We liked the hotel and room (standard room; we were on the ground floor so had a patio), and the service was *impeccable*. Our A/C didn't seem to be working when we checked in, and within 5 minutes of calling the front desk, they came by to fix it. Rooms and hotel were clean. Furniture in the rooms is not brand new, but is fine. Bed was a bit firm, which we were expecting from others' posts about beds in Mexico.

We had two issues we were unhappy with - see below for a description (first the good, then the bad...).

The hotel was not full when we went, so there were plenty of chairs available on the beach under umbrellas, by the pool, etc., and staff were very attentive and had time to stop and chat. Location is in the middle of the hotel zone, within walking distance of some (tourist) restaurants and with a bus stop right out front where you can catch a bus to the Centro where it is less touristy if that is your preference.

There is an onsite cafe open 24 hours, and several restaurants. We ate at all but the most formal, and food was good. Service was again excellent.

Wireless internet in room and common areas is $20/night. I think the business center is free perhaps.

Pool and chairs around it are nice, and there are umbrellas & chairs on the beach for use by hotel guests. Many of the beaches in Cancun, from what I understand, are much smaller since the hurricanes, and here is no exception - there is a fairly narrow strip of beach between the pool & hotel and the ocean. While we were there, the ocean was very rough and not easily swimmable - no bobbing softly on the waves while we were there. But this is not the hotel's fault.

We had only two concerns:
1. The "concierge" is part concierge/part salesperson to get you to buy ownership in the Royal Holiday Club. I don't know if all the presentations are like this (companies start pitching presentations in the airport), but the RHC people (ie, the concierge) offer you free breakfast and goodies ($50 off a tour) if you go to a presentation. The breakfast and presentation was fine, first sales person (not the concierge) was very nice, but refused to discuss price and details at first, and it became a very very hard sell at the end. No printed material containing prices is available, because apparently they don't have fixed prices, it's whatever they can get. They first quoted us $23,000 (!), but were down to ~$7,000 by the time we were able to get out of there. Sketchy, felt like used car salesmen. The club may be a good deal, but if you go for it, be sure to hold out for a much much much cheaper price than they first quote you.

2. There is a policy of no outside food. That's very frustrating, because usually like to keep a 6-pack of soda or beer and some snacks in the room. We did that anyway, but had to hide it in our luggage when we left so the cleaning crew wouldn't see it. Also you can not have outside food delivered, or get take out and bring it in to your room without having to sneak it. We also bought (and hid) big bottles of water, which are much cheaper outside the hotel, and used that to refill the littler bottles we bought at the hotel.

I must say I am quite surprised at the reviews that were recently posted. We LOVED this hotel. I stayed at this hotel from April 16th to the 22nd. I was traveling with my husband and two children (ages 2 and 5).

Our Room : We had purchased a room in the Royal Tower. Since we were traveling with two small kids we thought a bigger room would make our trip a little more enjoyable. I beleive these rooms cost a bit more - but was well worth the extra money. The room, which had a wall of windows with sliding doors opened up onto a little terrace looking over the ocean (We had room 2202). The room felt like a New York City boutique hotel. Very modern. We had a large flat screen TV that could be viewed if you were in bed or sitting in the living room area. The bathroom area was divided my a screened wall which you could opena nd close by a push of a button. There was a very very large and deep tub, the shower area was the best I have ever experienced. It had a rain shower - shower head, two wall heads and a hand held shower head. The best part was that you could run the rain shower head and the two wall heads all at the same time (with as much hot water as you wanted). My husband and I miss this a lot! There was double sinks and plenty of closet space. The towels were extra large and the bedding was a high thread count and the beds and pillows were comfortable. Absolutely no complaints! (and I'm the type of person who would tell you if I thought otherwise!)

The Royal Tower Rooms also included a free continental breakfast and snacks and drinks in the Royal Tower Lounge every night between 6-8 pm. The breakfasts were adequate, the kids liked the selection of cereals and my husband and I liked the baked goods and fruit. During the evening hours they had top shelf drinks, water bottles, mini tacos, great guacamole and chips and other snacks for us to choose from - all included in our room price. We felt like VIPs, we were usually the only ones in the room.

The pools were very nice. One was very trendy while the other was very nice. We liked both. Although the trendy pool had king size beds surrounding the pool with shades - a great place to take a nap! My kids also fell in love with Strawberry Daquaries - yes they were expensive, but if you have ever travelled to other destinations you know that all places charge high prices for pool food and drinks.

The beach was nice. When we got there it was very choppy due to the strong winds, but by the time we left it had calmed down and was lovely. The beaches have shrunk since the huricane a few years back, but they have three beach areas - they were all very nice. Every morning we could see from our room a man raking the seaweed from the shoreline.

Overall, We would go back in a heartbeat. I would recommend staying in the Royal Tower (the newest part of the hotel).

By the way - we also didn't encounter the Swine Flu!

If you visit here, boost your bank account before you leave home. No sooner do you walk
through the front door then you are asked to pay for something.
The inroom safe is not free, you can pay per day on the safe or in advance $2.00 usd
per day. There is a card in your room saying "please avoid the temptation of theft and use
the safe. Also in your room is a pay for item minibar, your morning in room coffee will cost you $3.50 usd for a packet normally free at other hotels you'll get two cups out of it.
They may charge for cream and sugar, I didn't check I drink my coffee black.
The beds are hard as a rock so you may want to bring a pad to sleep on. Pillows are small and flat, so, if you plan on getting any rest forget it.
This is a time share resort so, if your not into that, don't talk to the Royal rep. across from the business center. They'll offer you free breakfast and a dinner cruise if you attend
their presentation. They have a hard time hearing no.
The internet will cost you 55 pesos (about $5usd) for thirty minutes. If you don't use it all
you'll pay for more, no rollover time. So, if you have extra time , use to find a new resort!
The beach was o.k, no problem finding a lounger. For the conservatives out there, the
female visitors behaved themselves and kept both pieces of their suits on.
It's not a snorkling beach, the surf is rough and visibilty is poor.
Use your food money and go across the street to Limoncello's (Italian) and Lorenzillo's
for lobster. Excellent food, good quality and quantity. These places are better than a lot
of places in the states.
Cancun reminded me of Las Vegas with the wall to wall hotels and L.E.D lights, it's not
for me, so I won't go back. Cancun does however, have fabulous color in the ocean,
multiple hues of blue, with white sand mixed in by the current, a photographers dream.
There is bar service on the beach that will be charged to your room, keep a receipt to
compare to charges at check-out. The food we had was o.k, it's hotel food, how good can
it be.
Overall, aside from paying for everything it was o.k nothing to write home about. I would
seriously consider an all inclusive.

This was the first non all-inclusive we've stayed at in Mexico so we didn't know quite what to expect. It cost about $700 less than an all-inclusive, so we thought we'd try it out. It didn't end up being much of a cost-saver after all. The restaurants/deli at the hotel were very pricey. We had lunch at La Concha our first day. I ordered a club sandwich and a coke and my husband ordered a hamburger and a Corona. The bill was $40. They ask if you want refills on the soft drinks - but they are not free. We had the breakfast buffet our last day and it was $32. We ordered two small strawberry dacquris at the pool-side bar and he gave us two larges instead and the bill was $20! $10 for one dacquri - ridiculous. Needless to say, we ate out the rest of the time. You can't bring any food or drink back to the room - not even bottled water or snacks. And, of course the bottled water at the hotel is expensive. I would suggest sticking with an all-inclusive unless you don't mind venturing out for every meal, snack, or drink.

There are two great restaurants across the street from the hotel - Limoncello and Lorenzillo's. You can also take a bus to the La Isla mall and there are several places to eat there. Warning about the bus - if you miss your stop, get off at the next one and walk. They do not circle back around. We made that mistake and were on the bus for about an hour and 30 minutes and had to get off one bus after the driver stopped at the end of his route and get on another to take us back.

The hotel was pretty clean. The pool area was nice, as was the beach. My only complaints about the room were the bed was not real comfortable and the pillows were awful. The sheets looked clean, but did not smell clean at all. It was pretty gross. And, the towels smelled like kerosene or some sort of gas. And, the blow dryer that was attached to the wall through a switchplate came out of the wall as I was using it.

Other misc. things - you have to pay $2 per day to rent the safe in the room. The prices at the hotel gift shop were very reasonable.