Riu Bambu All Inclusive Hotel Punta Cana

I recently stayed at the Riu Bambu in Punta Cana. (6/2008). It is an all-inclusive resort, that is surrounded by four other Riu Resorts. The location is great and the beach area is unbelievable. The ship wrecked Astron is in the water here, so it makes for pretty nice pictures. If you are planning to lay on the beach, may I recommend you get there early to save seats. We had a hard time finding two chairs, so we would get there early and throw our towels on two to save them. Don't get me wrong, you can trek down the beach either way towards the other Riu's to find chairs, but who really wants to do that? The beach has many topless ladies, a lot of thongs, and tons of speedos. I believe it's like that throughout Punta Cana, so if you don't want your kids to see that, steer clear. I myself can do without seeing sagging boobs in front of me while I am trying to relax.
There are a lot of water activites included in the resort. They have kayaks, the wind surfing, and the little sail boats. They make for a great way to see the Astron up close. You can sign up for snorkeling and scuba, but you have to pay for them. You can also sign up for off resort excursions in the lobby of the hotel, but you have to pay.
There are 2 pool areas. One is large, has a swim up bar, a jacuzzi, and tons of Palm trees around for some nice shade. The other pool is smaller, and I noticed mostly kids in it. Both pools have the palm huts you can lay under for some cool shade. The main bar for the resort is out in this area. There is also a restaurant called Mama Juana's that offers a pretty good buffet lunch. The resort also has a child play area, tennis courts, various activites and contests daily, ceramics, massages, volleyball, a clothing store, a gift shop (with souvenirs, snacks/drinks, toiletries, etc.), and a large projector screen for daily soccer games.
There are nightly shows outside by the main bar with different themes every night. They start at 9:30. The shows were mostly in Spanish, I don't speak A LOT of Spanish, but it was still entertaining.
The resort brings animals on the property different days for pictures with the guests. They have parrots one day, a monkey (on a leash), and an Iguana. They have a little area where they post the pictures each day, and you can buy them if you want to for $7.00 each. There is no pushiness involved. Literally, if you want your pics, you have to walk up to the area and grab yours, or else I guess they get thrown away.
There is a computer room off of the lobby, but I believe you have to pay for the internet.
The room areas of the hotel are stucco, and the buildings are painted pastel colors. There are tons of Palm trees, banana trees, and other unknown trees to me scattered throughout the resort, and it looks so pretty. Our room was a bit of a trek with a great banana tree on the way, but not the worst of locations. The room had tile floor. Our beds were 2 Queens that were pushed together, and they shared a head board, and they were oh so hard, with the thinnest pillows ever. My back didn't feel too great for the 1st hour after I woke up. And the overall appearance of this bed set up was a bit odd to me. The room had a safe, and a free mini bar that was stocked everyday (water and soda too), but there was no where to get ice???? We also had teeny tiny ants on our bathroom counter and the floor. I HATE bugs, so I refused to leave anything out of my suitcase the entire week, and it stayed zipped tight at all times. We wouldn't see any after our room was cleaned, but a few hours later, they were there. I hate having to deal with stuff like that on a vacation. We thoroughly discussed this with other guests, and they had the same problem. Other than the ants, the room was clean, and I don't have much more to complain about.
There are 5 restaurants on the resort I believe, and the buffet. You have to make reservations for the restaurants between 7-10 am for that evening's dinner, and they have a dress code. Since we had a horrible luggage fiasco, we were unable to eat at the restaurants. We went to the buffet every night. The food wasn't bad. Some days were way better than others. I am a very picky eater, so if you are a normal, you'll enjoy the food.
Overall, this resort was great. The good outweighs the bad. Would I stay here again, probably not, but only because I enjoy doing and seeing new things on vacations, no repeats.