El Dorado Seaside Suites

We spent 10 nights at El Dorado Seaside Palms and overall had a fantastic holiday. I would definitely recommend the resort and I do think it is worth the money, but having also stayed at another TUI 5-star resort in the Maldives, I felt there were a few things missing that stopped this feeling like a true luxury 5-star experience. The resort & room The grounds are absolutely beautiful and probably one of my favourite things about the resort. Everything is incredibly well kept and clean, with so many beautiful palm trees and greenery throughout. We stayed in a swim-up room, which was huge, spacious and had a beautiful view. The bed was massive and extremely comfortable and our room was cleaned perfectly every day. Our cleaner was fantastic. The bathroom was lovely, although the shower wasn't particularly powerful. We also found that you had to turn on the cold tap to get hot water, and there wasn't really warm/hot water coming from the sink taps. The biggest disappointment with the room was the TV. You cannot Chromecast or cast anything to it and the channel selection isn't great. I raised this with the team and was told it was for "protection", but having stayed in other TUI 5-star resorts where Chromecast was available, I found this quite dated. It might sound like a small thing, but when you're staying for 10 nights, or if you have a day where you don't feel well or simply want to relax in your room, it's a really useful feature to have. We also had an issue with our balcony light. We raised three maintenance tickets and showed videos of the light flickering. Someone eventually came out and fixed it one evening, but it wasn't working again the following day. In the end we just gave up on it. Overall maintenance was good, but this was frustrating. Food — 5/5 The food was one of the highlights of the holiday. We genuinely loved it. Klay Tay was our favourite — so good that we went twice. We ordered all the starters to share and then had mains each. The spicy sweet chicken and crème brûlée were particular favourites. La Carreta was another highlight, especially the quesabirria and the flan, which was probably my favourite dessert of the whole trip. We ordered four mains and three desserts to share so we could try as much as possible. The taco station at the buffet was absolutely brilliant — easily 10/10. The French toast and fresh fruit at breakfast were also favourites. We also enjoyed Culinarium, Gourmet Pub and Mia Casa. Mia Casa has a beautiful setting and genuinely makes you feel like you've been transported somewhere else, although it wasn't our favourite food-wise. Kaab wasn't really for us, but that's probably because we aren't big fans of vegan food. The area also hosted non-vegan food, including Driftwood, and the fish tacos and goat's cheese burger there were fantastic. We generally stuck to the buffet for breakfast and lunch because we found our favourites and really enjoyed them. Drinks & bars There was a really good choice of drinks and cocktails, and I'd definitely recommend asking the bartenders to make you something based on what you like. One of the bartenders made me an "electric lemonade" one day and I loved it so much that I stuck with it for the rest of the holiday! The main Guacamayas bar could do with much more comfortable seating. There are only a handful of proper tables and then rows of fold-out chairs, which meant we didn't really stay there late at night. We only discovered Los Cotorros towards the end of our stay and were gutted we hadn't found it sooner. It was lovely and relaxing at night, and we spent some evenings there playing cards and having cocktails. Swim-up pool & noise Our swim-up pool was probably the highlight of the entire holiday. The mornings were absolutely perfect — quiet, relaxing and exactly what we had hoped for from a luxury resort. Unfortunately, it changed considerably after lunch. The pool became much louder and rowdier, and on some evenings groups gathered outside our room playing their own music over the bar music. On one occasion, around 6–8 people were sitting on the water balcony area directly outside our room, drinking, smoking and playing music. It was quite intimidating and really wasn't what we expected from a quiet luxury resort. We were also woken on some nights around 1–2am by people shouting and jumping into the swim-up pools. The first seven days of our stay were amazing, but the resort became much busier towards the final weekend, with lots of Americans arriving for the long weekend. We personally preferred the quieter atmosphere at the start of our stay. Beach & spa The beach was lovely. There was some seaweed during the first few days, but the staff were working incredibly hard to clear it and there were plenty of loungers and beds. Towards the end of our stay, the sea became incredibly calm and clear. We actually went snorkelling directly from the hotel beach one morning and saw loads of fish and even a stingray! It was one of those unexpected highlights of the trip. We also had a massage at the spa on the beach, which was absolutely amazing. Having the massage with the beach setting was such a lovely experience, and being able to use the hydrotherapy pool afterwards was a really nice touch. The spa was exceptionally clean and the whole experience felt very relaxing and well worth the money. A special mention to Elizabeth, Cristina and Bianca, who were all fantastic. Unfortunately, we did have one disappointing experience with the spa. I accidentally left my necklace in the pocket of my robe after taking it off for my treatment. I realised the following day and immediately went to the concierge, who said she would make some calls and asked me to come back in about an hour. When I returned after dinner, I had to explain the situation again because the concierge had forgotten who I was and seemed confused about the conversation. I was told there was no luck and to come back the following morning before we left. Unfortunately, the necklace wasn't found. I completely understand that lost property cannot always be recovered, and I don't blame the resort for that. However, what disappointed me was the lack of urgency and follow-up around the situation. This wasn't just any necklace — it was an expensive Tiffany necklace that my husband had given me on our wedding day, so it was extremely sentimental to me. I would have expected a little more urgency and care from a 5-star resort when a guest reports something like this. Special experiences We also booked the candlelight dinner, which I would definitely recommend. Josie was our server and was absolutely amazing. It was a really lovely experience and, in my opinion, well worth doing. If you book it, I'd recommend the 6pm time slot so you get to experience the sunset during dinner. It was beautiful. Another little highlight was getting up at around 6am one morning to watch the sunrise from the pier. If you're an early riser, it's absolutely worth doing — it was gorgeous and completely peaceful. Staff The staff were fantastic overall — very friendly and helpful. A special mention to Josie from the candlelight dinner, Elizabeth, Cristina and Bianca in the spa, Nelson and Philipe at Klay Tay, and the gentleman working at the taco station who was always brilliant, although unfortunately I never caught his name. We also made a point of tipping throughout the holiday. We hadn't initially planned to tip as much as we did, but after seeing how hard everyone works, we felt it was important. We even tipped the gentleman who brought the snacks and water to our room — people like that can easily be overlooked, but they are working hard behind the scenes too. Excursions We booked the Maroma Beach Club/catamaran through Lomas in the lobby. Just to clarify for anyone reading reviews saying this is free — it wasn't free for us as TUI guests. We paid $135 each, whether you went for the day or did the catamaran. The catamaran was enjoyable, although the snorkelling wasn't as good as what we experienced directly off the hotel beach on our final day. There were strong currents, so definitely wear the life jacket and flippers. The food at Maroma was excellent and the beach itself was beautiful, with incredibly soft sand and warm water. We also did the 4 Cenotes tour, which we really enjoyed. The cenotes themselves were amazing and it was a lovely day out. There was a stop beforehand at a shop/healer which was very expensive and felt quite pressured, so just be aware of that. We were also disappointed that we weren't allowed to take our phones/GoPros into the first two cenotes, even though we had a floating waterproof case. We understood the safety reasoning, but we were making a home movie of our trip and would have loved to capture some footage ourselves. A couple of things to be aware of The shops are very expensive. We paid $66 for three cans of beer and two bags of crisps — nearly fell over! The ice cream offering also felt very limited for a luxury all-inclusive. There was only one flavour available when we were there, lemongrass and coconut, and initially we were told we had to order it through a waiter rather than simply getting it ourselves. This seemed unnecessarily complicated. I'd love to see a proper selection of 6–8 flavours and the ability to simply walk up and get one. We also had an issue at checkout. One evening we ordered a bottle of wine when the payment system was down. We were told the first payment hadn't gone through, so we signed again. Unfortunately, this resulted in us being charged twice. When we checked our bill the night before leaving, we noticed the duplicate charge and queried it. We were left waiting for around 30 minutes while a manager investigated and eventually removed the second charge. I'm glad it was resolved, but again, it felt like something that shouldn't have taken so long to deal with at a 5-star resort. Overall We had an amazing 10-night holiday and I absolutely don't want the negatives to overshadow that. The resort is beautiful, the food is genuinely excellent, the staff are lovely and there is plenty to do. For us, though, the difference between a 4.5/5 experience and a true 5-star luxury experience came down to the smaller details: no Chromecast, limited ice cream, extremely expensive snacks, inconsistent maintenance, the lack of control over noisy and disruptive guests, the disappointing follow-up regarding my missing necklace and the difficulty resolving the duplicate charge. When the resort was quiet, especially in the mornings around our swim-up pool, it really did feel like paradise. When it became busy, it felt much less like the peaceful luxury resort it markets itself as. Would we go back to Mexico? Absolutely. Would we return to Seaside Palms? Probably not — we'd try somewhere different next time. But would I recommend Seaside Palms? Yes. It's a beautiful resort, with fantastic food and lovely staff, and I do think it's worth the money. Just go knowing that, in my opinion, it falls slightly short of being the flawless luxury 5-star experience.

Beautiful grounds beautiful hotel unfortunately on leaving I had forgotten some very expensive earrings in the hotel safe. After arriving home I contacted the hotel who informed me they were not to be found (stolen)

We booked a 14-night package holiday to TUI BLUE El Dorado Seaside Palms directly with TUI for over £3,900 as a 5-star restorative break following serious medical treatment. Instead of the restful escape we paid for, TUI and the resort delivered physical pain, disregard for basic accessibility, and appalling customer care. Monetising an Access Requirement: A chronic condition requiring minimal stairs was logged on our TUI booking and emailed directly to the resort beforehand. Despite this, we were placed on the 3rd floor of a building without a lift and told the resort was full. The following morning, an accessible room suddenly became available—provided we paid a £293 upgrade fee. To make matters worse, that lift was taken out of service for building works on our final day, leaving a disabled guest to navigate three flights of stairs repeatedly before a 15-hour journey home. Substandard Accommodation: Our original junior suite flooded across the bedroom floor from a leaking whirlpool within 24 hours. The upgraded suite (room 0306) was far from 5-star standard: stained ceilings, dirty walls, electronic door locks that failed twice (wasting hours dealing with maintenance), and a television bezel literally patched together with tin foil. Undisclosed Closures & Reduced Dining: The main building was closed for renovations throughout our stay without prior warning. While TUI advertises 11 restaurants, unannounced seasonal rotations meant only 2–3 included venues operated on any given evening, with several shut for our entire fortnight. Gagging Order & Total Abandonment: When processing the refund for the unjust upgrade fee, reception presented us with a document demanding we waive our statutory rights and promise not to post public reviews—which we refused to sign. To cap off the trip, pre-booked airport assistance at Cancun never arrived. When escalated in real time via the TUI app while stranded in severe pain, TUI promised a human response in 30 minutes, never replied, and silently closed the ticket hours later. Under UK Package Travel Regulations, TUI is legally responsible for this lack of conformity. As long-standing customers, we are appalled by the complete disregard for guest accessibility, safety, and basic duty of care.

Beautiful resort. Very calm and peaceful. Staff are friendly and always welcoming. Food is AMAZING. Grounds are well maintained and lush. We also appreciated how clean the resort was. Room ac was excellent. Don’t sleep on the Palms. You definitely get a lot of bang for your buck. We’ll be back for sure. Love this place!

We’ve just returned from an amazing holiday, and while the destination and hotel were fantastic, two people in particular made our trip truly unforgettable - Eduardo and Jeorge. Eduardo went above and beyond from the moment we met him. Every evening, he made sure that wherever we went for dinner, we were looked after by his friends. He genuinely cared about us having a wonderful experience, and we actually found ourselves booking restaurants on the evenings we knew Eduardo was working because he made us feel so happy, welcome and looked after. The night after our engagement was especially memorable. Eduardo congratulated us and made such a fuss of us in the restaurant, making us feel genuinely special during such an important moment in our lives. His kindness, happiness and thoughtfulness never felt forced he simply went out of his way every single time to make sure we were okay and enjoying ourselves. Jeorge was equally wonderful. Every morning, he greeted us with the biggest smile and such genuine happiness. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him, and his warm, friendly personality was the perfect way to start each day. He always made us feel welcome and remembered, and his kindness really stood out. People like Eduardo and Jeorge are what make a holiday go from being great to truly unforgettable. They both have such lovely personalities and clearly take genuine pride in making people happy. We hope they know just how much they contributed to our holiday. We’ll remember them long after we’ve forgotten the little details of the trip, and we genuinely hope to see them again one day. We will be returning next year purely because of them! Thank you, Eduardo and Jeorge, for making our holiday so special. You are both absolute stars! ❤️🌴✨