Chillin' at the Royal Haciendas

For our last day in Playa (N.B."Playa" means "beach" in Spanish, but to the locals, "Playa del Carmen" is simply "Playa", and everyone knows which beach they mean), we had a much-needed lazy day at the resort.


We had been able to stay at Royal Resorts thanks to a friend whose son, Richard, is a manager there. Rich swung us mates' rates so we scored a bargain both in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. Staying as these resorts was a great way to book-end our road trip around the Yucatan Peninsula.


The Royal Haciendas at Playa del Carmen is the newest resort in the Royal Resorts group - and it's pretty darn spanky.


Let me take you on a little tour.


Here's the lobby. They've gone for quite bold colour schemes, presumably trying to capture the flavour of a traditional Mexican hacienda. I liked the rainbow-striped cushion covers.

Follow the archway under the mural....

.....and past the paintings to the Rotunda Bar, where the baristas are waving at us.

Follow us up three flights of stairs (we didn't bother with the elevator, except when we had the bags), and admire the glimpses of the pools afforded as you head to our room:

Come and check out the view from our balcony! Okay, so the beach isn't as spectacular as Cancun, but the resort is lush:

Would you like a snack? The resort supermarket off the lobby (Royal Resorts rooms have kitchenettes, and supermarkets so you can stock same), had Kahlua chocolates on sale.


Yes, Kahlua chocolates. You read right. We got a veritable bucket of them for only a few bucks:

YUM!!!!!!! You can have some mango gringo-tequila, or a Bohemia to wash down your choccies. (Pardon our bathroom sink).


Speaking of Kahlua, they had RUDE specials on this at the Tequila Museum. I'm talking $12 per litre bottle. *Whimper*


Okay, so now it's time for a little wander around the grounds. They really go in for mosaics at the Royal Haciendas. As we head towards the beachside restaurant, La Palapa del Sol, check out this amazing wall mosiac. It looks like a painting: 

Now for my favourite bit: Royal Haciendas has whirlpools. How cool is that?! There are four of them throughout the resort, and we managed to get one to ourselves on each of the two evenings we used them.

They are so much fun - and you really do get carried around the edge if you relax and go with the flow - literally!


(It's a step up from creating your own whirlpool in an above-ground pool, which a bunch of us used to do by all running around the edge of my friend Sharon's pool at her birthday parties).


You can't stay at a beachside resort and not have a stroll on the beach. You can also snorkel here, which we did on the morning of our last day, but truth be told, it was kind of lame. Still, the beach is pretty, if not a patch on Cancun's sparkling turquoise water: 

I love how the pools have infinity edges overlooking the beach.

The red rotunda is the swim-up bar, which we somehow never actually patronised - there was so much else to do!

The resort is shaped like a double letter "U". Our room was in the middle section, looking toward the pools in the southern "U". Walking around to the northern "U", there's another full set of pools (i.e. childrens' pool, lap pool, big general pool and two whirlpools):
 

Need a little break? Grab a hammock - there are no less than 8 hammock areas across the resort, of which 5 have hammocks radiating from a central post. 


This is the life......  

Back on "our" side of the resort, let's wander back from the beach and admire the beautiful hibiscus.

Just think, these resorts are built and landscaped in less than two years - starting from nothing but a flat bit of coastline. That's down to a lot of keen-bean Mexican workers. I'm not sure I agree with all the rapid development of the area (Cancun was nothing but a sand spit and a fishing village 25 years ago), but you have to admire the design and the labour that has gone into everything from the rooms, to the pools, to the gardens.


Care for a game of Giant Chess? Sean and I really enjoyed this. Unfortunately, both times we played I would make a cracking start, only to fall victim to a very cool, calm and collected Sean, who claimed he had no grand plan but nonetheless completely demolished me. When you play chess in public, you attract an audience of passerby. It's fun - but it can be embarrassing when you lose your queen right in front of them.

I really liked the idea of taking a pool chair and a book into the pool - but I think I would have gotten cold. When I'm in a pool, I have to swim.

Here's more mosaic art - this time in the pool! The attention to detail is amazing.

Looking up towards our room from the beach:

Let's go for another walk on the beach. This is looking south, back towards Playa del Carmen:

It's a tough decision: chill by the pool, or flop under an umbrella on the beach? Just watch out for those coconuts:

There's just nothing like a tropical breeze on your skin as you contemplate the many blues of the Caribbean.


And it's totally gratuitous, but I have to take you back past the whirlpools. I want one!

And that, mi amigos concludes our tour, and (almost) our stay at Royal Haciendas.

All that remained was to shout Rich dinner to thank him for all he'd done for us, but instead Rich took it upon himself to take us out on the town and show us a bit of the Playa del Carmen nightlife. The 5th Avenue strip is a totally transformed scene by night - I'm talking insane strobe lights, throbbing club music, and a massive party scene. Every club has people approaching you and trying to get you through their door. It was all second nature to Rich. He took us to El Diablito, one of his favourite hangouts, for sushi, pina coladas, and cervazas. It was a great way to wrap up our Playa del Carmen adventures.


Thanks, Rich! Salud!