Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

We enjoyed our time here very much. We stayed in a two bedroom residence for a long weekend. The residence was clean and modern, complete with a spacious well stocked kitchen and comfortable living area and balcony that overlooked the ocean. The resort community is expansive, and we enjoyed riding around the miles of paths on the resident golf cart to check everything out. The beach is protected by a jetty and not crowded at all. The landscaped paths are beautiful, and the staff is friendly and works very hard to keep everything looking perfect. The service is a bit slow at a few of the restaurants and there were a few small glitches ordering groceries and booking a car, but other than that we were really happy with our stay. (Side note, I hope the wooden bathroom door gets fixed at the spa, because I was stuck in there for 10 minutes. I luckily had my phone with me to text staff to be helped out. The door swells in the humidity, which made it difficult to open lock from the inside. They need a better design, as I was told this happens frequently).

A fantastic resort in a picturesque location. Beautiful rooms, great service, excellent amenities. We had a terrific 5 night stay here. Pros: - Beautiful, spacious, well appointed rooms. The ocean front views were amazing. - Outstanding staff - Easy access to the beach from our west beach room - Very kid friendly ocean swimming - Beautiful pools - Great dining venues with sufficient vegetarian options (except for Coa dinner; they could do with some more vegetarian options) Cons: - Getting to the hotel lobby / restaurants was a bit of a trek from our room. Hotel golf carts / shuttles were hard to organize. - The copious amounts of bird poop on our terrace furniture (and terrace generally) wasn’t ever cleaned during our stay which made the space hard to use. - The Ambajadors were hit or miss in their attentiveness / response times to questions in our WhatsApp chat; after a couple days, we sort of just stopped using it. We would definitely stay here again.

A Beautiful Property, But the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Experience Has Clearly Declined As a repeat guest, I want to be fair: Dorado Beach is still a beautiful property, and there are still team members who are kind, hardworking, and doing their best. But there are a lot of small, meaningful changes that are very noticeable if you have stayed here before. Unfortunately, those changes add up, and the overall experience no longer feels consistent with the Ritz-Carlton Reserve standard or the price point. The most obvious issue is service. The experience feels like it has been redesigned to be more “efficient” for the hotel, not more luxurious for the guest. In practice, that appears to mean fewer staff and less attentive service. During my most recent stay, even members of the pool staff acknowledged that service is being impacted. One example: it makes absolutely no sense that a guest has to get up from a pool chair to order food from Positivo. At a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, poolside service should be seamless. Guests should not feel like they are chasing service at this level of property. There are also noticeable cutbacks in the room and bathroom experience. The luxury amenities are not what they used to be. Yes, I am specifically talking about the exfoliating sponges and other small touches that made the bathroom feel elevated. These may sound like minor details, but at a Reserve property, the details are the product. More concerning, the towels and robes had a mildew smell. That is below the standard of any serious luxury hotel. At a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, it is completely unacceptable. I have also seen other recent reviews and comments raising similar concerns about inconsistent service, cleanliness, slow response times, and the feeling that the property is not delivering at the level guests should expect for the cost. I agree with that sentiment. For the price, the service is lacking and has fallen over the last few years. Part of the issue may be that the hotel is only one business operating within a much larger property. It feels like the broader development is increasingly focused on the luxury home buildout, while the hotel guest experience is not receiving the same level of attention. That may be good for real estate, but it is not good for guests paying Ritz-Carlton Reserve rates. The golf experience also does not match the pricing. The West Course is well maintained, but it plays more like a very nice public course than a nearly $400 luxury resort golf experience. Dorado Beach still has beauty, history, and potential. But repeat guests can feel the decline. At this price point, the property should not simply be beautiful. It should be exceptional, consistent, and effortless. Right now, it is not.

Hands down one of the vacations. The staff go out of their way each moment to greet you with warmth. Make sure to get a popsicle (they’re a daily treat). We will be back. Thank you to all staff and management.

Need to share our amazing 25th anniversary stay at the Ritz Carlton Reserve! It all started days before with their personalized email wanting to ensure we take advantage of the hospitality and hotel features. It was our 25th anniversary celebration. We had gotten married there in 2001, and the place was as magical as it was back then. The beach is unique, thanks to Mr Rockefeller, with its 'pocitas' and cristal clean sand/water. Ms Fanny ensured my wife was impressed upon arrival to our room... we had 25 photos of our wedding and our lives journey hanging on balloons, champagne and an incredible anniversary chocolate cake. Road bikes, sunrises and sunsets, etc - Food was the best - breakfast our favorite, service is above and beyond with our 3 ambassadors, Chen, Trent and Ingris. It is the best stay ever! Upgrading to the west side of the hotel is worth every penny. God permitting It will be our anniversary getaway from now on.