Ocean Maya Royale

Atmosphere and service was amazing and the food was excellent

My wife and I booked a week at Ocean Maya Royale in a privileged junior suite. We booked private transfers even though shared was included. Upon arrival at the resort we were told to wait for check-in. After sitting for about half an hour one of the staff asked us to sign in online , scan our passports and complete the registration. Really, this is privileged? Next they said the room was not ready, so we decided to go to the privilege restaurant for lunch. When we got to the restaurant we stood by the door for 15 minutes and no one was there to seat us so we left. The smell by the restaurants was awful. This was due to the horrible seaweed problem but also a sewage smell. We went over to the Mexican restaurant and noticed ants crawling by some of the food. Then we went outside to the pizza cart and got a slice of COLD pizza. Our disappointment was now snow balling so we went back to the lobby to talk to a manager. We had been traveling all day and had nothing to eat, It was 2:15 pm. They said there was no manager available until 3:00 pm we waited and a manager came over. It had gotten to the point where we were wanting a refund and to check out. Long story short she asked if we would allow her to “make things right. “ That never happened, we never saw or heard from her again. They never acknowledged that we were celebrating our anniversary, which we had mentioned when we booked. They gave us a second floor room in the privilege building and the elevator didn’t work. We did not accept that and were finally put in a fist floor room. We have been to this area over a dozen times to different resorts. So here is my overall assessment of this resort: This resort is not a 5 star! The rooms were comfortable but dated. The pool area is nice and plenty of seating but sargassum smell Drink service around the pool is good. Most of the staff is friendly and helpful. We especially were fond of Octavio and Jorge at the lobby bar. The food is far from 5 star quality. Breakfast and lunch buffet is limited and the same every day. The sargassum smell was horrible at the open air Italian restaurant Hacienda is closed due to being remodeled. Several areas of the resort are being worked on and it is annoying. They were jackhammering the tile shower by the pool one day. Beach condition is very poor due to sargassum problem. The smell is awful at the beach, by the pool and in a few of the restaurants. I know some people reading this are going to disagree with some of my comments but I am just comparing other 5 star rated resorts in the area.

We had an absolutely lovely week. On arrival we were offered a drink while we checked in then a golf cart to our room which was very helpful with the luggage. We were in 607, the room was clean and the maintenance issue we had was sorted very quickly! The only issue we had with noise was being able to hear the entertainment the night we went to bed early due to a trip the next day. All the staff we encountered were incredibly helpful from the restaurants, bars and pool. The beach is having issues with seaweed but the staff were working hard to clear it and we managed to swim in the sea on our last day. Entertainment was great fun with activities through the day and shows / quizzes at night. We would not pay again for the hydrotherapy circuit as this consistsed of a cool jet pool and a hot tub, then single sex saunas. Overall though we would absolutely stay again and thought the hotel was incredible value for money!

Celine was a wonderful server and the food was great. Enjoyed the Baja fish tacos and the mole cajete norteno.

The resort is a little smaller than I’m used to so less options, but easy to get to everything. As with most resorts we have visited, the staff is very friendly! The food was very good and room service speedy. Facility is clean. One thing I didn’t realize (never been to Mexico off season) is that the seaweed would be covering the beach so that was disappointing… the smell is horrific and unfortunately worse at the privilege end. I was excited about beach beds being included but this is the first day we’ve been able to use them because of the smell. I know they do their best to remove the seaweed, I wonder if the smell is always worse at the privilege end? If so, maybe consider creating a section at the other end of the beach too. I would also suggest bringing bug spray cause the mosquitoes can get thick at night. We visited the spa and the massage was amazing! We did a day trip yesterday too to Isla Mujeres and had a great time. Got totally scammed at the airport on our arrival even though we were pre-warned. (I’m talking $500+ CAD) So just trust NO-ONE… no-one to really blame on that other than myself, still hurts though… a lesson in humility (I thought I was smarter than that). This resort is quiet (might also be seasonally related), but the pool with the bar gets a little lively and the entertainers are very enjoyable. :) it’s a great combo if you ask me.