Returned last week from 10 days at the Merengue. Flew with TC upgraded the flight and glad we did. Look elsewhere on the web for flight review.
The hotel is spotless, the cleanser spray after using the toilet and before entering the food areas show how seriously Riu take health problems.

The room was ok, nothing special but everything you need was provided. The blocks of rooms are quite close together, whilst you cannot hear the conversations of your neighbours, you can have a chat across the balconies if you wish. If you need more drinks in your room fridge, you need to ring reception before 6pm as the drinks man finishes work then. We did and from then on our fridge was always fully stocked with what we wanted.

I emailed the hotel before we left, as recommended on this site, however I did not know what to ask for, so my recommendations are: if you want a busy holiday doing a lot of activities, ask for a room by the pool; if you want a quiet holiday reading, talking, sleeping in the sun, ask for a room by the beach; and if you want to get away from it all, ask for a room at the back of the resort.

As mentioned previously, the pool gets very busy early, the pool is also where all the activities take place, and were you will be hassled to play volleyball, waterpolo, dancing, etc. On the beach you are left alone. We found the beach best in the area between the hotels. That way we could not hear the loud music and microphone announcements from either hotel. But we just wanted to read,sleep and tan!

You cannot go hungry, and those who complain about the food must be very picky. The buffet is similar each night, but slightly different. We certainly found enough choice, and if all else fails, there is always pizza and pasta! It is great to be able to have ice in drinks and not worry about salads as the hotel only uses bottled water in food prep. We did not eat in the other restaurants as our waiter looked after us, although we did tip him early on, then again at the end. The drinks may be weaker than we are used to in the UK, but in the heat they were cold and refeshing, just what we needed.

All in all, an excellent value for money holiday and excellent resort. All the staff are incredibly friendly and willing to do anything to assist.

Me + my partner arrived at the hotel on 18th April and stayed for 15 days until sunday 4th may 08. Once checked in we were given a map showing us where our room was, we were on the top floor just next to the tennis courts, The room was great, bigger than i was expecting and extremely clean, u could smell the disinfectant. Our maid cleaned the room brialliantly every day and left a different towel art also.
The animation team were brilliant, they always try to get u involved but if you tell them no they will leave you alone till later, they all try very hard and work from morning till night, they were gr8, especially Mickey Mouse And Bl--ky.
The food - What can i say the buffet was fantastic from morning till night a great choice for everyone the puddings were also great, We never bothered with the speciality restaurants as we found the main buffet to be great and had a few different items each night aswell as the usual, Our waiter Javier was great we tipped him a couple of dollers the 1st two nights then on the 3rd day our table was saved and had flowers and a candle on it, he was great even had our favourite drinks on the table within seconds of us sitting, of course we tipped him each night till the end. The bar staff were also great, a few better than others and they remember u two, Raimon was funny. The beach and pool were great, No problems getting any chairs at all, although yes their is reserving going on but not major. Yes the beach is a lil rocky when u walk out but is lovely to swim with the fish, Take some bread and a snorkel, It's like being in ur owm fish tank, Any questions feel free to ask

Thankfully Continental now flies direct from Newark to Puerto Plata. That keeps the flight costs down.

I stayed at the Merengue over Easter. It was a great trip. The service was incredible, the shows were okay, but I had a lot of fun on a beautiful beach. The only issue with the beach was the surf was closed for several days upon first arriving due to a storm prior to my arrival. Then on Easter, when the surf calmed down, we couldn't take any of the watercraft out onto the ocean due to the DR Navy shutting down coastal vestals in recognition of the holiday.

Nonetheless, the beach was very well manicured, the staff was very friendly. The bungalow style rooms were small, but nice. The complimentary wet bar/drinks in the room were great. We were lucky to have a room close to all the action, some of the other rooms were quite far away from the pool/beach.

The shows were okay, about what I've come to expect, but they made it fun.

One excursion that can't be missed is Ocean World. It is a little pricey, but swimming with the dolphins, the dolphin show, and the sea lion show are something that should not be missed. Ocean World truly made the vacation nearly excellent on its own. Don't miss it.

One great part of the Riu experience is that you can use the amenities at the other two hotels as well. I took advantage of this, to keep it fresh by trying the different pools, restaraunts, and bars. I recommend you do the same.

I stayed at the Rui Merengue 4/30- 5/7. The food was excellent definitely no complaints about that. Rooms were decent but I dont know if I would rate it a 4 star. I think Rui Bachata is more modern and the rooms are nicer. Also they are the only hotel on the complex that has a swim up bar. Next time I will stay at bachata. The only complaint I really had was the massage at Renova Spa was absolutely horrible. I would save your money b/c those therapists were not professional at all and talked through the whole massage and basically just slapped lotion on. Your best bet would be to get a massage from the woman in the hut at maimon bay. $15 for 30 min and $30 for 1hr