Where do I start? My girlfriend and I love to travel and have a great time! Unfortunately our experience at the Park Royal was almost all negative. It started off by being stuck in a room with two twin beds, we asked for a king, they refused to change us?? Then we found out that my girlfriends parents couldnt visit us on the hotel grounds unless they paid 40.00$ US each. Even if they did pay this rediculous fee they could only visit between the hours of 11:00am to 6:00pm. Their all inclusive package for food was horrible from our experience, however we only ate their twice because we were visiting her parents at the Presidente Hotel which was happy to let us hang out at their beautifully groomed beaches. Our second breakfeast was horrible. I went and complained about the runny eggs, rubbery pancakes and uncooked sausage. I was then struck by the worst case of food poisoning Ive ever had. Basically ruined two days of our trip.
The Park Royal took no responsibility for the food poisoning and blamed it on my dinner from the night before "steak???" There was no compensation for the park Royal even after we told them that we were not going to eat at their Hotel any more. They basically could care less!! Upon checking out from the hotel they continued to try to charge additional money for taxes that for some reason couldnt be added to my original hotel charge. I refused to sign for the new charges and the manager of the hotel wouldnt let me leave the hotel grounds untill I signed. They physically attempted to to restrain me!!!

Needless to say it was a horrible experience!!
DONT STAY AT PARK ROYALL!!!!!!

My husband and I own a timeshare and booked the Park Royal through RCI. While the room was clean, it was small and had two beds when we asked for one king size. Our request for a room with a view was taken into account, and the view was great. However, the food was average at best, and a lot of it was awful. The staff members were indifferent, and it would often take 10 minutes or more to get someone's attention to bring a drink at the restaurants, and then when you asked you were lucky if they brought anything at all. The snack bar ran out of salsa mid-day and did not replenish it. How does that happen at a Mexican resort?

We went through the timeshare presentation, which we've become masters at getting through quickly, and had problems with receiving what we were promised when we were promised it, including being threatened by the manager. Upon complaining to her supervisor, nothing was done to rectify the situation.

The grounds of the resort are beautiful. Being so near to the main road kinda stinks if you're hoping to enjoy some peace & quiet, but that's probably a problem anywhere in Cozumel that is close to the downtown area. Additionally, out of four swimming pools, one is specifically for children, while none are only for adults. Any attempt to relax near the bar or anywhere in any of the three pools will inevitably be interrupted by splashing children. We strongly felt that one of the pools should be for adults only. Also, the jets in the hot tubs barely worked, and the water was only a few degrees warmer than the pools.

My husband and I are nowhere near being picky, super-critical, never-satisfied travelers (believe me, I know a few). However, I would not stay at this resort again, and would not recommend it to anyone.

Here is what you need to know about the Park Royal:

1. The PR is located right next to a cruise ship pier, so about 25% of the horizon is taken up by a cruise ship during the day.

2. The beach is fairly small. There are infinity pools on each side, though, that also have nice ocean views.

If those things aren't deal-breakers for you, then I think you will enjoy the Park Royal. My boyfriend and I (both in our mid-twenties) were there for 5 days in February, and we loved it.

The grounds are gorgeous.

The pools are great, and all have swim-up bars.

We thought the food in the ala carte restaurants was excellent, and it was above-average in the buffet.

We had great service.

We also liked that it is near town ($4 cab ride).

The small beach didn't bother us - I prefer to lounge by the pool (less sandy!) And we actually liked seeing the different cruise ships each day.

Seeing how the PR is one of the less expensive hotels on the island, we thought we got the most for our money. We loved the Park Royal, and we hope to return next year!

We arrived and checked in very quickly. We were first placed in a room on the 3rd fl. next to the elevator. We immediately asked for a room change and we ended up on the same floor at the end of the hall. This was a much better room, quiet and a nice view. My husband plugged in the scented oil airfreshener. The room didn't really smell, maybe a tiny bit musty, but really nothing.

We only ate at the buffet because we have two children 7 and 11 yrs. old. They don't allow children in the restaurants. The buffet was inconsistent. On Italian night they had a make your own pasta station and that was perfect! The kids loved it! They had Mexican night and that was equally fantastic. Other nights were like Oriental night which isn't own thing and some other nights that if we didn't like it we just simply jumped into a cab and went downtown to eat. We ate at EL MORRO and it was the best. I highly recommend it if you are going to eat off the resort. Downtown is very safe to walk around. Walk east 15+ blocks and see the locals and how they live. This is an invaluable experience if you want to see the real culture.
I didn't mention this but my husband is a chef (graduate of the CIA - Culinary Inst. of America). So we may be picky eaters, but I talked to other East Coast People and we all agree that the quality at the lunch buffet needed improvement and that the dinner buffet was inconsistent. The breakfast buffet was GREAT!

The snorkeling was perfect. My husband, myself and our 2 kids walked down to the light house and snorkeled back to Park Royal. This was the best. We saw a pufferfish, stingray, remoras, flounders, barracuda, etc... The only things we didn't see were turtles, lobsters and nurse sharks. My advice is to remove all jewelry this includes your diamond earings ladies and go out in front of the property. There is no need to pay for any snorkeling excursion. When we were snorkeling back from the lighthouse we passed by several snorkeling boats that people paid to get on as we saw everything for free.

I can't say enough about the entertainment staff. First there is Angel a.k.a. "Cookie Monster" and Luz they are great! Everyone on the staff is wonderful but these 2 stand out in my mind. My kids loved them and so did my husband and myself. They were very energetic and they got eveyone involved. We played water volleyball which was a blast, beach volley ball (watch out for the cement under the sand, many of us are still healing from the major knee burns - don't say I didn't warn you!), water basketball, horseshoes, spanish lessons, etc... They made the whole trip worthwhile. My children couldn't wait to see them everyday! The evening shows were very professional. They hire outside traveling actors to perform. They also had bingo night. I think Cookie and Luz make Park Royal a very special place to be.