El Dorado Royale

The resort was absolutely beautiful and the staff were wonderful. The only negative aspect of it was the requests for upgrade to things. We arrived late and upon registering with the front desk it was heh we can upgrade you to a swim up room. I understand this but when you are tired from your trip all you want is a room. I mean minute one it was $744 US. In upgrade.

We will definitely return but for 169 US a day the swim up is certainly not worth it.

The staff always had a smile and a hello for you. Always positive attitude.

Truly loved the resort other then the time share pressure it was great. [Details]

A month before I decided to book a trip for my wife's birthday and our 30th anniversary. A friend recommended this resort and definitely a five-star with food and service. If you're a beach person, then maybe not the best resort if you think you want to swim in the sea but if you'd like pool then it is perfect. Very clean as over 1100 employees and always cleaning. The spa and candlelight dinner on the beach was beautiful. [Details]

We were at the Royale, not the Casitas. Check in was swift and fun with champagne flowing. We learned where we could and could not go right away on a map, so the Casitas-Only pools were not a surprise... and TBH it doesn't affect your stay at all (unlike other reviews). Bellhop was quick and lively so the overall first impression was nice.

Room was big and clean and we had a nice view of the middle fountain grounds from our balcony. I love the open window concept of the tub to the bedroom/tv (we ate room service and watched tv in the tub a few times). But why do so many hotels opt for swinging glass between the toilet/water closet and the rest of the bathroom! Drives me nuts. You can hear everything lol!

Our Personal Concierge Cesar was awesome and really planned out our days well. We set up our excursions with the counter beside the front desk with the very happy Beth (I believe) and, although we were misinformed about a few things, the trips were fun.

The golf carts to shuttle you around the property were always near by and if they were going your direction they'd stop and see if you needed a ride. We never waited at the shuttle 'stops', we just started walking the way we needed and within a few minutes someone drove past. It was very accessible for us.

We were never asked about timeshares once (albeit we were a younger couple), never sneakily upsold on wine or drinks, and the charges on the room at check out were exactly what we had accounted for - even our discounts on massages from their Monday deal. I was nervous reading so many negative reviews relating to the above, but that was not our experience at all.

The beach was hilariously bad. Our travel agent gave us a heads up about the barriers and sandbags, but the triangle Landmine looking things right at the shore must be new. I'm laughing just thinking about the absurdity of it. We are going to DR in a month so we weren't that upset because we know we have a better beach waiting. But if anyone is coming for the beach I am so sorry! Go to Akumal on a day trip if you want a beautiful Mexican beach :)

The service was awesome. Probably the highlight. We tipped all our waiters, bartenders, and maids simply because they all seemed to go the extra mile! The food itself was great at Santa Fey, Rincon Mexicana, and Kampai. Also room service food was good. Everywhere else was underwhelming, especially d'Italia. Reso at 9, seated at 9:20, our tiny portions were cold and when we tried to order more the kitchen was closed. Just fell flat. Fuentes is fun for the extra 25USD and food tasted great! We both fell ill soon after though, so we ended our stay on a lousy note. I'm just assuming it was related but who knows.

We were close to the main lobby so we just wheeled our bags to the lobby for check out, but our concierge did pop out and try to order us a golf cart which was nice. I thought it would take too long and I was anal about the time so I declined. Little did I know our shuttle would be over an hour late and our tour rep was NEVER at the hotel (took us 4 days to track him down to schedule our shuttle) so I had no one to ask for help. A nice Front Desk man tried to help, but ended up just passing the front desk phone to me and I had to make multiple calls and was passed around with no resolution. Really stressful and was NOT something a guest is supposed to be doing. But, alas, the shuttle finally showed up and all was well. Maybe I am too neurotic, but that really did annoy me...

Overall the stay was pleasurable, the workers were awesome, the room was decent, and the weather was fantastic. Food was not the be all end all I was expecting and although the grounds were immaculate, the resort itself just seemed unpolished. I kind of categorize it as the 'More-Expensive Cheap Option" for an all-inclusive resort. We may have been the wrong demographic, so I don't think we will be back for a while.

Thank you El Dorado for a fun first trip to Mexico! [Details]

We had the best vacation at El Dorado Royale
The pool was great, the energy was amazing.
The food was incredible.
I usually am limited with food being a vegan, but the restaurants were so accommodating and the chefs would make me food if there was nothing on the menu that was vegan.
The resort itself was absolutely beautiful. Well kept grounds, very friendly staff everywhere.
Honestly, we wanted to stay longer and will definitely be returning.

The one less positive is that the beach is not swimmable. Except for the small salt water pool. But they were negatively impacted by multiple hurricanes over the last few years and had explanations as to why the beach looked that way. [Details]

The resort property is amazing the staff go above and beyond to care for the customers. If your looking for am amazing fun, fun and relaxing vacation I would highly recommend El Dorado Royale as the resort to go to for your next vacation [Details]

Not sure if I can mention this but I am comparing this all Inclusive to Sandals South Pacific (basic room) Jamaica, Sandals Halyson (club level room) St Lucia, Sandals The Grand (club level room) Antigua, Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya (basic room) Mexico, Ocean Maya Rivera (cheapest place of all) Mexico, and Excellence Punta Cana (Basic room) Dominican Republic.

After experiencing Sandals we were wondering what other less expensive would we like.
Now I try and go to the cheapest room at the place and write my reviews from that.
The Place is very large, beautiful and clean. We were upgraded to bldg 54, one up from the ocean bldg 55 (bldg 55,54,53,52, & 51 are at the farthest side of the resort and is the exotica section). The swim out room in these bldg are all connected and you can actually swim to two different pools from your room. Not sure how these room different from Std rooms (we had requested rooms in bldg 15-right in the middle of everything).
The room was big, with a large Jacuzzi bathtub. Glass separated the bathroom from the other room. Both shower and toilet were separate from the sink area of the bathroom. So traveling with a friend could be weird. The TV had a massive amount to watch including Netflix. We didn't use.
Our AM. room cleaning was great. Evening turn down service was OK but inconsistent. Beverage people were inconsistent. Which is weird because we tipped and only wanted bottle water. Some days they just didn't come (we heard from other guests that they experienced the same thing). The coffee pot was in a shallow shelf. In order to fill with water, you had to take it off the self. Since it's cord is so short it was hard to do. Another odd thing was you could not unlock your sliding glass door to your balcony (I wasn't the only one to lock myself out on the balcony). There are no ice machines in any of the buildings. You have to order it from room service. There aren't bottles/dispensers of alcohol in the room. They supply beer, water, soft drink and juice. A bottle of wine to your room costs $25.00. No elevators in any of the buildings. So keep that in mind when you are checking in.
The pool towels were plentiful but only located in two areas. The main pool was crowded (loungers were literally touching). Other pools could use more loungers. Pools either had a swim up bar or a bar very close to pool (as well as wait staff to bring you drinks and snacks). One pool was in the ocean with rock walls and had little fish in it. It is very unusual and we liked it. No seaweed.

Speaking of seaweed, it was a huge problem. It wasn't just laying on the beach… it was feet high in different areas. They used pitch forks, wheel barrels, back hoe, bob cat and trucks. By the end of the week they were trying to pump the seaweed into trucks. So the noise level on our end was loud with trucks going back and forth behind our buildings. One day we were able to step over the sea weed into the ocean, it was very rocky. Even with out the sea weed I don't think you could play in the ocean. If a wave knocked you over it would hurt.

We enjoyed taking the bikes for rides around the resort, the archery (k-team were wonderful), and the
Bonanza tour (on sight animal rescue) was nice. Another nice perk is you can pay for horse back riding and ride on the property.

When we checked in, I showed them a copy of our marriage license, they told us to see the concierge for something special on our anniversary. We did, concierge assured us something would be done to make our anniversary special. They also wanted to sell us massages, spa treatments, dinner on the beach, as well as having us meet with the club people to sell us memberships in the exotica club (like a time share). We declined, repeatedly throughout out stay.

About dinner on the beach. The area looked like an out door restaurant with a row of table on the beach in little wall less huts (a few feet between huts) All other all inclusive mention before, dinners on the beach had very large separation of tables so you feel like you are alone on the beach with your loved one, no piped in music, or electric light over head.

They also talked up Fuentes (dinner show, with the chef talking about each dish he creates for you). We decided to go on our anniversary. The day of it, I called to maybe cancel and was told we would be charged for it if we didn't show up. The Concierge should of shown us the menu (it is fixed) and tell us about the fee if cancel after 3 pm when we made reservations. Which he didn't.

We did go to Fuentes. The place was beautiful. Immediately try to up grade the experience with wine pairing for an addition $49.00 each (US). First course was crevice (don't eat raw fish), 2nd course had grasshoppers, corn and a cream sauce (couldn't get the taste of butter off my lips). Then the third course the chef put cooked worms in the soup, we walked out. At the door we were stopped, to inquire why we were leaving. Didn't like the food. So they called one of the Italian restaurants and we walked over there. It was fantastic. In fact the only other restaurant we didn't care for was Jo Jo's. It was average at best. However D'Italia Villas, Cocotal, and La Isla and Kampai for lunch was fantastic. At Generations (sister resort you can use) we found that the Wine Kitchen was the best food we ever had at an all inclusive. Unbelievably good. Only buffet was breakfast (you could order al la cart ) was at Cocotals until 11:30 am or Chef Market (at Generations...not as good).
You only need reservations at Fuentes, and the D'Italia Casitas.
If you went to the other restaurants before 7:00 pm, no wait.

Our big anniversary celebration was one mint by a pillow. It was the same night of the fuente fiasco. I was very disappointed. The next day I called our concierge and was told I have a new one. She assured me something special would be done that night. Again tired to sell me massages, dinner on the beach and please see the club presentation. That night we found a beautiful floral arrangement on our bed. Very nice.

The one negative thing is communication and not because of a language problem (most spoke very good English) The only time we minded was when we were leaving. We Called for a pick up at 11:30 (check out at noon, our transport pick up was for 12:45). At 12;00 I called again, they assured me someone was on there way, stay in your room. At 12:15 I called concierge and at 12:30 we were picked up. Just as we were signing out of the hotel we heard our name called for transport to the airport.

They had a great band called Al A Cart as a warm up for the circus show.. I would of loved it they played all night. Not only were they good, they played requests and music that is recent. Very dance-able. We are so tired of old music like The Jersey Boys or a guy who lip syncs and dances to Michael Jackson. The theater has ceiling fans and is open to the outside. Seats are wooden.

The resort had mostly British, Scottish, Irish and Canadians guests. The only Americans we met were members of the exotica club and vacation only at El Dorado resorts.

All in all it was a great vacation. We were overwhelmed at first because of its shear size. I think the upgrade made things bad because we found out we had a butler???? the day before we left. The golf cart drivers were great (always checking if you wanted a ride). You could call an ext. and request a ride anywhere on the resort. There was also places you could sit and wait for a ride, so getting around was no problem. However I do not think this resort is handicap friendly. You need to be able to climb a lot of stairs. All the employees I came in contact with were very nice. Big shout out to Irene (am housekeeping), Jossie (who taught us archery and made us all laugh),and the k team in general. [Details]

This is a large, beautiful resort with many exceptional restaurants however, the resort has a few flaws. Constant upselling by staff: front desk: for an extra $275 US per night (!!!) we can move you to Casitas, waiters pushing $55 US bottles of wine when the house red wine is delicious, concierge pushing time shares when we just want dinner reservations. Also, despite non-smoking rooms, people are allowed to smoke anywhere on the grounds so because our neighbours smoked (from 7 AM to past midnight!), we could not use our outdoor patio. Also, on check-in we asked for a quiet room and got rm 707, right beside the "party pool" and jo-jos outdoor nightclub. Concierge was very nice to decorate our room with a door banner and free bottle of wine for our 25th anniversary but they did it on our 8th (last!) night. Could not enjoy as we had an early morning departure so we left the wine for the chambermaid :( [Details]

The El Dorado Royale delivered on its promise of service, meals, entertainment and settings. In fact the quality of the meals, and the level of service we encountered, far exceeded our expectations of our first all inclusive experience. The El Dorado Royale is a beautiful sprawling resort that encourages discovery of its many swimming pools, restaurants, bars and most of all the property itself. Perfect for evening strolls or after dinner walks along its many paths, the resort with its palm trees and tropical vegetation provides a soothing, visually appealing appearance, that belies the number of guests in residence at any given time. Our favourite meeting spot was JoJo's bar, a magnet for most guests. As a MasterChef fan, the “Fuentes Culinary Theatre” is a enjoyable gastronomic experience that closely mirrored some of the shows on the food network. A special mention has to be made of our two concierges Ivan and Jonas who truly epitomized the meaning of service. All in all, the stay at the El Dorado Royale was pleasurable, memorable and is highly recommended. [Details]

Overall it was a good week. Hotel wifi was strong and it's only a 30-min shuttle ride from the Cancun airport. While there is a beach, there's only a few spots where you can wade into the ocean to get wet otherwise you're on top of rock. The rooms were nice but could use some TLC (ie: missing trim on the door to the toilet). Frequently saw room service dishes left outside for the better part of the day. The Fuentes Culinary Theatre and Mexico Party evening entertainment packages were entertaining and well done. [Details]

Wonderfully friendly staff
Beautiful grounds
Excellent restaurant choices
Great bar choices
Nice sand beaches beach beds and lounge chairs
Lots of pools choices for everyone, noisy or quiet [Details]

Not a glowing review...the resort did what I expected. The beach is awful but everything else was great. Food could have been a bit better. Staff was friendly, accommodations were nice. It's a resort in Cancún.. upper end. You basically get that. [Details]

great time, lovely location and amazing food [Details]

It starts at breakfast with a mediocre coffee and juice that has only seen a picture of an orange on its label. If you want a real coffee you have to go to one of the two in-house Starbucks and pay $7 for a latte (not sure where you can find real juice). The food was pedestrian except for one restaurant (D'Italia Casitas) and the Culinary theatre was just another way to try and separate you from US$55 for the hard sell wine pairings. Did you want to watch the Super Bowl in your room instead of paying US$70 to go to the Ballroom? Too bad, they cut off the US cable feed during the game (oops, I watched in Spanish until 1/2 time when they cut that feed too). The coconut drinks were US$6 extra and if you wanted a lobster dinner it was a whopping US$242 per person (not kidding). Then let's talk about your personal concierge, who essentially told us that they were only there to 'sell' the extras (including the much pushed Membership/Time Share) not for us.

I have stayed in at least 20 other resorts and would recommend them all before this one. I paid a premium price and was consistently underwhelmed. [Details]

From the time you arrive the staff is looking to make your trip an enjoyable experience! Staff seem to truly seem to want to make sure every thing is going well for you. Resort is well taken care of, rooms are clean and nice. Pools always seem to have enough cabanas, loungers for everyone without you having to get up early to stake out your claim on one. Lots of activities if you wanted to do them.Food is excellent,everything was close enough o walk if you so choose. Beach was clean and not crowded. [Details]

great time at the Royale . Good food and the staff was very friendly and helpful . Pool attendant (Horhay)was a great touch with ice cream by the pool after lunch , drinks and the occational shot of tequila !lol been there 2 times now . Love they grow there own veggies and fruit ! Very cool [Details]

We were told that we would get one hour of massage free, What we got was only 30 min,

Jacuzzi was dented and scratched.
Food was below par

Most of the time our drinks were flat.
We were lied too multiple times as to what we were offered and what was really delivered to us.

Next time I would avoid this place at all costs. [Details]

A wonderful place. Lovely beach. Pristine living arrangements. Clean public use bathrooms. A charming & most attentive staff. [Details]

Excellent hotel. To many superlatives to mention. Will go back. [Details]

This by far has been the best resort we have stayed at, and all travelers we talked to at the resort said the same thing - most of them it was there 3 - 5 trip back to the resort.
We stay in the Casitas section of the resort - highly recommend that upgrade. We traveled with 2 other couples. The staff were amazing, the grounds were well maintained and clean. Very sustainable property, and eco friendly as well.
For those with allergies - they handle allergies extremely well - we were very impressed
Amazing food!! [Details]

When we first arrived in our room we turned on the light and it blew a breaker to the room.My immediate thought was whats next. We went for dinner and left the issue to the staff. Back from dinner and we only had the best experiences. I am sure all staff has been educated to give the guests the same experience every time. [Details]

From the moment that we entered the resort we knew it was something special. Everything that we experienced at the resort met and exceeded our expectations. It was great to have our own access to the lazy river in the resort. Great sun, sand and surf were complemented by the amazing meals at 10 different restaurants. It was fine dining for every meal of our stay. Highly recommend this resort for adults looking for a high quality vacation. [Details]

A gorgeous resort in the heart of everything. If you're a honeymooner or trying to get away-from-it all, this is the place for you. We found it a bit too quiet for us, and were disappointed with the "ocean view". We were in building #2 and the only thing you saw was the luncheon hut. [Details]

The Hotel as a whole is magnificent starting from the design and decor of the front lobby and ending with the rooms. We could not find a single thing to complain about. Hotel staff was extremely friendly and helpful. [Details]

Apparently as of 2months ago 8of the pools and pool bars are only available to people in the CASITA section yet they advertise 17 bars and 13 pools are available, this is misinformation from the resort information as now there are 9bars and 5 pools available for El Dorado Royale visitors which is a big let down if you expected to have access to what they advertise, huge disappointment there so be warned and beware to avoid disappointment from this deception or new changes as they called them! I guess they forgot to chane this on their website and to inform the travel agents who are bringing thousands of people to this resort. Food is great, service is great and rooms are very pleasant, we have been to this resort 3times and were sad to see such changes happen limiting the pools and bars to Casita guest access only, very sad to see this as we always enjoyed being able to find a quiet pool or bar for romance with the variety they offered, this is no longer an option with such limitations it is just a resort with a lot of people crammed into limited space now, no romance to be found, we most likely will not return due to the decrease in value and privacy [Details]

An excellent property. The beach is huge. Five star dining and service. Spectacular! [Details]

If your a couple looking to get away for a romantic trip, El Dorado Royale is an excellent choice. Totally relaxing and worth every penny. [Details]

Beyond Expectations. Hotel extremely clean, food exceptional and staff awesome (very friendly and helpful).
Had gluten free menu which was surprising but welcomed.
Overall comparable to Sandals resort. [Details]

This resort was amazing. from the start to the end. this is our first 5 star and first adults only . we have been travelling for years and this one i would gladly return to. When first arrived we were welcomed with a champagne cocktail although we arrived at 8am we did not get our room until 2:30. We had junior suite with jacuzzi and it was very spacious and clean. Maid was good all week, turned down bed service every night, always hot water for showers. A la cartes, no reservations needed first come first serve,food was to die for, lots of variety, never went hungry. Staff at restaurants were always friendly, always had a smile, and overall staff was attentive. The grounds were beautiful, landscapers were always busy at work. If you are a beach lover not the best place, beach had plently of rocks. Though lots of canopy-type beds to sit on. Only went twice to nightly entertainment and it was good. Animation team got people involved around the pool. Big resort so shuttle services come every 15 minutes.. So overall wonderful trip, would go back.. [Details]

The first resort I would consider booking for another vacation. Greeted with champagne. Food is awesome, people the most friendly. Internet is not free, though, and you need to pay for every device. [Details]

Great resort,good to excellent food,
excellent service.
Not a resort to enjoy long walk on the beach or to enjoy swimming in the Ocean. [Details]