My husband and I decided to go back to this hotel for our belated anniversary trip. We stayed here May 17-20, 2009, during the swine flu scare and the hotel was a ghost town. We were told the hotel occupancy was down by 80%, it was sad, but we made the best of it anyway. We had a Royal Master swim-up suite and it was FANTASTIC. When we checked-in we were sent to the "Romance Conceige" and they were so nice. Due to low turn out they did have a GREAT deal at the spa. All spa treatments were 50% off!!!! I made sure I took advantage of that, sorry back to the room. When you walk in the room there is a sitting area, desk with a espresso machine, a couch, and a large hutch with a frig and snacks in it. Once you walk past the hutch you step down into the "bedroom" where there is a large jacuzzi tub tucked away in the corner. Now for the best part of it all the balcony! You step out and there are two chairs and a small table. When you take about five steps off the balacony you are in own semi-private pool. You actually share this pool with four other suites, but we were the only ones ever out there. If you walk just a few feet in the pool there is a set of stairs you climb and you can get into the public pool. We both would highly recommend this suite. It is a bit more expensive, but it is worth it. They also gave us a small cake and another bottle of champagne for our special day. Thank you for the great food and service, we will return! Happy Traveling!!! :)

I don't want to write a long drawn out review. I will highlight the best and worst of this resort.

The location - perfect
The room - what you see is what you get (every picture online is exactly what you walk into the moment you open that door to your room.
The food - GOURMET everywhere you go. I highly recommend the lamb chops at the Asiana restaurant. There are 6 all inclusive restaurants plus a delicious bakery. The head chef of all the restaurants (Carlos) was always around asking his guests how everything was and what needs to be improved. It's hard to tell him what to improve when you have yet to encounter something that wasn't spectacular.
The pool - big enough for everyone. If you have a corner suite you have your own cabana. But if not, you can usually find a chair. We went during the swine flu scare so maybe that's why I could always find a place to tan.
Service - Everyone speaks English and is always there to answer any questions. If they can't they will direct you to someone who can. ROOM SERVICE is free 24/7! Yup...order steak and wine at 1am and it's FREE! Just be nice and tip.

There is also a lounge that is open 24/7 as well and there is always someone there to make you drinks. There is even a buffet with fresh food to keep you full and entertained all night. There are 2 pool tables, table tennis, and 2 flat screens to watch your favorite teams battle.

Internet is also free...ethernet cable provided.

Best of all...drinks are free!

The negatives....we had to leave.

That's about it. It is the best vacation we've taken and we plan on going every year. Maybe I shouldn't have said all those nice things so other people wouldn't take up our space...jk jk jk.

Even though we have been home for 2 weeks, we still can't get over how incredible the Royal is. The photos on the internet don't do it justice. We just want to go straight back!

The rooms are wonderful and spacious, the jacuzzi is great and the bed is the comfiest I have ever slept in - we slept like babies all week! We were in a Royal Junior Suite Ocean View, and had an amazing view, but I don't really see what added extras you get for upgrading to Royal.

The food is incredible, the variety is fantastic and it is cooked to perfection. At Chef's Plate I had the best fillet steak I have ever eaten. We always ate breakfast at Spice, the choice is good and they do really good eggs! For Lunch, Pelicanos is great, nothing like eating good food overlooking the sea, although Spice do some mean burgers at Lunch! For Dinner, Pelicanos Maria Maries or Asiana, although we didn't really rate the hibachi cooking.
The drinks are great too, top notch brands and cocktails too. The strawberry daiquiris are great as well as all the other drinks. Have a mimosa for breakfast to kick start your day and then carry on with the cocktails!

The service is the best I have ever had, you don't feel like the staff are being friendly for tips, you feel like they are being friendly because they genuinely care. We tipped, but didn't feel obliged too, and we felt that they genuinely appreciated it. Some of the best staff were Guadalupe, Jessica and Baak by the pool, Luis the manager and to be honest every other member of staff was wonderful too. There are always people cleaning, no matter what time of day, the hotel is never dirty - all of the staff here work so hard and they all seem happy to be there.

It was quiet when we first got there due to swine flu, but as the week progressed it got to full capacity. Even then, it was still relatively easy to get a sun lounger. The pool area is fantastic, no matter how busy it is, there is always a quiet spot. And the sea, well, I have never seen sea that colour before, even round the whole of the caribbean!

There is so much to say about this hotel that I can't fit it all in!

I do not understand how people can feel disappointed by this hotel. Before I went I was a little nervous from reading some bad reviews, and from this I feel that it is my duty to let everyone know how amazing this hotel is. Everything about it is incredible, I can't rate it enough. The only downside is that it is 11 hour flight from the UK so that I can't get there easily or often!

Anyone looking for a fab holiday then go to the Royal, you will never forget it!

What can I say?? My husband and I had been looking forward to this trip for so long and we were definitely not disappointed, in fact far from it. This was our first time at an all-inclusive and we will definitely be trying it again.
First off I have to say that we travelled on a package holiday with Thomas Cook and if possible i never want to travel with them again. The service from Thomas Cook had been awful from the moment swine flu became an issue. As a result our flight was moved a to a day before than what we had planned, with only 3 working days notice. We were assured that all our hotel details etc had been transferred.
When we reached the hotel, our bags were immediately taken off us and we were lead to the concierge desk. This is where we found out that the hotel had no knowledge of our arriving a day early. Thanks Thomas Cook!! The concierge was great, whilst we sipped our chilled champagne, he sorted out a room for us and explained the hotel layout and amenities.
Our room was gorgeous with the double jetted tub looking out onto the balcony. The bed was huge with a number of fluffy pillows including the ones we had chosen from the pillow menu. The bathroom was lovely with a shower that had a number of options. Everything was incredibly clean. Something we had noticed all through the hotel, there was always someone cleaning.
My husband and I are both vegetarians and had already anticipated a few problems, even though there seemed quite a few restaurant choices. We could not have been more wrong. Spice was our favourite restaurant, as soon as the staff were made aware that we were vegetarians they informed the chef. Every night after that whenever we appeared at Spice, the chef went instantly to work and created the most delicious platters of food for us even though this was a buffet restaurant. The staff at Spice from the waiting staff to the chef could not do enough for you. I have never been made to feel so special. I also definitely recommend the breakfasts at Spice, there was so much choice you could have something different every time. Asiana was also good, and were perfectly willing to accommodate our request for vege sushi, very yummy!! The food at Maria, Maria and the Tapas place were not that good, or maybe we had just been spoilt by Spice.
There is a large bar in the lobby where you can find any drink under the sun. The cocktails were amazing, both the martinis and frozen ones. You have to try the Miami Vice, as a Brit I had never had one of these before but they are moreish!! We had a His n Hers 50 min massage at the spa and they had 50% of all treatment. This was well worth it and the massage was so relaxing.
Due to the jet lag we were getting up early and reserving our sun loungers by the pool, but we did notice that a lot of loungers were reserved at 7am but no one turned up until the afternoon to use them. So if we hadn't reserved ours so early we wouldn’t be able to get one. The beach butler and waitress service were frequent and excellent, meaning you could just lie in the sun and not have to move for anything. My sunglasses have ever been so clean. The beach was small, beautiful and fairly empty.
I think the Royal has spoilt us for any future holidays. The service all over the resort was second to none and nothing could have made this holiday better.