The seemingly endless list of hotel choices in and around Cancun quickly proved to be challenging when planning my trip. I mean, nearly every hotel I looked in my price range looked to be really good. How the heck was I supposed to make a decision when there are so many good choices located in one condensed area?
A few more minutes of browsing led me to stumble upon the Royal Cancun All Suites Resort – a nice looking property close to the beach with a name very fitting of what it offers: nothing but suites.
A full review of my 2 night stay at the Royal Cancun All Suites Resort
I’m not a rabid hotel points collector, so choosing offbrand properties that look interesting is a bit fun for me. For the same price as a small non ocean-facing room in the Presidente Intercontinental just down the road, I could have a huge suite of my own (which included a balcony overlooking a private beach) at the Royal Cancun.
It was too tempting to resist, so I made the reservation with confidence.
Location map of the Royal Cancun All Suites Resort. As a point of reference, all the big chain hotels are just down the road to the right.
I will admit that I was starting to second-guess my choice once I arrived in Cancun that evening and saw all those beautiful high-rise hotels strung along the beach. Some of those fancy big-name hotels looked really nice, putting the exterior of the Royal Cancun All Suite Resort to shame.
It’s not this place looks bad from the outside, but those Hiltons and Intercontinental‘s just down the road had a presence to them that the Royal Cancun lacked. Did I make a bad choice? Let’s step inside and find out…
Welcome to the Royal Cancun All Suites Resort!
The exterior of this place isn’t all that impressive, especially when you compare it to the big chain hotel skyscrapers just down the street. Yup, I was having second thoughts about my choice of accommodations even before walking in the front door…
Checking in
The check-in process was quick and easy, but the task of actually finding my suite didn’t go as smoothly. This is not a high-rise hotel – nearly everything is ground level connected by a maze of sidewalks and little alleyways to each individual building.
There’s no way I could’ve found my suite on my own, so I had to ask someone in the lobby for help. Yeah, I’m horrible with directions – enough so that I’m surprised I don’t get lost driving home from work every day.
I got totally lost on the way to my suite, but at least it gave me the chance to check out the grounds. This pool (one of several here) looked awfully inviting.
The front door to my lair for the weekend.
A closer look at my suite
Once I made it through the front door of my suite, all those feelings of doubt were quickly washed away. They weren’t kidding about these being suites.
It was actually bigger than most apartments I’ve ever had in my life, with an ocean view to boot. The very first words out of my mouth were, and I quote, “are you freaking kidding me?!”
OK, I knew I was getting a suite but I didn’t think I was getting a full apartment – especially since I paid less than $200/night for this.
All those nagging regrets about not staying at the Intercontinental have just been blown to bits. This was much better than what I was expecting!
This is as big as my condo for crying out loud.
I was starting to think that they made a mistake and gave me the Presidential Suite, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to go back and ask.
It may not be a candidate to win any design awards, but holy crap! A full kitchen!
To be honest, the more I walked around the place the more guilty I started to feel. All this space just for me? I certainly didn’t need it, but I sure wasn’t complaining.
5 chairs, all to myself. How ridiculously awesome is that?
Now, I will fully admit that this suite was a tad bit overkill for just one person. This was an indulgence plain and simple, as I certainly didn’t need all that space for just myself. But wow – it was sure nice to have. I felt like a king in there, and it sure as heck beat any kind of small hotel room I could’ve got in one of those big high-rises just down the road.
Bedroom numero uno.
Bedroom numero dos. The struggle to decide where I was going to sleep was real. It’s been a while since I’ve had two bedrooms of my own to choose from!
When the mid-day sun hit the curtains just right, everything turned a deep shade of blood red. Kind of creepy, but oh so rad.
The bathroom
Come with me into the bathroom…
I’ve stayed in hotel rooms smaller than this bathroom. Yep, I really did make a good choice this time.
Can anyone tell me how to say “toilet” in Spanish? Thanks.
The tub…
…is also the shower.
The view
Oh, did I mention the balcony?
Nice view of the fireworks from the plethora of party boats out cruising around every night.
One of the better views I’ve had from a hotel room in recent times. Even better than the view I had a the Hilton in Waikiki Beach!
The private beach of this property isn’t near as nice as some of the other beaches nearby, but at least it was quiet and well staffed by waiters eager to put a drink in your hand at the snap of a finger.
A note about booking your reservation
There are two ways to book a reservation here at the Royal Cancun All Suites Resort:
- The first way is all-inclusive, which means that everything (including meals) are covered.
- The other way (the way I booked it) is to simply pay for the suite only. Everything else such as room service, and restaurant meals, must be paid for separately. This was perfectly ok by me though, as room service seemed to be a pretty good deal and there was actually a full grocery store in the main building next to the lobby.
That grocery store made my stay here a lot more convenient than it could’ve been without it. I mean, what good is a full kitchen if there aren’t any stores nearby to fill it with?
Room service
Room service on my first night: Fajitas (and they were slightly disappointing considering this was Mexico and all).
Room service on the second night: pizza (and it was delicious).
Final thoughts
I’ll wrap this up by telling you the best and worst things about this property:
- Starting off with the worst, it has to be the fact that the location of this place is a bit far away from the main section of Cancun with all the big hotels and tourist shops. It’s all within walking distance of course, but it does take some time to walk over there. In other words, it would be a bit of a bummer if you want to be in the center of all the action.
- However (and this is the best part), the Royal Cancun All Suite Resort is fully self-contained and you actually never have to leave if you don’t want to. Everything is here – the beach, the views, and even the grocery store.
To be honest, by the end of my stay I was thinking that it would be really nice to come back just to stay here and relax for a week without going anywhere else around Cancun. It really felt like home to me, away from all the hustle and bustle of the tourist spots.
