Having read several reviews about this hotel I was a bit doubtful as what to expect.

This hotel is rated 5 star in the Riu magazine and 4 star plus with Thomas Cook, we always stay in Riu hotels and can honestly say this is neither I would rate it 3star plus at best.

Having said that the hotel staff were welcoming and friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them.

Be very careful if you need to go to reception and it has been raining or you have wet feet. seen several people slip and one or two really hurt.

The pool area is small and the pool is not very clean, I would certainly not swim in it. We were lucky we were based ont he beach, which was not white sand but was a really good beach, the water was lovely, it is rocky and there is seaweed but if you invest in a pair of swimshoes which cost approx (£12 in the hotel shop) it is great.

The rooms are clean and offer adequate accommodation, we did have coachroaches once ( we reported it to reception we were offered a swap as our location was so good we didn't want to move, the room was fumigated within an hour and we had no more trouble). The food is a bit boring same for lunch everyday breakfast was about the best meal, evening meal seemed to rotate every 3-4 days.

The steak house is highly recommended and worth the trouble of having to book before 9,00am.

We did a couple of trips the Oceanworld trip was fantastic swam with dolphins and sharks hightly recommend.

We did the Tip Top day tour would suggest if you want to do Cable Car you hire taxi from reception they will wait for up to 3 hours and go direct yourself. We only had 1/2 hour on mountain and needed at least another hour to see everything.

Did not appreciate tour of rum factory at 8.00 am would have preferred to do this last on tour not first.

The beach visit was awful you have to go through the flea market to get to beach and you are constantly annoyed by vendors trying to sell you things.

Mega Truck tour was great, you get to see some of Dom Rep also see how real people live. Would suggest if you plan to go and see school you take crayons, paper and pens not sweets as these children receive a lot o candy and denistry is not available to them.

Overall enjoyed our holiday would visit Dom Rep again but not this hotel.

Stayed at Riu Merengue 31st Aug to 14th Sept with my parents, my partner and my sister and her partner We were moved to this hotel 5 days before we were due to travel by our travel agent and reading the reviews for this hotel i was very nervous. Reports of food poisoning, ear infections, lots of bad reviews. BUT all i can say is this place was amazing! We were greated at reception with a cold glass of juice, reception guy was very welcolming and informative. We were taken and shown to our rooms, all 6 of us were put together, our cases were brought along about 10 mins later. The rooms are really clean and do not need updating! I don't know what people expect. They were bright and colourful and our air con and ceiling fan worked without a problem. Although my parents did come home one night and found their air condioning had been leaking and there was water all over the floor. They contacted reception and the maintenance man was there within 5 minutes, fixed the problem and the maid then came along 5 minutes later, cleared up all the water and it was all back to normal, not a problem. Mosquito nets across the doors and beautiful views of the gardens.
Reception called all our rooms to make sure everything was ok and to make sure we were happy. We were more than happy.
Food - Lovely, it is the same every week so if you are there for 2 weeks, you'll know what you're getting the next week! Breakfast is fantastic, freshly made omlettes with various different ingredients, pancakes and maple syrup, dinner is lovely to. I fell in love with the omlettes, their jam, the pancakes, the soups, desserts are fantastic, other desserts i've had abroad have been dry, not tasting great but these.....try the carrot cake! The staff in the restaurant great you with a smile in the morning and are still there to serve you with a smile for dinner.
The al a cartes are a bit of a pain to book as it is first come first serve and you have to be there at 9.00 am to book. But when you do get in it's very nice. Mexican night is once a week, this is lovely. Try the sauteed chicken in fajitas. Yummy!

All staff work extremely hard and deserve every tip they get. The maids are always outside the toilets and entrance to the restaurant to give you antibacterial handwash and they make great little things with towels in the toilets. They also make them in your rooms, not everyday but they will always put little fresh flowers on them. Our maid even found the time to say goodbye to us as we were leaving which we all thought was so sweet. The barstaff are such a laugh, they will have a drink on the bar before you have finished the last one and sometimes you won't even notice them do it! The pool area is fairly small but the great thing with Riu hotels is that you can use the other hotels facilities, we spent most of our pool time at the Bacharta, not a problem getting sunbeds, we got there at midday one day and still managed to get 6 altogether in the shade. We ate in their snack bar mostly in the afternoon and went for lunch in merengue once. One thing, if you eat lunch in the restaurant aswell as dinner then it can become the same. I suggest to keep mainly to snacks during the day, there is plenty of variety, burgers, pizza, chips, toasties, then rice, meat, pasta... The barmen in the poolbar at the barcharta were funny to, always had a drink waiting before you could finish your next one, this is good as it's so hot your drinks go warm very quickly. One time we actually had to quickly drink up and dive away from the bar before he noticed there was no beer left in our cups!
There is always cocktails ready made, like slush puppies with alchohol. They are lovely, try the miami vice, this was my favorite. Pina Colada topped with Strawberry Daiquiri.
The barman will make you up cocktails and my dad did try some of the 'specials' which were quite tasty.

TRIPS - We did Mega trucks, fantastic, what a great way to see some of the countryside among other things such as a 2 and a half tonne bull and how the poor actually live. The children love to get sweets and pencils and things from you so if you're planning to do this, take a few things with you. My partner took some old caps as they love them. We also went horse riding and got to lounge on a beach in hammocks.
Top view, also fantastic - rode a cable car to the top of mount Isabelle, what amazing views!! Went to the amber museum. Great day all round.
Oceanworld - AMAZING, 4 of us went here and loved it, 2 done a dolphin encounter and 2 done a dolphin swim. Certainly worth the money which isn't a lot to ask for when you see this place, the dolphins are beautiful and very well looked after as all the animals there. They are so close to their trainers it's facinating to watch. A brilliant day out!!
I could go on about these trips but you'll have to see for yourself

All in all the hotel is absolutely brilliant, nothing dissapointed any of us, actually my partner and i have been on holiday quite a bit and both of us can honestly say this is the best holiday we have ever had!
You'll have a fantastic time if you go to this place. We will certainly be going back.

Got back last week from Riu merengue with my boyfriend and it was really nice holiday. Unfortunatly we had a few days of rain from the hurricanes so i wouldn't risk going there in the hurricane season again but i think we were just unluckly. The hotel itself is lovely and there is absolutley loads to do. There are 3 big hotels together and you can use the facilities in all of them. The beach is nice, the sea is quite rocky, like a coral reef so i'd take some sea or jelly shoes cos its quite sharp. You can go snorkelling, canoeing and on a pedallo for free and you can pay to go deep sea diving and snorkelling and jetskiing. Also there are plenty of sunbeds and you don't have to reserve them with your towel. The bar staff also bring you drinks on the beach @ least once a day! Be careful if you go down the plaza at the end of the beach. They are liitle gift shops where you can buy jewellry, cigars etc but the dominicans blag you like mad!! its does my head in and don't accept the price they give you its ridiculous! Make sure you haggle! They can be quite intimidating so i let by boyf do the haggling. They mean well they just want your money i guess!! I didn't really like the pool area very loud with the animation team and the pool got quite grubby! The pools in the other hotels looked better. There are loads of trips to do, we did ocean world and that was fab a complete must do. We paid $200 each and got to swim with dolphins and sea lions, snorkel in a reef and see all the shows it is well worth the money!! Unfortunatley when it rained there was absloutely nothing to do but play cards but the animation team are fab and will keep you entertained all day and night (if you like that sort of thing, i don't too much). We stayed in Caberete 2 years ago @ viva tangerine but Riu is a much better class hotel and better people working there. They are so helpful, freindly and hardworking. They don't expect tips but are very poor so its nice to give something. A couple of $s go a long way. When you get to the airport the porters grab your suitcases and they do expect a tip! just give them a few dollars! The food was good, although i am quite fussy so didn't try the a la carte restaurants cus i didn't like anything on the menu!! So if you are fussy meals can get bit repetitive but the soup is gorgeous. I preferred to eat in the main buffet res during the day rather than the snack bar. The waiters are fab and work really hard. The entertainment at night was what you would expect very cheesy, some good shows some better than others but the bar staff will keep you entertained and hydrated. Very strong drinks! Throughout the day and night you can take part in loadsa games and activities and so can kids aswell. The Carribean street is good with shops gym and casino. They sell the same stuff as the plaza and you have to haggle here as well but they let you browse a little more. Overall the holiday was lovely and good value for money. Unless it rains when your there (hope nt) you will have loads to do and have a great time. We booked with Thomson and had a rep at our hotel she was nice and always on site to see if you needed her. Enjoy xxxx If you want to know anything else email me xxx

My partner and i stayed here from 24/08/08 to 02/09/08. We booked through Portland Direct, part of Thomson and got an excellent price for a sea view suite (£1600). Flight was ok, plenty of leg room. A few weeks before we were due to arrive i emailed the Riu Merengue asking for some special towel art (see photos) for when we arrived, i was'nt to sure what we would get if anything at all but WOW!, on entering our suite there were balloons all up the steps and the most beautiful towel art, fruit platter and extra rum! They really did an excellent job!! Just to see the smile on my fiances face was enough for me. The room was fantastic, 5yds from the beach with stunning views. No problem with the air con in the room at all. We spent most of our time on the beach which was nice and peaceful. The sea warm but not very clear and very rocky but better outside the Mambo, loads of sunbeds. We didn't use the pool as it was very crowed and not very clean. Went to the Bachata pool once with the swim up bar but again very crowded and noisy. The staff were amazing, allways ready to refill your drinks with a smile. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was ok, nothing to shout about, very very hot in the evenings, too hot to eat really. ate at the steakhouse, service great, food average but could'nt finish meal as really hot as no air con also same at all other restaurants, biggest minus for us on the holiday and the only reason this hotel did'nt score a five with us........

We went on the VIP yacht paradise island trip, turned out to be the best day of our lives, what a trip. fantastic yacht, oysters and champagne, jumped in the sea and had drinks brought to us on a floating bar, the sea was so clear and warm. Then got on speed boat to have lunch at a beach restaurant, drank lots of coco loco (a fresh coconut filled with its own milk and rum..... YUM!!!) food there was good. Went on banana boat, good fun. Back onto speedboat to paradise island, yes ok its a sand bank but its beautiful soft white sand, shallow warm turquoise sea, stunning. Had more rum and coke then went snorkelling by the most beautiful reef, abundance of fish which fed from our hands. views under the sea were amazing of the coral and the depths just offshore. From paradise island got back in speed boat onto a hair raising trip through the mangroves!! was fantastic. And If thats not all we then stopped at a small cigar making factory on the way back and tried a cigar, very nice.... highly recommended.

Was bitten quite alot, had allergic reaction to the mozzie bites, also ear infection due to flight, saw doctor who was amazing and really helpful, she was better than some british doctors i could mention!!

Our rep, Fiona, was excellent, allways helpful and happy.

To sum it up this was'nt our ideal holiday as it was too noisy but great value for money and the staff made us feel very welcome. If you are looking for a quiet, white sandy beach this is'nt the place to go but we enjoyed our holiday very much despite this.