Wonderful vacation away from the cold!

El Dorado Royale was a nice resort with lovely grounds and excellent food. The beach was a bit disappointing as it was generally steep, dirty most of the time, and very little safe areas to swim if you wanted due to the surf and rocks. That said, there were lots of restaurants and bars to choose from and the serving staff were excellent.

Such a great resort

We had a short stay at El Dorado Royale for our 20th anniversary. It was an exceptional experience. The resort is very well managed - people are very friendly and always say Hola to you whenever and wherever they see you. The resort is beautiful and almost every step of your walk you can snap a great picture. The personal concierge and room services are great - we were hugely surprised for two nights that our room and bed were decorated with rose petals, as well as sparkling wine and chocolate-c [... read more]oated strawberries - very thoughtful and romantic!

Five Star all the way

I was blown away at the quality of the made to order gourmet food. The Canadian Beef Culinary food was bare none the best we have ever experienced at a resort. The staff were friendly and attentive. Loved that the resort has their own greenhouses. Rooms were lovely and we were surprised for our 30th Anniversary with Champagne, a sign on our door and roses petals on our bed. Our only disappointment is that the ocean was not swimmable. We do understand the why behind it and know in a few years [... read more] this hopefully won't be an issue. We will definitely be going back!!

Good resort

This resort was kept very clean and the grounds were lovely. There were many different activities happening daily. Our room was nice but very dark. The food was generally very good with lots of choice however the service was inconsistent at times but we did have some lovely waiters who couldn't do enough for you.

Royal Treatment at "El Dorado Royale"

We have traveled to many resorts always 4 or 5 *. El Dorado Royale was simply wonderful, the food was truly gourmet quality. The flavours,variety and presentation all top notch in every location. Our room was great with good access to many areas (building 15). Great tram system when going further distances within this large resort. This staff excel at customer service in all areas and their enthusiasm was evident. Nice that there was no restriction on beach towels. All public areas very clean. T [... read more]he beach is extensive and while quite rocky there are a few areas where you can enter to cool off without needing water shoes. Lots of palapas. Beach Loungers would benefit from cushions. We enjoyed a EXCELLENTE,FANTASTICO week and plan to return.

Very nice resort

The grounds of this resort are beautiful. The people are friendly. There is some inconsistency in the service overall. For example, some days you get turn down service and some days you don’t. The food was wonderful but the service sometimes was lacking. Not always getting your order correct.

Nice, fun and relaxing week!

Overall this hotel was lovely. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and the choices of restaurants and areas to go and things to do was good! I thoroughly enjoyed my week there. There were only a few things to comment on in regards to service. I found service was inconsistent and when it was good it was fantastic and there was the occasional times where it was not so good. Things like room cleaning and differences of restaurants were some of the inconsistencies we found. Overall the hotel an [... read more]d the week was great and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The resort was amazing

The hotel was very well kept and a pleasure to walk around. I absolutely loved the the grounds. The service at our favourite restaurant was a pleasure. Hats off to Anastcio of Laila’s restaurant. He was awesome.

Absolutely amazing resort!!!!

This is the absolute best resort I have been to. The food is out of this world including room service to the breakfast buffet, JoJo' s beach restaurant to Fuentes the elegant culinary cooking demonstration restaurant. The pools, the beach, the grounds, the greenhouse all so beautiful.

An Incomparable Resort!

I have been to a few all inclusive resorts, including my first experience in the Mayan Riviera, but the El Dorado Royale far exceeded my expectations. The food was extraordinary and beautifully presented at all times, & the staff always helpful & cheerful. I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone. Thanks to Trip Central for looking after us as well. Everything went smoothly even when corrections were needed.

Amazing Resort - Perfect for Couples!!

This was our second trip back - and won't be our last! We absolutely love everything about the El Dorado! Food: Is amazing and not any of your typical line-up buffet style, you are seated with a menu, and the quality and service is excellent! They also have 24 hour room service which is also - amazing! Drinks: All top shelf (you do have to request the brand you would like), however the bar is full of all the items you would drink at home, and they are happy to make you all kinds of del [... read more]icious cocktails Room: We decided to get a swim up this time - and I would HIGHLY recommend this, the pool butler brings you fresh towels, snacks and ice cream, and the servers even bring you drinks while you swim about in your room Conceirge: While we decided not to do the 'sales presentation', they were most welcome offering us a pillow menu and different aromatherapy sprays for the room. They also helped to find out about our return transportation for us. We were celebrating our Anniversary and they included a free romantic beach dinner, a HUGE breakfast in bed, along with all kinds of other things, including sparkling wine and flowers brought to the room (on a few occasions!!) Overall, the resort is just beautiful - it is large (you can use the restaurants etc at the adjoining hotel) but feels small and all the staff are so friendly. The only 'slightly' negative would be that the beach is not the greatest, however it is still not bad, and there are plenty of pools all over the resort that you would never be far away from water!

Phenomenal

This resort was absolutely amazing! Excellent food,excellent service, excellent entertainment, wonderful staff! I will definately be back in the near future!! We upgraded our room to a luxury swim up suit and it was incredible! Best decision ever!

Simply the best!!!!

We just returned from our 14th ....yes 14th stay at the El Dorado Royale. We have been to other resorts on the Maya Riviera,but found EDR to be the BEST! The main reasons we love this place so much are: 1:The staff here are just fantastic and go out of there way to do whatever they can to make your vacation wonderful. Front desk:Francisco...always takes care of us Jimmy our dear friend. Spot:Celestino breakfast sever (we have known him for 15 years)!great worker and friend. So many othe [... read more]r severs have treated us so well.... Gregorio,Efran,Alex,Sammy,Humberto and our dear friend Jose. All the bartenders are fantastic,Darwin,Juan ,Jovany and Fucadus. Thanks again to you all for yet another amazing vacation. These people and many more keep us coming back because of the service and friendship you give us. 2: Every time we return there are always new and improved things to enjoy. This time they changed many of the menus,and the food in some of the restaurants was even better than in the past.We didn't think it was possible to improve the already great food ,but they did it! The new menu at Cocatel was one of our fav meals this time ,fantastic! And the mew menu at Kampai was so good !!!! Loved it before ...but loved the new one. Don't miss the sea bass wontons and the seared tuna!!!!amazing !!! 3: And the third reason we love this resort so much is the amazing fellow guests we have met over the years!!!This time was no exception....we had so much fun meeting all the great couples we did this trip. So many great couples ,can't mention them all ,but cheers to All the "Lynn's" and their husbands we met this time!! Also... Chelsea and Cody Cody and Chris And so many couples from England . We enjoyed meeting you all...thanks for the good times.!! Untill next time!!! Love Lynn and Larry Canada.

Gourmet is included

I was skeptical about the gourmet included, but most of the food really was more than routine. I liked the smaller portions, every dinner was 3 course (app + main + dessert) and I was pleasantly satisfied, not stuffed. Kampai for lunch had larger portions. Tried all restaurants except Santa Fe (can't comment). Did 5 course at Fuentes on Tuesday without wine pairing (just had table Chardonnay), and 4 course Canadian Beef demo with wine pairing (careful, that's 4 or 5 glasses). Service was very go [... read more]od, only 1 waiter was unenthusiastic (but still fine, not rude). Liked the morning tours and evening shows (Mexico Lindo was best show, ranch tour was best morning). Shout out to Gerry at Tucanes pool bar, very good and consistent all week. Would recommend Tucanes pool as less busy. 50% of the time you could still get a chair by lunch (not always). Room A/C kept room cool but damp. We discovered a setting which did dry a little more, but kept forgetting to use it. Getting a golf cart taxi was sometimes difficult, going to the stop by the main clubhouse worked best. Would consider upgrading to casitas next time depending on cost, but our room was fine and closer to restaurants and shows than casitas (bldg 08xx), without any noise. Took evening shuttle to Playa del Carmen, thought it'd be too short, but was enough time to walk around 5th avenue and have dinner (otherwise get a taxi for $400 MXN +/-).

Excellent resort

Very satisfied with our week's stay at El Dorado Royale. Grounds are impeccable, staff are extremely courteous and friendly and will do anything to accommodate guests. Food and drinks are excellent and a great choice of restaurants. Many pools available for different tastes. We were made to feel very very welcome and special by all staff. I was disappointed with the void of cultural music and atmosphere, at times had to remind myself that it was Mexico this was evident at most of the restaur [... read more]ants which made for a dull ambiance at times. And a small thing: a lot of the beach lounge chairs were in poor condition and uncomfortable especially in the Royale section.

Amazing resort with incredible food!

Beautiful grounds, lots of pool options, including salt water. Attentive friendly service. Delicious food, lots of variety. Fun activities and entertainment. Lots of restaurants to choose from with many culinary options. On site activities such as tequila tasting, yoga, water aerobics.

Amazing Resort

We arrived home on April 6th, and it as one of our most favorable vacations we have had The weather was fantastic with a light bit of a breeze We were well aware that the coast has a seaweed problem but the staffed worked very hard in keeping it clear every day!! Our room was 418 and they kept it spotlessly clean, with plenty of towels, and we found the beds and pillows very comfortable, the mini bar was always well stocked, they even changed the pops for us as I don’t drink Coke We [... read more] visited most of the restaurants over our one week stay, D'Italia Royal, Cocotal, the Santa Fe Grill, La Isla where very good, as was the Rincon Mexicano. The Kampai Restaurant was great as well we loved the Sushi. We really enjoyed the Fuentes Culinary Restaurant which was a great experience, we have never seen anything like that and food was fantastic We were so impressed with the waiters on how professional they all were and how they all made us fell important The staff were very friendly and most helpful, to many waiters and staff to name them all I would say my top employee was the person that cleaned our room and am so sorry I forgot her name but I have never seen anyone so detailed on what she did - I hope the management recognises all the hard work they all do! We were so impress with the Resort, the Staff the Restaurants and the full experience the El Dorado Royale that we have become Members of the Exotic Travelers We look forward in returning to El Dorado Royale and visiting their sister locations

Not worth the money

Where do I begin? The rooms are dark and dingy. The a/c could not keep up with the humidity, our clothes and bedding were always damp and the room smelt musty. 3 of the 7 nights that we were there our room was not cleaned. The food is good, what little you got. Room service was a must and used it regularily to get enough to feel satisfied. The beach is terrible, the week we were there it was a sea weed battle. The beds are very uncomfortable and unable to get comfortable. The mattress was a mess [... read more]! The resort was far too large for us. They need more smorgasbords during the day hours.

Very good resort

Well maintained resort with good restaurants and well trained and attentive staff. Room was nice but the bathroom being open to the rest of the room was rather odd. We would be happy to return to this resort.

Great resort if you are booked in a Premium junior suite

First of all this is a great resort with great restaurants. But booking a Premium suite gets you VIP treatment. Important if you don't like waiting 35-45 minutes every time you want to eat a meal. When you book a Premium junior juccazzi suite with a swim up pool outside your patio door with two lounge chairs and a deck with two chairs and a table it makes for a fantastic vacation. You are on the ground floor facing the ocean (30 seconds away - but you still need to get up between 6a and 6:30a if [... read more] you want two lounge chairs under a thatched umbrella or hut on the beach). Just put your towells on the chairs, sit down and watch the spectacular sunrise at 7:15am or so. Then go back to the room enjoy the sun on the deck waiting for room service to deliver breakfast. While sitting on the deck enjoy champagne and OJ delivered to you (same guy brings you drinks either to the deck or to the beach all day.) It helps if you bring a wad of $1 dollar bills to hand out as tips. We gave out $2 tips with each delivery. Well worth the expense to not have to chase someone for drinks. Between 2p and 3p the Ice Cream Man brings you ice cream in a cup. It's great. When you arrive go to the conceirge hut just outside your room and book your dinners at the restaurant of you choice. Show up at the time of your reservation, give your room number and you're at your table in 60 seconds. No waiting for Premium guests at dinner time. No reservations for lunch so you're on your own. Food is great at JoJos, sit on swings while having a drink. Rincon Mexicano was disappointing because it is gourmet and not Cdn or American style fast food Mexican. D'Italia Villa was excellent. Cocotal (world wide cuisine) was mixed - my beef was tender but the pork was tough. We were there for a four day weekend so we didn't have time to try La Isla, Kampal, the Santa Fe Grill or the Fuentes where the chef erxplains how they cooked each course. It's a two and a half hour experience. The beach has nice sand and not crowded because there are limited chairs (which is OK because most people were by the many pools or their swim up pools) My wife on the otherhand, disagrees with me. You pay a lot of money to be there and she believes there should be more chairs available for guests who want to be on the beach. That said there is another beach about a five minute walk from our room that looked like it had a lot more chairs than ours. Our travel agent warned us that you really can't go into the water because of the rocks and rough waves. There are large black sand bags (looks like beached whales) and cement blocks to break the surf (looks like the German fortifications at Normandy). After awhile you get used to it and besides, you're lying on the lounge chairs facing the sun with your eyes closed. Our pool was 30 seconds a way ... other pools are minutes away situated around the resort if you want to cool off in the water. In the room it takes getting used to a window wall looking into the bathroom and shower area. We had a frosted glass toilette door, but I heard some had no door or clear gas ... not a great feature of the room. We found our room clean, maid cleaned the room daily. Probably helps that we gave her a $5US tip every day. But resort not very accomadating with late check outs. Our return Air Canada vacation flight to Toronto was at 7pm. But we had to vacate the room at noon. So we stayed at the beach and changed at the spa where you get a locker while you shower. Luggage is picked up at noon. So it is a minor inconvience. But the later flight gave us an extra day in the sun. So five days and four nights made for a great long weekend getaway (Thurs - Mon). Would we go back to the resort. Probably not because we couldn't swim in the ocean. It's a lot of money to be limited to the pool. But if the ocean is not your thing ... I think it is well worth a visit. We had an excellent, romantic long weekend with great service, more drinks than I can remember, great food and a lot of laughs. That is what a vacation is all about.