Ocean Maya Royale

We have just returned from a fantastic stay and had a wonderful holiday. There are so many positives that far outweighed the few areas where I think the hotel could make some improvements.

The biggest strength of this hotel is undoubtedly the staff. Every member of the team we encountered was friendly, welcoming and genuinely wanted to make our stay special. The service was consistently excellent throughout our holiday. Particular thanks go to Erick and Bryan at the Japanese restaurant, who made our visit enjoyable, Juan our butler who was incredibly helpful, Jesus by the pool who always looked after guests with a smile, and Ilsa in the Privilege team, who was brilliant throughout our stay. They are a credit to the hotel.

I would definitely recommend upgrading to Privilege, particularly if you are travelling during a busy period. Being able to book the restaurants more easily made a real difference, and having access to the dedicated facilities was well worth it.

The hotel offers a great choice of pools, whether you want a lively atmosphere with entertainment or somewhere much quieter to relax. We also discovered the Mayan Lounge, which was a lovely peaceful area to sit outside away from the crowds.

The wildlife around the resort was one of the highlights of our holiday. We saw coatis, including adorable babies, agoutis, deer and a wonderful variety of birds. If you enjoy nature, you’ll love wandering around the grounds.

There was an excellent range of complimentary daytime activities, so there was always something to do if you wanted to get involved.

One experience not to miss is the Mayan Dinner. It was one of the highlights of our stay, with fantastic food, entertainment and atmosphere.

The food across the resort was excellent. There was plenty of choice, the quality was consistently high, and as a vegetarian I was impressed with the variety available. The whole hotel was also spotlessly clean, creating a really pleasant environment throughout our stay.

There are a few areas where the hotel could improve. The Privilege pool could benefit from more sunbeds without having to use the sandy area. On a couple of mornings, even around 10.00 am, towels had still not been placed on many loungers, which delayed people settling in. It would also help if access to the Privilege area was monitored more closely, as we did see non Privilege guests using the facilities.

Like much of this coastline, there was significant sargassum during our visit. The hotel worked incredibly hard to clear it and this is clearly beyond their control, but guests should be aware that it can affect the beach and there can occasionally be an unpleasant smell.

The beaches themselves were not the best we’ve visited in Mexico, so if your priority is spending lots of time on the beach, you may want to explore some of the nearby beaches instead.

I would also love to see the hotel improve its recycling efforts, and clearer buffet labelling, particularly for vegetarian dishes, would make choosing food much easier.

Overall, we had a fantastic holiday. The outstanding staff, excellent food, beautiful grounds, wildlife and relaxed atmosphere made this a memorable stay, and we would happily return.

We had the best experience here! The staff was awesome and super friendly, especially our friend joely that helped us out a lot. We’d recommend this hotel to anyone and hope to return soon!