My boyfriend and I stayed at the Park Royal March 3-10, and flew out of Toronto on Skyservice. Our flight was delayed an hour in Toronto so by the time we arrived at the Park Royal it was 11 pm and no food was available. Check in was very quick that time of night, and we got a ground floor room, right outside the theater. We were told nothing else was available and to come back the next morning to see if we could be moved. I wanted a room with a better view. Anyway, we enjoyed a couple of great pina coladas in the lobby and then went to bed.

Next morning I woke up very hungry, and we headed off to the buffet for breakfast. I am not a picky eater but I was very disappointed in the selection at the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There was no pasta bar and no carvery, for starters. It seemed almost every dessert was some variation of bread pudding. I had a hamburger at the beach snack bar on our third day there, and got very sick the rest of the day and the following day. I spent the rest of the week eating mostly cereal, yogurt, bananas, buns, and the odd bit of pasta or vegetables. We ate at the a la cartes twice and the Italian was good, but small portions. Caribbean was very good. Didn't try the Mexican one.

This is the first resort I've been to (Cuba, all over Mexico - last year at the Cozumel Iberostar) where I have been very disappointed in the food and as a result I would not return. I was in Cuba a month ago, everyone always thinks the food in Cuba stinks but it was probably 10x better than the food at the Park Royal. The drinks were fine, not that we are big drinkers, but we didn't have any problems either with the service or the quality of the drinks.

We decided not to bother trying to move to another room as we liked the proximity of our room to everything - although it was loud between 9-10 pm when the shows were on (if you were in the room). Our room # was 2024 - I would not recommend it to anyone with young kids who are trying to sleep at that time. And also in the middle of the night I had to shoo away a couple of young people who decided to stop and talk out in the hallway. They didn't realize they were being so loud - voices really echo in the main floor hallway for some reason. So a warning if you get a room on the main floor of the main building - you might want to change it. We just decided it wasn't worth the bother, but in hindsight I wish we had.

We didn't have significant problems finding lounge chairs by the main pool most days, but down at the beach was a different story. But we don't let that stuff bother us, and eventually somebody would leave and we'd get chairs. We snorkelled a couple times in front of the hotel - there are a lot of fish, it is rocky in the cove, but there is a big coral head off to the left that is worth a look. We used the dive shop on site (Aquaworld) to book a boat dive and while it was a cattle boat, it was a very efficient trip and my first time diving in Cozumel so I was pretty awestruck. The service at the dive shop was fantastic by the way. They went out of their way to accommodate us the day before on a shore dive so I could check out my new equipment. They are rebuilding their main dive shop next door and it will be awhile before it's completed.

The timeshare people did not bother us, but I knew from previous reviews what to expect. I saw many people on tours of the resort with a timeshare rep, and I hope they got what they wanted out of it. I did that once many years ago and came to the conclusion nothing, not even my time, is free.

We took the ferry across to Playa Del Carmen, rented a car, and toured Tulum one day. We used the services of the concierge to arrange the car rental for us and were not disappointed. We'd toured the island last year so wanted to do something different this time. It is a nice tour, if you like to do things on your own and not in a group.

If you go into town, go on Sunday, as there are no cruise ships that day and I'm sure you can find better deals. The entire town doubles or triples in size when the cruise ships arrive and it is quite busy.

In summary, the Park Royal itself is lovely, the grounds are lush, mature vegetation, and very clean. They have made very efficient use of their property. I would rate this as 3+ or 4 stars based on the property. But for the food/service, I would rate it as a 2 star only and I am comparing it to probably 10 different properties I've been to throughout Mexico and the Caribbean which were anything from 2 star to 4+ star ( by Caribbean standards). I hope this review has helped you.

Don't get me wrong, we really liked this place. Here's our take:

(Note: In the Summer of 2005, we came & stayed at the Occidental Grand.)

Here's how I think the Park Royal compares now:

GOOD: The pools are nice. All the staff were extremely friendly & helpful. Check-in & Check-out were easy. It's brand-spanking new, and everything was clean. Everywhere you looked, there was someone cleaning something. Diving company through the hotel was terrific. Drinks were great. Breakfast, lunch & snack bar food was good. WiFi available (most of the time) in the lobby area. A road separates the hotel from the beach/pool area, but there's a great little tunnel so you don't have to cross the road.

JUST OKAY: The beach is really, really tiny. It was sandy, but about 3 feet into the water, it was all rocks. We didn't mind, because we were there to snorkel/dive. But if you're looking for stretches of beautiful beaches - this is not the place. Be sure to bring water shoes if you plan to venture in the water (and snorkel, mask & fins to see the pretty fish!). The entire property has stone & concrete walkways. It's a little hard to walk in sandals, and I would imagine it would be extremely difficult if you are physically disabled or use a walker. (We saw two people with walkers & they really had a hard time.) Dinner: Buffet was mediocre. A-la-carte restaurants: First, you have to stand in line early, so when they open at 12-noon, you can get a reservation. (If you happen to be out diving-too bad!) Second, the food at the A-la-carte restaurants left a lot to be desired. My husband left hungry.

We STRONGLY recommend going into town at least one night for dinner. Try either the La Choza or The Mission for fantastic, reasonably-priced, authentic Mexican food.

Time Share people: We were not approached once. We did see plenty of people talking to them though. One woman we talked to said, "I sat through the 90-minute presentation, and got a car rental for $20 a day." (But, as my husband commented to me later, our car rental was only $79 for 5-days = $16 per day.) Just be careful, you may not really be getting anything "discounted."

IN SUMMARY: If I went back, I'd stay at the Occidental Grand again. The property is more spread out, the beach is much better, the snorkeling is equal, the food is a little better and you get more of a "resort" feel.

Hola, I am so glad to see this past week's reviews of this hotel....We thought the negative reviews had to be about another hotel. We did find one walk way stone out of place, only were served 15 drinks an hour, ran out of hot water after a 60 minute shower and how dare the elevator drop other guests to lower floor rooms before us!!! COME ON....

When we arrived on February 28th at 11:00 AM to our surprise our room was ready (this would be a surprise at most hotels) and check in couldn't have been any quicker. Our 7th floor room was very nice and the bell boy was very helpful.

We wasted no time getting down to the pool, the pool was nice and quiet (kind of boring)- we preferred the pools down by the beach. Find the "Okie Dokie" bartender, he was funny and made a great drink called a Blue Cozumel. No pool servers but that wasn't a big deal to us, we were never parched. We tipped and I think the service was great also for the many that didn't. All the staff was friendly, helpful and working hard always.

The buffet for breakfast was good. Didn't eat lunch at the buffet, the snack bars were great-I am nervous eater, I ate a hot dog and I am living to write this.......It was good! I will give all of the food critics this..the dinner buffet was not so good and didn't offer alot of variety, I guess they do change it nightly. The reservation restaurants were fantastic, people do line up well before noon for a reservation.

We did not have any issue with time share BUT we did not go to the lobby area with questions... OH we rented a jeep, greatest thing we did on the whole trip. We went left out of the hotel to the pier area, several to pick from $50.00 seemed to be the rate, Don't do a scooter!!!!!!!! If you set out on foot to find a place to eat or drink be prepared to walk the 3 mile walk to town....nothing in between open at night, $4.00 cab ride to town (we took it back!!) Shop on Sundays, no cruise ships. AIRPORT TIP....No individual taxis, after checkpoint go to the booth that says taxi to the right (even if your transport is included) get your ticket and avoid all the timeshare people.

We hope you all enjoy this fantastic and relaxing resort as much as we did!!!

I was at the Park Royal from February 25 through March 4… Here is my review, in my opinion.

After several flight delays, we finally arrived at the PR to a beautiful resort. The size was perfect…not tiny, but not a sprawling
resort where it takes forever to get anywhere. You can tell it is new and that they spent a lot of money on the renovations.

Rooms: We were in the “new tower” on the 9th floor…however we had a small view of the water and mostly of the cruise ship pier and construction…however, you could see the entire island, which was nice. We didn’t bother to request a room change just because of the view (really how much time are you spending in the room?) The even numbered rooms do not have a good view, but the odd number had a really nice view… The rooms were large and all had a balcony. The beds are hard (which is not MY preferences). The bathroom we had had a shower with a seat and the shower head in the ceiling, which was very nice….just remember that the handles for the water are opposite of the States (cold to the left and hot to the right)…. Our rooms were made up daily at 4:00 p.m. Had no problem with the A/C, housekeeping, yellow water, bugs…perfect room (but for the view).
Pools: There are three pools and a kids pool (1 ½ feet deep). None of the pools are heated (but who cares, it’s hot outside). The free form pool has a waterfall, bar (swim and walk up) and snack bar. They were always cleaning it, but there are lots of trees around, so you can see why there were always leaves in it (not a lot). I don’t know how people can say it is dirty…please, there is a swim up bar at ALL the pools and sometimes you don’t see people get out for hours (now that’s gross and dirty)… They are REALLY nice pools though. The “hot tubs” are cold and kind of cloudy, not too many people in them.

Food: Okay, this gets tricky. I was 50/50 on the food. Liked the snack bar and Italian rest. (did not try the Caribbean). Buffet was good for breakfast (but that even got really old the last couple of days as there was no variety). Buffet was not very good for the lunch and dinner. The Buffet is really small in size. Not to be picky…but here was a sampling some of the dinner items: lamb with mushroom, squid salad, sliced conch, salmon with some kind of sauce, white rice, salad bar, rolls, different soup nightly, salami tray, cheese tray. The beef and pork were so dry they could have been jerky. My 10 year old (she is picky) ate 6 rolls for dinner one night…that’s it. I always found something, even if it was just salad, but I saw a lot of people with just salad…It is not a very kid friendly menu…I really like the Italian rest…. you had to make your reservations between 12 and 3..but a line formed around 11:45 to get a good time. By the way, the rest. dinners would take about 1 ½ hours to complete…so if your really hungry..make your reservation earlier.

I liked the beach…If you not a beach walker then this beach is fine…there are plenty of chairs and sand. It is rocky entering the water (I would highly recommend the water shoes), but the snorkeling is really good…ton’s of fish and creatures out there. I thought the water was clear and had great visibility. The cruise ships are close, but they didn’t bother me…the hotel offers free snorkel gear for two hours (fins, mask, snorkel and life vest if needed)…
One of the elevators in the new building was always broken. We just learned to not take that one…

I like the shows. They work hard and do a really good job. I found the staff to be friendly. When it came to service in any of the areas, food, bartenders, etc., it was hit-or-miss. The grounds were always clean.

We rented a car from Budget at the International Pier…don’t rent from them. We rented a tracker and it was ready to be retired, but it ran…so, we get the car, check all the dents, scratches, etc. (there were plenty), pull out to get gas (yes, they give you the car empty and you fill it up) right across the street (make sure the pump is on 0 before they pump it) and notice (mind you in 3 minutes) that the speedometer and passenger side window are broken. So, we cross the street to tell them so they don’t charge us for the breakage and they have the nerve to say that it is our fault…tell me how I broke the speedometer in 3 minutes??? so back and forth for 20 minutes and we cleared it up (hopefully). Buyer beware!!!
Try Chaakanhab (sp?) and Coconuts…loved it… Downtown is fun too…
FYI - free WIFI internet if you bring your laptop... little store next door sells sundries (and water). If you buy a water bottle you can have them filled at the bar by the pool (main). Safe is $2 a day and the hotel charges $5.50 a minute for calls placed to the USA. Our cell did not work in Mexico, don't know why. The drinks are not weak like a lot of other resorts...corona on tap...

Bottom line, it was nice for the price, but because of the food, I would not return...

If you have any questions, email me at vanessa_bury@yahoo.com... hoped this helped.