Food was excellent. Lots of choices in the Almendros buffet restuarant, well-cooked, great choice, dishes always replaced quickly, so you never find that they have run out of a dish that you particularly wanted. There was an additional Children's buffet, although they could also have whatever they wanted from the other buffet areas. Also there was the Steakhouse and Italian restaurants.
Very clean ! Always people sweeping up, maids cleaning - maids do beautiful towel sculptures in your room !
Staff were very friendly and helpful - we had a small problem with our ceiling fan - technician was there right away to fix it, no problem.
Location was right on it's own private beach. Not near any town or village or shops, but does have it's own row of shops in the complex. It's about 10 mins from Ocean World - which is definitely well worth a visit - and about 30-40 mins from Puerto Plata.

Busy complex something going on all day long to entertain all FAB holiday. Maid service was outstanding nothing was to much trouble.

We stayed at the complex for two weeks food was excellent cakes were delicious. The BEST thing about this holiday was the people that worked at the complex. We've been to a few different places in the past but the staff here were something else. A CLASS.

Our children loved the animation team (Bosy Boots)who run the kis club.We will go back to this complex soon My Dad and mum came with us they have already booked to go this Oct we are 50-50 may go.

We were very sad to leave the place but most of all the friends we made (staff)at the complex.

CLAPPY CLAPPY VERY NICE if you go to this complex your certain to hear these words.

The riu mambo is a nice hotel, although i wouldn't say wonderful.
The good points, clean and friendly, although i did have a problem with the room which was never fixed during my stay.
The weather was poor for the first week with unusally down pours of rain, which did in all honestly put a damper on the holiday because the trips were disrupted.
The food was ok but so repetitive i was sick of it by the end of the fortnight - although the italian was good and so was the burgers - and i don't normally eat burgers!
The service at the bars was good, although the service in the resturant was only good if you tipped, which i didn't.

If you have booked this hotel then you will have a good time, but watch your stuff, a camera was stolen during our stay.

please don't let me tint your views, some people loved it, while some thought the same as me.

Most people i spoke to wouldn't return, but they had a pleasant stay. I think i got what i paid for.

When we arrived at the Riu Mambo it looked lovely from the outside and even better inside.

The staff was first class checkin was very easy, we was in our rooms within minutes of arriving.

The rooms were lovely and clean and very spacious.

The pool area was lovely and spotless and the restuarant area was nice and also when you visited the toilets there was maids outside with squirty gel to use because of hygeine.

The entertainment staff was wonderfull, they work very hard.As i was getting married here I had to meet with the thomas cook rep Anna to arrange things, everything was beautiful from flowers photo's to the dvd.

There was 24 people in our party and they even put us in the steakhouse for a meal at the night time which was great.

There was plenty for the kids to do with the kids club on the beach, also there was plenty of water sports to do.

Well done to Elaina, director, floyra and miguel and all staff for 2 lovely weeks.

The cleanliness and hotel standards were excellent. 5star.

The grounds were well kept. Entertainment staff worked very hard to make every one happy.

Well done to the Thomson teams under excellent supervision of resort manager Sheyni.

Our rep Sarah Macardo was the best we've ever had she's originally from Manchester. Her lovely Mum Beverley Kelly works for Thomas Cook along with jean and Nicola.
All working in hand to help any one all a credit to both companies.

We traveled to Dom Rep for an Easter break and what an amazing time we had.
The staff/entertainment staff work so hard yet always have a big smile on their face. The entertainment was great and there was always something different in each of the 3 hotels so you always have so much choice of what to watch. There was also a beach party with BBQ during the day, a caribbean street party, and a beach bonfire night. so it really was something else.
Please don't forget to tip the staff if you go here as they really do work for nothing, but just cant do enough for you.
Food was great.. breakfast being the best, very American with pancakes and lots of bacon. Also a great smoothie bar where the fruit is blended in front of you.
I'm a vegetarian and i eat better than i ever have on holiday. Mexican night is the best!
The a la carte restaurants are great, but be prepared to Que to make a booking as the reservations start at 10am and usually are fully booked by 10.15am.
The beach for us was a little disappointing, don't expect the typical caribbean kind of beach. As its the north the sea is dark and so is the sand. If you are after white powder sand and a turquoise ocean then that's at the south side of this country. We visited the south on a small plan and went to a deserted island.. wow highly recommended.
There are more trips available in Dom rep than we have ever experienced, so much to do. We went to ocean world... you really must do this.We did the dolphin swim and sea lion encounter. It can be quite confusing knowing weather to do a swim or encounter i would highly recommend a swim. The encounter is in knee high water and is over much quicker. The swim you get much more one to one time with he dolphins and you have a life jacket on throughout.
For another amazing night out i would recommend ocean worlds restaurant and las vegas style show,5* restaurant with beautiful setting.

We traveled with Thomas cook and found them excellent, although i would advice 2 things.. hold out for a late deal we travel for less than half the brochure price as we booked just a month before, we meet people who had got even better even with children in the party. And if you can up grade to Thomas cooks version of 1st class in the flight,so much more leg room, much better food and the whole flight was great. As we booked late we got this for

This hotel is part of the Riu chain. Riu Mambo, Merengue & Bachatta. Mambo is the quieter of the 3 hotels. Lovely people at the hotel. A very lively animation team. Rooms spotless. Minibar in room included in the all inclusive package.

Two swimming pools that are cleaned every day. The buffet style menu is good but could be better as the choice starts to get bit limited but overall good.

The entertainment during the day is better than the evening. The main show started at 9.45pm but entertainment before including childrens entertainment.

You can get at the other 2 hotels breakfast and lunch but not dinner -you have to stay in your designated hotel. Lovely greenery at the hotel straight onto the beach which has ample sun beds.

Wow, fantastic hotel. We are a family of 4, the kids are 10 and 15 and we had an amazing time.

The hotel is 45 minutes coach ride from the airport. We arrived around 5 pm. Got our keys and found our own room. We had three beds and needed 4. I rang reception and they brought another single divan. We had 4 bottles on the wall, 2 dark rum, 1 gin and 1 white rum and the fridge was filled every other day with water and pop.

All the ice and salads and washed fruits are fine to eat.

The staff were great so helpful and friendly.

Entertainment staff are wonderful they work so hard.

We spent most days at the pool and by the sea. Towards the later hours of the afternoon little crabs came out on the beach and we could sit for ages just watching them. At this hotel there is a beach bar so its so easy to get a drink.

The food is nice as long as you are willing to try different things or it does get repetitive but after saying that we loved it and the steak house was fab. You can have local dishes or eat as our kids did, mostly pizza hot dogs fries and spaghetti. We walked along to the other 2 hotels, its like 1 big one really and you can use all the facilities and eat and drink anywhere. You get what you want when you want and you get as many drinks from the bar as you want, there are no limits. The cocktails are soooooo good with or without booze.

Just 1 thing lock your patio door every time you have used it and really do keep all your valuables in your safe. I left all sorts out everyday and nothing got taken (the maids are so lovely) but someone came through the patio door one evening and stole our mobile phone (could have even been a guest). We left cameras, money and other things on our beach and on pool chairs but they were safe.

We had such a good time. We really recommend this hotel and our rep was always there, not that we needed her but it was nice to see her.

The RIU mambo is a lovely hotel, and after visting the Bachata and the Merengue during our 2 week stay, my husband and i both agreed that we chose the best of the 3 hotels.

Its spotlessly clean, and there is always a member of staff at the entrance to the restaurants and toilets with the anti bac gel for your hands. Even my 21mth and 4yr old were encouraged to "gel" their hands!

Our room was a good size, and had 3 large single beds as well as a cot. The tv was a godsend sometimes when the kids needed something to occupy them after their evening shower etc. lots of american channels with upto date films, as well as BBC america! The room was cleaned daily and we always had somesort of towel art done by the maids. we tipped a dollar every day which i'm sure was appreciated. The bar was filled every other day, though towards the end of the holiday, we seemed to get forgotten about, and had to ask reception on 2 occasions to have the bar stocked with water. Although on a good note, at the start of our stay, we asked if one of our bottles of dark rum could be swapped to a vodka (in the optics box), which was done by the next day! The shower was amazing, always hot and very powerful, and we always had a good supply of fresh clean towels daily.

The food was lovely to start with, but as with most all inclusives, tended to get a bit repetitive towards the end of the 2 weeks. There was always plenty to choose from though, meats, salads, pastas and potoatoes, along with dominican specials etc. My husband also said that he never had a bad steak for the whole stay! The breakfasts were amazing with LOADS to choose from. My kids loved the american pancakes with syrup and cinammon donuts too. The cooked breakfasts were amazing and went down lovely with the fresh coffee and amazing fresh fruit smoothies (found at the bottom of the restaurant).

The pool was lovely, with a gentle slope into it for the youngsters. The baby pool was always cooler as it was emptied at night and re-filled in the mornings, which was lovely and refreshing! Again, we felt this pool compared to the 2 sister hotel pools, was the best, as the other 2 reminded us of public swimming baths! I know each hotel asks guests not to reserve beds by the pool, but EVERYONE did it, and by 8.30am all the beds in the sun were gone. so we started getting up at 8am just to get a bed in the sun by the baby pool so we could watch the kids!

The beach was lovely, and always seemed far hotter than the poolside, even with the breeze! its not typical white sand, but still soft, with some shingle at the waters edge. The water was very warm all the time though, and there was always a bed to be found.

All the staff are amazingly friendly and always greet you with a smile and an "hola". my 21mth old even learned to say it after the 1st week! The waiters in the restaurant during the evening always reserved our usual table (though you can sit wherever you want to), as we needed a hi chair every night which he always had ready! the bar staff again, very friendly and even if you want a drink thats not on the menu, they prepared it for you. They made lovely milkshakes for my 4yr old every night whilst the show was on.

We tried the al a carte restaurants (the pool bar transformed at night into the steak house and Mediterranean restaurants). both were nice with a 4course dinner brought to your table. the glasses were always re-filled after a few sips (which can lead you to forgetting how much you've actually drunk!) and the puddings were to die for.

The anamacion team were great, and never pushed you to do anything you said no to. I did the pool/sea aerobics daily at midday, which made me feel a tiny bit better about all the food i was eating! and my husband and i tried "horseshoes" a coupole of times, which was fun, but hard to win! There was lots of games/activities going on during, something for everyone. The kids club was a little disappointing, and after raving it would be amazing to my 4yr old, he was somewhat bored alot of the time. They did painting and sticking etc, and one day did t-shirt painting, though we were asked to pay extra for this (about

We're a couple in our mid twenties and booked the Rui Resort through thomson as a late deal but were allocated which of the three hotels we would be staying in on arrival. After researching all three (Bachata, Merengue and Mambo) we decided that we'd be happy with any of them so booked it.

We were put into the Mambo (as expected as it was the cheapest). When we got the weather was fab and in two weeks had about 4 hours of rain (1 hour a day for 4 days at around 5-6pm) which was fine considering this was meant to be their wettest month of the year. Couldn't fault the Mambo on anything food was amazing loads of choice. Every evening there was pizza and chips for the less adventurous, A roast of beef, pork, ham or turkey, A stir fry usually of pork or beef, loads of veg and dominican specials.

Puddings were a bit sickly but my boyfriend enjoyed them. I opted for the fresh fruit (mango, pineapple, passionfruit, watermelon and papaya) everyday.

There's free food and alcohol available 24 hours a day. all the bars are open till 2am with the club open till 4am (think the club is sound proofed as we never heard it in the evenings). There is a 24 hour bar at the Bachata and a 24 hour sanck bar at the merrengue which served burgers, hotdogs, pizza, chips, salad and fruit all freshly made all through the night.

We tried all three hotels for lunch and snacks and could not see why the Bachata was supposedly the best as it served the same food as the other two.

The minibar in the rooms were restocked every other day. If however you drank everything in one day you could request it to be filled up on the day and the staff would usually do this within an hour or two. 4 litres of spirits were provided in the room. We asked them to replace one of the rums with a vodka and they did (even though they said that they don't usually do this). Therefore we had white and dark rum, gin and vodka. ALL FREE and in 1 litre bottles. Cocktails were fab they came in slush puppy form so were refreshing too. There was a great variety of drinks alcoholic and non. The kids could have as many cocktails as the adults(non alcoholic or course).

The major thing I couldn't get over was the security. they had security with guns patrolling the two ends of the private beach and the main entrance preventing any locals from coming in at any time, 24hours a day. It was so safe it was unbelievable. Because everybody around the pools were staying there you could even leave your digital camera on show when you went in the sea and it would still be there when you came out. Thats goes for room keys also.

We thought it was the most amazing holiday ever. The mambo we feel was the best hotel. It had the nicest swimming pool and was the quietest of the three hotels. The Bachata had the swim up bar and therefore was the noisiest pool on the complex but it was good to go there for a few days. We're definately going again soon. Most fabulous holiday and worth every penny.