Resort Details
Guest Reviews
Customer ratings & reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
13224 reviews
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May 06, 2025Extremely Disappointed - Royal Holiday Ruined Our Vacation
Extremely disappointed with our overall experience at the Grand Riviera Princess all-inclusive resort. Overall resort is very outdated and is in desperate need of a remodel. The first day we had a sink leak in our room and they had to call an engineer to fix it. Please be aware that half the resort is under construction. We were told that it started 2 weeks ago (April 2025) and will be remodeled sometime in 2026. Half the pools were off limits and the restaurants on that side of the resort were Relocated to buffet restaurant locations for dinner time. Both my husband and I were highly disappointed in the food….mediocre at best. We ate at every single Ale-cart restaurant at the resort and nothing was impressive. The snack riviera buffet area/repurposed for mamma Mia and the steak house smelled really bad….couldn’t get over it. Buffets were okay! Lots of options but the quality of the food was not great. For example, guacamole tasted more like store bought then fresh. ROYAL HOLIDAY - This experience ruined our vacation! We were taken to a table after check-in to talk about our vacation plans, and they asked if we were interested in learning more about Royal Holidays (hotel company) membership program. For our time, we would receive 2 massages, a beach bag and a bottle of tequila. We would meet with a sales rep the next morning at a welcome breakfast. We thought, why not! Next morning, we were escorted to a private area. We thought that this is where the special welcome breakfast would be but no…we simply were escorted to the main buffet breakfast area and ate there with the sales rep. Very awkward experience but ‘Brandon’ was nice to talk to. He told us that he was there to not sell us anything but to tell us all about the Royal Holiday membership program and all the benefits. He almost immediately started talking numbers and asked how much we paid for our current trip to Mexico. He then started talked about all the benefits to the program, gave pictures, maps of other resorts…. We then met Ari….to be honest, the worst part of the experience. She was the numbers gal, but also started showing us how to use the membership portal. She then transitioned to $$. Both my husband and I were not prepared mentally to make these sort of huge $$ decisions in the span of 90 minutes. We sat there for close to 60-90 minutes, where we were constantly finding different ways to say NO. They always wanted a #, so they could close some sort of deal…..My husband and I were firm on not making these types of $$ decisions without thinking it over for a few days. We made it clear that we did not want to make this type of commitment. They finally said that they understood our no and their manager was coming over to check us out. Rodolfo (the manager) made one last ditch effort to close a deal with us….we were exhausted….i had a headache and wanted to start our vacation. And he BROKE us, after what felt like extreme pressure… Over the next few hours, my husband and I were regretting our decision….we were pressured to commit to a company that we’ve had NO experience with….we were pressured relentlessly in a restricted time frame to spend thousands of dollars….it all just felt wrong and weighed over our heads….we went back a few days later, complaining and they did grant us our money back but from what I can tell that is not the norm. PLEASE be WARY of these sales reps! They are all over the check-in area at the resort…. The Spa - The main spa is in the jungle? Sort of and definitely wasn’t a luxurious space. Makes me think that this was a spa relocation while they are remodeling. The massage area was completely open to other guests and other workers. My husband and I both enjoyed our massage but I felt extremely uncomfortable getting undressed and dressed. My husband had to create a barrier, as other waiting guests could easily see me with my top off. Also please note that the beach and front check-in area are VERY far away from each other. The shuttles were a nice touch. Main Plaza Entertainment - I’m not sure if that stage was relocated because of the construction but the space was very small. Not an ideal area for nightly entertainment. Overall, as stated before, not impressed with this resort. Royal Holiday ruined our experience. The construction was not a nice touch and ruined some nightly entertainment experiences. Food was okay, borderline bad, hotel definitely needs the remodel. Truth be told we will not be going back.
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May 02, 2025Incredible Family Vacation
Another incredible trip at this wonderful resort. My husband and I got married at this resort back in 2013, so for our first family holiday, we wanted to return. So glad we decided to stay here. The food was great, the staff was wonderful and the room was perfect. We chose a family swim up suite and in my opinion, the swim ups are worth the extra money. I actually can’t believe how spacious these rooms are. The bunk beds are big, comfortable and the kids slept so well. The kingsized bed is actually king size (we’ve stayed at hotels where it’s advertised as king but definitely is not) The room was nice and cool too. The Sunset side was closed for construction but the way that it is sectioned off, it didn’t bother us at all. We didn’t hear ANY construction noise at all. We stayed in the family club and the family buffet and Icecream shop were a hit with the kids. It’s farther from the beach but only about a 6-7 min walk or 2 minutes by shuttle and the shuttles run constantly. The only thing to be aware of is the people who will invite you to a meeting about Royal Holiday. Read reviews on the BBB before you agree to take a meeting with them. We did the meeting, sat through 3 hours and were almost convinced. Thank goodness we said no and read reviews after. They did give us platinum bracelets which were very much worth it but just be cautious. Thank you to the entire staff for making it the absolute best first family trip we could have ever imagined. Can’t wait to come back next year after Reno’s.
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Apr 25, 2025Unpleasant Renovations and party central at the moment.
Parents and relaxers, listen up! Half of the hotel is shut down for major renovations that were advertised to start in May. For that reason we got tickets to avoid the ruckus. We arrived on April 22 and Reno’s are fully under way weeks earlier. It’s such a vacation killer with noise and all sorts of dividers. Plus it’s less walking spaces and closure of some restaurants. Also, at the moment it seems like there’s a huge Cancun party vibe with a bunch of 20 year olds partying til dawn and being quite disrespectful, including constantly banging and shouting. We reported to front desk and all they did was call the room. The night before, someone hit it pushed out good so hard that it felt like a break in. My son woke up and got scared. Nobody wanted to do anything. So this mother of 2 babies had to go up and unleash the unpleasant side of herself at 3 am. We were here in 2019 and everything was “what you see is what you get” -gorgeous grounds all around. Just visual eye candy as you walk the paths. Food and beach were amazing. Still are but This time because of the shut down of HALF of the hotel, there are green mesh barricades along the length of the resort. You’re constantly crammed with into buffet restaurant. We actually couldn’t find a spot for 4 of us with a stroller for breakfast. With small kids we don’t do a la cart because of lack of selection for little ones. Plus, buffet is always top notch for food quality and selection. We loved the Mexican night but by 8:30 pm there were no churros! It’s Mexican night! We’ve waited a year to enjoy them regularly. I mean How? Why are you not replenishing something traditional and high in demand. Ice Cream shop used to be open to all clients. This time we came and the lady said sorry for Kids Club members only. Seriously? My two little ones were excited because mama said we will be going there every day. The staff at the shop said they will make an exception but only for your kids and only for today. After that you have to pay. We were shocked. So we entertained the idea of inquiring about the cost. They said there’s no spaces or spots available. Again, WHAT??? Rooms. We got the basic room and it’s fine. But we had almost no light because all lamps were removed. After asking 3 times we finally got 1. There are no clothing lines and nowhere to hangs wet stuff. There is also no drawers to put your belongings, and we are here for 10 days. My friends have a bigger room and they also don’t have any dressers. A lot of little things are damaged or jammed or squeaky. Our shower door doesn’t close so it’s always a pool outside of it. Staff! Some are still lovely and pleasant. But perhaps due to lack of tipping some staff seem unhappy. My husband was going to take a table in the buffet closer to food by the window so we can leave a double stroller out of the way, the server said no, someone is here. 3 seconds later a woman behind him said can we sit here and he said yes of course. What??? We got stuck looking for a seat for at least 10 min because everything was packed and we didn’t want to sit 1km away from food because of little ones. It’s in and out type of deal for parents. And with a double stroller, with Huntley 1,5 and 3 yr old is challenging as is. I told myself I’d try an turn a blind eye but the amount of money we pay to get a break from everyday life and just be a family, is concrete grounds for high expectations from a 5 star resort. So if you wish to relax and just be free of everyday stress, at the moment Princess is not worth the money. Save it and go to another 5 star like DREAS. They know exactly how to run their hotels.
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Apr 24, 2025A lovely resort to begin with…
Arrival & check in was very prompt & efficient. A la carte restaurants were very easy to book through the app or the concierge. We were lucky to have bookings 5 nights out of 7. Service for these was very good. Food & drink was ok. There was no option to upgrade to platinum due to limited capacity as a result of the upcoming renovations. We made use of the chill out instead. We had a lovely meal there & continued to use their beach club facilities for the first 4 days of our stay before it closed due to renovations. Service was very inconsistent, sometimes good, sometimes actually quite poor. The beach was beautiful, a bit sea-weedy & crowded with loungers (but there were plenty available for use). Beautiful blue sea & white sandy beaches. Our room was very spacious, a bit dated (but I guess that’s why they’re renovating). Water from the shower didn’t drain well so you couldn’t spend too long in there otherwise the bath room would get soaked. The swim out feature was gorgeous. We had a lovely quiet spot with plenty of loungers opposite. Food & drink was ok. The cocktails were quite underwhelming, lager & wine was ok, gin & tonic was nice. Food, drinks & service at the chill out was much better but we did pay extra for that. There were lots of pools to choose from & always plenty of loungers available. The evening entertainment was a bit inconsistent. We loved the Michael Jackson & Grease show & there was a fabulous live band but most of the time it was just ok & a bit lack lustre. Check out was also prompt. I would imagine that this resort is beautiful usually but the preparations for the renovations did really seem to upset the dynamics & we noticed that having experienced before & during.
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Apr 24, 2025
Lovely hotel, inconsistent service
My wife and I have just returned from a 7 night stay to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. On arrival to the hotel we were greeted by staff who swifly took or language and directed us to reception. Reception staff were professional and prompt. We didn't receive any welcome drinks. Also, we were unable to upgrade to a platium wrist band due to hotel renovations. This disappointment us as this was a special occasion for us and wanted to treat ourselves. The room was the one we had booked and was a swim out. The room was clean and spacious and equipped with everything we needed. Although dated and a little tired,we found it to be adequate. After walking around the grounds, we decided to have dinner at Chillout Restaurant. The meal was good quality and service was good. However we found the constant up selling of wine to be a little off putting. We ordered a Mexican wine and then was brought various European wines that happened to be more expensive. The wine we ordered eventually we found to be good quality. After spending over a set amount on the meal of 1800 pesos on our meal, we were invited to use the beach club facilities for the rest of our stay. These facilities and staff were excellent. We booked a la carte restaurants all through our stay with ease and found the meals to be OK but couldn't help but notice that some seemed similar to buffet food but just presented better and served. All the staff in these restaurants were very efficient and professional. The buffet food was also OK. Decent quality and plentiful but did seem a bit repetitive especially at lunch and breakfast. One lunch time we had food at the sports bar which was good and made a change but near the end of our stay the sports bar was reallocated due to renovations and wasn't the same. It changed from waiter service to buffet , which ruined it for us. The dinks we had during our stay we found to be very inconsistent. Cocktails sometimes well below par and worse at main lobby bar. We had some bad service there at times. Tasteless cocktails in plastic beakers hardly what you'd expect from a 5 star resort. The best drinks we received were at chillout along with service. Overall our experience at the resort was good but we feel could of been much better. We booked this trip for a special occasion and it was disrupted due to renovations, and we felt short changed due to this. Nobody notified us of this before we arrived. We felt that we should have been told and offered an alternative. The experience we received wasn't what we expected at our time of booking a year ago.