My husband and I had the distinct pleasure of staying at The Royal during the first week in July.
We are active 40-45 year olds who were looking for a place to go while our teenage daughter was in Europe for three weeks, so Adults Only was pretty high on our list of amenities when we carefully researched where to stay. Having only been to Cozumel, we aren't completely familiar with the layout of the Rivera Maya, so I first want to thank all the tripadvisor folks who are SO helpful with their posts!
First of all- the place is immaculate and quite beautiful! We had a rental car, too, and never had trouble retrieving it at a moments notice! (DON'T LOSE YOUR CAR TAG THAT THEY GIVE YOU- we had to pay $20 to get a new one when my husband lost ours...)
Check in: No problems. Our room wasn't ready but we had a wonderful lunch at Pelicano's (more on food later) and it was ready by 3:00 p.m. HINT: If you book "Ocean View", which we did, insist that you are put on floor 2 or 3. We didn't see the ocean AT ALL from our room- even if we stretched way out over the bacony! (LOL). We were in room 191, by the pool (literally FEET from the pool, which had it's good and bad aspects).
The Rooms: OK- we have stayed in some VERY nice (and very unique) resorts over the years, including ALL of Disney's deluxe resorts, JW Marriotts and other high-end places in Florida. NOBODY has The Royal's rooms beat! From the gorgeous carved furniture to the mosquito netting over the bed to the chaise lounger to the spacious bathroom (our bathrobes were so heavy we could hardly lift them to put them on!) and vanity area (with gorgeous tile and granite) and a BIG closet and a safe, of course). The the rooms are a nice size and the balcony is furnished with a hammock (which I didn't think we'd use, but we did) a table and two chairs. The bed is extremely comfy with a down comforter. You receive maid service twice daily and they were GREAT! When they come to turn your room down at night, they light scented candles by the jacuzzi tub and turn the lighting down- VERY nice to come home to from partying on Fifth Avenue!
The entire resort is immaculate , including our room.
Food: As we are seasoned "cruisers" and are used to the all-inclusive" food concept, I must say I was impressed with The Royal's attempt at gourmet. We're from Sarasota Florida- (some unbelievable restaurants there and we eat out often.... The presentation of food, in particular, really impressed me. They have five restaurants:
Pelicano's: Sit-down outdoor breakfast, lunch, dinner. Unique menu and great setting! When we arrived and had lunch a great band was playing there, too!We only had breakfast & lunch here, but I'm sure dinner would have been good too. They have very unusual breakfast items (special burritos, omlettes) and good mimosas and bloody mary's.The fresh salsa and chips that they put on your table are homemade and very delicious.
Chef's Table: This is the only restaurant that you have to make a reservation for, so do it as soon as you get there. You don't have a choice here- the chef cooks the same thing for everyone- in front of you at a special grill. My husband and I both enjoyed our experience here very much! Hint- spring for a decent bottle of wine for this night. The house wines at The Royal were awful (and one of my only complaints...). Service here was wonderful and the dessert was one of the best chocolate soufffle's I ever had!
Spice: buffet. Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We found the food here to be a bit, "ho-hum", but decent for a buffet because the amount of choices was unreal! (YES- you have to have long pants on if you're going for dinner).
Maria Marie: Dinner only. Cuisine is supposed to "blend" french and Italian. We went for dinner twice as we found multiple things on the menu that we really wanted to try, but of course couldn't do in one visit. Excellent service, upscale decor and a "show" kitchen made this place very nice! Would it make it in Sarasota? No, but we wenjoyed ourselves nonetheless.
Asiana: Serves dinner. We also ate here twice and it was our favorite. Ask for Jesus as your waiter- adorable 19-year old who we just adored. He was SO genuinely thrilled when we asked for him when we visited for the second time, we thought he was going to cry! (It was his birthday the next day and he actually invited us to his Mom's house for Tamales. My mouth was watering just imagining what Jesus's Mom's tamales taste like, but we had to leave that day:) Both Chinese & Thai are available here and they did a good job with both. The Tuna Tartare was the best I've had in a while. A good mix of spicy and not spicy seemed to please everyone and the decor in this restaurant was the nicest of all of them, we think- very interesting paint colors, brick walls, etc. Excellent service here too.
There is also a 24-hour snack place which was completely impressive- with it's own "help-yourself" bar, drinks, hot and cold snacks (salsa & chips, chicken, mini sandwiches, continental breakfast) Also in here are pool and ping pong and TV- if you want to watch CNN (yuck!)
There is also a TAPA's restaurant next to Pelicano's but we couldn't fit it in.
Room Service was excellent- you have a privacy door so no one has to bother you when they pick it up. Both times we ordered, we got hot food and it tasted great.
BARS: We REALLY tried to get our money's worth here! Yes, you are handed a glass of champagne upon check-in (the lobby, by the way, is completely open- no A/C- but its WONDERFUL- ocean breezes keep it really nice! The Lobby Bar had entertainment every night , most of which was decent (best Mariachi band ever) and it is memorably furnished- actual beds that you can relax on and soft sishy chairs, candles and gorgeous decor. The lobby where you enter the resort has the most beautiful ceiling I have eer seen. Quite the "WOW" factor. Also available at the lobby bar- tea and coffee and sweets from morning until mid-afternoon. There is a swim up pool bar which was not as impressive as others we have enjoyed, but it was fine. The other bar at the pool was more enjoyable "Trade Winds" (ask for Horatio- very yummy margaritas made by him:). The seats at Trade Winds are actually swings that fit two! Fun. Drinks are also available from cocktail servers both around the pool & at the beach (just put your blue flag up). ASK for the better brand-name booze if you like the better brand name booze! They have it!
IMPORTANT: YES- tips are "supposedly" included.....let me tell you that a few pesos go a LONG way!!!!!!! THEY WILL REMEMBER YOU THE NEXT TIME!!
Activities: We loved Carlos- wonderful activity director (which is what I do for a living so I know) planned low-key but fun activities all day. Volleyball in the pool and on the beach as well as hairwrap classes and crafts, Mamba and Salsa lessons poolside, exercise classes in the pool, and the staff was not bugging you to join in, which I appreciated.
Beach: rocky directly in front of hotel- walk down to swim (you'll see) where there are not more rocks - much nicer. The loungers at the beach are unusual but do their job. The beds with the curtains blowing in the breeze both at the pool and on the beach were our favorite (we don't lounge long, but when we do, we like it to be a perfect experience:)
Location: OK- this is what sold us on The Royal: It's literally 300 feet from 5th avenue, which we loved, although the restaurant and shop owners are a pain about yelling at you to eat here, or buy stuff there...it's a REALLY FUN place to hang out. ALSO- you can WALK from The Royal to the ferry to Cozumel (great for my SCUBA diving husband...) 5th avenue has upscale restaurants and small clubs (WAY nicer than the "frat party" scene in Cancun) as well as "chain" type places like Carlos & Charlies and Senior Frogs. (which are both FUN, by the way!), stores, fresh fruit stands run by locals, even a church! We were very impressed.
Other things we did while we were there: We took the ferry to Isla Mujerlas and rented a golf cart for the whole day. We had a great time at Punta Sur(gorgeous view of Cancun and you can get a snack, the Turle Rescue Farm (donation), Shopping downtown and going to the Playa Norte Beach. I also had the best margarita I have ever had in my life at the SECOND beachfront restaurant you come to after making a LEFT when you get off the ferry.
We went to Chicken Itza with Cancun Line Tours. Excellent experience! Upscale and new buses for your two-plus-hour drive through the Yucatan.
We had a rental car (which I recommend for Riviera Maya but not for Cancun- ton's of taxis in Cancun) so we went to the AWESOME little town of Akumal with the most beautifu l lagoons! We snorkled with turtles and headed down the only street they have (no kidding- the police department is in a shed) and thoroughly enjoyed the LAGOON side restaurant you come to after about two miles. It's got palapas in the treetops that you climb up a ladder to reach. Your beer and food is put in a bucket on a string and you have to pull it up to where you're sitting- funny.
We did TULUM with a guide, but you really didn't have to . (it's 400 pesos for the guide..) My husband scuba dove twice and was happy with both dives.
I did use the SPAzul at THe Royal, which was under major contruction while we were there. I got a detox massage (necessary after the Isla Mujerlas margarita) from Enrique which was awesome! Very relaxing and professional. They have separate men's and women's SPA areas with really nice spa tubs, cold plunge pools, healthy snacks, a sauna, and a steam room. Beautifully decorated, too.
Overall- a GREAT experience at the Royal and we would go back in a heartbeat.
Negatives: LOUSY house beer and wine. They need to enforce the dress code more at dinner- it's not fair to the people who took the time to pack properly and follow the dress code to have people in shorts, etc being allowed in. They are very clear about this when you book!