The Hideaway At Royalton Riviera Cancun Vacations

We went and were told that the rooms they advertised are mot what they have. Currently disputing my charges.

This was the worst resort I have ever stayed at In Cancun.
1. They could not give us the room we booked for because per the lady who was dealing with us “you must call and special request or whatever you book online is not what you get if you don’t call.”
2. After expressing we were disappointed she stated she could cancel our reservation AFTER we had a full day of traveling and was so exhausted that was our threat.
3. The rooms were beyond disgusting with mosquitoes flying in your ears while trying to sleep and the beds most definitely having bed bugs.
4. The Adults only pool was closed for maintenance and that was our view from our room.
5. Its not an adults only, kids were everywhere.
6. The food was trash and never fresh.
7. The sewage smell is everywhere.
8. The water in our shower stunk up the whole room.
9. The jacuzzi in our balcony had yellow water.
This was just the worst experience ever. I travel to cancun once a year and have never experienced this at all as this is supposed to be a “5 star” resort.

Its best if you book somewhere else that probably wouldn’t cost as much as this trash resort and you will definitely have a better experience.

Sharing an objective experience of my stay with the pros and cons of this hotel. Transparently, although we would never stay at this hotel again, some people in my party are coming back to give it another chance in the summer.

CONS:
-The Hideaway adults-only pool is CLOSED for maintenance and they do not tell you this when booking or checking in. We luckily were upgraded to Diamond. Other people in our party were not upgraded and they were very upset. We specifically booked adults only so we didn’t have to be near kids.
-My boyfriend got food poisoning from the Salad at Hunter steakhouse.
-The sheets in the room were stained, the trash can in our room was full from previous stay, and the water stinks when showering.
-The bathrooms throughout the property take a few seconds to flush so you need to hold the button down for long.
-If you have Diamond, you can only get premium alcohol in certain bars. It’s annoying you can’t get it everywhere especially since the premium pools are closed.
-There are mosquitos during this time of the year and they easily get into the room, although it’s not clear how. They’re also prevalent throughout the property.
-Our room didn’t smell, like other people shared in their reviews, but there were moments where you could smell the stank from the mangroves. I imagine it depends where your room is.
-The staff hardly had change so some days we could tip, and other days we couldn’t get change for a $20 bill. Really a shame bc the staff deserve to be tipped
-There’s no DND sign for the room
-Beds are meh, pillows suck, and room is generally not comfortable. Again, we were in Diamond, which is nicest part of resort and it was not comfortable.
-Some of the cafe food would say “Beef Sandwich” and then the staff would serve it to you and there would be nothing inside the sandwich. Just two slices of bread lol…this happened twice.
-The communication of management is so subpar it’s hard to even comprehend. Like i can’t even describe how bad this has been. Since my boyfriend has gotten food poisoning, it has been a MISSION to get him soup to the room. I went to the buffet and got a bowl of soup and fries for my boyfriend to eat and the manager (his name was Israel) wouldn’t let me leave with it bc “this is a restaurant and if I want to take food to my room, I should order room service.” That was his response after I told him my boyfriend was really sick and needed plain food. I went to guest services to tell them how confusing that experience is when room service doesn’t have food for sick people (no soup or crackers whatsoever) and they said that the manager should’ve packaged the food up for me and sent to the room on my behalf. They told me I can ask for that in the future. So I go to a restaurant for dinner by myself since my bf is sick in the room, and ask them to send some soup from the menu to my room for my bf, and they said they cannot do it. I asked for a manager and they said that I should go to the buffet and take food back. Then I explain that last time I went to the buffet they said that I cannot take food to my room, and the manager agreed to send two soups to the room. The soups never made it to our room…my boyfriend wasn’t able to eat anything….absolutely INSANE!!!!!!

PROS:
-The buffet had a lot of options for food and food was decent, despite the food poisoning experience. (Out of 8 people, only one person got sick so we know it was directly related to the salad)
-They have a shopping area in the hotel and they have everything you need from clothes, to bug spray, to souvenirs.
-The staff really were so nice and polite. They definitely made a difference in our stay.
-There are a ton of pools so you can try and escape the kids (that we paid to be away from), if you want.
-There are bars and bathrooms everywhere and they were clean.
-The gym was EXCELLENT.
-Hunter had delicious Beef tenderloin.
-The coffee shop was incredible and made delicious coffee.
-They had really good mixed drinks and shots.
-Diamond areas had way better food than the Royalton.

This is a lengthy review but it gives a lot of detail.
I booked a swim-out straight through the resort’s website, and at the time of booking, I was asked what bed size was preferred. I said I preferred a king bed, which showed in my confirmation that my room was a King. I also checked off that I was there for a special occasion. When we checked in, our special occasion for the trip was never mentioned, and they did nothing special for us (as most resorts would). We got to our room, and I was disappointed that it was 2 queens. We did go talk with the front desk staff, they were able to move us 2 days later into a different room. We had to leave our initial room at noon and didn't get into the other room until 3 pm. This seemed unnecessary, as no one checked into our room that day, and the room we were moved to, people had checked out the morning before. The swim-outs are not private; you share just a very long pool with everyone else. Also, we were in building 3, and some nights it was impossible to go to bed. They had shows going on in a small area directly outside of building 3 rooms. One night we had to listen to awful karaoke. The day we had arrived, they were having some dance party (maybe). There was a bunch of lights flashing that we could see through the shades of our room.
On day 3, after getting our new room, I had asked several staff members for different drinks in the fridge. We didn’t get a restock until the next day (day 4) when I saw the drink stocker in the hall and spoke with him. After day 3, we did not encounter many personal issues, but I was still disappointed in our stay.
The Hideaway is not an adults-only all-inclusive. There were only 2 restaurants (limited food options) that are considered adults-only. All the other restaurants you had to go to the family/kid’s section. The Italian restaurant was good; however, it was really loud because it is in the center of the children’s pool area. Depending on where they sat us, we would be in a splash zone. We were smart enough to know that may occur, so I always asked to be seated away from the wall near the pool. As far as restaurants go, I would say the food was average. Some things that we ordered in the restaurants were nothing like what we expected based on the menu description, so that was a disappointment at times. The buffet though did have all cuisines to pick from. Some areas of the buffet would have massive lines. Again, you were with families and children.
Lastly, I am celiac, and I had heard great things about the Hideaway from other individuals with celiac or simply those on a gluten-free diet. There was not much available to me at the buffet. They had no bread products; breakfast was always strange pancakes, waffles, and crepes. They would just sit in a food bin and get cold and hard. As I said, there were no bread products so if you wanted a hamburger, toast, or simply a sandwich, you could not have that. Often, when I was in a restaurant, the waiter was informed that I was gluten-free, and I would go to order something on the menu that was marked GF, but then they would tell me a reason it wasn’t gluten-free. It seemed like at first, I was going to have a lot of options at the restaurants, but over time I kept getting told things were not actually gluten-free, and my options dwindled.
Overall, the place is nice for a quick getaway and have no responsibilities of your own. I am sure any all-inclusive meets that criteria will. The coffee bar in the family section was really nice to go to each morning. As the day goes on, the coffee place is swarmed with kids who want ice cream. They really should have a coffee bar in the adults-only section. For the most part, the staff is very friendly. Strangely there was a large language barrier between us and staff (staff that is constantly communicating with people from the US and Canada; for example, front desk and waiters). Personally, I would not recommend this place for any adult wanting an adults-only place. It does seem though like a very nice family resort.

Absolutely wonderful staff, all employees were lovely, professional with outstanding customer service and that made our vacation one of the best! Great selection of food, modern room and hotel furnishings, management did an amazing job! Well done Royalton!

Great place, a little bit loud and not necessarily for a romantic hideaway but we enjoyed our stay very much.

I spoke with a rep before leaving. I believe her name was Xiamara. She stated, I would get a full refund. I gave her all the details before leaving on 3/24. I even documented everything in the chat, which has conveniently disappeared from the app.

When I arrived on 3/21, I was not recognized for being a Platinum Elite member. I was told the room I booked and paid for was not available & I was put on the kid side. I did not go on vacation to be around children. I could hear children running up & down the hall all night. I have stayed at the resort before and the rooms are different on the adult side and much nicer.

After an hour of wasted time going back and forth, we were finally taken to our room. Issac, the butler was supposed to make all out reservations for the restaurant. On 3/22 we showed up at Hunters and was turned away because there was no reservation. I asked to speak with the manager, instead they called Issac. He came and gave an excuse about the reservation & blamed someone else. The entire time we only saw the butler twice (Thursday after checking in & for the incident at Hunters). He never checked on us to see how we were doing. Once we were on the other side, it was like we were forgotten about. I had to start a chat & ask for snacks & Minibar to be refilled. Snacks were never refilled. I should not have to ask for these services. Should be automatic. All of this is documented in the chat. I was chatting with Daniella Couoh.

On Friday (3/22), the person I was traveling with had a bathing suit that soiled the bed. I believe the color of bathing suit ran on the top covers when she sat on the bed. You could clearly see a big pink stain on the top covers. The linens were not changed out, instead the soiled linen was flipped over.

On 3/23, I asked for a late checkout & was told the latest was 1pm and I would need my bracelet updated to reflect that time. I was told by Paola she could not update my bracelet in the Diamond Club. Why not??? I paid for the Diamond Club service. I had to walk to the family side to get my bracelet updated. I spent 2 hours trying to get the bracelet updated. Each time I went back, Mary stated the bracelet is updated. I still could not get in the room. Hours of wasted time on nonsense, when I could have been doing something worthwhile.

On 3/24, the craziness continued. Rafael and Issac were no where to be found. I started asking Paola at 9:15 am could I speak with management. I was never allowed to see Rafael. He never came & spoke to me. After leaving the spa on 3/24, I could not get in my room. I refuse to keep walking back & forth. Again, the people in Diamond Club area did nothing to assist me. I proceeded to type all of this information in the Marriott app chat. After many conversations in the chat, Xiamara met with me, along with one of her associates. At the end of our conversation, she stated I had grounds for a refund.

Mary, Paola, Raphael, and Issac were terrible.

I have stayed at many Royalton’s and never experienced this kind of treatment. My status meant nothing.

Per a Marriott rep, Naomi Cabrera has closed my case and I will not receive any compensation.

The only reason I am giving this more than 1 star is because of the staff. They were friendly and attentive.

I would not recommend for anyone. We stayed at the hideaway and the whole place smells like sulfur/sewer. It is incredibly off putting. It honestly ruined the experience.

The hotel could use serious renovations as most of the amenities appear to be rusty and very old.

I also don't love that some of the staff try to push sales of different excursions on you.

The resort is a hit off the bitten path. I don't think it is really I'm cancun.

This was our first vacation since we had kids and I am incredibly disappointed.

Excellent place to fly parrot.

TAXIS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE AND DO NOT LET OTHER COMPANIES ENTER,
THERE ARE OTHER BETTER HOTEL OPTIONS AT THE SAME AND/OR BETTER PRICE!

Booked a 5 night stay with Bonvoy points. As a Titanium member was granted access to the Diamond club. Garden view room very clean, housekeeping was always available.

Spent the majority of the time at the beach, rather than the pool. Relaxing, plenty of chairs available. No beach umbrellas so plan accordingly. No issues with seaweed, the beach was groomed every morning.

Lots of food options we enjoyed the Agave restaurant the most. The staff are excellent and really made the stay enjoyable.

There are other better resorts to stay at in Mexico. Rooms were damp, musty, & smelled like mildew. Our wet bath towels never fully dried. Walls were paper thin & we were woken up by people walking in the hallway each night. Our balcony faced the swamp and it smelled like raw sewage outside. Food was okay, service was decent. Getting a chair on the beach or by the pool required you to get down there by at least 8:30am & find the employees who provided the beach/pool towels otherwise it was impossible to get a towel the rest of the day & also impossible to find chairs. Would not return.

Rooms need updating, and this location is literally walled off far outside of Cancun. It will cost an arm and a leg to get in to or out of the city from here. While they have you essentially held prisoner they'll nickel and dime you for every little thing, including any minor change to your itinerary. Save yourself some trouble and book somewhere closer to town.

I really tried to give this place several opportunities to redeem themselves. We talked to guest services multiple times. Avoid this resort and stay at almost any other one. This should be downgraded to a 3 or 4 star resort.

The rooms were an excercise in catfishing. We had three people (girls trip) to a room and when booking selected the jr suite with a pull out couch. There was no pull out couch but an ottoman lounger.
Bugs daily infested the room and were never fully cleaned up so they just kept pulling up along the wall during our stay.
We had to resort to begging for water to be restocked in our mini fridge and whenever we went to talk to someone we were told rooms only get four, how were they to know there were three of us? Our issue was we haven’t gotten any water lol so beg your pardon?
Towels, we got only two, again how would they know there were three people? No hand towels or face clothes either.
We booked triple occupancy, the lack of care that goes into not paying attention to that or the three suitcases on the ground is so disappointing.
No new bed linens despite hanging the sign on our door requesting this because all three of us would wake up every morning with fresh bug bites. Housekeeping was a veritable joke DESPITE tipping.
When we tried to lodge a formal complaint we were not able to and just kept being told we will send towels or water or spray for bugs.
Restaurants took min 2 hours to serve you and bring you your meal so you will miss out on evening activities if you don’t choose the buffet.
It’s first come first serve for all a la cartes unless you’re a diamond patron.
Food was very hit or miss, some things would sit out for hours like the cheese which was warm and very shiny.
The bar staff were excellent though despite being very understaffed. They really tried their hardest at most bars. Others would ignore you unless you pre tipped.
I don’t understand how this resort was so full. The absolute worst part was the water. It’s almost like well water. Very ‘sulphury’ and made all three of us sick. It’s the water they give you to drink too.

Location is great. Close to the airport.

I just got back from the Royalton Riviera Cancun Hideaway.
I always read reviews before I book and I appreciate the honest ones so I'm telling my honest review.

First the good things.
The service is great! They are attentive and do the best they can. The bar tenders at the hideaway swim up bar are the very best! They really made the trip so much fun and the entertainment crew are so much fun and keep everyone laughing and entertained. They really work hard and deserve the tips.
There is lots to do! This resort is HUGE and there is always lots going on.
The rooms are very nice but the main part of the resort is looking a bit dated. There seems to be a lot of water leaks in the main hallways but they are always cleaning them so it was not a big concern for us.
The beach was beautiful but it does have quite a bit of seaweed that gathers. This was not a big deal for us and we enjoyed the white powder sand and the gorgeous view even with the seaweed.
The bad things.
There is definitely a gross smell that lingers around certain parts of the resort. We never had any smell in our room but it would often smell kindy of musty or sometimes even like a sewage smell around certain hallways etc. At first it didn't bother us because we would just walk away but after a week I was tired of smelling it. They need to address what is causing it.
The alcohol. This one is only a negative if you don't have diamond club and you care about premium alcohol. We knew you couldn't get premium without diamond club but we didn't know the terrible vodka they served would taste like rubbing alcohol. It says Absolut on the bottle but it was not. Definitely upgrade to diamond club if you care at all about liquor.
The just ok stuff.
The food. It was not terrible but not fantastic either. I was ready to get home to my own cooking after a week but really enjoyed certain meals.
They do have quite a few gluten free options at the buffet and at the Steakhouse (try the French onion soup!!!) but other restaurants don't have many gluten free options so we ate at the buffet a lot and it did get boring.

I'm don't think we will go back but that's because I love seeing new places and would only go back to somewhere that was truly incredible.
If we did ever go back we would get the diamond club upgrade for sure.

First off, I am not one to typically post a review, but now that I have been back for a few weeks wanted to give my honest feedback to maybe help you make decisions on visiting this resort. I will be breaking down my experience in stages. I booked an Oceanview Diamond Jr Suite for 8 days, so I was there for awhile

First off, full disclosure, I am a travel agent and did stay at this resort at a discounted price. But also in saying that, I know no resort out there is perfect and was not looking for that in my stay.

Making the Reservation - This was a complete nightmare. Even as an agent it took several attempts to insure everything was correct and even then they messed things up.

Checking In to the Resort - Because of the screw up mentioned above, checkin process was a huge mess. Luckly was able to finally get everything sorted and it all worked out, but there was un-needed stress related to this process.

The Room - While the room was Ocean view, it was more of a main pool view. There is a secret way to pick your room before checkin (Look on youtube) and I highly recommend this if you want a true ocean view. The room itself was clean for resort standards. Are there minor signs of moisture and small cracks in a few things? Yes, but you are right next to the ocean, this should be expected in any ocean based resort. The bed was comfy and the sliding door does a good job of keeping pool noise out. Housekeeping was great and always respectful. Side Note, this room has no privacy. While you have seen your significant other naked many times, there basically no way not to in this room. Not really a big issue, but it should be noted. Especially if visiting with just friends.

The Pools - The pools are great, the Vibe Team are amazing at creating activities and learning a little bit about you. Calling you by name when you walk by to grab food, etc. The waitstaff was amazing. Guadalupe is am amazing waitress and Henry at the pool bar was also exceptional. Great place to relax, have drinks and catch some sun.

The Food - The food is average at best. By far the Steakhouse is best. After that, eat the buffet. Some of the best food on resort. Should mention, finding Salt and Pepper on the resort is like hunting for Pirate Treasure. I highly recommend stopping by your favorite fast food restaurant before you go and stock up on small salt and pepper packets. Also at the restaurants portions are very small, i.e. Steak Tacos at the mexican restaurant are two very small street tacos. Be prepared to order more then one entree.

The Entertainment - While the entertainment is fine for a night time activity, do not expect any life changing show or experience. Its was nice to sit out by the main pool and watch something after dinner and enjoy a drink. The nightclub is extremely small and be prepared for it to be packed. Same with the Casino.

Lastly the Butler - I highly suggest if you are going to stay here, upgrade to Diamond Club. Having a butler seems like a silly idea, but other people in my party did not have one. I was the only one that was able to make dinner reservations. Others had to play the game of trying to get in to any of the restaurants. Also just having someone check on you every day to make sure things are good is nice bonus and makes you feel good. As example., they forgot to stock the snack mini bar one day, saw my butler he had it restocked in hours. Also had some friends arrive a few days after me early one morning. Their room was not ready, he was able to get their bags to my room, so they could change and enjoy the pool.

Lastly with the Butler, if you can request Ceaser as your butler. Maybe even call a few days before to see if you can make this request. He is extremely attentive when compared to talking to other people that had Butlers. While I only ever had minor inconveniences after being checked in, he did everything he could to resolve the issues.

Went there to get married ,the wedding department was very attentive to us and our needs,but the rooms were a dirty and smells very bad ,we had 28 people and half the people had problems and had to change room,for me they told me someone will be sent to check did not get a call with a response, I went back and was told the smell is coming from outside to keep my balcony door closed, did not get a room change don't waste your time ,they were booked 96% and because of that they don't seam to care about there guest ,I will not go back there

Always love saying at the Royalton

Jacuzzi room is a bath tub outside, not a jacuzzi. So not really worth it to pay extra.

Food was good for the most part but some things were not good.

Spa was really nice.

Room was okay. One of the sinks broke and they never fixed it. There was no curtain for the bath tub even though there was in other rooms. Smelled of the swap even without opening the door since we are on the far side.

An absolute paradises for all ages and multigenerational resort divided by The Hidaway Adults only and the Diamond club. Royalton also has conveniently located restrooms no matter where you are on the resort including the beach, food trucks for eating on the beach or by the pool. I will definitely be back! Thank you for rejuvenating me! Comfort, Luxury and great entertainment in all sections of the resort.