Firstly, I know it's a late review but I felt this hotel deserved a mention for the first rate service it provides.

My girlfriend and I booked to stay at the Riu Mambo for our first holiday together and I can honestly say we were not dissapointed with our choice.

The staff were extremely friendly and nothing ever seemed like it was a problem for them. Every single member of the team had a constant smile and always happy to greet you with a friendly hola!

The resort was kept spotlessly clean and people were working round the clock to tidy the palm trees, rake the beach etc. A special mention to Marisol, our maid who worked tirelessly to keep our room immaculate, despite our attempts to the contrary! Little touches from her really made the stay, including the towel animals left in the room and even a birthday card for my girlfriend left in the room on the day!

This was the first all-inclusive holiday we have ever been on, but based on this experience we're definitely looking at another. My biggest apprehension was the fact you will be mainly confined to the hotel grounds for the duration of your stay but with two sister hotels in the same complex there's a fair amount of choice to keep your days varied along with a wide selection of excursions to choose from to keep you entertained.

There was always a good selection of food on offer at the dining hall buffet, varied daily to make sure it doesn't get repetitive. I especially enjoyed the saltfish dishes despite not being a big seafood fan.

The drinks were also great with a wide selection of spirits available along with daily speciality cocktails, usually made with fresh fruit juices. The only slight downside was the lack of branded drinks but to be fair this is supposedly pretty much standard at all-inclusive resorts.

My only gripe of the whole holiday was the legroom on the flight being a little on the stingy side. But to be fair it was 'recommended' by the travel agent to upgrade to the luxury seats with more legroom due to me being 6ft 3in!

All-in-all, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this resort to anyone who will listen and will definitely be looking to book again next year. Fantastic value for money.

Travelled with two adults and three teenagers and cannot fault the hotel in any way. The sheer number of staff attending to cleaning, feeding and entertaining was impressive and all were helpful and cheerful. Only one jippy tummy amongst the five of us and that was only a 24 hour bug, so our biggest worry was unfounded. The hotel takes hygene very seriously.

Food is plentyful and of good quality with a very wide and varied choice at every meal.

Annimation team are relentless in the pursuit of having happy guests but will not pester you if wish to take a more relaxed approach to your stay. How they remain so cheerful and enthusiastic for their 12 hour shifts is amazing.

Slight accomodation problem on arrival which was immediately rectified with a change of rooms. There will always be the odd problem with such hotels, you just have to accept it, however it is how they are dealt with that is important and I cannot fault the Mambo on that front.

For the money we paid I went with an open mind as to the quality of the package being offered. I have to say my expectations were greatly exceeded and have no complaints whatsoever. The flight is a bit of a drag but well worth it to escape the alternative of two weeks in the med with a straw donkey, and probably cheaper too!

Let me preface this review with the fact that I spent 22 years as the general manager of a large hotel chain in the United States...therefore I think sometimes I am a little more picky. I read these reviews before traveling anywhere so will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly in my own opinion. I will notate right off of the bat that if you are American you are the minority at this resort. I think some of our fellow countryman have behaved badly and therefore sometimes we are looked down upon. Saying that here is what we found...
The check process- the staff took all measures to accomodate our requests that we sent prior to arrival. They placed us in a room near the pool and replaced our gin with whiskey..
Rooms-very dated, however pretty clean in my high standards. Our maid was fantastic! Traveling there again though, I would bring mattress pads for the beds. Woke up in the morning with the sheets off (flat sheets) sleeping on a rather dated mattress...yuk!
The staff-all in all they were wonderful! We made some friends of the staff. I would say they are the reason this hotel is so crowded.
The pool-very nice, gets crowded but there is always some activity going on..bingo, horse races, volleyball, spanish lessons, water aerobics, etc.
The food-pretty much gross in my opinion.. The steakhouse was ok, and a nice change, but they cater more to the european crowds (which I guess makes sense considering the mix there) I found much of the meat to be subpar. In addition the dining hall is not air conditioned and it is quite stiffeling in there. You will be hot!!
Alcohol-sweet and pretty awful....stick with the beer
Beach-beautiful, clean and seemed safe. Free water sports such as paddle boats, windsurfing, canoes...that was really nice.
For you foodies out there let me give you a run down on food items you can expect...the cold station rarely changes. There is lettuce, tomatoe, cucumber and few funky salads. Bread is great! There is a soup everyday. On the hot buffet this is what we found......eggs, bacon, funny sausage, funny ham, donuts, potatoes for breakfast. Lunch and dinner saw grouper, carrots, creamed spinach, boiled potatoes, fried cheese, fried zuchinni, pork chops, whole chicken cut up, paella, mussels one night, beef tips, spaghetti, mac and cheese, beans, pork pieces, some dominican specialties like goat, etc, one night was mexican with chicken, beans and salsa...... sounds ok, but some was pretty tough. The pool bar serves pasta hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries and pizza daily.
All in all we would return. It appeared to be a great bargain to take a family. They had numerous activities for little kids to keep them busy through the day. The shopping on carribean street was way overpriced. Shantytown was scary, stay away. I was almost bit by a HUGE brown recluse spider looking through some things. Make sure you take plenty of sunscreen and some kind of a water/beach shoe. It would nice to bring a towel to save a chair with too...I was afraid someone would steal our hotel towel, as they are $20 us each to replace. The nightly shows were funny only b/c they were sooo bad! But hey, what do you want? We tipped frequently, but did not see too many people doing the same. You should they seemed to work 12 hours days and still seem nice. If you have a RIU card use it for massages as you get a discount. It is a good place if you are just interested in chilling at the beach or pool for a few days. It seems to be a real bargain...

We spent two weeks here on honeymoon. always looking for a freebie, i emailed the hotel before we flew out, explaining that it was our honeymoon, and could we get any free stuff ( i worded it better than that ! ) They never got back to me, but when we arrived we found out that we had been upgraded to a suite free of charge !!
the staff were great and couldn't do enough for you. the food is buffet style and served pretty much all day long. After a few weeks, there is not much choice left, but apart from that it was really nice. ( the steak was always very, very cooked which i think was a health safety thing. bit my wife is a veggie, and she was always fine, if a bit limited in choice ( pizza or fish mainly ) .
The beaches are fantastic. pure clean sea, lots of fish to see snorkeling, lots of activity . I was amazed at how hard the animations (entertainment) team work all day, every day, then all night in the club.
the in resort activities are great, and the excursions are amazing ! we swam with dolphins ( who's breath smelt of fish ! ) went horseback riding, visited little desert islands and went on a catamaran, all booked within the complex.
The cleanliness of the resort was very good. At least two maids visited the room every day, and at every entrance to food areas, staff insisted that all visitors used alcohol hand gel. (about two weeks after we got back, there was a report in the news about a food poisoning outbreak at a resort down the road from where we were, but we did not hear any guests at our resort complain of any illness )
overall . fantastic place, i really want to go back