Royal Hideaway

Hotel was great. Unfortunately, although we requested a specific room a year ago, and on several other occasions, we did not receive it. Overall, everything was great, except a glitch in the booking of a private transfer.

Amazing 5 star resort!

I travel to Mexico 3 times a year for vacations and always stay at various 5 star resorts. Royal Hideaway Playacar is a favorite. The food is out of this world and the staff go above and beyond to pamper you. The rooms are beautiful and very clean. The landscaping is gorgeous. If you are a beach person, this resort is for you. Best beach in Mexico. Pools are beautiful too. In closing, this resort is truly a 5 star resort and you will not be disappointed.

Very good resort!

Reception: well trained and knowledgeable staff work the front desk. Check in was smooth. Room: we had a second floor room and everything worked as it should (air conditioner, mini-fridge, lighting, plumbing, patio door, room safe and television). Appointments were tasteful and practical for our needs. Bed was comfortable. Room itself was very large and well laid out, and lots of natural light. SPA/Gym: we didn't use the spa services, but toured the facilities and they were clean and [... read more] luxurious. The gym was small and divided into sections across two rooms. Free weight dumb bells, and a few multi-station machines and benches ensured an ability to do a full work out. The cardio equipment is in a separate room, and the only negative is that it is a very small room and not well ventilated. Restaurants: there are five a la carte restaurants (with limited serve yourself options at breakfast and lunch at one restaurant) Grill/Beach Grill: mornings and noon included a la carte and self-serve options. Breakfast was hot and fresh and very well maintained. Omelettes and eggs made to order. Lunch was much the same with a decent variety of options on the a la carte. Supper presents a steakhouse inspired menu with decent options that are well prepared. Asian: variety of Asian inspired dishes, but did not score highly in terms of taste. Dishes were fresh none the less and well made, just not tasty compared to what you are likely used to at home. Ventanas: (international theme) - lots of options, but tastes will vary. Familiar dishes prepared with the chef's own twist. Polazzo: (Italian) - great selection, well prepared, and tasty. Southern and northern dishes, as well as some more traditional North American fare. Spices: very good Mexican menu. Fresh, and well presented. Some authentic dishes as well as North American inspired offerings. Pools: two great pools (one infinity and one lap pool). Lots of activities to keep people busy around the pool, and excellent drinks/food service is provided. All with an ocean view! Beach: the beach is outstanding. Lots of lounger chairs, sun beds and shade for those who prefer staying out of the sun. Very quiet, as it is a very large area, and further removed from the flow of foot traffic of people walking along the beach itself. Grounds: very well maintained and clean. Quiet, despite the proximity to other resorts. Easy to get from one area to another and well marked. Staff: very motivated, pleasant and attentive. New staff is shadowed by more experienced staff as part of their onboarding strategy. Always helpful and eager to please and they take great pride in their customer service. Bars: some work could be done to better integrate the guest experience. Bars seem to be focused on serving the restaurants (in the main building) - a suggestion would be to offer more snacks throughout the day/afternoon to encourage visitors to hang out. Drinks are well made and served up quickly. Top shelf liquor, but oddly, no Sol beer. It's an easy enough walk into Playa del Carmen along the beach (20 minutes or so) and this is a bonus if you want to shop or dine off the resort. Great time, would recommend to couples who aren't seeking a nightlife experience, but a relaxing, fulfilling getaway.

Incredible Resort

The Royal Hideaway is the perfect adult all inclusive resort for relaxing and recharging. The grounds are impeccable, the staff goes out of their way to ensure you are looked after and the food is excellent. This resort has a very large, white sand beach that is never crowded and beautiful green water. Rooms are located in villas and each villa has a concierge to attend to your inquiries, make dinner reservations and help you with whatever you need. It is indeed heaven!

Truly a five star !

What a gorgeous resort - quiet restful and well-appointed. Food was gourmet and service fabulous ! A little older crowd and no partying ! Wonderful vacation ! Would highly recommend it - worth the extra money !

Wonderful vacation

We were at the Royal Hideaway for 11 days and loved the resort. The weather wasn't on our side that week but it made no difference to our enjoyment. The staff were amazing. We were treated royally by everyone. We had a luxury room and it was very comfortable with all our needs met. Especially loved our patio that we could retreat to at the end of the day. The a la carte was first class. Loved all the restaurants. The grill was my least favourite, however still good but we didn't repeat.  [... read more] There was some renovations going on at the resort at the time of our stay which is to be expected I suppose, however the inconvenience was short lived. A suggestion to the resort - bring the Mexican buffet back on the Thursday fiesta event at the Club Royal. Most people we spoke to said it was fabulous and better than the a la carte fixed menu. We will definitely be returning. First class resort.

Royal Hideaway Playacar

This was our 4th stay at this property since it opened. I have the said the quality has gone down - room quality (dated, door lock falling apart, jacuzzi bath not usable ...). Food quality and reduction is staff like no concierge are examples that contributed to a disappointing stay.

Relaxing and romantic resort

This resort is being completely renovated and is beautiful The resort is quiet and offers a very relaxing atmosphere Our assigned room was modern in appearance and kept clean. All services were great and the food was excellent. The sandy beach stretches for miles offering a enjoyable walk. A special thank you for Jairus Maus of tripcentral who offered excellent customer service. Perry and Karen Cort (Waterloo, Ontario)

A great mid-sized resort with all the amenities!

We stayed at RH from Jan 21-28, 2017. The accommodations, food and service were all exceptional! Fabulous beach for morning walks. Great drink and snack service on the beach. The evening entertainment at the Allegro Bar was wonderful. We were not disappointed!

Amazing!

Just a great adults only resort. One of the best in the Playacar area. The grounds are beautiful with resort amenities not over subscribed. No line-ups here! There were plenty of places to discover a tranquil moment with a special friend or loved one. The food was consistently good; better than many of the other resorts in the area. The staff are very courtious and always made that extra effort to make our stay memorable. We will return there again in the spring.

Fantastic Getaway!!!

Just got back from this amazing resort!! It was our second time there and we were still impressed !! Fantastic food and service!!! The resort is a perfect place to go to escape the busy world !!! The rooms and resort are very very clean !!! Our concierge Edgar was amazing and very good at his job!! Down on the beach we had Igor to greet us and help us every morning and all day long !!! The other guys were fantastic too....David, Javier, and so many more!!!!! The beach is one of the best we hav [... read more]e had !!! I would highly recommend this resort if you want peace and quiet and fantastic food and service !!!!

Amazing

We just returned from the Royal Hideaway. It was our third and best!!! Everything was amazing. Food/room/pool but the staff were unreal. The staff make your entire vacation There wasn't anything you can fault at the RH Cannot wait to go back

Absolutely best resort I have been at!

The resort is stunning from the villa type rooms with a concierge at every villa - We had Hector and by far went over the top to ensure every one of our needs were meet and exceeded he was on top of everything from booking our restaurant selections - that were true fine dining and yes you can get into each of the 5 restaurants with no problems - he literally took care of our every need and truly treated us as more of a friend then another number definitely be back to see him.. I had a dental iss [... read more]ue come up - root canel - and they literally had a doctor at my room withing hours to have a look at me with they had made arrangements for a dentist the very next day to correct the problem all at a fraction of the price we pay in Canada and done within hours at perhaps one of the best dental experiences I have had as well this was all arranged by the hotel I literally had to do nothing they took the time and cared enough to have me picked up dropped off all done.for me ahead of time I literlly had to do nothing! There are way to many things to list that resort excelled at list them all so In short the best experience we have had and will be booking our next trip soon with them. My Thanks to the Management and staff of the Royal Hideaway for truly making this our best vacation ever.

Our Very Best Trip Ever!!!

Usually I book our vacations on line. This time we went into the Trip Central and met our new best friend, Krista. She suggested the Royal Hide and we are so thankful that she did!!! The Resort is absolutely amazing. Smaller than others we have stayed at but 1000 times better. it is clean, quaint, and beautiful. The service is the best we have ever experience and the food... world renown. We met some wonderful people. Many who constantly return to this location and we can understand why. The nig [... read more]ht life was just enough for us after a full day in the sun and all the delicious food. We so enjoyed "Tea Time" daily. The beach is beautiful as well. There was the ongoing seaweed issue but we waded through to enjoy the water. I told my husband that I have now been spoiled for life. I do hope that we can return sometime soon. You won't be disappointed!!!

Amazing!

Everything was beautiful...very boutique atmosphere..LOVED it. Everything was perfect and exactly what we expect form a 5 plus star resort. The rooms were comfy and clean, the food was simply to die for...we have been unable to match the food anywhere else! GO!

The best.

My wife and I have just returned from our seventeenth holiday at Royal Hideaway so obviously we enjoy the Resort. When we arrive we feel like we are coming to our second home with the welcome we receive from the staff, many of them have been there for a number of years. The grounds continue to mature and are meticulously maintained. When you walk along the main path with it's ponds, stream and fountains you would think you are in the midst of a grand estate. It is a unique property unlike any ot [... read more]hers we have stayed at or seen. The rooms are always nice, comfortable and cleaned and attended to twice a day. The warm coloured marble and tile in the room never goes out of style. The best part is the outstanding food in all of the restaurants. The quality and presentation is as good or better than you would find in any major city. Along with the great food the service from the staff is outstanding and this year my wife and I thought the staff were better than ever. One of the best things we find is meeting friends from past years who feel the same way as us about the Resort. Another highlight for us is the live entertainment throughout the property and the Mexican shows twice a week in the banquet hall. Actually the dancing by the activity staff was another highlight. The only concern that we had was the condition of the uprights on the room patios which have been damaged by the salt air from the water. All of the horizontal railings have been replaced with new painted aluminium structures and the General Manager informs me that the uprights will be replaced starting in April. Other than that we think Royal Hideaway is an outstanding Resort that we can't wait to get back to.

Absolutely Amazing Resort!!!

We loved this resort!!! The Lobby and reception areas are very elegant. Staff were all amazing and more than willing to help with anything. Grounds were spectacular and very enjoyable to walk through!! Rooms were very nice and clean!! Service and food was exceptional. Beach and ocean were fantastic!! We will definitely go back !!!

Very Disappointing

Over all, very disappointing. Resort is falling apart and in DESPERATE need of renovation. Food was generally very good, but some dishes were inedible. Beach was beautiful, but resort not in the same league. 3 star at best - spend your hard earned money elsewhere!

Great resort!

The rooms and grounds were excellent. Loved the pool overlooking the beach. We went in January and the pool was not heated and was too cold for swimming which was disappointing. Overall loved the location and the restaurants and food were first class.

Royal Hideaway

This resort caters to older clients 50 and above which suited me. Grounds were well maintained and quite beautiful with very large mature trees providing much needed shade to walk up to the main building. Waiters would visit laying on your lounge chair and offer to bring you beverages every half hour or so. No need to get up to visit the bar unless you wanted to stretch your legs. Room in building 24 right on the beach was perfect and could see the beach sitting on the room's patio. Concierge L [... read more]idia was an amazing host. She took very good care of us and ensured we had our 7 dinner reservations all scheduled the first day we arrived and continually checked with us to see if we were enjoying our vacation. Most staff we encountered were amazingly friendly and polite. Some bar tenders were not very friendly. Absolute vodka, Ciroc other top shelf liquors are part of all inclusive package. Restaurants provided very good meals for the most part. Buffet breakfast is outstanding and they serve Mimosas every morning with breakfast if you like them. Lunch can be served in the restaurant overlooking the ocean or delivered to your lounger. Felt very decadent to sit on a lounger and have lunch delivered. Formal afternoon tea was a nice treat one day with tiny treats. Beach area is nicely shaded with palm trees if you're looking for shade and there are lots of sun loungers. There are even beds with mattresses overlooking the beach. No shortage of beach towels. Didn't try the spa or the parasail, suba diving, or snorkeling, or day trips. Walked to Playa Del Carmen to buy a few t-shirts. Took a taxi back to the resort (this was a very hot walk of 20 minutes). A few negatives. Be careful on the steps in the infinity pool. Steps are all the same dark blue tile, and some people stubbed their toes, scraped their legs because they couldn't tell where the steps were while getting out. Tile edge of each step needs to be changed to a different colour (bright yellow) so guests can tell where each step rises. Infinity pool is beautiful. Restaurants - Las Ventanas wasn't our "cup of tea" for dinner, although the presentation by the chef was absolutely beautiful. The flavours were just not to our liking, but the beef tenderloin was really good. Entertainment was good on Tuesday at the buffet restaurant. We were among the last 10 people to be invited up to the buffet tables, and discovered most chafing dishes empty of the hot food. Even butter for the bread ran out (requested more butter from 3 servers) but were slow to respond. Getting enough to eat over the day isn't a problem at all. Only discovered lack of food at the buffet on Tuesday. ALWAYS use the in-room safe to store all valuables. In room safe batteries were dead when we checked in, but maintenance came and replaced them promptly. Safe worked fine. At the end of our stay some cash was stolen from a night-table was noticed after the maid cleaned the room. I wanted to give this resort a 5 star, but given these negatives, can only give a 4.