Royalton Splash Riviera Cancun, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort

The beach was beautiful, though narrow, and there may be better hotel options. The interior corridors were unlike any hotel I've seen: all concrete, no windows or carpet, and no sound dampening. You could hear every child and late-night partier shouting, plus the dance clubs' bass thumping in every room. Our room was not bad, but the hotel hadn't even checked our request for a room setup before arrival and didn't meet it, so don't expect requests to be followed. A closet door hinge was broken and the room safe wasn't accessible. We told staff, but neither was fixed during our stay. Food was a concern. There was a norovirus outbreak, yet there was no hand sanitizer at the buffet or restaurants, and staff didn't seem attentive about disinfecting. Every dish I ate was just warm, never hot. The luggage valet's first words as he opened the car door were, "Tequila, Tequila, Tequila you want Tequila," which I didn't appreciate on a family vacation. Check-in then took over an hour, including a lot of time describing paid upgrades like cabanas and kids' activities at our supposedly all-inclusive resort. We were told the cost would go away if we sat through a timeshare presentation. We stayed February 06 - 09, 2026.

We were told late checkout wasn't an option, though I woke up extremely ill on checkout day and asked to stay in the room until our 6:30 PM transfer. After I asked for help, supervisor Carlos promised to arrange a hospitality room for us to rest, but we never got it and Carlos was nowhere to be found. The lack of guest service and disregard for our well-being were shocking. I believe the Health Department should investigate, and the resort's four-diamond rating should be reconsidered. Both my spouse and I got food poisoning during our stay, which we believe came from the resort's food. The meals were consistently cold or lukewarm. It looked like food was pre-cooked and left out to serve quickly, with no regard for health standards. The buffet hours were too short and food wasn't replenished. With limited options, our daughter ate French fries every day. The room's "mini bar" was a joke: just two beers and four sodas, not what we expected from a four-diamond resort. On top of that, the room had a foul odor. Even with online check-in, we waited three hours at the front desk because the hotel was overbooked. Then we were told we had to pay an extra $700 for our room, which was unreasonable and unacceptable. Our stay was marred by one unacceptable experience after another, and was nothing short of a nightmare. Potential guests should think twice before booking. I hope the hotel takes this seriously and makes changes so others don't go through the same thing.

The staff were kind and helpful, the breakfast buffet was kept well stocked, and we enjoyed the shows and the activities for kids. Zen teppanyaki was a highlight too, with a fantastic show and delicious food. But our family trip with 30 people from Jan 22-29 was badly affected by two serious problems. Check-in was rude and unhelpful. I had emailed ahead because I’d read about check-in issues, explained that we were a large group, and asked to be placed together. The resort confirmed by email that it would arrange this, then completely ignored the request. The bigger issue was that 8 of our 30 became violently ill with food poisoning, including my 6-year-old son, who spent the night in hospital and needed two bags of IV fluids. I’d also raised food handling concerns with the resort and Marriott before the trip and was reassured they took good care of the food. That clearly wasn’t our experience. To be fair, the hotel quickly arranged a physician for my son and paid for transport and the hospital stay. They seemed genuinely worried about him, but the illness really ruined our trip. We’ve visited Mexico many times and never had anything like this happen. Because of this, our family won’t return, and I can’t recommend the resort.

The resort is set up well for families, and our son loved the kids’ club. There are two impressive water parks, comparable to Great Wolf Lodge, though the water was quite cold, even in the lazy river. We also enjoyed the daily foam party around 3 p.m., pool activities, and themed evening shows from 8-11 p.m. Our room was modern, clean, comfortable, and had reliable Wi-Fi. The staff were very friendly and attentive throughout our 10-day stay. Meals were another strong point: the buffet had fresh, consistently good food, plenty of variety, and a different theme each day. The à la carte restaurants made a nice change and were worth trying. The beach had beautiful powdery white sand, though there was a fair amount of seaweed. The resort worked hard to clear it every morning with tractors. Despite the mixed reviews we’d read before coming, we had a great time and would recommend it to families with children.