My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon in the Mayan Riviera, we are interested in the Riu Palace and El Dorado Royale. I've heard all good things about the Riu Palace, but I really liked the sound of the El Dorado, plus El Dorado is adults only. Can anyone give me some input..I really want this to be special. Thanks so much

We went scuba diving and met a man and his son who were staying at the Riu Palace. He said it was great and that the food was fabulous. It does allow children. EDR is adults only and it's great. It depends on what you want. Where the Riu is, there are more things withing walking distance....lots of shops, etc... There is only one at EDR, there is another that's like a little drug store. To go into town from EDR, you must either rent a car--$80./day, get a taxi-$20. each way to Playa de Carmen or go on the van which is free, but you only get to go from 6-10. The nightlife at EDR is very laid back. The band isn't great, but they are fine. They play games and they are funny. THe food is haute cuisine...we just experimented and ordered things we thought we would like or always wanted to order, but didn't because I hated paying $10. for an appetizer. I had salmon at the Italian place and it was fishy and lobster thermidor at La Isla and it was fishy. THe steak was excellent as was the pork fillets in plum sauce. The service is fine. You do get better service if you tip. It's fine if you don't, but better if you do. $5. to our maid got us the little towel animals the rest of the week and robes in our room. I highly recommend the casita suite. Having your own pool is worth it. We met wonderfully sweet people and had a great time. We are not party animals...we are in our 40's and have already done that, so the nightlife was fine for us. Honeymooners get a dinner on the beach and the couple we met who did that said it was great. Our jacuzzi leaked, but we had fun trying to keep the room from flooding. I figured it was Mexico. THis is a new resort and they are working everyday to make it better. It was only built in 2000. THe personnel in the restaurants are very good and hilarious. They will tease you and get you confused, but it's funny. We loved it. Everyone was great and we are planning on returning possibly this summer. THe no kid thing is GREAT. Never any screaming babies nearby. I love my children, but if I'm not vacationing with them, I don't want to vacation with someone elses either.

Hi Tiffany! Both places are very nice.
I'm a travel consulatant and my husband and I did alot of research before we went to the Riviera Maya area last fall. We stayed at the Riu Palace and I highly recommend it. We'd go back in a second! Food was excellent, beach was fabulous, and the water there was very calm. We were traveling off peak time so there weren't many families or children around. Service was excellent! I've heard that the El Dorado is nice and it's more secluded but the beach isn't as swimmable as the Riu and the food is better at the Riu. Although the beach is more crowded at the Riu. When staying at the Riu you can share the privileges at the other Riu Resorts next door. I'm sure you'd be happy with either choice but my preference would be the Riu Palace! Wish I was there right now.

Hi Tiffany! It's funny because my fiance and I were considering the same two resorts to go to for our honeymoon this july! We chose the RIU, because it's stay at 1, play at 4, whereas the El only has the 1 resort. Plus the El describes itself as "secluded" which may translate into "not much else to do" outside of resort activities.

The RIU sounds just so GRAND and CLASSY that we couldn't resisit! Hope you make the right decision for YOU! :O)

Hi There

We are planning to go to the Mayan Riviera for our second time and we would like to stay at the Riu Palace. We have heard great things about this resort.

Question: How many restaurants do they have, especially a la carte? Do we have to make reservations everyday if we decide to eat a la cart? Do they have a specific time only?

How is the weather around September?

Are the car rentals shipper tor ent at the resort or outside the resort?

Thank you for the info.

Best regards.

Eduardo

Hello All,

My wife and friends (between the ages of 40-50 and all fun loving individuals) have now stated at the RIU Palace on 4 occasions. We have stayed at 8 other hotels in Cancun and Playa and firmly believe that for the money, you cannot beat this hotel. The beach is the finest we have been to in the Mayan Riviera. Not only is the beach a white sandy beach, but it is one of the only beaches interspersed with palm trees to be able to be on the beach, but not be fried by the tropical sun. The water is blue, clear and calm. The grounds are excellent. The service is excellent. I would rate the meals as good, but not excllent, but you are also paying 1/2 to 1/4 less then a place like Royal Hideaway. The rooms are very comfortable. They are opening up another a la carte restaurant in a few months, which will make it three a la carte (one Brazilian, one semi-Italian at the restaurant near the beach and whatever the theme of the new one is [I here Contiental]). The main restaurant, Don Julian, offers a buffet the size of a football field. They have two seatings, one I think at 6:30 and the second at like 8:30. Men need to wear long slacks. Most women wear sun dresses. Although there are kids, they usually are not in the way. I would say 1/3 of the beach is topless, mostly Europeans and South Americans. You will not regret going to this resort.

Gary

We have stayed at both Riu Palace and El Dorado Royale. We actually only stayed at the El Dorado for 3 nights and then transferred to the Riu Palace. That was 3 years ago and we are going back to the Palace in 2 weeks for our 3rd time since then. Absolutely no comparison in the 2 properties. Riu Palace truly is remarkable and we would never even consider going to the El Dorado again. If you do decide on the El Dorado Royale please keep in mind that it is a non-swimmable beach. The current is very rough and there is too much coral to even go in with beach shoes on. If you are worried about seeing kids at the Riu Palace, please don't let that stop you from staying there. This is a very upscale and upper class property. Any child we have ever seen there was quiet and very well behaved, but this property is filled with 98% adults.

We Stayed at at the Riu and loved it very high class. We know stay at Occidental Royal Hideaway two doors down (more expensive) but truley elegant. Have to dress for dinner which we like and food is alot better. Good luck