The Royal Resorts Club International (or Vacation club international – VCI) is a nice property located at the 4.5 km marker along Kukulcan avenue in Cancun. I did not know until after I have made reservations that it is a time share property. Since it is a time share the rate offered was for a week – Sat to Sat, which is great.

The hotel is 5-star with good facilities and amenities and excellent service. It is located along the horizontal leg of the number-7 shaped Cancun and a bit away from the commercialized malls, etc. The beach in this section is shallow, however, the there is a lot of sea grass in the crystal clear water that was a bit of a turn off. The hotel did a good job of clearing it and cleaning the beach front up early each morning but by afternoon, lot of sea grass is washed ashore making the beach a bit unattractive. Along the beach the hotel has several beach chairs, umbrellas and a volleyball court. The hotels rents at no charge, snorkel equipment, sail boats and of course, beach towels are always provided at no charge.

There are two swimming pools on the property. One is more for kids and learning swimmers and the other is for adults and better swimmers. As part of the recent face lift, the pools were converted into heated pools which are nice when it is a bit chilly. The pools were excellently maintained with abundant pool chairs and space around them.

There is sports desk with long hours where you can rent tennis rackets and balls, bicycles and helmets, snorkeling equipment and sail boats and of course, towels. Very convenient and prompt service at all times. The property has a small grocery store that had an excellent variety and collection of items – pretty much everything that you would need. From fresh fruits and vegetables to milk, juices and frozen pizza. Pastries and baked goods arrive fresh every morning.

The room or the villa has a living room, a dining area, a fully-equipped, modern kitchen and two bed rooms. It was very spacious – truly like home. Balconies are attached to the LR and to the master bedroom with chairs to sit out on. The LR had a TV with cable, DVD player, Boombox (CD, cassette and radio), and a pull out Murphy bed. The kitchen was equipped with new GE equipment and other items such as a coffee maker, blender, etc. Everything was provided – can opener, cutting board, salt and pepper shakers, placemats – everything! Maid service was also excellent.

There is a restaurant on the property and a deli for carry out called the Royal Express. One could order pizza with free delivery to the villa. We were limited in what we could get at the restaurant given that we are vegetarian. We ordered Mexican rice and Guacamole from the Royal Express, and they were good.

The resort has an activity center offering activities such as piñata making, Mexican lottery, language classes, pool games, beach games, etc. Most activities we re free and some had a nominal charge for materials.

There is a bus stop right outside the hotel. The R2 and R15 buses take you into Cancun city to the Walmart and very close to the Mercado 28 marketplace. All buses go into the various malls along the hotel zone area. This was very convenient.

The front desk assisted with converting dollars into pesos. Their exchange rate was very fair and in fact better than even the bank!! There is a Thomas More travel agency and a car rental company on the premises. We booked a day long trip on a bus to Chichen Itza thru this travel agency. It was good. However, the travel agency led us to believe that booking through them, the tour would stop only at a few of the Royal Resorts and not at several hotels – however this was not the case. While we were one of the last to be picked up in the morning, we were the last to be dropped in the evening after a total of 8 stops. The bus through the operator Cancun Lines was excellent and the tour guide did a great job. As with any organized bus tour we felt that they could give us some more time during lunch break when they also had some Mexican dances going on. The time was so short we could neither appreciate the lunch nor the dancers. But the overall trip was reasonable value-for-money. The other major bus operator is Grayline.

The Royal Resorts Vacation Club International is a fine resort and I would very highly recommend it to families with children. The villa is very spacious and can comfortably accommodate 6 people making it a great place for a family get together and getaway.