This was our 28th visit to OMR since we first visited in 2011! And the single most important reason we continue to return over and over is THE STAFF! We cannot overstate this. Every single person who works at OMR goes above and beyond to make sure each guest has the best experience possible. Let me start with arrival at OMR. The valet/bellhops run to greet us and are always amazed when we arrive for a 10 day stay with only two backpacks. (Vacuum bags are the key). We drop our bags with them for safekeeping until we have our room assignment. Then on to Guest Services to check in. We are Privilege but we know most of the staff on both sides. The head of Privilege Guest Services is Luis and he is a true gem. He and his team, especially Omar, are all smiles when we come in and have our paperwork ready to sign. Drinks are soon brought in and all we have to do is get our room key and we are ready to roll. Over the years we have stayed in lots of different rooms. We are happy with any room we get because we don't spend much time there. We usually get a couple of extra blankets for the bed because the AC is nice and cold. On this trip we stayed in Room 607 which has a renovated bathroom that is very nice. The balcony overlooks the main sidewalk and it's an easy walk to any area of the property. We always have our first and last dinner at La Dolce Vita. Captain Jorge Casanova is a friend going back to our first visit and he started spoiling us back then and has continued to spoil us by always trying to give us a good table, always making sure our glasses are full and always making sure we have a delicious meal. His team of pro waiters work like a well choreographed ballet! Alberto, Jose, Lydia, Jared, David all participate to make sure every diner at LDV has attention. Even when the restaurant is packed and there is a line to get a table, these guys are cool and calm and manage to make it look easy. And if there is a line to get in, you just sit in the lounge area with the amazing ocean view, have a drink and chat up new friends! For breakfast, we use Hacienda buffet. It has so many choices that I guarantee you will not go hungry. I like to get a custom omelet. Lots of fresh fruit and veggies too. All the staff at Hacienda are also special to us! From Raphael and Sandi who greet us to Vincente, Alfredo, Charley and Octavio who serve us - we love you! For lunch, we were surprised by the new option at El Charro. It was formerly a small buffet but it is now a la carte. The options are several types of tacos and a very nice green salad as well as hamburgers. We loved the shrimp tacos best. We also ate lunch at Privilege a couple of times and the menu there also has some new items like coconut shrimp and bass croquettes. The day staff at Privilege also take care of us on the beach. Managed by Captain Carolina who is another longtime friend and she is assisted by Dani, Sofia and Augustin and sometimes Roberto. It is such a joy to interact with you each day. We also ate at the Blue Moon. Captain Javier is another special friend and his waiters Esubeio, Ermelio and Jose take excellent care of us. We love to cut up and joke with them and even though we don't speak Spanish very well, we manage to communicate! Yokosoo has become another favorite spot for us because we can go there and get sushi. In fact, you do not need a reservation for the hibachi if all you want is sushi. That makes it very simple. The wait staff there are also treasured friends: David, Manuel and Mary. Shout out to Daniel, who is one of the hibachi chefs, for putting on a great show! The dinner menu at El Charro has also been revamped. We ended up making a meal out of several appetizers washed down by some lime margaritas. We want to recognize all the bartenders who keep us well hydrated including Oli, Octavio, Jorge, Tiger, Antonio, Eber, Miguel, Jonny and Diego. I bring my own sparkly plastic champagne flute and carry it with me all day. As we have gotten to know the staff over the years, we have been through all kinds of life events with them from births to deaths. Each one has a unique story and if you take the time to listen, you will be blessed. There is one girl I got to know a couple of years ago who hands out towels by the pool. I noticed she can speak English well. We started talking when we were here in December and I asked her if she had any plans to move up to another position at OMR where she could use her English skills. She told me she was applying to be a butler and I was very excited for her. So imagine how happy I was when I arrived for this trip and found she has begun her training as a butler. Way to go Brenda! There are also a couple of sweet girls who work very hard in the lobby at night that we know as Jojo and Ana! Both are truly lovely both inside and out! Such energy! How do they keep up with all those drink orders??? We were also pleased to see that Augustine is back in Mikes Cafe. He left last December but he is now back where he belongs! Mikes is a great place to get coffee and a yummy treat. We don't normally spend time in the sports bar but we do want to mention Cristobal and know that he does an amazing job there. We also don't normally stay up for entertainment but this time we did see the fire show and the Broadway show which were both fun. We did eat dinner at the Hacienda buffet a couple of nights. The food there is always outstanding. Again, so much variety, grilled options, tons of desserts. The only downside is that it is loud in there and not as intimate. Sometimes, we go there just for the desserts! We also recommend that if you are thinking of booking OMR, go to their website and sign up for the H10 Club. Just give them your email. You get automatic 5% off and free transfers. They also send you emails about special discounts. We find we save a lot of money by doing this. There is also a FB page called Fans of Ocean Maya Royale that has lots of photos and information. It's always a pleasure to return to OMR and then to share our experience with others. We feel that we were meant for OMR and it has become a second home for us. It is more than just a place to vacation. It is an opportunity to reconnect with friends, meet new friends and strengthen bonds that will last a lifetime.

We had two weeks at OMR in January. The hotel is lovely but during our first week particularly there were a lot of very loud guests who seemed to do nothing but sit drinking all day at the pool. We were woken twice by neighbours having a party on the balcony next door and on one occasion a girl had to be taken from the pool in a wheelchair as she was too drunk to stand. The bar staff seem to encourage this behaviour. We did notice that on the second week there were more older people there and it was a lot more sedate. The restaurants were good. Apart from the main buffet, which had a good choice and service was good, there were Japanese, Mexican, Italian and Blue Moon. We didn’t visit the Japanese as hubbie didn’t fancy it. We went to the Mexican most lunchtimes and there was often a bbq. We only went once in the evening and were very disappointed when we had fajitas that weren’t sizzling, quite cold and had no flavour. We loved the Italian though the walls are open and so if it’s a bit cool you would need a cover up and we were bitten by bugs. The food and service were very good. We went to the Blue Moon three times and it was our favourite though you sometimes had to wait nearly an hour for a table. We went for our wedding anniversary and although we had informed Tui, they hadn’t passed this on to the hotel. However, our friends told the waiter and he came back with a beautifully decorated plate. The rooms are large and the bed very comfortable. My only problem was we weren’t given soap in the bathroom and after a few days of using the hotel toiletries to wash my hands they stopped replenishing it. I had to keep moving my shower gel between shower and basin. Not a major problem but a nuisance. There are only two pools and they are right next to each other so you can’t get away from the loud foam parties. I did aquafit twice but it was exactly the same whoever ran it and I got a bit bored. To get a bed you have to put your towel down by 8 am so we did that and then went for breakfast. The beach was extremely disappointing for the Caribbean. There was no seaweed on the beach but the sea was black with it and if you went in you came out covered in it. I did manage to swim once when there was a gap in the seaweed around the pier. The pier would be a good place to get into the sea but it was closed off. We only did one trip and that was a really good day to Cobá Maya, which you can still climb the 42 metres to the top, a Mayan settlement and a lovely swim in a cenote. The hotel was too far out of the way to walk anyway though I did go along the beach to the lagoon for a little swim. Overall, what let this hotel down for us was the fact it’s too far away to walk anywhere, the lack of a good Caribbean beach and the loud, drunken guests. We won’t be back.

My boyfriend and I stayed here September 20-24. We caught an amazing deal on the hotel through their website and signed up for their H10 program. We scheduled transportation for free through the hotel and when we arrived we had a short wait for the shuttle. When we arrived the hotel staff all had on masks and the check-in process was seamless. Hand sanitizer stations with foot sanitizers were set up at all major entrances and restaurant entrances. The hotel had just opened the week prior to arrival and the hotel wasn't packed which added to our feeling of safety. During our stay we enjoyed a delightful couples massage outside overlooking the beach and pool area. We also signed up for a scuba excursion with DiveIt! to some cenotes and the Mayan Ruins. Margarita was working the DiveIt! booth by the pool she was wonderful and wasn't overbearing about signing us up. The restaurants were great but they only had one, sometimes two, restaurant open a night which was fine considering they just opened and the resort was not at full capacity. Reservations are encouraged and during check in they explain the online process of how to do that. The menus were online as well to decrease touch points. The property was well kept and looked like the pictures. There was seaweed on the beach but it's a beach so it didn't bother us. Mask use was required for staff and highly encouraged but not mandatory for guests. It was my first trip during the pandemic and it was such an amazing experience. I highly encourage anyone considering booking here to do it!