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Park Royal Hotel & Blue XT Sea Oct 31-Nov 6, 2007 Review
Short story: We had a great time! It was a very nice hotel and I would definitely stay there again. I would recommend it to family and friends. We dove with Blue XT Sea Diving- Outstanding! (This was our second trip with Blue XTSea... Awesome.. never found a reason to look elsewhere.)
The long Review:
We had a 6th floor room with a nice view of the pool and the water (all rooms face the water but you need to be on or above the 4th floor to see out to the water). The balcony size is modest with 2 patio chairs and a cocktail table. It is Glass enclosed to continue the exterior view. The room was very modern and stream lined. The floor is all marble. There is a large TV with several English speaking channels. The programmable safe is large enough to fit a laptop and other personal items. Bathroom- was quite large and was very well ventilated. It includes a wash line in the shower (for drying swim suits). There is a lot of counter space next to a single sink. The shower stall is approximately 3X4 and has a glass door. Medium water pressure always hot water available. Shower head comfortable height for 6 foot 1 or taller individual. Laundry service is available. Surprisingly a Decent hair dryer
Water in room is filtered but it is recommended that you use bottled water at your discretion. A convenience store is open downstairs with reasonable prices for food and drink (they also have quite a selection of potentially necessary toiletries and comfort items ie extra sunglasses/sunscreen magazines etc)
but there is no refrigerator in the room.
We had only two suggestions- No clock in the room and no ability to connect to the internet from the room. We had free internet access during our stay as part of our accommodations but the router would constantly drop the connection at random (sometimes every 5 minutes, sometimes every 30 minutes.). It would be very helpful if they could purchase a better quality system for their wireless connectivity.
Food: Pool side lounges have- Nachos, Chips, pizza, hot dogs, and cheeseburgers. Bar drinks available throughout the day. A full lunch buffet inside the dining hall is also available. Breakfast very decent selectionomelet station available every morning. Good coffee quickly refilled and cups available to go. Only two of the three restaurants for dinner were open during our stay. The restaurants require long pants for men and closed toed shoes. (FYI- jeans were acceptable but not worn by many.) Women are requested to wear appropriate dinner attire as well . No beach flip-flops allowed (I also dont recommend stiletto heels as the common areas have an uneven textured flooring sandstone like. It adds to the atmosphere but it takes some getting used to walking on). The AI restaurants take reservations between 12-3PM for dinner that evening. For divers this isnt always ideal the main dining dinner buffet was not very busy during our stay (the buffet food some dishes were good some were just okay) but I enjoyed the atmosphere in the restaurants better (No children under 12 in the formal restaurants). Alternatively a cab ride to the square in town is only $4 for two one way and this time enjoyed La Choza and the French Quarter with new friends. Both AI restaurants had 12-15+ entrees to choose from. I enjoyed the Mexican restaurant more than the Italian. The Italian restaurant was good, excellent salads . great presentation ., but I am spoiled by the ability to go to the North End in Boston and get authentic Italian food and the resort version cannot reach that standard for taste. Wine, beer and mixed drinks were served in both restaurants. There was a choice of a few beers but wine is either Red OR White. I had to chuckle at a man who kept insisting that they pair the wine selection with the entrée he and his wife was choosing (Dont get me wrong I found the white wine was delicious but it is a personal taste issue). In both of the AI restaurants, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised to find the level of service that would be on par with a 4 star establishment, you can tell the wait-staff has been professionally trained.
Pool and activities:
There are several well maintained pools and a separate childrens play area. Note- the Outside warm tub down by the beach is just that slightly warmer than the pool; I did notice a Hot tub 6-8 people in SPA/ fitness center (stacked with new exercise equip) near massage treatment room. Activities- water and beach volleyball, Friendship bracelets, Spanish lessons, dancing lesson, horseshoes, water polo, diving, snorkel tours etc. We spent most of our day diving or relaxing by the pool. There is a book swap at the main pool. .There is a modest size sand beach area with lounge chairs and I believe that there is a shuttle bus to another beach club available each day but we did not take advantage of this. There is a hotel pier that some dive operations will pick up on .. check with your dive operator. The towel card system ($25.00 if you misplace) can get annoying at times but I suppose it is helpful to keep the towels on site!
Special touches that we enjoyed about this hotel:
Access to the beach and water front pools is through a well lit tunnel under the street you dont have to leave the resort and you can easily forget that a well traveled street runs alongside this hotel. They have done a very nice job placing water features on the grounds that diminish street noise and help create a relaxing atmosphere. Very cozy plush pillowed chairs in the lobby and lounge areas to relax while you have a drink. We were not bothered by the condo people that I have read so much about. The staff was all very friendly. The bartenders were generous. We noticed that there were always people cleaning the hallways and common areas. It is a very clean hotel. Point to note- They had their one year anniversary during our stay in early November. Well done. I hope they continue their success!
The diving:
The weather was not very cooperative for this trip. The wind was blowing pretty strong from the North /NE each day. Almost every morning we would get the call at our hotel. The port is closed . Do you want to dive at Cenotes or wait for the 10:30 report .. cant complain we would wait and the big pool was opened at 10:30. Most mornings we left from the Caleta marina. More importantly--- We got a phone call every morning. We would watch with some level of jealousy as a few divers left the hotel in the morning with their gear and we wondered for a brief moment . Why do they get to go? Only to see them trudging back through the lobby about 40 minutes later . Because their dive operation didnt call or they missed the call? Hee hee.
We dove with Blue XT Sea. Pedro was our DM and Mago and Adan our boat captains. Pedro finds everything from eels to nurse sharks and sea horses. Why I love blue XT sea diving . Im on vacation and they are a full service dive operation. From the moment we arrive at the boat my gear is taken care of by the crew. Im on VACATION. I personally enjoy having this operation set up my gear (and Yes of course I double check everything before I hit the water.) Bottled Water is distributed constantly throughout the dive trip. Towels and REALLY nice windbreaker jackets are distributed to anyone who wants on the surface interval. There were only 5-6 divers on each of our trips (never more on these size boats.) During our surface interval there is ample amounts of fresh cut fruit usually watermelon and cantaloupe, juice and muffins/pastries or loaf cake (yum yum yum). The dive operation takes care of rinsing all my gear (with the exception of my wet suit and my wrist mounted computer) and has it back on the boat the next morning! Again Im on VACATION! This helps make it more relaxing for me. I am not a very tall or strong woman (only 5 2) and although I can carry my gear if necessary .. um .. Id rather not The boats are faster than the larger operations (we went to a number of dive sites in abut 15 minutes.) And you cant help but grin when passing larger boats slowly traveling to and from .
The crew even helps me get up onto the boat side walls I am about 2 inches too short to get good leverage to do this easily. Short legs are great for plane flights not so great for pushing up onto a boat ledge. Its a very easy backwards roll into the water and down we go. We dove Palancar Gardens, Bricks and Caves, Pasa cedral, chankanab, Paradise, Dalialah,, Yucab and Columbia. The most turtles I have ever seen on any dive trip! 1-3 on every other dive! My husband and I went on our first night dive. It was incredible . Multiple octopuses (even two entangled Why didnt I bring the camera for this money shot!) crabs, eels, electric rays and puffer fish!
It was great meeting and diving with Turk9 and Namchief, hope to dive with you again some day!
Our Favorite DM-
You have to ask yourself- little Pedro or really BIG fish?
Short story: We had a great time! It was a very nice hotel and I would definitely stay there again. I would recommend it to family and friends. We dove with Blue XT Sea Diving- Outstanding! (This was our second trip with Blue XTSea... Awesome.. never found a reason to look elsewhere.)
The long Review:
We had a 6th floor room with a nice view of the pool and the water (all rooms face the water but you need to be on or above the 4th floor to see out to the water). The balcony size is modest with 2 patio chairs and a cocktail table. It is Glass enclosed to continue the exterior view. The room was very modern and stream lined. The floor is all marble. There is a large TV with several English speaking channels. The programmable safe is large enough to fit a laptop and other personal items. Bathroom- was quite large and was very well ventilated. It includes a wash line in the shower (for drying swim suits). There is a lot of counter space next to a single sink. The shower stall is approximately 3X4 and has a glass door. Medium water pressure always hot water available. Shower head comfortable height for 6 foot 1 or taller individual. Laundry service is available. Surprisingly a Decent hair dryer
Water in room is filtered but it is recommended that you use bottled water at your discretion. A convenience store is open downstairs with reasonable prices for food and drink (they also have quite a selection of potentially necessary toiletries and comfort items ie extra sunglasses/sunscreen magazines etc)
but there is no refrigerator in the room. We had only two suggestions- No clock in the room and no ability to connect to the internet from the room. We had free internet access during our stay as part of our accommodations but the router would constantly drop the connection at random (sometimes every 5 minutes, sometimes every 30 minutes.). It would be very helpful if they could purchase a better quality system for their wireless connectivity.
Food: Pool side lounges have- Nachos, Chips, pizza, hot dogs, and cheeseburgers. Bar drinks available throughout the day. A full lunch buffet inside the dining hall is also available. Breakfast very decent selectionomelet station available every morning. Good coffee quickly refilled and cups available to go. Only two of the three restaurants for dinner were open during our stay. The restaurants require long pants for men and closed toed shoes. (FYI- jeans were acceptable but not worn by many.) Women are requested to wear appropriate dinner attire as well . No beach flip-flops allowed (I also dont recommend stiletto heels as the common areas have an uneven textured flooring sandstone like. It adds to the atmosphere but it takes some getting used to walking on). The AI restaurants take reservations between 12-3PM for dinner that evening. For divers this isnt always ideal the main dining dinner buffet was not very busy during our stay (the buffet food some dishes were good some were just okay) but I enjoyed the atmosphere in the restaurants better (No children under 12 in the formal restaurants). Alternatively a cab ride to the square in town is only $4 for two one way and this time enjoyed La Choza and the French Quarter with new friends. Both AI restaurants had 12-15+ entrees to choose from. I enjoyed the Mexican restaurant more than the Italian. The Italian restaurant was good, excellent salads . great presentation ., but I am spoiled by the ability to go to the North End in Boston and get authentic Italian food and the resort version cannot reach that standard for taste. Wine, beer and mixed drinks were served in both restaurants. There was a choice of a few beers but wine is either Red OR White. I had to chuckle at a man who kept insisting that they pair the wine selection with the entrée he and his wife was choosing (Dont get me wrong I found the white wine was delicious but it is a personal taste issue). In both of the AI restaurants, my husband and I were pleasantly surprised to find the level of service that would be on par with a 4 star establishment, you can tell the wait-staff has been professionally trained.
Pool and activities:
There are several well maintained pools and a separate childrens play area. Note- the Outside warm tub down by the beach is just that slightly warmer than the pool; I did notice a Hot tub 6-8 people in SPA/ fitness center (stacked with new exercise equip) near massage treatment room. Activities- water and beach volleyball, Friendship bracelets, Spanish lessons, dancing lesson, horseshoes, water polo, diving, snorkel tours etc. We spent most of our day diving or relaxing by the pool. There is a book swap at the main pool. .There is a modest size sand beach area with lounge chairs and I believe that there is a shuttle bus to another beach club available each day but we did not take advantage of this. There is a hotel pier that some dive operations will pick up on .. check with your dive operator. The towel card system ($25.00 if you misplace) can get annoying at times but I suppose it is helpful to keep the towels on site!
Special touches that we enjoyed about this hotel:
Access to the beach and water front pools is through a well lit tunnel under the street you dont have to leave the resort and you can easily forget that a well traveled street runs alongside this hotel. They have done a very nice job placing water features on the grounds that diminish street noise and help create a relaxing atmosphere. Very cozy plush pillowed chairs in the lobby and lounge areas to relax while you have a drink. We were not bothered by the condo people that I have read so much about. The staff was all very friendly. The bartenders were generous. We noticed that there were always people cleaning the hallways and common areas. It is a very clean hotel. Point to note- They had their one year anniversary during our stay in early November. Well done. I hope they continue their success!
The diving:
The weather was not very cooperative for this trip. The wind was blowing pretty strong from the North /NE each day. Almost every morning we would get the call at our hotel. The port is closed . Do you want to dive at Cenotes or wait for the 10:30 report .. cant complain we would wait and the big pool was opened at 10:30. Most mornings we left from the Caleta marina. More importantly--- We got a phone call every morning. We would watch with some level of jealousy as a few divers left the hotel in the morning with their gear and we wondered for a brief moment . Why do they get to go? Only to see them trudging back through the lobby about 40 minutes later . Because their dive operation didnt call or they missed the call? Hee hee.
We dove with Blue XT Sea. Pedro was our DM and Mago and Adan our boat captains. Pedro finds everything from eels to nurse sharks and sea horses. Why I love blue XT sea diving . Im on vacation and they are a full service dive operation. From the moment we arrive at the boat my gear is taken care of by the crew. Im on VACATION. I personally enjoy having this operation set up my gear (and Yes of course I double check everything before I hit the water.) Bottled Water is distributed constantly throughout the dive trip. Towels and REALLY nice windbreaker jackets are distributed to anyone who wants on the surface interval. There were only 5-6 divers on each of our trips (never more on these size boats.) During our surface interval there is ample amounts of fresh cut fruit usually watermelon and cantaloupe, juice and muffins/pastries or loaf cake (yum yum yum). The dive operation takes care of rinsing all my gear (with the exception of my wet suit and my wrist mounted computer) and has it back on the boat the next morning! Again Im on VACATION! This helps make it more relaxing for me. I am not a very tall or strong woman (only 5 2) and although I can carry my gear if necessary .. um .. Id rather not
The boats are faster than the larger operations (we went to a number of dive sites in abut 15 minutes.) And you cant help but grin when passing larger boats slowly traveling to and from .The crew even helps me get up onto the boat side walls I am about 2 inches too short to get good leverage to do this easily. Short legs are great for plane flights not so great for pushing up onto a boat ledge. Its a very easy backwards roll into the water and down we go. We dove Palancar Gardens, Bricks and Caves, Pasa cedral, chankanab, Paradise, Dalialah,, Yucab and Columbia. The most turtles I have ever seen on any dive trip! 1-3 on every other dive! My husband and I went on our first night dive. It was incredible . Multiple octopuses (even two entangled Why didnt I bring the camera for this money shot!) crabs, eels, electric rays and puffer fish!
It was great meeting and diving with Turk9 and Namchief, hope to dive with you again some day!
Our Favorite DM-
You have to ask yourself- little Pedro or really BIG fish?
