject to unhealthy, second-hand smoke. Overall, the Riu staff at the Meringue are doing a great job! Please note that I provided the reception desk with a hand-written review of the resort on the day I left.

2nd trip did not disapoint

This was our second stay at the Riu Merengue. We came back because we had a great first visit, and our second trip waa just as good. We read a lot of mixed reviews so we were a little concerned, but Riu dies it right. The rooms were clean and the staff was always friendly. At our first trip Diaz the bartender made a great impression on us and we were happy to find him there again. It was a pleasure every morning to be greeted by Oscar the omelet guy at the garden restaurants. We highly recomm [... lire plus]end this resort...especially for first timers

Fantastic entertainers!

Lovley pools, oven was full of seaweed and coral. Hard on the feet. Staff were great. Went to bravissimo at ocean world. Wonderful food and the show was wonderful as well. Also the cable car city tour was great

Very clean and well taken care of

Wasn't impressed with food overall. The evening entertainment needs to be updated and more interactive with the guests. Good place to just relax and get some sun if that's all your looking for. It was okay

Rooms need updating

Rui Merengue offers a typical all-inclusive resort experience. The rooms and grounds are kept clean, the food was good, the staff was friendly and helpful (for the most part). There are a few things that could be done to improve the experience: 1. Updating the rooms - the beds were old and uncomfortable, the bedding was clean but dated. The pillows were as flat as pancakes! 2. We booked a "family room" for 2 adults and 3 kids (ages 1, 4 and 6). We were told there would be 2 double beds and a twi [... lire plus]n bed. In reality there were only 3 single beds in the room! How do they expect us to sleep a family of 5 with that arrangement??? I was very disappointed ad were told that we already have the biggest room. Yes, the room is larger than most, but useless unless we have enough beds! Although we booked a crib for our 1 year old, we had to make many trips to the front desk to enquire about it and after a big fight a crib was eventually delivered to our room (after one of the front desk staff offered that we could buy a crib! Really!!) Aside from these issues, we had a great time, the beach was awesome and I would consider booking with this resort again if the configuration of beds could be improved.

Want a great HOLIDAY! We love this resort!

The Merengue offers so much more than luxurious, luscious grounds, 2 swimming pools, and a great layout for those with mobility issues. The staff is exceptional, the food is plentiful and variety quite good. We stayed at the Merengue Gardens, but were able to enjoy the facilities of all 3 resorts, offering many eating and bar stations. The beach and entry into the water is a bit rocky! Even though the Riu offers so much they could get better at acknowledging their repeat customers. It is quite  [... lire plus]shameful. They could also acknowledge these reviews, with a reply!

Holiday nightmare

I'd love to say that there are any positives, it's been nothing but a horrific experience: the shower head is broken, there was no hot water 3/7 days, power outages meant that there was no breakfast two days in a row; all the power outlets needed adapters, and none of the adapters at the riu store worked (we had to prop them up using furniture.) the AC barely worked, it was humid every night and the ceiling was covered in mold (I woke up stuffy and irritated every morning). The towel service kio [... lire plus]sk runs out of towels mid day, and the beach chairs are reserved by the other tourists which are nowhere in sight (nowhere to sit). The "a la carte" restaurants can only get booked between 7am and 8am in the morning, otherwise they are full. The staff are grouchy and overworked (some of the bartenders are very nice). Our housekeeping forgets to provide towels, and I had to call for them 50% of the time (no big deal). Shampoo is not provided. Local vendors are allowed to harass you to sell you garbage at the lobby (they are very pushy and very annoying). Everyone including nexus-tours tried anything to get money from you; their general attitude is that we are rich and ungrateful people that need to be scammed (even though we consider ourselves down to earth and friendly). We decided to leave the resort and go to a town called Susua, at a 3 star hotel to spend the remaining week and had a great time.

Great place for a vacation

Lovely grounds, nice room, good meals, relaxing place to vacation. Especially enjoyed the beach. Didn't use the entertainment feature, but did do the safari which was educational. Weather was great during our stay.

Loved this resort

Loved everything about this resort, food was great, staff amazing beaches. The only thing that was not up to my liking was the beds and pillows. That would be my only complaint. Loved how close everything was .

Amazing Vacation!!

1 week, with the plan of relaxing and drinking. Success! The staff are very friendly, and I loved the swim up bar. Access to sister resorts beside Merengue was great! Not the best beach, but what I expected. Loved having access to free wifi 90min/day in the lobby to check in with friends and family. Great resort to meet other guest and make new friends :)

We loved this resort

The grounds were outstanding. The food excellent. The employees very friendly. The beach was beautiful and is very long and roomy. We enjoyed the variety of excursions and the resort offered so many amenities. I would have loved to see more variety for the entertainment side, but the number of pools, bars and restaurants made up for that. I would recommend this resort.

Excellent Staff

The staff were great and very efficient and super friendly! The food was amazing with so much to choose from! The resort was very clean and well kept. The Steakhouse was delicious. I would go back to the resort in a minute.