My husband and my son and I just returned a few weeks ago from Cozumel for a much needed mini family vacation. Arrived 7/30/04, departed 8/2/04. I had decided the week before we left to book a last minute vacation. I read every travel review I could get my hands on. I used Apple Vacations and they were great. No problems what so ever. After reading all the reviews and because it was last minute and most hotels were booked, I took a gamble and decided to stay at Park Royal. Before I left the reviews on this message board were 50/50 about Park Royal. I am not sure if I would have stayed at PR after reading some of the reviews about the resort since I got back. I have been reading them this week and WOW, some people hated the Park Royal.

Our stay at PR was great. We had a wonderful experience with the hotel. When we checked in at 10am, of course, we were told that the room would not be ready until 3pm. No problem. We gave the guy at the front desk $20 and asked for a ocean view room above the 4th floor in the newly remodeled towers. He said he would do what he could. We left and went to explore the resort. At 11am I went back to the lobby to get something out of my suitcase and they said our room was ready. I don't know if the $20 helped, but we got the room we wanted and we saw lots of people still waiting for their rooms at 2 and 3pm. The room had a great view overlooking the pool and the ocean. We could see the big cruise ships in port. Yes, the beds were hard and room a little run down, but I didn't care because I was in Cozumel.

We unpacked and by noon we were laying on a beautiful little private beach cove, drinking pina coladas. I loved the beach. After snorkeling at both our private beach (included in our vacation package) and Chankanaab Park ($12 per person, plus snorkeling equipment rental), I will tell you the snorkeling at our beach was a lot better. We saw sting rays, a barracuda and the most beautiful assortment of fish you could ever imagine. In fact, the cruise ships were bringing snorkeling tours right to were we were snorkeling for free.

The food was decent, nothing to write home about, but I already knew it was only going to be so-so from reading the reviews. We ate breakfast and lunch at the resort everyday. Breakfast was really good (Huevo Rancheros), lunch was hot dogs or hamburgers and very good guacamole and chips. We never ate dinner at PR so I can't comment on how good or bad it was. For dinner one night we walked across the street from the resort and ate fahitas at Ernesto's. We sat outside under the stars about 20 feet from the ocean. The fahitas were fabulous, the best. The two margaritas weren't bad either. Another night we ate the Lobster House and it was also very, very good.

We met several people at the resort who had been coming to Cozumel for years and years. They said that they had pretty much stayed all over the island and they came back to Park Royal because they felt they got their money's worth and the service was really good. The AI price alone was worth all the alcoholic drinks we had, and I thought the drinks were really good. We got top shelf anytime we asked for it. Luis the bartender really went out of his way to take care of my husband and myself.

My 14 year old son had a blast. I felt safe letting him roam the resort without us. Sergio, the social director, was really good at his job. He got my son involved in a beach volley ball game one afternoon that he played for hours, while my husband and I laid out at the beach.

After reading all the reviews I knew to make sure and tip $1 here and there. I tipped the maids and the bartenders everyday. Ended up costing me about an extra $50, but you know what, I probably got $500 worth of extra service back.

I did have a problem with the PR onsite car rental. We rented a jeep on Saturday from them to go explore the island. We had paid cash for everything and only brought out our American Express from the safety deposit box one time for the security deposit. The rental lady said I had to provide a credit card number for security deposit even though we paid cash for the rental. I did not want to give her the number because I had read several horror stories, however, I felt I had to. I told her I wanted the number torn up after we brought the jeep back. She assured me there would be no problem. Well....I got my American Express bill and lo and behold there was a $273 charge to the French Quarter Cozumel restaurant, made 4 days after we were already home. Of course, Amex is removing the charge. I did email Park Royal and let them know what happened. Haven't heard back from them.

My favorite part of our vacation was renting the jeep and going to explore the island. During the morning we went to Chankanaab Park to snorkle and play around. The park was really, really pretty. Should have stayed longer. Then we went to Coconuts Bar on the East Side, which is a must see. So beautiful and so very different from the West Side. There is no electricity on that side. No matter what else you do, make sure you go to the "Wild Side" and stop at a couple of the beach bars over there.

To sum up, I would go to Park Royal again. They were good to us, especially for the last minute bargain price I paid to go. This was our first time in Cozumel so maybe I was just excited to be there, but I do know good service from bad service. Park Royal treated us good and I would not hesitate to stay there again. I am sure there are nicer resorts, but dollar for dollar I have no complaints. A vacation is what you make of it. I hope this helps. Feel free to email me with any questions you might have. Most of all, Enjoy the beautiful island of Cozumel. I know we will be going back very soon.