We spent a week in Mexico at the end of September. The goal of the trip was to inspect 10 resorts in the Riviera Cancun area to better serve our clients. With that came our own week long experience at a resort. We decided to stay the week at the Hideaway at Royalton Riviera Cancun Resort. Since we were traveling during a pandemic, capacity at the resort was limited to 35% and not all amenities and restaurants were available. We had a great time regardless and didn’t notice the missing experiences.

While we stayed at the Hideaway section of the Royalton Riviera Cancun, we had access to the family friendly areas. For the first few days we didn’t even realize there was a very large family pool with a splash park on the one end. We tried every restaurant that was opened and walked the entire resort to make sure we saw everything.

Beach: The beach here is pretty standard. The sand is a beautiful white sand but the water isn’t as clear as some of the other beaches further south or in the hotel zone. In the summer months seaweed can cause issues, but the resort does their best to keep it maintained.

Pools: There were quite a few options for Royalton guests. The Hideaway has its own adults only pool. We had access to the main pool outside the lobby, an infinity type pool near the beach, plus the family pool with splash park. If you upgrade to diamond club you also have access to a private pool in that section.

Rooms: The property is about five years old and the rooms are still in pretty good shape. Most rooms include an indoor jacuzzi. We were upgraded to a Rooftop Jacuzzi Suite at check in. Check out the video below. The Hideaway also offers junior suites, suites with Jacuzzi terraces and swimout pool rooms.

Food- 10 restaurants and 17 bars. Gourmet Marché - International Buffet I have to say I was impressed with the selection here. We ate breakfast here most mornings and a late dinner one night after a long work day. I started each morning with what I like to call “breakfast nachos.” Each day they had different meats and toppings to try. It never disappointed.

Dorado - Seafood Grill This was the first place we stopped when we arrived. We had been traveling all day and needed a late lunch before heading to the pool. IT was a quick fresh lunch with a few margaritas.

Armadillo - Tex-Mex Cuisine This ala carte restaurant is by the pools of the Diamond Club area and can only be accessed by Diamond Club members. We enjoyed our lunch there in between pool time. We both ate burritos and chips and salsa.

Caribbean Grill - Caribbean Cuisine We made dinner reservations here one evening. We tried the surf and turf and white fish. We also tried the ceviche appetizer and enjoyed it.

Grazie Italian Trattoria - Italian Cuisine This was probably my favorite meal. This restaurant was over in the family side of the resort and I am so glad we decided to make the walk over that way for lunch on our last day. The shrimp risotto and the lasagna was the best. Had we eaten here earlier in the week, I may have went back for second visit.

SCORE Sports Bar - Pub & Grill We made some friends in the Hideaway pool and met up with them one night to watch the Stanley Cup Finals and college football. This was a great stop for wings, beer, and yelling at the tv.

Zen - Teppanyaki We had dinner here our first night. We opted for table service rather than hibachi grill. Excited to try the sushi, we were both underwhelmed at the selection. We are a bit of sushi snobs and just had higher expectations. Everyone we talked to said the hibachi was great.

Hunter Steakhouse - Authentic Steakhouse This was also a favorite meal of ours. Both of our steaks were cooked perfectly and tasted delicious. One of my favorite things here was the carmelized onion rolls.

Due to the limited capacity, Agave (Mexican Cuisine) or Taj (Indian Cuisine) were both closed. Room Service also had a very limited menu but did the trick when we needed a quick snack after a day in the sun. We also were unable to participate in the C/X Culinary Experience (extra fee). The experience is an adults only (aged 15+) experience for all the senses!

Diamond Club: Most resorts these day offer an upgraded luxury experience. This could mean anywhere from vip check in to exclusive restaurants and lounges to butler service. Because the resort was at a limited capacity, most of the added amenities with Diamond Club were also limited. For example, the dedicated check in area and lounge were closed. Room service menus were also limited.

We did have access to the Diamond pool (but were very happy with the Hideaway pool), daily access to hydrotherapy at the spa each day (we went once and discovered we are not spa people), dining at Armadillos, and butler service. We weren’t impressed with the butler service and could have easily called the front desk to have our needs met. We think that staff was limited and our butler may have been overwhelmed with too many rooms. Depending on the experience you want, Diamond club might be great for you depending on the additional cost.