El Dorado Royale by Karisma

We stayed at El Dorado Royale 12 years ago and decided to come back in January for our anniversary. What a great decision! The resort was nice our first stay and has expanded with a third development (Generations). All three areas are nice and self-sufficient. We enjoyed walking each day - it’s 0.75 mile of shoreline. We also enjoyed eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at different restaurants across the three areas. We utilized our exceptional concierge, Ivan Cuevas, for restaurant recommendations and special occasion opportunities. We saw Ivan various times during our walks and he always acknowledged us. He even communicated when off work.

My husband and I took our 2 college age children (19 and 22 years) to El Dorado Royale. We got 2 rooms in the junior suites that had a king bed in each one. It was a great fit for us because we are an active family who enjoyed all the activities such as pool volleyball, beach volleyball, aqua fit, bocce ball, pickleball and more. We only rode the golf cart shuttles when we arrived and departed with our luggage so we got lots of steps in each day but we didn't mind. We would rather walk than wait on shuttles. It's over a half mile walk to El Dorado Generations (children allowed) and El Dorado Casitas (adult only quieter resort) where some of the bars and restaurants were, it's a nice beach front walkway so we enjoyed it. It's true that you must use the app to get all your dinner reservations right away but once they were set we didn't mind some of them being at 9pm- we would get ready and go listen to the entertainment and get a drink on the way there. If we had an earlier reservation we would stop at a show after dinner. Most days we used the main pool where the music was lively and activities took place but one day for fun we swam through all the connecting rivers to the other pools and got a drink at a swim up bar along the way. The taco stand man was around the main pool for the lunch hours with various menu items each day like tamales or tacos which were sometimes all you needed for a little lunch. The beach is rocky so I never got in the water, there is one spot that is clear enough and I observed people swimming in that part but I preferred just enjoying the view from my chair. We went to Maroma Beach one day and snorkeled off a catamaran and 2 of us rode Wave runners. We would have liked to have all 4 of us go but they ran out of spots. My son used the fitness center and lifted weights a couple times, I went walking all around the 3 resorts each morning and took a pilates class or did my own barre video on the beach for exercise. We took a taxi into Cancun to go to the Market 28 one early evening-total bust- it started raining like crazy and it flooded and so did the streets. It was so gross walking in the water and we were ready to get back to the resort as soon as we could. For what we spent on the taxi ride I should have just shopped in the resort gift shop and called it good. Our son was interested in finding the nightclubs off the resort but decided to let him do that another trip with his friends- the bars and music on resort were good enough for us. We would go back there if we are ever looking for that all inclusive trip experience again.

Actually went a few years ago but never got around to reviewing it, so things may have changed since. This was my first all-inclusive resort experience, and it definitely set the bar high. Being adult only was a major plus. I like to enjoy my drinks and not be bothered by children. We got the swim up room which was worth the extra money for the experience. Now, anytime I look at other resorts, I have to get that option if it's available. The room was awesome. There was a hammock we could hang up over our swim up area which was very relaxing. If you want to take a break from public swimming and drinking, your own swim up comes in handy. We are friendly and social and decided to float down the swim up stream by other rooms and say hello to our neighbors. Since we were on a romantic getaway, the glass separating the jet tub from the bedroom was a nice touch. The grounds are beautiful, and well kept. The drinks were what you would expect of a resort. Lots of sugar, but I drink mostly straight shots with a chaser so I was not bothered. There were so many options for eating, we didn't get to all of them, and we were there for a week. The food was really good. The entertainment was also good with lots of onsite activities. We spent a little time on their beach which was small but not terrible. Saw a nice show at their venue. We also did a tequila tasting. The resort is located in a very active area, where all of the good excursions are a bus ride away. I don't remember if they are affiliated with the surrounding resorts, but we did go to sister resort for some activities. We really had no complaints. Maybe because when you don't know what to expect, everything is great. I have since been to 2 other resorts and my experience here is still at the top. I recommend this resort when ever other couples are talking about taking a vacation away from their kids.

The management sucks. The resort was over booked. They offer No help and no solutions.No concessions. The service staff was good and friendly. Resort is beautiful. The landscape is beautiful. Beach was not good. Very rocky. Food was decent.

We recently stayed at El Dorado Royale and had a fine experience. Somethings we wished we would have payed more attention to before choosing this venue are as follows: First, we wish we would have known how spread out everything is. If you desire to try different restaurants and actually use all the amenities offered, you will want to bring walking shoes, everything is VERY spread out. Secondly, they do have shuttle service from location to location but it was rare we could actually get a ride for our party of 8 all together at one time in a timely manner. During our stay the weather was a bit cold, mid-low 70's and cloudy. Therefore, the pool was quite chilly. The only place outdoors to get a drink required us to have a reservation at a restaurant or to get into the pool. Also, unless you pay an additional $50/day for a poolside cabaña you also do not receive waiter service unless you go up to the bar yourself. This was our first experience at an all inclusive resort but it was our friends 5th or 6th time...all of them said this was by far the worst and most frustrating experience. The app that they use for dinner reservations, map, and bar restocking doesn't work. The AC units don't keep up well and our room smelled musty. Overall we still had a nice time with our friends but we don't recommend this resort and won't be back.