We returned June 14th from this hotel Our family of 4 (two daughters 17 and 19) had a great time. The reort grounds were better than I expected, the staff was great, the food was real good. We did not eat at the "specialty restuarants" as we preferredt he buffet selections. The beach was real nice....good for a long walk, plenty of chairs and shade! The beach bar only serves beer an non-alcohol frozen drinks and is in front of the Mambo hotel. The full bar is not to far to go for some Brugal rum! We tipped the wait staff and room staff pretty good and they certainly appreciate it. We did one snorkel excursion for a morning, but to tell you the truth, the snorkeling was better just off the beach in front of the Scuba Caribe hut. I snorkeled every day. Reserve a kayak or paddle boat ahead of time, or if you see them sitting there after the half hour, they will let you take thenm out as you bring it back for the next reservation on the hour. I loved the fact that there were many Eurpeans there. They stay for 3 weeks ! You guys are lucky!! We met people from France, Belgium, Holland Great Britain and Germany. Invite some strangers to join you for a drink or coffee and get to know someone new...it was great to do! The Animation staff was great for the girls. They danced with them alot and got us involved in many activities. The shows were fun...Cruise ship entertainement style. We felt safe all the time and my girls had their own room in another building...All in all , I loved the place was really surprised with how nice it was and would go back anytime and recommend it to anyone. A great deal for the price!!

We stayed at the Hotel Riu Mambo from 15th June – 29th June 2008.

It was the best holiday I have had yet by far. Everything about it was perfect (Apart from having to come back home!!!!)

HOTEL
The hotel is definitely worth it’s 4* in my opinion probably more. Out of the 3 Riu hotels there my favorite one was definitely the Mambo, I found it smaller and more personal than the Murengue or Bachata, which are bigger.

I had emailed the hotel a week before we went over to request a top floor room as close to the beach as possible. When we arrived on the late afternoon of the 15th we found we were in the front building right next to the beach but on the ground floor. I went to reception to see if they could change it to the top floor, by 2pm the next day we were in a top floor room in the same building – top class service as was the service all over the hotel..

Also it was my big 40 while we were there, firstly when we first arrived into our room there was a little gift bag with a birthday card and some gifts from the hotel for me which I thought was very thoughtful. Also on my actual birthday they decorated our room with balloons and sent a huge plate of tropical fruit to the room and when we had dinner in the evening the waiters and the head waiter (Freddie) came out to the decorated table singing “Happy Birthday” and presented me with a cake.

We spent most of our time when not out on excursions on the beach but the pool was very nice, though I did like the pool at the Bachata as they had a pool bar where you could sit at the bar in the pool!

Some of the times they had people with stalls set up in the hotel selling souvenirs. Though this is a good idea, I have a feeling that some of their stuff, mainly the Amber and Larimar could be fakes as they are “Cheap”!! My suggestion for Amber, Larimar and Brugal rum is that you do the Puerto Plata City Tour and Cable car trip, there you will visit the Brugal rum factory, the Amber factory and Larimar factory where you can then buy these products knowing they are the real thing as they will tell you how to spot fake merchandise, for example with Amber, if you get a bowl of sea (Salty) water true Amber will float and fake Amber will sink! Buying your rum to bring back with you the cheapest place is the Brugal rum factory where you would be looking at between $7 - $10 a bottle compared to double this amount at the duty free at the airport!! There is a Brugal rum called “151”, this is very potent at 75% proof!! And as such you are NOT allowed to bring this back on your flight as it is highly flammable. Cigarettes (Marlboro) are cheapest at the airport duty free though at $24 per 200 where as at the hotel and around Puerto Plata they range from $28 - $35 per 200. You will also have the opportunity to be photographed with either Macaw (type of parrot), Iguana and monkey.

FOOD & DRINK
The food was brilliant with a good selection. Each hotel (Mambo, Murengue and Bachata) has 2 a la carte restaurants and buffet for the evenings and 2 buffets for breakfast and lunch. The only thing I was a little disappointed about was that they did not have a big selection of seafood, like Lobster, Prawns, Oysters, etc. They had a little bit of fish and octopus. We ate like kings while there and had no problems stomach wise at all other than just getting used to it. Every thing was clean at all times and there were ladies giving hand wash when ever you entered any of the dining areas and also when you exit the toilets. Hygiene is a priority there, which I have not come across anywhere else so far.

They have a wide selection of cocktails, which are generally fairly weak, but if you were to ask they would make them strong. This applies to all their drinks though if you have say a Cuba Libra (Rum & Coke/Pepsi) it will be moderately strong! When you are out on excursions though they make them VERY strong, one of the lunches we had I asked for a Cuba Libra and the put ¾ rum and ¼ Pepsi, which nearly blew my head off!!!!!!

STAFF
All the staff at the Riu Mambo were absolutely fantastic. They work so hard to ensure that you have a perfect holiday and a lot of them work long hours yet have a big smile and cheery.

The Maid that serviced our room was brilliant and left a different towel art each day and if we left any clothes on the bed would create “art” with them as well. The room was always spotless and our drinks were replaced every other day or sooner if we requested.

The Entertainment team (Animacion) were the best, I cannot praise them enough – they worked very long days, starting at around 8 – 9am and would not finish until midnight! (Obviously with some breaks through out the day). They were so energetic, friendly and smiley the whole time despite the heat. It is really hard working in the heat, even for a normal day (I know as I come from Kenya which is very similar to DR weather wise) but to do a 16 hour day and still have the energy and cheerfulness that they do is amazing. The evening shows they do are awesome, yes they do mime a lot but very well and you are definitely kept entertained.

The Caribbean Street party is well worth attending and a lot of fun. They also arrange beach bonfire parties as well which is also a lot of fun.

EXCURSIONS
I would definitely highly recommend Isaira Tours (www.isairatours.com). We booked 4 excursions through them. They came on the 2nd day we were there and collected us, took us to their office in town to go through the various different excursions and then returned us to the hotel afterwards. They were always on time and the staff are very knowledgeable and fun. Martin, the owner, called us at our hotel half way through our holiday to ensure we were happy with their service, which I thought was great. Isaira were somewhat cheaper than the hotel reps. I will most definitely be using them again when we do go back to the DR. Also, we emailed them a few times before we went with questions and to book our dolphin encounter and they replied very quickly to answer our queries. We did the Puerto Plata City Tour and cable car excursion, Ocean World, Monster Truck Safari and Paradise Island through them.

Talking about Paradise Island, please look at the reviews, especially if you have young children! The Island is exactly what it states “Paradise” and is amazing and well worth the trip but it is approx 2 hours bus drive there and 2 hours back and bumpy (As the tour guide called it “Free Massage”!!) and could be very hard work with young children. We had a family in front of us where the poor little girl suffered travel sickness and the little boy was very restless!

HOLIDAY OVERALL
As stated above, this has been the best holiday we have had yet and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone and will be going back as soon as we can.

The only issue we had with the holiday which for us turned out not to be a problem is that both the Thomas Cook reps were on a day off on the day of our departure and as such unavailable. If we had any major issues that day it would have been a problem. In my mind they should have split their day offs so as there was someone available every day. As it was we just had a couple of queries, which we managed to work around.

PHOTOS
I will put a selection of photos on here as well.

I was actually disappointed compared to other peoples reviews. Food was grand but it was the same thing every night. The entertainment was about as good as a poke in the eye!!!!!!
The drink didnt get you drunk and me and my hubby tried, must all be watered down. Defo wouldnt go back I was bored, was all German and American not that I have any problem with either but no crack in evenings as nobody to talk too, and everyone went to bed at 10.30 when the entertainment was over? whats that all about?
You have to sun bathe on the beach so if you are a pool person goodluck as there is only a very few good spots and they go very early in the morning, as there are so many trees around the pool that you would be in the shade.
Sea is the Atlantic ocean so ok.
But maybe I am a minority as all other reviews rave about it and im sure you think I am a moan but it wasnt for me.

We just returned from the Mambo last night. I've been all over the Carribean but this was my first time to the DR. We researched the resorts extensively over the net, etc. and booked this one for the price. You can use all three RIU's resorts and they are side by side. I'm more adventurous and rented a car, but I don't recommend that for the average traveler becasue the natives are very aggressive. I found it simlar to Jamaica as far as the poverty and pan handling go but not quite as bad. The resorts were nice, very clean. Stay away from the italian restaurant. Don't book the excursions from the resort, if possible. Too much mark up. We did the Zip Line excursion ( Yassika Adventures) for $70.00, hotel was $79.00 and if you have your own ride it's $65.00 if you book direct over the internet. It was a great experience. Ask for Cesar. We also drove up to Playa Grande Beach becasue the locals kept telling me it was the nicest beach on the North Coast. It was FABULOUS. The ride was rather far, but the sand, huge waves and locals bringing you food and beer beach side at a good price was fantastic. They were not agressive like the other areas. The old guitar man who walks the beach serinading everyone was worth the trip.