Royal Hideaway Playa del Carmen by Occidental-Adults Only All Inclusive

I went to this resort for one week in February 2011 with a friend for some R&R. He was coming from NYC and I, from L.A., so we picked a spot in the Caribbean of approximate equal distance from us. We had a superb experience at the Royal Hideaway, which is known by the locals to be the best hotel in the area and referred by Playacar enthusiasts as "the expensive one" ;) It is truly deserving of its 5-star rating and inclusion in the Leading Hotels of the World category. The service can be described in one word: PERFECT. The staff is friendly, smiling, and attentive to every single detail. The rooms - cleaned twice a day - are located in one of the 10 villas, each of which has its own concierge. Great beach with pristine clean water and infinity pool. Plenty of activities (scuba diving, catamaran, jetski, etc) are available for a reasonable extra cost. The rooms are very spacious, comfortable beds with 3 sets of various sized pillows, marble floors, ample bathrooms with separate shower and whirl bathtub. The villas are separated by a luxurious vegetation and ponds, creating a Heaven-like atmosphere. But the most remarkable for this all-inclusive resort is the food. Unlike other establishments, the Royal Hideway offers not one but five gourmet restaurants, where guests can enjoy anything from Continental, Italian, Mexican, Asian (great sushi) or Mediterranean cuisine. Most of these restaurants offer spectacular, 5 to 7-course tasting menus, making each dining experience a delight in itself. The best of them is Las Ventanas, set in a modern chic decor. Make sure you bring slacks and a couple of dress shirts, as most of the restaurants have a dress code at night. My friend and I are both international travelers used to staying in a variety of hotels, and we agreed that this was probably the best we'd ever eaten at such a resort. Guests can enjoy delicious breakfasts every morning until 10:30 am, with anything from fresh fruit plates, custom-made omelets and eggs, a variety of cheeses, salmon, sliced ham or turkey, pastries and breads, waffles, pancakes, potatoes, fresh juices, etc, etc, at the pool-side restaurant directly overlooking the beach. Most hotel guests were couples in their 40's and 50's, so this may not be the perfect spot for you if you're a little younger and your primary goal is to socialize, but the center of Playa del Carmen is a 4-minute cab ride away and offers plenty of bars, lounges, and clubs to do just that. Cabs are abundant (you never have to wait for more than 30 seconds to get one) and the fare from the hotel to the center is 50 pesos or 5 US dollars (cash only). Cancun airport is about 45 minutes away, shuttle service from there to the hotel is about 32 US dollars one way and 48 both ways. Add to that a very decent fitness center, spa, complimentary paper in the morning, and various heated jacuzzis at night, and overall our experience was quite memorable. The only thing that could be improved is the four courtesy comupters in the business center and their quasi dial-up speed. But unless you plan on spending hours in front of a computer screen instead of sipping free cocktails on the gorgeous beach, this should be a negligible detail, especially since guests are provided with free wi-fi access to use with their mobile devices. We highly recommend the Royal Hideway and look forward to going back in the future!

The Hotel is amazing. Perfect location. We loved the fact that it was adults only. The entire staff was amazing. We have no complaints about anything. The drinks were amazing and the food was out standing. The personal concierge in the personal villas is a great touch.... Paula was amazing!!! With making are reservations to all the restaurant and our departure.

I was very leery of another Mexican vacation after a "so-so" experience I had at another hotel. I was totally blown away by the Royal Hideaway. It was beautiful, clean, the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful and the entire experience was first class. I have never been to an all-inclusive resort with food like they have here. There are no poorly stocked buffets or low end meals. I felt like I was at a gourmet restaurant each time we had dinner (in fact as a picky eater I was concerned due to their ecclectic menus - although I always managed to find something I could eat). The breakfast buffet was amazing, I missed my made to order omlet when I got home! Each "villa" had a concierge, ours was [...], who was available to answer any questions and bent over backwards to make our stay comfortable and easy. I would highly recommend this resort to anyone. There is not a lot of night life (although Caesar at the "piano bar" makes it a lot of fun!!), but if you are looking to relax at a beautiful pool and pristine beach, this is the place for you!

Having stayed at other larger all-inclusive hotels (such as Iberostar) in the Riviera Maya, I wanted to try a smaller resort and I was sure glad I did! The service, food, drinks and beach were all top notch. This hotel truly is set apart from the other larger resorts in terms of personalized service. The rooms are more of your standard hotel rooms rather than junior suites, but they were still very clean and well appointed. I know other resorts offer decent food and drinks as well, but this place was over-the-top in terms of service and quality...it offers something that the larger resorts simply cannot offer due to their size. Plus, after only a day of being there, you really do feel "at-home" at the resort because it is such a manageable size.