Grand Park Royal Cozumel

This is not the place if you have a large group. They stopped serving beer at all the pool bars 2 hours before posted time. Trying to get reservations for dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort was a horrible experience and the food was just as bad.

Everything about grand park royal was exactly as described except for the dining experience. They boast about the different types of dining options they have for the all inclusive and it’s not true. We were only able to eat the buffet and the hot dogs, hamburgers and nachos.. oh and the 1-4 pm at the restaurant that is normally for adults only with the exception of the 1-4 hours when children are allowed. The Itialiano and Mexican restaurant and restaurant I speak of that is adult only you have to stand in a line before 10am (long line) every single morning and by the time you get to your turn (ours was 10:24am) it was sold out. So needlsss to say, we never got to eat anything but the buffet. I spoke to other tourists at the resort and same thing happened to them, supposedly unless you listened to their 4 hour time share lecture or you weren’t on their VIP list, you weren’t going to get to eat anything but the buffet. Other than that I don’t have any complaints.

The pools were nice, and the mini bar stayed full. The beach and snorkeling seemed to be some of the best around right in front of the hotel (obviously a paid tour's snorkeling is better, but still really good for a hotel). The service for drinks was decent, and all in all seemed to be cleaner and nicer than a lot of the other options around. Advice: - Don't get lured in by the timeshare people when you first arrive, unless that's what you're going there for. - Exchange for some Pesos at the front desk. - When you arrive in Cozumel go straight outside the airport, do not get lured in by the fake "information" desk. - VERY IMPORTANT - Your Cheap Caribbean guides are in blue shirts with red flowers on them (Amstar is another name for their company) They will check you into your taxi or shuttle just outside the airport doors. - Rent a car for a day and drive around. It's one of the more cost effective ways to tour if you want to leave the resort. Avis will bring a car to the resort with all insurance options for $70. - The buffet does not restock its food options after a while. Get there at opening if you want to get the best, otherwise they may not have much left when you get there. There was a long list of cons: - AC didn't go down below 22 in the room the whole time. Makes it really hot at night to sleep in. They have no fans at the front desk. - Bed Sheets did not seem to be cleaned the entire time we stayed, maybe we needed to ask for a change of sheets? Got pretty funky after being in the hot room for a week. - They try to get you in a timeshare presentation from the moment you leave your taxi. They ask for a $20 USD deposit and promise discounts on tours + a free bottle of tequila. We got suckered and paid the $20, but never went to the presentation to get the benefits. We found the $20 paid for them to at least leave us alone for the rest of the trip, and the Cheap Caribbean tour guide (who was there at the hotel and available every day) much better to book through. - The drinks are watered down for sure, we stuck to beer after a while because we knew the drinks weren't very good. - The buffet is pretty bad, they have 3 other places to eat but it appeared they had the same food as selected days on the buffet. We felt we weren't missing anything by not booking a reservation in one of those other 3 places. - The hours for eating seemed strange. Breakfast was 7-10. Lunch started at 1300 and only was open until 1600, dinner at 1830 and when until 2200. We found ourselves eating from the small food stands around the resort then topping off with the food from the buffet. This was a better strategy anyway, since it was hit or miss at the buffet. When we did order room service (included) the food was just as bad. - Its $7 USD to the center of town or the ferry via Taxi. Most of the taxi drivers are nice enough and give you change if you ask for it. That way you can give them a proper tip. However, that also means that you really can't walk to much around the resort. Town is a far walk. - We saw people tipping even though the all-inclusive includes gratuity. Couldn't tell if it was people just being dumb or what but the service wasn't THAT great (I would have tipped extra if it was). However, this leads some of the staff to be expecting an extra tip regardless... We didn't feel it was worth it to give the extra.