El Dorado Seaside Suites

Where do I begin with this place, 5 star it is not!! Im from the uk and arrived here for new years. A little background, I'm a well travelled individual especially throughout the Caribbean and moreover worldwide. First and foremost, I did my homework and knew the rooms were dated. We arrived here new years eve, after a 10 hour flight we were obviously tired , we dropped everything and decided to get something to eat, it was gala night and no spaces for us, what was left was packed and had hours of waiting times. Not a good start, so hungry and left with room service which was Luke warm. 5 star?? 1st day impressions were that toilet was a bit seweragy, and we were put right next to the sports bar which was ridiculously loud till late. We were 3rd floor and I have a dodgy knee so had requested ground. Staff here are hit and miss, most are fantastic but some are non attentative and rude. A chap called German in the culinarium was noted for being one of the best and attentive. Ball beds are plentiful but get up early. Food did not blow me away here and certain restaurants were shut for no apparent reason when they were up selling special meals which meant you would struggle to get a meal anywhere. It's up sell heaven here, if you want to watch the entertainment so you can see it, upsell, a prime ball bed, up sell, klay talay ..up sell. This place should be listed as part inclusive. On the day we left on the transfer to cancun, the bus was nearly involved in a collision. Oh and after requesting a bell boy 3 times on the app and once I person to collect our luggage from the 3rd floor nobody turned up. Im not a moaner you can take a look at my other reviews. Rooms are 4 star at best tired, but the whole experience was poor. Tui need to sort this place out.

More pros here than cons. Spacious room, well stocked fridge, very comfy bed, many english tv channels, clean, nicely furnished balcony in the Premium building, 6 floors but there is an elevator. Food is good quality, and bar drinks are well made at most locations through resort. Beautiful lush grounds! Many staff throughout grounds. Spotless and well cared for. Not too big to get around, nice size resort. Beach service was great. Live evening entertainment very enjoyable, like singing or musicians (no Michael Jackson show!). Held outside, no large indoor theatre. Cons. Beach is small, sloped and narrow. Water is calm but very shallow, a bit rocky in spots, less than waist deep so cannot swim but a float can be useful. Snorkeling is ok for beginners, small fishes and a few Rays. Not nearly enough lounge chairs, and packed tight together to get a spot in the sunshine. Must play towel game before 8 am to get a spot you will be happy with. Even the Premium building with its private pool had limited loungers. The building can hold almost 200 guests, but only 28 sun loungers are on pool deck, all usually reserved by 8 am. Daily activities really limited and not always what is listed will happen. Buffets are very small and scattered through resort, not much food choice if you like buffets, and needed more staff to keep up with refilling stations or serving coffee. Dinner reservations are given to members first, so can be hard to get for regular guests. Hint - just take anytime they give you and show up early, they can usually seat you early since many do not show up at their reserved time. Not all food places are open each day, so it can take some extra thought to plan dinners ahead. Pools are tiny, unless you go to sister hotel Suites side, and that pool is loud with activities. The Premium room is worth the upgrade to be able to use that pool. Concierge wanted to sell services, so we avoided there. More pros. Service overall was wonderful, friendly happy staff. More inclusive deal adds a few free excursions if you desire to go off resort. Great shower and shampoo/conditioner/gel. Easy walking paths to beach, and carts to ride to Suites lobby, where most restaurants and largest buffet are located. Bathrooms at restaurants are all clean and cared for. 2 theme nights are held each week in courtyard at Palms lobby and are the nicest buffets. Room service is very good and needed some nights if you cannot get into a restaurant. Heard great things about the spa services. The Mezcal bar has some of the best creative drinks we had! Don't miss this spot for before or after dinner drinks. Summary. Happy to have the Premium building upgrade, good location, access to that pool. It always gave us a spot to be, and this is the biggest pool on Palms side. The bartender and servers were great. Would prefer to have a large central buffet with more selection that is open for all meals. A larger size pool with more loungers available would be great to see. Unfortunately the beach won't improve, but it was a great week and very relaxing. We paid less than $4000 CDN for the week. p.s. Air Canada, direct flight, actually served free beer and wine this year on the flights and lots of movies to choose from. Transfer from airport had no stops but was shared through Lomas.

Lots of bits and misses about this resort . First let me say the grounds are stunning and gave me all the vacation feels… Arrival was confusing…. Partially because our tour operator Sunwing did not tell us (group of 13) that the driver/company showing on our apps was incorrect and lomas picked us up. Arrived at 11 pm at the resort and there was one persons checking a very large group of people in… took an hour at least. Went to concierge early next morning to book restaurants and nothing was available before 9-9:30 pm except for our last night … I was able to secure the Asian restaurant at 5:30pm for all 16 of our group (3 flew in from other parts) HOWEVER once that day arrived the restaurant couldn’t find the rezzo… luckily my concierge had me take a picture of the rezzo on his computer screen. After a short discussion with the “manager” there he let us stay but would not sit is all together as to not overburden the waiter. Found the whole thing weird. On a good note though… we loved our Junior suite swim out, water a little chilly but we survived. Fruit at breakfast buffet was hit and miss whether you had a good selection or not . Seaside Market buffet was the best option. The lunch bbq wayyyy down at the end of the resort was delicious. Get there shortly after noon, they run out. Vegan restaurant was delicious and I’m not a vegan lol. The ice cream was to die for. Ceviche over at driftwood on the suites side was great for lunch as well. Beach is nice. The “ More Inclusive” was a big hit… we chose the day at maroma with the catamaran trip, definitely the highlight of the trip. The singers that were there were top notch, entertainment in the evening was good but choppy. The main beach front bar where everyone eventually gathered had no music from 9:30 to 11 some nights. But when there was music it was good! Overall I would go back, I feel the resort however is not a well oiled machine at all. Far more staff needed in lobby and restaurants. More advertising of all the resort activities, especially the more inclusive which not many people even knew about.

I do not normally write reviews as they are only personal experience but as this is long haul from the U.K. I want to give this review. This is not solely a TUI Blu hotel and there are many Americans and Canadiens that use the hotel facilities. 1) RESTAURANTS there are enough but they do get busy and loud. We ate after 20.00hr as it is usually quieter. Any that require booking need to be done through the concierge. There is a list of opening times and changes you need to check daily. Food quality is hit and miss but generally ok. 2) BEDROOMS are large but have tired furniture. Cannot get anything dry due to the palm tree coverage. No drying facilities on balcony and told to remove any cloths drying over the balcony rail. The rooms are split level with 2 steps, we needed to leave the shower light overnight to avoid any accident. Our room (1912) needed a light on most of the day. 3) BEACH long and split into 3 sections. Definitely not the prettiest beach but adequate. Far end section water shoes definitely a bonus. If you want a beach bed or Bali bed be prepared to be down there latest 08.00hr. Not really enough to go around so summer must be worse. Towel pick up / drop of stations plentiful and free. 4) GARDENS are beautiful and tended every day. 5) STAFF are generally very polite and helpful 6) RACCOONS & COARTI are everywhere and adorable, but. They are RABIES carriers so beware. If scratched or bitten a hospital visit is needed as a matter of urgency ! 7) €1 trip to Playa del Carmen. It is cheap for a reason, 2 en route stops with high pressure selling. 8) BIG DOWNSIDE Americans and Canadians. They are loud and their language leaves something to be desired. They are p**s heads and that shows with their attitude. Every weekend they travel down because it is cheap and spoilt many people’s holidays on this trip. Many are university students who have no filter. In summary, not the best experience in all my years of travelling. Would I return, NO !

Hotel was lovely, rooms stunning and spacious, location right on the beach, bars were ok although think they were missing a nice cocktail bar as the one they had was in a box room with no windows was really odd with no atmosphere they had one lively bar which had live music/ karaoke and DJ set after which was good just feel they were missing a few classier bars, restaurants were ok although not a lot of choice and portions sizes small and food was hit and miss whether it came out hot or not! that’s unless you go to Seaside Suites which was a Buffet. Ala Carte Restaurants were the better option special mention to Miguel Aviles who served us at MIA Casa Dorado his service was exceptional. We booked the meal on the beach which was nice but you are paying £100 for the privilege, Shop in complex is too overpriced so do not buy your essentials there! When they have events on in the square they try to charge you for sitting at a table which really is not on! And it’s not cheap either! That really annoyed me they should not be allowed to do that, Trips with Tui were good but again really expensive not sure why it’s so much over there! Overall lovely hotel but could be better!