This was our second trip to RH in Playa del Carmen. Small, boutique-like resort. In our opinion, there is nothing not to like. If you are looking for raucous fun, screaming kids at the pool and on the beach, "Spring-Break" atmosphere, wild nightlife, this resort is NOT for you.

Service: Amazing. Everyone answers with, "My Pleasure." Staff go out of their way to assist and get to know you. Activities staff Jessie and Alex introduced themselves on Day 1 and remembered our names through Day 7. Ricardo, the bartender at Las Ventanas restaurant, learned our favorite drinks. Bernardino, relentlessly took food and drink orders at the pool area until well after dark. Kudos! Laura from The Grill would bring ceviche and quesadillas to us at our pool chairs. Great job all. It's clear that most everyone that works there enjoys and appreciates their job.

Housekeeping: Seemed to always know when we were out of our room, which was kept clean. Turn down service while were at dinner. Well done.

Check-In: Fast and efficient. Met with a glass of champagne. Since it was only about 60% full during our stay, our room was upgraded to an ocean view since we were returning guests. Tip: Ask a room that faces inside the resort, not towards the outside walls that face lesser, noisier resorts. And ask for a room closer to the ocean and the pool if available. We didn't really care about what floor we were on; this time we were on the first floor, which had a larger patio area for enjoying room-service breakfasts.

Food/Restaurants: Loved them all. Reservations req'd, as I'm sure everyone knows. It did not bother us a bit. We opted for later times, like 9pm and 9:30pm, giving us lots of time to clean up after day at pool and ocean, even a little "siesta" before our meals. In order of preference: Las Ventanas (Continental with wonderful piano bar), Pallazo (small, upscale Italian), The Grill (Al Fresco dining by the pool and Ocean), and Azia (Asian fusion). There is a bit of a dress code. I'd say that about a third to half of the diners treat the dinners as an opportunity to dress up -- we did. It may seem like a pain when you're home trying to figure out what to pack, but when you and your "date" are dressed up, drinking a Grey Goose martini and listening to the piano player in Las Ventanas before your amazing meal, you won't regret that you're in nice slacks, shoes and shirt and your date is in a beautiful cocktail dress. Some have complained about "small portions," but that was never a problem for us. We preferred sampling many smaller courses, and there's always the ability to just order two or more entrees. (If you have a big appetite, order the 7-course Tasting Menu at Pallazo.)

Drinks: Top shelf. I'd avoid the "daily specials" and pick what you most like to drink. For us, we like our handmade top shelf margaritas: Herradura Resposado tequila, Grand Marnier, fresh lime juice and a touch of simple syrup. Yummy and unlimited. On our last day with a pick up for airport shuttle at 12:20 pm, we were on a raft in the pool enjoying our last couple of these "golden margaritas" before departing. There is a wine list at all the restaurants with some expensive selections; I recommend just sticking with the house wines. We're not wine snobs, but living in the Napa-like Central California Coast, we're no slouches either -- we were fine with the "all-inclusive" Chardonnay, Pinot and Cab.

Activities: There aren't really many activities. Jessie and Alex at the pool area have something planned about every hour or so (yoga, bocce, darts, salsa-making lessons, scuba lessons), but not many people participate. As others have mentioned, night-life is a bit lacking. They do have music/bands in the Allegria bar most nights, which tend to lead to dancing by 1-8 or so couples. We found ourselves having a wonderful time dancing several of the nights, often until the music stopped at about 1am. I'm sure the cocktails and wine at dinner made us much better dancers than we normally are.

Tipping: As mentioned by the resort and other reviewers, tips are included. Still, quite a few guests do tip. I took about 80 x $1 bills and used most of them up during my 7-day stay, though that also included tipping the airport shuttle drivers. I would often give $1 when ordering drinks by the pool or in the restaurants. For the dinners, which generally lasted 90 leisurely minutes, I left a $5 tip for the two of us.

Weather: Every day was about 82-88 degrees, mostly sunny. Unlike our last trip in July (hotter with occasional thunder showers), there was hardly any precipitation (a few sprinkles). It did get darker sooner in November (about 5:30 vs. 6:30 or 7:00 back in July).

Condition of Resort/Rooms: Very nice, but it is starting to show its age (12 years, I think) and the effects of the elements. The wrought iron table on our patio was rusted and flaking; the pool plaster and coping were getting weather-worn. But these are small complaints and do not detract from the resort's beauty. Villas and rooms were very nice and well kept. The grounds were constantly being manicured. Pools were impeccably clean. Nice cushions on pool lounge chairs. Restaurants were grand and well appointed.

Recap: We are already planning our next trip. Really a spectacular resort and time for adults. May not be the best place for younger adults because it's more sedate than other resorts. I hope my review doesn't encourage too many other people to go -- we want it to remain an undiscovered gem.

The Royal Hideaway continues to be my shining star of a resort. Their elegant designed, sleepy old world charm is a far cry from many of the other resorts in the area. You get a small, luxury resort that focuses on style, food, and service. Their rooms are beautiful. Quality furnishings, great beds ( for me), with plenty of pillows, single serving modern coffee machines and flat screens in the room, great shampoos/conditioner provided. All the luxury amenities you could want in a room. Each villa has a concierge to set up anything you want to do (your dinner reservations, excursions, ect). Their head concierge, Cynthia, is amazing. She went above and beyond to make our anniversary trip outstanding.

There are all these amazing hidden pools with hot tubs scattered around the property that are fun to use when you want privacy and to feel like no one else is around Not to mention their main pools overlooking the beach where you don't even have to move for anything you want, as their fantastic staff will get you everything.

The beach is HUGE, perfect. Great to swim in, perfectly groomed daily with comfortable lounge chairs, 'tents' that can be attached for shade, and also so nice naturally shaded areas with trees. Thai beds line the edge of the property, giving you the most amazing place to relax if the sun is too much.

Their deck patio is our favorite place to sit before dinner and have drinks and play a hand or two of cards while watching the sun set.

Their restaurants are also wonderful. Coursed dinners. Tons of high-end cuisine that you can course out for a long, leisurely meal. I recommend doing an appetizer each, salad course, soup course, main entree course, and of course dessert. The tasting menus are also a fantastic way to 'try' everything.

Walk into town for a fun afternoon or take a short cab ride, if you want nightclub entertainment. Some consider the Royal Hideaway a 'sleepy' resort. I don't see it that way. It's got plenty to do all day and if I want more, I am so close to town that there is no worries.

Love their remodeled gym. I am a gym rat at home and it provided me with everything I need. Their spa is also newly remodeled and a beautiful place for a massage.

I can't wait to go back!

We booked this hotel for our 25th wedding anniversary on the recommendation of our daughter who had stayed the year before. It was a fabulous stay.
Our room was upgraded (probably because it wasn't that busy in November and they could) to the Presidential Suite. Fantastic ocean views, bottle of bubbly and tray of fruit waiting on our arrival.
The food was outstanding. Our favorites were Azia and Las Ventanas. The Italian restaurant and Spices were just average in comparison. Great Ceviche and local treat for lunch at The Deck Grill.
We made dinner reservations with our concierge for each night so our timing was never an issue. The concierge was very friendly although not so great on follow up on getting items to our room. It took 3 days to get our outdoor hot tub working but in the big picture it was a minor item on the list since we weren't supposed to have one anyway.
I did take advantage of the spa services which were lovely. I had their signature massage which was 110 minutes long, too long actually, I think she ran out of parts to rub down. Next time I'd book a 60 or 90 minute massage instead. Can't believe I'm complaining about a massage being too long!
Lots of other activities to do. Because the location is so close to town we borrowed some bicycles and rode into to town for some shopping. Locals were typically geared for tourists but it was all good and we felt completely safe.
The resort is for 16 and up so it was quiet which was really nice, no heavy partiers. There were a few topless exhibitionists but that was the exception to the rule.
They really did everything to ensure we were happy on a daily basis and we would definitely recommend. We were used to travelling with Sandals and having personal butler service and this was a nice change.

We just returned from a one week vacation at the RH. We booked this as a last minute trip and were not 100% sure what to expect as we didn't do too much homework on the resort.

The second we arrived to Cancun airport we were greeting by our Air Transat rep and given private transportation to the resort. It was very comfortable and the drive only took about 35 minutes.

Immediately upon arrival we were helped out of the car and escorted into the lobby, the front desk staff was very friendly and wished us a happy anniversary. To our surprise, our travel agent Marketa from itravel2000.com called ahead and told them about our anniversary which was very nice of her! Our room was not ready which we expected and didn't mind at all. So we headed to the pool and had lunch at the deck.

Room- An hour later we went to our building #30 "Ilang Ilang" and were greeted by our concierge Gerardo. He was extremely friendly and brought us up to our room on the 3rd floor. It was decorated with balloons and they had a anniversary card waiting for us! The room was very nice, walk in closet, jaccuzi, rain shower, and a king size bed. We did face onto the other resort but the music at night never bothered us- we fell asleep fine.

Restaurants- lunch was always my favourite because of the guacamole and Baja Fish Tacos! The staff at the pool will bring your lunch to your chairs as well! In order of favorites:The Grille, Italian restaurant, International restaurant, and then the asian restaurant. Did I mention every liquor is premium you just have to ask. I was drinking Grey Goose or Belvedere all week.

Staff- above and beyond amazing. I have never experienced such thorough customer service. Our concierge Gerardo did absolutely everything for us from booking dinners, day excursions, breaking bills for tipping, arranging champagne for dinners, getting dress pants for my boyfriend who forgot his, and much more! Also, the staff at the pool will always bring your drinks to you, I never had to get up and get anything myself. Try the Pink Panther it was delicious!

Activities & Nightlife- We went to XCARET for one day. It was great, only recommendation would be to not buy the transportation add on and just take a cab to the resort. Cab is about $13 each way and you wont have to stop at 5 resorts to pick up and drop off people.
Be sure to take the bikes from the activity center and ride around Playa Car its a gated community and it has some gorgeous homes.
At night the resort bar isn't usually too busy so we preferred going into Playa Del Carmen and grabbing drinks at Senor Frogs or Tequilla Barrel. Very fun and you'll meet people there.

I cannot think of one negative thing throughout our whole experience. The portion sizes are perfect and if you are ever still hungry they will bring you more without a question. I now know why this resort was rated one of the leading hotels of the world:

http://www.lhw.com/findahotel.aspx