My wife and I stayed at the Park Royal April 6-13. I had fun pointing out all of the things people had complained about on this forum, and how most of them were either ridiculous or untrue. The Royal Holiday people are there, but like others have said if you say no thank you, they leave you alone. The facilities are beautiful. We were lucky to get one of the 10 King rooms (out of 330 total rooms) although I can’t imagine having two doubles instead would have made our experience any less spectacular. The staff there is very hard working, and is always aiming to please. Our highest regards go to Luis and Alfredo from the pool bars, Azrael and Alvaro for the Sports Bar and Angel from the Caribbean restaurant. All of these guys went the extra mile to make our time there great. The pools are great (and no, they are not cold), we spent the majority of our time at the two by the beach. Beach is small, rocky when you walk in, but the snorkeling was great. We made a trip with some friends down to Playa Mia for part of a day to experience a real beach. A $58 roundtrip cab ride and $15 per person admission fee were a bit much for having a long sandy beach to enjoy the sun-although if you do go, you must order the chicken wings, you have to see these things to believe them. At the resort, the food overall was good. We liked the buffet for breakfast; most of our lunches were at the pool snack bars where the burgers, pizza, nachos and hot dogs are all pretty good. We tried all three a la carte restaurants, and really liked the Caribbean and the Italian, the Mexican was not that great (could have been an off night). The reservation system is a little messed up, but if you go around noon to line up, your back by the pool in 15 minutes-so grab a drink while you wait and relax-it is supposed to be vacation.

Go into town and eat at La Mission restaurant. The $25 surf and turf was awesome, as were the other 5 meals sampled by our group. We had a lot of fun at the Sports Bar, we danced, did some limbo, sang some karaoke, yelled hellos to newcomers as they arrived, some of our group even tended a little bar. Speaking of little bars, make sure to visit Guantanamera (sp) which is located right next to the resort (above the store where you can by the $4.00 water and $5.00 Pringles). When you go there (bring someone with decent Spanish speaking skills), ask them to play the dice game, and to try the cheese if they have any.

It would be nice if there was some food available at the resort past 10:00. FYI-three large one topping Dominos pizzas delivered to PR will run about $55, but having the snack after last call was definitely a bonus. We were given some insider information by the friend of a woman demanding a drink past last call-that where she stayed in Playa del Carmen the year before has gourmet room service (including brick oven pizzas), but for the $330 per person per night she said it cost, one might expect that.

We went for a week of relaxing fun in the sun, and we got that and so much more. If you are going on vacation to find things to complain about, you will find them. Overall, we had a great time and I have no problem recommending this is a great place for a vacation.

It pays to read these reviews and to keep an open mind!
My new wife and I (40 & 35 yrs.) were at the resort from 4/15 - 4/23 and had a wonderfully relaxing time. To sum it up, we're going back.
We arrived about 1 hour before check-in and spoke with Pedro at the front desk. We asked him if he had any rooms high up available and we were put on the 9th floor - dead center in the new building...a magnificent view. The place is immaculate by the way. And as for the cobblestone walkways - not really a burdon at all, although if you have any handicap with walking - take great caution!
They warn you up front about all the charges you may incur ($2 safe, $5 gym and, if stolen, $25 towels). Our towel was swiped from our chairs (which there are plenty of) on the first day so I swiped someone elses...not right, I know, but that's the way the game is played. We were much more cautious the rest of the week with our towels. USE THE SAFE IN YOUR ROOM. We did hear of items missing from rooms, but we were diligent in using the safe and had no issues.
Service throughout was excellent. Fernanda with Royal Holidays booked our tours and was very helpful and friendly. The waitstaff, barstaff and housekeeping staff all were prompt and responsive. Yes, at busy times the bars are understaffed so we just started doubling up on the drinks when we ordered! When the island starts to sway - stop drinking!!
Okay, now for the bad - the food! Breakfast in the buffet was good to very good...made-to-order omlets are the way to go. Lunch was fair, but dinner all the way around was just okay. Not a lot of choices on the buffet and everything was soaked in gravy. We tried the Mexican and Italian restaurants with so-so results...not inedible, but fair to poor. No room service and there are warnings about taking food and drink to the room which we ignored.
The water does run a rust color so we didn't chance it. We took empty water containers from home and had them filled at the bars throughout the day. Also, if you take them with you to the buffet the waiters happily fill them there to go as well. TIP: In the shower - right is hot water, left is cold! My first shower was very cold until I figured this out. It appears to be this way throughout the resort.
We rented a "Jeep" from Less Pay. I'm sure in the 70's it was a fine automobile but it was $35 for the day ($55 with tax/insr.) and we had a blast exploring the island for the day.
We also took the Tulum, Xel-Ha all-inclusive tour for $160 for the two of us plus round trip ferry ($20 each). Well worth the price to see this incredible Mayan ruin site and spend the afternoon in a beautiful natural eco-preserve, swim with the tropical fish and eat/drink all you wanted.
We've already started to make plans to go back next year at the same time, to the same place. We're a little wiser now, but absolutely had a good value, very restful honeymoon.
Please feel free to pass along questions to TRIP@LSTRIBE.COM.

We stayed at the Park Royal in Cozumel from April 14 - 21. We had a great time. The rooms were very clean and comfortable, the grouds were very well maintained. The pools needed to be vaccumed more often. There was never a problem getting a chair whenever we wanted. The pools by the beach area were the best.

We read a number of reviews before we went regarding the food and were really concerned. The food was fine, had a great meals in all places, never a problem with the reservation system. In Mexican the service was really slow, but the food was great.

The only downside, some cruise ship employees came in one day on day passes. They were there to get drunk and that is exactly what they did. I think they should revisit the daypass issue and do away with it.

Overall, great place. We would and most likely will return there. The staff was great and responsive to your needs. When we checked in our TV did not work, they had someone there in less than 5 minutes to fix it. They other vacationers me met also said they would all return. I read some reviews about the cruise ships blocking the view, we enjoyed checking each day to see what ship had come in, watching them dock and watching them leave. There was only one area where they blocked the view.

My friend and I visited Park Royal April 12 - 16 and had a fantastic time. Let me break it down:

Facilities: The place was immaculate! The staff were always polishing, sweeping, buffing something! The public bathrooms were spotless at all the pools and bars. The restaurants were beautiful!

Grounds: The resort is beautifully landscaped with all kinds of interesing features. Again, the grounds were spotless!

Staff: Everyone was friendly. Some spoke more english than others, but we were always able to get what we needed. The concierge staff were especially helpful.

Food/Water safety: I drank the water they poured in my glass, drank the ice in the frozen drinks, ate the fruit and ate salads and didn't get the slightest bit sick. I didn't hear of anyone getting sick (other than drinking too much). Oh, and I used tap water to brush my teeth, too. Everything seems safe.

Buffet: I've read peope complaining about the food at the buffet. I have no complaints. The breakfast buffet was especially good. You can get eggs/omelettes made to order along with basics (pancakes, french toast, sausage, American name-brand cereals). Every meal had a variety of basics (chicken, beef and fish options, cold cuts, salads, fruit, bread) and some local favorites (i.e. cactus salad, squid pasta, fresh salsas). And the desserts were fabulous! I never had a hard time finding anything to eat.

Restaurants: Ranked in order, I would say the Italian is best, Mexican is next, and Caribbean is a distant third. Each restaurant provides a few choices each: salad, soup, entree and dessert, but the Italian restaurant has the biggest variety by far! At all the restaurants, everything was beautifully presented and service was great. At the Mexican place, I had roast duckling in a raspberry Mole! and at the Italian place I had the best shrimp risotto of my life! Oh, and it was super easy to make reservations! Just drag your butt from the pool to the restaraurant at 11:45, and the line is really short. You make your reservation, and you're back to the pool by 12:05.

Room: If you're in one particular building, every room has a view of the water (even though our booking didn't say "ocean view room"). But, it's true that cruise ships occupy half of that view all day every day - except Sunday. Our room was very comfortable. It's true, there's no clock - but who needs one on vacation?!

Activities: There is a full-time activities staff that plans activities on the resort (dance lessons, snorkel lessons, water aerobics, nightly shows in the outdoor ampitheater) and off the resort (tours of local bars/clubs). They were all really friendly, really engaging/outgoing, and a lot of fun! Nothing was hokey, in my opinion. The nightly shows are a lot of fun! If you're interested in doing a specific activity off the resort (snorkelling tours, Xel-Ha, Chakanaab, scuba, etc.) - ask several guests and several Concierge staff BEFORE booking anything. Guests will tell you what's worth the money, and each concierge has different connections and different deals to offer. Don't book the first thing someone offers you!

Time share: We found out that the time share people leave you alone if they think you're under 30, which my friend and I are, so we didn't get approached once! I heard that if you did sit through one of their presentations, you got discounts on all kinds of activities (jeep rentals, attraction entrance, ferry boats, etc.).

Tipping: It says tips are all included, but we tipped from time to time. It didn't seem to make a difference one way or the other.

Beach: I've seen people griping on here that it's impossible to get a beach chair. Not true, in my experience. Yes, the beach is small, but I never had a problem getting a chair or a little cabana. There's some mildly interesting snorkelling right off the resort, and you can use the equipment for free for 2 hours at a time.

Pools: They were all great temperatures, to me. Clean enough. (It's hard to keep a pool clean when people track sand into it from the beach) Each pool has a swim-up bar and a snack bar nearby. The large pool up by the resort hosts activities and a DJ. The infinity pools are much smaller and quieter, a great place to relax and enjoy the drinks, which brings me to . . .

Drinks: I never had a weak drink the entire time I was there. In fact, they were a little strong for me! They were great! Sure, they don't have the best variety or namebrand - no flavored vodkas or rums - but they know how to make something yummy with what they've got.

Overall: We had a great time and had a very good experience at this particular resort. I'd recommend it, for sure.