The Royalton Chic was my second all-inclusive experience that proved to me that in the…read moreall-inclusive vacation world, you GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
All that being said, the hubby and I stayed here for nearly a week, and the experience was so mixed that I recommend you read a lot of reviews and take into account what you can and CANNOT tolerate before you book Royalton for your Cancun vacation.
I'd never been to Cancun, but I've heard so much about Cancun, that I expected the place to be vibrant, lively, and full of partying. Cancun wasn't exciting, but it wasn't completely horrible either. Although, I hated the first two days. Read below...
As far as the general look of the hotel and the grounds, Royalton was top notch. The Royalton is a high-rise resort, with suites from floors 4 through 15. The first floor is CLEAN, luxurious, and spacious. If you've arranged your ground transport properly, when you step out of your car or van, the Royalton staff arrives to take your bags to your suite.
When the hubby and I arrived, we were exhausted from flying and traveling (car, air train, flight, van). We had already checked in, so all we wanted to do was get to our suite, and find dinner and margaritas. We could not, because once we received our wristbands and instructions, we were swiftly passed to a woman the check in ladies described as a "concierge". She greeted us, and instead of taking us on a quick tour, she sat us down and proceeded to STEAL 30 minutes of our vacation time telling us about how we could sign up for a travel vacation club (read: TIME SHARE). She piled pamphlets in our hands, gave us a bunch of "Diamond Club" coupons, and asked for our IDs and a credit card number. Umm! No ma'am! Once she saw that we weren't game for that, she made us sign up to see a representative at breakfast in the morning. Whatever. Anything to get to our room.
Turns out we were given a free upgrade to the presidential suite. We didn't ask for an upgrade - but we speculate as to why they gave us one. On sight, the suite was gorgeous. Two full bathrooms (our first time for hubby and me to have individual bathrooms for a vacation - yay!), living room, large bar area, and enough stools, tables, and sofas to throw a party. Outside was a double balcony, with an outdoor tub with jets and balcony furniture. A bathroom tub with jets. Double sized showers with the fancy rain style shower head. King size bed and plenty of closet space.
It would take someone with a hospitality degree to explain to me how a room could look wonderful, but still be completely annoying to stay in. I mean, to the point where hubby and I wondered if we could get our regular room back?
- SUITE large and clean, but FREEZING. Took us a half a day to figure out how to get the bedroom to a livable temperature. We had to ask for plenty of extra blankets to nest down in so we could sleep well and warmly.
- Fans had to keep blowing, because once we turned them off, we noticed a distinct sewage stench. Just plain foul. Enough to make you gag.
- Outdoor tub? Rusted inside.
- Balcony furniture, very worn.
- Indoor tub jets? HORRIFICALLY noisy.
- Closet had FOUR sliding doors, which were annoying to open and often stuck.
- Drawers were sleek and I guess very modern, but hard for me to use because there were no door pulls and I felt like I would break a nail every time I went to use one.
- Clock? Busted and broken.
- Phone? Broken.
After day one, we speculated that maybe someone arrived who caused such a fuss that they gave away our original junior suite, and when we arrived, they had no choice but to stick us in the presidential suite, which truly needed a service check days before we arrived.
Also, every place we went (indoors and outdoors), were salespeople. EVERYWHERE!
Hubby and I were determined to make the best of all this. So let me speed this review. Ready, here are the good parts:
- FOOD was amazing. Honestly, the buffet and restaurants were my favorite part of the day. The desserts rivaled what we ate at the Wynn Buffett in Vegas. Drinks were delicious. All included. Great service as well.
- POOL AREA, well maintained, towels always available and super clean. The pool staff were friendly, and honestly lots of fun. We took aqua zumba and aqua fit classes. Swim up bar! Yes!
- BEACH. BEAUTIFUL. No notes. I mean, we STAYED hanging out at the beach and pool. Relaxing time, really.
- STAFF. Some reviewers hated the staff. I don't know what they liked about us, but these people LOVED on us. We spoke to them kindly each time we had a problem, and they were great. We needed blankets, someone delivered them in less than ten minutes. Our phone broke, someone came up to replace batteries in 20 minutes.
I don't have enough YELP space to write more, but overall, I would say, vet your all inclusives well. SANDALS is MUCH BETTER, but will run you about $1800 more. Royalton could be incredible, but they need to spend time working on the experience.