Hey Tracy,
We love both places too. Nice to know The royal is next to the Real. I know the beaches at the Grand Porto Real (GPR) are not that nice, (have seen many pic's on trip advisor, and heard lots of erosion has occured in the 'downtown' area beaches. So the beach is my only concern with GPR. I think it is one of things that we just have to check out for ourselfs.
Sandos has one of the most beautiful beaches in the PDC area, right next to the reserve. The prices are not bad for Sandos also. Did you get the group rate info? The prices are even lower. I will post them below for you.
We are heading out there in August, we were going to wait til september, but I am already starting to get anziety about not having a location yet.
We were planning on staying at GPR the whole time beacuse of the price (need to save all the money we can) But were weren't sure if we should just stay one night at Sandos or just go visit. Have not figured it out yet.
Please let me know what you think after your visit, the more eyes and hears the better right?
Thanks for sharing your info.
Oh and when is your wedding?
Cheers.
Steph