Unfortunately, Riu Karamboa was a big disappointment for us. Upon arrival, we were given a noticeably smaller room than the others in that part of the building, which was clearly visible on the hotel floor plan. We could have accepted that, but the condition of the room was unacceptable – dirty and stained furniture, wet footprints all over the floor, unfinished painting work, and even paint stains on the bed. The minibar had not been restocked, there was no water, and most of the advertised room amenities were missing. We documented everything with photos. Even worse than the room itself was the attitude at reception. The receptionist we dealt with was extremely unhelpful and arrogant. At first, she insisted that there were no other rooms available and that we would have to spend one night in the dirty room and come back the next day. Only after a lengthy discussion and showing her our photos did another room suddenly become available. It was at the far end of the resort, but at least it was clean and in acceptable condition. Unfortunately, the lack of maintenance is noticeable throughout the resort. Towels in both the room and at the beach were often stained, and many sun loungers and chairs were cracked, damaged or broken. The beach itself, however, is beautiful, the water is amazing, and the natural shade provided by the palm trees is excellent. Considering the enormous size of the resort, we understand that catering for so many guests is challenging. However, a lot of the food was dried out or hard, flies were crawling around the food, and overall the quality and taste were disappointing. The attitude of some staff serving the food was also quite unpleasant. We had a similar experience at the water park, where the unnecessarily arrogant attitude of some lifeguards managed to turn something that should have been fun into an irritating experience. Although this is advertised as an adults-only resort, you can regularly see families with children on the beach, building sandcastles and swimming in the sea, so don't expect a completely adults-only environment there. Overall, the hotel feels heavily worn and, more importantly, poorly maintained. It has a beautiful beach and certainly has some positive aspects, but based on our experience, it is nowhere near a 5-star standard. We would realistically rate it as a 3-star hotel at best. Unfortunately, we would not return.
