Wow. This was a terrible stay. From the check in, the harassment about the timeshares started. At first we were nice about it and said that we did not want to buy a timeshare. And then, 2 days later the harassments began again so were just firmly told them that we were not interested in the ******* share and to leave us alone! On the third day, the water pipe on our floor burst and sent water everywhere!! Wow this is a great hotel! After it took the workers 4 hours to shut off the water, the hotel sent a pregnant women with a broom, yes, a broom to sweep the water into one of those broom pails. Now, to the room. The room was overlooking a dumpster and all the wiring was not done to any western electrical code. (Most likely typical for Mexico.) The room had heavy amounts of must in it and was un airconditoned (Because The AC did not work.) Now, the city, or should I say Slum, Ghetto, there are many ways to describe Mazatlan, Mexico. Certnly, tourist town is not a good word to use, as Mazatlan is no tourist destination for any world traveler.

Just returned from Royal Villas after a ten day stay. While there is very little WRONG with Royal Villas, there is very little GREAT either.Check in was fine, room was acceptable, yet at night the band at Gus Gus across the street plays loudly until 1:00a.m. so request a room on the lefy or ocean side. Bed was comfortable, housecleaning left something to be desired. A "hairball" remained on the floor , same place , for three days, until we disposed of it, indicating a lack of floorsweeping, towels plentiful, plenty of hot water. No safe in rooms and must use hotel safe room... a must in Mexico! Evening piano player near bar wonderful. Bar prices, even in happy hour, rather high for area. Pool area has many cushioned chaise loungers and good waite staff. Beach was GREAT for walking... miles and miles open to walks at low tide. Beach vendors are pesty, but walk in the shallow water and they do not bother you since they do not want to get their feet wet! Villa's one restraunt imaginative menu and limited but decent wine list. EXCELLENT sandwich shop to the left across the street.. MARY'S. Tours through VISTA professional and on time especially airport transfers.

My daughter-in-law works for RCI, and was able to get a week at Royal Villas. Six of us went and had a wonderful time, the people at Royal Villas were all wonderful, very friendly, helpful. We had the all inclusive plan, and we made the most of it. Would go back at any time. Jesus and all the staff were always ready to get us a drink or food.

This was rated quite highly on trip advisor, so we were looking forward to a mommy break away. We were using a timeshare week we got through craigslist.

Sadly our visit was not very pleasant.

The rooms at the hotel were really icky - the first room they took us to smelled so badly of mold I started sneezing instantly. The second room smelled better, but when we looked around, it was filthy - the sheets on one bed were covered in stains - or actually looked more like they had never been washed and the bathtub was full of hair. There were ants crawling all over the kitchen and a spider in one of the beds. Plus the door to the balcony did not lock and that balcony was easily reached from the back stairway. We were told there were no other rooms available (since it was low season I dont believe that for a minute) and the "manager" had already left for the day. Plus we were exhausted from getting up at 3am to fly down there so we just tried to get some sleep but that was nigh impossible with our bags jammed against the sliding door all night and jumping at every noise.

The next day they kept telling us that the manager would be available in half an hour so while we were waiting they badgered us until we agreed to take an "information update". At this, they showed us a lovely room and tried to convince us that we had to buy a timeshare. I was really unhappy. I asked to pay to upgrade our room and was told that we couldn't do that, we'd have to buy a timeshare. At this point, we felt like we would be better off leaving and going to another hotel. When I politely explained that, the timeshare salesperson got the manager on the phone and she let us upgrade for $70 per night to an updated one bedroom. This room was better but we still had problems with sewer backing up and smells waking us in the night, the air con going off all the time (and since it was very hot and humid this was a bit of a deal), and mold in the bathroom. These were not the only problems, but you get the idea!

The rooms could have been quite nice if they were clean - they had nice limestone and granite, but the appliances were rusty and they were simply grimy. The couch in our room was covered in stains so I put down a towel before sitting on it!

Then, when we went to check out, they tried to overcharge us by over US$300 for the room upgrade and were just ghastly to deal with - even after they admitted their mistake on the upgrade and corrected that, they tried to leave the taxes the same - we spent an hour trying to get it sorted out. Finally after an hour the accounts manager came out and corrected it and apologized but by then we were so fed up it was too little too late.

I am not a yeller - I think you get more flies with honey than vinegar - and we are two moms, so maybe we were encountering some sexism, because frankly I was pretty shocked by how rudely we were treated.

I have to say I was really disappointed. We were looking for a resort where we could hang out by the pool, get some sun, a few margaritas, and relax. This was not relaxing at all. We couldnt even relax by the pool without being harassed by vendors, and the service was really bad. So after the first day, we gave up on relaxing and went shopping and did some tours.

We made the most of our trip and did the parasailing outside the hotel, rented jetskis, did the tequila tour and the city tour. Actually the only person at Royal Villas who was helpful was Anna at the activities desk. We still had fun, but it was despite the hotel, not because of it.

I am not a pampered princess, but I do need things to be clean and staff to be helpful and pleasant. So. to make a long story short, I couldn't in good faith recommend this place.