We stayed at the RPLA for 4 nigths at the end of April and absolutely loved it! This was our third trip to the Yucatan and all in our party agreed it was the best resort of the bunch. We even liked it better than the 5 Star we stayed at in Cozumel last year.
We are in our mid-thirties married and way over the party scene and more into relaxation and tranquility.

The review process is funny to us because some people will never be happy and can find the smallest detail and rail about it and let it ruin their trip. I read a few of these reviews prior to our trip and gave them little regard. Of course it is a subjective process so here is my take without being redundant:

The property is gorgeous with marble everywhere, extremely clean and obviously well managed etc...

The food at the buffet was very good and the variety was tremendous. Sit outside, have a glass of wine and enjoy the Carribbean breeze.

We snorkeled right off the beach and honestly found it as good as the $65 snorkel boat trip we took last year at Cozumel.

We will definately go back to this resort.

Pros:
Hotel looks great. Clean and well maintained. The inside bar (didn't use the others) is staffed by friendly and efficient bartenders and wait staff. The grounds and pool area are also clean and well maintained.

Our room was on the first floor but was still high enough to have a good view from our balcony. The bar in the room was well stocked. The stocker gave us anything extra for which we asked. The air conditioning worked very well. The electricy in the area went out several times on one of our days but by nightfall everything was humming along. We wouldn't have wanted to try to sleep without the air conditioning.

We emailed ahead of our visit requesting mattress pads and our bed was so equiped. We emailed ahead based on reviews we saw here mentioning hard beds.

There was plenty of food and the serving times fit our schedule, such as it is.

Cons:
Both of us take showers. The bottom of the bathtub is very slick when you shower. We asked for and received a rubber bathmat but not until my wife had slipped and bruised her leg. Thankfully the hand rail stopped her from having a more serious injury.

We had to ask for wash clothes nearly every day.

The food, while plentifull, wasn't very good.

We went as a group of 3 couples, in our mid-thirties. We've been to a few AI's and this was among the best, overall.

Bad Stuff: Food was good, in fact the Steak House and the Japanese restaurant were excellent. But, while we were eating at the Japanses restaurant, two members of our party had to leave the table, with food poisoning. A third had stomach pains later in the evening. The other three had no issues.

The pool had "stuff" floating in it during the six days we were there. Now, this is a minor complaint as the water in the pools nextdoor at the Riu Cancun, were cloudy and green. We were a little disgusted...but not enough to stay away from the Riu Cancun's swim up bar pool - which was a lot of fun. The RPLA's two pools were OK, but they aren't especially big and when the pool with the swim up bar is hosting water volley ball, it makes hanging out there a little annoying.

We had rolling blackouts one night, which lasted about an hour. Not really a big deal.
The elevator smelled really bad one day and the pool's swim up bar must be next to the Riu Cancun's food service exhaust fans, as it smelled pretty bad at times too.

Seat saving. I don't have a problem with people saving seats for their friends who actually intend on sitting near the pool or saving the place during lunch. But when you reserve an entire row of seats with sun tan lotion bottles at the crack of dawn and no one ever seems to use the seats all day, you need to get smacked.

Good Stuff: Best service I've had an any AI. Staff was friendly and fast. We tipped on occasion, but tipping or the lack thereof didn't seem to effect our service.

Again, the food was really good. I think the Buffet at the Iberostar in Playa Del Carmen was better, but not by a whole lot. Italian restaurant for luch was also great.

Great location. If you want to shop, there are malls and markets in walking distance. If you want to hit some bars/night clubs, some of the best are also a short walk.

The atmosphere was fun, but it never seemed overly crowded. The Riu Cancun seemed a little too crowded to me.

That's it. I'd recommend it to others. It was a good time and based on the amount I ate and drank, it was well worth the money.

We just came back from a 6 day, 6 night vacation at the Riu Palace Las Americas (RPLA). It was our best family vacation so far. I traveled with my husband and 4.5 month old son.

Location/Atmosphere: This is definetely the place to be for a relaxing vacation. It's not party central, but not boring either. The beach alone is enough... I'll get to that. The hotel itself is amazing; the architecture is incredible. There is marble/granite everywhere: lobby, guest rooms, bathrooms, restuarants, etc. The RPLA is located right in the center of the hotel zone, about 15 min from the airport. We went for a walk a couple days and it was just minutes away from a mall (right across the street, actually), a flea market (remember to haggle...), Starbucks, and tons of other hotels. We stopped into the Riu Cancun resort next door and it was definetly a big different: much louder, a lot more smoking, less classy, much younger croud.

Rooms: All the rooms are gorgeous. We asked at the front desk and they upgraded us to a waterfront room (almost all the rooms are waterfront anyways). There is a seperate living area removed by a couple steps. The beds were actually incredibly comfortable. They were a little harder than here, but the extra support was very nice.

Beach/Pool: One word: Gorgeous. The water is crystal clear and the sand is soft and white. You have to see it to believe it. It looks just like it does in the pictures.

Food: The food was amazing. Almost everything we tried was excellent. For an all inclusive in Mexico, this place has way above average food. We tried all the restaurants except the Japanese. We greatly enjoyed every one, expect the Krystal (Sir Arthur) restuarant (gormet, French). The food quality was excellent, but it just wasn't our thing. A lot of people didn't know that you could do the buffet or the Los Arcos for lunch (no reservations required).

Overall, it was an excellent vacation and an excellent place to stay.