El Dorado Royale, a Spa Resort - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

17691 reviews

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  EXCELLENT resort! We will be back again!!

  This was our first big trip as a couple ever! The El Dorado Royal did not disappoint!! As soon as you step onto the resort, you are treated like family. ALL the staff on the resort are AWESOME! The bellboy, Felipe, made us feel right at home. I was surprised when he remembered who we were when he saw us!! That is GREAT customer service!! Our concierge Ivan Ceuves was SPECTACULAR!! He answered all of our questions ( which were many)! He helped book our excursion and made sure that we were well taken care of while we were there!! The El Dorado Royal is very lucky to have him!! We also thought that Giurmo( I am sure that my spelling is not correct) and Gabriel from Kick were SPECTACULAR!! They both made us feel welcome, and their service was EXCELLENT!! Our expectations were met, and then some!!!!! We can't wait to come back!

  Mar 13, 2025
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  Exceptional Adults-Only Resort

  Just back from a fantastic week at Eldorado Royale in March. This was a couple's trip for my wife and I. We get away somewhere hot for a week each March (recent years we visited Planet Hollywood Adult Scene and Majestic Elegance both in Playa Mujeres and before that Majestic Elegance and Breathless in Punta Cana) to give some perspective on our recent experiences. Our goal this year was to find a more relaxed adults-only resort and the Royale definitely delivered, with this being one of our best all-inclusive vacations, especially in terms of the food which was exceptional. Check-in - our Air Canada flight was late, so we checked in later then expected. The front desk staff started strongly, ordering a drink of choice which arrived quickly. Unfortunately, things then went wrong and we were informed by the staff that our room category was "over-sold" and we would have to be moved to the Generations Resort for our vacation. We complained very strongly that this was unacceptable - we had booked in October 2024. This quickly changed to moving to Generations for one night and then we would be given a room up-grade- Ocean-view. This was more acceptable, and we moved to Generations for one night. This seems to be a somewhat common practice with the resort. Our room at Generations was extremely modern and large, a 2nd floor with a swim-out pool that runs the length of the building. Generations has a very modern look, more of a traditional multi-floor hotel and small foot-print - limited loungers around the pool and limited shade. We did find a comfortable bali bed on the beach for the first part of our 1st day. Thankfully, our room was available mid-afternoon and we made our way back to the Royale - no call from manager, as was promised. Royale Rooms - as many people have shared, the rooms are somewhat dated, but very clean well equipped and functional. Our fridge was always fully stocked (tip left in fridge each day), the king-size bed was very comfortable, the AC worked flawlessly, maid service exceptional, safe worked - no issues at all. We did notice that some buildings were under renovations and some have been completed, so would be nice to see what the updated rooms look like. Food - As I previously shared, we found the food to be exceptional every where we ate. The Chef's Market (buffet) at Generations, while a much smaller buffet then many resorts, offered high quality options for dinner and breakfast. We enjoyed our first lunch at the Palms - open air, beach front restaurant at Generations which was very good (service was extremely slow - like we were forgotten). D'Italian Villas at the Royale was really a Mediterranean focused menu (Greek, Spanish, Middle Eastern dishes) which we very much enjoyed - the Croatian Veal and Greek salad were exceptional, as were the Porkchetta and Seafood rice - full of seafood and desserts were great as well - bacclava and cheese cake. Rincon is the Mexican restaurant at night and offer breakfast as well. We enjoyed the Mexican focused breakfast - Ranchero Eggs and fresh OJ and great coffee. As well we did enjoy the traditional Mexican dinner - a mole chicken burrito dish was unique and excellent. Cocotal is the main breakfast buffet in main building, below the lobby - this offered a more standard breakfast buffet, with eggs made to order and all the common buffet items. We enjoyed dinners at both Kampai (in Casitas) and Jade (Generations) which we found quite similar with a wide variety of Asian dishes - sushi, soups, entrees - poke bowls, teppanaki bowls. For other lunches - we enjoyed the Spot lunch buffet - smaller but very good, with pasta made to order; went to the La Cababa Pizza twice (by main pool) which offered great wood fired pizza, nachos, wings and even burgers; and we went to Kick twice - small place on beach at south end of resort - with a small menu, but extremely good - salads, sandwiches wraps and burgers. Food experiences not to be missed - Fluentes Dinner show - it is an up-charge, but it is a great show the the meal is fantastic - 5 course - we attended the Fire Show - had great appetizers and wonderful cedar plank salmon and main course of the best steak - tenderloin I have ever had in Mexico. Mexican Night - Tuesday - ballroom - a fun party night - food was very good, taco stations, carvery, many unique items - worth going. Finally room service - we booked coffee and pastries daily - staff always on time and coffee hot and great pastries. Beach - as many people have shared - the beach is not great - with the erosion from previous hurricanes, it has left many rock reefs exposed as well as many man-made concrete structures designed to limit erosion exposed. If your passion is a great beach for walking and swimming - this would be a challenge. But if you like to hangout at the beach, there are many lounges and Bali Beds for people to use. Pools - the Royale offers 5 pools, plus "lazy-like-rivers" connecting some swim-up rooms to the pools. The main activity pool - La Isla is the busiest with the most loungers. We divide our time between Fluentes and Spot pools - which were a little quieter and offered Bali Beds and padded loungers. Both pools have swim-up bars and are connected by a channel which you can walk/swim through. Getting a seat the pools is somewhat competitive - if you want your choice of seats - best to be out by 7am. Staff - I used the virtual concierge several times on the App - very helpful - needed extra pillows in our room - sent a message and they were in the room when we returned. , service generally very good, but not always. Shout outs to several staff - David at D'Italian Villas was exceptional, Vlad at Kick was great - anticipated our needs; Daisy at Rincon provided great service; Luis - bartender at Spot pool - made the best drinks (great Long Island IceTea); Guillermo at Fluentes dinner was fantastic; Paulo - guitarist at Fluentes dinner - exceptional talent; and Victor Spa service sales - is a great representative for the resort. Spa - We did a couples relax massage on the beach - staff were very good and location was perfect with the sound of the surf and light breeze. Extras - the resorts does provide various activities and excursion - Maroma Beach, etc, but we just relaxed - many people we spoke to enjoyed the provided activities. Positives - landscape - lushness of the resort, mature tropical which we very much enjoyed. Towel service - bins of beach towels throughout the resort by each pool area, never a challenge to get a towel. Challenges - as with many resort - getting a lounger of choice means getting out early ; staff service - generally very good, but some gaps; bookings - rooms - being "over-sold" and moved to another resort - unacceptable; - online app for restaurant bookings - can be limited in terms of options / times - need to do immediately. Size of resort - we enjoyed the distances walked - we walked everywhere and never took the shuttles and we never had less then 10 000 steps, with most days far more. This could be a challenge for individuals with mobility issues. Overall a fantastic adults-only resort and complex - we are very interested in visiting the Casitas in the future.

  Mar 11, 2025
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  Do NOT Sign Up for the Exotic Membership! Resort is nice

  This review is for Exotic Traveler Club/Membership. The resort was nice and I would return. Food was good. Rooms not so great. Service was great. But they HARD SELL on the club and I would NOT AT ALL recommend that you sign up. RUN. JUST SAY NO. WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EVER. #currentmember Stay at the resort but do NOT join the Exotic Traveler Club.

  Mar 11, 2025
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  Heavenly week

  We had a fabulous week at HDR. Restaurants are lovely, the food is great, and the staff are friendly, welcoming, and just loverly. We particularly liked the king sized "beds" on the beach for lounging and relaxing. A couple of issues: Very difficult to get restaurant reservations. Also, we had a room next to the club that played extremely loud music till 1 or 2 in the a.m. It would be helpful for folks to be offered the choice of a quieter section when making a reservation. To its credit, the hotel moved us to a much quieter room, but claimed we had to pay first. They said they hadn't received our payment. Turned out it was a mixup, but we spent several hours getting it cleared up. Also, several places have a lot of stairs, including the main lobby and our 3rd floor room. There are no elevators at HDR. Fortunately, it wasn't a problem for us, but guests should be forewarned. Overall, we loved so many thing about HDR and plan to return next year.

  Mar 10, 2025
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  Our new favourite resort!

  We just returned from a 7 night (Feb 27-Mar 6) stay at the el dorado Royale (first timers!) in the basic room and had the most amazing time! For reference we have been to Royalton Chic Punta Cana (Mar 2022), Royalton riviera cancun hideaway (Feb 2023), plant Hollywood adult scene (Feb 2024) and Valentin Imperial Maya (Feb 2024). Summary: This place is amazing, if you have an open mind and don’t let the small things ruin your vacation, you will love this place, it’s amazing! Food: Excellent overall! The best food we’ve had at an all inclusive and we are usually picky about quality. Breakfast- Rincon we tried on our first day which was good, but we preferred la isla for the other days. This was buffet and a la carte. If you see a lady making tacos or quesadillas on the flat top grill, don’t even worry about ordering anything a la carte. They were SOOOO good, but she was not there everyday. We LOVED the panuchos and banana pancakes a la carte. On the buffet, the empanadas are amazing and the fresh papaya was the best I’ve had at a resort! Lunch- We went to kampai 3 or 4 days which was amazing. The chicken wings, tempura roll and pad Thai were my favourite but everything was honestly sooo good and the vibe is super relaxing in there after you get some sun in the morning. We went to la cabana once because I wanted tacos for lunch and it was good, but our other favourite was kick! The bacon cheeseburger is AMAZING and I’ve been skeptical about burgers in Mexico as sometimes they’re sketchy but they were sooo fresh and super quality burgers! The pulled pork sandwich and hotdogs were also great here and I loved that I could stay on the beach for lunch, it was a great option I wish we did more. Dinner- We were able to get reservations at 6 every night, I wish I would’ve picked 7 or 7:30 so I could spend more time at the beach, but I’m happy we had reservations 😊 We went to jade, haab, d’Italia villas, d’italia casitas, rincon and wine kitchen. Everything was good, I was expecting d’Italia casitas to be our fave, but it ended up being our least favourite (still great)! Some standout dishes were sushi at jade, naan and apps at haab, garlic cream soup and veal fillet at d’Italia villas, tortilla soup at rincon, tomato soup at wine kitchen and beef tenderloin at d’Italia casitas. Room service- We ordered 2 or 3 times, tried the spaghetti, French fries, chips and guac/pico and tortilla soup. I just wouldn’t recommend the tortilla soup. Room service was super quick, fresh and tasty! Drinks: We drank mostly mimosas, margaritas (regular, mango and pineapple) and beer. We drank mostly mango margaritas with cazadores tequila and tajin or regular margaritas with cazadores tequila. Not watered down like we’ve had at other resorts. I felt a buzz after a couple of them, but without any hangover or crash. It was actually so great!!! Resort: Soooooooooo beautiful, love the hacienda and tropical style. Don’t like the concrete jungle/modern vibe of other resorts as much. Yes, it’s a big resort, but wait for a golf cart to take you to dinner at generations. We usually walked back from dinner because we didn’t want to wait for a ride and it took 15-20 min and the scenery was amazing, just choose comfortable sandals or shoes and you’ll be fine! The resort never felt busy, which made for such a chill and relaxing vibe (what we are after on vacation). Since this is an older resort, the palm trees were soooo mature and the most beautiful palm trees I’ve ever seen! The grounds, pools, beach and common area facilities were also super clean! Maintenance people were seen making improvements daily, workers cleaning the paths and gardeners watering plants. Beach/pool: We spent 1 day at Fuentes pool and all of the other days at the beach near kick. The pool was great, we are just beach people. Shoutout to Mari/Mary the beach/pool server, we remembered our drink orders including the tequila we like in our margaritas and was super friendly, I miss her! Didn’t have to worry about waking up at 6am to save a seat, which honestly made for a much more relaxing vacation! We made it to the beach usually around 9-10am and there was always spots. Although the concrete blocks are a bit of an eyesore, is it possible for the ocean to be ugly and not amazing? In my opinion, no! These blocks also provide habitat for fish, so after another guest (Thank you!!!) let us borrow his snorkel mask, we realized this was a great opportunity to snorkel and see ocean fish. We bought our own full face mask in the gift shop which was $150USD, but worth it. Next time, we will come prepared! Will also bring water shoes, it is fine, but the sand is slightly rough. Come and get a great pedicure 😏 we swam everyday behind kick bar and it was great and smooth sand once you go past your knees. Service: Staff was great, no issues whatsoever, but a few exceptional staff. Ramon at la isla restaurant who we met on our last day, host at la isla (don’t remember name), Mari/Mary as mentioned above and waitress at wine kitchen (don’t know her name but she was great)! Entertainment: No comments as we didn’t attend any shows, we like to relax in our rooms and watch tv after dinner. Maroma beach: Took taxi there and back for $25USD per ride, worth it to us. Didn’t do the catamaran, the most beautiful beach I’ve seen in Mexico! Drinks were great and the buffet was the best I’ve ever had and I hate buffets. The tacos were soooo good and the pizza to order was also really good! We saw soooo many fish around the pier which was so fun, just peering into the water. This was before we bought the mask. We saw several starfish, a crab and a ton of different fishes! Soooo worth it! Shoutout to tequila boy (his nickname) the server on the beach, he was great!!! Spa: We got massages and going to try to claim them on our Canadian benefits, they said they were all RMTs, will keep the group posted! Our massages on the beach were awesome! The hydrotherapy was not great, we’ve seen better. It’s not organized and only like 6 stations with no one directing you. But no big deal didn’t ruin my day! I just wouldn’t waste my time doing it again, the sauna was nice though! Room: Hacienda style, not modern. We loved the rooms, they were typical resort rooms with common wear and tear, but nothing crazy! When we called for extra water they brought it within 20 min. Also left a note with “mucho agua y cerveza” and they actually left a lot which was nice! Don’t forget to put a tip in the fridge for the drink guy. Towels are amazing, super plush! Some days we had less plush ones but whatever, don’t sweat it, you’re in paradise! Tub was huge but we didn’t end up using it, we were too tired at the end of the night. Mattress was comfy, Bugs: I was worried about mosquitos, no bugs at all, until it rained for 10 min our last day. I got bit a few times on my ankles walking back from dinner. Nothing crazy and glad it was on my last day! Complaints: Honestly, we have nothing to complain about in our eyes. I will list below the very minor details I noticed that were lacking, but these didn’t diminish our experience whatsoever, still 5 stars for me, I just know some people complain about these things so I wanted to note them. No welcome drink offered when we arrived, I saw face/hand towels upon arrival but we were not offered them. We were offered to order a drink when we were checking in and the sunwing guy called to order them for us and we never got them. Again, we were so happy to be there that we didn’t care! The buildings that had our rooms could have used more attention, stairs/hallways were a bit dirty at times but also exposed to the elements (again, who cares), I just noticed that. At restaurants waiters didn’t really refill drinks super quickly, but again just an observation. We were VERY well fed and hydrated the entire time 😏 All in all, our vacation was 5/5 stars for amazing food, beautiful grounds, Mexican decor/music at restaurants, great service, awesome snorkeling opportunity and relaxation!!!! Already planning to go back next winter with hopefully more friends and family 🩷

  Mar 08, 2025