Royal Haciendas, Playa del Carmen
Mike and I are not “all-inclusive” kind of travelers. In our opinion big resorts remove you from the very essence of local cultures. We have always laughed about why even leave your home town if you are going to sit in an all-inclusive resort and be waited on by their staff. Well the funny thing is that is just what we were looking for last week. With the travel restrictions and our own hesitation to get on a plane right now, we decided to take advantage of some of the resorts nearby. Friends are members and were staying at the Royal Hacienda about 25 minutes north of us, and we had had several other people recommend it. We looked at the deals for locals and decided it was just too good to not try it.
Our expectations were pretty much non-existent; we had basically no idea what to expect. I think we have visited an all-inclusive 3 times in all of our travels. The first being our very first family trip to Cancun in 1998. One time I spent a night while traveling alone at Hacienda Tres Rios, and Mike and I spent another night with friends at Xcaret – Mike’s memory of that was getting lost, twice I think, while looking for our room.
We made our reservations easily online using the chat option on their website. The woman who helped us was very nice and she followed up with us until we were totally confirmed. When I had a follow-up question, and contacted them again through chat, I was immediately put back in contact with her. That is a plus in my mind. I hate having to retell my whole story to a number of people. I much prefer working with one person and have her contact name and extension. Something that most companies have lost along the way, but let me not digress.
We mentioned we had friends who were staying at the hotel, little did we know they are more like rock stars there. From the moment we drove up and were greeted we were treated, not as strangers, but as special guests. We were immediately elevated from “just any guest” to “Jill and Jim’s friends,” and everyone from the bell-hop, to the front desk person to the concierge all welcomed us and asked us to please say hi to Jill and Jim for them. Check in was a breeze, our car was parked and bags brought to our room in no time at all. Early check in was no problem, which is to be expected when hotels are running at 20%.
More important was the safety precautions that were in place every step of the way. All staff, no exceptions, wore masks and protective gear. Before entering the resort we stepped on disinfectant mats, used hand sanitizer and had our temperatures taken. Front desk had a protective shield and more hand sanitizer. Each time a drink was delivered on the beach, hand sanitizer was offered. You could see staff constantly cleaning surfaces all day long.
With all these extra steps the staff was still incredibly entertaining, helpful and genuinely happy to have us there. We were planning to do a lot more than we actually did, which is a good reason to return. We took walks on the beach, swam laps in the incredible lap pool, enjoyed reading and visiting under the palapas on the beach and yes, I even played Bingo and Lotteria, because Jesus just made it too much fun not to! Drinks were well made and flowing as quickly as you would like and, if you have the pleasure of having Marco for your waiter, it will also be with some incredible stories. Marco seemed to know what we needed before we had a clue that we needed anything! The highlight though was in the restaurants. The food and service were as fine as we have found in any of our travels, including the many amazing meals in Charleston.
The first night we enjoyed a wonderful meal at the new Japanese Restaurant, Kinoko. Service was great, safety precautions all in place. You can choose to be seated at your own tables and order off their extensive menu or be additionally entertained with teppanyaki. We opted to eat off the menu, and we were absolutely pleased that we did. We did appetizers and main entrées which were all amazing. The menu is quite extensive with lots of great choices. Want an extra appetizer or side? No problem! They are there to please you.
The second night we dined at Los Murales, and had an incredible waiter, Antonio. This restaurant could stand up to any of the fine dining establishments we so miss in Charleston! The setting is gorgeous, service impeccable and food was up there with some of the best bites we have ever had! All this at an all-inclusive just blew us away. For what we paid for 2 nights, ocean-front room with all-inclusive, we would have paid for the meal we had this evening if it was in Charleston.
I confess I was not expecting this. We started out with appetizers. Jill and I both chose the blue corn stuffed with crab meat, Jim ordered clams and Mike had the tuna tartare with avocado – hands down one of the best things we have ever tasted. We followed it up by sharing a Caesar salad, just so we could save room for the entrée. Between the salad and main course, they served a wonderful sorbet to cleanse our pallets. I chose the Cornish game hen with asparagus and mashed potatoes and a small side of roasted, mashed zucchini, only because I had to see what it was – and may I recommend it to everyone. I will be trying to duplicate this side, but highly doubt I can. Mike went for the pasta with beef, they make the pappardelle fresh daily. It was light and worked perfectly, standing up to the rich beef sauce. We don’t normally order dessert, but when a meal is this good, you just aren’t ready to call it a night. They offered a gluten free brownie topped with coconut ice cream that was the perfect topping to the evening - light yet rich chocolate, an excellent combination with the coconut.
The breakfast options and lunch options are not to be snubbed. They were all excellent and nothing disappointed us.
We had such high hopes this year for far-off destinations, but Covid-19 put those on hold. What we are enjoying instead is exploring some of the wonderful options closer to home. I would highly recommend the same for anyone living along the Mayan Riviera. You could literally spend a lifetime checking out all the options, and I would suggest you put Royal Hacienda on your list.
One last mention, it is turtle season, and not only was the resort taking all the precautions necessary to keep us safe, they were also doing their part for the turtles, too. Each evening they pull back all the beach chairs and there were minimum yellow lights used. Each turtle nest is marked off and has a marker giving the date the eggs were laid and probable hatching date.