Arrived early in the morning reception staff exelent,room lovely,veiw fantastic. Area around the hotel very steep hills but hotel bus goes regularley to and from beach and taxi's are cheep and at the door of the hotel before you can walk from reception outside.It was nice to see towels on sunloungers removed around 9am.Exelent Hotel and Staff.

Upon arrival we were warmly greeted at reception, instead of the usual from filling, the girl (Debbie - NOT Debs.)took our passports and filled in them for us, leaving us only to have to sign them.

Then we were given a map of the hotel (required for the first few hours only) a key for our room safe (complimentary) TWO door keys for our room (TWO at our request) and pointed in the direction of the poolside buffet/bar after being given a complimentary bottle of water.

The food at the buffet was delicious, varied and HOT. Dinner was 8.30 for the first night of our stay only. I didn't like the table we were allocated, and we were moved without any question.

The staff just could not do enough to help at all times. The rest of our stay we ate at the early seating at our request. There is something for having your own table allocated also, so not having to rush in at the start, take your time, one thing for sure, the food will ALWAYS be there piping hot, cooked in front of you and I have never had steak or prime rib served like that to me in any holiday hotel before. Each cut of meat melted off the fork almost.

The entertainment was briiliantly put together and choreographed by Reuben, with lovely girls, super costumes, no expense spared. It was also good top have a self-service facility for hot drinks, beer and soft drinks. This meant I could mix my own shandy, in my own pint-glass, brought especially from home for that specific purpose. That turned some heads with envy. The Germans were remarkablty subdued also, different when they are are in a MINORITY for a change.

The ONLY thing I could fault the hotel on at all, was the long break of "nothingness" between dinner and the Entertainment, (except the obligatory mini-disco) The kids were running around mad between times, but the PARENTS are to blame for this. First week of term back at school and loads of kids there. It should NOT be allowed, and the Hotel shold punish the PARENTS when their kids misbehave. Maybe a "naughty-room" whre kids and their respective parents are sent to, similar to a sin-bin. Worth a try but the staff just do not want to upset or offend anyone, but those kids offended US. Vicious cirlce I suppose.

All in all a wonderful break with good rooms complete with a/c - mini-fridge - LOADS of cupboard space, and wonderful views from the location on the cliff-top. Only problem now is to lose the weight I gained during the mammoth "eat-in". DON'T say I was greedy, I challenge YOU not to over-eat at this place.

DEFINITELY worth a return visit. Maybe a little expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Just returned from 2 weeks in Rui Vistamar and all in all only have positive things to say about it.

Having only been used to staying in villa accommodation, we did find the family room a bit small, but regular hotel users will probably be ok with this. However, the room was spotlessly clean on arrival and was cleaned every day. Food was plentiful and varied although as the 2 weeks went on you did see obvious repetition but it was pretty good nonetheless. The restaurant could be quite busy at times and you were allocated a table for dinner which was the table for your entire stay, however, be prepared to be on a table with other people. We found this awkward at times with 2 children who didn't want what we had given them or they were generally playing up and we were sat next to a couple with no children. We found the whole sharing table thing quite stressful.

The hotel's location at the top of a cliff did give you great views from your balcony (which every room has), but to get into Puerto Rico or anywhere else was a good walk (taxi's however are cheap and very reliable)so evening strolls weren't particularly an option. Amadores Beach at the bottom of the hill is lovely with a selection of restaurants and the usual bucket and spade shops. The walk however back up the hill with 2 kids in tow did take us at least 3/4 of an hour, so do take advantage of the free hotel bus that runs back and forth as we did after two attempts at the hill.

Hotel Staff were exceptionally friendly and made everyone feel welcome. Mini and Maxi Clubs for children 4 - 12 were run by a fantastic group of young people (who also provided evening entertainment in the Bar) and our 2 children couldn't wait for the sessions to begin each day (Merel and Dorien being particular favourites of our two. Evening entertainment was okay, but the kids enjoyed the Mini Disco (and as we all know if the kids are happy ......).

The Vistamar is a large and busy hotel but manages to provide a friendly and personal service. All in all we were very pleased with our stay.

Wonderful, Brilliant, Excellent! All words that me and my partner used more than once during our weeks stay.

The hotel staff are all friendly helpful and speak a multitude of languages, nothing is too much effort for them to make your stay pleasant
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The Food is excellent to the point that one pair of trousers didn

This was the first time we have visited a Riu hotel and we were'nt disappointed.We always stay all inclusive so we knew what to expect but we must say it was fantastic!!The hotel was so clean, the staff were so friendly and the food my god the food what can i say there was so much of it and so much choice - even a diet buffet for anyone willing to stick to one.You were assigned a table number for your whole stay which we thought was a good idea, and yes the tables are quite close together but that wasn't a problem for us.If you didn't fancy an early breakfast you could have one up next to the pool on the 9th floor - there was plenty of choice.Soft drinks, teas, coffee and beer on tap to help yourself and a bar if you wanted anything else alcoholic, a special cappuccino with cream or try a coco loco!!This bar is open until 6pm.There are two sittings for dinner used to be 6.30pm but was changed our 3rd night to 7pm and 9pm.We had the first sitting but didn't go down until 7.30/7.45pm plenty food left.The chefs than start all over again preparing food for the next sitting.The restaurant is on the 8th floor with fantastic sea views.The bar has beer on tap, coffee, tea and soft drinks, everything else you ask at the bar for - only a limited selection of spirits.The main area is non smoking but there is an area attached for smokers with a great balcony for magnificent views.
The rooms are very clean and the beds are very comfortable.You even get your towels made into swans etc.which amused our child.The safes are free which was a first in all inclusives for us.You get a fridge and you ask at reception for bottles of water (large one's) for your room.
We were on floor 3 and the lifts were quite often full so we walked up the stairs, fine until you get to floor 6 then my goodness it's like climbing a mountain but you do get used to it and what good exercise.
Normally the entertainment isn't up to much but i must say we thoroughly enjoyed the animation teams shows and the acts that came in mostly acrobats.The animation team work very hard and are so full of energy. The shows were mostly singing/miming and dancing but they were good especially Toby what a brill dancer/all rounder.
The hotel is on top of a cliff but there's a bus to the beach and you do get used to walking up the hill to go to the shopping centre.
All we can say is what a fantastic holiday and hotel and would we go again - Yes definately!!!!

This was our first trip to Gran Canaria and our first time with the Riu group of hotels, both were excellent. The hotel was very clean with maid service everyday. They even made our towels into swans, elephants etc. The rooms are large enough for a family of three or four and are all air conditioned. There is a satellite tv in every room but only three english channels. Anyone who has stayed in this hotel can confirm that the food is second to none with a massive choice both for breakfast and the evening meal (watch out for the singing chef)There is a signature main meal served every evening and if that is not to your liking there are always three or four different meats to chose from. The hotel is situated on a cliff top giving beautiful views of the ocean but being very hilly perhaps would not be quite so suitable for the elderly or infirm. However, taxi's and buses are very easy to get as there is a taxi rank at the entrance to the hotel grounds. Shopping centre about 1km away but virtually all uphill so can be quite a struggle particularly in the heat. Main area of Puerto Rico a 3 euro taxi ride away and the harbour is well worth a look. The Riu staff all speak excellent English and if there is something they are not sure about they will ask another member of staff. Free bottles of water are available at the reception anytime, day or night. The evening entertainment is second to none and in particular 'Toby' the animacion teams resident 'diva' will having women wanting to kill for a figure like his. All the animacion team seem to just love what they are doing and it shows in their performances, so much energy. Daytime entertainment is good with stupid games that you would not be seen dead doing in the UK but just have to have a go at whilst you are there. The coin and chicken game leaves nothing to the imagination and you must play Sjoelbak (a type of shuffle board)Bingo in afternoons but we tented just to chill out on the numerous sunbeds from about 1ish. The pool bar food is just as good as the main restaurant and drinks are plenty. We enjoyed this holiday so much we have already booked for August 2008 so if you are there at the same time you will see us.

Hotel was great we really enjoyed it and we have stayed in alot of hotels. Pool was good, rooms very nice, food also very good only down side for me is the seating at meal time its dreadful, but great hotel.

Just returned back from this fabulous hotel. The holiday was chosen because of the Riu name and we were not dissapointed.

Greeted by friendly reception staff given water and all information.

Room very clean excellent shower only the poor hairdryer and no English tv channels let it down.

Buffet style restaurant very busy but all taste catered for had some lovely meals.

As we travelled with our three year old daughter kids entertainment was the main part of the holiday! The miniclub and disco was excellent with the entertainment team working hard to please all day and night which made it made it easy for us to keep her happy.

Hotel is on a high cliff which gave us excellent. Views of the beach which is also worth a visit by hotel run bus.

All the evening entertainment was enjoyable would definitely visit again.

This is the second time we have stayed at the RIU Vistamar and is definitely THE best hotel we have ever stayed in.

The food is amazing and is served constantly from early morning until late at night.

Drinks are available at breakfast in the restaraunt, all day from the pool bar and at night in the main entertainment room.

The hotel is on a cliff top so all rooms have an amazing sea view and don't be put off because the hotel offers a coach to Amadores beach and back at regular intervals throughout the day.

The entertainment staff were all amazing, the could all speak at least 5 languages!!!!!! and where their energy came from was beyond us.

We were shocked to see bad reviews of this hotel as it is, to say the least, fabulous.

We would definitely come here for a third time and also saty in another RIU hotel.

Having stayed in Riu hotels in Mexico and the Dominican Republic I was quite disappointed with the vistamar.

Facilities were excellent as was the food - the entertainment staff couldn't work any harder but it got a bit tiresome hearing each nights show in four languages!

The buffet was like a rat run and particularly by the pool bar the food was often cold.

Also found some of the other guests quite rude at dinner and breakfast and it all felt a bit 'dog eat dog'.