My husband and I stayed at the Royal Islander from May 9th - May 16th and I must say it was a great experience. We first arrived at noon time on the 9th and we were greated by our concierge Dante and he was fantastic. Check in time usually isn't until 4pm, however, we were able to check in once we arrived, which we were happy about that because we had a wedding to get ready for as our friend s were getting married that evening. We stayed in a two bedroom villa and it was very spacious and very clean. We had maid service everyday and they did a great job. Our concierge Dante called us everyday to make sure we didn't need anything.

The Royal resorts have a shuttle bus that is able to take you to between the resorts ( so the you can use the other resorts ammenities), which is very convenient and they come every 30 minutes. The pools at the Islander were very nice. There was hardly any beach because of the hurricane's however, we knew that before we arrived, therefore it was no surpirse.

We were able to take the R1 or R2 bus to many restaurants, clubs and even Walmart and they run every few minutes 24 hrs a day, which made it very convenient.

We even used the laundry facilities, which was very convenient. The resort also has a convenient store, which has just about any and everything you could want.

Staying at the Royal Islander was a great experience and my husband and I would definitely stay there again.

We stayed at Royal Islander and the place was great. The service was excellent and all I saw were smiling faces that wanted to help find whatever you needed or wanted. The room was excellent with a great view of the ocean. The room was serviced everyday and it was great. The location was excellent. It wasn't far from downtown and malls were close. They always had taxis outside but the city bus service was very accessible, easy, and inexpensive to use. They had a great spa and access to a gym which was great. The restaurants were great and inexpensive

Other than the Swine Flu scare (which forced a shortened time in Cancun and at the Islander) and absolutely no beach the Royal Islander is a good value. The staff is extremely helpful and go out of their way to help. Compared to other time shares seen this gives you lots of room, especially if you take both the A and B portions of the villa.

One word of caution --- don't ask for extra towels unless you are willing to pay. For the first time in a number of years traveling I was told that to give more than one towel per person in the room would add $5 per day to the bill!!!!

Also, another downer is there is no broadband internet connection in the rooms. You have to go to a common area, i.e. restaurant or lobby, to get a connection. The upside is the connection is free.

Overall, putting all things in balance, it is a good place.

We stayed at the RI for the week of our honeymoon as a gift from my parents to use their timeshare. We are both international travelers and have pretty high expectations and were met with a fantastic resort upon arrival. We had a very smooth check in and when we arrived in our rooms the maid had left swans in the shape of a heart out of towels with a small veil and bowtie on the bed (HOW CUTE) ... we stayed in a one bed one bath villa (sleeps up to 4) and had a full kitchen and large balcony with ocean view. the pool was fantastic and the pool bar even better. We ate lunch at pacos tacos and the food was good and reasonably priced. TIP- happy hour is the best deal for drinks.

Yes, there is no beach due to mother nature BUT you can hop any shuttle from the resort which is every 30 mins and SUPER fast to one of the 4 sister Royal resorts (club international de cancun has the best beach) or you can go over to the royal sands and enjoy their enormous pool with special inpool chairs. The resort staff is amazing and we were not really hassled for timeshare once we said no we were not interested. We could change our money out at the front desk for a much better rate than in town BUT we recommend looking into changing you money at the airport IN THE U.S for an even better rate. a few tips-1) USE thomas moore for the shuttle. YOU WILL BE harrassed from vendors the MINUTE you step out of the customs area.. IGNORE all of them and walk straight outside and find the thomas more rep just like your voucher said that you have to print out before hand. Its easy, fair, and you WONT get ripped off..... 2) listen to the bellhops and vallets at the resort. they wont let you get ripped off by taxis and they will help you with the bus which is a lot safer,cheaper and easier than taxis. 3) dont eat the buffets at the resort, although good they are you not worth the money.....

the resort was wonderful, staff so friendly, and we will be returning soon (and hopefully to a new beach that they are working on rebuilding)