Curt Dumas
Royal Hideaway Playa Del Carmen
March 1, 2024 – March 9, 2024
Stayed in building 25
From the time we got off the private shuttle from the airport until we boarded the same for the trip back, we were very impressed. We were met at the front desk with libations that set the tone for the entire trip. In no time we were in our room heading out to dinner on the deck looking at the beautiful view and loving the breeze and the sounds of the waves hitting the manicured beach.
We had made reservations for dinner before arrival for each night at a different restaurant, usually at 7pm, the communication with the resort really helped great getting everything set for our trip. Our first full day was spent poolside. Enjoyed a fantastic breakfast with omelets made to order while you watched, and mimosas served by a super friendly staff. The servers kept palomas coming until it was time for water aerobics in the infinity pool. The activities crew was excellent, especially Rinaldo (call me sexy Ray), Carlos & Tristan. They kept the day entertaining with announcements, games, classes and emceeing almost everything at the resort.
We really enjoyed many of the extras offered from tequila tasting to silent disco, to painting classes, to 4 outstanding full stage shows.
The dinners were all 5 star, each plate was a work of art. The amazing bartenders kept the party going with their specialty drinks. (we usually arrived a half hour early) to the incredible and different selections offered at all of the restaurants.
Highly recommend the Royal Hideaway for an all exclusive, adult resort. Bring your sunscreen, the days are beautiful!
Curt & Kelly D.
Michigan
Motopartsinc00
My overall experience at this resort was positive however for them to call this resort 5 stars is grossly overrated. There were several things that I’ve experienced at actual 5 star resorts that this one was lacking. For instance, there is a major lack of pool and beach chairs. There is an abundance amount of room on the beach for them to add more recliners however there is no where near enough to accommodate the guests. Chairs are cheap and they make the guests happy. Why they have so few is beyond me. Also, there is no dinner buffet. If you don’t feel like dressing up or having a longer sit down dinner the only other option is to order room service and eat in your room. I’ve never stayed at a property this size and had no dinner buffet. For me it seems like a major oversight. When you pay this kind of money for your stay the guests should have every food option available to them. These may seem like small grievances but they should not happen at “5-star” properties.
I would like to point out that the food is delicious, the grounds are meticulously maintained, the staff is incredibly friendly/helpful and I did enjoy my time here. That being said I would not return to this property. With so much resort competition on the Mayan Riviera there is definitely better places for the money I paid.
This resort needs to step it up or do future guests a favour and lower their star rating.
Daralyn Haluszka
Really nice vacation. Food was really really good, almost all the time. Room service was either amazing or an attempt at something that was different from the menu description, but amazing more often than not. Same for the restaurants, almost everything was delicious. You can order food and drinks around the pool and the beach area in the afternoon (home made pizza was incredible) and the waiters & bartenders are very nice and helpful. Delicious menu options and well cooked. Corona Extra served and a great menu of cocktails and various drinks available at the bar and beach.
Exterior multi use areas were clean and room arrival was clean. The villas never had the stairways, walls, floors, etc outside the rooms cleaned in the two weeks we were there. They looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a long time. Our room surfaces were never wiped like the tables, TV stand area, and I'm not sure about the bathroom but the towels were replaced daily. Pillow cases and covers etc were not changed unless we pulled them off ourselves. Two week stay. Pools were cleaned daily it looked like and the main areas were kept clean.
Service was great, room service prompt, you may get forgotten when it's busy at the buffet but it's not on purpose so just ask instead of waiting excessively if you haven't been helped. Happened to us once, we seen it happen to a few people too though.
The beach is beautiful. I love the ocean and it was very nice to be in though choppy most days. The beach chairs and covers need to be cleaned more often, something I'll talk with the manager about potentially. There needs to be signs in place that say don't leave towels or items for more than two hours though, as we seen several chairs tied up all day with no one coming to claim (but they left their towels, books, shoes, etc). We usually managed to find something but that can be frustrating. There are many people offering many things to buy on the beach.
I would go back here and I would recommend it. 9/10 rating, would improve to 10 except for the beach chairs and cleanliness of areas mentioned above.
This is a relaxing place in a relaxing area, so if you are looking for more of a party you may want to look elsewhere. There is a great little area to get some shopping done right outside the resort, with food, bar, pharmacy, clothes, tattoos, snacks, smokes, etc. There are event nights and activities in the resort that they host that people do attend. Here its typically a bit older of a crowd but there were 30-40-50s that were plentiful as well. We met some really great people with really great conversations. A really nice place 🌷❤️
Anthony Colavito
Overall good 4-night vacation with my spouse. We booked air, resort, and airport transfers through Costco as a package. Our first time in Mexico after other Caribbean resorts. Will likely choose another resort/package next time.
The Good
comfortable room, comfortable bed.
Beautiful well maintained grounds.
Gorgeous beach with plentiful palm tree shade and bonnets to cover lounge chairs.
Pleasant staff.
Good variety of food and drink.
Aqua aerobics was popular each day if that’s your thing.
The Bad
Limited activities, with additional cost for nearly all water sports (except kayaks, swim-in snorkeling)
Limited food at times in the evening. For example, Dinner Reservations were limited to 6p one night and another at 9:30 with no flexibility from the resort. Resort instead relied on room service, which was hit or miss (mostly miss - one time food was good and on time, one time food was not good, one time food didn’t show up and we spent the evening uncomfortably hungry).
Only 2 restaurant choices for breakfast and lunch and they’re right next to each other near the pool; meant a lot of repetition, especially if you had to eat at those restaurants for dinner too.
1 bar served the whole resort most of the day, with 3 more bars opening to serve restaurants in the evening. No bar stools available- you have to take your drink back to your lounge chair to enjoy.
Airport shuttle from CUN was a bad experience, taking about 2 1/2 hours off our first day, while we drove around dropping other tourists at their resorts. We took a taxi back to the airport and it was worth it (only 40 min!)
2 main pools and 1 functioning hot tub - the rest were not functioning or we didn’t use, mostly because they were not near the bar/restaurants.
Other
Guests tended to gather around the pool because the bar is there, which was fine for us because we preferred the beach. Wait staff serve drinks and food to you on the beach.
Resort attracts an older crowd (65+), with a mix of others in their 30s/40s/50s.
Shannon Ball
Visited in September on anniversary trip with another couple. My last visit was almost 10 years ago and thankfully the quality and service has not changed one bit! What a wonderful quiet romantic boutique resort. The ocean views are stunning- without seaweed and sand barriers (unlike other many other larger adult only resorts we’ve visited)!! Poolside service outstanding - Javier, who we remember from our first visit, made our trip unforgettable! Dinners were 5 star, the chef even took the time to meet us personally on two separate occasions. Our only issue was a leak in our bathroom which was quickly tended to and when it was going to take too long to fix they set us up in another room before dinner time. Will definitely not wait another 10 years to return!