We just returened home(5/23/2008) after 7 wonderful days in Cancun. Our stay at Park Royal was awesome. I was a little apprehensive after reading some of the reviews. I guess the hotel listened. The food was wonderful. Plenty of selections. The Italian restaurant is impressive. If you are going to just relax this is the place to be. There are two pools. One for the kids and one for adults only. The swimup bar is located in the kid and adult pool. That's sort of misplaced, but never fear there is a bar at the adult only pool. The temperatures are scorching from May to late September so take that into consideration and also spring break is March so if you are not into loud rambunctious college and H.S. students running around drunk, then pick another time.
The tours are awesome. We never were bothered by any of the staff (timeshare or the Olympus tours people). If you purchase round trip transfers from the airport from Olympus, they will tell you to meet them at a specified time to schedule your return trip back to the airport. You don't need to meet with them. They do this so they can try and sell you tours. I just had the front desk call the day before I left and all was set. After deboarding the plane you will come into contact with people who want to talk with you. They will offer to answer any question you might have. These people work for thePalace resorts in Cancun.Their main purpose is to get people to visit one of their resorts. There are several in Cancun. This might sound disturbing, but actually it was a blessing for my wife and I. We visited Cancun Palace ate breakfast listened to their spill, turned them down and in return we recieved a full days pass to the resort(All Inclusive) We each received a massage and facial, tickets to Xcaret, Dolphin Swim, and Isla Mujeres. The guide told me with free transfers and all I saved over $1000. As you can see we did not spend alot of time at the resort, but it was the cleanest resort I've ever seen. Book at Park Royal you want regret it.

The Bad:
Our group of 8 had reservations for 3 rooms at Park Royal for my daughters wedding. We arrived early on a Saturday knowing that we would not be checked in until 4:00. We hit the beach and pool area for an afternoon of sun, drinks and relaxing. At 5:00 only one of our rooms was available. We had a family dinner planned for 7:30 and did not get a room until 7:00. What a disaster for all eight of us to shower and get ready in one room! I was in tears!
Be careful when you pay for the all inclusive. If you pay in cash demand a receipt, or avoid that completely and pay with a card and keep the receipt to dispute any "misunderstandings".
The timeshare personnel are pushy and intrusive. If you do happen to talk to one about a promised "goodie" or a discount please get it in writing, verbal agreements or compensations are worth as much as a peso.
The all inclusive does not include a wide variety of top premium liqour, (as they claim it does) it's just not available. So don't think that you can order Patron Tequila in your styrofoam cup margarita, nor can you get a glass of champagne anywhere on the grounds. Wine is either red or white, nothing worth drinking.
We didn't get to enjoy the swim up bar because it is in the family pool. Our group liked the adult pool much better.
Bring your own toiletries as they do not supply any hair conditioner, body wash, lotion, mouthwash or qtips, only bar soap and shampoo.The blow dryer didn't work but they replaced it promptly. There are no clocks in the units, and no music so if you want something other than Spanish speaking TV bring a cd player or ipod. There is no coffee maker either if you like to make early morning coffee in the room.
The Good:
The beach...so relaxing and beautiful it was great to take a drink and some chips and salsa out there and lounge for awhile. I just wanted to soak it up and keep that relaxed feeling with me.
The buffet was suprisingly good. Like a cruise ship. Breakfast was the best with the fresh omelettes, fruit and some interesting juices. Dinners were good too. The staff there was extremely nice. We only ate at the Italian restaurant once. The Park Royal could use more dining choices for an all inclusive resort.
The bar staff in the lobby was a lot of fun making us some crazy shots. The bartenders out at the adult pool were terrific too, as well as at the snack bar where they make great hamburgers.
The view from our balcony was ahhhh the very best!
Splurge and get the balcony & spa upgrade ($40 per night, call 2 weeks ahead and reserve it , they won't charge your card and get the ocean view not the street). Of course you keep the patio doors open at night so you can hear the ocean. They play soft flowing music (Enya) starting at 7:00 am very loud and it filters throughout the property and it's beautiful. Order room service breakfast and have it out on the balcony and really enjoy the gorgeous mornings.
You can order box lunches the day before for your group if you are planning an excursion that doesn't include lunch.
Take the bus everywhere, only about 65 cents. We had a sing a long one night. The whole bus sang La Bamba with one of the locals playing the guitar. Fun!
Use the travel service near the buffet to book excursions. They worked very hard to get our group organized for the week.

This was our third trip to Cancun and all in all we had a great vacation! The Park Royal is not a classy, 5 star world class resort where you feel pampered. But then again, the all inclusive is less than others, the location is good and the beach is ahhhhh!
Would we stay there again...no.

Atlanta: Park Royal- Cancun
May 2008
During my 5 day stay at Park Royal, it was wonderful, the staff was very courteous, friendly, and willing to please. I would book my stay at Park Royal again and I would recommend it to a friend.

Food: There was good. There was a variety, something for just about everyone.

Pool area: The pool area was clean with games for every age group.

My husband and I stayed here Apr.14-21. I had no complaints about the hotel itself. The service was great, the beach was fantastic, which is the main reason why I chose to stay here, after reading these reviews. There is a strong undertow, so I would probably not recommend this beach for small kids. We are not picky eaters, but we got bored with the food. The steak in the fancy restaurant is the best meal in the entire hotel, and is not to be missed! I expected there to be more available in the 24 hour "super deli", like maybe some sandwiches. But it's just chips, candy, cookies and the like. One shocker was a disposable camera for sale for $18 american! So if you use them, or suntan lotion, make sure you bring them from home. The one thing that pretty much ruined the vacation was the timeshare reps that work in the hotel. They are ruthless. I thought it wouldn't be that bad, but it was. They call your room every morning starting at 8am, ten minute intervals until you answer. Even if you say you're not interested in the presentation, they will still call you every day. They also leave notes under your door (in Spanish only). When you try to leave the hotel, they chase you down the street asking you where you are going, and offering to give you free tickets or coupons to whatever it is, just to get you into the presentation. After the 4th day of this, I wanted to avoid the hotel altogether. After arriving, we paid extra to upgrade to the presidential suite, which was very nice. Isn't that enough? They need me to sign my life away for a time share as well? No thanks. So, there are good and bad things about every hotel out there, I just hope to help people be aware before they shell out their hard earned cash and vacation time. Happy travels!