This was our first stay at the Royal Sands, although we have stayed at the sister resorts, The Royal Mayan and The Royal Islander. We purchased a Penthouse unit in phase 1 a couple years ago and this was the first time we were able to use it. My wife and I stayed in the king BR, while my brother/sister in law and another couple stayed in the 2 dbl BR. They made use of the murphy beds a few of the nights with no complaints. The villas are perfect for this type arrangement. The staff were terrific. The grounds were well kept. We shopped for supplies at the market in the lobby, prices were reasonable and had anything we needed. On our last day we had lunch at the Char Hut pool bar at phase 2, it was excellent, wish we would have gone sooner. Only issue was an elevator near our room that was out of service a couple days. The beach in front of phase 1 is narrow and some rocks became exposed during the week. You could not walk very far south without going over rubble, rebar and broken staircases at another resort to continue the walk. We did not have a problem walking north. There was a wonderful mix of people from our age(mid 40's) to college spring breakers that had a good time but were always well behaved, young couples with children and also some retirees. Met and talked to many from each group. We rented a Chrysler Town and Country van in the lobby for approx $77 with all taxes and ins for a day trip to Playa Del Carmen. We had lunch at Carlos and Charlies, shopped a while and visited the beach before heading a few miles back north to visit The Royal Haciendas. Very nice pools and bar, and beach. Spent about 3 hours there and the girls got ready using the hospitality room and back to Playa for dinner at Los Aluxes, it was excellent although not the most appealing restaurant from the street. It is on the second floor and everything was great. After more shopping it was back to The Royal Sands. No worries or concerns while driving, watch for the always changing speed limits and the speed bumps. All in all a great resort, can't wait til next year and many more after that.