Cancun, Mexico

Everyone could use a relaxing beach getaway. Cancun has great weather, pristine water, and amenities suited for all types of travelers. We recently stayed at an all-inclusive resort in the Hotel Zone, but the Yucatan Peninsula has much more to offer as you travel along the coast or further inland.

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Hotel Review: Royal Sands Resort & Spa

We love exploring local areas when we travel, but the combination of safety concerns, the COVID-19 pandemic, and all-inclusive offerings created a recipe for bumming around the resort. No regrets there. The Royal Sands is a great place to stay overall and had everything we needed for a relaxing and enjoyable week away.

Dining & Drinking

The Royal Sands’ all-inclusive package is optional and expensive. That said, if you plan to drink a lot, dine at the nicer restaurants regularly, and/or have the timeshare member discount, it is well worth it.

The package includes access to the restaurants at other Royal resorts in the Hotel Zone as well as all the dining options at the Royal Sands. Our favorite spot was Captain’s Cove, which has great seafood and a waterfront location that will let you watch the crocodiles living in the Nichupté Lagoon. Other dining highlights include Sand Dollar (good ceviche, sushi, and appetizers), El Conquistador (fine dining that is worth a try if you have the all-inclusive package), and the Pool Bar / Char Hut (always get the guacamole). La Veranda’s buffet is solid too, but there are better options for lunch and dinner. Just avoid La Hacienda Sisal, which was very disappointing.

Across the board, the drinks are tasty (especially the mojitos and strawberry margaritas!) but not very strong. Beer is the best bang for your buck. We highly recommend going to the pool bar for your drinks throughout the day, as the service is always fantastic. It’s honestly unbelievable how good the bartenders are with guests’ names.

One other piece of advice: download the Royal Resorts mobile app to make dining reservations. Spots get filled quickly, so we recommend making your reservations for the week the day you arrive at the resort.

Amenities

The amenities at the Royal Sands are great. The primary amenity – the beach – is beautiful and well-maintained. There are also a ton of loungers and umbrellas for guests to use, and we even saw the hotel installing more straw umbrellas as we were there to get ready for the busy season.

The pools at the resort are also nice. The water was a bit chilly in November, but there is plenty of space in and around the pool to relax. Having a swim-up pool bar also never hurts.

From an activities perspective, the Royal Sands has four tennis courts, a basketball court, shuffleboard, a spa, and a gym, among other features. It’s safe to say you won’t get bored during your stay.

Accommodations

The rooms at the resort are comfortable and clean but nothing spectacular. One nice feature at the Royal Sands, though, is that all rooms are water-facing with a balcony. Taking a look at the Gulf is a great way to start each day.

Location

We were pleasantly surprised by the Royal Sands’ location. It is centrally located within the Hotel Zone, so it is easy to take the shuttle to other Royal resorts for dinner. The Sands is also located right next to a mall with a grocery store, so if you’re traveling on a budget and don’t want to dine out, you’re a short walk from food supplies.

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Day Trips to Mayan Ruins

If you want to venture off the resort and experience more history and culture, consider visiting the Mayan ruins located on the Yucatán Peninsula. Over the course of two trips to Mexico, we visited Chichen Itza and Tulum, and both trips were great experiences.

• Chichen Itza: Get ready for a long day. Chichen Itza is about 3 hours from Cancun’s Hotel Zone, but the ruins are spectacular. El Castillo in particular is really impressive, with its aesthetics enhanced by the pyramid’s mathematical precision and symbolism of the Mayan calendar. The rest of the grounds are also interesting and well worth a stroll. We recommend booking a guided tour to visit Chichen Itza so that you can learn about the significance and history of the ruins. Thomas More has an affordable option that includes stops at a natural cenote and Mayan village, along with a very comfortable bus. The cenote was awesome and a really cool experience (especially the rope swing over the water). The village, on the other hand, felt really pushy, but it at least included a delicious, authentic buffet lunch. It might have been the best thing we ate on the trip.

• Tulum: These ruins are a bit closer – sitting about two hours from Cancun’s Hotel Zone – but still require a day trip. If you are staying in Playa del Carmen, the ruins are only an hour away and can easily be done in a half day. You may want to spend longer, though, because the beaches at Tulum are beautiful. Even if you just go for the ruins, Tulum is a really interesting visit and offers plenty to see.

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Other Tips & Tricks

• Getting Around: Regardless of where you stay in Cancun, be careful moving about. We felt perfectly safe walking around the Hotel Zone during the day, but we opted not to go by foot at night to take extra caution. We had just heard too many horror stories. Instead, we took the hotel’s shuttle to other Royal resorts for dinner (be sure to check the shuttle schedule). In terms of airport transit, we arranged a shuttle with our resort, but a taxi honestly might have been faster and cheaper. Even with a reservation, the shuttle was over a 20 minute wait.

• Dining Away from the Resort: Because we had the all-inclusive package, we only ate away from the resort once, but it was a great meal. We visited Ilios, which was just across the street from the Royal Sands. The vibe at the restaurant was awesome, with great sunset views and a very cool, open, modern space. The food and drinks were delicious too; we can’t recommend the restaurant highly enough.

• Currency Exchange: Everywhere that we visited accepted credit cards, so we didn’t have to exchange any currency. If you do need to, though, your hotel can help you. When paying with credit card, it is best to pay in local currency if presented the option. The exchange rate will likely be more favorable.

Happy traveling!

Kitrina & Jordan