Hi Musicqueen,
Greetings from Atlantic Canada.
The Rius POP (Mambo, Merengue & Bachata) are an amazing group of resorts set in a complex 9 km. west of POP city near the village of Maimon. They are all designated ClubHotels (as is the Bambu in PUJ) so they are a little less formal (long pants are NOT needed in any of the restaurants) than the Hotels, Palaces and Grand Palaces in the Riu chain.
When you register at one you are entitled to use the facilities of all three resorts with the exception that you are expected to eat your evening meal at your own buffet restaurant at the time you selected; unless you had previously arranged for dinner at a specialty restaurant. There are no wristbands. BTW I highly recommend the filet mignon at the Grill Steakhouse and the sanconcho at the Dominican restaurant was filling and savoury.
Among the three resorts there are some 1500 rooms but except for the Bachata buildings up on the bluff and the clock tower between the Mambo and Merengue you cannot see anything as all buildings are lower in height than the surrounding trees.
If you want to read my review of the Riu Bachata it is at:
http://www.debbiesdominicantravel.com/riubachata.html
Look for the review by Gregg from Dartmouth, NS, Canada posted in October 2002.
If you have any questions or would like me to e-mail you a resort map or some photographs I scanned please send me an e-mail. Let me know of any file size constraints which you may have so I don't send too much at one time. Total file size is about 1.63 Mb.
Gregg