Royal Hideaway Playacar

Disappointed would be my main reaction to this hotel. The setting and buildings are beautiful but the actual guest rooms are dated and needing work. The restaurants are also lovely although the food could be better. The main issue is inflexibility around booking and very slow service during meals. Buffet service isn't available at all in the evening and the room service menu isn't too good. It can be difficult to get enough bottles of water and cans of soft drinks delivered to the rooms - very necessary in a hot climate where the water isn't drinkable! Several times we ran out of water. A major issue which has been commented on many times before is the unavailability of loungers at the pools. Goodness knows how one gets one of these - all are either 'reserved' or left empty for hours waiting for guests to return with nothing being done by staff to remove towels etc. Having been to Mexico many times before I wouldn't return to this resort as there are many much better and either cheaper or of a similar price.

I have given the rating I have because overall we enjoyed our holiday in Mexico iva British Airways, however, there are several things to point out. Food and ambiance in all the restaurants is very good and a great choice. The major problem is that you HAVE to book (there is no buffet) and to get a time that isn't the last sitting of the day you have to book at least a week in advance. I emailed the hotel in advance as it was my husband's 70th birthday whilst we were there. This was acknowledged btw but all he got was "Happy Birthday" written on a plate in chocolate with a bite sized cake - nothing else! The other bog issue at this hotel which absolutely everyone had issue with were the sunbeds. Unless you were in the Presidential Suite or a VIP you had to get up before 5:30am to get a sunbed as they were all reserved by 6am on behalf of the elite. New arrivals were turning up every day after 7am and could not get a seat unless they were happy to sit down on the beach where the beds were lower quality and lacking in the same sort of service from waiting staff. The hotel overall is somewhat tired and although the staff worked tirelessly all day and the grounds were truly stunning, the tiles in the pools were old and coming off. Entertainment was good and the theatre was excellent and although the sea was full of seaweed (no fault of the hotel of course) the beach was a great walk and sunrise beautiful. Each "Villa" has a concierge who is there to assist. Unfortunately, on the day we were leaving (at 4pm) we got no help whatsoever is getting to keep ours or obtain another so had to get ready to leave by 1pm and just sweat it out despite offering to pay whatever we could we were told "no"

We had a great time again this year the location and the resort are beautiful. The staff was always friendly and attentive. Our concierge Alberto was outstanding he handled all of our needs with professionalism and promptness. If you are looking for a resort that is beautiful and peaceful with great food this is where you want to go.

The reason we return is the staff. The restaurant manager, Victor, went above and beyond to make us feel valued and cared for. Also our concierge, Armondo, added extra touches and checked in with us daily to make sure we had what we needed. The pool waiters continue to be the heroes of this resort- ever attentive and remarkably remembering us from previous visits- specially Louise, Gennarro, and Javier continued to make us feel like family and are a main reason we keep returning.

Location is lovely with safe gated community, impressive entrance to hotel, beautifully manicured grounds rolling down to a superb sandy beach. The atmosphere suited us...low key and relaxing. Our room was in a good situation close to pools and beach. However, the night we arrived tired and wanting to go to bed, there was a big leak in the overhead aircon panel in bathroom and we had to wait for a member of the maintenance team to come and fix it, and then for a maid to come and mop up the considerable water on the floor. This happened again the night before we left. I prefer baths to showers, but the bathtub was appalling. The bath water was never clear, always brown or green. The bathplug did not fit the bath so I had to use 2 baby wipes to wedge into the plughole, to keep the water in. Did not dare use the jacuzzi jets as rhe nozzles and surrounds were broken, peeling and loose. I dont think the bathtubs are 1 star let alone 5. The food was ok but not outstanding. We would have liked to see fresh cut tomatoes and cucumber on the breakfast buffet as we enjoy this with toast and feta. We would have liked to see mixed beans for breakfast too but for some reason they were always pureed so you would have to ladle that onto a plate... I dont think it was a useful breakfast addition in this format. There is only one stand alone bar in the hotel which is far from The Deck. You cant order ice cream and lollies at this hotel. This hotel allows you to go and reserve a lounger even if you arent sitting on it so we adopted that same practice of getting up at 0530 and going down to get a chair by the pool. I dont approve of this at all. We normally stay at Sensatori resorts and they do not allow you to reserve sunbeds until 8am which is fairer for all. Staff are helpful and pleasant. We enjoyed our stay but we dont think this is a 5 star hotel and we will not return to Royal Hideaway. Bottom line...overhaul the AC and the bathtubs villa by villa to bring it up to scratch.