We were upgraded to Royal Club on arrival. We thought great but why???? Room beautiful.
Dining at Royal Club NOT recommended unless you have already eaten...... portions during our stay were poor to say the least. There was a choice of only 4or5 meals only.
In the first 7 days of our 14 day holiday they CLOSED the buffet restaurant down 5 times, so our choice of 30 meals was cut to 5 so we had to go to the "specialist restaurent" Med themes or Steak House.... so we booked 24 hours earlier to go to the steak house - it opened at 6 we booked for 7.30 and they had run out of steak when we ordered. so out of the 5 choices - the one we ordered wasnt available even though we had given them 24 hrs notice and so we walked away. The Manager at the time couldnt give a monkeys.. I questioned him about this and he said what do you want me to do its close season? They kept closing the buffet down because the food was being wasted so the manager told me...... and hes dead right the food was being wasted because it (30 choices) was either pre heated and recooked from the earlier meal and was covered in every herb and spice and piece of green veg you could think of. We saw the rep and she arranged for 15 or 16 of us to speak to management.... so it just wasnt me. To cut along story short they said they would do this and that for us - they did for one day and it all went to pot again. They closed the disco for the whole time we were there. All there was to do was drink at the bar......I could have done that at home. Overall the hotel was poor there is no way this is 4 or 5 star and this should be addressed. Yes it looks pretty in the brochures but dont let that fool you. However what I can say about the staff - and I dont mean Management, I mean the people who really looked after us... they were Excellent nothing was too much trouble, and they probably deserve more money than the penny pinching company pays them.
I would like to thank the staff for there warm welcome and professional approach, nothing was too much trouble.
The beach was fine the ameanites poor the people great the food was CRAP and the management was the same. Sorry but there is no way from our personal experiance of this resort would we recommend this to our friends or anyone else. Its probably is a nice place if you are a convict and want to hide in the jungle - but thats all it was a one beach island town - dont go here save your money and go to Blackpool - at least the portions cover half the plate.

We were bumped up on arrival to the Royal Club, which was a wonderful surprise. The first time we've ever been upgraded anywhere.

The rooms were lovely, the staff very pleasant and the food very nice if a bit same-y after 2 weeks. The Royal Club has it's own pool with jacuzzi bubbles, which was much used by my husband and I after a long day sunbathing :).

I thoroughly recommend this hotel, but you don't have to be in the Royal Club. You get the same treatment everywhere in this hotel.

My husband and I stayed at the RC Occidental Grand Cozumel June 27-July 3, 2008. We absolutely loved the hotel and had the best time!

The entire hotel staff was very friendly and accomodating. Everyone went out of their way to make sure the guests were happy!! I just can't say enough about how nice everyone was!

The rooms at the RC were spacious and the bathrooms were were nice. Beds were a little hard but comfortable.

The food at the hotel was okay, not great. However, the food at the RC restaurant was excellent!! We had a great breakfast there everyday and also had a delicious dinner there one night.

The beach at the hotel is beautiful with pretty good snorkeling. There is also a quiet pool and an activities pool so there is something for everyone.
We spent some time at the private pool at the RC. The lounge chairs at the RC pool are really comfortable and the pool is usually pretty quiet and it is small. Plus, it is right outside the RC buildings so it is super convenient. It is a nice change of pace from the larger pools at the hotel.

We really loved this hotel and loved Cozumel soooo much! we would definitely return to the RC and we feel that it is worth spending the extra money for the RC. You get special treatment and are closest to the beach, plus the private rooms and restaurant are great!

We stayed at the Occidental Grand - Royal Club from July 21 - July 29th, 2008.

We arrived on the day the hurricane or tropical storm Dolly had passed through, and got the to hotel about 2PM in light rain. We were greeted relatively quickly. Someone suggested when I said we were staying at the Royal Club - that they give us a ride back to our rooms on a golf cart.

We had requested connecting rooms. I had booked a Junior Suite with my son, my daughter and her friend had a Deluxe. When we were checked in at the concierge, we were told we were in separate buildings. I was irritated, but there was nothing they seemed to be able to do.

I then asked about the Internet connection in the room. I was told there was a charge for that. I told them no, it was included in the room - that it said so on the web site. They pulled up the web site and saw that it was there. The concierge said he'd check with the manager. This was about 3PM. By 10PM the manager had not responded as she was in a meeting about the hurricane. This seemed not to be true - the hurricaine was gone and this was a 7 hour meeting. I finally blew it up and was irritated.

Next day - when I saw the concierge they gave me a slipt of paper with a password for the Internet - I noticed they had a unch printed. It was almost like they just found out they were supposed to be offering the Internet for free. Then - router was not working, could not get online for awhile. Eventually - by noon - all was good and stayed good until a week later and I was checking out so didn't care.

The private pool was small, and a little strange in that the jets like a jacuzzi were always on. However, it was very quiet and near the private restaurant. It always had fresh towels and the waiters would at times come by and offer us drinks.

The private restaurant was really nice. It too was never crowded. The staff made a very big effort to speak English. The service was always a bit slow, but it was less so than the Caribbean and just seemed the norm. The food was really pretty good compared to other resorts I have stayed at. The portions were great - in that they were European sized - meaning small, and really great - espeically at dinner.

The junior suite was nice - very spacious. The bed, however, was horrible. Just your typical lousy mattress, and it sat on a wooden board - no box spring. Bathroom was nice - a narrow jacuzzi tub and a shower. There were always sugar ants in the bathroom - and in the living room - that was a downside. My 18 year old son was more bothered by it than I. I seem to remember this being the norm.

Maid service - was okay. I noticed when I left $2 or $3 out - my mini fridge was re-stocked and they left a towel made into a creature on the bed. I noticed when I did not leave money - they left no animal or drinks. Maybe a cooincidence?

Room service - was fine - slow, but fine.

The pool restaurant was fine. The service was really, really bad at Sonora, and the pizza place was just okay. The buffett was fine.

The beach was nice, not too rocky. The area next to the hotel was empty and quiet.

The main pool was very loud, but people preferred that it seemed. The staff were all very nice and engaging.

We had a problem with our air conditioning. While they didn't fix it the first time, they were really responsive.

All in all, we spent $10,282 for 8 nights - with air fare - and the kids were 17 and 18. I can't say I loved the hotel for luxuriousness - but it was nice and I would probably go back there.