Ocean Maya Royale, Riviera Maya

The staff at Ocean Maya Royale truly make the experience unforgettable. There are so many things I love about the resort but nothing beats the relationships I have have made with other visitors and the hardworking staff who make all of it possible. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Kendall. He is such a blessing to this world and holds a special place in my heart!

Thanks to all of the staff that made our first stay so memorable! Were already looking forward to our next visit in 2026. While we found all staff to be incredibly welcoming and hard-working, I'd like to give a few special shoutouts to some that we especially appreciated. First and foremost, the Experience Team works tirelessly to make sure everyone is enjoying their vacation. Special thank you to Viri, who introduced herself to us our first day and made it a point to learn our names and make us feel so welcome. She was so great throughout our stay and is no doubt one of the main reasons we will return. Its no surprise Kenddell is mentioned in so many reviews; he is awesome. What a great leader for this team. Hes always smiling, energetic, and ready to have fun. Getting to know the staff is what gets us hooked on a resort, as they quickly become family! Thank you to the entire Experience team! We spent a lot of time at the activities pool, so thank you to the bar staff as well. Miguel, we appreciate your great service and sense of humor. It's obvious you love what you do. Thank you to Diego, Jony, and Eber. Pool service was excellent! We made it a point to go to the lobby bar to see Tiger as well. Since we jumped around quite a bit between the 5 restaurants, we didn't have the same server often. I also waited too many days (lol) to write this review, so I'm having trouble remembering everyone's names, but I would like to thank Carlos (this man may be the hardest working individual at the resort!), Alfredo, Angel, Lydia, Faban, and Vincente. For those of you trying to figure out if this is the right resort for you, I would encourage you to join the Facebook fans pages. You can find lots of info on there. Relaxed vibe. Comfortable rooms with everything we needed. Lots of entertainment if you want to partake, but the Experience Team is not pushy, so if you want to simply relax, that works too. We used Carm transfers (we did not book directly through the resort, so we had to find our own transfer), which I also recommend. Great communication and the best price I could find. Pros (some of the main reasons we booked here and some pleasant surprises) -Adults only! -Smaller resort. I think max capacity is somewhere around 750. Rooms are spread out, yet you could walk just about anywhere in just a couple of minutes. Never felt "crowded". -No reservations required at the restaurants (except the Tapanyaki portion of Yookoso). We love that we don't have to plan our meals hours (or even days at some resorts) in advance. Long pants are also not required for men, which is nice. -The staff. As mentioned above, the staff was excellent. Not a single bad experience with anyone. -Mike's Coffee shop. Love that they have this. Nice assortment of fresh baked goods and some great coffee choices. Open all hours we were awake -Ice creamery near the pool. Quick and easy treat. -Nice assortment of restaurants and a different theme each night on the buffet. Buffet had a lot of options. There's truly something for everyone. Cons (I'd almost call these "opportunities for improvement" rather than cons. These are not deterring us from returning.) -Occasional wait for restaurants. I'm sure there are a lot of factors that drive this and I'd venture to guess it could be totally different next time we return, but we did have to wait several times for a table for 2. Since privilege members get to make reservations, it was sometimes challenging to get into the restaurants. This would be very challenging for groups larger than 4 as I don't recall any of the restaurants having anything larger than a 4 top, so you'd have to wait for multiple tables to clear. This was not an issue at the buffet, but we didn't want to eat at the buffet every night. -Pool bar closes at 6pm and then there is no outside bar open unless you include the small service bar near the Mexican restaurant. The only real outdoor area to hang at is up near the lobby and then you need to go into the lobby to get a drink. When there was a show it made it difficult for us to talk to people we had met without feeling rude for talking through the show. I'd love to see a beach bar or see the pool bar remain open so there is an alternative place to be outside. -Chair reservation / towel game. Ugh. I don't know where to start on this. Not the resort's fault. You can only cram so many chairs around the pool. But, the resort was pretty much at capacity when we were there and there were never enough chairs around the pool. I never had an issue because I'm an early riser, but nothing bugs me more than when a group of people claim a bunch of chairs at 6am and then you don't see them until 9 or 10. It varied a little while we were there, but I'd say most days, all pool chairs were claimed by 9am. Never really an issue on the beach. -I'd like to see the Sports Bar open earlier. Food was fantastic, but doesn't open until 4:00. This would be a great place to grab lunch. -Outdoor lunch very limited. The only place to grab lunch without having to dry off and get dressed is the outdoor pizza oven. Each day had a set offering of pizzas (not made to order) and those were your options. The pizza was not great and I would say is the biggest area for improvement as far as food goes. A small snack shack with a few more options (burgers, fries, etc, maybe even premade sandwiches?) would be great. We ended up drying off, getting dressed and going in to sit down almost every day, but would rather have been able to just grab something quickly and get back to the sun. Thanks again to the staff! From checkin to checkout, you all were amazing! We will be back in 2026. Can't wait to see you all!

Marian and moises are really good at being entertainment staff they are very welcoming and friendly to us guests at the ocean maya royale

This is a wonderful resort that's greatest asset is it's staff. The food is excellent and since we are Premium Club Members, we ate mostly at the ala Carte restaurants. Selections were excellent and the staff were very attentive to specific food issues. Although all the staff were very good, her are a few Special mentions: Our Butlers from this and a previous visit: Alfredo and David always ready to help us and each other. Jesus the Beach waiter was very attentive and always happy to get us a drink The Privilege Lounge Staff: Carolina, Ilsa, Gaby and Esperanza all made us feel like family. Jorge and the rest of the Lobby bar staff remembered us and had our nightcap drinks ready before we ordered. All in all this resort is our go to resort for our Fall Vacations