El Dorado Seaside Suites

Incredibly disappointing and far from a 5 star experience! Positive things: - The vast majority of the staff is incredibly nice and amicable. The waiters and bartenders are great. - The resort is not too far away from the airport (40-45 minutes) Negative points: Let me preface this with the fact that many points are small irritants but the accumulation made everything feel larger and more bothersome. - WIFI in the room is terrible if your room is further away from the main building. I could barely scroll two posts on Instagram before it buffered and would stop loading. I had to step outside to get connection. The phones in the room did not work and the other way to reach staff is to use the online app. Anytime something happened, I had to walk all the way to the main building to speak with the concierge. - Swim-Up pool room: It was my first time booking a swim up so maybe this is something that people who book these often know but after 8pm, the swim up is not accessible. I had staff come tell me to get out since they poured chemicals in the pool that can irritate skin and stain clothes. I was disappointed because I booked a swim up to use it outside of the normal pool hours. - A staff member wearing a gas mask was spraying plants on the site which I'm assuming were pesticides. The issue was that they'd be spraying these while people were closeby and if the employee needs to wear a gas mask, it concerned me that I was in the pool inhaling mist of chemicals. - The room is VERY outdated and basically falling apart. I had a light burn out the second I turned it on, the sink of the in-room jacuzzi is leaking, the mattress was absolutely disgusting and brown, light fixture in the closet was taped together and fell when I opened the door, the faucets are mislabeled H and C, the furniture doors often don't close, the curtains looked like it had black mole growing on it, the door of the room has a gap under so humidity and noise come in very easily, the TV remote did not work, the shower door didn't close properly so there would always be water leaking outside. - Food: Incredibly disappointing quality. Mexico is known for having some of the best meals and food in carribean resorts and this resort does not reflect this. Majority of the food came cold and tasteless. Don't be fooled by the number of restaurants available as most are closed on specific days. There are usually 2-3 restaurants opened for dinner with 2 needing reservations. The buffet was very disappointing as it has 1 theme per night (italian, asian, etc.) and if you don't want this food, the buffet won't have anything for you. My meal at the sit-down restaurant also had a long hair in it. Guacamole, which Mexico is famous for, was hard to find and always hidden away. You had to ask staff to get some and they'd give you the smallest scoop. - Cleanliness: Overall, the resort looks clean but my sheets had disgusting brown stains on them and the stains were at a place where it is impossible that the housekeeper did not see them. She purposely chose to leave them on the bed which I find to be unacceptable. In my mind, stains like this on sheets can only be blood or poo. It may not be that but that's the perception your guest has and it really sours the experience. - The AC in the room created so much condensation on the ceiling that it started dripping water on my face and on the bed. I had to get dressed and walk all the way to the main building at 10:30pm. Their only solution was to change rooms for the night. I asked for towels to wipe the ceiling and no one offered to come help me do this. - The beach has a lot of insects, specifically sand fleas. I walked on the beach for 5 minutes and my feet and ankles started to burn because of bites. I've never had that issue at other beach resorts. The beach is mainly walled off and people aren't allowed to go past that wall. There is a very small beach section that is accessible and it's just filled with seaweeds. Calling this a beach resort is a farce. - One of the big pull for this resort is that you have access to 2 resorts for the price of one but the one with the main pool is closed so you only have access to one that has small pools. - The second you arrive, they will try to upsell you and sell you excursions. I understand that it's a business but it really ruins the mood when the second you arrive, you get sales pitches. - It is not a resort where you can easily rest close to the main pools as the music gets loud. The entertainment is fun if that's your thing but gets very repetitive as every day, it's the same thing (aquafitness, movie and music quiz and pool volleyball). - The safe in the room did not work and a worker came to repair it by disassembling it and working on it for 30+ minutes. - The resort is filled with coatis which are very cute and welcomed but one pooped on my balcony and it took housekeeping 2-3 days to clean that up. - Concierge staff are mainly unhelpful as they don't seem to be very knowledgeable about the hotel and services. Anytime I had a question, they had to inquire and ask other people. It feels more like a placebo effect like they're there for people to "complain" and they don't actually do anything to solve issues. Overall, a very disappointing experience. I think this resort must've been great 10 or so years ago. I don't understand anyone who did a positive review on this hotel. The drinks aren't strong enough to impair people's judgment enough for them to write such glowing recommendations. I have also noticed that the resort responds to negative reviews with the same copy/paste message claiming to care about the feedback but it's clear that they don't.

I stayed at El Dorado Seaside Palms the week of August 10th in a Luxury Junior Suite, and let me save someone from overthinking the reviews: JUST BOOK IT. This resort was everything I wanted for a solo, relaxing getaway. The moment you arrive, the staff greets you with “Welcome home.” And honestly, they make you feel exactly that way from day one. The room? 10/10. Spacious, spotless and comfortable. Huge bed, jacuzzi tub, double sinks, walk-in shower, separate water closet, robe. slippers, safe, stocked mini-fridge… it felt luxurious without being over the top. I traveled solo and felt safe the entire trip. Pro tip: Download the resort app as soon as you arrive. It has all the daily activities, entertainment schedules, restaurant information and everything happening around the resort. Let’s talk food. I truly don’t understand the food complaints. There was something for everyone, including options for different dietary restrictions. If you couldn’t find anything to eat... respectfully, you might just be a picky eater. The resort has several à la carte restaurants, including Italian (my absolute favorite—the risotto was perfection!) Mexican and Asian. Plus other dining options throughout the resort. And here’s something that confused me about previous reviews: people said they couldn’t get reservations. Not my experience at all. Each room block has its own personal concierge. You meet with them shortly after arriving and they help book all of your à la carte dinners and any excursions you want. I had every restaurant and excursion booked the day after I arrived. Easy. No stress. You can also grab fresh beach towels anytime from your concierge cabana, which was super convenient. About the beach... Yes, there was sargassum during this time of year, but that’s affecting many Caribbean destinations right now. The resort also offers a complimentary trip to Maroma Beach with access to catamarans, jet skis and other beach activities for free. And Maroma Beach? Absolutely stunning. A couple of honest observations... Yes, the Suites side was closed during my stay. Did it ruin the vacation? Not even a little. The resort is large enough that there was always somewhere to relax, swim, eat, or enjoy entertainment. I never felt like I was missing out. The resort also has beautiful Bali beds, and there were plenty of them. My only little annoyance was people claiming them by the pool with towels and belongings and disappearing for hours. Annoying? Yes. Vacation-ending? Absolutely not. Life goes on. Final verdict... The service was exceptional from the concierge and housekeeping to the servers, bartenders and reception staff. Everyone was warm, friendly and attentive. I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but after spending a week here, I honestly don’t know what people are complaining about. Clean rooms. Amazing food. Incredible service. Safe for solo travelers. Beautiful grounds. Peaceful vibes. This place is the TRUTH. I’ll definitely be back… and next time, I’m booking the swim-out room!

Crikey. Believe some of the reviews below and you'd think you were in for a trip to hell for your hols at this place. So, let's be clear from the off: this hotel is a high-quality, well-staffed, and extremely friendly venue. We were there for 14 nights, early to mid August, and loved every minute of it. DO NOT get yourself in a state about the temporary closure of its neighbour (Seaside Suites) – the impact, as we’ll get into below, is extremely minimal. In fact, unless you go there every year and are wedded to the Suites’ Driftwood buffet, I’d be surprised if you even noticed there was an issue). DO brace yourself for the seaweed, which is a shame, but a climate-change-triggered phenomenon impacting the vast majority of the Caribbean, so don’t go blaming the hotel for that. But if you like well-maintained, exotic grounds (you are literally surrounded by jungle), a diverse array of food options and bars everywhere you look, staff who greet you with a cheery ‘hola’ at every turn, then rest assured, you will be happy here. Crowds (or the lack of): What did surprise us, was how quiet the place was. For various reasons (seaweed, US crowds scared off by headlines and rising cost-of-living) the hotel cannot have been at more than 20% throughout our stay. Now, personally, we loved this as we came here for peace and quiet. It also meant no issue getting beach beds or reservations in the a la carte restaurants. Not great for the Mexico tourism economy – I had been told August was its second ‘peak season’ after the Christmas/NY break – but great for us. It is, I would suggest, the reason the neighbouring Seaside Suites is closed. Even if bookings there have been transferred to the Palms, the place was still REALLY quiet. Rooms: We had a garden view suite. Sat a couple of blocks back from the beach. Takes about four minutes to walk to the beach and about two if you were just heading to the nearest of the resort’s numerous pools. Room was immaculately maintained – daily clean/minibar restocked (fridge minibar which includes water/Coke/beers/crisps) – and all in good working order. If you wanted to be really picky you could say it is beginning to show its age a little – but, God, you’d need to be a pedantic dullard to do so. Room was large – space for a table and chairs (for use if you’re ordering from the 24/7 room service options), plus a super King bed. There’s also a ‘big enough for two’ whirlpool bath thing in there too. Bit odd. Decent-sized balcony with a couple of reclining wooden chairs and a small table offering views immediately above the swim-up rooms and some smashing palm trees. Loads of storage, easy to operate safe. Big TV too, but we didn’t turn it on at any stage (well, it is our holiday) so no idea what channels you get. Nice coffee machine and you can request a kettle too. Oh, and the door to the rooms have very handy unlocking mechanisms triggered by your wristband. Saves faffing about with a key or card. Best bit though? The sheer amount of interesting wildlife you get to see in and around the hotel and its grounds. From iguanas of various sizes to raccoons and the (very adorable) coatis, we also spotted agoutis (like big guinea pigs), vultures, huge seabirds, and a host of other colourful birds. If you like that sort of thing, it’s a huge plus. Beach/seaweed: If you are expecting the classic pristine white beaches and turquoise seas (at this time of year, at least), you’re not going to get it. The sargassum is pretty relentless. A team of guys work tirelessly to try and clear a key stretch of beach so you can swim/snorkel etc – but it’s a bit like that episode of The Simpsons where Marge and Lisa scrub the spilt oil off the rocks on a beach only for the tide to bring more in. Some days are noticeably worse than others. But we could snorkel on a few days (rays, fish and even a barracuda spotted)…but sometimes it was just a little too murky. A JCB carries the seaweed off, but due to the work the BBQ restaurant (which I had been looking forward to) was closed as are the far reaches of the beach. The upshot? The water looks clear in parts, but can be a bit ‘chocolate milk’ in others…(this is really noticeable at nearby Tulum where the ‘money shot’ of the Mayan ruins overlooking the beach is rather transformed from the postcard images). The seaweed can get a little pongy if left to cook in the sun too…noticeable when we first arrived for a couple of days – but not for the rest of it. It DOES NOT spoil your holiday, however. Just be aware it’s going to be there. To tip or not to tip, that is the question: There’s lot of chatter as to how you tip in Mexico. On our coach transfer, the chap was banging on about how it’s an essential part of the culture. But I think that’s just due to the clientele in what is an area of Mexico devoted to tourism. The American visitors (of which there were plenty – you’ll not miss them as they all operate with their volume switch turned up to the max) will tip all the time – as that’s what they do normally. But, our Tui rep (who was excellent and herself Mexican) said tips are only for service ‘which goes above and beyond’ what you’d expect. So we applied that rule. I would urge you to do the same as it sparked zero issues. (In other words, don’t feel obliged to hand over cash every time you order a drink/someone clears your plates). Food: There are several areas for the restaurants. By the main bar, there’s the buffet restaurant which offers a (fairly limited but tasty) breakfast and lunch offering and doubles up as the Mexican restaurant upon an evening. It does, however, allow you to dine just in front of the jetty which is a real treat. Beyond the beach volleyball court is an outdoor restaurant – Kaab. We’d read a lot about this vegan outlet before going…but were disappointed when we turned up and it was closed. It did reopen – just as the heavens opened – on the final day of our hols, so didn’t get to experience it. It offered, we believe, the vegan menu and some items from Driftwood (the closed Suites restaurant). A two-minute stroll away is the Culinarium (the Mediterranean restaurant) which also offers a la carte breakfast. Good service and nice environment, although arguably the least charismatic of the restaurants. Just outside the main reception area is the ‘Gourmet Pub’…nice for lunch (cracking ceviche), but was sold to us as English-style for evening meals. We live in England so certainly didn’t want to experience fish and chips while on hols, so gave it a swerve. Head up the hotels main road, however, and about 300 yards up on the right a path leads you to three more restaurants. Here lurks the Seaside Market (a buffet outlet open most (but not all) days…good, broader range than the one near the jetty. Next to it is the a la carte Asian restaurant Klay Talay. Possibly the stand-out restaurant (assuming, of course, you like Asian food)…lots of sushi and some really tasty other dishes. Tui customers used to get charged $25 for this…that has been dropped as it’s so quiet, so eat, drink and be merry. Next to that is Mia Casa – the well-designed Italian restaurant. Food here was also good, but the air conditioning sometimes needed adjusting as it got rather hot. Go up the stairs, and there’s the cocktail bar hidden (to the left) in the corner…great choice of cocktails on the menu, but staff will do whatever you fancy. The ‘flowerpot’ signature cocktail is very tasty. All in all, excellent choices and made a change going to a nice ‘proper’ restaurant each evening rather than relying on the buffet. You need to reserve your tables at the a la carte venues. Best way to do so is with the concierge service dotted about the resort. We did some via Andrea (TUI rep) which worked well but others (through the other TUI rep) where it was apparent no bookings had actually been made…we still got in, but it was a bit of a pain. Seaside Suites (the closed neighbour): Clearly closed (temporarily, one assumes?) due to a lack of bookings, you can stroll around it and see that little in the way of renovations seem to be taking place. The gym (just at the top of the ramp) is fully open to all, but everything else is shut. There’s also a tonne of seaweed along its beachfront, which adds a certain aroma. Driftwood was the only loss of a restaurant I could see…but, to be honest, you don’t notice it and given it’s so quiet, its closure is neither here nor there for the first-time visitor. Rest assured, if you like your holidays 'sans clothes' then the nudist Hidden Beaches hotel appears to still be up and running... Excursions etc: We had planned to use the local bus colectivo services which shuttle people up and down the highway…but the road was six lanes deep and, frankly, we thought dicing with death wasn’t for us. So we booked a load of Tui excursions instead. Would highly recommend the whale shark swimming (absolutely incredible experience), enjoyed the Chichen Itza, Tulum, Coba day trips and had a really great time at Xel Ha water park for the day. Unless you are desperate to see Playa de Carmen, I would avoid the $1 dollar shuttle bus to which you actually have to sign a form agreeing you’ll be subjected to a 30-minute sales pitch at a jewellery store and then 40 mins at its neighbouring tequila shop…we went, bought nothing, but then discovered Fifth Avenue was a bit rubbish so ended up in a very nice beach club waiting for the shuttle bus to return. You win some, you lose some. The final word… The Yucatan Peninsula was developed for tourism and the prices in the shops in the main spots are as high as the UK (if not more so), so don’t expect a bargain. Plus, taxi prices were sky high too. But, that aside, we had a fabulous holiday at a fabulous resort.

The site is very beautiful, although it is not at all possible to use the beach. Only half of the hotel setting is open due to renovations. If you use the gym, you will be going to the closed off portion of the gym, and the washroom facilities dont have any working lights. Also the gym was on most days not ready when we arrived, meanng the lights were off, no AC, and no water avaiable at 8h30 AM. Other difficulties, I have a dairy intolerance and trying to get non dairy milk for my coffee in my room took a visit to the manager after 3 days. Also the food is more like a 3 star hotel. I really don't have high standards for food, although for the price this hotel cost (2000$ CA), it is not worth it. The beach cabana rarely had the food I wanted, for example, every day when I would go for a french frie, they no longer had any, and would not have anymore fo rthe day, and this at times at 1PM in the afternoon. SO if you want a bang fo ryour buck, this is not the place.

Luis’s energy around the pool was unbelievable, especially at the pool party. He also drew us a beautiful picture of our pet dog chip which was amazing during an arts and crafts session. Shout out to Benjamin as well who was great.