El Dorado Royale by Karisma - 77710 Playa del Carmen

This hotel is average, at best. The location is good as it is a little closer to the airport than some of the other resorts. The grounds are immaculate, well groomed and beautiful. The bar and restaurant staff work very hard. The rooms are a good size and have air conditioning that keeps the room super cool. The bars offer top shelf liquor, however, many of our drinks tasted somewhat watered down. There are many choices of restaurants and places to eat. A covid test is needed to return to the U.S. and the hotel has a very easy process to schedule and administer the test and results are returned quickly. There are several pools available which is really nice and lots of beach seating. Having said all of that, we did not think this was a good value for the money. The food was fine, kind of like what you might experience on an average cruise ship. The Santa Fe Grill, also known as the steak house, only offers one steak as part of the included meals. Any other cut of steak is an extra charge. If you want anything other than the house wine (which we really didn't enjoy), you must purchase an entire bottle (not available by the glass) at a very, very hefty price. If you don't finish the bottle they will cork it for you to take back to your room. The rooms are dark and need quite a bit of updating. The staff did not seem well trained. There were several guests in our group and each of us had a very different experience with our check in process, from good to really bad. On our departure day, no one showed up to get our luggage (despite having made a reservation for such) and it can be a super long walk to the lobby. Also, our transportation service back to the airport (that was reserved and pre-paid) never showed up. We asked questions of the staff to find restaurants, stores, etc on the property and most times no one really seemed to know the answer, or we would get a different answer from each person we asked. If you want a decent chair by the pool, be sure to get up super early to claim your space. As for bath products, if you want suds in your soap, shampoo that makes your hair feel clean or moisturizer that feels smooth and soft on your skin, bring your own. For some strange reason, it was hard to get wash cloths. Also, several times we requested additional hangers that never were delivered. The iron didn't work and the water poured out of the holes in the iron. Overall, unless we had a specific reason to do so, we would not go back to this resort.

Oh my gosh you guys I could not possibly begin to tell you enough good things about this resort. You’re just driving through town looks like a normal downtown scene, then you pull through the gates of this normal looking road and traffic into Paradise. I cannot tell you enough. The nightlife was the best, so much fun. The resort is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, spotless. Food is amazing and always available. Room service amazing. Gift shops amazing. And it was the best trip of my life, so far. I would easily go back here at least once a year or more if I could afford it. I talked to so many people while we were there that have traveled the world and said that once you’ve been there it kind of sets a new bar.

Excellent resort, staff are so friendly and helpful. Our cleaner Martha was brilliant as was Manuel the waiter at the Mexican buffet. Room was big bathroom amazing. Nice little touches with little welcomes messages on the bed. Food is brilliant not your usual buffet hotel food, small portions but adequate. Wine is good. Candlelight dinner is amazing and the Mexican night was good. You have to remember to book for the restaurant at night, but lunchtime places usually have spaces. Checkin was easy and straight forward. Only downside was our swim up room. It wasn’t very private and when you have groups coming on holiday together it can be quite cramped and noisy which was a problem when we were there, it stopped you making use of the swim up room which was a shame. Would definitely recommend and hopefully will return one day.

My best friend and I stayed here for 5 days/4 nights in mid March. The entire experience was fantastic, but we wanted to specifically share the best part of our trip - renting the private Bali Bed at the main pool. We were so lucky to have Angel helping us out on Thursday that we booked it again and requested him specifically on Saturday. Over a month since our trip we are still talking about how much we miss Angel and how his service was unparalleled. He was kind and personable and just a lovely human being. If you are thinking about an upgrade to your trip, splurge on the private Bali Bed and ask for Angel!! We hope to see you again!

Overall this was a lovely hotel and had great amenities. Unlimited food and beverage for the price we paid was great. Pros: - There was plenty of room to set up at the pool or beach. - No need to get up at 6am to get a spot anywhere. Most of the desired areas were filled by 11am, which isn't unreasonable. - Nice running path along the beach. - Frequent golf carts for transport. - Spa representatives frequently came to the pool, so we didn't need to go to the spa to book our massages. - The staff was very very generous with drinks. Cons/downsides: - Room service was very spotty. Sometimes they came within 20m, sometimes it was over an hour. - We asked for an iron for 3 days in a row to iron my dress for a wedding and never got it. - Checkout had a huge queue. - Some of the staff could do with inclusion training. I am Asian American and haven't faced this kind of interaction at a 5* hotel. My husband and I were having dinner. My husband is Belgian (of European descent) and was asked by our waiter, "where are you from?" My husband said he's from Belgium, but we were from the UK (living and working there). The waiter then said, "Oh that makes sense, because she's like this..." and pulled the ends of his eyes to say I had small eyes. We were shocked.

Worst experience we have ever had in Cancun/Playa del Carmen. The concierge assistance is minimal, and their sole purpose is to set up their "membership" presentation. It's simply a timeshare scheme by a different name. Extremely hard sales tactics and if their standard "non members" service is any example... I can't imagine why ANYONE would join. Nothing is what they promise, nothing is explained, and if you want to be treated like a guest, you have to pay extra for everything over what you paid for your stay. Everything above basic services requires an extra fee. The food is great, the wait staff and bartenders are great and hard workers, but the staff that runs and controls everything only care to help if you have joined their "club". The 1 hour presentation was about 2 1/2 hours and we had to say no to THREE different "presenters". The rooms are basic- our safe didn't work and we had to wait in our room for 45 minutes to get it replaced, we wanted to leave and let them handle it, but were told we HAD to be in the room. Our concierge was nice and comped us a massage (as incentive for the presentation) but once we declined the membership, we never saw our "concierge" again and suddenly were ignored for everything. Twice we ordered room service and NOTHING was delivered. Our water and drinks were replaced 1 time over the 5 days we were here. I'd rather stay at a Motel 6 than this place - NO joke, you'd get better service from a local gas station than their management, customer service or concierge staff. If you plan to go ANYWHERE in the Cancun area, do your research and stay at a resort that focuses on service rather than their "membership clubs".

YES YES YES STAY HERE!!!!!! Yes it can be expensive to stay here but it is BEYOND worth it. This is my second time being back in Mexico and first time staying at the resort and I fell in love I literally never wanted to leave. The staff here is extremely friendly and everyone is super helpful you also get a personal concierge who helps you with dinner reservations, spa things, literally everything A-Z getting a golf cart, scheduling the Covid test, activities & much more. No the resort itself it’s so freaking huge that you have endless options for anything you want to do in terms of food they are so many great restaurants and great health bars and gyms and saunas for your well being. Because the Resort is extremely huge they have little stations every so couple minutes so you can get a golf cart and go around the resort free of charge.( included with your stay) The gym is nice and so is tennis court. The rooms itself are pretty big we got the junior res resort and we thought it was fantastic with all the amenities that it came with and the space of the room was pretty spacious. We came here for a wedding to attend for my best friend and they did an amazing job hosting the place the venue was fantastic same thing with all the places we did the rituals definitely a great place to have any big or small wedding. If they can accommodate for a Indian one they can literally make anything possible. My favorite part throughout the experience was definitely the room serviced free of charge up until 2-3am. We took advantage of that for sure! The food was amazing! (which again included in your stay) At the beach and the bars the staff members came up to us so frequently to make sure we were doing OK and if we needed more drinks or anything else. Service & quality here 10/10. Yes come here & you will not be disappointed. Coming back here next time for sure. Having three resorts combined into one huge property was such an amazing idea because you can have an adults section and also a family section as well if you’re coming here with the large crowd and it makes it easy to stay in one place yet two different activities and also you don’t have to see all your family members because the place is that huge but yet still be together!

This is not my first "all inclusive", I have stayed at many. 1/13-20/2022, 8 days. I give this resort an average rating for these reasons: The resort lacks a "lunch buffet" near the beach/pool. The convenience of being able to come from the beach/pool & to have the choice of fresh fruit, a burger, fries, salads, buffet like option, as opposed to having to go to a restaurant & order off a limited menu. For dinner selection there are many restaurants to choose from. The food is good, however, portions are small. The main pool lacked the convenience of being served drinks, there was only one server working the main pool & the water was way too cold to go to the "swim up bar". The pool water should be heated during the off season. The average weather temperature during our stay 75-80 degrees & the average temperature in January is 81, at night 68, all the more reason to have the pool heated. We had to change rooms. Our first room was the "luxury junior suite" in building 44. The room was in disrepair. The lighting is too dark. There is not a light near the closet making it very difficult to see anything. Several lights were out, there weren't any towels & one of the two sinks were so clogged the water did not drain. During the switch at 11:30 pm, I accidentally left my cosmetic bag behind, of which it was never turned in to lost & found. They switched us to a "royal suite". Much better lighting, however, still some issues with lights being out, the sliding door to the balcony is very difficult & heavy to slide open. The water stopped running during my husbands shower while full of soap & did not go back on until 40 minutes later. Our friends travelled with us, this happened to them the same night, building 41. How is this acceptable? The grounds of the resort are beautiful, well kept very spread out. The hotel staff is pleasant & the shows at night were amazing.