Riu merengue is a place I plan to revisit in the near future. Never have I ever met such hard working, friendly and warm staff !!!!

Very good we felt welcome

highly recommended to other families with kids...
I did request a ground floor room, but ended up on 2nd floor..it was a bit difficult at times with a baby stroller, but we made the most of our trip!

It was a nice hotel, good service, good food, three "Riu" hotels sharing resources.

Le service est impeccable, le personnel chaleureux et plusieurs parlait le francais. Beaucoup d'animation et d'activités organisées par l'équipe des géo! Nes ados (16 et 21 ans) ont beaucoup aimé aussi.

Tres bien bouffe mieux que Cuba température excellente il y a que les lits qui sont négatif ........ Payer un maximum de 875$$ pour être content...Nous sommes allés à pêche et 3 pers sur 6 malades ... Par contre le combat fait oublier le mal de cœur ... Mai mai comme poizzzon

good location, not too far from airport. Excellent staff, food not as great, but you wouldn't go hungry. pool was very well kept. Didn't do any outings, but heard from others they were pretty good.

Trip was great. will return someday.

Continuous cleaning by the staff kept the whole place spotlessly clean and tidy and the range of dishes provided by the restaurants meant that there was always something I could eat at any time of day. Beach was good, again kept clean by the staff, with plenty of shade if you wanted it. The service in all departments, (restaurants, bars, reception, housekeeping) was excellent although the evening entertainment team left something to be desired. Overall, super value for the money.

This resort is wonderful. The staff, alone, will make your vacation. They are extremely personable. The front desk could call us by name and even remember our room number. It would take too much space and time in this review to tell you all of the great qualities of the hotel staff at hotel Merengue.
The location of the resort was what we like. Not too far from the airport but still in a fairly remote area, not surrounded by other resorts. However this resort included two others, one on each side, that are also Riu resorts, Mambo and Bachata so really it is all one large resort because you can use the facilities of all three. The resorts have a walkway beside the beach that connects the three and there is no obvious separation.
Food, of course, was plentiful, and great. In Riu Merengue there are several locations to eat. One spot was open until 2:00 am so you could get a snack. Then this same spot opened at 7:00 am and you could get coffee early. But again one was not limited to this resort only. You could go to the other two resorts to eat also or swim in the pools, or go to the bars. This was a great feature of these resorts because it certainly widened your boundaries.
The activities program was constant so you could exhaust yourself if you chose to participate. The animators worked long hours to provide everyone constant entertainment. They were present all over the resort all of the time. They would come along the beach with a cart and serve drinks, sometimes dressed up in crazy costumes with crazy wigs, dancing. They entertained everyone around the pool. They were everywhere always happy and interacting with the guests. Even after their longs days they still continued entertaining for the nightly shows.
During our stay we had a variety of beach conditions. Mostly calm days, but one day when the ocean was really rough with huge waves to play in. Lots of fun for any kids or adult kids.
The weather was beautiful. That is what we were there for and were not disappointed.

The staff and hote are worth the visit, this was our sixth stay there.

TRÈS BELLES VACANCES EN GÉNÉRAL. VOIR COMMENTAIRES PLUS BAS POUR POINTS ET -.
ENDROIT À RECOMMANDER.

Le meilleur des trois complexe RIU. L'équipe d'animation est géniale.Hotel très très très propre.

This resort was amazing the entire family had fun best resort we ever went..

tres belle hotel nouriture tres bonne personnel acceuillant ,annimation tres bien ,moi je restaie plus sur le coté bouchetta la picine était mieux et plus embiance mais les chambre et blacon du merengue était mieux ,tres beau voyage je le conseil a tous le monde

Enjoyed very much. Will recommend to others.

L'emplacement est idéal, en retrait de la ville. Plage privée. Tout était très propre! Alcool à volonté dans la chambre avec mini-bar. Pleins d'activités variées: yoga sur la plage, volley de plage, stretching dans la piscine sur un rythme endiablé et bien d'autres! Accueil chaleureux du propriétaire en personne! Accès internet wifi gratuit! Le buffet principal est excellent. Point négatif: les restaurants à la carte sont terriblement mauvais...ils ne peuvent pas être considérés comme tel.

Bravo pour l'hotel. Le personnel très gentil, se débrouillant en français. L'emplacement est très propre. Le concept des chambres en ilot de 8 fait qu'on se croit seul, pas de bruits. Mais quand on se rencontre à la salle à manger on réalise qu'il y a beaucoup de monde et c'est très bruyant.

Nice place, would go again

rien a redire.... 2 semaines de pur bonheur. propreté exceptionnel du site. tres bonne nourriture. belle chambre extraordinaire rapport qualite-prix

Nous avons acheté un surclassement après la réservation dans une suite junior avec vue sur la mer. Nous avons apprécié cet investissement. De plus, nous avions le droit aux installations du Riu Bachata et Mambo (excepter pour le souper qui doit se prendre à l'hôtel Merengue). Les balcons des chambres standard sont situés sur le coin des villas ce qui améliore la vue extérieure selon moi un plus.

the riu merengue was very nice. i read quite a few reviews before leaving and am not certain why all the negative comments..we saw NO BUGS, cochroaches, etc. the staff was very good in the restaurant, bar and housekeeping. some of the front desk staff were very helpful, others seemed a bit bored, detached. everything overall was wonderful and would definitely recommend.

Très bel endroit,les gens tjrs souriants nous en avons eu vraiment pour nôtre argent...l'animation et les spectacles super, bonne bouffe avec bcp de choix au buffet,pas vraiment aimer le resto à la carte que nous avions choisi mais les goûts restent a discuter...nous allons y retourner ça c'est sure !

Nous étions au Bachata et SI VOUS VOULEZ UN HOTEL PAS D'AIR CLIMATISÉ c,est le bon endroit 3 Chambre de suite pas d'air et le personnel s'en fout pas mal. Aussi aucune place pour déposer les bagages avant le départ donc non surveillé ??? TRÈS DÉÇUE

We quite liked our stay at the Riu Merengue, Puerto Plata. However see comments below -- continue from below...

we felt that parts of the contest/shows wwere degrading towards women.

On the 2nd day our room was flooded from the toilet overflowing.Staff cleaned with towels but l had to ask them to wash the floors. Staff were not concerned if anything was damaged. I had to clean shoes from the smell and dirt. They asked if we wanted to move and said yes. What they offered was a building at the back of the resort where all the traffic and noise was. We stayed where we were. They offered us little trinkets for the trouble. I would have expected something a little more due to the inconvenience we had to go thru.They said they had nothing else, yet 2 days later the resort was full of local people.
When booking you are not told that it is a holiday for the locals. They now overrun the property and staff and food are catered to their needs. We have visited here twice before and the service and atmosphere sure were'nt the same.

very fast check in and out
clean resort with good variety of food
a-la carte not great & would pass on it
entertainment staff very enthusiastic &seem to really enjoy their job & guests
beautiful bay and beach - quaint villas
great value!

The best thing about the hotel is the staff and how courteous they are. Always willing to help and always have a smile on their faces. The worst thing was the quality of the food. Not that it tasted bad per se- rather, it was boring, blase and not too original. They need to have a LOT more variety and carry simple things like peanut butter and even mustard.

Très bon accueil, très propre, personnel chaleureux, nourriture abondante et variée, beaucoup d'activités terrestre et aquatique, plage bien sans plus.

We had a great time at Riu Merengue. Price was excellent. Resort very clean. Staff go out of their way to make your stay a happy one. Food is ok, lots of selection, drinks were also good. Restaurant staff were constantly refilling your drinks and taking away your dirty dishes. Weather wasn't the greatest, but that was out of our control. Water shoes required for going into the ocean, many sea urchins. If you purchase any items from Caribbean street, get a receipt. Entertainment was also very good. Overall a good time. The only downfall of our trip was that we landed in Samana, not in Puerto Plata. The bus ride was 3 hours and was much too long after travelling for so many hours. Try to get a flight to Puerto Plata and avoid the stress. Also no problems with locals on the weekends. They are like all of the other tourists that you encounter.