My husband & I have just returned from our 13th visit to the Royal Resorts. When we arrive and are greeted with "WELCOME HOME", that is just how we feel! We have stayed at both the Royal Islander & Royal Mayan and my parents owned at the Royal Carribean for 18 years. When you own at the Royal Resorts, there is no reason to trade or go anywhere else. The staff is just as friendly and helpful as family. In particular, I would like to mention how great Samuel Borges at the pool is!! We have known him since he started working there about 8 years ago and We LOVE him! It's also nice to know that year after year the same lovely people (staff & guests) will be there to make great vacation memories. We have made many close and lasting friendships over the years. The food, service & cleanliness is top notch. Also, the food at El Conquistador at the Royal Mayan is my favorite of all the restaurants I've eaten at in Cancun over the years. The Royal Resorts are truly Exceptional!

The first thing to note about this ‘hotel’ is that it is mostly a timeshare establishment. If this had been made clear on the website I booked through I would never have booked. The second thing to note is that it is in no way 5-star. It’s a horrible breeze-block monstrosity that, whilst clean, looks like it has not been modernised or refurbished since the 70s.
I booked on the strength of the good reviews here but now I realise that the majority of these reviews were likely to have been written by those who own a timeshare at this place. Why would they want to admit to their mistake? Also, the very nature of timeshare means that those who have one are unlikely to ever go anywhere else or stay in genuine 5-star hotels; therefore they have no frame of reference.
When we checked in we were told that we would have to move to a different room after night one. They explained that this was because the timeshares switch over on Saturdays. As if this was any consolation (or real explanation). I expressed my dissatisfaction but they flatly refused to do anything about it. I also explained that I would never have booked if I had known this or that it was a timeshare place – which they blamed the booking website for. So, we had no choice but to go along with the changeover. This meant we had to be up, packed and ready for normal check-out time. Nobody came to explain what we had to do at this point so we went down to reception to query what would happen with our bags, where our next room would be etc only to find that our key cards had been deactivated when we went back up. And the new cards we’d been given didn’t work in the new room. We were so exhausted and deflated by this point that we just plonked ourselves by the pool and checked the room later. Finally we could get in and finally our bags were delivered. Incidentally, the room was an exact carbon copy of the one we had vacated and, it turns out, is really just an adjoining part of the bigger rooms.
The whole hotel is soulless, uninspiring, bland, and cheap-looking. It is filled with over-loud, large families who make no effort to speak Spanish to the staff. Not even a ‘gracias’. The reception employees were rude, unfriendly and unhelpful. The literature in the rooms actually pointed out that it wasn’t a hotel therefore ‘guests’ should not expect to be treated as if it were (see photo). The rooms are bland and have that fake-bamboo style furniture that I haven’t seen since Blackpool (permanent 80s black hole, in case you don’t know). The hotel is so massive it takes ages to get to and from your room, and as you walk along it’s all so identical that you feel like you’re walking backwards on a travelator. The lifts looked like they should have been covered in graffiti (if you know what I mean).
I also absolutely hated the whole of Cancun and this hotel completely reflected the faceless, plastic, unoriginal, uninspired, gaudy, crude, brash and vulgar nature of the place (if I can associate the word ‘nature’ to Cancun in any way). So, if you like Cancun you’d probably like this hotel. We stayed at this hotel on our last two nights in Mexico and prior to that had visited the phenomenally beautiful beaches of Tulum and Isla Holbox and had experienced the magnificence of Chichen Itza and the authentic, laid-back town of Valladolid. Whilst we expected Cancun to be a bit brash we thought we could deal with it and even imagined it might be considered ‘glitzy’. It is just downright horrible; there is not the slightest hint of Mexico anywhere.
We had so many problems with the hotel (more than described) that we managed to get a full refund. This from a place that refuses to compensate for anything – although they did split it with the booking agent. If you want to visit Mexico, don’t stay in Cancun. If you need a bit of the ‘liveliness’ it is said to offer, head to Playa Del Carmen. At least there it’s bearable and compact (and the beaches are lovely). If you want uninspired, uninspiring, fake, easy, characterless, etc go to Cancun and stay at this ‘hotel’.

This was our second vacation at the Royal Caribbean. As last time the weather was perfect everyday, the staff was just as friendly and helpful as we had remembered. We booked a trip to see Tulum and snorkle. We also booked the free tour to see old Cancun. Would recommend all three of these. We loved the morning water fitness classes and beach volleyball. Had the best massage ever..highly recommend. We give the Royal Resorts two + thumbs up!.

Returning to our beachfront unit every year is like coming back to our second home. The weather was great and the beaches as beautiful as always. We always look forward to seeing our long time maid Maria and Willy at the pool bar. We particularly love the fish tacos at Pancho Willys. It's been a very relaxing week and we look forward to coming back next year!