Grand Park Royal Cancún — Hotel in Cancún

I recently returned from a week's stay at the Grand Park Royal Cancun resort... and I cannot stop thinking about it!

Rooms and Resort: The beds were inviting and comfortable with clean sheets daily. The space in the room was enough for 4 adults and their suitcases (we requested a rollaway). We had a beach view (pictured) and it was amazing to be able to watch the sunrise each and every morning. The resort has 2 main areas: a family pool area and an adult pool area - both have a respective bar. The snack bar is located next to the family pool. Both have beach access, but the resort tries to keep the water-goers on the main part of the beach where the lifeguard keeps a watchful eye.

Beach: The sand is soft and white - perfect for a stroll. The waters are on the rough side as the location of Cancun allows for all the wind to gather speed as it hits the coast, creating a noticeable current. On the main part of the beach, the resort has created a sandbar about 100 yards out, helping to reduce some of the waves and current along the shore. The resort does have loungers and shade along the beach - Erika (with a K!) does a fantastic job attending to the patrons on the adult side of the beach. She was fantastic and had our drink orders memorized after the first day!

Food and Drink: WOW... as a vegetarian, this was the best food I've experienced at any resort (including the Riviera, Negril, Nassau...). All the pictures feature the veggie options at the a-la cartes. There was at least on option for appetizers, mains and desserts - all of which were delicious! Below is a breakdown of the veggie options at each restaurant:

Buffet: Breakfast included made-to-order eggs; French toast (they usually made it with brioche(!!), but on off-days, it was white bread), pancakes, cinnamon rolls (roles lol), fresh fruit, yogurts, hash browns, home fries. Lunch/ Dinner (both were similar for veg options): varied cold salads (different everyday; usually enough veggies to put a decent salad together); fresh fruit; rice, beans, grilled veggies, potatoes, plantains... enough to get your aminos

There are 3 a la carte restaurants (they work out to several different meal options): Japanese: open for dinner Mexican: open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Italian: open for breakfast and dinner

Koi (Japanese) a la cart: Hibachi: wonderful entertainment; veg fried rice and grilled veggies. Veggie sushi (pictured) for app was good! A la carte (pictured): Veggie Bao, veggie poke bowl and veg pad thai.

Italian: Breakfast - skillet bowls can be customized to have the meat options removed, BUT they do have veggie specific dishes (omlettes; skillet bowls and waffles). Dinner - delicious soup and pasta options; tiramisu is made-to-order at your table and is a delightful show. Veggie pasta options are pictured (tortellini; arrabiata)

Mexican: Breakfast - various omlettes and lighter options than the Italian. Waffles are options also Lunch - veggie options included tostadas and vegan bites (like a fried crab cake) - both are pictured Dinner - you have to have the creamed corn soup!! It was the most delicious thing I ate all week!! They could honestly bottle it and sell it; I've retuned home trying to mimic the flavour!

Snack Bar: Fries (varied between wedges and actual fries); full nacho bar! These were great after an afternoon of sun and tequila!

Coffee and Ice Cream: Edgar made THE best coffee in the morning! The coffee is so good - double Americanos hit perfectly after a night of drinking lol fresh fruit, juice and pastries are also available. By 11, the gelato/ ice cream is available along with mango frapps and coffee frapps - highly recommended! In the evening, fresh salads and dressings are available

Drinks: Delicious! All tenders knew fun drinks to make if you gave them an idea of what you liked. Sombreros became our favourite - kalua topped with whipped tequila! Every day, they also offered a featured drink in the afternoon around the main pool.

(There is a space for a pizza bar; but it was not open...

I just got back from an 8 day stay at Grand Park Royal a few days ago and have been missing it immensely.

While the beginning of the stay was shaky, everything after was perfect. The reason this review is 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the poor communication from some people at the resort in beginning. The website was hard to use and then once we got to Cancun, the resort claimed we never reserved our ride to them (we had tried twice much before the deadline). Further, we didn't learn about the main pool being closed until we arrived at the resort and then the communication about what restaurants were open when was unclear, at best.

With that being said, every other part of the trip was perfect and relaxing, allowing me to feel so refreshed when it came time to leave.

Our room had a beautiful view and the cleaning staff were always so efficient and effective. Even though the main pool was closed, the pool that was open was perfection. It had a beautiful view of the ocean, many daily activities, demos, and a wonderful swim up bar. It also somehow was always the perfect temperature. Tip: If you want to be able to sit in something besides a pool chair, go reserve something else at 730 in the morning.

The beach was beautiful with soft sand, good rinse off stations, wonderful staff, and many cabanas to relax in. They were also easy to get to from multiple locations.

The nightly shows were so much fun and not to be missed!

The buffet itself had pretty consistently decent food. Mexican night specifically was great but the dinner otherwise depended on the day.

The taco bar was hard to understand when it was open at night but was good.

The snack bar was pretty average. While the staff was great, it wouldn't be my first choice to eat at for lunch because of the food.

As far as the restaurants go:

Koi was by far my favorite. Both the regular menu and the hibachi were delicious. So much so that we went to the regular restaurant and for hibachi on our last night there. All of the staff there was welcoming and great.

Flor de Sol (Mexican) was great the one night we went there, but the second night we had dinner there and the day we had breakfast there was more average food wise.

The Italian restaurant had a salad bar not to be missed. So many good cheeses, meats, sauces, etc. All my fellow charcuterie friends so go there!

What really made the stay unbelievable was the staff. I have nothing but wonderful things to say. Even the people that I only got to interact with once, left an impact. Some of the people that made the biggest impression on me were:

Erika at the pool! She was beyond kind and fun. She remembered our orders, asked us questions, and generally made me feel like I had a new lifelong friend by the end. By the end, we even are sure to go where she was working.

Juventino at the rooftop bar. He brought the energy to the rooftop bar! He also remembered our orders and would often have them ready and brought out to us before we even had to ask. I don't have enough kind words to say about him and have missed seeing him every day since.

Rogelio at Koi. He was only out waiter once but he was so welcoming and warm that he made a huge impact on my stay. Every time we went to Koi, we made sure we at least got to chat with him for a bit.

Josmar at the Mexican restaurant and buffet. He was probably the kindest and most gracious staff member we met. He seemed genuinely to love his job and I loved that energy.

Ramon with activities, Amando at the pool bar, and Andrea at the pool all made our long hours at the pool even more enjoyable than they already were. Cristian the pool DJ also only DJed one day that we heard and it was so good!

Jesus at the beach bar made great drinks and always had them ready with a smile and good conversation.

Edilberto at the Italian restaurant was also great I'm general.

Upon leaving the resort, I felt like crying because I was going to miss how lovely it felt to be there and the fantastic staff that felt more like friends by the end. I would recommend...

Horrible Horrible Horrible. Im reposting this so it stays at the top of the queue. Should be allowed to have 0 stars. Then their generic response to everyone who complains. Just go down the street and stay but not one associated with this chain

Final update. DO NOT GOHERE! After a good night experience, we goto check out. The lady at the front desk said we didn't pay for the last night which we did. The manager at the front desk tried to make everything right last night but this last incient set me over the top. We paid for everything up front and now they want to charge us again. Our travel agent paid for everything up front. No way do we owe. After explaining our whole situation last night didn't expect a problem this morning. But no communication between staff every step of the way issues. When the manager reads this review, she can contact me but i will not be paying any additional fees as it was already paid for. THIS WAS THE MOST STRESSFUL VACATION I EVER EXPERIENCED! DO NOT COME HERE THEY TRY TO RIP U OFF EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. THEY ONOY GET A 1 STAR ON SERVICE BECAUSE U CANT GIVE ZERO!

New update. Spoke to the manager and they wanted to rectify the issues that we experienced. And they did. They treated us to a Mexican dinner. By far hands down the best food we had! Then a mariachi band was amazing.

4th update..

Went to the paid steakhouse. Service was the best there. Good food waiter was good. Finally a good on the resort.

Off resort was another thing. Went to the market. I do not recommend. They will harass you!

3rd update... dinner service at a new restaurant. We were the first people to the restaurant. I check about the dress code 10 mins before opening and they said men sleeved shirt and close toed shoes. Women were fine how they are. We get there they didn't want to let us in. The guys were fine but the women had cover ups on. The same guy I just talked to! After a 5 mins they said to come in. Being the first people there, we expected to get our food first. They sat 5 other tables. Those tables got the food before we got our appetizers. We had to ask the waiter where our food was. 10 mins later they came with food. The food. Average at best. Buffet looks like the best option so far... to be continued....

2nd update... no water bottles last night. They wanted us to sign up so we can go thru their "time share" pitch. I said no as we didn't get the water bottles. They said give us 5 mins. While waiting for the other couple in our party now magically the water bottles appear after. So they walked us to breakfast, again a new restaurant, slowest service we ever had. And they were closing so limited menu. So wasn't happy with that. Took over an hour for the basic menu. Then the presentation. 3 hours total. Way too long. Then the gifts they promised, a t-shirt for everyone 1 bottle of tequila for everyone, 1 bottle of prosecco, and a bag and kids toy. When we goto claim it they wanted to give 2 t-shirts 1 bottle of wine and 1 tequila for 2 parties. We said that was not what was promised and they had to get a manager. He comes gives us everything but the 2 bottles of wine which we had to see someone else about. We go there and after another 15 mins we finally get the bottles that were promised.

Update... the service is worse than expected. We were supposed to have water bottles in the room when we arrived. After an hour of waiting around I asked to speak to a manager. They didn't get me the bottles that were promised but they did give me some replacement water containers. I went to guest services they started that they will be in the room when I got back. Still waiting. Went and had dinner, the food at the again place was just ok. The buffet for lunch was better. Will go back tomorrow for a 6th time trying to get the water bottles that were promised and try different restaurants. We will see. But the view is great

Nice property so far! They are a little aggressive when u first check in, trying to sell a time share. Let's see what the next few...