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RIU Republica Punta Cana Resort HONEST Review

Hello, fellow travelers. I’m Ari, a Dominican local. And Jhon and I just came back from the RIU Republica adults-only resort in Punta Cana, and this is our review.

Make sure you stick around till the end because we will share three tips to bring your stay at the RIU Republica to the next level.

BOOK THIS RESORT:
👉 On Expedia
👉 On Hotels.com
👉 On Booking.com

Overview

The two of us paid $208 per night in a standard double room with a balcony overlooking the water park.

WATERPARK BALCONY RIU REPUBLICA

The RIU Republica is located in Arena Gorda, which is about 29 minutes away from the Punta Cana International Airport. This area consists mainly of resorts and hotels, so if you want to get out into town,
you will need a car or a taxi.

The Beach

The Arena Gorda area has, in our opinion, one of the most beautiful stretches of beach in Punta Cana, some of the most famous hotels in Punta Cana, like the Hard Rock and the Royalton hotels share this same beach.

We visited the RIU Republica in August 2022, and this year has been record-breaking in the amounts of seaweed arriving in the Caribbean.

I wonder if we were lucky, but during our visit, the seaweed was minimal early in the morning, which is when you see the most seaweed because the hotels have yet to pick it up. It was immaculate. We noticed some hotel staff cleaning the beach, so they are doing an outstanding job of keeping it clean.

ARENA GORDA BEACH

The Pools

The resort has six pools. Three of them have pool bars, and they play loud music. So if you want more of a party vibe, one of these three pools will be your best choice.

RIU REPUBLICA POOL

The smallest pool has a volleyball net, so it’s basically dedicated to small groups that want to play a game or two of volleyball.

RIU REPUBLICA POOL

The two bigger pools are quieter. The biggest one is closest to the beach, and the other is closer to the water park, Which is the one we preferred because it was quieter.

Keep in mind the hotel is not that big, so all these pools are near each other, and you can experience all of them during your stay.

One thing that the RIU Republica does a great job at is providing enough seating area and enough shade. There are tons of empty chaise lounges at every pool and tons of shadow, which we find some other Punta Cana hotels do an abysmal job at.

The Amenities

This resort has a small but very nice-looking spa.

It has a well-equipped gym if you want to offset some of the weight you gain from eating so much at an all-inclusive resort.

There is also a ping-pong table. They also have two beach volleyball courses and a beach soccer field.

And the main attraction, the water park. Although the water park is not so big, it lives up to the expectation of an adults-only resort water park. The rides went from medium to extreme, and we enjoyed our time there.

The Entertainment

when it comes to entertainment, The hotel staff was very active during the day, doing different activities and looking for players for the different games and even doing water aerobics, also animating the areas
around the pools with the music.

So if you’re looking for an active hotel with a party vibe, the Riu Republica is the right fit.

RIU Party

One of the most famous features of entertainment is the RIU party.

The hotel organizes two huge parties a week. One on Mondays called The Jungle Party, and one on Fridays called the Pink Party.

These parties are not at Riu Republica; instead, they transport any guest who wants to go to those parties from the Riu Republica to another Riu hotel nearby, using busses. The line to get on the bus for the pink party was crazy!

Night Entertainment

They also do a great job at Nightlife Entertainment. The night show was great during our night there, and we were also there a couple of years back, pre-pandemic, the performances were also very good, so they have kept their standards high for night entertainment.

There is an onsite disco called the Pacha disco, which opens at 11 p.m. So about half an hour after the night show ends, The disco is not very big, but it has a great atmosphere.

Many people go to the disco right from the beginning. We found the vibe and music great right from the get-go.

The bar service is speedy, so if you want to order a drink, you don’t have to wait a long time.

The Food

One of our favorite things to do when we go to All-Inclusive resorts in Punta Cana is to eat. And regarding food, the RIU Republica does an excellent job.

The food is on the good side. Considering the price you pay to stay at the Riu Republica, the food can be considered amazing.

Buffets

Two buffet restaurants are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. La Altagracia is the bigger one, and Mangu is the smaller one. Both buffets serve the same food.

We noticed that they serve a lot of seafood, which you find only in the more upscale and more expensive hotels in Punta Cana.

A La Carte Restaurants

There is also a nice variety of a la carte restaurants. You have the Italian called Tarantella and the Asian one called Kaori. There is also an Indian restaurant called the Taj Mahal, a fusion restaurant called the Gourmet Culinarium East, a Spanish one called Olé, and a steakhouse.

Some, like the Italian and the Asian, had an interesting concept that we hadn’t seen before in other hotels. Instead of ordering the food from the waiter, it’s a buffet-style specialty restaurant.

So as soon as you go inside and grab a table, you can go to the buffet line and grab your food.

We believe this food was made with more quality ingredients. Other chefs might have crafted these menus because the food here was better than at the buffet restaurants.

For example, the pizza at the Italian restaurant was way superior to the pizza at the Buffetts.

When we visited this hotel back in 2019, you did need a reservation for all the restaurants. But a great thing they introduced now is that you don’t need a reservation at any restaurant.

The Drinks

There are many bars around the hotel, so whenever you want a drink, there’s a bar nearby.

John and I are not huge drinkers, and even we noticed the drinks are watered down. They blend many drinks with ice, and you can’t even taste the alcohol that much.

The Riu Republica being a party hotel, they need to do a better job regarding the drinks.

Check-in and Checkout

The staff at the Riu Republica was super friendly. We didn’t encounter a single grumpy employee during our stay. Everyone from the check-in to the checkout was very friendly and always eager to help.

The check-in and checkout process for us was swift and smooth, but we did notice some long lines for check-in and checkout, and we also noticed that the lines didn’t move as much.

So if you’re unlucky enough to get in line after a group arrives at the hotel, you might be in line for a while.

We also met a lovely couple from New York that had an issue during check-in. The hotel seems to have lost their payment information, and they were asking them for the credit card they used to book the hotel, which they didn’t have, and they spent a couple of hours sorting things out.

The Room

We booked the cheapest double room. It was nice but could have been better.

On the positive side, the room was super clean. Very well-illuminated and distributed. The bed was comfortable. The air conditioning worked great.

The balcony and the view from the balcony were super nice. The minibar was well stocked. A great addition was an alcohol dispenser with four bottles of vodka, gin, rum, and whiskey, which you could use to make your own drinks in your room.

The bathroom area was also super nice.

The negatives were not dealbreakers, but they were something we noticed. For instance, the sofa in the seating area is super worn down. They tried putting the cushions upside down, but the zippers gave them away.

The TV signal is poor because they use a coaxial cable instead of HDMI.

The pillows on the bed were small, and the hotel only provided one pillow per person.

There is also a templated glass between the shower and the room. So unless you go with a romantic partner, be prepared to see the silhouette of the person taking a shower.

Some minor details made a difference. For instance, the soap placement was out of whack. The tissue box in the bathroom was also out of whack. The toilet paper roll seemed to be used by the previous guests.

The hairdryer holder on the wall was askew. Some of the towels had small stains and tears in them. They did feel clean, but they were something to notice.

And the ironing board in the closet needed a cloth protector.

But all in all, we felt comfortable in our room.

Now, as promised, here are three tips that will bring your stay at this hotel to the next level.

  • You have free access to two features in the spa, the hot and cold therapy area, which is very nice, and the Turkish bath. So make sure to visit the spa and ask to enter these facilities.
  • Tip number two If you’re going to the Riu party, make sure you get in line early because the line to get on the buses is super long.
  • And tip number three, if you want to dine at one of the a la carte’s specialty restaurants, make sure you arrive as soon as they open, as they are harder to get into. People take longer once seated, so you might not get a table.

Our score of the Riu Republica is an 8/10.

If you feel the Riu Republica is the right resort for you, book it using the below links:
👉 On Expedia
👉 On Hotels.com
👉 On Booking.com

Click here to see where we rank the RIU Republica in our Punta Cana resort rankings.

Click here to see our Youtube video tour of the Riu Republica facilities

Johnny

Monday 18th of September 2023

Thank you very much for your excellent and very detailed review and the tips. It seems to be a good hotel for people who like to have fun and parties.