Royal Hideaway Update please

[Diffbean]

The June re-opening is news to me. I just got confirmation of my reschedule for February 26 - March 5.

[Shammy]

Yep, I've made a bunch of calls and no one I spoke with said anything about a June reopening. All I have been told thus far is "not before Jan 31st" - with no "official" reopening date yet. Who told you June KMan? If it was your agent, where did he/she get that info?

[KMAN]

Shammy said:

Yep, I've made a bunch of calls and no one I spoke with said anything about a June reopening. All I have been told thus far is "not before Jan 31st" - with no "official" reopening date yet. Who told you June KMan? If it was your agent, where did he/she get that info?

My agent said that they received a fax directly from the hotel that stated they would not be re-opening until June. I am somewhat perplexed by this because they still have it shown on their website as available and other tour operators have it still listed for this timeframe as well.
Question is, why would my agent call me with this info and all their other clientele if it were not true and risk losing thousands of dollars? Still, it leaves me a little unsettled to know that Shammy and others have not heard the same info? Do you think it is worth a call to the resort?

[Shammy]

Originally Posted by KMAN

My agent said that they received a fax directly from the hotel that stated they would not be re-opening until June. I am somewhat perplexed by this because they still have it shown on their website as available and other tour operators have it still listed for this timeframe as well.
Question is, why would my agent call me with this info and all their other clientele if it were not true and risk losing thousands of dollars? Still, it leaves me a little unsettled to know that Shammy and others have not heard the same info? Do you think it is worth a call to the resort?

Well, I don't know what to say really. Since they're not technically open, not sure who you'd get if you called direct. Maybe you could get through, maybe you couldn't. If someone answered, would THEY have the correct info? Don't know. I wonder if the fax came from the office in the US? But I didn't get a fax, Apple and Funjet say they don't know what I'm talking about when I ask about the June date either. But...maybe the reps I asked just don't know? Apple is selling the RH for Feb. arrivals, same with Funjet...not that this means anything if the status has changed very recently. But why would they send a fax out to just your agent, without informing the big tour operators? Doesn't make a whole bunch of sense, but who knows?

To switch to a June reopening from a possible Feb. reopening - that's a BIG difference. I'd like to think if that's really the case, they'd get that info out ASAP. This is what it says on the Occidental web site right now, but it's not updated:

Occidental Grand Cozumel: Re-opening January 31, 2006

· Allegro Cozumel: Re-opening January 31, 2006

· Allegro Playacar: Re-opening January 31, 2006
· Royal Hideaway Playacar: Status pending.
However, the hotel will not reopen prior to January 31, 2006.
Exact reopening date will be advised at a later date.

· Occidental Grand Xcaret: Status pending.
However, the hotel will not reopen prior to January 31, 2006.
Exact reopening date will be advised at a later date.

· Caribbean Village Cancun: Will reopen during the last quarter of 2006.
We will inform you on the exact reopening date at a later date,
with additional details on the changes that we are making to this resort.

Any change of reopening dates for the affected hotels will be advised immediately.

Don't know what to tell you. I can't imagine your TA pulling the plug on your trip for no reason. Then again, some of the stoires I've heard about people being cancelled make me scratch my head. So...I guess I just don't know what to make of it all. Until I see an update that says June for reopening, I can't believe it. Not that it isn't true, it might be, but I sure would have to see it in print before I would pull someone's trip.

[royalbride]

Originally Posted by gary lewton

I think most of these pictures are of the Occidental Allegro which is adjacent to the Royal Hideaway.Occidental as of today is still reporting that they do not have a reopening date for the royal hideaway.

Actually, only 1 of these pictures is from the Allegro .. the one of the 1/2 yellow & 1/2 white building. All the others were taken from the RH beach and the first appears to be of the RH driveway.

It's absolutely devastating to see these photos. I was staying at the RH on my Honeymoon and was one of the lucky ones who got evacuated out on the evening of the 19th. At the time I was wondering if we shouldn't just stay behind thinking that the storm would probably blow through quickly and things would be back to normal within 24 hours. Having watched the news reports, read the posts here on play.info and now seeing these photos, I feel extremely lucky to have been evacuated. My heart goes out to all the staff at the RH we met and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to.

We hope to go back one day and finish our Honeymoon, and it will definitely be the RH we go back to. This resort is amazing and the staff unbelievable.

[JaneJane]

Originally Posted by royalbride

Actually, only 1 of these pictures is from the Allegro .. the one of the 1/2 yellow & 1/2 white building. All the others were taken from the RH beach and the first appears to be of the RH driveway.

It's absolutely devastating to see these photos. I was staying at the RH on my Honeymoon and was one of the lucky ones who got evacuated out on the evening of the 19th. At the time I was wondering if we shouldn't just stay behind thinking that the storm would probably blow through quickly and things would be back to normal within 24 hours. Having watched the news reports, read the posts here on play.info and now seeing these photos, I feel extremely lucky to have been evacuated. My heart goes out to all the staff at the RH we met and didn't get a chance to say goodbye to.

We hope to go back one day and finish our Honeymoon, and it will definitely be the RH we go back to. This resort is amazing and the staff unbelievable.

Hello,

Do you mean this one is the Allegro ?

[gary lewton]

Jane Jane,pictures of buildings with thatched roofs are Allegro buildings,the others I believe are of the Royal Hideaway.The picture of the building with the roof missing may be the Spices restaurant,a Royal Hideaway facility.This is a shame,we have vacationed at the RH every year since it opened and were looking forward to returning to the RH in March 2006.This now appears doubtful.Gary

[gary lewton]

Hurray,just talked to the Royal Hideaway,they claim that March 1,2006 is the firm reopening date for the resort.Hope that this is realistic,we plan on being there on March 7th ,look forward to meeting any playa del carmen fans who will be there during the week of March 7 thru March 14.Hola.Gary Lewton

[KMAN]

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you Gary - have fun, it is a terrific resort!!

[jams723]

Made the reservations!!! May 2nd 2006 for 7 nights at the Hideaway!!!!Come Tuesday (the 2nd) it will be all right!

[jams723]

Originally Posted by gary lewton

Hurray,just talked to the Royal Hideaway,they claim that March 1,2006 is the firm reopening date for the resort.Hope that this is realistic,we plan on being there on March 7th ,look forward to meeting any playa del carmen fans who will be there during the week of March 7 thru March 14.Hola.Gary Lewton

Gary, we will be following you in May! Let us know how the repairs went and share some pictures!

[jams723]

Originally Posted by gary lewton

Jane Jane,pictures of buildings with thatched roofs are Allegro buildings,the others I believe are of the Royal Hideaway.The picture of the building with the roof missing may be the Spices restaurant,a Royal Hideaway facility.This is a shame,we have vacationed at the RH every year since it opened and were looking forward to returning to the RH in March 2006.This now appears doubtful.Gary

You are correct. that is the Spices building. Our villa was just behind it. Loved our time there!

[jams723]

Hey Shammy,
Who does the best transfers from the airport to playa nowdays? We used a Blue bus company on 03 and they were ok. also who runs the best trips to the ruins?

Thanks

[Babaloo]

Originally Posted by jams723

Hey Shammy,
Who does the best transfers from the airport to playa nowdays? We used a Blue bus company on 03 and they were ok. also who runs the best trips to the ruins?

Thanks

Tours? Playa.info tours. (trip planning tab above)

[giggidy goo]

Originally Posted by gary lewton

Hurray,just talked to the Royal Hideaway,they claim that March 1,2006 is the firm reopening date for the resort.Hope that this is realistic,we plan on being there on March 7th ,look forward to meeting any playa del carmen fans who will be there during the week of March 7 thru March 14.Hola.Gary Lewton

I'm going to secrets excellence in July for my brothers wedding. I'm staying for 3 nights then I'm off to the RH because I heard the beach at SE is not too nice. With about 7 months left and the horrible pictures I've seen from Wilma, do I have anything to worry about besides bad weather?