Just spent a week at the Royal Mayan in Cancun. We are Marriott owners and traded a week through Interval. Loved the location of the Mayan, but loved the beach at the Royal Hacienda (sister hotel) The Beach at the Mayan was rocky and you couldn't swim. The Pools were great and so was the service. We stayed in E938 which faced the morning sun, but had great evening views. Hotel staff was amazing. At first we didn't know our personal concierge was just that, we thought he was a salesman with the Hotel. He helped book trips, make reservations at restaurants etc. I would recommend renting a car to go to Playa and Cozumel. Those were both great day trips. My only concern was the ride from the Airport to the Hotel. I didn't know what the procedure was and we ended up having to pay $60.00 for a van when we could have taken a cab. Skip by all that sales stuff and ask for a cab.

This was a very nice hotel. Clean, grounds well kept and everyone was happy to help if we needed it. Everyone spoke English but also liked helping us practice our English. We traveled with my in laws as well as our kids who were 3 1/2 and 1 years old. There were things to do for all. The kids just wanted to stay at the resort and go in the pool every day and you have access to 3 different hotels pools. The beach was rocky so you couldn't swim far out but the kids played in the tide pools and beautiful white sand. The restaurants were nice with good food. There is a small convinence store on site and the room had a full kitchen so we cooked in several times too. There might be other hotels that were a little fancier or closer to town but for us with the kids it was perfect. The hotel also has some nice activities planned (welcome pinata party for the kids, pool games, etc) that made it more fun to just hang out at the pool.

The Royal Mayan is a nice hotel to stay at. It's part of the Royal Resorts family and provides you with access to all the other sister resorts. They provide free shuttle transportation between the resorts or you can also walk to the 2 other ones that are connected.

The rooms were very clean and had all the basic amenities that you could ask for (except a washer and dryer).

I wasn‘t sure what to expect at the Royal Mayan after reading some decidedly mixed reviews here, but we were extremely happy with everything about our one-week stay. We stayed in a two bedroom villa with another couple. Other reviewers warn about 'building H' and it’s parking lot views, but we were on the 8th floor (really just 4 stories up) of Building I, which overlooked the pool area and had a sweeping ocean view. It could not have been better. The unit had the largest terrace of any place I had ever stayed. Room for a table and four chairs as well as 2 other chairs and a side table. Both bedrooms and the living room had sliding glass doors leading to the terrace, and the doors were fronted inside by heavy wooden shutters in case you wanted to shut out the morning sun. Both bedrooms also had a second slider leading to a very tiny balcony. I don’t think we ever set foot on those. Apparently the two bedroom villa can be shut off and divided into a one bedroom villa and a 'hotel room' by closing off the interior door and locking the shutters for the terrace slider so that the hotel room only has outside access on the little balcony and the villa side gets full use of the large terrace. We were using the whole villa, but if it were split, the interior doors are SO heavy that you cannot hear a THING going on in the next room. Even using the entire villa, this was a real bonus, since it meant that if some in your party were early risers they were not disturbing those still sleeping in the other room. The two sliders per bedroom also meant that each was light filled and enjoyed the fabulous view. The decor was simple, and only the formica counters in the kitchen and the almond bathroom fixtures made it look a little dated. The furniture was the tropical rattan you see in every tropical resort and the beds were comfortable but the bedspreads were a polyester print that didn’t really say 'Mexico' or tropical to me, but that’s a pretty minor complaint!

The resort was spotless inside and out and all of the employees were helpful, courteous and efficient. They simply could not have done a better job. The kitchen was not that well equipped (just the basics), and we didn’t feel like venturing out for groceries, so every meal we ate on site we ate at La Palapa, the pool side restaurant and bar and every meal was very good and very reasonably priced. Pool side and beach side there are waiters ready to take your drink orders (and snacks, if you like)and the drinks are good, very generous and again, very reasonably priced. We never bothered eating at the much fancier Conquistador. We preferred the open air, pool and ocean views and casual vibe at La Palapa. The men didn’t feel like putting on the required long pants, the Conquistador really had no view at all, and coming from the Bay Area, we have no shortage of excellent restaurants so just didn’t see the point. No cash need change hands at any of the restaurants, bar or even the resorts small convenience market. Upon check-in you are given a card that serves as your door key and your charge card for everything at the resort as well as the other "Royal' properties in Cancun. The only downside to this is you have to pay attention to how much you are spending, but the up side is that you can leave your cash and credit cards safely locked in one of the two safes located in each villa. Upon check-out, you can pay your entire bill with pesos, US dollars, travelers checks or credit cards (but not American Express). Also, they will issue multiple cards, so each person in our party had their own card and got their own bill at the end of our stay.

Two in our party were into taking long beach walks, so having the card in their swimming shorts pocket meant that they could stop in for a beer at the Royal Sands without having to carry cash.

Different reviews compare the Mayan favorably or unfavorably to the other Cancun Royal Resorts, but our experience was that the Mayan was perfect. The next door property, the Carribean, was closed for its annual week of upkeep, so we did not visit that resort. Next door to that was the Islander which we did visit for a few hours but found the Islander’s pool area to be loud, crowded, and not nearly as nice looking as the Mayan. The pool was also several stories above beach level. At the Islander there were loud games of Bingo being played for free drinks along with a blaring (but not that great) stereo system. Uur husbands walked down to the Sands (a good distance, most people take advantage of the free shuttle) and they reported that the pool area had none of the beautiful landscaping that the Mayan had. What the Sands DID have was a much sandier beach which made swimming possible. Swimming was not impossible at the Mayan, but the first several days we were there the ocean was rough and no one was venturing in. Towards the end of the week it grew much calmer, and the rocks that had been placed along the shoreline following hurricane damage meant that there were huge schools of tiny fish which made for great snorkeling. Another reviewer claims that there is nothing but rocky coastline 'for miles' in either direction, but this might be an exaggeration. First off, there definitely IS beach right in front of Royal Mayan. There are rocks, and it isn’t always great for swimming, especially if you are not a strong swimmer or are very young, but there are lounge chairs and thatched umbrellas and sand. My husband and his friend walked the entire hotel zone beach, from one end to the other, and reported lots of areas that had much wider beaches and no rocks. A free shuttle to the Sands would get you on a sandy beach.

Marco, who manned the desk in front of the hotel and managed baggage and transportation was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, totally bilingual and was a great help in telling us which buses to take (we elected to take the city buses rather than taxis since at 7.5 pesos, the price was right and the buses stopped right in front of the property every few minutes).

The market at the Mayan was good for coffee, beer, tequila, sunscreen, postcards and limited food-stuffs, and the prices were comparable to other area stores, whereas in the states you would expect the resort concessions to be much higher priced. The market at the Islander was larger and had more foodstuffs, and there is a gift shop at the Sands.

We walked down the hill to the Captain's Cove restaurant (which has also gotten mixed reviews) for one dinner, which was thoroughly enjoyable. Captain’s Cove is another place you can use the Royal Mayan card rather than cash.

As stated earlier, two in our party walked the entire hotel zone beach from one end to the other, and their observation was that the Royal Mayan was one of the best looking properties they passed along their entire route. I would recommend this resort and would happily return again.

The sports desk had towels, snorkeling equipment, life jackets, pool 'noodles' and one-speed bikes that could be checked out free of charge.

The Mayan has three pools, two of which are 'attached' to each other via waterfalls. The smaller pool has a shallow end and is located on the opposite side of La Palapa restaurant and therefore away from the pool bar, making it more appropriate for children, although some guests seemed oblivious to the signs at the pool bar stating that the area was off limits to children. On the other hand, there were very few children of any age at the Mayan pool. Most guests appeared to be at least 40 and older and it was a relaxed and quiet atmosphere. None of the amplified bingo that was happening at the islander, and far fewer people in the pool area.