njross

I have read many of the messages on this board and have settled on the Playa del Carmen area. Since we would like to explore and not be limited, can anyone recommend a resort/hotel that is not All Inclusive? The Royal Playa del Carmen Hotel looks wonderful, but do they only have AI deals?

beachbum2

The Royal is great, but only AI. We will stay there again if the price is right and just do a few dinners out in addition as the restaurants in Playa are great. We are looking at La Tortuga and Shangra La for options next time around. Mosquito Beach looks neat, but the reviews are only fair. Playa Maya is your average hotel, but great location and great reviews. Hope this helps. You may also want to post on Latin America.

njross

Thanks for the quick reply beachbum2!

TRule

You are going to spend a lot more going "European" & paying for your meals on your own. The hotels in this area are awesome & really cater to the AI clientel (I'm a travel agent)

beachbum2

I would agree with TRule in most places, but we found the meals we ate out were very reasonable in PDC. You can purchase beer cheap everywhere for the hotel. I just find the food to be ok at AIs..even a place as nice as the Royal. We could have found a very nice hotel room for $125 a night (La Tortuga) for the 2 of us including breakfast. We paid $325 a night for the Royal. I don't think we would spend $200 a day on 2 meals and drinks. Maybe if you are a big drinker or like lots of fancy frozen drinks. I also love to try the local places. We went out several nights and drinks were cheap too. We laughed at getting 2 calls, 2 call vodka straight up and 2 beers for our group and the tab was $22. Late night Pizza was $1.25 a slice. I say stay at the Royal if it's reasonable. It's very nice. You can always go out for a lunch or dinner, but we will probably stay at La Tortuga or Mosquito beach next time. You will have fun whatever you choose.

Anguillagirl

Check out the Gran Porto Real. Have not been there in five years, but the last time you could choose not to do the AI plan. It's got a great location and it was a very nice resort when we were there.

KVR

We just returned from The Royal PDC. It is an excellant AI hotel. Of all the AI properties we've been to, have to say the food was very good. Also, the little extras they provide indicates they really know how to do AI correctly. The price was not over the top like some other AI resorts in that area.

We did venture off the resort and went down 5th Avenue a few times. There are tons of resturants and bars to choose from all with a wide spread of prices. So if your looking for bargains, you'll have to do some major research. We ate and drank at a couple of places and found the price and quality was pretty bad in comparison to the Royal. We also were glad we didn't have to leave our hotel everytime we wanted to eat or drink and find a place to go to. It was very crowded on 5th Avenue and most every place was packed. It all depends on what you want.

If you choose a non-AI, make sure the hotel is in the town of Playa del Carmen and not in the surrounding area. Otherwise, you be paying cab fare to and from. Some hotels in Playa are not right on the beach either, so if that's important to you check it out.

njross

Thank you all for the great information! This is an awesome site! Everything I have read raves about the Royal so I will take everyone's advice and stay there and just pay extra when we want to go out on the town!

njross

Oh...and I'll wait for a good deal at the Royal...Thanks beachbum2.

KVR

I just posted our trip report with pictures of The Royal on this site.

beachbum2

Good choice!! You can't go wrong at the Royal. The beach area there is nice too. I hope to return to the royal in May if we can get the price we paid last year. Have fun!