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Re: Royal Hacienda (by Deborah B.):

As the crow flies, 5th Ave is perhaps a mile or two from the resort. Eventually, there will be a connecting road from the Haciendas to 5th Ave. Presently, however, you have to take a taxi or the Thomas More shuttle. As I remember it was a short trip (south) -- perhaps 15 minutes with traffic? Yes, we did go to Walmart on Saturday after check in as we stay for two weeks. The employees recommended it as being the best grocery store. We took a taxi and they drop you off right in front of the store. The pick up area is right under the store in a big parking garage. They take you right to the Haciendas front door where a bell boy with a grocery cart takes your purchases up to your villa. Very easy! The store is a Super Walmart so they have appliances, clothing, all kinds of stuff in addition to a full grocery store with a nice bakery, a meat section and deli, and a liquor store. All the main grocery staples, but it's difficult to shop as sizes are in metric and labels in Spanish of course. Fresh fruits and vegetables. As compared to Cancun, it seems there are fewer English speakers in Playa, but generally not a problem. We purchased our groceries with our credit card. The Haciendas has a mini grocery store that has basics: milk, bread, cereal, juice, soda, liquor, a logo shop with Royal Resorts clothing and stuff, snack products, some dairy and frozen items as well as other basics. If you don't plan on cooking much, this should suffice, but if you plan on preparing meals in your villa, a trip to Walmart for the fresh meats, veggies et al would be in order. The prices were cheaper at the Walmart, but when you consider adding in the taxi fare to and from, for minor shopping, it's probably not worth it.