Royal Hacienda

do you know what the addional charge per person is?

No, I'm sorry. On the royalresorts.com website there is a live reservations chat feature. Type in your question and ask. I really wouldn't try and overcrowd your villa, though. Given your group, you'd probably be happier with 2 villas, or one villa (2 bedrooms sleeps 6) and a suite (1 bedroom sleeps 4). The lockoff (2 double beds, no kitchen/living room/dining room) is allowed only 2 people.

I agree with Dee. I defintely think you'd be happier with two villas.

I just confirmed through II a second villa for The Royal Islander week 16 (apr 21-28). We have ten people going, and have two villas there... the one we own, and the one we traded for. We always vacation that way and are VERY comfortable!

Our trade to The Royal Islander came in less than a week. You might see if your home resort entitles you to a bonus, and trade for two Cancun resorts. The bonuses only cost $299 for the exchange, and you can't get better accommodations.

Hi,

The lock off has a kitchenette and can have 4 people if two are children under 12.

dee3 wrote:

No, I'm sorry. On the royalresorts.com website there is a live reservations chat feature. Type in your question and ask. I really wouldn't try and overcrowd your villa, though. Given your group, you'd probably be happier with 2 villas, or one villa (2 bedrooms sleeps 6) and a suite (1 bedroom sleeps 4). The lockoff (2 double beds, no kitchen/living room/dining room) is allowed only 2 people.

I just found out for sure my parents are NOT going. So now we ar down to 6. 4 adults and two teenagers.

I REALLY hope my II reqeust comes through!!

Good luck! We are members at the Royal Sands in Cancun as well as the Royal Haciendas in Playa. We stayed at the Haciendas for the first time for our 2 weeks in November. (The resort initially opened July 1, 2006). It is truly beautiful, and I think as it grows, it will become the flagship of the Royal Resorts properties. Don't get me wrong, we love our 2 July weeks at the Sands, but the Haciendas takes it to a new level -- granite countertops, beautiful tiled walk in showers/baths, jacuzzi on balcony, kitchenette in lockoff, top of the line appliances and everything. It was small (only 55 villas), intimate and quiet in November. By this summer, I think 65 more villas are scheduled to open, however, I think most of them are sold so availability for trade is very small. So, good luck!

I'm at the Haciendas ... right now! They have (free for now) wireless Internet up and running.

I never really liked the Sands, in part because it was the least Mexican of the Royal properties. The Haciendas is not like that. The food, decor, etc., are thoroughly Latino. I feel like I'm in Mexico.

Yes, the appointments of the units are nice (granite, patio tub, etc.,) but they DO NOT AT ALL have top-of-the-line appliances. The dishwashers, in particularly, are the noisiest and feel really cheap. There is nothing at all special about the appliances. Same goes for the cookware and a few other sadly lacking details. (Also, if you're into it, the cool "flat planel" [NOT LCD/Plasma] TVs aren't hooked up to their DVD players properly, but most folks wouldn't care about that.)

Hopefully some of this will be corrected in the future, but right now, the under-sink trash cans don't even fit in the provided space.

At the moment (February), there's still a lot of construction going on, and, for example, the on-site store doesn't have any frozen food--and the Palapa restaurant is almost non-functional on Saturdays. Plan to go to Mega or WalMart on the first day. Taxis are 85 peso each way (or rent).

Another tip: If you want to rent a car, the onsite service is from Hertz! You'll get a much better deal renting in advance from the Hertz website in the U.S. than onsite.

The beach is easiest the best beach of any Royal resort in Mexico, and I've stayed at them all. (We've been coming here for about 27 years.)

Stacey -

Did you see that there is someone looking to exchange their week that you have your request in?

You might communicate with this person and see if you would trade through II for one of the resorts he requested if you could purchase a guest certificate for him to use in exchange for using his place. Just an idea...

Shannon

Thanks Shannon...I just found it thanks to you...

kathleenc103 wrote:

Hi,

The lock off has a kitchenette and can have 4 people if two are children under 12.

dee3 wrote:

No, I'm sorry. On the royalresorts.com website there is a live reservations chat feature. Type in your question and ask. I really wouldn't try and overcrowd your villa, though. Given your group, you'd probably be happier with 2 villas, or one villa (2 bedrooms sleeps 6) and a suite (1 bedroom sleeps 4). The lockoff (2 double beds, no kitchen/living room/dining room) is allowed only 2 people.

I agree of course overloading wouldn't be a good idea but, in the lock off you are allowed 2 adults and 2 children under 12. There's 2 queen beds so sleeping wouldn't be that hard.

alanw66 wrote:

I'm at the Haciendas ... right now! They have (free for now) wireless Internet up and running.

I never really liked the Sands, in part because it was the least Mexican of the Royal properties. The Haciendas is not like that. The food, decor, etc., are thoroughly Latino. I feel like I'm in Mexico.

Yes, the appointments of the units are nice (granite, patio tub, etc.,) but they DO NOT AT ALL have top-of-the-line appliances. The dishwashers, in particularly, are the noisiest and feel really cheap. There is nothing at all special about the appliances. Same goes for the cookware and a few other sadly lacking details. (Also, if you're into it, the cool "flat planel" [NOT LCD/Plasma] TVs aren't hooked up to their DVD players properly, but most folks wouldn't care about that.)

Hopefully some of this will be corrected in the future, but right now, the under-sink trash cans don't even fit in the provided space.

At the moment (February), there's still a lot of construction going on, and, for example, the on-site store doesn't have any frozen food--and the Palapa restaurant is almost non-functional on Saturdays. Plan to go to Mega or WalMart on the first day. Taxis are 85 peso each way (or rent).

Another tip: If you want to rent a car, the onsite service is from Hertz! You'll get a much better deal renting in advance from the Hertz website in the U.S. than onsite.

The beach is easiest the best beach of any Royal resort in Mexico, and I've stayed at them all. (We've been coming here for about 27 years.)

Counting down to our stay at the Haciendas in October. Wondering if anyone has taken the bicycles into town to shop at Wal-Mart. Seems that it would be a good way to get around.

That sounds like a lot of fun!!! We're going December 1st and hopefully most of the loud construction will be done on that side. Enjoy our October visit. K

jiml122 wrote:

Counting down to our stay at the Haciendas in October. Wondering if anyone has taken the bicycles into town to shop at Wal-Mart. Seems that it would be a good way to get around.

I have a feeling almost everything royal does is great except the garbage cans under the sink. We stayed at Club International 3 weeks ago and the trash can didn't fit right under the sinkeither. It was a big round one with a lid. The same as a big outside trash can but, smaller. You would think this minor thing would be fixed but, that resort is 30 years old so I guess that's how the garbage is done :0)

jiml122 wrote:

alanw66 wrote:

I'm at the Haciendas ... right now! They have (free for now) wireless Internet up and running.

I never really liked the Sands, in part because it was the least Mexican of the Royal properties. The Haciendas is not like that. The food, decor, etc., are thoroughly Latino. I feel like I'm in Mexico.

Yes, the appointments of the units are nice (granite, patio tub, etc.,) but they DO NOT AT ALL have top-of-the-line appliances. The dishwashers, in particularly, are the noisiest and feel really cheap. There is nothing at all special about the appliances. Same goes for the cookware and a few other sadly lacking details. (Also, if you're into it, the cool "flat planel" [NOT LCD/Plasma] TVs aren't hooked up to their DVD players properly, but most folks wouldn't care about that.)

Hopefully some of this will be corrected in the future, but right now, the under-sink trash cans don't even fit in the provided space.

At the moment (February), there's still a lot of construction going on, and, for example, the on-site store doesn't have any frozen food--and the Palapa restaurant is almost non-functional on Saturdays. Plan to go to Mega or WalMart on the first day. Taxis are 85 peso each way (or rent).

Another tip: If you want to rent a car, the onsite service is from Hertz! You'll get a much better deal renting in advance from the Hertz website in the U.S. than onsite.

The beach is easiest the best beach of any Royal resort in Mexico, and I've stayed at them all. (We've been coming here for about 27 years.)

We bought weeks 42&43 at Royal Haciendas last August 2006. We love the look and feel of Haciendas. Can't wait to spend our first stay in October 2007. Want to know how the wireless internet connection works. Is it fast broadband? Any charges? What is coverage etc.?

jiml: I don't think I'd ride a bike from the Haciendas to Wal-Mart. First, it's about a mile from the Haciendas to the main road, Cancun-Tulum Highway. The highway is pretty trafficky and once you get into Playa, you have to ride down some pedestrian streets to Wal-Mart. It's a large store on a busy street with a large street level parking garage under the store. Once the interior roads from the Moxche Beach and Golf Resort project (of which the Haciendas are part) is completed, it would probably be much easier as you would avoid the highway part. When we were at the Haciendas during our weeks, 44 and 45, November 2006, we took a taxi to grocery shop there. Very easy, door to door service. The taxis wait in the lower levelled parking garage. Once back at the Haciendas, the bell boys brought the groceries up in carts for us. By the way, we loved the Haciendas. We also own weeks 27 and 28 at the Sands in Cancun. We love that as well, but they are very different resorts.

dee3 wrote:

jiml: I don't think I'd ride a bike from the Haciendas to Wal-Mart. First, it's about a mile from the Haciendas to the main road, Cancun-Tulum Highway. The highway is pretty trafficky and once you get into Playa, you have to ride down some pedestrian streets to Wal-Mart. It's a large store on a busy street with a large street level parking garage under the store. Once the interior roads from the Moxche Beach and Golf Resort project (of which the Haciendas are part) is completed, it would probably be much easier as you would avoid the highway part. When we were at the Haciendas during our weeks, 44 and 45, November 2006, we took a taxi to grocery shop there. Very easy, door to door service. The taxis wait in the lower levelled parking garage. Once back at the Haciendas, the bell boys brought the groceries up in carts for us. By the way, we loved the Haciendas. We also own weeks 27 and 28 at the Sands in Cancun. We love that as well, but they are very different resorts.

Dee; I agree with your assessment about bicycle ride on the higway. Once the new road extension to end of 5th avenue is in, it should be a afer ride. Curious on how prices with Wal-Mart or other grocery stors in Playa compare with prices in resort store.

As with all of the little on site grocery stores at the Royals, the Haciendas' resort store is small with not the greatest selection or prices. Basics with an emphasis on snacks, cereals, canned goods, beers and wines. Some dairy products. The Walmart, of course, is like a US based grocery store with the fresh fruits/vegs, bakery, butcher meats, frozen products, and a much larger variety of groceries and beer/wine. There are other grocery stores in Playa, but we went to Walmart with the recommendation of some of the Haciendas' employees. The prices at the Haciendas' store were higher, but that is to be expected for the convenience. Perhaps it would level off when considering adding in the cost of the taxi to/from Playa -- about $9 US one way if I remember correctly.

My husband and I and another couple are staying at the Royal Haciendas in May and are interested in any tips for dining, shopping, where-to's and how-to's, best $$ saving ideas and all round general information. I want to know it all!! I can't wait but I want to be prepared! Also I see there is a Sam's Club...has anyone found it to be a good grocery/beverage place to shop?

Go to www.playa.info for lots of great info on the region.

The on-site restaurant at the RH is very good, and we liked the poolside cafe as well. The takeout, not so much. They now have a fully stocked store--including frozen entrees [which they were stocking on the day we left]. The prices are acceptable, not bad, especially as opposed to driving into town. (BTW, rent a car through Hertz before leaving the states. I got one for $30 / day at the RH, and it would have cost $100 day onsite.)

The Walmart in town is the best grocery store, as much as I don't really like to admit it. It had the best bakery, too (Mmmm...chorizo, orejones!). I tried the Chendraui, but the food just wasn't as good. I didn't get to the Mega store.

There is a newish mall on the way out of town to the South, on the right. It had lots of great stores, but not supermarket, IIRC.

A fewe of you have suggested I try to get a timeshare in Cancun instead of Playa. Since my unit hasn't come in, I am thinking about putting in a request for Cancun.

We were hoping for the smaller town, but saving money is important.

Again, there will be 3 adults, 1 18 year old, 13, and 15 year old. No partying at all. Just good family time...excursions, shopping etc.

There were a few cancun timeshares noted on here, but if you can give me some suggestions of good ones and ones you would NOT go to..I would appreciate it. I will have to put in a request to II.