El Dorado Seaside Palms

Great food, beautiful and clean resort. The natural looking palms blowing was so relaxing. The staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The bar staff fast and very efficient. Beds very comfortable. They do not accommodate groups larger than 6 to sit together in restaurants, unless you purchase $300 plus wine. In fact they separate the groups across the room. The restaurant manager is rude, disrespectful to guests and staff appear to be uncomfortable with his approach. [Details]

We stayed 12 nights at this resort on the Palms side. The rooms in the Premium building were large and fairly well appointed, maybe a little tired, but certainly not terrible. The housekeeping service was a little variable, day to day, but never a shortage of towels. The food ranged from excellent to mediocre. The service was a little variable, mainly as they were ramping up into a busier time, but overall excellent. The entertainment, what we saw of it, was decent. The beach was nice. They work diligently to prevent erosion. The grounds keeping is immaculate. The snorkelling was ok - it was a bit windy/wavy for a lot of our stay, so water was quite murky, but did see at least a dozen different fish. The wildlife is fun - Agouti, Coati and lots of beautiful birds. And of course the raccoons & resident cat, Patches. [Details]

Lovely hotel, good value. Beautiful grounds, lots of shade. Sprawling property but easy to get around. Great food lots of options, attentive friendly staff, Relatively quiet and peaceful. Various spots around the property to go if you wanted a bit more privacy.
The hotel has premium sections that you can stay at which are a higher price point, we stayed in the lowest priced suites and although we were close to the sports bar it was quiet and private.
When we arrived we asked if we could have an upgraded room, they told us it would be $100 more US per night so we declined and kept our room (which was nice). We met people there staying in the premium suites they paid only $7 US more a night (the hotel was not full). [Details]

Visited in early January 2024 with friends. We choose beachfront jr. suites and that's exactly what we got. Beachfront, about 20 ish steps away. The property is beautiful. Rooms in our building are a bit dated, but kept very clean. The property is large, but can easily be walked from the far end of the Palms sections, all the way over to the Suites side. We enjoyed a mix of a chill vibe, with enough good entertainment and great food and a beach that we could enter and wade around in. Great staff and great location too. [Details]

In general we had a blast on the week we were there, it was really pleasant to interact with such a Friendly staff, great food, amazing weather and good night entertainment. [Details]

Everything was perfect except for all the seaweed on the beach but I'm a pool guy. [Details]

This was Mexico's best kept secret at “Hidden Beach” at the “El Dorado Seaside Palms” resort by Karisma where my partner & I have celebrated our both birthdays & a huge milestone (10-years together).
I was pleasantly surprised that our tickets were in the 1st Class (going) & Premium Economy (returning).
Moreover, the resort was better than expected too. It's spread out, but a pleasure to explore it all on our feet (shuttle carts were available at all times). Every section of buildings/villas had their own Personal Concierge to assist everyone. The resort is eco-friendly, which that means: no paper waste, filtered water (no plastic bottles), organic food (from local farms!), even the buffets were served personally (less waste or leftover food), etc. There was a spot for absolutely everyone & all times (be it at the table or at your own gazebo!). It's possibly bcz of the pandemic as well, but, the overall experience was so pleasant & relaxing that I would come back again! I never considered revisiting any other resort that i stayed at before, even on other islands. Various reptiles & birds & butterflies roam freely around, befriending curious tourists alike…it was an awesome experience!!! [Details]

Spent our anniversary here. Excellent resort. Treated like royalty. [Details]

The hotel grounds were lovely and the rooms and pool were fine, however this side of the El Dorado aka Palms section is geared towards vacationers that want quite. Also there seems to be a weird segregation happening, as most were british people on the palms side and North americans on the "Fun" Infinity side??? We were going to choose the Infinity side because it sounded like more our style, but they advertise that topless sunbathing is allowed. I was not wanting to be around that privilage. We booked well in advance to make sure we had a room across from the main pool bar as we like music and socializing. We were not given the requested room. We had to complain and then were moved 2 days later and had to move our mother after that to be closer to us. We heard that this had happened to several people and they also requested room change. There was only a stocked bar fridge, and no welcome spriits,champagne or fruit like we have had at other resorts in Mexico. Room service was ok, and the cleaning staff did a good job. Make sure you put the housekeeping card on your bed with your tip because the guy that filled the mini bar was taking the housekeeping tips and gifts. We made sure to hang his tip out the fridge door after we spoke with management as we were wandering why the room was not made up, but tip was gone. Other hotels have the cleaning girls fill the fridge, so there was some confusion. The hotel claims to be gourmet all- inclusive, this means that most of the restaurants are ala carte "sit down service", Not buffet. The food was terrible with exception to the breakfast at the beach BQ buffet and the Ox tail stew at the gourmet pub. Pool bar music was elevator music and quite. Entertainment was ok but low key, ie no foam parties. We will not go here again. [Details]

Great week at a great resort, food and service are unbelievable! This was our fifth visit to this resort, we absolutely love it! [Details]

The resort grounds are beautiful and immaculately kept. The beach is narrow and the water shallow for a long way out with lots of choral, but relaxing to sit near and listen to the waves lap. After a frustrating couple of days, we figured out that if you weren't on the beach, with your towel, by 6:45am you weren't going to be enjoying a lounge-chair in any shade, and if not on the beach by 10:00am, no chairs were left - but many with only towels on them. By the end of the week, we did see staff removing towels from chairs that were "saved" and not being used.

Navigating the resort is somewhat tricky with three areas to find/use. Lots of shuttles available, though.

Given this is marketed as a 4 star "gourmet" resort, we felt the a-la-carte restaurants were under staffed - tables were slow to be turned over with people waiting to be seated - one line we waited in for 30 minutes. On the day we arrived we were un-able to book 2 of the three reservation-only restaurants as we were told they were completely booked for the week. We did mange to convince a Maitre'D to seat us at the "Gastro Pub" one night that was supposed to be "full". We were shocked to count 42 empty seats at over 15 tables.

However, all the food was excellent with sometimes extraordinary presentation. The Seaside Market Buffet was also excellent in it's variety and presentations (but only for breakfast and dinner). The second buffet was much smaller with limited selection and as well under staffed.

Drinks were good as well, with awesome house wines.

Noise at night was a problem for us as there is no indoor disco so the band played at the main outdoor bar every night (with the speakers pointing towards the hotel, dah) until at least mid-night. So, get a room facing away from the oceanside or away from the main bar/beach area.

We did find the staff extremely friendly.

The quality of the evening entertainment was poor - no stage happened in the bar or on the beach with folding chairs for seating - sound not good, and very poor lighting. Again if this was a 2 star resort, I'd say bravo for trying, but a 4 , not.

Overall, it was OK, but given what we paid and the rating it was below what we expected. [Details]

Amazing! I would go back tomorrow! The staff are very obliging and the food was amazing. [Details]

Large, well run resort with an emphasis on quality food. Food quality and a la carte restaurant were all amazing. No big shows but great entertainment (live bands) in various bars. A mature group of guests without loud parties taking over the place. Would go again. [Details]

They were certainly not there to help you with any issues, no towels? Come back, no orange juice? Come back.. their answer for everything, oh, you will have to come back! If you are one of the first 20 people at the pool, you May get a longer at 7:00am!!! pools are small. [Details]

We absolutely love this resort! Small enough for a personal feel but with all the activities we could want. The food was amazing and there were so many choices. Our room was literally 30m from the beach. Can't wait until next trip there. [Details]

My husband and I had the best time during our stay at Sensinar. The staff were all so friendly and very helpful. The entertainment staff was the best. They always had something planned and got everyone involved. The food was great! Best I've ever had. We had the sky massages while we were there and I have never experienced such a relaxing feeling. It was wonderful! [Details]

My wife and I had a very good time at the Sensimar Seaside Suites! The staff was all friendly and helpful. You could actually use the beach and swim in the waters since they have barriers to slow down the waves and it was cleaned of seaweed everyday. There are a few niggling issues during our stay but the overall value and fun factor during the stay was marvelous. I only gave 2 monarchs for the front desk since when I asked for help about locating a tour guide, the fellow seemed annoyed that I asked him and sent me to the wrong place instead of looking at my card and confirming the right area. I ended up having to check the wrong place multiple times and finally had some help from a lady and confirmed that I was in the wrong place. [Details]

we, as well as other guests we met, did not feel as though the sensimar was a five star resort. The rooms were nice and clean but a lot of little things added up- tv did not work, no hair dryer, no ironing board, etc. however the staff was very friendly and helpful. We were eventually upgraded when we had trouble with the tub, which was very nice of the concierge. The food is great- all the sit down restaurants were fantastic. The buffets were ok. One aspect that was disappointing were the drinks. The bartenders all relied on heavy syrups to make most of the drinks, and there wasn't a lot of selection of different spirits as we had experienced at other 5 stars. The resort is also pretty spread out. We also felt that people were continuously trying to up sell us on various things, wines, dinners, spa, memberships, extras, which we found quite annoying, especially in a five star. The sensimar is the old "el dorado" , the new hotels that are part of the karisma family on the property look quite nice, but it just seems that the sensimar has been a little forgotten my management in the meantime. This has also lead to a lot of confusion among staff - need new maps and info to reflect the changes. Overall it was still very nice, just didn't quite meet our previous 5 star experiences. [Details]

We have been going to this resort along with other Karisma resorts for the last twelve years. This resort has undergone recent expansion and upgrades. Even though it is growing in size we always leave feeling like we have been at a small personable boutique hotel that goes to great effort to anticipate all your needs and wants. If you are looking for a romantic getaway this is the place. [Details]