Royal Hideaway Playacar

In February, my friends and I took our third trip to the Royal Hideaway resort and we had such a great time! This resort continues to feel like home to us, and we always look forward to returning. As teachers, we always look forward to the quiet, adults-only nature of the Royal Hideaway- it feels like a true vacation! Our favorite thing about this resort though, is the staff. They are all so warm, kind and welcoming! I'd love to extend a special thank you to a number of them, but please know that every single staff member deserves thanks and recognition for their hard work and dedication! I have to extend the biggest thanks to the pool staff. We spent pretty much our whole day at the pool each day and we are so grateful to the amazing team there! We were thrilled to learn that the Dream Team of Javier, Eduardo, Luis Dominguez, Genaro and Jorge are still there as the best pool waiters in the business! They have all been there for many years and seem love working there. They always made sure we had a drink or food at any point! They are so friendly and feel like family to us! They are the heartbeat of the resort and who we always can't wait to see again! It was also great to meet some new staff at the pool on this visit. Exal always made sure we had the towels that we needed, helped with our chairs and was a friendly face to see each morning. The activities staff including Alexa, Carlos, Roberto and Raul had fun events happening throughout the day and were all very entertaining. We always love the food at the Royal Hideaway, with Azia and Palazzo being my personal favorites. We would love to thank Victor at Palazzo, Adrian and Azia, Pablo at Ventanas, Oscar at Spices, Frank Nieva at The Deck and Antonio at The Grill for their wonderful service and care. Our Concierge Ricky Rosas was also wonderful, attentive and helpful. We did an afternoon at the spa and had a great experience with Janet. I definitely recommend emailing the resort ahead of time (about a week before) to secure your dinner reservations. Otherwise, meet with your concierge ASAP to get them set up when you arrive. Just some things to think about with this resort- the pool chairs fill up very early! Many of the chairs I noticed this year are reserved for guests in presidential suites, I believe. This was a change from our last visit. I got up very early and sat in the chairs around sunrise to ensure we would have somewhere to sit for the day. My friends and I also brought $150-200 in small bills ($1-$5s) to tip the staff. This was a personal choice, but I recommend it. The staff work so hard and expect absolutely no extra compensation in return. Gratuity is included, but we heard that the staff only receive a small percentage of that. We left around $10 after each meal, as well as tipped our pool/beach servers when they brought us drinks or food. Staff were always so grateful for the tips, but it never seemed like they expected it. We were happy to tip them for truly exceptional service. We miss everyone at the Royal Hideway and cannot wait for our next trip back. Thank you to the entire team that works so hard to keep this resort going, we appreciate you so much! Muchas gracias!

Excellent hotel, peaceful, quiet, full of greenery, excellent and spacious rooms, beautiful beach... food and drink selection for every taste

I had my perfect dream vacation. Everything was just out of this world! Couldn't ask for anything else. The quality of everything was really high. The personnel is one of the nicest and friendliest people I've ever met. The presence of the wild life on the immaculately landscaped site was precious, here for the first time in my life I saw alive sereques and coutis.

The beach is beautiful. Setup is easy for cocktails at either pool or beach or both. Biggest bummer for us was dinner/reservations. We checked in at 5pm and couldn’t eat until 8:30 at any restaurant because there were no reservations available. We were starving from traveling since 5am. Plenty of seating at all restaurants but they just couldn’t find a way to seat 4 of us anywhere?! We ate there for dinner 2 out of 4 nights because all reservations at normal times were taken. We could pick either 5 or 8:30. Bummer. Rooms are nice. No elevators if you’re on the second floor. I liked the grounds of the hotel. There are large guinea pig looking rodents on the property and also a few cuati to see. It was about $10 for a cab to 5th street where all the action is. Overall nice stay. Could be great with a couple small changes

We had not been here for two years and were anxious to return for our eighth stay here. We were not disappointed. Service was great and it makes you feel special to be recognized by staff, even after a 2 year absence. Looking forward to returning soon. This resort meets all our needs. Great beach, pool, food and service.