Royalton Resorts Reviews 

How can they improve? Now that's a question! Where shall I start?
Room: stank of mould and it took 3 days for someone to put a dehumidifier in there to help with the smell. Not that it did any good.
Supplies: The iron leaked terribly. We asked for a replacement, agsin it took 3 days after phone calls to reception and hunting down staff. No shower gel for 3 days. It's a good job we took our own. No shampoo or conditioner for 4 days. They miraculously turned up. No face cloths on one day. No hair dryer - it took 2 days for that to turn up. Cockroach scurrying around the room on day 3. I managed to kill it and it was still on the floor when we left. Grey towels which should be white.
The room stank from our first day until the day we left. Inadequate air filtering and rubbish design.

Food: I am currently under the doctor due to having really bad runs since I got home. We didnt eat anywhere else except for the hotel. The food was diabolical in all of the restaurants. Cold in the buffet room. Flies all over the food. The only food that was hot was the pasta made to order and the omelette in the morning, again made to order. Stale food, very unappetising and unappealing. The quality was worse than the old school dinners. The staff in the buffet restaurant were nice enough but their service acumen was very poor. Busy doing nothing whilst I stood looking for a clean table to sit at. I eneded up clearing a table myself and cleaning it too. I then sought my own cutlery whilst staff walked past me a million times. The Italian restaurant food was the worst I'd eaten. They have NO clue. The chef needs sacking. Rubbish food with zero taste. Tiramisu? You're joking. A home made amaretto biscuit soaked in coffee with cream piped on the top. I was so angry that I showed the waiter what tiramisu should actually look like and he said, I know, but the chef changed the menu last month and this is his take on it.
Brazilian restaurant- nice enough staff but again, the food left little to be desired. Low quality, tough meat (as in the main buffet restaurant). They need a new chef there too. The fish restaurant by the beach was no better. Nice staff but very low quality food.

Ambience was OK(entertainment poor)but how come the bars shut so early? We're in the middle of nowhere and nothing to do after 11pm. We aren't children!

For an all inclusive they had us by the short and curlies and didn't give us a positive all inclusive experience. The only eatery open between lunch and dinner was the burger trucks the beach. Condiments were scarce and everything in the pictures weren't on offer.
Found the icecream parlour and coffee shop eventually, selling the same stuff you could get in the main buffet restaurant but it was something, I suppose.

Conclusion: I wouldn't go back there. They only got 2 stars because the staff were friendly. I paid a lot of money to stay at the Royalton Bavaro in a Junior suite and it was such a waste. I thought it was just me but lots of guests were complaining.
Spend your money elsewhere is you want a great experience. Our trip was to celebrate my husband's birthday. Don't get me wrong, we had a fab time but only because we made it special. The RB would have ruined it had we allowed it to.

We stayed for 7 nights.

I stayed at the Royalton Autograph Hotel in St Lucia from 29th April to 13th May 2025, booked through TUI, and I feel compelled to share how disappointed I am.

Despite being advertised as a five-star resort, the experience fell far below that standard. After eight days in our junior suite, damp patches began appearing on the walls. Everything—including the bedding—became damp to the touch, and a musty smell worsened daily. My partner and I are both asthmatic, and the conditions were genuinely unhealthy.

Shockingly, we returned to our room one afternoon to find two men and a maintenance manager inside painting over the walls—clearly an attempt to cover up the issue, which they were already aware of. A friend staying at the same resort had a similar issue from day one and had to be moved three times. By the time the damp became unbearable in our room, I simply couldn’t face the stress of moving.

Other major letdowns:

No tea available at breakfast

No beer at the bar

Many cocktails were unavailable due to missing ingredients

Room service was unreliable (only came 2 out of 4 requests)

Food was consistently below average in taste and variety

That said, I want to give credit to our cleaner, Rufina, who was the one bright spot during our stay. She went out of her way to make our room welcoming and left kind messages daily, which we really appreciated.

For the price we paid, we expected a true five-star experience—not three-star service with major maintenance and food issues. I will be contacting TUI directly to seek compensation and hope others are aware before booking.

I am a long-time Marriott customer who has booked conventions, workshops, and large events that generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for this brand. I booked a solo trip to Royalton CHIC Punta Cana — my first international trip — to celebrate earning my master’s degree. Instead, I left emotionally drained, disrespected, and traumatized by an experience that exposed this resort’s utter lack of hospitality, racial bias, and complete failure of accountability — not just by the property, but by Marriott International itself.

My Stay: A Disaster from Check-In to Check-Out
Room Bait & Switch: I paid for a luxury king room and was silently downgraded to a double-bed standard room with mold, mildew, and a broken thermostat. No one told me. No manager addressed me. I only found out the next day — when I had to beg for answers. I was then left without a room for most of the day during the switch. No refund. No apology. Just silence.

Appalling Conditions: Both rooms had maintenance issues — leaking ceilings, non-working outlets, USB ports, cold mini-fridges, and faulty TVs. I reported every issue. Most were ignored. This is what they call a 5-star experience?

Towel Request Saga: I waited over 7 hours for towels and washcloths. Multiple requests — in person and via phone — were ignored. I was offered wine and strawberries instead (seriously?), but not basic hygiene items. When towels finally came, they were silently tossed in a bag on my door — while the white guests next to me received personal delivery with a knock. The message was clear.

Racially Charged Neglect: As one of the few Black American guests, I was consistently ignored or treated coldly by staff — especially compared to how lighter-skinned guests were catered to. I was skipped over at restaurants, denied poolside service, and glared at by staff in the gift shop. I was made to feel like a problem for existing.

Food? Unacceptable: Nearly every meal was inedible. Cold, bland, and poorly cooked. I lost weight during my trip because I couldn’t eat. Room service messed up every order. Restaurants served undercooked pizza, overcooked pasta, and even water that was visibly green. No joke.

Zero Communication: Closures weren’t announced. App was outdated. Locations were wrong. I had to chase staff for basic information. Every request felt like a burden to them.

No Privacy or Safety: Despite placing a “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door, housekeeping touched my personal items without permission. When I asked not to be disturbed, they used that as an excuse to deny me towels. Yet, oddly, they still knocked to offer wine and strawberries — proving their excuses were bogus.

After the Trip: Even Worse
Since December 2024, I requested to speak with a manager multiple times. I contacted Marriott International, who did nothing but refer me back to the same resort that abused my trust. I was told only the property could respond to compensation requests — a cowardly abdication of responsibility.

It took until APRIL 2025 for me to finally speak with someone — Yenifer Astacio (and her minion, Kenverly Cuevas) — who lacked any compassion and instead made excuses for the disgusting behavior of her staff. No accountability. No empathy. No resolution. Just more gaslighting and scripted responses.

And what did Marriott think my pain, stress, and degradation were worth?

5,000 Bonvoy points.

That's less than the value of a 1-night stay at a budget hotel. Absolutely insulting.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Do It
I left this resort heartbroken. My celebration was ruined. My body and spirit were exhausted. And Marriott has lost a loyal customer for life.

I will never book another personal or professional event with this brand again.

To Black travelers, solo travelers, and those expecting dignity, do NOT stay here. You deserve better.

To Marriott: You’ve lost my business, my trust, and my voice. And I will make sure others hear it loud and clear. Your bigotry and indecency will not prosper.

I recently stayed at The Royalton Hotel in Mexico and unfortunately, it was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had, especially for what is marketed as a five-star resort.
After traveling for over 24 hours, including an 11-hour flight, we arrived at the hotel around 4 PM hoping for a smooth check-in. Instead, we were handed a buzzer and told to wait in the lobby. After over an hour, the buzzer still hadn’t gone off, so I approached the desk to explain how exhausted we were and asked to speak to a manager. I was told to wait again. After another 30 minutes of standing in reception, I found out that the person who told me to wait was actually the manager herself! After two hours of waiting, we were finally given our room wristbands.
There are no clear signs directing you to your room, and no staff to assist you. After wandering around we eventually had to ask a maid to show us the way.
When we got to the room, it was a complete disappointment. The floors were dirty, the screen door was broken, the mirrors were cracked and painted over, the toilet didn’t flush properly, and the room smelled musty. Too exhausted to deal with it that evening, we asked for a room change the next day. Hotel staff told us to speak to our TUI rep instead of dealing with it themselves.
We eventually arranged to change rooms, but when the time came, nobody told us where or when to move. We returned to our original room to find our luggage being removed and placed into storage without any notice! After chasing the rep again, we finally got a new room a couple of hours later, which thankfully was much better — but the process to get there was absolutely unacceptable. The whole room change process took evenings. 3 days of pure stress not a great start to our holiday which we spent over £5k on.
The poor service continued throughout the stay:
* One morning, hoping to watch the sunrise on the beach, we asked reception if we could get a couple of towels. We were bluntly told it was "impossible," a word I’ve never heard used at any true five-star hotel.
* We booked a boat and snorkeling excursion through the hotel for our last day, only to be told that morning (after waiting around) that they had booked it for the wrong day — and blamed it on the system. We never got to do the excursion.
* The food at the à la carte restaurants was poor and hard to even book, thanks to a frustrating reservation system.
* If you don't wake up between 6-7 AM every morning, you’ll struggle to find a sunbed for the day.
* If you want to leave the resort, be prepared to pay $60 each way for a 20 minute taxi ride making it very expensive to go anywhere off-site.
* The gift shop is extortionate — we were charged $80 for two packs of crisps and two bags of Haribo. Absolutely outrageous

The only positive mention goes to Astrid, one of the few staff members who was genuinely patient, kind, and tried her best to help resolve issues.

I don’t usually leave reviews, but I feel it’s necessary to share my experience with Royalton, especially after the resort and its affiliates tried to silence us with a legal defamation agreement after our stay.

We booked our vacation through Trip Central, expecting a luxury getaway. Unfortunately, from March 26 to April 2, our experience was filled with moldy vents, a collapsing bathroom ceiling, broken furniture, and zero follow-up from staff. These issues were not only inconvenient but raised serious health and safety concerns.

While staying there, we were convinced to purchase a Prime Travelers membership — sold to us as a 2-week-per-year, VIP Diamond Club experience in premium swim-out rooms. The pitch was full of urgent pressure, but we were assured this was the deal of a lifetime. Once home, we realized many of the promises made weren’t in the contract, and the benefits were either misrepresented, missing, or unenforceable.

We reached out to Royalton, Trip Central, Sunwing, and Prime Travelers, but instead of resolving our issues, we were met with deflections and generic responses. After escalating our concerns, the resort sent my wife a “termination agreement” which included a shocking clause: they wanted us to sign away our right to speak publicly about our experience. It was essentially a gag order. The offer involved taking compensation in exchange for our silence, without any acknowledgment of the poor conditions or misleading sales tactics we endured.

We refused. And we escalated.

Our case is now with ProConsumidor, the Dominican Republic’s consumer protection agency, where we’ve requested full termination of our membership, compensation for the undelivered benefits, and damages for the unsafe room conditions. We’ve also provided evidence that our experience wasn’t an isolated incident, as this pattern of poor service, misleading sales, and post-trip silence seems widespread.

I’m sharing this as a warning to other potential guests. If a company resorts to a defamation clause to prevent you from speaking out, it’s clear they know they’ve done wrong. No one should be coerced into silence after a terrible experience.

Please do your due diligence before considering this resort or their Prime Travelers membership. Document everything, ask tough questions, and don’t be afraid to demand transparency. Stay informed, and protect your rights as a consumer.

Rooms great, comfy beds, plenty of water - slight smell of mildew but it is the air con! Food better than expected. Beach good - felt harassed by the local hawkers constantly - and an intrusion by the boom, boom of music the whole day till at least 10. We didn't plan to be at a teenage hotel!!!

This is not a 5 star resort by any stretch of the imagination. The building is shaby and run down. I have paid $8600 for a Luxury Presidential Oceanview suite just to have to deal with broken AC which was not fixed during the entirety of the duration of my stay. Staff was rude, especially restaurant staff, making faces and scoffing at us like we were stealing food from their children. Service was an absolute nightmare, 15-20 minutes to get a drink. Save your hard earned money go somewhere else. Even Cuba was better than this.

Just returned from a superb 7 day stay at the Royalton Grenada Diamond Club. The ocean room view was amazing!!! The attention to detail and excellent Butler service provided
by Jamie, Lindon and Bertrand was exceptional which contributed to a fantastic holiday. The resort was beautiful,clean with a variety of food,drinks and entertainment. All staff were pleasant and helpful. I would highly recommend.

Terrible experience at the Royalton St. Lucia. The food isn’t good at any of the restaurants and the staff seem disgruntled. I probably would be too if I worked there. Save your money or points and book elsewhere.
We shared the feedback with Marriott multiple times but they don’t care. Aside from a $150 massage credit during our stay (that we had to ask for multiple times), we received no points credit or adequate solution. So disappointing.

I was allocated a room with water dripping down the fire alarm , apparently from
Condensation in air conditioning unit. This kept us up for 2 nights. After multiple complaints and repairs over next 2 days this constant drip remained unresolved. Finally we were allocated a room with a non leaky ceiling !. Domestic staff were not up to scratch and often didn’t clean the room until late 5 pm or didn’t clean it at all despite clear sign on the door- please make my room. Please note this hotel is on the other end of the island so takes up to 2 hours drive .

Just returned from a great holiday in the Royalton Grenada. Set in a beautiful location a real life tropical paradise. The yoga was a perfect way to start the day followed by a coffee served by the always happy and helpful Tiffany. Then a fresh mushroom and cheese omlette cooked by the skillful Adana and the evening meals were cooked by the friendliest grill chef ever- Gary. We was up-graded to the suite for my husbands birthday and it could not have been better. So a big thank you to everyone Royalton for making our holiday amazing.😃

So much went wrong I don't know where to begin. Terrible. Not worth the money.

Due to Hurricane Beryl, we were forced to reschedule my daughter’s wedding from July 2024 to January 2025. While we fully understand that natural disasters are beyond anyone’s control, the way your staff handled the rescheduling process was completely unacceptable. Rather than working with us to facilitate a smooth transition, your team seemed more concerned with extracting additional money. It took two full days of exhausting back-and-forth arguments just to secure a new date—something that should have been handled with urgency and empathy.

Diamond Club Deception & Check-In Failure
As the mother of the bride and a returning guest, I was assured multiple times throughout my re-planning process that I would be upgraded to Diamond Club status. However, upon check-in, I was met with no recognition, no assistance, and no acknowledgment of my upgraded status. While other Diamond Club guests were warmly welcomed, assisted with luggage, escorted to their rooms, and provided with Diamond Club beach bags, I was dismissively handed a map and sent on my way.
Upon arriving at my assigned room, I realized I had not been placed in a Diamond Club room. The room itself was horribly outdated and smelled of sewage. When I attempted to call the Diamond Club for assistance, my calls were repeatedly answered and then disconnected. Frustrated, I went in person to speak with the team, only to be met with rude and unhelpful behavior from Alejandro, who informed me that I had only been granted "Diamond Club access"—not the room upgrade I was promised. Instead of resolving the issue, he dismissively told me to take it up with the wedding office.
It was only after yet another argument and persistent escalation that the wedding planner was finally able to get me into the Diamond Club room I had originally been promised.

Lack of Basic Assistance & Poor Customer Service
Throughout my stay, there were multiple instances of unacceptable service failures:
Luggage Assistance: At check-in, I had to personally track down help for my three 70-pound suitcases filled with wedding supplies. There were no bellboys available, and I was forced to practically beg for assistance. Similarly, my 70-year-old aunt had to drag her own luggage through the property without a single staff member offering help.
Diamond Club Butler Service: Despite being told I would have a dedicated butler; I was not assigned one until January 18—one day before checkout. This level of service is completely unacceptable.
Dinner Reservations System Failure: The Royalton app, which is the only method for making dinner reservations, repeatedly failed. I sought assistance from the Diamond Club, where Alejandro once again displayed unprofessional behavior by aggressively refusing to help me. Only after standing my ground and refusing to leave did someone finally assist me.
Unresolved Charges & Incorrect Balances: Several of my guests were falsely told they had outstanding balances of $1,500 USD, even though they had paid in full in May 2024. These errors led to unnecessary stress and arguments with your staff, which should have never occurred.
Credits due to guest, with proof of credits from our Travel Agent, were denied and/or took days to get resolved, some still have not received their credits.

Unethical & Unprofessional Behavior
The following incidents were particularly disturbing and completely unacceptable:
One of my guests forgot his winter jacket in his room. When a friend attempted to retrieve it, your staff refused to return it unless they were paid a “tax” (a clear attempt at extortion). It is absolutely appalling that your employees attempted to shake down a paying guest for money in exchange for his own belongings.
Another guest, a couple who paid for Diamond Club access, was relentlessly harassed with timeshare sales callsthroughout their stay. This is not the experience we envisioned when inviting our loved ones to celebrate a special occasion.

Final Thoughts & Demand for Resolution
This experience was by far the worst I have ever encountered in my extensive travels. I have stayed in hotels around the world, including in economically challenged regions, and have never experienced this level of incompetence, disrespect, and dishonesty.
The complete lack of accountability, poor interdepartmental communication, and overall disregard for guest experience at Royalton Cancun is deeply troubling. The resort's management needs a serious overhaul, and staff must be properly trained on guest services, problem resolution, and ethical behavior.
For the significant amount of money we spent, we expected to be treated with respect and dignity, not constant arguments, incompetence, and outright extortion.

I had a good vacation here but it was inspite of the hotel rather than because of it.
1. It's in the middle of nowhere, leaving for any reason is made to feel expensive and difficult.
2. The entire resort smells of raw sewage.
3. Food is very poor quality, lacks flavour, is always luke warm and portion size are tiny.
4. Drinks are watered down beyond recognition.
5. They rip you off at any opportunity. I paid $16 for some dental floss!

ask us if we like medical attention and I refuse that right away because just because of the way they dealt with us, I said when I come back to Toronto Today, I will be going to the doctor to get checked out and so will my girlfriend. I'm having pain in my back. I'm having pain in my neck right now and yes, I said that I would definitely be taking this further so the brand ambassador's name is Brandon. He's
the Brandon ambassador his name for Expedia is Shante and the guest services member at the hotel his name is Brandon. We did file a report. The report is at the hotel and you can be getting that information from Brandon. | would like this handled in a timely fashion And that is what my assessment is of everything that's happened. There's also other little things that had happened as well that I will probably send another email in response to when I just gather my thoughts and I can kind of get everything that's happened with us at this hotel, but the experience was absolutely awful for the amount of money that we paid to stay at this hotel it was very very very concerning to me and l've never been at a property where it's supposed to be on a higher echelon And they're their facility is not you shouldn't have been put in a room that smells like mould I shouldn't have been put in a room that they knew the room.
They know that these rooms are not supposed to be being used by gas and that's the area that they put you in. It's very alarming for me and if we didn't complain, nothing would be done and a lot of this took so much time out of our vacation. We have to fill out a report. We have to go down and wait for Manager. We have to get approval for this. It took away from our vacation so I definitely would like something done about this And I will be taking this further my conversation that I'm seeking his I think I should be reimbursed for my trip and they should actually give me a free stay and upgrade me to you know having a better experience with this property. It's it's been absolutely atrocious so I will be waiting for somebody to get back to me and thank you very much for your time.

Opportunity to be brilliant missed every time !
Positives - smiling and helpful staff.
Buffet - good and wide range of good quality food ! Peak times chaos !
Beqch - lovely and wide white expanses of soft sand

Negatives

Staff - not enough and mainly over worked and stressed ! Heavy reliance and expectation on tipping which can add costs to the hols
Sunbeds - forget it unless you are up at 6.30 am! Even the beach was full
Resort - mixed chance with rooms - we had three 2 good / 1 bad. Tired in places but mainly ok.
Booking restaurants- far too difficult and take pot luck . Mostly they had gaps but you can’t get in
Location - depends what you want . If you are happy to stay at the resort for the length of your stay that’s fine - taxis are $75 each way to Cancun ( double if you need a larger car)

A Mixed Experience with Room for Improvement

I recently stayed at the Royalton Riviera Cancun 7 days over Christmas and 7 day’s at another Location,wanted to share some constructive feedback about my experience.

Firstly, the ongoing construction was a significant issue that impacted my stay. While I fully understand that maintenance is vital to the upkeep of any property, the extent of the work was not disclosed prior to booking. This led to daily disruptions, with noise starting early in the morning and lasting throughout the day. Transparency about such matters would have allowed guests to make informed decisions before booking.or even if plans developed after the booking some notification would have been nice.

Making reservations for evening dining was another challenge. With such high volumes of guests, securing a table at one of the restaurants required quick action, and often, you were left with the buffet as the only option. While the buffet was adequate, the overcrowding during peak times made for a chaotic experience, with long waits and a lack of sufficient staff to handle the demand. That said, the steakhouse stood out as a highlight—excellent food and a well-deserved positive reputation.

Another high point of the stay was the staff at the Caribbean Beach Bar. They were incredibly welcoming, friendly, and genuinely went out of their way to make guests feel comfortable. Their efforts were much appreciated and one of the brighter spots of the trip.

However, the choice of beverages at the resort could use improvement. Offering a wider variety of draught or bottle/canned beers would enhance the overall experience, especially for those who enjoy trying different options during their stay.

The hotel’s location also poses challenges. Situated far from local amenities, not that i’m a shopper but i like to wander on occasion guests are heavily reliant on the hotel for essentials. While I understand the isolated nature of some resorts, the lack of affordable transport options—such as a shuttle or bus service—was a major drawback. For example, we paid $18 for a lighter at a local shop, and taxi fares to leave the area were prohibitively expensive. I would recommend hiring a car if you plan to stay here, as it provides greater flexibility to explore beyond the resort.

Even if you wanted to move to another accommodation, the hotel did not accommodate such requests, in considering this as an option.

While there were some positives—such as the friendly staff and the standout steakhouse—the overall experience fell short of expectations. I hope the hotel takes this feedback into consideration, as addressing these issues could significantly improve future stays for guests. With clearer communication, better planning for the high volume of visitors, and more accessible transport options, the Royalton Riviera Cancun could offer the luxury experience it strives to promote.

Just had a lovely 2 weeks at the Royalton Grenada. Staff were all so friendly and helpful. Vibe team of Kimikka, Kianna, Kaunda and dj kaotic were awesome and so entertaining. Jeremy and Kelson from Royalton fit had us doing aqua aerobic which I enjoyed. First time i did this while on holiday. Don't let the bad reviews put you off from coming here. We had a great time, and will be recommending this hotel to family and friends. A holiday is what you make it.

We had our safe broken into the first night we were at the Royalton Punta Cana. We booked dinner at the Italian restaurant, ate and came back to find our safe open. $210 us dollars was missing. We called hotel security and they said they would investigate. 3 days later we were called to the lobby and shown proof that at 6:20pm and 7:06 pm staff had entered our room while we were at dinner with our Do Not Disturb sign on the door. I had asked why the hell would they be in our room? They said towels.....I said what twice? I was denied access to the proof so I could call the authorities and speak with Sunwing. Nothing was compensated at all and nothing happened. If you are going to stay here bring a luggage locks!!!!

During my 5-night, 4-day stay, I didn’t leave the resort grounds. However, even with my valuables carefully secured, several items went missing from my room: a sweater, around $150 in cash, and my credit card.

Here’s what happened:

Missing Belongings: I hung my sweater in the wardrobe, kept my cash in my backpack, and locked my wallet with my credit card in my suitcase.

On the morning of my departure, while waiting for my 11:20 a.m. airport transfer, I realized my sweater was gone, along with $150 in cash. Shortly after, at around 10:40 a.m., I received alerts from my bank about unauthorized charges on my credit card, totaling approximately $5,000 CAD.

Arriving in Canada without my sweater, I was left wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt in near-freezing temperatures (about 3°C). Additionally, my bank informed me of six attempted charges in the Dominican Republic on my card, four of which were successful. This ordeal could cost me up to $5,000 CAD—nearly two and a half months of my income—with no guarantee of recovery.

Don’t Stay Here Unless You’re Ready to ‘Donate’ Thousands to the Local Economy :)