Royal Hideaway Playacar

Where to start. RHP is definitely not a 5 star resort. Pools The 2 main pools are too small with very limited seating. The chair game is crazy here with the mostly over 55 crowd reserving chairs either late at night or prior to 6am. There is no in between temperature wise when it comes to the two main pools. The infinity pool is freezing and the second pool is as warm as a bath. This is probably due to the age of most guests being senior age. Poolside service is good and partially makes up for no swim-up bar. There are 3 "quiet" pools that are isolated and small. No service at these ones. Food The restaurants are just average with the Palazzo (Italian) being the best of a fairly lackluster offering. Service was fairly slow at all. The lack of a real buffet was problematic but it was adequate for breakfast. 3 days no chicken fingers available and another 2 no hamburgers. Made the poolside menu somewhat limited. Drinks Again, average with Canadian Club considered top shelf? One bar, at Palazzo had Crown Royal which is top shelf where I'm from. Other drinks were good and choices were plentiful. Rooms A little confusing service wise. We were a group of 8 (2, 2, 3 and 1) in 4 rooms and 3 came with champagne on arrival but one didn't? Not sure what determined who received what. Our concierge Alberto was excellent and willing to help whenever called upon. Room was spotless and cleaned every day. Mini-bar was full and re-stocked daily without asking. Beach Wide and beautiful. Dozens of beach vendors wandering between chairs which was very annoying. This should not happen. Only one day of Sargassum which was looked after by hard working staff. Staff Overall, very good. The only thing that left a bad taste was the tipping game. No change for larger bills available even though I saw staff with wallets full of $20 peso bills. It was like pulling teeth getting $50 peso bills and it seemed like they were doing this to encourage larger tips. This just meant we were a little more frugal when it came to tipping. Overall Well, definitely not a resort for everyone. I generally felt sorry for the under 30's I saw at this resort. We knew going in that this was a very quiet, somewhat boring resort and we are by no means party people. I for one like the option of doing a show or activity even if in the end I don't participate. At RHP that is really not an option. I suppose we were somewhat spoiled last year at Barcelo Maya Riviera with the amazing food, huge pools and the proximity of the other resorts for shows and activities. If you are okay being in bed well before 11pm, this is the place for you. If we weren't here as a group we would have been lost in a sea of boredom.

Let me start by saying “We will probably be returning to this hotel.“ This is an adults only hotel on the beautiful Caribbean coast, 50 minutes from Cancun airport. The hotel sits on Playacar beach, facing East, the sunrises are spectacular. The complex is made up of the main building, which houses reception, 3 of the 5 restaurants, a theatre, the cardio room (upstairs), the weights/gym rooms (downstairs), the spa and gift/art shops. The buildings is impressive and immaculately maintained. The accommodation is housed in 3 story ‘Villas’ with up to 5 rooms on each floor. Our room 2315, was in a colonial style, roomy and equipped with most things anyone on holiday would need. The room was clean and kept clean on a daily basis. (Thanks to our lovely lady cleaner). To assist any future guests, there was a minibar fridge (although ours was not particularly great as the drinks were never really cold), a safe, a hair dryer, an iron and ironing board, a jacuzzi bath, a balcony, (it was shaded and unfortunately a home to mosquitoes in the evenings), a coffee machine, with enough electrical sockets to feed all of our requirements. The bathroom really could do with some TLC, cracked/split silicone sealant, marked/chipped bath ware and a bath tap that took all of my strength to move. To be honest, the resort is probably due a bit of an update/refresh, but we were very happy with our lot, as the whole place was kept so clean and tidy, it is obviously well cared for, if just a little tired. The gardens/grounds are so well stocked with local trees, plants and wildlife, they are beautiful, with a lazy river running from top to bottom. (Not for recreational use). We did not see any monkeys on this trip, much to my wife’s relief. The biggest gripe with so many guests is the sunbed battle, as a large number of the beds around the 2 main pools, are ‘reserved’ with wooden plaques, apparently for timeshare/regular customers. This means the early morning (5am) towel placing makes getting a bed near the pool, a very early, not so relaxing, start to the day, or the best start if you are later to bed. The beds on the beach, which are not quite as comfortable as the pool ones, are not quite as in demand, although if you want to be on the front row you will need to grab your towels from the pool hut as they arrive at 7am. The hotel has 5 restaurants, 2 of which require gentlemen to wear long trousers and shoes, which cover the toes. I understand the formality of eating in nice restaurants, but have visited many other ‘nice’ hotels where tailored shorts, collared shirts, including polo shirts are perfectly acceptable. As the ladies are allowed sandals, I find it difficult to understand the insistence of toe covering footwear for men, especially in the warm climate, that dress code is perfectly acceptable in the Grill, the Mexican and Asian restaurants. Not really a problem for us but worth mentioning. The food at the restaurants was pretty good, with only a few minor issues, hardly worth mentioning, apart from being offered plastic glasses in the Mexican bar. The drinks are worth a mention though, mostly beer and spirits were originals, as an example, Beefeater, Bombay and Tanqueray gin were as standard. The wine though was another matter. The white and rosé wine was pretty much undrinkable, all three whites, Pino Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and the Rosé were not like anything I have tasted in a good hotel, in my life. There was one drinkable red, the Cabernet Sauvignon, which on a couple of occasions, was in short supply during dinner. (There is a reason for that, nobody drunk the other wine on offer!) The entertainment was very good with more on offer than we could fit in, during 10 days. The dive shop, attached to the hotel is well worth mentioning, if you want to try scuba diving? Lenny took us in the pool for a free taster, which led to real scuba experience on the reefs just offshore. The whole dive journey was amazing and being attached to the hotel, so easy to access. Apart from the surly reception staff, the staff at the resort were friendly and very helpful, my advice to anyone, not from the USA , is to obtain dollar bills before you arrive as tips are expected by restaurant and bar staff and getting your hands on small Mexican notes is almost impossible in resort or in nearby (1.5km/1 mile walk) Player del Carmen. To sum up, yes a few things are not perfect (hence 4 stars) but a great place to stay, without drunken teenagers, foam parties or rowdy restaurants. The hotel is well worth a visit, which we really hope to do again. Thank you Royal Hideaway.

This place is top level service and experience. I especially enjoy the Grill restaurant and our waiter Wilson was excellent. Why? He does everything right, but so do all the staff. He does it with a fun cheerful personality. No place is perfect and I could knit pick, I'm a retired tradesman and I see everything. But this resort should please all.

It’s a lovely hotel clean rooms lovely gardens. The food in the al la carte restaurants was good. The staff were very friendly and always ready to help. Trying to get a sun-bed around the pools was a major challenge, fortunately there were plenty of beds on beach. The bars are good and all top self drinks. We will return in the future One downside is that we have been back 10 days and still waiting for our deposit to be returned. Pauline and William

This is our third year in a row visiting this resort. We love the size of the resort , beautiful beach, great food choices, but best of all is the wonderful staff. We are made to feel at home and the staff serve with fantastic energy and kindness. Topping our experience this year: Oscar Cruz and David at the Deck. They spent time getting to know us and are just wonderful men. Victor at Palazzo and Jose at Spices. Guadalupe and Armando in building 31 brought amazing joy to us each day. Also concierge Ricki in building 27 and Cristiano in building 21. Each hostess took time to meet our seating needs and the bartenders and beach servers were fast, efficient, and fun people. We took classes making food and learning about tequila with Carlos, enjoyed the relaxing beach and loved our trip this year as much as last.