We had a 7 day 6 night stay at the Park Royal hotel. The experience was great. We found the staff to be friendly and helpful, and was able to help us with all of our questions. The hotel was also very clean, and the property was well manicured. We really enjoyed the property layout, which made it feel like you weren't trapped in a small location. The food was good. We really enjoyed the three sit down restaurants they had. The food and service at these restaurants was excellent, and we didn't have any problems getting a reservations at a time that worked for us.

We would definitely stay here again if we went back to Cozumel.

Do not go here. There are no non-smoking rooms. Staff is very unfriendly. Management does not seem to care. Food was average. Beach is about 40 feet long. Cruise ships dock in front of the beach. People were waiting for over 3 hours to get into their room- this was at 7pm.

When booking my trip to Cozumel, I had a tough time deciding between an all-inclusive, or one of the cheaper smaller hotels in town. I knew I wanted to eat several meals outside of the resort, but at the same time, I knew I wanted to spend time hanging out at a pool with a few cocktails. In the end, I decided to book at the Park Royal because it seems to have the best combination of activities, proximity to town, and room rate ($230/nt.). With this rate, and only a $4 cab trip to downtown San Miguel, I wouldnt feel too guilty by not eating all our meals at the resort.

And it turned out to be an excellent decision. The grounds of the resort are beautiful, although not as spacious as some of the places near Playa del Carmen. The resort is actually split in two by the main road that runs north and south. The rooms and the main activity pool are on the inland side, and a tunnel brings you to another pool, a small entry beach (more for snorkeling than swimming), and two more pools on the coastal side of the road.

The staff is mostly friendly, though most of the bartenders are not too engaging with the guests. The only exception is Alex in the Sports Bar who is a real character. The only cerzexa served is Dos Equis draft. Sort of wished they had Sol in bottle, but that is a small nit. There was no evidence of any watering down of drinks.

Cant really comment too much on the food. Breakfast is a buffet and was decent. From what I can tell, lunch was predominantly burgers and hotdogs at the poolside bars. There was always chips and salsa available, but dont expect guacamole. We had one dinner at one of the three main restaurants- the Caribbean place, and we both liked our dinner...and we are both sort of foodies. If you go, you'll want to make reservations when they start taking them at noon, or you could be SOL or stuck with a really late dinner.

But we had some excellent meals off of the resort. LaChoza in downtown San Miguel was awesome. I loved the Chicken in Black Sauce and my wife had the Vera Cruz fish which she also loved. The ceviche at Albertos, a small little beach bar and restaurant by Playa Palancar, was fantastic. And you HAVE to rent a car and drive to the East Side of the island. No houses or hotels out there, just a number of small beach bars that get their power from the sun and wind. We stopped at Mezcalito's and Coconuts. The shrimp tacos at Mezcalito's may have been the best meal I had in Cozumel. The view from Coconuts is great (be sure to check out the guest books). We also had dinner one night at Casa Denis. Good, but a little more expensive than I would have thought. But it has great atmosphere on the streets of San Miguel and is the oldest family owned restaurant in Cozumel, so no complaints.

All in all, I would definitely recommend the Park Royal and a trip to Cozumel. It is not a place to go to to stay holed up in your resort, so Park Royal is a great compromise in terms of fun hotel, affordable and close to downtown.

Park Royal, Cozumel
February 16, 2008-Feb 23, 2008

Weather: Perfect. A few drops of rain the night we arrived and after that not a drop. Sunny for the most part, when a cloud did float through it was actually a bit of a relief from the heat. Temps averaged around 86 by day and 75 by night

Hotel:
Check In: Very slow, it was almost 10 PM when we arrived and we stood in line for quite some time waiting. There were only two people checking in and there were several arrivals. The buffet quit at 10:30pm so most of those people did not get to eat. We dropped our carry on’s off in the room and made it to the buffet just in time. There were very strict about not letting anyone in after 10:30PM. There was no other food of any kind available anywhere at the resort after 10:30PM.
Room: Very spacious and exceptionally clean. Sounded like all the rooms were two beds. Just a handful of kings. Storage was pretty tight. Just 3 small drawers in the dresser and then a small shelved area in the closet. Hangers were plentiful. There was a nightstand but no drawers. The bathroom was generous in size. Shower only and a large marble vanity. We never had water that was even near hot, in fact I would say lukewarm would be pushing it.
No clock or no radio in room. It did have a 27” TV with a good selection of channels.
There were plenty of towels and washcloths along with a bottle of shampoo and some soap in the bathroom.
Two bottles of water were left daily.
The rooms all have a balcony. We were in room 2318 and could see the ocean, but only a distant view as other buildings were in the way. You need to be at least on the 5th floor to see a better view of the ocean.
There was a digital safe in the room ($2.00 per day charge)
Resort details: High rise buildings. There is a road between the hotel and the ocean but when you are on the grounds of the hotel and go to the beach you walk though a walkway (tunnel) but you don’t even realize you just walked under the road. Excellent design. On the ocean side of the road there are two pools, two bubble tubs (cold hot tubs) A bar at each pool and a snack bar that is open all afternoon serving hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, burgers. There was another pool in the middle of the resort and one behind a fenced area for the children. This one had a small water slide.
No tennis courts. There was a volleyball area.
The games and activities were limited to when the staff ran the games. After that all was put away.
Restrooms by the pool area are very clean.
There is a very small beach with palapays. You need to get there early to get one as they are all saved very early.
No beach to walk, the only place to go for a walk is out on the side walk.
The walkways in the hotel are very difficult to walk on, they are made of rough stone and it is easy to turn an ankle on them. This is not a hotel for a handicap person.
Restaurants: There is the Italian, Mexican, and Caribbean. Reservations are taken at the Italian/Mexican at noon until 3 pm daily. Get there early for best times. Seatings were available every ½ hr.
There was also a buffet for each meal. The breakfast was the best one. Noon was general and the evening was a theme. The theme was posted o the large activities board by the buffet restaurant. None of the buffets were anything to rave about.
General:
2 mile walk to town via the sidewalk along the ocean, great walk. $4.00 taxi ride back
outside amphitheatre for evening show at the resort 9 pm for one hr.
Ice machine on each floor
Coffee available at the bar just outside the lobby area. 6am until 7am
There is a small flea market area just two blocks away where the cruise ship dock. It looks like the area they board in but anyone can go in the market.
The hotel has a business center with 4 computers available to guests. No charge
Wireless internet in lobby available
Great place to snorkel
Lots of time share people in and out of hotel