PUNTA CANA — RIU Hotels & Resorts’ most family-friendly hotel in Punta Cana has reopened following a major overhaul to its rooms, restaurants, pools and services.

ClubHotel Riu Bambu, inaugurated in 1999, was previously refurbished in 2004 and again in 2010, but only performed a complete overhaul earlier this year. The five-star, all-inclusive hotel now boasts new furniture and décor in all rooms, plus refurbished bathrooms, two new pools (in addition to three existing pools) with two new swim-up bars, and a new gymnasium next to the beach. The Riu4U club for young guests is another new item resulting from the refurbishment.

Culinary options have also seen some changes. The hotel has seven restaurants including the new Spanish restaurant Olé and the gourmet eatery Kulinarium. Guests will continue to have the main restaurant available to them with international cuisine, as well as the Asian Hibachi, the Italian San Angelo, the Palm Beach steakhouse and the Mexican Mama Juana.

RIU Hotels currently has six hotels in Punta Cana: The Riu Palace Bavaro, Riu Palace Punta Cana, Riu Palace Macao, Riu Naiboa and ClubHotel Riu Bambu, which are located in the RIU complex. Clients also have free access to the Splash Water World water park, while the Riu Republica, the first adults-only hotel in the Riu Classic range, is located a mere two kilometres away. Riu Republica will showcase major changes at the end of this year, including 400 new rooms, four new restaurants, five bars and a new water park.