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El Dorado Royale Hotel & Resort Reviews

El Dorado Royale Adults-only resort with nine pools near Cancun.
Address: Km. 25 Carretera Cancun - Tulum Punta Brava Beach, Mexico Tel: 52 (998) 872 8030 Fax: 52 (9) 872 8033 Email: information@eldorado-resort.com URL: El Dorado Royale	Type of Property: All Inclusive Beach Location: Beach Front (Directly on Beach/Water Front) Island: Mexico No. of Rooms/Units: 432 Adults Only: Adults Only Resort

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Summary of All Property Reviews for: El Dorado Royale Ratings based on answers from a total of 40 reviews 10 is best 1 is worst
Feature	Ranking	Feature	Ranking
Cleanliness of Property	8.97	Quality of Property	8.22
Privacy & Quietness	8.57	Quality of Service	7.70
Courtesy & Hospitality of Staff	8.43	Accuracy of Website (marketing hype) VS. Actual Experience	7.08
Food and Dining Experience	7.12	Price/Value of Property	7.12
Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property)	8.85	Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach)	6.55
Total Property Score: 7.86 out of 10 | Average Star Rating: 3.85 out of 5

• 65% (26 visitors of 40) said they would go back to El Dorado Royale again.
• 68% (27 visitors of 40) said they would recommend El Dorado Royale to friends.

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Okay, here’s a little insight into our experience at El Dorado Royale Casitas and getting there with Thomas Cook.

Anyway, firstly a little about our choices :

- We are a married, early 30s, European couple….
- Spent 2 weeks in a Swim up Casita between 30th Dec 2007 and 13th January
- Travelled from London Gatwick to Cancun coach with Thomas Cook
- Limo transfers with Lomas travel

Thomas cook
We had the Thomas cook lounge access at Gatwick, which was a waste of 100 pounds as you are given access to the cheaper/shabbier of the two Serviss Air lounges and for some stupid reason they allow kids in. Now I love the little bast…darlings, but God created executive lounges for the primary reason of avoiding them! Complimentary chloroform or at least Sellotape would have come in very useful here, but security checks meant a ban on liquids over 100ml and we would have needed a lot more than that….We didn’t last long before scrapping the idea and heading out for some shopping.....

There was very little difference between Thomas Cook cattle and Premium cattle classes, all equally cramped, all with the complementary screaming new born in each cabin, leg room was a problem for anyone over 5.6�, but we’re both short so were fine....

Cancun airport was fine even with 2 large 350 passenger UK flights and 5 US flights landing within the same hour, luggage took a while but hey it always does and I made the mistake of not putting my wife in the queue for customs which you have to go through after you collect luggage whilst I waited for the luggage. 2 hours later we were through...On the bright side, all the local airport staff were friendly, the airport very new and clean and the only idiots were some lippy Mancunians looking to pick a fight with security....hmmmm.

Lomas Travel (Part owners of El Dorado)

Had a hot and cold experience with Lomas Travel. I can't fault their pre-sales both online and by phone, they were prompt and very friendly. The same was true of the dedicated rep based in the foyer of the hotel who we booked the Dolphin Experience with (Do the ROYAL TOUR EXPERIENCE - it is stunning! and book an early showing say 09:00am, we had a group of 4 people where as the same tour at midday was 14 peoplel!).

The let down was the airport transfer.

The limo transfer was arranged prior at a cost of 150USD as the thought of a 12 hour flight coupled with a 20 hotel drop off no doubt sat next to newborn triplets didn’t tickle my ivories. Anyhow the drivers with relevant placards wait outside the main terminal building and needless to say there are quite a few..... for future reference the guys from Lomas are dressed in turquoise (rather than blue) shirts and a white tie but they are better hidden than French traffic police with those radar guns waiting for the English heading down to Le Mans. The only difference is that the Gendarme jump out of the bushes and snap you with your trousers down, but at least making themselves known, where as Lomas Travel are obviously far better trained: exquisitely covert and have the art of hiding behind columns down to a tee...30 minutes of phoning the main office and watching the Thomas cook coaches steadily depart, the guy shows and pleads ignorance stating that he had been there all the time- “Where were you?� he asked, “Hmmm, well please forgive me Senior for wasting your time, my wife and I actually saw you hours ago, but wanted to play a game of hide and seek as we had so little fun on the flight and then….would you believe it, just as we were about to come over to you, I was distracted by those long lines of beautiful airport trolleys which I just had to go and count and take photos with … individually-such joy!�.

Anyway we were led to the long limo - suitcases in tow, 150 gets you a car but not a porter or assistance….it also doesn’t get you any water or soft drinks, we queried the driver, but he smiled and mentioned that of course there were no drinks, what a silly question to ask as I hid my head in shame! – The wine glasses were lovely to look at though, so who am I to grumble! 20 minutes later we were at the hotel…Best 150 dollars spent! Next time I have 150 bucks to suitably invest, I think I’ll buy some pink fluffy dice with Swarovski encrusted crystals to hang on my car dashboard…..

Check in
Okay this is where it gets good. We were met by a concierge as we stepped out of the car and taken by a Golf Cart to the independent Casita reception along with a Canadian couple. All sorted within 10 mins, 500USD card authorisation for spa and other charges like internet (which goes at 8USD per 30 mins, no wifi and only shared PCs). Porter brought the luggage direct to the room promptly and with a smile. I can not emphasise how friendly and helpful all the staff were with or without tipping.

Bars and alcohol

All the liquor is readily available and recognised brands, available 24 hours a day at all bars, but not room service.

Martini bar is horrendous, unless you like large sports screens or the smell of an alcoholics anonymous gathering treated to a “drink all you can� session at hooters…It really did stink of people who were on the verge of alcohol poisoning…If you want to chill out and feel like you are in Mexico, try the bar at Jo-Jo’s which at least is open air and more relaxed…..

I have to say the free local sparkling wine really is not palatable – so don’t get your hopes up to it being even close to a Cremant or a Cava, because it’s not. I am in no way a wine connoisseur and we’re not ones to waste a bottle especially when it’s free, but the complementary bottle in the room remained unopened as we checked out… Still we continuously heard from the Americans that loved this “champagne�, so perhaps it was just my taste buds suffering from jetlag and food poisoning and Ebola all at once. …We picked up a few bottles of bubbly at Duty Free, chilled it for the day and took it to the restaurants….They do, however, have Moet for 250-300usd and Cristal for close to grand….Bargain! If you are the type who like to uses 50s as a replacement for toilet roll – makes London restaurants look simply cheap! As for the wine list, excl. the house wines, the cheapest red/white was 40USD with the average around 70USD. About average prices for a standard bottle in a good restaurant.

Restaurants and Food

Firstly those in Casitas, go to your concierge and pre-book your tables for a decent time…

All the restaurants were great (except Fuentes which was about as Mexican as the Queen is Jamaican), but this all comes down to the dish you choose for the day – luck of the draw really. Yes there is a dress code, thank god! For some reason people do behave themselves when they are dressed well and this made for some nice dinners in a pleasant atmosphere. Kampai and D’Italia are great for those having problems adjusting to the heat with solid air-conditioning which would make Frosty feel at home….For normal people, I would advise jumpers (sweaters)/long sleeve shirts for the gents and cardigans/pashminas for the ladies along with a request to be seated away from the A/C vents.

Do the candle light beach dinner! And ask the concierge if you want something special…We arranged for some Mariachi to come down from Cancun for the hour and they were outstanding…best 300USD spent to keep the lady happy…

Weddings
The hotel really made a huge effort to make the weddings extra special and have multiple locations for the ceremony and enough bars and areas to host a separate banquet. To those of you who got married (there must have been 10 couples): Congratulations, the brides were all beautiful and the grooms were very lucky. I hope the other guests didn’t disturb your magic day – It is just that some people didn’t realise you were getting married and felt that you were just a party to gatecrash and make as much noise as possible when around you….don’t you feel sorry for them, how were they to know - It was confusing for them, I mean the white dress, brides maids, crying mothers – this could have been a Star Wars convention or anything…

Ok so here’s the run down:

5* resort with 5* service with 4* food let down by SOME 2* clientele. Take the hint (and for once I’m not talking about my fellow Englishmen abroad - my memorable foreign policy friends from across the pond and your northern neighbours), I know you’re only there for a short time (it seems that most of the noisy groups were only there for between 3-5 days, but they were always promptly replaced by another group), but do you have to drink all day – I know it’s free (a novelty and you have to get your moneys worth!) and the bars opens from 10:00 and you have proven from the first daythat you can drink non stop from 10.00 am til 2.00am, but spare a thought for the couple on honeymoon or aching for some quiet time at this romantic resort ....

Disclaimer: We met some stunning people from all over the globe including Americans, Dutch, Canadians, Russians….. Luckily there were always a select group who represented their country with distinction!

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We celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary with 2 other couples from Calgary also celebrating their 25th and had the BEST time!! After living on the other side of the world for 20 years it was the 2nd time we've seen each other and couldn't have picked a more lovely setting. The property wasn't as lush as I expected but after suffering from a Cat. 5 hurricane they have done a fantastic job - the grounds were lovely and spotless. The food was beautifully presented and 95 percent of the time absolutely delicous. The service was exceptionally friendly with the waiters really making an effort to get to know their guests and make them feel at home. We especially enjoyed the martini bar and believe me we made a mission of visiting ALL the bars. Fantastic holiday spent with best friends. Our only complaint was the weather could have been better, but who can you blame for that!

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Absolutely fabulous, Meal quality and presentaion were fantastic.The propery was emaculate and we were treated like royalty everywhere we went. Even the grounds crews or the guys that clean the seaweed off the beach at 5:00am were always courtious. Our room (swim up Casita)was beautiful and well cleaned daily. The bar staff (who I saw alot of)were friendly and very quick to not let my glass empty,unfortunately the weather was not the greatest but that is out of the resorts hands. Loved it!

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My husband and I had a wonderful time at the El Dorado. The service was excellent. The property was lovely. We were treated like royalty. I have traveled to Mexico twice, to the Bahamas, and to Jamaica, and the experience here was the best!

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Beware the type of room!! Also, try other methods for seeking help other than the ineffective guest services.

From the advertisements based on the resort we were hopeful for 'laid-back luxury'. Our stay was anything but, we encountered problems from the first day and NO ONE at the resort earnestly tried to make our vacation laid back or luxurious. For our travelling needs, service is the most important criteria and we received service that we would expect from a 2 star establishment.

Our vacation was booked from Nov. 6-13 at this 5 star all-inclusive resort; my wife and I were looking forward to a luxuriously relaxing vacation. Our hotel room, an ocean front junior suite, was in dire need of repair upon our arrival. We had broken table lamps, broken and missing tile in our Jacuzzi tub and broken windows. We were expecting 5 star accommodations, and were not impressed with our room. We attempted to convey our concerns to guest services at the resort and their solution was to send various maintenance staff to our room to carry out the repairs in the room (even at 11:00pm). Maintenance like this should be carried out before guests arrive, and as a result, we were unable to relax and enjoy ourselves with a lack of privacy and hotel staff constantly in and out of our room. For three of the 7 days of our vacation, we needed to confront the guest services about our room conditions, which did not improve, and had to make accommodations for the maintenance staff continually in our room. We received no consolation from the resort and our complaints went unheard. We were incredibly disappointed with this ‘5 star’ service and wanted to inform other potential visitors.

Luxury around the resort was nice and the food was what we were expecting, very good. Although for 2 of our dining evenings we had made reservations for a restaraunt through the reservations center and when we arrived at the time for our dining experience were told that they did not have our reservations. For both cases we had to go back to our room to acquire our confirmation and present it at the restaraunt. Reservations seemed very disorganized. Also, we attempted to make reservations through the reservation center and were told that the restaraunt of our choice was full. When we inquired a few minutes later at the guest services desk about the same restaraunt and same time we were told there was no problem in making a reservation and the restaraunt was not full. We were very dissappointed with the service for making reservations.

Be warned, on the last day of our trip we were on the beach and went for a swim when our camera was stolen out of our zipped-up beach bag. We personally have a hard time beleiving that staff would steal our camera and expect it was another guest at the resort. If someone can afford to vacation at a supposed 5-star resort, they should be able to afford their own camera!

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My husband and I stayed at the ElDorado Royale and were very pleased with the cleanliness and service. The only thing we were disappointed with was the beach. The beach is very rocky and they have big brown 'balooga whales' in the water off the beach as a wave break. They are very ugly!!
Still, we enjoyed our stay and would return!

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My husband and I stayed at the El Dorado Royale For the last week of September into the first week of October.To those people who have never been to Mexico,as we were, I would tell you don't worry about a thing if you are staying here.The service was impeccable,the people were exstremely friendly, the resort was 1st class, and the beach was amazing! We read all of the negative reviews before we left and were very concerned.That all disappeared the minute we arrived.We had no trouble with dinner reservations, we were able to make them 3 nights in advance. So we only visited the reservations desk twice all week, and it took maybe 5 minutes.We were also told that the resort was at full capacity,but we ran into no trouble getting food or drinks,and the beach was not at all crowded. Now if you wanted a cabana or hut you did need to get out before 10am.Our room was so clean everyday and smelled so nice.There is an on-staff photographer there, wich was so nice capturing phots of us together at the pool, wich were available for purchase next day very cheaply.We loved them so much we asked him for a private photo shoot on the beach,and he gladly obliged.The photos are amazing! We were so glad we did it for our own memories.If I had one thing to say even close to negative would be that the food was different.If you keep an open mind and don't expect Americanized food you'll be fine.We never went hungry.We did think the room service food was very good, so if your meal left something to be desired, room service is 24 hours and the come in and set your table nicely.It worked out perfect for breakfast.One more thing. I read the comments about the beach being topless, and most everyone said it was only a few European women-(as I said before the were at full capacity so it might have been different)but don't be fooled if you are very conservative. There were many topless women and they were everywhere. At the beach and at all the pools. Some just walking around.Although I did not see any around the common areas or the rooms.It is shocking at first,but you do kinda get used to it. It's women of EVERY shape and size and the very smallest percent of them were fit.That is what the most shocking part was.No one cares though.So let it all hang out at the El Dorado Royale.We did,and we were planning our next trip back by the second day.We met a couple that were on their 4th stay there.We understood after a very short time.It was amazing!

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My boyfriend and I stayed at the EDR from August 26 to September 2. We cannot wait to go back!!! Everything was just perfect and the people there are so nice and accomodationg! We stayed in an Ocean VIEW suite. You COULD see the ocean, but only through small openings. Still it was a nice room not that we were in there very much anyways. We stayed by the beach most of the time. Definitely wake up early to get a palapa they are worth it! The beach was really beautiful. We really didn't want to come home!!! The food was pretty good. We liked Chinese the best. Their sushi was delicious! Also the Italian was pretty good. The mexican was the worst. As most say it's not a place to go and party. We stayed to ourselves the WHOLE time!!! Which is what we wanted. We did the tour to Xel-Ha and Tulum but were a little disappointed that was only spent 2 hours at the water park. It was not enough time. You can choose to stay there the entire day, but we also wanted to see the ruins, which were nice. But if you're more in to snorkeling stay at the water park. Plus it's all inclusive there so you can eat and drink all you want!! I guess that's pretty much all. We loved it so much! It was a great break and so relaxing. I definitely recommend it for couples of all ages who are looking for some alone time. Go and have a great time!!! We also loved Pedro! He is at the bar on the beach by Jo Jo's. Tell him Becky and Josh say hi!!!!

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We spent our honeymoon at the El Dorado Royale from June 28 through July 6th of this year. We had discussed the resort with our travel agent and reviewed the brochure and thought it would be perfect for what we had in mind. The El Dorado Royale Resort exceeded our expectations and outdid its own brochure. We had a lovely Casita Suite and we experienced nothing but excellent service. The property was gorgeous, the spa was excellent and the food was great too. Our favorite restaurant was the Italian restaurant where we had a phenomenal 6 course meal. My husband swears they had the best Tiramisu he ever had.

The only downsides are the beach is rocky so definitely bring water shoes and there is an area on the outskirts of the property that does smell terrible because of this murky pond in the woods. However, the smell is only there and no place else on the property.

From our conversations with other guests it seems like staying at a casita makes a huge difference, you never have a problem making a dinner reservation and you are in a prime location. The other accommodations may not live up to the 5 star rating but the Casita suites do.

We had a wonderful, romantic relaxing time and the cabanas on the beach were the best. Be sure to get up early and claim one for the day. Then relax and enjoy.

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This was the greatest trip I had to Mexico. The resort was beautiful and the staff was outstanding. I have no complaints about one thing. I felt like they met our ever need and more.
This is a place to go to get away from it all and just relax and enjoy what they have to offer. I look forward to going next year!
It is simply a wonderful place.

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Just returned from my honeeymoon at the El Dorado Royale (June 7 -13) WE had a great time. The service wad great and the food even better. The resort still need to work on a few problems. 1. THey need a backup plan for the beach dinner when it rains. We were unable to get ours bacause of rain. 2. WE stayed in a 2nd floor cacita. It was great except it poured for 2 days and the sliding glass door for the outside shower was not sealed and it leaked water into the casita flooding the whole floor. The manager did move us to a new room within minuites of reporting the leak to the front desk. 3. get 2 ply toilet paper for the resort. 4. The resort need be like other great hotel (Four seasons, Westin, Peabody) and start using softer beds.
We had a great time and already planing are return trip next year. This place can easily be considered a five star resort.

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MY WIFE AND I STAYED APRIL 16 - APRIL 20 2004 AS A BIRTHDAY GIFT BY HER TO ME . A MAN COULD ASK FOR NO BETTER GIFT THAN A LUXURIOUS PARADISE LIKE EDR . THIS IS A PLACE FOR COUPLES IN LOVE WANTING TO GET AWAY FROM DAY TO DAY LIFE THAT GETS SO WARING ON YOUR SENSES . WE STAYED IN THE CASITA WITH THE OUTSIDE SHOWER THAT WE USED A LOT . THE PLACE IS SO LAID BACK YOU COULD DO YOUR OWN THING AND NO ONE SEEMED TO CARE . WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THE BEACH SUNBATHING, GET UP EARLY TO GET A CABANA 6-7 A M, YOU NEED A PLACE TO GET OUT OF THE SUN AND HAVE SOME FUN , MY WIFE WENT TOPLESS AND HAD A GREAT TIME SO DID I !!!! THE FOOD WAS GREAT AND WE HAD NO TROUBLE WITH SCHEDUALES . WE ALSO MISSED THE SALES PITCHES FOR TIME SHARES ALTOGETHER WHICH I AM GLAD BECEAUSE WITH A SHORT STAY I WANTED IT ALL WITH MY WIFE . THE HOTEL STAFF TREATED US VERY KINDLY AND WITH RESPECT.WE WILL GET BACK THERE AS SOON AS WE CAN , A FEW DAYS IS TO SHORT AS WE HATED TO LEAVE AFTER FOUR NIGHTS, NEXT TIME WE WILL DO A WEEK OR MORE . WE ARE IN OUR FORTYS AND FELT LIKE WE WERE IN OUR TWENTYS , WHAT A GREAT TIME WE HAD . EDR WAS A MEMORY THAT MY WIFE AND I WILL NEVER FORGET BUT I THINK THAT WE WILL MAKE A FEW MORE MEMORYS THERE BEFORE TO LONG, I CAN'T WAIT!

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Don't let all those negative people deter you from experiencing a wonderful romantic getaway to a beautiful resort on the Mayan Riviera. The food was awsome, the service was better than any service you would get at most Canadian or American hotels!!! They would absolutely go out of the way for you to make your stay pleasurable! We stayed in a Casita suite, and would recommend the upgrade, although our family members stayed in the junior ocean view rooms and they were nice as well. By staying in the Casita suite, we did not have any troubles with dinner reservations, as we could make reservations for 3 days ahead, and did not have to think about it. We made dinner reservations through our seperate concierge, so we were able to avoid any long waits in the morning. The cleanliness was wonderful...If you are looking for a night life atmosphere then perhaps you should check out another location. El Dorado Royale Adult Spa should say it all!! This is a wonderful place for couples to go and relax, celebrate their anniversary, or in our case...GET MARRIED!!! They do everything all up to the 9's!!! Yes...My husband and I would go back in a heart beat!! We met lots of wonderful people there as well, that we would love to see again! And to all you pesimestic people...this resort is only a few years young....in time it can only get better, and bigger! Definately a 5 Star in Mexico... You must remember that a 5 start in Canada or US is different than a 5 star in Mexico, they seem to base it more on the grounds!!!

We will be back El Dorado Royale!!!! Hopefully for our 1 yr. Anniversary!

Adios!!!

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The trip was taken in Feb. 2004. This system did not allow me to enter 2004.
A beautiful place that has outgrown the restaurants. We had problems on a daily basis getting restaurant reservations and service. Many of our meals lasted 3 hours. It took over an hour every other morning waiting in line to get restaurant reservations. Very poorly designed.

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Wow, suprised at some of the bad reviews. I think most of the disapointed people traveled during the peek season, or need more than me to be satisfied. I along with my husband of 13 years went to El Dorado Royale for some rest and relaxation and that is exactly what we got. We had a Junior Suite ocean view. The room was very clean and beutiful. We didn't have any problems at all making reservations for dinner. Yes, you need to get down there early (9:00) to make them but you can take a number and walk around awhile and wait for your number. It really wasn't very busy when we booked all of our reservations. We stayed 7 nights so we ate at all the restraunts. We learned to order something from every course because they are small proportions. Oriental and Steakhouse were our favorites. The drinks were great and plentiful. The beach was nice, white sand and clear blue water. It is a little rocky in some areas but plenty of nice swimming without rocks. We went snorkeling by the pier, lots of fish. If you are looking for shells walk to the right side (south) of the beach, bigger ones there. I loved this place and hated to leave. In fact we only went on two outing, XhellHa -all inclusive no Tulum, Playa Del Carmen at night (5:00-10:00p.m.) We talked with others who tried to do both Xhell Ha and Tulum and wished they would have stayed at Xhell Ha, not enough time there. It is a huge park, so we were glad we stayed all day. Playa Del Carmen is more comfortable at night when the temp. cools down and the lights come on. I would definatly recomend this resort for any couple that wants some rest and relaxation.

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This resort was very nice. Our only complaint was the food, you need reservations in most of the restaraunts in the evening and it is very hard to get in.. and they didn't seem to be full. One night we went to the Steak House and there was maybe 4 tables full, we asked if we could get in to eat (9:00PM), and they really did not want to seat us since we did not have reservations, but they did.. Only one of the days we were there did they have a full buffet for breakfast, the rest you had to wait for a table, and order al-carte. Lunch was the same.. it was wait for a table and al-carte. We would like to see more buffets for breakfast and lunch for sure. The beach is rocky but nice. This is not a BAD review, just mentioning things that we would have liked.

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Dates of stay were 12/27/03 thru 1/3/04. We went with two other couples (whom we met in Jamaica last year at the same time - long story!)and we had a great time. Vacation is what you make it and we definitely had a lot of fun. No problems. The only negative is having to make dinner reservations by 9am each day but we worked it out and were able to get into the places we wanted at the times we wanted. My husband and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary (we got married in Jamaica) and we celebrated our friend's birthday there. Everyone was very friendly and accomdating - all you have to do is show a little green and smiles/help come your way! Stay away from the time sharing pitches unless that's something you really want to hear about (sounds too good to be true in my opinion). No kids, nice and quiet, food was very good, nice relaxing atmosphere. Looking for peace and quiet - this is the place to go. Our room was oceanview and we were able to keep our patio door open at night and enjoy falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. We did almost book a casita but after seeing them, we were glad we didn't - way too quiet for us. We were there New Years Eve (our anniversary) and they did it up very extravagantly!! I enjoyed our stay and would go back. Oh, everytime I went to the bathroom someone was cleaning it (the public ones) - they sure keep their bathrooms clean!

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The El Dorado Royale is a quiet, Wedding type, relaxing hotel with no nightlife unless your travelling in big groups. If your under 35 and looking to have a spectacular nightlife you should head in to Cancun each night. $2 by bus to get there(30min) and $30 by Cab on the way back. I wouldn't go by as a single or with just my wife but we had fun as a big group.

The People are nice and we didn't experience any hassles with Time Share or any sales tactics. They phoned the Room a couple times around 8:30am but that was it.

You need to be organized to get you dinners booked because you need to get up at 8am ish to go book dinner for that night, Oriental is the best by far. All the Meals are good and a couple dollars tip is apprecieated by the staff. All the Meals are 4 or 5 courses and they will bring you a couple of one course if you ask...even the entre's.

Rooms are nice no complaints. Get a garden View ( ground level-walk in and out of you patio door) because the Ocean view only means you have a room in the same bldg as the Garden view but now you have to hike 2 more floors. Ocean Front is the best!!!!!!! You have to ask for this!

Booze flows plenty but is a little slow. They work for tips so they tend to take care of the paying customers. The tipping thing is the only thing that really bothered me because you have to carry dollar bills with you everytime you get meals or a few drinks. Even during the day when your at the pool you feel obligated to hand out a dollar bill to the food and beverage people. This should have to happen to get the good service but unfortunatley it does - A minor problem! They have Ceasars for all of us Canadians. Swing bar is ok at night, it's where the entertainment is from 9-9:30 or 10pm but the crowd soon disperse after the show leaving the bar quite slow.

Entertainment is not great in the bar but Sexy Fernando's Adult show is funny. The 50+ crowd seems to enjoy most of the entertainment nights but it isn't anything to write home about.

The Entertainment staff are the Best! Sexy Fernando is full of energy as well as Umberto, Edwardo and Stefano. Sexy Claudia and Paulina are great to hang with too and without these people around everyday at the pool, things would be very quiet. This was the best part of my holiday. Go on the Bus to Cancun with them one night and you'll see...

The grounds are beautiful and the water is too when the wind isn't blowing too hard. Rene takes care of the water activities and he great for info on booking tours to Scuba Dive and snorkel. The Dock is old and decrepid, it was closed when we were there and it doesn't look like it will get replaced soon. It would have been nice to be able to use it.

All in all I would try something else next time just because it's too quiet in the nightlife area.

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My wife and I (we’re in our mid 30’s)stayed at the El Dorado Royale for 1 week. We are fairly well traveled but have only stayed at 2 other all-inlclusives separately. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here as an R&R Vacation. I will detail some areas:
THE ROOM:
Our standard junior garden suite was quite delux. At least 600 sq/ft with king bed, nicely marbled floor, spacious bathroom with soaker tub, table and 2 chairs, stocked minifridge, safe, 2 person jacuzzi, remote controled air conditioning and 21' TV. Only complaint here was the worn saggy bed, but they gave us a new mattress within hours!
THE SERVICE:
We give it top marks. Workers are eager to please and generally quite friendly. Delicious food with lobster twice a week at most restaurants. We enjoyed champagne and OJ on a few mornings with a make-your-own omlet. You can get a decent steak for lunch at the main restaurant and the lunch menue their changes daily. Service was faster but food was slightly lower quality. One big tip: anyone wearing a shirt with 'Exotic Travel Club' on it wants you to buy a timeshare. We were even told that the presentation would only take an hour an that they did not want to sell us anything!
FOOD: Excellent with good variety and great presentation. Yes, our orders got mixed up a few times, but hey, its Mexico and being all-inclusive, we didnt feel obligated to eat anything we didnt like. In fact, I sometimes ordered 2 of a dish if It was good. Food was usually higher quality at restaurants needing a reservation and was well worth a slightly longer wait (still faster than your average restaurant back home). However, one big hassel was the restaurant reservation process and having to get up early 2 times a week only to wait 30-60 minutes to meet with the only one person that makes reservations for all 5 restarants (on paper) for the entire resort! When I asked the reason for this the answer was so that they had more control over the reservations. Well if that's the case, how come the earliest reservation we got all week was at 8:30 PM? Surely a computer database program would be more efficient and could handle priorities etc. With this resort expanding I would hope that this process and the restaurant seating capacity will change.
DRINK:
Good variety of mixed and blended tropical drinks. Service on the beach was touch and go. I found it odd that they have 3 different tequilas and 4 kinds of scotch but no bottled Corona or Sol beer! They only have Tecate and Tecate light by the can and DosEquis on tap. This must be a cost saving measure plus cans are safer. Red and white wine was from the Baha and are decent. Premium bottles are avail. for an extra charge.
GROUNDS/FACILITIES:
Very clean, nice layout and landscaping. Daily activities we're on the poor side with the equipment in need of maintenance and the activity guides didnt care. The gym had 3 stationary and 2 reclined bikes, 2 treadmills, 1 oliptical trainer, a universal-type machine, barbell rack, and dumbells up to 50 lbs. We did not visit the spa as it was a bit pricey considering the cost of labour($55 US for a 1/2 hour massage). Don't expect a wild night life here, they do offer a VIP shuttle to a hapening club in Cancun for $30US I think. The last resort bar closes at 2am.
THE BEACH:
The beach has the fine white sand and turquoise water you can expect from the caribbean with mesh lounge chairs and some thatched palapas for shade. there was a steady off-shore wind most days that brought up to 4 ft waves with witecaps. Rows of huge sandbags 50-100 ft off-shore block the pounding surf and make ocean swiming possible. you can wade across this artificial lagoon in parts and the bottom is a mix of sand and mostly dead coral. The snorkeling was disappointing and so was the lack of watersports. The space is too limited within the lagoon for ameteur sailing or windsurfing and the ocean is too rough outside the wave barricade. The only watercraft available are plastic double kayaks and pedal boats so if you're into water sports you may want to consider a different resort. The peir is still damaged from the huricaine and is closed off.
Overall we think this resort is great for those wanting R&R without kids and are more concerned with food and drink quality/variety over activities. If you alway travel 5 star and you're really pickey then you may want to shop arround. Because the area of Mexico has alot to offer, adventure seakers may want to chose a non-all inclusive resort an outsource your activities. You can get your open water PADI in Playa Del Carmen for $300 US...I'm not sure how much the resort charged for the certification...I'm sure more. Its important to remember that the area and resorts are always changing and some comments are only subjective. Some of our complaints and praises were put down on our on-site comment sheets to help the resort change for the better. One last tip: Always lock up any kind of valuable in your room safe(if it will fit). We met a couple that experienced a theft from their room but I think that this can happen on any resort. The resort was a nice break from our usual choose-your-own adventure travelling but now I need to loose the weight I gained!! ;O)

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Just got back. First - the place is beautiful- the grounds are kept immaculate. Food was good- not superb, but nicely presented. As far as hard to make reservations, never ate later than 8:00, so no real problem. The room (216 oceanfront) was very nice- no water or fridge problems, and overlooked a secondary pool and a nice view of the ocean. The jacuzzi is a nice touch, as well as the hammock on your patio. Things are slow here, and activity is minimal, although we wondered if because our weather wasn't very good. Did use the bikes, and kayaks and paddle boats. As far as the beach, as other reviews have said- it is sort of ugly, but clear and cool fish swimming up to your feet! The nightlife is mellow. The shows start at 9:00 and last only 45 minutes, after which sometimes there was karaoke, or just listening to the live bands.
This is a great place for a relaxing vacation. The staff were very nice and almost all spoke English. All in all- a great time.

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We found the El Dorado Royale much 'as advertised'. The service was great, staff accommodating. We avoided the time share session by 'just saying no' and were left alone in that regard.

Overall we found the food to be very good, and while not 'gourmet', it was great to be able to eat at different restaurants every night. A lot of guest we spoke with really liked the steak house (because of the portions!), but our favourites were the Mexican and Japanese. We worked our way around the smaller portions by having a couple of appetizers each.

The snorkeling at the hotel's beach, to the left of the pier, is quite good. Not a massive amount of fish - but tons of variety. Because of the coral (mostly dead), we'd recommend beach shoes for swimming/snorkeling to the left of the pier - to the right, they wouldn't be necessary.

A 10-minute walk along the beach (to the right, facing the water) is a lovely beach - Playa Secreto, where it is great to play in the surf. Beach shoes or beach sandals recommended for the walk there.

Would recommend spending the extra $ for a Casita - they are at the quieter end of the property (if that is your thing) and it is easier to make reservations for the restaurants.

This is not a property for people looking to 'party'. It is definately a place for newlyweds and the over 35 crowd. Perfect for us. If you have any questions, we'd be happy to respond. (r_curry@telus.net)

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We arrived at EDR at 11h30am, received key at 4h30. Check in very painful, confusion, rudeness and no manner. 1 Whole waisted day thats 1 lost day out of 7. Terrible difficulty booking dinner, when you get up in the morning you go book your dinner reservations and they will tell you like they told us we are booked up for oriental till Thursday at 10pm (3 days later) and Italian and Mexican we are full too. Oh wait, sorry, you can have Italian at 9h30 on Wednesday !! Brochure it says Nightly Entertainment, that's a joke. Swingbar is a cute idea but boring, at 10h00 pm, it's dead. No running water for 24 hrs, the manager told us we received a notification the day before, We told him we didn't. He did not apologize, he just turned and walked away. No cable TV from 3pm till next day, tropical storm for 3 days, can be nice to have a TV ! On Wednesday, a notification was put under our door to ask existing guests if we would consider moving to an Hotel in Cancun for $100 cash. The lobby filled up fast with people clamoring to get away from the EDR. Our neighbours got $150 so we demanded it. The louder we got, the more quickly the worked to get us out. Every guest in the lobby looked upset, everybody who needs to check-in argue and are not happy, something wrong... That was without a doubt, the worst vacation of our life. The smell around the resort and in the room is very bad too. The only people who will enjoy this resort are those with 24 hrs a day high stress jobs who need nothing but rest and love the sound of elevator music. One night we were at the bar close to the beach, the barmaid is very friendly and fun. We asked him to change his radio station from classis boring music to mexicain and fun music. He did it but told us he can be in trouble. Everybody around the bar started dancing, smiling and having fun. Few minutes later, the barmaid received a phone call from his boss, gave him shit and asked him to turn the radio off. Poor guy, so kind and nice with tourist, he became serious and once again, the manager ruined another day of our vacation. The restaurant, concierge, bar staff are polite, friendly and helpful. William the manager and all the staff at the front desk were not only idiots but unfriendly, confused and dumb. They would talk to you, the phone would ring they answer and then you wait and wait and wait.In close, if we had it to do over again and back to Saturday November 29 as we were driving to the airport through the snow, I would have rolled my car window down and threwn $3200 out the window and driven back home and relaxed for a week. We are totally disgusted that our travel agent, Renee Cannon Sr. travel consultant with Marlin Travel at the Wal-Mart in Oakville recommended we go to this resort. We found your web site on our return and we wished we had found it before we went there.

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Word of mouth hinted at El Dorado Royale aspiring to a 5-star rating. I would say they are some time away from that achievement. It is impossible to have a bad time in the beautiful Cancun area with gorgeous weather and wonderful people, but I would not return to El Dorado Royale, and would caution my friends and family with our experiences. I have been lucky enough to travel a great deal around the world and stay at some wonderful places, and El Dorado Royale is nowhere near 5 Star.

I will preface my comments with the fact that we were there for only 3 nights, and those three nights were during the USA Thanksgiving holiday, so our experience may or may not have been typical of a longer visit or a non-holiday weekend.

First, it felt like our entire first day was wasted trying to avoid the Exotic and other tour guides and time share peddlers. You could not go to the one end of the resort without being practically forced into hearing one more spiel. When all you want is to relax by the pool or ocean with a welcome drink, and begin your vacation, a Mayan calendar is not enough to overcome the hassle of constant sales pitch babble.

The restaurants were very difficult to get reservations...we ended up with 9:30-10pm reservations every night, and could not get in to the Oriental restaurant at all. The restaurants close at 10-10:30, so I felt rushed to finish when we were the last remaining diners. The food was lackluster at best. The Steakhouse was down right terrible, with tough, chewy, overcooked steaks and bad sides. The Italian restaurant has a long way to go...don't order the fettucine, especially on lobster night. The only redeeming quality was our server. The Mexican restaurant was actually very tasty, especially the steak and chorizo main course, but it, as well as La Fontana Italian, are located right beside a loud bar that caters to wedding parties and late-night bands. There's something not quite right about blaring 80s music and standard cheesey wedding reception songs while dining by candlelight in a romantic environment. It would be nice if the party bar and nice restaurants were more separated. Especially since our heads were already ringing from the bad elevator music that they pipe in all over the resort all day long.

Most of the staff was very warm, friendly and helpful. Pedro attended the farthest casita bar and he had the most excellent service I've seen in some time. The breakfast staff at Kampai was great, and we enjoyed the two mornings that we had there...nice way to start the day with good service and a peaceful environment. Good omelettes.

Like I have noted in several other visitors' reviews, the regular rooms were fine, but nothing note-worthy. Ours was an ocean front, but it was quite a ways back from the water, and right beside the main pool. If you want a peaceful, romantic setting and can't get a casita, request an ocean front as close to the casitas as possible. The casitas looked wonderful, and were at a much more peaceful end of the resort, but we could not upgrade because they were all booked. Another issue was that we had no hot water the first day we were there, and our in-room fridge was broken for the first 2 days. Did not end up taking advantage of the in-room jacuzzi tub because of no hot water the first night, and when we ran it the second day, the water was darkly colored and had the strong sulfur smell that also permeated our bathroom.

One thing I would point out is the lack of activities at the resort. On re-reading the website description I realize now that they do only mention bikes, kayaks and paddle boats. That is all they have. Our booking agent, however, had mentioned the great snorkeling. I made the mistaken assumption that more water activities like snorkeling, sailing, etc were available directly from the resort. You actually have to drive from the resort to these type of activities (unless you bring your own snorkel gear). For our short 2-day trip, we elected to stay at the resort only and were unable to take part in these things. So, that was our choice, but just make sure you understand that snorkelling and such is not available straight from the resort.

One last comment is that you will probably never get one of the beachside palapas (small 'hut' with privacy curtains and pillows)unless you bribe a current 'claimant', and you may have to wake up at 5am to claim a lounge chair if you want to be on the beach or at any pool other than the main pool. Competition was surprisingly fierce, and not a relaxing way to begin the day. We were surprised to wander out at 8am our first day and find all of the lounge chairs already claimed.

Like I mentioned, you probably will not have a bad time with such beautiful weather, but I would not be in a rush to recommend El Dorado Royale to anyone if good food is important to you on vacation or if you have expectations of a high-class resort. It is more a standard, run-of-the-mill all-inclusive...with a litle bit of contrived Disney-esque atmosphere thrown in. We learned our lesson on how such resorts are classified, and Deluxe does not mean 5 Star.

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We had a great time at the hotel, we were looking for a nice relaxing holiday somewhere without children and no wild noisy bars late into the night, boring but true. Booking the restaurants sounded like it was going to be a hassle but we were able to book for 3 nights at a time so you could plan in advance what you wanted, which surely isn't that inconvenient and I didn't find it ruined the spontaneity of the holiday, infact with 2 new restaurants being built for next yr and only a few new rooms being added the a la carte option will probably be even better next yr. As a rule all the food was great, tho we found the beach snack bar/Steakhouse not that great compared to the rest,contary to popular opinion. Rooms were fine tho they are refurbishing the air con in some as they are slightly damp with condensation (sl musty smelling clothes in the wardrobe)but the cleaning was good and the maid di some towel origami and also changed the sheets and replaced the used room towels with new.
Beach was fine and clean and there were no breakers because of the large sandbags which made the snorkelling good and also allowed easy proper sea swimming if you preferred, tho the coral was sharp if you stood on it, just swim out from the v shallow water and it was fine! Pools were religiously cleaned and apart from the main one and one of the casita pools were mostly empty. The gardens/grounds were always being tended to and watered (bit smelly as straight from the jungle pools but no hardship)Spa was good tho we didn't chance the beach candle lit couple massage as we already had enough mossie bites and the weather was a bit frisky at times, tho it did look v romantic! swing bar was a good laugh tho the band intro music was strange(!) and they had a somewhat restricted playlist, think Celine Dion type or 80s ballads, and the keyboard player made us laugh with pain at times! Kareoke, please choose wisely otherwise be embarrassed!
Casitas looked lovely but people were attempting to upgrade on arrival and they'd all been booked in advance so they were disappointed, don't believe your agent if they say you'll get a 'free/cheap' upgrade at the resort cause the caistas were incredibly popular and there just weren't any left. Avoid the Exotic Travel Club guys (Alex is Mr Friendly on arrival and really isn't part of the hotel staff itself) They are the Timeshare people and unless ou want the 100$ spa voucher/candlelit dinnerthat much you'll end up in 1.5-2hrs of blah about their wonderful travel saving scheme yada yada, we just cancelled our appt and had no problems from them about it
Overall tho great place, we'd go back next yr if we could afford it.

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I was very disappointed in the office staff. I don't understand how things aren't the same for every guest. We were there with 4 other couples and no one got the same deal. We asked for upgrades and some were free and some paid. When I tried to argue why we all couldn't have the same deal the man was very rude and said he would take away the one couple's free upgrade and make us all pay. Another couple got a free upgrade and I think this was because he went to the Funjet Rep. We were with MLT and didn't have someone to represent us. It just isn't fun to get that angry when you are expecting things to be wonderful in paradise! The people we met and most of the staff were wonderful.

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I have never written a review for a resort but felt it necessary because of all of the negatives posted here that made us nervous before we left. I gave the resort only four stars because the possible rating system on this website is 1-5 stars. Typically most of the resorts are sold through agencies on a 1-6 star rating system, including half stars...this resort is a five star based on that system. If people are looking for luxury this isn't the place. That said, I would most certainly come back again.
Rooms are comfortable and clean, big bathroom,nice robes, nice tub
Staff was very pleasant
Pools were nice
Restaurants I can't really comment on too much as we only made it to three. We liked the Asian one the best.
Not a lot of nightlife here.
The property is very private
Having stayed at 5-1/2 star and 6 star properties in the past we
appreciated the unassuming nature of the place
Also not having kids around was a plus -

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Please note that this review is for El Dorado Royal Resort and Spa NOT El Dorado Resort and Spa - note the word 'Royal'.

The internet rating for this resort is FIVE STAR however, this rating is incorrect and I am writing a letter to Funjet and my travel agent about that - this rating is misleading.

For those who want to vacation at a *****FIVE STAR RESORT..... this is not - I repeat not a 5 Star Resort. This resort is more for those that wish to vacation at a ***THREE STAR, repeat - a 3 Star Hotel.
I wish the sentence above had been posted on reviews before we went on vacation and we probably would not have booked our stay at the El Dorado Royal Resort and Spa.

This resort was overall an OKAY stay but definitely not a luxurious stay. If you have ever stayed at Moon Palace or any Palace resorts then do not book a stay here for you will be disappointed like we were. I will rate all below.

The room - More Holiday Inn type - not like a Hyatt or Doubletree or luxurious hotel. I also hope they give you the room you booked because it took them 2 days to get us in the room we booked and we were only there for 4 days. Having a romantic room does not include 2 double beds for my husband and I. We need at least a Queen if not a King. Very uncomfortable. No person likes to have to get ugly with the management on vacation to just get a decent room. That is not very relaxing. Also if you are in a downstairs room expect to hear the people above you during the night at whatever they are doing.

One good point is they have a small refigerator that they stock with drinks for you. The first day we had plenty of cokes, water and beer in our fridge but after that it was touch and go. So be sure to call Housekeeping and tell them you want your refrigerator stocked when they clean the room.
The hot tub is small and we never used it but it was decent.
The hammock on the balcony was not comfortable but the chairs were nice.

The service - Give or take - some days OK but other days horrible. Never was it excellent at any time. Most of the waiters in the restaurants and bars were nice and tried to please you but sometimes they left and it seemed they would never return. They never went out of their way for us even if we asked. Example - they were out of coca cola and we asked if they could get a glass of coke from another bar which was two feet away and they said no - so we just did not get a drink. Another example - wanted pico de gallo with our breakfast which should be a normal condiment in Mexico and they did not have it and would not get it from another restaraunt two feet away. Once they even brought out stuff we did not order and then acted like they could not understand what is was we were telling them when we tried to tell them what we ordered. Also at the Japanese restaurant - service is absolutely too slow and it is where all of the mosquitos attack so be sure to use Off on yourself if you eat there. After 10 minutes being there we finally got up to get our own menu because no one was around for that long and they never seated us with a menu. A good place to eat with good service is the Mexican restaurant. It seemed they were never crowded and they brought your food out right away gladly. We ate there twice.

If you would like to eat dinner when you want and eat what you want then do not stay at this resort. You have to make reservations for all dinners and sometimes there were no availabilities at the restaurants - we never got to even eat at two of the restaurants because there were no time slots left. Be sure to book as many meals as possible when you sit down with the ONLY ONE PERSON that makes these reservations.
We always had to wait to make a reservation and we never booked the dinners for our entire stay - only one night at a time - we were never offered to book in advance for more than one day - was very inconvenient if you are going away from the resort to tour, etc.

The beach area was absolutely beautiful and great for snorkeling, kayaking and swimming .. this is probably the best thing that the resort has going for it.

The shuttles - just a note to the wise... there is a bus stop at the front of this resort for $2.00 if you choose to venture to Playa Del Carmen or Cancun on a day they do not supply shuttles. This resort only has free shuttles twice a week. If you are at this resort for a short stay - chances are you will miss the shuttle day. If and when you do - you can catch the bus at the highway if you do not want to take a Taxi ( Taxi charge to Cancun apx $30 to and from) (Taxi charge $17 to and from Play Del Carmen) and you do choose the bus - no one will tell you about it or give you a ride to the bus stop - they will expect you to walk the road through the jungle to get there and they will not be nice to you about it. This is not 5 Star Resort service. They should definitely have daily shuttles to Cancun and Playa Del Carmen for their guests.

The grounds were very well kept and clean - nice outdoor atmosphere.

Activities - they had plenty of on the premises activities like learning to dive, snorkeling groups, volleyball, pottery painting, ping pong tables. Everything was good except they run out of towels sometimes and snorkeling gear so bring your own.

Timeshare info will definitely be on their minds so be ready for them to want you to go see their casitas. They will offer you money or whatever it takes. It usually last 3 hours - not 1.5 hours and they nearly cry when you leave them and do not buy into the vacation sharing program that they have. I have found when you blow them off on this information they do not like you anymore and are not very nice. This kind of thing is normal though at all Mexico resorts so it was expected.

Overall I had an OK time at this resort when I was expecting a 5 Star and got a 3 Star resort. It was not the worst and definitely not the best. I highly recommed that anyone wanting an excellent and luxurious resort go to Moon Palace or a Palace resort .. but for those that don't mind no luxury - this is for you. It is nice but not luxurious.
So just remember that when you book at this resort.

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This resort was exactly what we were looking for. The web site and pictures did not do justice for El Dorado Royale! The service was great and the staff was constantly working around the property. The food also was very good. I suggest the Steak House. We also ate at the Mexican and it was OK. Very relaxing.

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This was a vacation we looked forward too getting away. Things went from bad to worse. It was a beautiful resort that the staff had no clue on how it was runned.From day one we called the front desk to get a new remote for the TV and to fix our lock on our doorwall( we stayed on ground level right in front of what you would call a beach) I didn't feel safe having a lock not working and someone could just walk right in.Having called numerous times for a maintence man to come to our room. To finally fix what needed to be done.The beach was awful,it was extremly rocky and what looks to be huge sandbags to cut the waves down.But in a distance they looked like beached whales.We tried all the resturants but didn't try the Mexican one. The food was ok.They tried very hard in the presentation.But,the food was bland and the service was bland too.We were sick by the end of the trip.Stomach cramps-etc.As the resort known as a spa resort. The spa was just ok.We had booked massages only to have them screwedup.And when we did get them they were only medicore.This was the first trip we couldn't wait to come back home! This was a poorly runned resort.

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My wife and I visited this resort in May 2003 primarily because we got a great deal and had good recommendations. The resort is very pretty and quite large. It is a good walk from the end of the casitas to the swing bar. We enjoyed trying the various restaurants and had no trouble getting a good dinner time. We did have to check back a couple of times for cancellations but always managed to get what we wanted. We really enjoyed the Oriental and Mexican restaurants. The Italian was average and the Steak house below average. My wife got sick one night and I came home with stomach cramps. Be very careful of the water at the steak house as several people got sick after eating there. We met a lot of people and determined that over 50% were either on their honeymoon or getting married at the resort. We did observe one very nice wedding. We were not impressed with 'Sexy Fernando'. This guy couldn't carry his ego in a dump truck. Needless to say we did not enjoy the nightly entertainment other than the fiesta night. The only other downside was having to tip to get good drinks at some of the bars. We have not had this experience at other all inclusives and did not appreciate it at this one. Overall a very nice resort but too quiet for us.

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We just returned from our 5 night stay at El Dorado Royale and loved everything about it. I read tons of reviews before we left for the trip and was worried about some that I saw. Nothing to fear with this resort. Food, people, room, pools, and of course drinks were GREAT!!!!!!!!

Take the ATV and speedboat trip...it was great.

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we just returned from el dorado royale resort. there was a party of 20 people who went from boston. we were all delighted with the whole trip. the people from the resort really go out of their way to make sure everything is 'super'. the transportation from the airport was great.they were waiting for us when we got to the airport.it only took about 25 minutes to get to the resort.upon arriving we were greeted with champagne. the check-in was fast and there was no problems. i can't say enough about how clean the whole resort was.the food was great and so were all the drinks.try the 'crazy monkey'.it was really good. most of us spent most of the time by the pools. it was great. a very relaxing vacation.

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We stayed for 8 nights/9 days and wished we had stayed longer!I’ll give a description of the resort first, and then I’ll tell you what we did each day and give you tips (excursions, etc.).

The resort:
The resort has 6 restaurants (7 if you count the cookout at the pool for lunch and dinner), 24 hour room service, 6 bars (several swim-ups), 7 fresh water pools and a salt water one that the ocean feeds), a spa, an entertainment schedule, and includes free excursions to Playa del Carmen and Cancun (for shopping). They will also take you to clubs in Cancun for $40, and it includes all your drinks and transportation. You have to visit the swing bar (bar with swings not swapping partners). That’s where the party and entertainment is at night. During the day, the main pool has volleyball, aerobics, and other activities. Wednesday is Mexican Fiesta night, and they have a HUGE Mexican buffet and entertainment. Parts of the beach are rocky, so bring water shoes.
The room:
We stayed in an oceanfront room. Our room had a HUGE shower, tile floor, king bed, and a Jacuzzi tub near the window. There was also a porch with a really comfortable hammock that was great for napping together.
The restaurants:
You can make reservations 2 days in advance starting at 9 am. Request your free candlelight dinner on the beach if you’re on your honeymoon or anniversary. It was amazing. The 24 hour room service food was also great (I highly recommend the pasta dish).

La Isla (no reservations required): Great food! You can eat there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is located at the main pool and changes its menu every day or two.

Beach Snack Bar (no reservations required): They say it’s a snack bar, but it serves buffet breakfast with made to order omelets (we did this every morning) and lunch. It is way more than a snack bar, and has very fast service!

Italian, reservations required): Great food! Dinner only.

Mexican, reservations required): We didn’t eat there but heard good things about it.

Oriental, reservations required): This was our second favorite at the resort. Awesome food. Make sure you order appetizers, soup, rice, and a main dish.

Steak House (reservations required): This was our favorite, to die for beef tenderloin and ribeye! The cheesecake dessert was also great.

Pool Grill: They don’t advertise this, but they cook burgers, chicken, and hotdogs at the pool for lunch. They also have a buffet with grill there for dinner where they will grill you ribs (super yummy), chicken, fish, and flank steak. Awesome food, and very fast service.

Nightlife:
You have to visit the main bar. It’s also known as the swing bar because it has lots of swings around it. They have a great live band there each night that takes requests. They also do entertainment shows each night there. The best nights are the ones where they get guests on stage. I’d tell you more, but Fernando (the head of entertainment and also known as Sexy Fernando) says that what you do in Mexico stays in Mexico. Also watch out for Fernando’s tequila shots where he gets up on the bar, and pours it in your mouth. Jose is the best bartender in the resort. Tell him Kelly and Jason from Atlanta sent you (he may not remember us, but who knows!) They also do excursions to clubs in Cancun, but we didn’t do any of them. The main bar closes at 2 am.

Our Trip Day by Day:

Day One:
They upgraded our garden room for an oceanfront for $160 for the whole 9 days. What a deal! I booked the candlelight beach dinner for the next night. We went to the room and unpacked. We ate at the buffet by the pool. The ribs, chicken, and steak were awesome, and they also had salad, rice, and several other side dishes. We ended up at the swing bar for a few hours.

Day Two:
We ate breakfast at the beach restaurant. We sat at the beach and then went to the pool. Even though we wanted to go on excursions, we booked them the next day because we wanted an entire day where we didn’t have to think. We had our candlelight dinner that night and ate crab stuffed Mahi-mahi and beef tenderloin; both were great. Eating on the beach by candlelight was amazing.
Day Three:
We started the day with a couples massage at a cabana just off the beach ($85 for an hour). Then we moved to the pool and beach. We booked our excursions to Xcaret and Chichen-Itza (see below for more info). The rest of the day we laid at the main pool all day. I painted a bowl; there is a man at the pool who sells pottery and paints designs on it for you to finish painting. He brings them back the next day. We went shopping in Playa del Carmen that night.
Day Four:
We went on the Chichen- limo package to Chichen-Itza booked through Lomas Travel in the lobby. We paid around $73 each, and it included transportation on a really nice bus, breakfast, lunch (a buffet with entertainment), as well as drinks and beer while you’re on the bus. You also get to see a Mayan house and village. The 2 ½ hour trip did not feel that long because the guides are awesome, and the bus (with bathroom) is very nice. Bring LOTS of film and some money to shop. You stop at a place that has great prices. Climb the big pyramid; it is worth it! This is a great trip full of history. That night we went to the Mexican Fiesta at the resort. It had a live band and the food was great.
Day Five:
We laid around at the resort all day. That night we ate at the oriental restaurant. It has an awesome atmosphere and great food. We spent the rest of the night at the main bar (swing bar).

Day Six:
We went on an excursion to Xcaret (through Lomas Travel again). It has everything: an underground river to snorkel in, we swam with the dolphins ($115 each but WELL worth the price; you even get to ride on their noses), sea turtles, butterfly sanctuary, pumas, jaguars, wild bird aviary, aquarium, and the best night show in the area (200 performers). We highly recommend this trip. It was around $70 each. You don’t get back till late, but we did fit in a few drinks at the bar.
Day Seven:
We laid around the resort. We alternated between the main pool and the beach. I went for a swim and took some pictures in the salt-water pool. There are lots of fish in it. Saturday is lobster night, and we ate at the Italian restaurant and had our lobster with pasta. Big surprise, we ended the night partying at the main bar.
Day Eight:
We once again laid around the resort. Can you tell that we loved it? Jason played pool volleyball and loved it. At some point we managed to pack for our trip back. We ate a late dinner at the Italian restaurant after splitting some room service pasta. We spent our last night closing down (you guessed it) the swing bar.
Day Nine:
We said our goodbyes and spent some time at the pool. Our trip back was upgraded to 1st class for $50 each and was well worth it.
Tips:
-Bring lots of American small bills for tips and shopping
-If you want a spot on the beach, set your alarm and throw some towels on your chairs
-Tip for great service ($2 for breakfast and lunch, $4 for dinner, $2 here and there for drinks)
-Wear comfortable shoes for excursions
-Bring your own mask and snorkel for the resort and to save $ on excursions
-Bring water shoes for rocky parts of the beach
-Bring lots of sunscreen; it’s really expensive ($20) in Mexico
-Xcaret and Chichen-Itza are awesome excursions

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My husband and I both were very excited about this trip. Things started off bad however. We paid extra to have a limo pick us up from the airport and bring us to the resort, instead, we were told that there wasn't one available, and were shuttled onto a bus. Once we got to the resort, we were able to check in and were driven to our Casita. We were really glad that we had gotten the Casita with the view of the beach because we spent most of our time in the room SICK! I got sick the next morning after eating at one of the restaurants. We tried all of the restaurants while there (when we were able to go) I had massive stomach cramps among other things....what an icebreaker for the honeymoon! Anyway, by the 3rd day there, my husband also got sick. We believe it was from the food, as we only drank bottled water, and brushed our teeth with bottled water. Towards the end of the week, we wound up buying chips and crackers from the convenience store, and lived off of those! :( We were actually counting down the days until we could go home! It was miserable. The only good part was the view of the beach. It was very beautiful during the day, and at nights you could take a romantic walk along the lighted path.(If you didn't have massive stomach cramps and the need to be by the bathroom for most of the night!) If we wouldn't have gotten sick off of the food there, I believe that it would have been an awesome experience. Oh, and also, at night there are large cricket/roach looking bugs that come into your room...I woke up the first morning and screamed! There was one dead right next to the bed. The doors aren't sealed very well, and so you get those and other interesting bugs nightly. Also, the bath water was yellow and salty! That was another reason we couldn't wait to get home! We also did not receive our dinner for 2 on the beach...although, I'm pretty glad we didn't get it now...as it wouldn't have helped anything!!
Please feel free to email me with any questions you have about El Dorado...as I would have liked that opportunity when shopping around! Oh, and the Limo ride back to the airport was non- existant....instead we got a crazy taxi driver!! Never again!!

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My husband and I booked our Feb 2003 Honeymoon at the El Dorado Royale Resort & Spa through Red Seal in Oct 2002. We had researched the resort thoroughly and received information from the resort on the Honeymoon package they offered. (private dinner for two on the beach, room upgrade, private limo service from airport, free massage class for couples). When we arrived in Cancun Sunwing reps told us the resort was overbooked and we would be going to an alternative resort. We insisted they call the resort, that this was our Honeymoon and check that our booking was available. The resort said there were no rooms available. We were sent to the Iberostar Paraiso - a nice resort (however, not adults only or a resort I would choose for a Honeymoon). Only a room with double beds was available. It was a Sunday and we tried to reach management at the El Dorado and our travel agent back home (phone bill cost us over $200). The next day we moved to a room with a king size bed and had checked for messages. It was on the 3rd day in the late afternoon that we heard from the EDR, calling to say our room was ready and they would upgrade our room. (this was included in the Honeymoon Package) I had to ask for them to cover the cost of the cab to get there.

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You know, you read negative reviews before you go and you get the heebie-geebies. Not necessary. Went 3/7/2003 thru 3/14/2003 and we both wish we were still there.

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Everything you want in a resort. If they dont have it, they will refer you to someone who does. 2 complaints. Food was

(Note from editor: Somehow we lost part of the review here...?)

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My husband and I went to the El Dorado Royale in February 2003 for our honeymoon and were very impressed!!! It was amazing!!!

The food, staff, rooms, grounds, and beach were all best!!! I can't say enough great things about this resort. I know there are negative reviews out there (which I read before we went there and was a little hesistant), but I am here to tell you not to worry because it is perfect.

The staff was so nice and helpful all the time. They all remember your name and always have smiles on their faces. The food was amazing, though it does take awhile to get it sometimes, but it is worth it. And we weren't in any hurry while we were there. It was all about relaxing. And it was so romantic. Since we were honeymooners we received some special activities. These included a candlelight dinner on the beach, champagne delivered to our room a couple days we were there (a surprise), and a 30 minute class on how to give each other a swedish massage at the spa.

The hammocks were one of our favorite features at the resort. Each room has one on their balcony. Yes, you did have to get reservations for the dinners at the Italian, Mexican, and Oriental restaurants, and for our candlelight dinner, but we were told that before we got there, so we were prepared. It only took about 10 minutes in the morning to go make the reservations for the following night and then you were set. Some thought that was an inconvenience, but why, it's only 10 minutes. And yes, do make your reservations ahead of time. We met people there who were upset that they couldn't go to these special restaurants, but they just hadn't planned ahead. And even if you didn't get reservations, there was always La Isla, the nonreservation restaurant, and its food was just as good. Everything was sit down 4 course meals and the whole resort was SO BEAUTIFUL.

So if you are looking for a romantic place to relax and be well taken care of, this is the place for you!!! We are already planning a trip to go back! Oh ya, and the beach is rocky, but there is a large spot right in front of the resort by he dock that isn't very rocky where you can just walk in in bare feet. 5 stars all the way!!!

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The resort is rated 5 stars but I had to drop it down 1 due to the poor meal reservation system and the sporadic room cleaning service.

We had been informed prior to our trip through emails to book early for meals but to waste between 3/4 to 1 hour waiting to reserve your table every couple of days was inconvenient. Also on several occasions when we ate in restaurants that were supposedly full there were several empty tables.

As for the room cleaning we had to phone the desk twice to have our room made up despite the fact that the 'Please make up room sign' was hung on our door as early as 7AM.

Aside from those two point we had a very enjoyable time. The white limestone sand was cool on the feet and the water was was very clear. The food is served in gourmet portions allowing you to try everything from appetizer through soup, salad, entre and dessert. The staff is courteous and appreciate a gratuity for good service.

After leaving the cold of Canada it was great to sit in the sun with the ocean breeze cooling you as you sampled the many beverages available. As I said in my title a week is not enough. A week gives you enough time to relax but once relaxed another week would be heaven. If they fix the minor problems I will give them their star back.

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Great place for crowd 35 and up. Not alot of night life. Too expensive to visit areas on your own. Too hurried during tours. Make dinner reservations early, or you'll have to wait till 10:00 or eat at the cafe. Great having room service @ not extra charge, but tip. We had a horrible experience, but made due. Our honeymoon consisted of daily interruptions due to repairs in room. Moved twice. Bed broken, safe fell off wall, no hot water, toilet overflow, jacuzzi not working. We observed a waiter looking in our safe. Another couple had an expensive camera stolen from their room. Beach is rocky. Try another place for sun&water.

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Great place to kick back, meet some fun North Americans, eat & drink well, and be not be hurried. Do nothing or create your fun. Resort well laid out and did not feel full at capacity. Get your dinner reservations early. Best for romantics for 30 plus crowd. Spa services and excursions $$$. Guest services were the best. Would recommend oceanfront. Check it out.

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I have just returned from the worst vacation of my life at the El DOrado Royale. We rented 4 rooms. Only one did not have any maintenance problems. In one room the air conditioner did not work or the safe. Another had no light bulbs. It took repeated requests over several days to get these things fixed.

The hotel over booked and required one of our party to move to a hotel 30 miles away in the middle of our stay.

Repeated requests to speak to the manager were ignored. Must not care because they already had our money. Ill have to see if it is possible to back charge the hotel to get their attention.

The food is acceptable but usually comes to the table cold.

On the plus side the grounds our nice but the beach is not good for walking or swimming due to coral. The working staff are great.

I would avoid this hotel like the plague. I would not go back to this hotel until the entire management of the hotel is changed.

If you have any questions please email me. I will try to answer them. If you decide not to go to this hotel please email me so I can let the owners know.

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