Just returned from a trip to Cancun at the Royal Solaris. Enyjoyed the stay but be careful of the hotel security. Do not wonder around by yourself. Food was okay - better than I thought after reading other reviews. The beach front was excellent!!!! The pool was a little loud for my taste but the partiers seemed to enjoy the activities. Easy bus ride into downtown.

I read literally dozens of reviews on here before booking my trip back in April and felt I should repay the favor as I always refer here before traveling. If you're thinking whether the price is too good to be true, it is! Reading the negative reviews both before and after, you have to realize that anywhere, anytime, anyplace there are going to be people that just love to complain about whatever they can and won't be satisfied. As people have stated, if you're looking for 5 star, be willing to pay the price.
Onto the important stuff--overall, this place is a definitely a great deal and I would go back in a heartbeat if it weren't for the swine flu dilemma there in Mexico. The amenities may not be 5 star but the service sure is! The rooms are very basic, nothing fancy but nonetheless spotless, very clean, very cool a/c and stocked with your basic necessities. The service is great! I still remember one waiter by the name of Daniel who worked in the main Buffet at night and did the flambe coffee in the afternoons sometimes. He would always go above and beyond. (Btw, if you are looking for ice cream late at night, just go to the main buffet...slip Daniel a dollar or 2 and he'll go to the back and sneak out a bowl or 2 for you--we bumped into a few people looking for some and let them know cause me and my bf did this!)
Now onto the food! It is definitely good and at least average to above average. I live in NYC and frequent restaurants on a weekly basis and can attest that the food here was definitely edible and enjoyable (I'll attach some pictures for reference). The buffet had a nice selection and the breakfast was definitely worth getting up for! I loveddd the fresh papaya juice they had. Also, be sure to check the little island stand of the buffet right b/t the stairs--they usually have something interesting but people tend to overlook it a lot. The specialty restaurants outside are definitely the best bet for lunch--we tried both the one on the royal side and on the caribe side. In my opinion, the caribe side was better but unfortunately, I forgot what we had. We also tried both the specialty restaurants for dinner, they were both pretty good (pictures below) as well but not sure if its worth the wait around dinner time since the buffet was just as good the night we went.
I would definitely recommend swimming with the dolphins, it was a great experience! However, the jungle tour was not. They take you out to the middle of the ocean, tie the boats together, and you hop off to snorkel in extremely shaky waters. The smell of the gasoline from the boats was so overwhelming that I got sick from it.
TIPS:
-Bring lots of $1 bills! Although tipping isn't required it is GREATLY appreciated! A dollar goes a long way and the service you receive is definitely worth it.
-There are kayaks and peddle boats you can rent for FREE at the marina across the street.
-If you want to do any tours--go to the little indoor flea market thing downtown. There's an office for all the tours there that are MUCH cheaper than within the hotel or anywhere else.
-you can hop on the bus right outside the hotel and it'll take you downtown in a few minutes--its cheap, fast, and safe; exchange cash for pesos at the hotel front desk for the bus so you can give/get the right change

First of all I want to say that we had a good time on our trip but we will probably not make another trip to Cancun. This was our first trip to Cancun after staying at Breezes Runaway Bay in Jamaica 2 summers ago. We had such a GREAT time in Jamaica that our expectations of Cancun before we left were pretty low. I know different people like different things and we just prefer Jamaica where I am sure others would dissagree with us but here is my oppinion. HOTEL: We stayed at the Royal Solaris in the Royal tower. When we booked the hotel we thought we were booking a hotel with 7 places to eat. We were not informed that the Caribe tower was not open therefor there was only 4 places open to eat (2 at a time at the most). This wasnt really a problem because the food and variety was pretty good. We had our 11 month old baby with us and we even found plenty for her to eat and never had to use her Gerber meals. Compared to Breezes we probably liked the food at the Solaris a little better. There seemed to be a little more variety each day. Our flight arrived at 10:20 AM and we did not get checked in to our room until 2:45 PM which was pretty hard because we did have our 11 month old. I can not complain much because we knew check in was not until 3 PM but we feel like they could have spead that up a little since we had a little one with us. We also requested a crip when we booked and again at check in and were told that would not be a problem. When we finally got our room our bellboy (who was great) had to call and get on to them for us not having a crib. We finally got our crib about 30 minutes later. Our rooms at both hotels were pretty comparable. We do not spend extra for our room because we dont plan on staying in the room much. We are not big party people but do use the bars. These were also pretty comparable although there was only one bar opened at a time at the Royal and there were 2 to 3 opened at time at Breezes. As far as comparing the Royal Solaris to Breezes they were both probably rated about 8 out of 10 to us. The 2 things that make us like Jamaica better are "the people and things to do". The service at Breezes was by far better than the service at the Solaris. We knew almost ever person at Breezes by name and they knew our names and we did not learn a single persons name at Solaris. This may have a little to do with everyone in Jamaica speaking English and in Mexico speaking Spanish. The people in Cancun were not rude by any means and they all talked to our little girl but there was just a difference to us. We also like to get out of the resort and get off the beaten path to find stuff to do and we did not find a whole lot to do in Cancun. We did something different every day in Jamaica and still had a list a mile long of things we want to do when we go back and after 4 days in Cancun we had pretty much done everything we thought looked like fun. To us Cancun is really Americanized and pampers to the tourist and we would rather get out and see the true country where we are visiting. If we want to eat tex-mex we can get it at home and if we want to swim in a pool we can also do that at home. The water in Cancun was beautiful but was way to rough to swim in where the water at Breezes was calm enough to snorkel right off the beach at the resort. I know this was pretty long and a lot of you will probably not agree with me but to us this was our opinion and our 1st and last trip to Cancun.

We arrived on June 6th for our 4th trip to Cancun, 2nd to a Solaris resort. In 2007 we stayed at the G R SOLARIS, this time we booked at the Royal Solaris. I will refer to the difference between the two resorts to help those undecided between the two.

Upon arrival, we were promptly checked into the Royal Tower of the Royal solaris as the Caribe Tower was still closed due to low occupancy. The Caribe pool and the mini-golf were the only open amenities on this southern end of the resort. Our room was clean, had the BEST ocean/marina view anyone could ask for and much more than we could ask for. We stayed in room #1540 which had an incredible terrace with 3 lounge chairs but room for many more. It was a 1 bedroom that had 2 separate rooms! A master with a king bed, small dinette set and 4 drawer wardrobe with a TV above. There was a Jack-and-Jill bath that adjoined the rest of the unit which consisted of a kitchenette (mini fridge, sink, coffee maker & minimal dishes. Nearby sat a dining table with 4 chairs, sofa, 2 upholstered chairs, an entertainment unit with TV and a murphy bed (full size) and another sink area. The views out the expansive windows & patio doors were amazing (see photos)! Yes we are RCI/Solaris Club members and this was a FREE upgrade for us costing only a 60 minute presentation (to upgrade to the "presidential suites"), which did not exceed a second past 60 minutes. Though we did not upgrade, this did not affect our stay.

I really wish the Caribe tower was open. The architecture there was authentic Mexico and I think I would have asked to stay there now after seeing the rooms and the surroundings. Only because it is more authentic, and even though it was in some disrepair. I fell in love with this half of the resort I guess because it was not like the standard hotel appeal (see pictures). My sons loved it as well.

Everything was so clean, service was very great, as usual, especially if you tip (we tip $1 for most but not all drink orders / $3-$5 per breakfast & lunch / $8- $15 dinner in Marco Polo). We usually end up taking $100-$200 in $1 -$5 bills US dollars strictly for tipping though you do NOT HAVE TO TIP. These people work so hard to make you feel like royalty, I feel it is worth every dollar I tip. The BEST waiter BY FAR that we encountered was VICTOR! He usually works at the Caribe restaurants but was working at the Royal, due to the closings at the Caribe. We asked for him every time we ate because his JOYFUL demeanor was so contageous. And yes, we tipped him for his service.

The pool was nice, entertainment staff were engaging, beach is the BEST IN CANCUN (no rocks to speak of and more sand area than most other resorts), food is just OK, (except Marco Polo which is A+). We are not spoiled people when it comes to food but we have had the food at the GR SOLARIS and it was definately better there...even Victor our waitor agreed. He did tell us that the food at the Caribe tower restaurants is better than the Royal tower restaurants. The Caribe tower and restaurants were scheduled to open the day we left so I can't personally testify to that.

We did order dessert from room service most nights and it came within 10 minutes, was presented nicely and tasted as good as it looked.

We took one tour, the Jungle Tour booking it through Xel-Ha in the lobby shop for a steal @ $184 for 3 adults, 1 child (14 year old counted as adult, 9 year old counted as child) which is well below the normal $66/adult $30/ child rate. I did book this tour online before going and printed a receipt for them to compare before seeing if they could beat the rate. Check www.entertainmentplus.net before you go for GREAT deals. If you pay a deposit (fully refundable if canceled within 24 hours of the booking-yes I got my refund) and show it to the Xel-Ha folks, they will try to beat the price. The Jungle tour we switched to was through Aqua Fun and I give KUDOS to our tour guide. You leave in a 2 man speed boad from the marina in a caravan of 5-10 boats to the reef, snorkle for 45 minutes and return to the marina. THIS TOUR WAS SO GREAT for the kids and adults!! I highly recommend this 2 1/2 hour venture but book for a tour before noon or it gets SO HOT!!

I hope I have covered most of the points of interest here. If not, please feel free to ask me more questions. I have been to Cancun 4 times since 2005 and will share any details you wish to hear. I will say if you are looking for a good deal, this or the GR SOLARIS are both wonderful places to stay for the $.