El Dorado Royale by Karisma

We wanted a resort with extensive, beautifully landscaped grounds and fresh, healthy food. That’s exactly what we got. Service was excellent from check-in to check-out and everything in between. There are kilometres of paths for walking or running. There are a variety of colorful birds, especially near the lobby building. From the front of the lobby all the way to the beach there are a series of reflective pools and pretty bridges surrounded by mature palm trees that are artistically lit at night. Dinner Restaurants It was easy to book dinner for 2 with the web app. We tried several restaurants. D’Italia Villas was our favourite. The appetizers, soups, mains, and desserts each arrived with small gaps between the courses. None of these were large but together made up an enjoyable meal. The Rishta Lentil Soup was so good. Lunch Health Bar: seating is outside where you can see and hear the waves. The day we arrived we were settled into our room at 5 pm and realized that they were still open until 6. I ordered a salad and a sandwich. Both are fresh and so big that it was almost too much for me. We went back there often. Spot: seating is on a covered patio overlooking a large pool. Food is buffet-style with different choices each day. A very good selection of desserts. Beach In front of Kick bar there is a beach with loungers. Many are shaded by large palapas over round wooden tables. Being right at the southern end of the resort, by facing south, you can enjoy a view that is unimpeded by artificial reefs. That’s also where you can find a small stretch of sandy waterfront for swimming.

Unfortunately this resort is showing its age. Started coming here in 2009 and became a member in 2010. Fully enjoyed all their properties, especially their “gourmet inclusive “ restaurants. Our room had broken shower taps, bathroom windows that couldn’t close, tiles missing and the “new” terrace couch is half the size of what was there before and it barely fits 1 person now. The restaurant service is unbelievable, everyone now has to make reservations on an app that doesn’t work properly. Forced to have dinner at 9 pm, came 15 minutes early and told to go away until our time. Came back at 9 and made to wait until all the others were seated. Had an ok dinner but nothing like we are used to from this resort and D’Italia Casitas. The ridiculous part was when we got our dessert and coffee the manager came over immediately and told us that the staff needed to go home (10:15 pm) and we needed to leave. We had barely started our dessert and just got our coffee. A few minutes later another server, not ours walked by the table singing na na na na goodbye. If this was my 1st time here it probably wouldn’t have bothered me as much but not after 16 YEARS of coming here. What a pathetic level of service at what is supposed to be a 5 * top level resort. The next night at Kampai the service was better and the meal was better but the menu has been significantly reduced. One of our favorite entertainment spots is seeing the Tenors at Gaviotas bar on Friday, they didn’t show up. Usually a business tends to try and improve service but definitely not here. Every year for the past 5 years service has declined, menus have been reduced, drinks were always made with actual fresh fruit juices now it’s some hideous pseudo juice. There used to be pillow options, towel art, room scent options , treats with turndown service. All gone. It seems like the management are trying to squeeze every dollar they can out of the place. I feel bad for the staff that keep trying to manage with reduced support and ability to do what they used to. Went to Valentin Imperial after leaving EDR, like night and day. Valentin is doing everything that EDR used to do and excelling at it. We did these 2 resorts back to back, so our experiences are current.

My husband and I stayed at El Dorado Royale and we had an amazing time. The staff was awesome. Our concierge Ivan Cuevas did an amazing job taking care of us. Whatever we needed, he was on it. All the restaurants we ate at were delicious. Thank you Ivan Cuevas, Emiliano Venegas, Claudia and everyone for a great time. We will be going back.

This is our second visit. For the price point, it is a good resort. Rooms: dated but clean. We had a swim out, beach front room. For non members these are buildings 1-5 and are near the Health Bar. We chose a swim out to have a first floor room and be closest to the ocean/sea. They could easily update the rooms by getting rid of the couch and replacing some small basics and some touch up paint. They are remodeling some other buildings. We would do ground floor again, but in our case on this trip we were located directly across from the storage closet/supply room. The employees gathered there and it was quite loud in the mornings, starting anywhere from before 7-8:30. So if you're looking to sleep in, you will not enjoy that room location. Far ends of the building would be better. Property: the grounds are beautiful and generally well kept. There are some cement pathways that need to be fixed and small things like that, but overall very tropical and nice. It is spread out, but easy to navigate and get used to. We liked to walk, but there were golf carts readily available if you needed a ride. Food: very good at most places. Jade was probably the best overall quality, if you don't mind going down to the family friendly area. Kampai is very good, Italian is very good, Fuentes is worth the upcharge. This is the second trip where Santa Fe was NOT GOOD, but some people like it-just not me. :) I got a prawn meal and there was nothing in the prawn and all it came with was Risotto. Atmosphere: This is not a 5 star resort. Good resort- yes, say 3.5. There are enough activities to keep you busy and a week here is fine. Night time activities are ok. Dana Kennedy is fantastic. The bar is fun and the shows are entertaining enough. The martini bar is good. We have been both times in March and there are a lot of people and this did have an impact on certain things- such as pools and getting into restaurants, seats at bars, etc. This may not be the best time of year if those things bother you. It is not a "spring break" vibe, but there were a lot of early 20 somethings and very large groups of them. Also, the "no smoking" policy is NOT enforced. Vaping is everywhere, which is not as offensive but still happening although not allowed. AND people smoke cigarettes in non smoking sections; such as IN the pool. For several hours I watched a group and nobody said anything to them. The people in the room next door to us would smoke out on the balcony and nobody did anything about that, either. We never seemed to be able to actually get a seat at a pool without lurking around waiting for someone to leave. The last day we went to every single pool (literally) on the Royale side and there was a towel on every single seat. During high volume times, the staff should monitor this, as there are clips and towels on chairs for hours and nowhere to put your things. Again, on the Royale side there was no where to sit on the beach either. All loungers are taken very early. Beach- This is not a beach resort. Looking at the water can be pretty although the BIG CEMENT things are an eyesore, the water is still nice. Not a lot of places to get in and walk. It is rocky and rough. It was nice to sit at night when there was actually a place to do so. There was a very pretty, fun wedding while we were there too. Pools- the large pool is very busy and loud. Nice and big but packed and not a chair to be had to put stuff or sit. Had to wait for someone to leave. The smaller pools have a nicer vibe but again, hard to get a spot. There are tiles missing in every pool and sometimes replaced with a different color tile, or just not replaced and laying on the bottom of the pool. Staff- amazing. Every single employee works very hard and is nice. We tipped for everything all the time and they deserve it. Bottom line- you will have a good time and Royale is a good value for an all inclusive. The place does need some maintenance in the pools and in the rooms. Staff makes it worth it. We are planning to go back and try one more time and book Casitas because there are more pool options and beach beds that we might be able to enjoy. Unfortunately, with my line of work I am tied to March, otherwise a different month with less people might lessen the impact of some of the issues we had. If you are a ground level person, I would try to see if you could request away from the cleaning storage closet :) AND the staff needs to enforce the non smoking policy.

The grounds of this hotel were amazing! Absolutely stunning! Food was good, staff was friendly and helpful. Good selection of restaurants and bars. The only downsides for us was the room needed to be renovated. Definitely showed age, especially the sliding doors to the swim out pool, the furniture, bathtub but overall it was very clean. The beach was not very good but we knew that before we made the reservation. If those two items were better it would definitely receive 5 stars.