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El Dorado Royale Traveler Review :: "El Dorado Royal Review - 3 Star not 5 Star"

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Summary of All Property Reviews Ratings based on answers from a total of 40 reviews (All 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 | 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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$739.00 Book by: Jul 08, 2009	$719.00 Book by: Jul 13, 2009	$849.00 Book by: Jul 06, 2009	$579.00 Book by: Jul 11, 2009	$639.00 Book by: Jul 11, 2009	$649.00 Book by: Jul 07, 2009

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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.

Property Review
10 is best 1 is worst

Would you stay at this property again?: ... No
Would you recommend this property to your friends?: ... No
In your opinion, how would you classify the "style" of this property: ... Family Oriented
Possible Anwswers: Family Oriented, Couples Oriented, Mixed/Diverse in a Good Way, Mixed/Diverse in a Bad Way

• Cleanliness of Property: ... 7
• Quality of Property: ... 2
• Privacy and Quietness: ... 2
• Quality of Service: ... 3
• Courtesy and Hospitality of Staff: ... 4
• Accuracy of Website VS. Actual Experience: ... 2
  
• Food and Dining Experience: ... 4
• Price/Value of Property: ... 3
  
• Safety Factor (Did you feel safe at property): ... 2
• Quality of Beach (ranked closest beach if property is located off the beach): ... 6

Destination/Island Review
10 is best 1 is worst

Would you visit this destination/island again?: ... No
Would you recommend this destination/island to your friends?: ... No

• Cleanliness of Destination/Island: ... 5
• Options of Activities in the Area: ... 6
• Ease of Transportation (air, taxi, bus, shuttle): ... 3
• Quality of Beaches in the Area: ... 6
• Courtesy & Hospitality of Locals: ... 3
• Safety Factor (Did you feel safe in the Area): ... 2
  
• Local Restaurant Experience/Options: ... 3
• Price/Value of Destination (Does your dollar stretch?): ... 4
  

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