We just returned from a week at the Royal Islander, and had a mixed experience - some good, some not so good, and some downright ugly.

THE GOOD: the resort & grounds are beautiful, the pools lovely, and the beach quite nice, although they are not wide due to Wilma, and there are rocks interspersed along the shore. The staff at Royal Resorts are all very pleasant and cheerful, and almost always willing to help. On-site restaurants are mediocre, but OK if you don't feel like going out.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD: Resort assigns a "personal consierge" which, on the surface seems great, but in reality they're only "promoters" interested in getting you ready for the sales pitch on buying a timeshare unit. Poolside there's plenty of competition for the chairs, with some people "staking their claim" at dawn, just to get the favored spots. Some people were so pushy about it my daughter actually was verbally abused by a guest for "invading my spot". While staff is generally helpful & positive, nobody seems to be in charge overall - each function (front desk, sports desk, tour reservations, etc.) has authority only for its own little patch of the resort world. Consequently, when a general problem crops up, there's nobody to turn to for help, so guests end up chasing through the organizational maze to try to fix the problem themselves. It's almost as if everyone is scared tio death of making a mistake by overstretching their own little bit of authority - in essence, not a good customer service philosophy. Examples of difficulties we experienced: upon arrival at the airport, nobody was there to pick us up (as promised) and they had no record of us at all; trying to cancel a dinner reservation (see below); getting a voucher for the return trip to the airport, to name a few. Tip to visitors: pay very close attention to what you sign up for (restaurant reservations, tours) because they have extremely strict cancellation policies & are ever so reluctant to give it up, once booked.

THE UGLY: Our suite was very nice - two bedrooms, livingroom, kitchen, and a lovely balcony. We settled in, and had enjoyed our accommodations for 5 days when we received a call at 9:00 p.m. on our 5th day to tell us that we had to move out of one of the bedrooms immediately because it wasn't part of the suite!! Apparently, the resort had made a mistake & left open the door of bedroom (and bath) #2, and we naturally assumed it was part of what we had rented. Rather than do the right thing and let us stay put, they INSISTED that we move out immediately, or pay extra for the 2nd bedroom. My duaghter eneded up sleeping for 2 nights on a murphy bed! This is where having someone in charge overall would have been helpful.

Another ugly: we booked a restaurant reservation but had to cancel because my daughter got sick. The resort refused to accept the cancellation and we were told we would have to pay the prix fix of $200! We protested, asked to speak to someone in charge, and were guided by our "personal consierge" to meet with a manager. When we arrived at the meeting, the two began pitching the advantages of timeshare ownership, and in the end couldn't even help us with our problem. It was offensive and galling to say the least. Only after pursuing the issue with a half-dozen other people were we finally able to get a credit for the charge.

So there you have it. My hope is that our experience was unique because it is a lovely spot, but somehow I suspect the Royal Resorts issues are more systemic. Good luck to all future visitors!

I own a villa at the Islander week 49 but split it up so I could get 2 weeks. Stayed beachfront 2nd floor the first week then in the lockoff portion of my own villa the 2nd week.

Beach: When we first arrived there were alot of rocks. Worse than this time last year. We had high winds the beginning of the week and by the end of the 1st week we could not find any spot infront of any of the tri royals to get into the ocean. In fact we tried to walk from the tri royals to the Royal Sands and there were sections of the beach with no sand at all, just a high drop off from the resort property to where the rocks started. These were not infront of the royals themselves. The royal sands beach was in decent shape so we swam there most of the 1st week. 2nd week the winds were calmer and coming in from the north west and alot of the sand came back. So we were able to swim infront of the tri royals. They also put up alot more palapas infront of the tri royals since they had alot of umbrellas up previously rather than the palapas themselves.

Food: Bought groceries from Walmart so we ate in the villa most of the time. Although we had burgers beachfront once, ate at the Royal Mayan Palapa outdoor restaurant and Captains cove. All were good although Captains Cove is fantastic. Had a wonderful sunset as well.

Activities: DId the Sea Life tour at Dolphin Discover south of Cancun so we swam with Dolphins, Sea Lions and Manatees. Great experience and they had a promotion online during December so we got a super good price almost the same as just swimming with the dolphins. Also did horse back riding at Loma Bonita. I do not recomend this. We have rode horses several times before and these one were not well trained. They followed too closely and even if you tried to keep the space between the horses they didn't listen. Several of them when we got down to the beach decided to role over on their sides in the sand while people were still on them. Hubby's horse kept trying to bite the other horses causing several including mine to buck. The ride in the ocean bareback was nice though. Definately only experienced people who know how to control horses when they are listening would not feel anxious on the horses.

Weather: We only had about 2 days out of the 15 where we had some rain. It was as low as 78 during the day all the way up to 86. Much better than this time last year which pretty much rained continually.

Overall great vacation, just wished the beaches were doing better.

We stayed at the Royal islander from Aug 11th to Aug 18th 2007 and we loved this place! We got a 2 bedroom/2 baths, full living room, dining area unit with full kitchen! We were only 2 adults and a 12 year old and this was plenty of space. The best part was that our room was on the 4th floor with full ocean view! When we turned on our beds (even without getting out of bed!), the first thing we saw was the blue ocean! The balcony was so big and wonderful to sit and watch the ocean in the morning or hear the waves at night. The beach was a bit rough compared to some other carribean islands but it was still beautiful. The staff were super friendly (even if they didn't speak English) and we were well taken care of. We didn't rent a car and we did well without it since there was excellent bus service right in front of the hotel and it was very inexpensive. We did Xcaret, Chichenitza and some other local tours. I would definitely recommend this place for anyone. The pool is clean, the facilities are impeccable, the views are breathtaking. Most of all, people were most hospitable and friendly compared to all the other carribean islands I have visited.

Due to the cost of flying on the Saturday after Thanksgivings, we left on Friday the 23rd, at a savings of $250 a ticket. That savings X four travelers, well you do the math. In addition, the planes were ½ to ¾ full and not just on time, but early!

We were scheduled to check in at the Royal Islander on Saturday the 24th. I called and spoke to a Rep at the Royals who helped get us a 2 bedroom Villa at VCI for the Friday night for $145. For some reason, I was not expecting VCI to be as nice as it was. Grant it, VCI was not the Islander, but it is always nice to be pleasantly surprised and not disappointed.

With that said, this review is about the Royal Islander and the Royals in general. Check in was quick and very relaxed. No lines, lots of staff members to point Members and Guest in the right direction. We arrived around 10:00 AM expecting to place our luggage in their hands and head downtown to Wal-Mart. Instead our room was ready and we were immediately allowed to get our keys. We were able to unpack, take in a few sites of the resort and not worry about making sure we had a place to store cold items after our trip downtown.

The orientation on Sunday was very informative and helpful in planning our trips off the resort. The Staff informs you of your benefits at all the Royals as well as tips about Cancun. It was not a sales pitch so don’t miss this.

We utilized the pool at both the Islander and the Caribbean, the beach was best in front of the Mayan. We ate at restaurants at all the Royals, including the Sands and the Hacienda down in Playa De Carmen. However, the best food and service came from Captain’s Cove, which is owned by the Royals and can be charged to your room. We found the cost of meals and drinks were reasonable. Do you self a favor and order a Specialty Coffee…..

We did like the way your room key is used instead of carrying cash and pay once when you check out.

I would recommend staying at any of the Royals in Cancun to anyone, however if you stay further south, you would either need to rent a car or stay at an all-inclusive.