Hideaway at Royalton Riviera Cancun

We frequent all-inclusives in Mexico every year. This resort I would rate a 2. The negatives first. The service is awful. Service at the bars and restaurants when trying to get a drink is what I’m referring to. Not only did we sit and wait to be served for far too long when the drinks came 50% of the time they were wrong. Henry and Filamon at the Hideaway pool bar were the exception. The set up at the bars is very strange. The stools are too short for the bars so it’s veey uncomfortable and that’s IF you can find stools. It’s like their missing half of the potential stools that could be there. The furniture is misplaced all around the resort. Want seating at the beach bar. Good luck. There are a couple tables on this huge deck. The grounds and maintenance of the building are poor. Paint chipping away on the balconies and mirrors in the bedroom are mildewed and the room stunk of mold everyday. I did love the rain shower. Great shower and tub. The view from the back of the building from the balcony was terrible. It was where the workers walked to and from. A busted old fence view. Yuck. Not relaxing in the least. If you want to swim in the ocean. Forget it. The seaweed is so thick it wasn’t even an option. We frequent the Barcelo chain and would rate it a 5 our of 5 in comparison. The food here is great I will say that! Wil not be coming back. Very disappointed in our trip overall.

THE 100% HONEST TRUTH!!!!! I first like to say the Resort minus the beach was beautiful. The front Lobby staff was welcoming and friendly upon arrival. From there it went down hill. I'm going to say that the restaurants ran out of food and what they did have was never warm always cold or hardly warm. The buffet was the only HOT food. They never brought breakfast to our room. Our room was flood for several days . We never got towels or blankets. The beach was so dirty with sea weed and garbage. The staff seemed like they were bothered by any request unless you had money in your hands to tip right away which we always did. And CC never picked us up to go to the airport. We had to pay for a taxi. Jennifer didn't seem concerned in the office . Orlando was the only one that tried to make it right. I've already contacted customer service about these issues and they have yet to feel concerned ! Worst Experience ever!

My husband and I stayed at the Hideaway from Dec. 28- Jan 1. We enjoyed our time, but we will not be going back for an "adults only" vacation. We wanted to stay at an adults only resort, but unfortunately, the one we had our eye on was sold out for the holidays. Our Cheap Caribbean representative suggested the Hideaway, since he had recently stayed at a sister resort in the Dominican and had a great time. He mentioned that we’d be in the “adults only” section, but that we would have access to the entire family resort for restaurants and entertainment if we wanted. However, we felt that the Hideaway was essentially an adults only pool in a family resort. There was only one adult only restaurant, so of course, we had to spend a lot of time in the family section (and our excursion with the hotel (snorkeling) was open to the entire resort, so kids were on the trip. This may not be a negative for other travelers, but we were seeking an adults only experience and this certainly was not it. The New Year’s Eve party was in the family section only. It was nice – but was an odd mix of families, babies & little kids, drunk teenagers, and wasted adults – definitely not what we had in mind for an adults only NYE getaway. Pros: The staff was comprised of the most attentive, friendly, accommodating people we’ve encountered on vacation. We travel to Mexico often (most recently at the Secrets Capri in May 2017), and were truly impressed by the staff at the Royalton Riviera. The food was great. The beach was great. The entertainment was great (a “silent” dance party at the Hideaway seemed stupid and ridiculous at first – but was the most fun we’ve had in a long time). Overall we did have a good experience and it was worth the trip. Cons: I’m sure you’ve seen bad reviews for the pushy sales pitch for becoming a resort member (similar to a timeshare seminar), but the person we dealt with took it too far. We did not want to attend any sales meetings, but we received numerous reminders that we needed to “check in” and get our “free gifts” with the guest experience team. When we arrived and heard the initial pitch, we politely declined several times. Then our rep said that he knew we weren’t interested and would not purchase a membership – but this is how he makes his living and feeds his family. He works on commission and receives $50USD for each guest that sits through the 90 minute seminar. He pleaded that we attend for his sake, and that we should stay for 30 minutes and run out. We’d still get a gift for going and he’d get his commission. It put us in an unbelievably awkward situation. He simply would not take no for an answer and then made us feel responsible for his livelihood. He then walked us to the designated area, and stayed until we were forced to sign up and attend. I could not take it and was so furious that I literally faked a stomach illness to get out of it after 5 minutes (an Oscar-worthy performance, I’m sure). The staff was great, but I think the management was a little poor in clearly conveying the daily agenda and upcoming activities. For example, the entire resort is first-come, first-served, except for New Year’s Eve (apparently) where reservations were required at all restaurants. We were not aware of this and walked to every restaurant and got turned away each time. We ended up at the buffet with the families. Many others were in the same situation. Our room was nice but 2 things were off: (i) we were on a mini-honeymoon and requested a king-sized bed, but we were provided with 2 double beds and slept separately (seriously), and (ii) we were unable to utilize the balcony. The mangroves, while pretty, smelled of raw sewage so badly that we couldn’t even open the door to put our wet bathing suits out. At times, even our clean sink water smelled. Overall, a good experience and fun time, but we will not return (as a young couple without children). The family section was really nice and people looking for a place to take kids would have a great time, but the Hideaway does not provide a couples’ retreat or adults only experience.

Upon arrival, we were shuttled about 3 different lobbies. We had booked the Diamond club at Hideaway and upon arriving were directed to the main check in. The main check in directed us to the regular diamond club reception and then we were shown to the diamond club at hideaway reception. If you have an early flight, be prepared to wait for your room, ours wasn't ready until 3 PM. Luckily other members of our group arrived a few days earlier and we used their room to get comfortable. No complaints about the food, it was all to good standards. The only thing we could rave about is the fact that the buffet had Mexican food. We always wanted a resort to feature local cuisine and here it was and it was delicious. There was also a Mexican a la carte restaurant, Agave which had some delicious food and a Tex Mex as well, that was more Tex than Mex however. The drinks are also on par with other major resorts. If you ask for a double, sometimes you got it, but most of the time not. Unless you are standing at the bar showing them how much you'd like poured, then you would get a double. Beach was nice, some sea grass but nothing terrible, lots of chairs to choose from. Abundant pools with again lots of chairs. Generally clean resort and quick service. So, what was the problem? On our third day we visited Chichen-Itza and upon our return we left a cell phone to charge for a window of time of just over 2 hours. After showering and dressing for dinner, we realized the phone and charging cable were missing. The outlet plug remained on the table as we were utilizing the USB outlet to charge. We searched the room, called the phone twice to make sure it hadn't fallen anywhere, but when we called the 2nd time and it went straight to voicemail there was no doubt it was taken. Security investigated but impressed that the resort can not be held responsible for things not placed in the lock box. We advise not to bring any expensive clothing, make up, perfumes, shoes, or large electronics as all those things will not fit in the lock box and if they get taken, you will have no satisfaction. I should mention it was confirmed only 1 person had entered our room in the short amount of time we were gone. We asked that a reward be offered as we were not upset about losing the physical phone but all of our photos which were on the phone. The meek half apology we received at the conclusion of the investigation was absurd, and left us feeling like we were not believed. We did not cause a scene, we tried to be understanding throughout the investigation. Yet the weak apology felt as if they did not believe that the phone was taken from our room because the employee did not have the phone in their possession and stated they never even saw the phone. The phone was not left in a public space but in a room which we paid for and we feel it is reasonable that we should be able to leave our belongings out without them being taken. Our last 2 days of our trip were ruined by this. No pictures available as they were all on the stolen phone. We've visited a few Royalton's but their approach and policy on items taken from your room has made us reconsider visiting again.