“Badly mismanaged property SANITARY CONDITIONS. We were put in a room that had an AC unit that was out of order, and mold EVERYWHERE. Literally everywhere: walls, curtains, closet, furniture, etc. The presence of such room on the property should have been a good reason for the local health department to shut the whole property down. But no – Karisma puts people in such filthy rooms. By the morning we developed serious allergic reactions and had to take pills. We were forced to spend 24 hours in the room and all our demands to move us to a more inhabitable place were ignored until we threatened to post pictures all over travel media. MANAGEMENT. The management generally doesn’t care much about the comfort of the guests or even delivering what the guests pay for. In our case, we had a “present” for our Anniversary: they gave away our casita, which we had paid for and even stayed at, to another family and kept us in an inferior hotel room. Sounds unbelievable, but that is what they did. Right on the day of our Anniversary. All staff and all management new it was the day of our Anniversary, and they still did it for “operational” reasons. FOOD. They proudly call themselves World-Class Gourmet Exclusive, don’t expect that much. The meals are OK, but no more than that. Certainly not something that can be called “gourmet”, not even close. They certainly don’t know about good food. If you want good food, explore fine restaurants in Cancun or Playa Del Carmen. Beers are good but don’t attempt drinking their house wines – they are not drinkable. They have a good wine list, but those wines are overpriced. BEACH. They proudly advertise the “artificial coral reef”. It is really ugly and it blocks your view of the beautiful ocean. These concrete structures look like an abandoned industrial site. What’s even worse they keep all the rocks within its borders and swimming in that areas and stepping on those rocks is very difficult and even painful. If you want a real Caribbean vacation and are not up for spending all your days at the pool bar, you’d better choose some other property. ACCOMMODATIONS. Because of the hurricane Zeta we have been moved between various rooms 4(!) times, which was a complete mismanagement by the property staff. Just imaging packing and unpacking all your stuff 3 times during a 5-day vacation. Not fun! However, it gave us a good look at various rooms. Casitas are OK, but don’t be fooled by the “4 diamond” rating. The rooms in Royale are closer to a typical 3-star American hotel. Furniture is old and outdated; the rooms are poorly configured. Even though the sq. footage is large, there is very little space. There is a corridor of light between the toilet window and the bedroom, which you cannot block in any way – all night the light from the outside will be interrupting your sleep. There is a coffee machine in the room but no coffee. The refrigerator is full of drinks, but it is mostly unhealthy sodas plus a few bears and water. RECEPTION. The reception staff never knows what is going on with the rooms/casitas; they have to wait for the stuff to first physically get to the rooms to give you an answer about your room readiness. Because of this it may take hours for you to get a simple answer. If you press hard with your questions, they will stop talking to you and just ignore you. Be prepared to have your calls into the reception not answered, and your emails to the management stay without response. SPA. Spa operates more like a massage parlor – they advertise steam room and sauna, but they never work. For some weird reason they do not give you a towel when you get in – you have to go and get it.”

“Loved this place! Truly enjoyed my time! Love the pools, the private cabanas, the privateconcierges were excellent! Wonderfulrestaurants! Beautiful grounds, wonderfulatmosphere! Would certainly come again!”