El Dorado Royale by Karisma

Just left after spending a week here. This was our 3rd visit at this resort and boy have things gone downhill. The people running this resort have managed to turn a nice resort into a dumpster fire. The resort is literally falling apart. It looks like no maintenance or upkeeping is being done at all. Pools are dirty and water isn’t being maintained at proper Ph levels. We had a strip with us (we have a pool home) and oh boy…we stopped getting in the pool after that. Are there any health inspections in Mexico? The staff is hit or miss. The casitas bartenders are good. The rest of the staff is mostly useless. Bartenders are too busy playing on their phones to serve customers. Drinks have zero consistency and are undrinkable 50% of the time. The activities staff is terrible. Too busy flirting with each other and playing on their phones to show up on time to activities and at times even skip them all together. Is there anyone supervising the activities staff? They’re absolutely terrible. The resort didn’t seem very busy and we still had a hard time getting reservations at restaurants. One of the staff members said they cut down on staff numbers to save money…which makes sense. Final thoughts: There’s no reason to ever visit El Dorado Royale again. Not when there’s much better resorts out there such as Secrets, Breathless, and many others who actually seek to care about the customer experience and the product they have.

A staggeringly insulting indifference on the part of the staff who hates your very presence Am- there is one philosophy here - collect an absurd amount of money , at which point clearly demonstrate your nasty disdain for every unfortunate soul who bought their decoeptive bill of goods. This is called minimum effort. No one cares if it’s memorable , relaxing, or anything of the sort. They care that you pay and you shut up. Whoever is the corporate owner should pay attention: every person I met said they felt constant disrespect and an ice cold genuinely nasty disposition. This places beautiful grounds can not make up for the disdain you feel at every turn. When you ask 5 times for the blackout drafters to be fixed (which have also not been dusted in years) and over two days no one can be bothered. You’ll leave not refreshed - you will leave feeling like a sucker who has been had. Having traveled the world - this hands down the most insulting, unworthy experience I’ve ever had. Whomever the cooperate patent is, should listen: approached by random people throughout - every single one said they would never come back. Why? It is so easy to be decent, .kind, but here there is disdain for the people paying to come. There are a million places near where you will not only have a beautiful experience but exchange life stories with the wonderful staff’s chefs and managers. Don’t go here. It’s appalling and inexcusable

My review would mirror the one cwarrow from Milwaukee put in April 16th. The staff were great everywhere you went. Food was good. Plenty of options on where to eat. So many pool options and almost all had a swim up bar. Our room was 1407. Great location. A small pool with bar a 20 sec walk behind our room. Great options for alcohol. We enjoyed walking everywhere because it's so beautiful. Grounds crew do an amazing job. I'm definitely going back.

Where to begin - El Dorado Royale exceeded my expectations at every turn. I do a lot of research before I commit, so I knew going in that the beach at this resort is not really a swimming beach, and that was perfectly fine. We were able to see and hear the ocean, walked up close to the ocean, and had a Beachfront Junior Suite, so we were more than good. If the need to actually swim in the ocean is a dealbreaker for you, then this is not the place for you, but for us, it was perfect! The moment we walked up to the front desk to check-in, we were greeted with someone asking us what we’d like to drink - moments later we were sipping Proseccos. As others have said, the grounds are simply magnificent! Palm trees, flowers and streams are everywhere - they are lush and impeccably cared for, kudos to the groundskeepers. There are a couple of main (larger) pools, but there are also many small ones all over the grounds where you can relax in the sun in a quieter space. The resort is quite large, but we liked it so we could get our steps in, but they also have golf carts that will pick you up and take you wherever you need to go if walking longer distances is an issue. The employees are the BEST! Every single one we passed anywhere had a smile and an “Hola!” We never really had an issue with pool deck chairs – yes, everyone gets up early with their towel clips and fastens them to the chairs, but we always managed to find a spot at the larger pool. FOOD - You are able to eat at any of the restaurants within El Dorado Royale, El Dorado Casitas , and Generations – they’re all part of the same company. We enjoyed eating at La Isla as they offer an array of food (buffet style), and it’s open-air eating next to the pool. We wish it were open every day for breakfast, but that’s usually only on the weekends. But we had lunch there several times and it was delicious. Mauricio at La Isla was delightful, he made a point to remember my name - bonus points for sure! Cocotal is where they have breakfast everyday, very good, but it’s larger so it’s noisier and mostly indoors. They also have a pizza place on the other side of the pool, that was also good, we ate there once. For dinner you have to make reservations on their “app” (it’s not really an app that you download, it loads in your phones browser). That was okay, we mostly got in everywhere we wanted to eat. Pro-Tip = if you attempt to make a reservation for 2 and it says no availability, change the number of people to 3 and you will likely be able to get a reservation. Habb – the Indian restaurant was great, just be aware that restaurant is all the way down at the Generations Resort, one of the farthest – which was fine, just be aware. We also loved Kampai, the sushi/Asian restaurant – they have other food if you don’t eat sushi. Raul, our waiter on our last night was wonderful. We also ate at the Mediterranean D'Italia Villas, also very good. ENTERTAINMENT – Every night we headed over to the Guacamayas Bar where they have some sort of entertainment. We saw the band “Black Cow Band” three of the nights we were there, and another “Cygnus” – both very good – keep booking them!! We only wish they could have gotten longer sets than just 1 hour – let them play for 2 hours! Also, the aerial and cabaret acts they had which went on after the bands were also very good. I thoroughly enjoyed the water aerobics at La Isla Pool – kudos to Maurice (name, sp??) who led the women and a few men of all ages for some needed and fun exercise. He also did a fantastic job leading the foam party, which I’ll admit is not my thing, but he did a great job and everyone loved it. ROOMS – The rooms were lovely and comfortable and the balcony overlooking the beach was divine! The only thing was we were two sisters traveling together and I emailed three times requesting 2 beds (2 double, twin or full, whatever), but no, we had to share a king bed. Management – please be aware not everyone coming to your resort are couples, some are just friends, family and the like, and would like separate beds – please make this happen in the future. The beds and pillows were comfortable and there were plenty of towels – just nowhere to hang them, despite having plenty of empty wall space where they could install several towel bars. There were a few ants here and there, but you have to expect that a bit when you come to a tropical location. They weren’t anything we couldn’t manage. I didn’t like that the door to the shower is completely clear – please frost those like the bathroom door, a bit more privacy would be good. Same goes for the open (and clear) window/panel between the bedroom and the bathroom. We used two of the beach towels to throw over this divider as I am always awake before my sister and the light (and noise) pollution that spills into the bedroom is kind of annoying. They also fully and regularly stock the fridge with soft drinks, cerveza, and water – they do provide plenty of bottled water. Also, all of the public rest rooms were impeccably cared for, clean and well attended to. Just one other thing to take note of – the balcony doors lock behind you when you close them. There should be a sticker on the door or a note on the table or something as a warning. We ended up getting locked out on the balcony for about 30 minutes before we were able to force the door open with its broken handle. We notified three employees (we shouted for help and each said they would have security come right away), before we “broke” back into the room, at which time someone from security came in at the very same time. They did send someone to fix the broken handle on the balcony door very quickly and all was well. That would be the only thing was truly a negative. Please put notices somewhere in the room or on the sliding door mentioning that it locks behind you, and that you shouldn’t shut it all the way unless you keep part of the curtain between it. We also called the concierge to have a golf cart pick us up at our room with our luggage the day of our departure. No one came and we had to walk to the lobby. It was a lovely morning and we like to walk, but with all of our luggage it was an inconvenience. All of this said – I LOVED my time at El Dorado Royale and can’t wait to come back!! I fan-girled the entire time I was there and we are planning to come back next year, but plan to stay longer! Thank you again to everyone at El Dorado Royale for one of my favorite, most relaxing vacations ever!

We have visited El Dorado Royale a number of times now, and it is still quite good - one of our favorites. I actually never write reviews, for anything, but I felt compelled to write one this time. The resort itself, as mentioned, is still great. Food, staff, etc - all great. This time, however, we met an amazing Concierge named Angie - and I just wanted to give her a specific shoutout. Not only did Angie help us expertly plan our week on site, she went above and beyond after our vacation, tracking down a document that we needed - all of which was outside of her scope of work. After having little success trying to contact the resort from abroad when we got home, I took a chance and asked Angie. Not only was she willing to help, but was instrumental in gathering the document that we needed. It would not have happened without her. If you are visiting El Dorado Royale, count yourself as lucky, if your concierge is Angie from behind building 54!