Even though Riu Palace Macao has already existed for 20+ years, it could nearly be classified as a new resort in Punta Cana, as it was completely renovated in 2023. Everything was modernized and partially also newly built, so that you can enjoy super modern rooms, a contemporary design (nothing fancy though) and updated amenities. Furthermore, it is particularly interesting as it has access to the entire Riu property in Punta Cana, which includes one of the biggest water parks in the Dominican Republic as well as the famous Riu party events. Riu Palace Macao is a particularly compact resort, which means your room is hardly more than 2 minutes away from the beautiful beach of Arena Gorda. But what can you expect at Riu Palace Macao? Is it suitable for all kinds of adults? What is the quality of the food and drinks like? Those and many more questions are answered in this extensive Riu Palace Macao review, based on the first-hand experiences we made at our recent stay.

This is an extensive review of Riu Palace Macao. If you’d like to know some general information about accommodation in Punta Cana, you can continue reading all the insider tips on how to find the best all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana and my recommendation on how to save money during an all-inclusive holiday in Punta Cana.
There is also a separate review about Riu Palace Punta Cana, Riu Palace Bavaro and Riu República here on Punta Cana Travel Blog.
If you’d like to party, definitely check out the article about the Riu Party events.
If you are interested in other adults-only resorts in Punta Cana, you can read the extensive hotel reviews of Royalton Chic Punta Cana, RIU República, Catalonia Royal Bavaro, Live Aqua Punta Cana, Melia Punta Cana Wellness Resort and Secrets Royal Beach.

Completely UPDATED by your Punta Cana expert Chris: July 2025

What’s special?

Riu doesn’t have the best reputation in the Dominican Republic, but that’s mainly because people can’t distinguish between their party resort Riu Republica and the top-tier Riu Palace Resorts. Riu Palace Macao is one of the latter ones and here is just a brief overview of what you can expect:

• Fully renovated resort with state-of-the-art amenities (the resort was completely renovated in 2023 and was closed for nearly half a year)
• Spacious and super modern rooms with private liquor dispenser (premium brands), spacious rainfall walk-in shower, super huge flatscreen TV and more
• Riu Palace Macao is now the highest-tier resort of RIU, giving you free access to the neighboring resorts, especially Riu Palace Punta Cana and Riu Palace Bavaro
• For the price you pay, you get a huge culinary selection with large buffets, fresh seafood, healthy smoothies, no-reservation à-la-carte restaurants and more
• Even though RIU is a large hotel property, Riu Palace Macao is pretty compact and the building very close to the beach, hence you hardly walk more than 2 minutes to the beach from any room
• Riu Palace Macao is rather quiet and relaxed, but you have free access to the 4x weekly parties (Riu Party), just 5 minutes walking away – the most massive resort parties in Punta Cana

The resort is a great option if you’re looking for an affordable but well-maintained mid-price adults-only resort for a great value. Have a look at our experiences I am sharing with you in this Riu Palace Macao review to learn more.

At a glance: THE BEST of Riu Palace Macao

I really encourage you to read the entire review, as I am sharing so many first-hand experiences from our stay. Nevertheless, if you don’t have time to read everything, here is a quick overview of some of the best things you shouldn’t miss at Riu Palace Macao:

Further recommendations needed? Check out the following review and/or feel free to comment below the blog post if you have any questions.

Location: where is Riu Palace Macao?

Riu Palace Macao is located in the Arena Gorda area of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, which is known for its beautiful beaches. In fact, due to the hotel being a very small resort, the main accommodation building is located super close to the beach, so close as in hardly any other all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana.

Hotel Riu Palace Macao is approx. 15 miles away from Punta Cana International Airport, which means you can reach the resort in approx. 25 minutes. You can find all the options for airport transfers in Punta Cana here.

The best option to get to Riu Palace Macao All Inclusive Adults Only if arriving for the first time at Punta Cana Airport is to prebook your transfer. While budget-conscious travelers can reserve a shared airport transfer* where you will be put together with other passengers who have the same or similar destination as you, the best price-value ratio is offered by conventional private airport transfers in Punta Cana, which brings you straight to the resort. You can check out a highly recommended airport transfer to RIU Palace Macao here*.

Riu Macao is located within the large Riu Punta Cana property, between Riu Bambu and Riu Palace Punta Cana.

When leaving Riu Palace Macao by foot, there is not much to do around which is typical for the Arena Gorda area. First, you have to walk around 800 yards from the lobby to the main entrance of the Riu Resort when you want to leave the resort individually; afterwards you have to walk another 800 yards until reaching a very small area of local shops and food stalls. However, nothing here is catering to international tourists.

Alternatively, if you’d like to venture out to explore the La Altagracia province and Punta Cana on your own, there is a public transport connection very close to the main resort entrance which brings you straight to Higuey, the capital of the province where Punta Cana is located. You can find more information about public transport in Punta Cana here.

A short explanation of Riu Resort in Punta Cana

As mentioned, Riu Palace Macao is part of the large Riu Punta Cana Resort, which consists of a total of 4 hotels:

The 3 Riu Palace hotels are the top-tier resorts of Riu in Punta Cana, while Riu Bambu is the budget and most affordable resort option of Riu.
Riu Palace Macao (2023) and Riu Palace Bavaro (2024) are completely renovated, Riu Palace Punta Cana is a little bit older.
There is another Riu resort in Punta Cana, Riu República, which is the famous party resort. This is approx. 2 miles away and not part of the Riu Punta Cana complex, but guests from Riu Republica have access to the 4 times weekly Riu parties.

The Riu complex is also part of the famous Riu party venue, the Riu Splash water world (one of the biggest water parks in Punta Cana) and Pacha, the Riu disco. You also have several shopping opportunities on the grounds, as well as many different areas to walk, stroll or enjoy nature.

Overview – a virtual walk through the resort

Riu Palace Macao is one of the most compact all-inclusive resorts in Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic. Contrary to other huge all-inclusive resorts such as Hard Rock Punta Cana, Secrets Royal Beach or Grand Bavaro Princess, where you easily walk up to 15 minutes between rooms, beach, restaurants and other amenities, Riu Palace Macao is very small and does have everything in 1-2 minutes walking distance.

When entering Riu Macao, you can directly feel that this is a particularly small all-inclusive resort, as you can see the beach and the palm trees right from the lobby. The distance between both is just a bit more than 400 feet, which means you can walk from the lobby to the beach in less than 2 minutes.

 After the extensive renovations, Riu Palace Macao welcomes visitors with a refreshed and modern, yet intimate lobby. From here, you can also directly reach the coffee shop, the main bar and the sports bar as well as plenty of outdoor seating, which is particularly famous at night when people are socializing here.

Between the lobby and the beach, you’ll find the three pools of Riu Palace Macao: the main and activity pool, a quieter pool and the social pool (with a swim-up bar).

 To the left of the pool, you’ll find the Krystal gourmet restaurant – a great place to dine outside at night with the beach right next door.

 From all those places, you have direct access to the beach, which is home to the watersports center and also connects with the other Riu properties. You can reach them easily walking along the beach. Further amenities can be reached through the neighboring resorts of Riu or the common areas, such as the water park, the Riu Party venue and the disco. All of these facilities are between 2 and 5 minutes walking away from Riu Palace Macao.

Furthermore, just 30 seconds away from the lobby, there is also the brand-new spa and gym of Riu Palace, an attractive and light-flooded building.

The beach

As you can see, the beach is never far from Riu Palace Macao, which is one of the unique points of this resort. And, it is not only your average Caribbean beach, it is a beautiful stretch that has a particular abundance of palm trees. Without an exaggeration, this part of the beach at Riu Palace Macao could be easily named a palm tree forest, as it is more than 300 feet wide.

The Riu Palace Macao beach itself is part of the Arena Gorda Beach, one of Punta Canas’ beautiful beaches. Sunloungers are available, same as some umbrellas, even though most of the shade comes from the trees.

 As everywhere at Playa Arena Gorda, the ocean is pretty calm with just some occasional waves.

 If you’d love to have long beach walks along Punta Canas’ beaches, Riu Palace is the perfect place for you, as it is located exactly in the middle of the wonderful Bavaro Beach. You can walk more than 5 miles in both directions, which makes it particularly suitable if you’d like to explore the surrounding areas along the beach.

The rooms at Riu Palace Macao

As you can see, a lot of things at Riu Palace Macao are about the beach and the proximity of everything – and that is continuing for the rooms as well. Whichever room you get at Riu Palace Macao, it won’t be further than 450 feet away from the beach (excluding stairs), that’s a maximum of 2 minutes walking.

All the rooms at Riu Palace Macao were completely renovated in 2023, they really look like new rooms now. Elegant, contemporary, spacious – you definitely get a very good standard here, considering we are speaking about a mid-price adults-only resort.

In total, Riu Palace Macao has close to 500 rooms (476 to be exact), which are classified in different categories:

• Junior Suite
• Junior Suite Deluxe
• Junior Suite Superior
• Suite
• Junior Suite Deluxe Elite Club
• Junior Suite Ocean View Elite Club
• Junior Suite Deluxe with Ocean View Elite Club Elite Club
• Junior Suite Deluxe Swim-Up Elite Club
• Junior Suite Deluxe Swim-Up with Ocean View Elite Club
• Suite Elite Club

All the rooms come with Turn-down service, a Bathroom with a shower, a Double sink, Makeup mirror, Hairdryer, 110V, Telephone, Free WiFi, Central air conditioning, Ceiling fan, Minibar, Liquor dispenser, Coffee maker, Satellite TV with content streaming, Electronic safe, Iron and ironing board and a furnished balcony or terrace.

As you can see, there are several Elite Club categories, which come with additional amenities, which are explained further below in this Riu Palace Macao review.

What I particularly love about the rooms at Riu Palace Macao are two things:

• First, you have your own liquor dispenser (with international brands) in your room, which means even if you just feel like relaxing on your balcony (or your pool if you book a swim-up suite), you always have your drink right there. This is a standard feature in all Riu Palace hotels as well as at Riu República as well.
• Second, the balcony has a separate sliding door with a mosquito net. This being said, you can leave the balcony open, but close the mosquito door and therefore can enjoy – if you want – the tropical sounds of the waving palm trees and the crushing ocean while in the room. We love this feature and always sleep with an open door at night when possible.

Also, if you look for a swim-out room in Punta Cana, Riu Palace Macao has a nice selection of rooms as well. Check out the Junior Suite Deluxe Swim-Up Elite Club and Junior Suite Deluxe Swim-Up with Ocean View Elite Club category in this case.

Room service is also included at Riu Palace Macao, but this is something you shall better disregard. There are only a few salads and sandwiches on the menu, which are not pretty attractive. The sandwiches are also available at the coffee shop, hence you’re quicker heading down there and getting a quick snack whenever you want.

Booking and Prices at Riu Palace Macao

Let’s check where you can get the best rates for Riu Palace Macao.

To make it easy for you, I have compiled an overview with different booking options. All have their own advantages, so you can check what works best for you.

(mobile users: please turn your device to landscape mode to enjoy the best view of this table)

Usually, prices at Riu Macao start at around 200 USD in the low season, which is usually during May, June, September, October and November. July, August and December are shoulder seasons and from January to April, you pay high season prices which begin at approx. 300 USD per double room per night. Considering the quality of the resort and comparing it with other Punta Cana hotels, those prices are pretty reasonable and guarantee a great price-value ratio.

Interestingly enough, Riu Palace Macao has maintained its very moderate prices throughout the last years, even though the resort is now fully renovated and has been upgraded to the highest-tier resort of all Riu Palace Resorts – a great bargain!

Last but not least it is also recommendable to check if a package booking is cheaper. Sometimes you get a better price when you book your flight and hotel together – but not always. That’s why it is important to compare the prices.

Restaurants and bars at Riu Palace Macao

Let’s get to the food section in this Riu Palace Macao review, something which is always important in my resort reviews here at Punta Cana Travel Blog – especially as it is the part where (in general, not Riu-specific) most people complain – but usually only because they don’t know where to find the hidden gems and how to avoid the subpar food.

Riu Palace Macao features the following restaurants:

• Buffet restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner with indoor and outdoor seating area
• Snack area “Pepe’s food” for lunch and afternoon
• Asian à-la-carte restaurant for dinner (indoor dining)
• Italian à-la-carte restaurant for dinner (al fresco dining)
• Gourmet/Fusion à-la-carte restaurant for dinner (al fresco beachfront dining)
• Steakhouse à-la-carte restaurant for dinner (al fresco dining)

The selection of restaurants and food outlets is not as big as at neighboring (and also fully renovated) Riu Palace Bavaro, but Riu Macao is also much smaller in terms of guests and rooms.

There is a no-reservation policy for the à-la-carte restaurants, which means you can dine as often as you want in all the restaurants. However, it is recommendable to be there before 8 pm as otherwise the waiting time might be longer.

We would rate the overall quality of those à-la-carte restaurants as very good. While the steakhouse was only mediocre, we had a very satisfying Italian dinner and a wonderful and absolutely delicious session at the Japanese restaurant. Not only had they some great sushi, but I also ate the best (raw) tuna steak I have ever had in an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana.

And yes, you can east raw fish at all-inclusive resorts in Punta Cana like Riu Palace Macao. I hope to be able to write a blog post soon about how to safely enjoy these foods, like fresh fruits, salads, raw fish and undercooked meat, etc.

If you don’t want to dine in an à-la-carte restaurant at Hotel Riu Palace Macao, you can also visit the main buffet, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a large selection of everything and the quality is exactly what you can expect from an adults-only resort in the medium price range of 200-300 USD per night per room.

When it comes to drinks, your next cocktail is never far away. Riu Palace Macao offers a lot of premium spirits, hence you have a good choice of alcohol and drinks. Smirnoff Vodka, Tanqueray Gin, José Cuervo Tequila, Cointreau and Barcelo Imperial are some of the brands you can expect. As always in Punta Canas’ resorts, let your waiter know what particular preferences you have to get the perfect drink.

Entertainment and service at Riu Palace Macao

There are a few things that make the entertainment at Riu Palace Macao very special.

In general, Riu Palace Macao is a pretty quiet and relaxed hotel. As in every resort in Punta Cana, there are activities during the day and the evening, but in general, everything is pretty chilled. This is also one reason why Riu Palace Macao is famous among best agers – which doesn’t mean that there are no young couples or guests below their 40s. You’ll find a mix of all age groups here at the hotel. Particularly the swim-up bar of Riu Macao is a perfect place if you’d like to meet new people.

 However, this doesn’t mean that you won’t have fun at Riu Palace Macao – you can have a lot of fun! First of all, you have access to the Riu Party venue, which is just 3-4 minutes walking away from Hotel Riu Palace Macao and where you can experience the greatest resort parties in the entire Punta Cana. You can find more about those unique events in my separate Riu Party review.

Second, you also have access to the Riu Splash Water World. While this might not sound that important for an adults-only resort like Hotel Riu Macao, it marks a great option for some fun with your friends, as the slides at this water park in Punta Cana are pretty steep and thrilling.

For some further fun, you can watch large flat-screen TVs with a 24h sports program and find billiards and a kicker table in the sports bar.

Riu Palace Macao also features a casino. As this is the casino for all the 6 Riu Resorts in Punta Cana, it is a bit bigger than some of the typical resort casinos in Punta Cana and also more visited, even though it can’t compete with some the biggest casinos in the area like Hard Rock Punta Cana or Avalon Casino.

The same goes for the Pacha Disco. It is the nightclub for all the Riu Hotels in this property and therefore is bigger than your standard resort disco. It is even publicly accessible. However, it doesn’t compare with the packed crowd Riu República’s disco is featuring on most nights.

Other activities and entertainment options are similar to other all-inclusive hotels in Punta Cana, such as the daytime entertainment program (incl. dance lessons and group games) and the options for sports, such as beach volleyball, tennis or non-motorized water sports. There is also a completely new gym with a wonderful light-filled ambience.

 Btw, if you’re looking for a much younger crowd than at Riu Palace Macao, you can also check out Riu República or Riu Bambu, even though the overall quality there (amenities, service, food, drinks, etc.) is not comparable to Riu Palace Macao.

Concerning the service, we were pleasantly surprised by the level of customized interaction and personal service. You can feel that this is a small all-inclusive resort, which is why the staff can take better care of you. You might be greeted with your name after a couple of days and you likely see a certain type of staff members, especially waiters, bartenders and the entertainment staff, every day, hence it is much easier to make connections.

Riu Palace Macao Elite Club

What’s completely new at Riu Palace Macao is the Elite Club, which is kind of the VIP Level of the hotel. While they’re called Preferred Club, VIP Deluxe, Premium Club, Diamond Club or Platinum Club at other resorts in Punta Cana, here it is the Elite Club.

The Elite Club at Riu Palace Macao consists of the following additional services and amenities:

• Privileged room locations with aromatherapy
• Welcome gift, separate check-in area, and Elite Club bracelet
• Late check-out until 1:00 PM; early check-in subject to availability
• Liquor dispenser in rooms with upgraded selection (Premium beverages)
• Expanded minibar selection (snacks); welcome bottle of sparkling wine
• Reserved beach area with beverage service
• Exclusive pool area with bar
• “Elite Club Lounge” with premium, exclusive drinks
• “Elite Club Restaurant”

You can enjoy all the Elite Club amenities only if you book an Elite Club room. As always, the surcharge for those rooms can vary. I took some random samples for this review on various dates and saw that the surcharge is usually between 120 and 180 USD per room, hence around 60 to 90 USD per person, which is a bit more on the pricey side.

If the price is worth it, it depends on what is important for you; it’s hard to generalize here.

The rooms are the same as the regular rooms, they just add additional amenities such as the aromatherapy, the upgraded liquor dispenser, the welcome gift or the upgraded minibar, which are nice to have, but not a must-have.

Besides the rooms, especially the separate Beach Club area with proper big beach beds, the exclusive Elite Club restaurant and the relaxed Elite Club lounge can be worth it – if you enjoy those extra perks.

Interchanging facilities between Riu Palace Macao and other Riu Resorts in Punta Cana

As mentioned Riu Palace Macao Adults Only is located within the large Riu property in Punta Cana. This comes with certain exchange privileges, which means you can (partly) visit other Riu hotels as well.

As a recap, Riu Resort Punta Cana consists of the following hotels:
– Riu Palace Punta Cana
– Riu Bambu
– Riu Palace Macao
– Riu Palace Bavaro

Riu República is NOT part of the Riu Resort, it is approximately 2 miles away.

As a guest of Riu Palace Macao, you can use all the common areas (pool, theatre, beach, etc.) as well as have lunch, snacks and drinks in all the other Riu hotels within Riu Resort (hence all of the above-mentioned except Riu República). However, breakfast and dinner are only allowed at Riu Palace Macao.

Furthermore, it is important to know that you have access to some of the amenities at Riu Resort which are shared among all Riu hotels, such as
– the Riu Splash Water World (water park with slides)
– the disco “Pacha”
– the Riu Party venue
– the Caribbean street with shops and stores

Excursions from Riu Palace Macao

When visiting Riu Palace Macao in Punta Cana, you should also not forget to venture out of your resort to explore a bit more of the Dominican Republic. Some of the best tours from Riu Palace Macao are the following:

– an excursion to Saona Island (book here*), which is one of the must-do excursions in Punta Cana. You see scenery like paradise and will experience some of the most beautiful beaches in the Dominican Republic. If you want to experience Isla Saona with less tourists, make sure to choose an excursion that includes Mano Juan.

– a tour to Los Haitises National Park (book here*), one of the most beautiful national parks in the Dominican Republic with a huge biodiversity. Los Haitises National Park is a perfect destination for nature lovers.

– a tour to Santo Domingo (book here*), which is particularly interesting if you’d like to know more about the history or the culture of the Dominican Republic. Santo Domingo feels (and is) like the melting pot of the country.

The Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo

– visiting Montaña Redonda (book here*), one of the off-the-beaten-track excursions in Punta Cana, where you visit a unique mountain with great views and unique photo opportunities thanks to the giant swings on the edge of the hill. Particularly when admiring the 360° panorama view, you know why it is called Montaña Redonda.

Montaña Redonda

Alternatively, if you feel more adventurous and want to explore Punta Cana on your own, you can rent a car in Punta Cana and head on some DIY adventures, such as the highest waterfall in the Dominican Republic, Salto de la Jalda, the beautiful fishing village Boca de Yuma or head to some of the pristine beaches in the north of Punta Cana, such as Playa Esmeralda or Playa La Vacama.

As you can see, Riu Palace Macao’s excursions cater to every desire. However, there is much more to explore from this popular adults-only resort in the Dominican Republic. The following table shows you some of the best-rated excursions according to more than 10000 travelers.

Summary: for whom it is the perfect resort – and when you should NOT go …

Riu Palace Macao is an underrated resort that is perfect for an affordable yet premium vacation in an adults-only resort in Punta Cana.

Riu Palace Macao is a great choice if

• You want to combine an affordable all-inclusive resort with an adults-only experience
• Enjoy quality food without expecting high-end cuisine
• Are fine with a mixed, slightly older crowd
• Love to have a room super close to the beach without paying extra for an oceanfront room
• You want to have all the amenities within 1-2 minutes of walking distance
• Still want to enjoy the amenities of a full service resort with gym, waterpark, disco, spa, shops and more

You should not choose Riu Palace Macao, if

In general, Riu Palace Macao is a great choice if you want to be sure to receive a great price-value ratio and if you value a compact all-inclusive resort, where you quickly get familiar with everyone and everything. However, this doesn’t mean you have to refrain from any services as you find all the amenities such as the Punta Cana water park, a gym, the Riu Party venue or the disco within the limits of the Riu Punta Cana Resort

SHARING IS CARING! IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE, PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS – I WOULD APPRECIATE IT A LOT.

CHRIS

Author, Travel Coach & Industry Professional (Bachelor’s degree in tourism)

Hey, I am Chris, a born and raised German, travel-addictive and Caribbean soul, who has been living in the Dominican Republic for 6 years. I’d love to be your Punta Cana expert, as I have stayed at more than 45 all-inclusive resorts in Punta Cana and the country, visited more than 70 beaches, explored more than 40 waterfalls and have seen basically all the attractions Punta Cana has to offer. I have also studied tourism for 3 years and worked in the tourism industry my entire life, which is why I am not only giving you recommendations and tips as a traveler but also the best secrets and travel hacks as an industry professional.
Do you need more information? Read more at my About Me Page, send me a travel coaching request or Contact Me here.

Източник за тази статия

Наши спонсори са:

Български трактори на добри цени при изключително качество