El Dorado Seaside Suites

This resort is portrayed and sold as a 5 Star TUI Blue Flagship. You will be disappointed if you believe that, 3 Star - at best. We have been to many 5 Star Hotels with TUI, all fine over the years but this was the poorest quality we have experienced. Room was meant to be an upgrade as I had requested a low floor. If this suite was an upgrade then I hate to think what the other was like. Room: Very tired with many damaged fixtures and fittings. Mouldy and filthy beds. Broken marble tops to furniture with sharp edges. Broken tiles on stairs to split level sleeping area No overhead light in seating area. Broken glass on coffee table along with unsightly rings from glasses. Broken marble lamp table, turning round no use as damaged on other side too. Outside room: Immediate walkway with very many broken and damaged tiles, more broken than not. This led to a Filthy path that had not been cleared in many a long time. Pool area: Dirty and cracked or chipped tiles that were never cleaned. Tables in the area were not cleaned down overnight. Broken and damaged tiles and fittings in shower areas. Two large pieces of pool flooring was damaged and had sharp edges. Cleaning staff in this area were observed emptying sanitary bin barehanded into a plastic bag. Worse, they then proceeded to clean the sink area without washing hands. Bars & Restaurants: “The Bar” Guacamayas, considered the main bar area had Four (4) tables each with Two (2) seats. That’s it, the remaining seating was on rope swings - hardly suitable for elderly guests. Some of the facilities were not open during our 14 night stay. The “Clay Talay” ($25 pp supplement) was very ordinary with no uplift in the food quality or menu options to justify a surcharge. Service was very slow. “cullinariam” restaurant was meant to serve both A La Carte Breakfast and Dinner - not open for breakfast. Beach: Most of the length of the hotel is separated from the sea by a wall with warning signs not to cross for safety reasons. The beach area at a far end was not useable due to bulldozers clearing rotting seaweed- so much for the crystal blue waters advertised. The beach bar and BBQ restaurant at this location - closed. All in all a very poor show from El Dorado and TUI If it is 5 Stars you want, you won’t find it here!

Read a few negative comments before the trip which I feel gave a negative view of what is actually a lovely hotel. So I will do an honest review. We arrived at night to a lovely reception, welcome drink and nothing too much trouble. Staff excellent on reception and the buggies to take you around if needed. Buggy took us to our room and carried the cases up. Nothing too much trouble. This is a big complex - we utilised the facilities on both sides. The entertainment team - big shout out! Great upbeat and enthusiastic staff. One side is very upbeat and booming - the other side more relaxed. Tui rep on site very friendly. Booking restaurants was a bit hit and miss but we did get in at the Italian which was really nice. We tended to utilise the Culinarium restaurant (the food is to die for and service is excellent) or the English pub both included waiter service and we never waited longer than five minutes. Beach BBQ a great spot for eating. There are two main buffet restaurants only tried these in the day as preferred a sit down meal at night. The bbq evening with the fire show was outstanding, you do not need to pay for a table, they will try to sell you one! The seaweed was if full force and the staff tried their best to clear it. Be aware this is a losing battle. The number of pools more than made up for the seaweed! Gaviotas swim up bar was out favourite. Bar staff fantastic. Tipping is welcome but not essential, sometimes we forgot to take cash out and it really made zero difference to the service Just a negative - our room was so damp, the rep said about leaving air con on and keeping the door shut which we did but it really was unpleasant. I suppose we could have complained but we spent very little time in it. Looking back I think I should have asked for a swap. A warning, on arrival the airport is chaos, the baggage handling is dire. Overall an amazing totally chilled holiday.

Overall a nice property with a very attentive staff. I would consider staying again provided the member pricing was good. This was our first stay at an El Dorado property after the Karisma break up - things have changed (some - not for the better). The Good: The property was very nice and the rooms were well cleaned. Butler service was excellent and helped us completely avoid all the dining reservation issues that others report. Our Premium swim up suite was perfect and the extremely low occupancy rate made things very quiet and relaxing. The Not So Good: The food is not great. It is comparable to mid-level cruise ship food. If you are looking for the "gourmet experience" of the past ... it is gone. The exception is the premium dining at an added cost - these were very good ... but pricey. Also the Italian restaurant was very good .. the others ... were "ok" - the Gourmet Pub was gross. Also, because of the low occupancy – the Vegan restaurant was closed. This was upsetting as we had a vegan in our group and we were looking forward to it. All in all, there was an attempt to try to accommodate a vegan diet with food allergies. But like most resorts in Mexico, there is a VERY large lack of understanding of the difference between Vegan and Vegetarian. The workers, unfortunately do not understand and it's frustrating. I can't count the number of plates that came with meat or allergy issues. Overall, everyone tried to make it right, but if you're vegan or have complex food allergy - prepare yourself for the hassle and bring lots of patience. The Terrible: Obviously this property has very little usable beach - if you're coming specifically for the beach and you don't have an Emerald level two-story condo with a private beach area, don't bother coming here. Our group was OK with this and was not an issue for us at all. But the real problem is the seaweed/sargassum . It's usually left in piles to rot on the shore and on some days when the wind blows in just the right direction, the resort smells like rotten sewage. They do have a few people working to clean it up, but this is just for show. There is no real attempt to actually solve the problem using a large team of manpower like other resorts do. Maybe there are larger teams at the Seaside Suites or at Hidden Beach ... not sure as we did not go to either of those. Regardless of whatever answer is given by the resort that this problem is being worked, it is not being worked in a meaningful way at all.

We have been here a number of times and sadly this may be our last. The Good: The staff here have always and continue to be the nicest and most helpful you will ever meet. The grounds are immaculately maintained by a team of hard working, knowledgeable and very polite staff and there is rarely a leaf out of place. The Bad: Firstly, and this is not the hotel’s fault, but the seaweed problem is the worst it’s ever been meaning nobody was able to go in the water and the beach had a smell of bad eggs despite the constant efforts to get it cleared. Talking to others it seems that the sales team will lie openly to your face to try and convince you to buy a membership. The food used to be classed as Gourmet Inclusive but sadly the menu choices have reduced enormously and the quality and quantity have reduced as well. The Gourmet Pub was very poor yet again producing lukewarm food that wouldn’t make its way onto a cheap pub menu in England. Don’t get me wrong, some of food here is fantastic such as the Asian food served at Klay Talay and the Mexican food at La Caretta but other food is often inconsistent with food on the plate not matching the ingredients on the menu. With the occupancy down at 20% the hotel has closed most of the restaurants and just left one or two open each day. Again, I understand the reasoning given that it’s so empty but people have paid a lot of money for a hotel claiming seven restaurants, and of those seven two have been closed for the last year at least due to building damage. Not surprisingly the evening entertainment is also much reduced but that was also the case last time I was here when the hotel was pretty full. Finding a beach bed was easy given the low occupancy but sadly the beach waiter service was poor at best and virtually non existent on some days with cocktails never tasting the same twice. In summary: This hotel charges top price for gourmet food and one of the best beaches in Mexico but sadly it has neither of those anymore and frankly, it hasn’t for the last couple of years. I would love to come back because the staff work so hard and are incredibly friendly but I can no longer recommend it to friends and family at 5* prices. I also fear that unless the management recognise the issues they have and do something about them then I expect the hotel to be closed within a couple of years and that’s a real shame.

These people are amazing , always happy to help and with a smile . Concierge Bebany was excellent, in the Collinerium restaurant , Lorena manager was the best we've ever come across and the food there was the great , Victoriano was incredible with his service and smile . If you get the chance on Monday night , you need to see the Rollercoaster band . Girl singer was all go for 90 mins with a great voice , guitarist was sensational and the drummer was awesome , far and away the best group at a holiday destination we've ever heard . All in all great , the only downside was the mountain of seaweed that gathered on the beech , which halted any thought of swimming in the sea .