when we arrived at park royal, we were told that we did not have a seaside view and no, they didn't have a king bedroom available, that we were going to have 2 "twin" beds and a "garden view". we were dismayed, but they said that we could come down each day and make a new request and it would be honored based upon availability. once in our room, however, even though it was classified as a garden view, we had a splendid view of the sea and the resort, as well as the gardens. the beds which were classified as "twin", were in fact, more like 2 queen sized beds, so we were quite happy and kept the room.
my husband and i come to cozumel almost every year, sometimes twice a year and have stayed in two other all-inclusives: cozumel palace and occidental grand in the upper-end rooms. here's how i'd say park royal compared: above all, the snorkeling is much better, especially if you head off in the northward direction. no one to blow a whistle and limit how far you can go as with cozumel palace. with occidental grand, it's too sandy to see anything for quite a distance, so you could only see anything if you booked an excursion. i have to say, however, that at cozumel palace, excursions like this were free, and very nice. in regard to food, i'd have to say that occidental grand was the best. for the specialty restaurants on-site, we had some fabulous meals at the mexican restaurant at park royal and some awful ones (ribs) at the caribbean restaurant there. pretty much the same for cozumel palace. their oriental restaurant was a little absurd, but the mexican one was very good. there is only dos equis beer at park royal, but my husband had wonderful dark rum for his cuba libras (ask for "cuba libra con anajo, pronouned ann-yeeh-ho) and i had really good margaritas on the rocks. the rooms at the cozumel palace are gorgeous, the in-room jacquzzi huge, and the in-room bar a real treat. the rooms at occidental grand were nice, but no view of the water, although there were in-room bars. as for the grounds, the landscaping at the occidental grand is beautiful, but we were there for the sea, and only one pool, which has activities in it almost all day, is on the water. the cozumel palace has the most limited grounds, and grounds being a bit of a misnomer, as it is really concrete, no sand. they do however, have a great big lobby glassed bar with lots of seating overlooking the ocean, which is air-conditioned. all things considered, our favorite all-inclusive by far is the park royal for these reasons:large variety of places(and actual levels of places) to lounge in the day, and number of bars: sports bar, lobby bar, 3 swim-up bars in the swimming pools of which there are 3, 2 of which are on the water, good snorkeling, snacks near the pool, small covered lounging areas on the beach, comfortable rooms, really good informal dining and free computer access(one has to pay at Cozumel Palace and although free at the occidental grande, it was often down and it was only available for the upper end rooms). We only had to wait to use the computers a couple of times and that was because Dolly, the tropical storm later turned hurricane was due over us in a day.
We liked this place so much we're bringing the whole extended family next year.


(11 votes)




