Royal Mayan vs the Royal Haciendas in Playa Del Carmen

I currently have the Royal Mayan reserved for June, but I actually wanted the Royal Haciendas because I wanted to be in Playa Del Carmen.

Obviously this resort has gotten great reviews, I was just curious if anyone has stayed at the Royal Haciendas in Playa? ANd if you like them both equally.

Also curious if yo uhave any feedback on cancun vs Playa. We are not night life people at all.

This is a family trip. (3 adults, 3 teenagers).

I stayed at Royal Islander 4/20-4/25/07 (which is in complex of Royal Mayan). On 4/24, we rented a car and went down to Playa to check out city and to look at Royal Hacienda. I hadn't been to Playa in 15 years, and was told that it was much changed and bigger. True - te city is bigger - an even bigger dump. There is one street in the whole city where you will feel safe - it is a fancy shopping/dining area. Other than that, I was scared DRIVING thru the town, much less getting out of the car and walking. Then we stopped by RH on our way back to Cancun. The outside of resort is faux painted in BRIGHT colors (orange, yellow) and the inside is brightly colored as well. Both my husband and I and a visitor from our Cancun resort all agreed we thought it was very tacky and none of us liked this place like we liked the Royal resorts in Cancun. They do have a nice restaurant (all windows overlooking gulf) that seemed nice, and you can see Cozumel from the beach and restaurant. Also, the Royal Hacienda is about a mile or so north of Playa - resorts along this route are all very private and surrounded by the "jungle" on both sides. And before I forget to mention, Royal Hacienda is still under construction - it was about half done in April.

Hi Cathyh93. I must agree with you on the three royal resort together are great. I have been there three times (renting). The last time my husband and I were there was 5/19 week, we took a day trip to the Royal Haciendas to check out the place. We couldn't believe the place. I mean, we fell in love with it....It's awesome. Playa, was even better!!! In time, when things get in order at the haciendas, it will be a GEM...I know there will be a water taxi to travel back and fourth, that should be fun. Well, we are PROUD OWNERS yearly at the Royal Haciendas now. I must admit, I do like all the others, but this one just stole my heart and the best thing is that you can visit all the others also. Everybody has a different opinion on what a vacation should be. This one was ours.

Both are fabulous in a different way. Haciendas is beautifully decorated in Mexican style and the town Playa del Carmen is picturesque (not as touristic and sophisticated as Cancun). You will not be disappointed with either of them!

stacey157 wrote:

I currently have the Royal Mayan reserved for June, but I actually wanted the Royal Haciendas because I wanted to be in Playa Del Carmen.

Obviously this resort has gotten great reviews, I was just curious if anyone has stayed at the Royal Haciendas in Playa? ANd if you like them both equally.

Also curious if yo uhave any feedback on cancun vs Playa. We are not night life people at all.

This is a family trip. (3 adults, 3 teenagers).

Like them both... but because I spent so many years in Cancun,... the Haciendas had a little more appeal to me and my wife... were are 60 + and not looking for the Cancun night life anymore...

Hope you enjoy wherever you are going to staying...

These are memoreable trips particularly if you have your family with you...

Ron

We have stayed at the Royal Mayan, the Royal Sands and most recently the Royal Hacienda (Feb. 07) We rented all three times. As others have said, each resort is fabulous for it's own reasons. The resorts themselves are 5 star for sure. Service, cleanliness, amenities are all wondreful! I think that our group of 6 adults, age range mid 50's, all concluded that we enjoyed Playa more than Cancun. Much more laid back and casual. Lots of shopping and dining. Walking throughout the town was no problem. Never did we feel unsafe. The only downside was that the Hacienda is out from the town, so you do have to take the shuttle or rent a taxi, to get into town, put that was never a problem. The beach is beautiful at the Hacienda as well. We rented a room in phase one and there was construction going on all day, but we were never really bothered by any noise. they worked during the day and we were either on the beach or in Playa. We would certainly go back again in a heartbeat!

clements2 wrote:

We have stayed at the Royal Mayan, the Royal Sands and most recently the Royal Hacienda (Feb. 07) We rented all three times. As others have said, each resort is fabulous for it's own reasons. The resorts themselves are 5 star for sure. Service, cleanliness, amenities are all wondreful! I think that our group of 6 adults, age range mid 50's, all concluded that we enjoyed Playa more than Cancun. Much more laid back and casual. Lots of shopping and dining. Walking throughout the town was no problem. Never did we feel unsafe. The only downside was that the Hacienda is out from the town, so you do have to take the shuttle or rent a taxi, to get into town, put that was never a problem. The beach is beautiful at the Hacienda as well. We rented a room in phase one and there was construction going on all day, but we were never really bothered by any noise. they worked during the day and we were either on the beach or in Playa. We would certainly go back again in a heartbeat!

Thanks for the heads up....We just bought at the haciendas last May and my Husband and I just CANNOT wait till this may to go back.....I really think the place is beautiful and very relaxing compared to Canucn..It's just what we need in our lives :o)

Hello, We are trying to decide which resort to stay at. We are 2 adults with 2 -19 yr olds. We don't know if we should stay at the Sands or the group of 3 resorts. Do you think their are more young people at one more than the other or more things to do.

ements2] We have stayed at the Royal Mayan, the Royal Sands and most recently the Royal Hacienda (Feb. 07) We rented all three times. As others have said, each resort is fabulous for it's own reasons. The resorts themselves are 5 star for sure. Service, cleanliness, amenities are all wondreful! I think that our group of 6 adults, age range mid 50's, all concluded that we enjoyed Playa more than Cancun. Much more laid back and casual. Lots of shopping and dining. Walking throughout the town was no problem. Never did we feel unsafe. The only downside was that the Hacienda is out from the town, so you do have to take the shuttle or rent a taxi, to get into town, put that was never a problem. The beach is beautiful at the Hacienda as well. We rented a room in phase one and there was construction going on all day, but we were never really bothered by any noise. they worked during the day and we were either on the beach or in Playa. We would certainly go back again in a heartbeat!

Thanks for the heads up....We just bought at the haciendas last May and my Husband and I just CANNOT wait till this may to go back.....I really think the place is beautiful and very relaxing compared to Canucn..It's just what we need in our lives :o)

We own a total of six weeks at various Royal resorts. two of those weeks are at the Royal Hacienda (we are there right now) and I absolutely hate it!. The villas and the buildings are beautiful, but the water is horrible!. There is just a small path where you can swim and it only goes up to your waste, the rest is surrounding by rocks. The water is smelly and greenish. We just spent 4 weeks at the Royal Sands and one at the Royal Islander and we are returning there in another week and i can hardly wait to get back to the beautiful beaches and really clean carribean waters. Also the palapas at the hacienda are much closer together than at their other resorts, so you have no privacy and can hear everything your neighbors are talking about. We also are not crazy about the town of Playa Del Carmen and much prefer downtown Cancun. You absolutely need a car here to go anywhere. In Cancun you can walk or talk public transportation which does not exist here. We plan to put our penthouse, ocean front 2 weeks villa up for sale and purchase those weeks at the Royal Sands, as I really do not want to return here.