Image of ClubHotel Riu Mambo Hotel

ClubHotel Riu Mambo Hotel

2 of 13 hotels in Puerto Plata

4 out of 5 from 36 reviews
4 stars
Bahia Maimon, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

36 Reviews

Traveller Rating

  • Excellent
    19
  • Very Good
    13
  • Good
    3
  • Average
    1
  • Poor
    0

Review Overview

  • Cleanliness
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Service
  • Location
Charles
Love it, try it you will like it.
13 years 1 month ago
The hotel is extremely clean and roomy with a satellite TV to keep in touch with the world. The food is incredible and has everything your heart desires.

The location is perfect and safe as well as gated with security so there are no interferences with your holiday. The staff are so friendly, accommodating and incredibly hard working, always with a smile.

The entertainment team work night and day and are amazing and yes I will make this hotel a home away from home for many years to come. The hotel also has a reliable, educational children day care so you can enjoy your holiday to the fullest with your children with a very safe pool area for the kids to play in. also in the hotel there is an affordable internet service so you can do a bit of catch up or email friends and family.

I visited this hotel for the last 3 years. It is very very accessible, clean, safe, comfortable, great food, entertainment and great staff and caring management.

Clean rooms, well maintained premises and access to the Merengue and Bachatta hotels and using their facilities makes the holiday as if where three holidays in one. A gym and shopping street adds to the value. A great place for fun, tennis, ping pong and many other activities in the gated safe complex. Well worth the trip where the March weather is almost always guaranteed to be in the 27 - 30 degree range.

The beach is not the best in the world but very good and the wide board walk to the beach lets me enjoy the beach even more. Love it and I recommend it.
Had a great time every year and for many more years. I met so many repeaters that we now are almost like family. Love it, try it you will like it.
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Recommended
MICK LAWTON
14 years 8 months ago
WE STOPPED IN THE RIU MAMBO HOTEL.IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A TOP HOTEL LOOK NO FURTHER. THIS HOTEL WAS TOP CLASS THE STAFF WERE GREAT,NOTHING WAS TO MUCH TROUBLE FOR THEM.THE ROOMS ARE BIG AND CLEAN.EVERY WHERE WAS CLEAN.FOOD WAS VERY GOOD.YOU MUST JOIN IN THE GAMES FRENCH BOWLS,HORSE SHOES,DARTS.YOU MUST GO TO PARADISE ISLAND ITS OUT OF THIS WORLD.DRINK RUM&COKE TILL IT COMES OUT OF YOU EARS.IF YOU DONT FIND THIS HOLIDAY A GREAT ONE.(STOP AT HOME)WE,VE BEEN TO SOME FANTASTIC HOTELS,AND THIS ONE IS TOPS.
YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE IT (BUT I THINK YOU WILL).
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Travel operator: THOMSON

Recommended
Jacobs
15 years 1 month ago
we went to riu mambo hotel because and we had previously went to the riu bambu and thought the mambo was of the same standard, as it also is a four star!, it was very clean as was all the hotel,but we were dissapointed when we arrived to our room, the room was fine everything you would need but the smell of damp was terrible,we stayed in it for one night and changed in the morning to another room which was still damp but not as bad, we did notice though that the painter was on hand to cover up the mould on a daily basis- but this one didn't have a hair dryer but as I have my own it didn't bother me.The food was o.k but lacked in variety ,the snack bar was the same everyday and when it rained there was only one bar open to accommidate all those people.The location,well away from anything,(nowhere to walk).The staff were faultless but the entertainment wasn't much good but you could go to the other hotels to watch theirs if you wanted to.We wold not go to this hotel again but the riu bambu yes.
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Travel operator: thomas cook

Cooke Family
15 years 2 months ago
I have just returned from a weeks stay at the Riu Mambo with my husband and 8 year old daughter and have had a fabulous time.

I cannot fault this hotel; the cleanliness was second to none. I was very impressed to see ladies spraying hand hygine gel at the toilet exits all day every day and when entering all the restaurants.

The food was plentiful and of a good standard, with something for everyone. There were various themed nights and a steakhouse and Italian, although we did find the steakhouse and Italian menu a bit limiting.

The hotel staff were friendly and seemed happy in their work.

The entertainment team were excellent and worked very hard during the day and all evening. They seemed to make it up as they went along but it was fun. Their energetic dancing really put a smile on your face. My daugher loved all the attention and was chosen to take part in the Michael Jackson show which she is still talking about.

In all we had a great holiday and thought it was good value for money. We will definitely return.

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Travel operator: Portland

Recommended
Roly Richardson
15 years 2 months ago
Had a very good time during the 2 weeks we stayed here. I would reccomend a couple of improvements which are:
Brightening up the bed spreads (Dark blue is a bit dismall!) Sorting out the smelly pillows maybe dry clean them or something!Daytime Entertainment activities are very plentiful, but the same programme runs every day with usually the same people 7 can get a bit boring.
daytime kids activities seem to be very low key & My 10 year old didn't manage to meet new friends till the second week as there were no clubs specifically for his age group. The kids music dance party had the same songs night after night for the 2 weeks. I felt they could have changed a bit.

I loved the energy that came from the entertainers & found them to be very nice lads & lasses. The dance shows (with professional dancers) were very good, although some shows were just one dance after another with a different costume & could have had something in between (I think others felt this as the room emtied quite quickly after about the 3rd or 4th dance!)
I am quite picky about the entertainment as I am a professional entertainer & have had many years working in UK holiday centres. I can see the enthusiasm is there, but it just needs a bit of co-ordinating.
The food was fine & varied, but as with other reviewers the Italian was nothing special.

We did a quad bike trip with Scuba caribe which cost $79 it was quite a good 3 hours & you get to see some of the poverty iun the local villages (Take some toys or pencils for the local children NOT Sweets)
The tip top catamaran trip was good. It cost about $195 for 2 adults and a child & particularly enjoyed the entertainment & enthusiasm from MR Banana!.

I was a bit dissapointed with the water sport on the beach. I understood that the sea was quite rough so no boats were allowed out at all on our first week. But when it calmed down the 2nd week, I was told that I could take a sail boat out at my own risk & if I got into trouble I would have to rescue myself! Dispite there being 4 staff doing very little on the beach.

Overall it was a good holiday & if you are aware of the above things then you will have a great time.
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Travel operator: Thompson

Recommended
Steve B
15 years 2 months ago
Spent a week at the Riu Mambo at the end of Feb 2009 and had a great time.The complex is spotlessly clean although I can sympathise with the comments re the "musty" smell in the rooms, ours was traced to the curtains that could do with either cleaning or replacing. The staff are extremely pleasant and are always willing to help in any way they can. The food was as good as any other all-inclusive that I have experienced and better than most.
We did 2 excursions, Paradise Island which was enjoyable and picturesque, and also The Jeep Safari which also includes a visit to the Damajagua Waterfalls which is certainly worth experiencing, although I would not recommend it for the elderley, infirm or weak swimmers. (Having said that, I am in my fifties and managed to get up and down them OK)
We booked them both through the guy in the shack to the right of the beach and saved considerably on the price that the reps were asking.
This really is a 24 hour all-inclusive, as snacks are available throughout the night at the 24 hour bar in the Bachatta hotel which is a pleasant 5 minute walk away.
You never have to queue for long to get a drink at any of the bars as the bar staff are extremely hard working, although the odd $1 tip here and there does help.
The client
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Travel operator: Thomas Cook

Recommended
Wayne Ellerby
16 years ago
This hotel is one of three & i think it is the best one. It is on a lovely private beach with its own bar & the sea is lovely & wavey.All of the staff do everything possible to make your stay the best & I really cant fault anyone, from the cleaning maids to the ladies outside the toilets with antibacterial hand cream to the bar staff. Entertainment is ok but not brilliant. They do work very hard & are quite funny, but there are a few poor dancing shows. The Micheal Jackson show is brilliant & some of the games had us all in stitches. The pools are great & are always kept clean. The food was of a very high standard, including the steakhouse, although the italian was just ok. My children are 8 & 11 & they both want to go back as soon as possible. The kids club is ran by Stefan who is German but his english is good & the kids liked him.
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Travel operator: thomson

Recommended
16 years 1 month ago
we have just returned from 14 nights at the mambo. we have said on this report that we will not return, whihc sounds a little misleading as the only reason we would not is because there are other hotels we would like to try next time.
on arrival we were greeted with a drink and handed an envelope containing our keys. a porter was assigned to move the cases to the room 9they expect a small tip for this) and if you need help finding your block there are many staff along the way to ask who will gladly assist. first impressions of the room were ok. yes, there is a smell, i would not call it damp in the sense of what you imagine that word to be but i do think it is mostly attributed to the very humid air entering the fabric in the room (huge curtains etc) and sticking to them, the actual room is big and has everything you require but i would not describe it as luxury. there are no tea and coffee making facilities so take your own if you are like us and need a coffee fix as soon as you open your eyes as the restuarant is not exactly round the corner for most of the rooms even though they are happy for you to pick a flask full of coffee up from there and take it back to the room. there is no iron or hairdyer so either take your own or borrow from reception (really thoguh, you need world wide voltage appliances if you don't want to spend hours drying your hair and ironing your clothes) bathroom is spacious if you are used to greek studios! very clean and the shower has good reliabe heat and pressure. towels can be provided fresh every day and are of a good size, they give you seperate ones to use on the beach so you don't get covered in sand after your shower. these are handed out using a card system which you hand to the towel hut attendant by the pool area. the hotel grounds are very clean, they even sweep leaves up costantly and the pool was always warm and clean to use, but to be hoest we used the beach purely because it was quiter and there was less chance of the entertainers trying to grab you to do dance lessons/ waterpolo and god knows what else. to be honest thsi was one of the things that we didnt like too much, it is not a place to relax, they are constantly trying to organise you all into doing something and i really didnt feel the inclination to join in with the kids playing pool ball games on a couples holiday but hey-ho. i'm not saying it spoilt our holiday, but i was annoyed to be disturbed on the beach when obviously trying to read and relax. the same people do the entertainment at night which was dire to be honest. very amature and aimed at families. you really could not sit there sober and enjoy any of it. the mini disco consisted of the kids club leader (a man on his own, which i thought was slightly odd) encouraging the kids to scream as loud as they could over the music, again-very relaxing for us childless peeps (!) we avoided the main entertainment area at all cost in favour of the pool bar which was much more of an adult environment, apart from when the few spring breakers who were there decended and made themselves look like kids who could not take a drink...and we thought british kids were bad. to be honest there were literally not that many but the ones who were there did nothing to improve the ''spring breakers'' reputation. the nightclub is like a paris hilton convention and a throw back scene from american pie, enough said (and i'm 26 before you all think i am an elderly misery!!) the food was good, lots of choice but there is no charm whatsoever in having to serve yourself in a buffet 3 times a day every day. the big light was always on and it did remind me of a canteen...sorry. we are used to eating out in greek tavernas and taking our time though, which may have something to do with our opinion. the a la cartes are on a booking service which is daft. you have to book at 10AM on the day so you cannot book in advance and the Q was massive from 9.15 onwards and to be honest the food was not even that great compared to what was available in the main restaurant. the beach is nice but was closed for 3 days whilst we were there due to very very strong currents and waves which obliterated the gift shop shacks on the far end of the beach (stay away unless you really are going to buy, they are not part of the hotel and are very pushy)there are also alot of people selling trips, massage you name it on the beach which is not really ideal. as far as events in the hotel go they just were not to our taste. the carribean street party consisted of locals dancing to 10 year old rave music and getting drunk older guests to lap dance each other (i live in blackpool so get used to seeing this all summer, it was not funny and was probably a bit tasteless)the beach party was also a none event with a bad caberet style duo singing jennifer rush ''classics'' to be honest all of the entertainment was very phoenix nights and involved heavy use of a keyboard backing track. we ended up back in the room for 11.30 most nights but did not mind as we were knackered form excursions and things, all of which were good (ocean world, catamaran and safari truck) if it sounds like i have put a negative spin on the holiday i do not mean it to sound as such, we had a great time, but only because we are able to make a holiday our own and hate organised entertainment anyway. if you are going to this hotel then look forward to it, because all of the basic elements needed for a good time are there (food, clean, friendly staff etc) we will be going somewhere a little more relaxing next time.
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Travel operator: portland

Andy B
16 years 1 month ago
Upon arrival we were pleased with the reception we got and was looking forward to getting stuck into our holiday. This good feeling was soon obliterated when we saw the room. There were 4 in our party )2 adults and 2 children) yet only 3 beds! The children were expected to share a single bed. Eventually they added another bed however once vthe room had 4 single beds in it and the furnature provided you had more room in a broom cupboard. If there are 4 of you I would book a suite.
The rooms and hotel were very clean and I cannot fault the hotel in any way what so ever.
Food wise the quality was very good although after 2 weeks the selection did get a bit bland. You can go the the speciality steak or italian resturants but the Qs were massive and to be honest all the food was available in the main resturant. During the day the pool bar served snack foods with burgers, hotdogs, salads, pizzas. All were very good. Soem days the hotel had barbeques on the beach or round the pool wich were very good. Drinks from the bar were ok however you did need to drink a lot to get merry - Bar cocktails really good. Room optics crap. One thing to be aware is that this is not a 24 hour all inclusive like they advertise. There is no food available from 2-7am and what is available is at the neighbouring hotel (10 mins walk from most rooms).
Location wise the hotel is pretty much on its own and so long as you didn't expect to walk far then its ok.
Staff were ok and frindly however to get the best you really needed to tip them.
Entertainment was quite good and the crew did work very hard however they were pushy and the night shows were all about dancing or adult humiliation. The kids club was very good but was run by one single man who sometimes was alittle out of his depth.
Whilst we were there there was storm in Mexico which resulted in some very rough weather and the beach was closed for a few days. The hotel seemed a little lost but did cope even though it was the easter weekend and the locals came in their groups to use the hotel facilities.
There was also a kitchen fire whilst we were there which closed the pool bar down. The hotel dealt with this very well and again coped with the problem.
In all I would not visit this hotel again due to the size of the room and to compare this with the canaries all inclusive there are far more cons such as entry/exit Tax, unreliable weather, and general feeling on being trapped in the resort.
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Travel operator: Thomson

Recommended
16 years 2 months ago
Our only complaint with the Mambo Hotel was our room, first room was damp and smelly and had many faults, we were moved after 3 days when we complained, into another room 319, which we were told was a special room and admittedly the view and location of this room was great but still the room was a little bit smelly and very tierd, the bedrooms most definately are not of 4 star standard. The rest was excellent food, staff, entertainment, and weather was really top in our opinion. we had a really enjoyable holiday here, envious of any body going.
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Travel operator: Thomas Cook

Recommended

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