Royalton Riviera Cancun An Autograph Collection

Just got back from a week with our family. The accommodations were amazing! We booked 2 rooms connecting—Butler Sky Chairman 2 bedroom and Butler Service oceanfront Junior Suite. Our butlers Cristian and Gonzalo catered to our every whim and didn’t miss a detail! Zen was our favorite restaurant! The kids loved the water slides and we all enjoyed the Diamond Club exclusive amenities! The seaweed is hard to control right now so the beach wasn’t the best but we still took a few walks! We really enjoyed our stay!

We originally booked this hotel because 4 of the 9 members (myself included), had previously stayed at a Royalton Proptery in Punta Cana and really enjoyed our stay, so we thought we would book the same. This hotel is advertised as a family friendly resort that can accommodate large families, however we found this to be grossly untrue.

From check in to check out we had numerous problems occur and we were addressing the issues as they came up but with no real changes or resolutions.

Problem 1:

A drawer fell on my brother in-laws foot. The drawer itself was not securely installed to begin with, and when they opened the drawer to use it, it fell and injured my brother in laws toe. This was an avoidable accident that happened if the facility was properly taken care of and maintained. Further, since in the room that this occurred in, an infant was also in that room, and the drawer could have easily fell on her. Maintenance was called and even until the time of check out, the drawer was not fixed and was unusable. In this situation, Victoria was very understanding and was very sympathetic to the situation and offered a Bali Bed for 1 day use.

Problem 2:

Kettle shattered.

In the same room mentioned above, the kettle was going to be used to wash out the baby bottles. However, when picked up to fill with water, the kettle fell apart. Again, baby in the room and this would have been a very dangerous situation.

Problem 3:

Dinner reservations.

The Royalton App only let's guests make reservations for a maximum of 6 people at a time. When asking staff how to navigate this situation, I was directed to go to the Info Centre for help. When at the Info Centre, I was told that because we are a group of 9, we do not quality as a "group booking" so we will need to just use the app on 2 different guests phones to book 2 reservations at similar time slots, and that the restaurant will be able to seat us together. This proved to be an impossible task as reservations were already very difficult to get. And each restaurant was very difficult to deal with as they told me that they cannot seat us together since we did not book together. I relayed to them the information that was given to me by the Info Centre and they said that they don't know what I'm talking about. Every night at dinner I would have to argue with the host about seating us even though there were many tables empty and all we requested was a 6 person table with 2 chairs added. I spoke to management about this and they were very unhelpful saying that since we are not a group (10 or more) that this is the way. My question to Royalton is, for groups of 7-9 people who are more than what the app will let book and less than a "group" booking, how are these families suppos to eat together? Please answer. On this note, Joan, the manager at Smoke BBQ was especially rude stating that I did not know how to use the app and insisted that he cannot seat big families in his restaurant as it is small. But after arguing and waiting 40 minutes, they simply added 2 chairs to a 6 seat table (as requested by us) BUT was somehow able to rearrange his restaurants table and chairs to create a 14 seater table for a group that came in after us. Please explain how that makes sense.

Problem 4:

No basic English in emergency situations.

My mother in-law cut her toe on a piece of the pool and since I am a former lifeguard I always carry my own personal first aid kit at all times. When her injury happened, a deep cut was made and blood was rapidly pouring out. I was able to get the bleeding under control but only after the use of 4 gauze pads. While this is happening, my sister in-law flagged down a staff member of the Royalton hotel to as for a lifeguard. Her exact words were "lifeguard, help, first aid" 3 very basic ans necessary words that would be needed to know for any person working at a hotel with many visitors who speaks English. The staff member, instead of understanding her and getting help, pointed her in the direction of the buffet, thinking that she asked for food. This is a disgusting act of negligence on the hotel where staff do not know basic words to help. When eventually a lifeguard did arrive, I asked her if she spoke English so I could explain the situation of the cut and what I've been doing to manage my mother inlaws blood loss and pain, she ALSO did not know any English. Then a 2nd lifeguard came over to assist so I attempted to communicate with him to explain the accident, he too didn't know any English. It wasn't until Gilberto, from Guest Services, came that I was able to communicate. I voiced my concern that if something more major was to happen, no one would be able to assist since basic words like "help" and "lifeguard" are not known. And he brushed off my comments and did not take it seriously.

Problem 5:

Money hungry.

As the above events of Problem 4 happened. My mother in-law sat down on the closest thing to her as her foot was throbbing and she was feeling light headed. The absolute disgusting audacity from Gilberto was when he told her she could not sit there while gathering herself after her injury and dizziness because she did not pay $99USD for the Bali Bed. We told him that she only needed a moment and he said then she will need to pay for it. I could not believe what I was hearing and I asked him was money more important to him than his guests health and he said he would need her to pay to use the bed since he thought she wasn't injured "enough". I truly don't know what that man was thinking. I addressed this situation with Pedro, who in the beginning seemed to be empathetic and understanding however he also falsely said he would come to check on us and after waiting for almost 2 hours, he still did not come. The next day Pedro had the nerve to call my mother inlaws room and tell her that he came and she was not there and when she told him we waited for him, then he admitted he got busy and didn't come. The lying was the cherry on top.

Problem 6:

Raccoons in the building at night.

In building 11, on the 2nd floor there have been as many as 6 raccoons every single night. This was extremely terrifying for my mother in law and left her in tears as she was unable le to enter her room on multiple occasions. We complained to staff but nothing was done. We also spoke to other guests who said they also encountered raccoons in other places of the property. This is especially concerning since this property is advertised as family friendly and is very dangerous with children around.