Catalonia Royal Tulum

Booked with Sunwing, operated by WestJet. Non-smoking resort. Received emails from Sunwing, travel docs and QR code for transfer from Sunwing but check-in was done via the WestJet app. Easy. Sunwing also sends links to pay the entry fee but only a few days before. I like to have everything ready so I would have liked it to be sent sooner. The Cancun airport is a mess. Took over an hour to get our luggage, they changed carousels on us without updating the boards, we knew from the murmurs occurring. The hotel transfer was a disorganized mess. Waited in one huge line just to be told to wait in another smaller line. Finally one of the reps got us on a bus. Was very I organized. Total airport time - 3hours. We still had a 1.5hour ride to the hotel. Hotel check-in was nice. Fresh juice, cold towel. Hotel check-out was shady. Had to pay the environmental fee which they advised when we arrived but they did not provide change - even though I paid in pesos and had changed bills a few days before. Staff are super friendly especially at the beach buffet. Lots of wild life running around, across the paths, in the tress. Room was on the 3rd floor so lots of steps and no elevator. Room was clean, lots of towels, including beach towels. Fridge packed with drinks and snacks. Bottles of water a plenty. Being in building 1, room was loud to traffic noise and can hear wild life from the door. Also looks a bit dated but not grungy or stuffy. Pool was nice. Too warm on some days but clean. Activities ar the pool. Beach was soft sand and clean. Lots of chairs available. Water was rough because it was windy that week but when it was not windy water was clearer and wavy. There was beach beverage service, they came by often. There was some sargassum but the hotel staff was constantly ensuring it was cleaned off the beach. Food/restaurants. The food at the beach restaurant is good for both breakfast and dinner. It closes at 3pm and you have to make a reservation for one of the specialty restaurants for dinner. There are 6 of them but if you don’t like the food there is only the 24hr room service. Entertainment was good. There is an information sheet in the lobby of your building. The list does not say if the event is taking place in the lobby or by the pool. Bars are at the lobby and pool. The bar at the pool changes hours. Sometimes it closes at 9pm other times 2am but no listing as to when that is. There are 6 buildings to total. The exclusive club members get building 6 which is by the beach. There are staff that ask often to join the Exclusive club and take part in an hour timeshare like discussion.

Would highly recommend this Hotel if you want a relaxing holiday. The hotel is spotless, and the staff went out of their way to make sure you had an excellent stay. Thank you to David at the Italian restaurant, and the ladies who would greet you at the buffet at breakfast and lunch with a smile and a conversation. Plenty of sunbeds on the beach, but you might need to get up early to get them around the pool. We did have a seaweed issue, but it was cleared up asap. It can be windy, and you can get caught out believing that you will not burn, but we highly recommend using high SPF sunscreen. The hotel management should be very proud of the staff who make the holiday exceptional

CRT is an incredible resort!!!!! We've been twice and can't wait to go again next year. This staff is amazingly kind, welcoming, and hard-working. The resort is immaculate and so, so beautiful. We love the atmosphere of being nestled in the jungle and enjoying all the animals, and we are constantly wowed by the attention to detail in keeping the resort as pristine and beautiful as possible! I'd like to mention a few specific people. Jesus at the front as a porter is wonderful, we remembered him from last year. Nelsy was great at the front desk. She checked us both in and out this year. Miriam at the gift shop was so patient with us as we were shopping. Angeles at the front desk of the buffet is always smiling and making sure you feel very welcome. I really appreciated her! Miguel also is so friendly and smiling and is a top notch server! Alex also deserves a mention. At Mamma Mia, Julio absolutely keeps the place running smoothly and makes sure that service is excellent, and the food is also excellent! On that note, some of the food at crt could use some revamping. We loved going to Bloved for wine and sitting near the ocean, but it wasn't our preference for supper. We didn't enjoy our supper at the Steakhouse. Last year we went to Tao Cat and enjoyed the atmosphere and our appetizer, but not the meal as much. We didn't have the opportunity to go to Rauxa, yet. We really love the buffet for breakfast and lunch, and Mamma Mia for supper. Sorrentos was also good. Overall, we are absolutely in love with this resort!!!!! It's very obvious why there is a high return rate. And we will be back again!

We had a great time at this resort! We stayed for one week, and would return again. Pros: - Great service - Nice pool and beach - Breakfast and lunch buffets were AMAZING - Clean and comfortable rooms - Cool wildlife! - Close to many recreational activities (only reachable by car). I highly suggest Rio Secreto - Not a party resort, everyone was respectful of each other's rest and relaxation Cons: - Drinks are very watered down. We watched one of the bar attendants fill up a tequila bottle with water and continue to pour drinks. - Rooms are musty smelling from the humidity - Dinners were lackluster, Tao Cat was not good at all Overall, I had a very nice stay and would recommend this resort!

We are just back from our trip and thought we would give our honest opinion about the resort. We found other reviews to assist in choosing this resort. Firstly, the resort was on the smaller side of where we normally stay. With only one, albeit, large pool and 5 a carte restaurants and 1 buffet. We only tried the buffet once and would say it is pretty standard to most resorts. We upgraded to privilege which gave us one more à la carte and we are so happy we did. Ok - the resort. Is quite beautiful with a jungle walk with coatis, birds and even monkeys and the most gorgeous beach we have seen in all our travels to Mexico. We have not been to Cuba but in our talks with others, they said it was very similar. White soft sand and right at the ocean. The waves were fun and overall great experience as we are not pool people when on vacation, we want to be in the ocean. The staff - wow, wow, wow. They love their jobs and it shows. Shout out in particular to the Bloved crew: Maria, Victor, Yolanda and Alejandra, Jesus and Flaviano. We looked forward to each meal with you. Alix from Sorento always had a smile and welcome. And lastly Manolo who always made sure our cups were never empty at the beach. There were many others but these ones made our trip special. The room was lovely if not a little chilly but not musty as others have noted. We liked having our beach towels in the room. The fridge with two beers was very disappointing. Other resorts have offered alcohol and a variety of beer. The snacks and drinks were replenished each day. The food - we had such great meals. We did not try the Tao Cat as it was moved to Steakville due to rain and we wanted to enjoy the outdoor venue over the food. Bloved - well, we loved it. So much variety and the beach views were spectacular. Menu had something for everyone. Portions were excellent sized and we did not leave food on the plate (always an issue we see of others when we go to a resort). We loved Steakville - the cook times were bang on and the cuts of meat were delicious. There was also a turndown service at night - wonderful to come back from dinner to the room refresh. Some cons - we have stayed at various 5 star resorts and have always had a top shelf selection of alcohol. It was OK but no shelf for privileged members - just rail drinks. We rarely got table service in the lobby. They seemed short staffed or perhaps they don’t offer. We got our own drinks most of the time. The one thing we really found lacking was activities outside of pool games and beach volleyball. We often take language, dance, tequila/chocolate, crafting and cooking lessons when on site. We missed the painting and wine - which we really wanted to take but got our days mixed up and it is only offered once a week (the other two days are $$) We only saw the Rauxa show but it was great except for the middle section which saw people celebrating events come on stage for various celebrations and drink tequila (was not necessary in my opinion). So all in all, we had a very relaxing vacation but we love activities along with our top shelf alcohol as dining. We did get one of three. We don’t often return to the same resort and would likely only return if we got a great deal.