I have to tell you , in all my previous trips to Cancun, I really enjoyed the Royal Islander, the staff was very hospitable and would go out of there way to make you feel like you were at home..We went to the Dies si sais de Septiembre ( September 16th. celebration) and love the show at that Royal Mayon resort-Aberham our waiter was the best..

My wide and I stayed at the Royal Islander from Aug 22 - Aug 29, 2009. We loved it. Here are the highlights:
The flight down from Newark to Cancun on Continental was fine. We were surpised to see a long security line to leave the terminal in Cancun. Once we picked up our luggage, we had to wait over 30 minutes to pass through security on the way out, including luggage XRAY and searches.
We had arranged for Thomas More Travel to pick us up at the airport. Their paperwork warned us to walk through the terminal and ignore everyone and meet the TM reps outside. This was good advice. Thre were alot of aggressive people offering to drive us to the RI, or even to take our luggage to Thomas More. Once we met the the TM rep, we were taken to our ride and away we went. It took less than 20 minutes to arrive at the Royal Islander.
One of the few complaints we had was the check in process. The layout of the hotel was a litte complicated, and we were left to schlep our own luggage to the room. We had some difficulty finding the room at first, in fact we were lost!! We happened to run into our "personal concierge" as we were roaming around, and he took us to the room. If he was coming to meet us 10 minutes after check in, why didn't he just escort us in the first place? Anyway, this is a minor complaint, and probably the only complaint we had for the whole week.
The room was Ocean Front, and quite nice. We had exchanged a Marriott 'Lock off" for this room. It had a small fridge and a coffee maker. The ocean view was amazing, at least three shades of turquiose!! The weather was perfect, one short rain shower mid week. Other than that, hot and humid. We were poolside in time for Happy Hour the first day, perfect timing. In fact, we were poolside most of the time. The drinks were good and reasonable, especially during Happy Hour. The poolside service was great, always 2 or 3 guys taking orders. In general, the service was excellent, every one was friendly and eager to assist you.
As a guest of the Royal Islander, you can make use of the facilities at any of the Royal Resorts. The Royal Islander, Carribean and Mayan are next to each other and connected with walkways, almost like one big resort. There are several other Royal Resorts that require you to take the shuttle bus.
We did take the time share trip down the the Royal Hacienda. It was a great place to spend the day, a really beautiful resort. The pool and beach at the Royal Hacienda are amazing.
Overall, we had a great, relaxing time. I would highly recommend the Royal Islander.

Couldn't fault location (although the area of beach in front of the resort has been ripped apart by a hurricane, they are planning to dredge and make good - who needs it anyway, great free half hourly shuttle between the 3 clustered resorts (Islander, Caribbean & Mayan) to the Sands (10 mins) which has a great beach). A joy to arrive (with a frequently car-sick child) and have to travel only 20 mins by minibus from airport to resort. You're assigned a concierge (not in the normal vein, but more as an adviser and available to answer all questions by phone anytime). The staff are wonderful - nothing is too much trouble. Transport is very reasonable (bus along hotel strip is only 7 pesos per person). Food is more than adequate in the resort with many many alternatives nearby. Took a trip up to Walmart (30-45 mins by bus) - yes it's a bit cheaper, but frankly the on-site supermarket more than catered for our needs - and by UK standards it wasn't too expensive.

The centre of our world for 2 weeks was the pool at the Islander. At 3pm they called happy hour when everyone around cheers and jumps into the pool to spend the next few hours until sunset sipping margaritas and pina coladas whilst making new friends in the pool. Wish I were there now!

They can book you on some great trips out. Xcaret is an excellent day out - although we nowhere near finished doing everything we wanted to do. There is an underground river you snorkel along (although you don't have to snorkel). Loads of things to see.

All in all this timeshare resort was better than any hotel I have ever stayed in. Service and attitude are the best!

What can I say? The above title says it all. We loved this resort. It was immaculate, the staff was friendly and helpful. While we were at the Islander, we also visited the other four Royal resorts in Cancun. While all were nice, and the beach at the Royal Sands was the best, I would stay at the Islander again and again. In the week that we were there, we made some friends, and got to know the staff. The pool was the best. Pacos Tacos was great and reasonably priced. Yes, the beach was small and you cannot swim there because of the rocks, but we knew that already. It is very easy to pick up the shuttle to the Sands (strong surf) or Club international (very little waves) to swim in the water. The accomadations were very roomy. We traveled with my son and although we did get a two bedroom, a one bedroom would have been more than sufficient. My son loved sleeping in the Murphy bed in the living room. We had our own personal concierge, which was a very nice touch. Part of his job, of course, was to get us to have lunch with their sales person and listen to the sales pitch. The lunch was delicious and relaxed and the sales pitch really only consisted of a short tour of a unit and a 15 minute pitch. Very low pressure and did not push when we declined to purchase. I love this resort!