with the royal plaza on scotts hotel in singapore known for a time as royal holiday . royal holiday club type private industry hotels founded 1983 founders costamex group headquarters mexico city mexico areas served united states canada mexico puerto rico brazil argentina with services in numerous other countries key people pablo gonz lez carbonell president rosario rodr guez rojo director brands park royal hotel chain services full service hospitality and resort management company owner royal holiday servicios administrativos s.a. de c.v. website royal holiday.com royal holiday club or royal holiday is a vacation club membership operator and resort developer based in mexico offering points based vacation ownership . founded in 1983 the company s points can be exchanged for lodging amenities and entertainment at around 180 locations in north america south america africa europe and asia . 1 royal holiday owns and operates ten of its own hotels with eight in mexico one in puerto rico and one in argentina . 2 employing around 3 500 people as of 2010 1 royal holiday currently has approximately 110 000 members 3 from 52 countries . 4 the company continues to implement a policy wherein members can loan their memberships and credit points to others such as friends and family . 5 contents 1 history 1.1 1980s 1990s 1.2 2000 2010 1.3 2011 present 2 overview 2.1 business model 3 property locations 4 awards and nominations 5 gallery 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit 1980s 1990s edit founded in mexico in 1983 as a private company centered on hospitality royal holiday club opened its initial sales offices in cancun and cozumel in 1985 . 1 implementing a business model involving timeshares and the use of membership points to pay for amenities and lodging 6 initially royal holiday club was owned by the large hospitality and real estate company then named costamex group . 7 in the late 1980s royal holiday club began expanding partnering with resorts in north america south america africa europe and asia . 1 royal holiday club also started the remodeling or construction of several of its own park royal hotels with two in cancun . 2 bloomberg businessweek describes royal holiday club s parent company as owning and operating a chain of hotels that offer boarding lodging recreational and entertainment services . 7 according to cnn expansion by the mid 1980s royal holiday club had over 60 members in four continents . gonzalez carbonnell of the company was quoted stating the company hadn t yet arrived at its expansion strategy but was looking internationally outside of mexico . among the acumulative sales of vacation properties in the united states in 1994 marriott was in the lead with 225 million followed by west gate 120 million and in third place royal holiday club with 110 million . by 1994 royal holiday club had accumulated world sales of 481 million . 8 2000 2010 edit the park royal cozumel resort on cozumel island has mayan themed architecture and design . 3 expansion magazine named royal holiday club one of the best 500 enterprises in mexico in 2006 3 and the following year the publication la jornada described royal holiday as an integral company of tourist services in mexico ranging from renting a car to a cruise . 9 at the time royal holiday had around 65 000 members . 10 in 2007 the mayan themed park royal cozumel hotel won an ardy award for best architecture and interior design from the american association of developments and resorts arda and the next year the same resort won the rci s gold crown award for service standards . 3 mexico s consumer protection agency profeco reported a significant rise in complaints from royal holiday s members in 2007 compared to previous years . 10 with the complaints chiefly citing misrepresentation of the offer during the sales process 11 profeco reported that royal holiday maintained a complaint solve rate averaging around 90 % . 9 the report led to an abc 20 20 investigation in 2008 12 regarding royal holiday s membership sales practices and contract structure . 10 later that summer the director of royal holiday club stated that both the resale program focused on in the media and the international leisure group name under which it was marketed were fraudulent undertakings by rogue sales individuals and were presented to prospective members without the knowledge approval or involvement of royal holiday . the rogue individuals were dismissed and the company initiated criminal proceedings against them . 11 in 2009 the park royal ixtapa hotel was awarded both the golden apple award for service from apple vacations and the quality assurance award from mlt vacations in ixtapa . 3 also that year expedia ranked park royal cozumel as a top hotel on its website . 3 following a review of royal holiday practices in 2009 the better business bureau of southeast florida and the caribbean 13 raised royal holiday s prior f 14 rating for reliability and service to a b. 15 in 2010 this rating was elevated to an a and in 2011 to an a . 16 as of 2010 update royal holiday employed about 3 500 people and maintained a membership base of approximately 85 000 members . 1 that year five of royal holiday s hotels won gold crown awards for service from rci resort condominiums international 3 and the following year six royal holiday hotels won the award . 3 2011 present edit exterior photography of the cancun caribe park royal grand hotel & resort . the hotel is owned and operated by royal holiday club . in november 2012 a judge in colombia ruled that royal holiday club would have difficulty copyrighting its own name in the country citing similarities to other hotel chains using the word royal . 17 in an appeal the costamex group argued that their use of royal was unlikely to cause confusion among customers as the word was used only in tandem with differentiating elements . by july 2013 costamex was awaiting a decision on the appeal . 17 pablo gonz lez carbonell continues to serve as the president of royal holiday club as of 2014 4 and the parent company of royal holiday club which now goes by the name royal holiday servicios administrativos s.a. de c.v. is based in mexico city . 7 in march 2015 rci gave park royal cozumel their premier all inclusive qualification for ranking well in several areas relating to hospitality and service . 18 as of 2015 royal holiday club had approximately 100 000 members 3 from around 52 countries . 4 overview edit business model edit with certain all inclusive contracts like royal holiday club s members buy credits on five successively higher levels offering increasingly attractive benefits . besides stays at more luxurious properties the upper levels feature perks such as vip services luxury cruises tour discounts lower prices for additional credits and longer advance booking periods . among other major features of the club the cost of its members vacation stays is frozen at set rates for 30 years . what s more the credits can be sold rented or inherited . bob schulman of la oferta may 2015 6 royal holiday club s business model is based on granting membership credits to be redeemed by its members . 4 according to the european news agency world folio 19 in 2014 4 the points can be exchanged for hotel stays at beach resorts in mexico and the caribbean as well at international destinations including leading capital cities . 4 the company advertises that its vacation club system gives members flexibility to choose how and where their point credits are used in comparison to the limited options of a conventional timeshare agreement . 20 although credits are primarily redeemed for lodging in one of the land based resorts managed or arranged for by the company members are able to exchange their royal holiday credits for alternate hotel lodging and cruise travel 21 totalling 3 000 routes 6 via alliances with exchange fulfillment companies including resort condominiums international rci . 21 the president of royal holiday club pablo gonz lez carbonell has argued that this points system gives flexibility to its members as members holiday tastes and needs change over their lifetimes and they continue to find within the club holiday destinations to suit them . 4 royal holiday club offers all inclusive deals with certain contracts allowing members access to lodging food amenities and entertainment through the redeeming of points instead of paying cash . 6 as of april 2015 royal holiday continued to implement a policy wherein members can loan their memberships and credit points to others such as friends and family . 5 property locations edit park royal hotels redirects here . for other uses see park royal disambiguation . royal holiday club s hotel on cozumel island was undergoing construction to become a five star hotel as of 2015 . 6 as of 2010 the company maintained agreements with 180 hotel properties allowing members to redeem points at hotels and resorts in mexico the united states the caribbean islands and in 49 additional countries . 22 while members can also redeem points at other facilities and cruises through royal holiday s additional business partnerships 21 as of 2015 royal holiday owns and operates ten of its own hotels with eight in mexico one in puerto rico and one in argentina . 2 the company s chain of hotels also books guests who aren t royal holiday members . 6 as of may 2015 the grand park royal cancun caribe hotel and resort was rated five stars . the resort had 344 rooms suites and villas with other features such as four restaurants and several smaller cafes and lounges . 6 royal holiday has announced that upgrades to their park royal property on cozumel island will be finished late in 2015 and that the upgrades are intended to raise the hotel to a five star designation . 6 hotels owned and operated exclusively by royal holiday 2 hotel name country city grand park royal canc n caribe mexico cancun park royal acapulco mexico acapulco park royal buenos aires argentina buenos aires park royal canc n mexico cancun park royal club cala puerto rico palmas del mar park royal cozumel mexico cozumel park royal huatulco mexico huatulco park royal ixtapa mexico ixtapa park royal los cabos mexico san jose del cabo park royal los tules mexico puerto vallarta awards and nominations edit selected awards for royal holiday club and associated hotels year award nominee category result 2007 ardy awards park royal cozumel best architecture and interior design 3 won 2009 apple vacations awards park royal ixtapa golden apple award 3 won mlt vacations awards quality assurance award 3 won 2015 rci awards park royal cozumel premier all inclusive award 18 won gallery edit beach at cancun caribe park royal grand hotel & resort room at cancun caribe park royal grand hotel & resort pool bar at the cancun caribe park royal grand hotel & resort beach at cancun caribe park royal grand hotel & resort pool area at park royal cozumel mexican dance at park royal cozumel fire dancing at park royal cozumel courtyard at park royal cozumel driveway at park royal cozumel balcony at park royal cozumel see also edit business portal timeshare tourism in mexico references edit a b c d e statistical information . royal holiday club . retrieved 29 october 2010 . dead link a b c d park royal hotels . royal holiday.com . retrieved 2015 08 31 . a b c d e f g h i j k l about us . royal holiday.com en us . retrieved 2015 08 31 . a b c d e f g the creators of smiles . word folio . afa press theworldfolio.com . 2014 . retrieved 2015 08 31 . a b