Palafitos Overwater Bungalows reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

4.5 Excellent

  • Cleanliness 5.0
  • Location 5.0
  • Rooms 4.5
  • Service 5.0
  • Value 4.5

8475 TripAdvisor reviews

TripAdvisor users rated this property 5 out of 5

Fabulous holiday on stunning beach.

Sarah E (London, United Kingdom) on May 10, 2024

We are well travelled in the Caribbean but this was our first visit to this area of Mexico and the hotel far exceeded our expectations. We travelled with Tui in the premium cabin, well worth the extra and better than BA in my opinion. However Cancun airport was chaos with massive queues and no organisation and would be the ONLY reason I would not return. We had a honeymoon suite on the second floor with views over the pool, large balcony with daybed, table and chairs, easily the largest room we have ever had with seating area with sofas, loads of storage, stocked mini fridge with soft drinks, water, beer, crisps and chocolate. Large bathroom with jacuzzi bath, indoor and outdoor shower and lovely toiletries. Housekeeping superb, room spotless and the evening turn down service was a real treat with music turned on, replacement towels, chocolates and water placed on bedside tables. The fridge contents were also replenished daily. We loved having the choice of different restaurants and our concierge was really helpful in making our reservations. We had breakfast most mornings at Lima Limon after a walk on the beach at sunrise and returned there for lunch. The guacamole and tempura shrimp tacos were excellent. Papitos served a wonderful oriental menu in the evening with excellent sushi and on some evenings a molcajete menu where grilled fish, meat and vegetables are served in huge granite bowels and should not be missed! Main meals generally started with tortilla chips and dips and portion sizes are generous. We also ate in the Italian restaurant and Caribbean Grill, both were excellent but Caribbean Grill was very over air conditioned and was not a relaxing experience as we were cold. The beach is absolutely stunning with powder soft white sand which never seemed to get hot. There were ample sunbeds and excellent bar service to your lounger from the very friendly and hard working staff. Whilst we had amazing hot sunny weather it was also really windy which brought the seaweed in, this was cleared by staff working tirelessly in the hot sun. We didn't use the main pool preferring the Bar 24 pool which we often had to ourselves and enjoyed the swim up bar. You can walk in both directions along the beach, it is very unspoilt with dazzling white sand. My only small complaint was the lack of a defined bar area with adequate seating. The main bar is between the pool and beach with only a few swing seats and some very uncomfortable rattan sofas. I feel this could be improved by providing more tables and chairs as it is such a pretty area in the evening lit up with fairy lights. It would also provide more seating for the evening entertainment which is in the same area. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and would like to thank all the staff who gave us such excellent service and are a credit to the hotel.

TripAdvisor users rated this property 5 out of 5

Another fantastic visit to our home away from home!

Julie B (Gloucester, Massachusetts) on May 06, 2024

Another amazing vacation in the books! We cannot recommend this resort enough – the beach, food, drinks, grounds and staff are absolutely over the top! Thank you to all the staff that are like family members to us that always welcome us back home and for taking care of everything! I will attempt to name everyone but I’m sure that I will have forgotten someone and for that I apologize ahead of time. First, the captain, Agustin, he always makes sure that all guests are welcomed and are treated like royalty. If you need anything, have a question or need a recommendation, he’s the guy! Our butlers, Bernie and Israel were fantastic and took care of any request we had and anticipated some we hadn’t thought of! Also, Marbel, Alex, Victor and Enrique, thank you for always offering to assist us if we need anything and for being wonderful (former butlers of ours) - it was great to see them again. The bartenders and pool/beach waiters, Rene, Salome, Diego, Betsabe, Karen and Felipe are fantastic, remember your preferred drink choices and make us laugh. The beach butlers are incredible, how they cover the length of the beach and the pool is impressive! They really hustle and are so appreciated. Thank you Eli, Manuel and Michely! All the wait staff are excellent, shout outs to Dory, Julian, Bladmir, Endres, Arturo, Jesus and Juan! If you get a chance, I highly recommend sky massages and ask for Whilmar or Eva. We experienced excellent maid service and one maid in particular, Isidoro, was absolutely outstanding!! The entertainment team was very enthusiast and had us laughing during the champagne foam party. This resort is our second home and we have visited close to 20 times and will be back again soon. Thank you Martinez family for making El Dorado Maroma one fantastic resort with staff that are second to none, they truly make our vacations spectacular!!

TripAdvisor users rated this property 4 out of 5

A great beach front hotel

Philip M (Euxton, United Kingdom) on May 06, 2024

From the moment you land there, you can not knock the level of service you get. Cold towels, fresh cocktails on arrival. Escorted around the resort while the bags are taken to the room. Everything is 1st class. We booked a room with a balcony pool. We walked into the room, it was large, well laid out, two person whirlpool bath, double shower, king size bed. But our balcony was directly facing the Italian restaurant, as I stood on the balcony I was near Eye height with all the evening guests facing our direction. No privacy at all. A chat with the resort manager, switched room and all resolved. Credit to the team on how quickly and easily they sorted it for us. Top floor room with privacy. We recommend these rooms, excellent! The beach is probably the most stunning beach I've walked. Well maintained, gromed daily. No rubbish and no seaweed The beach bar team will look after you No matter what you want to drink. The gym is ok, you can get by with it if you train. Resturants The beach from is by far the best. Breakfast at sunrise. Great lunch selection, fresh bbq a few times a week. Evening at sunset is popular. Jesus, he is the best waiter by far. His attention to detail is second to none. Thank you for looking after us so well for the 2 weeks there. The Italian resturant is good, a limited menu. We ate there twice. Steak was OK, not great. Pasta was better. The Caribbean was great in the eveing. Recommendations, the prawns for starters, get two portions they are that good. Sea bass is the best main dish. Ate here 4 times. Warning, the bar man can make the drinks strong, a double is a x4 The Peruvian is average. Wasn't impressed to be honest. Had better in Resturants. Ate at the private resturant on the water bungalows. The quality of the food was great, 5 star dining. Small portions, left us hungry. The hotel shop is a joke, so stupidly expensive. Overall, great holiday Relaxed, got squiffy on the beach, sunrise and set set meals. We'll looked after

TripAdvisor users rated this property 4 out of 5

No Rice in a Caribbean Restaurant !

Joanne H (London, United Kingdom) on May 06, 2024

We visited this resort in September 2023. (Sorry for the late review). We had a beachfront deluxe room. The room was dated and did smell musky. The food was hit and miss. We did like the food being served to us but the food choice was limited. Take the Caribbean restaurant it didn’t have rice on the menu so you could get jerk chicken with potatoes only. This we found odd Caribbean food usually is served with rice. Another thing they constantly tired to sell us a time share thing with the promise of a booking at a certain restaurant namely the one over the water. When they could see we were not interested, they become very unhelpful. The entertainment was hit and miss but did enjoy the magic act, he was brilliant and the Queen tribute. We did enjoy our stay but wouldn’t return.

TripAdvisor users rated this property 5 out of 5

The most amazing holiday!

Kate H on May 01, 2024

We visited El Dorado on the 15th April for 10 days and WOW, where do I begin?! The hotel itself is just beautiful, so picturesque and perfect. Small enough to be to get around but big enough you have your own space. The food, is incredible, the fact we got to choose what we wanted every single day, and it wasn’t a buffet was amazing. Mio was our favourite restaurant by far ?? THE BEACH - hands down the best beach I’ve ever been to. Barely any seaweed, the staff work all morning clearing it, none stop. Fantastic. The white sand and blue sea, is breathtaking. One of the main reasons we will be back. Finally, the reason this hotel is amazing as it is, is because of the staff. The most accommodating, friendly and best staff we have ever had. I could name loads, but people who stood out to us were… Marco - he has the smoothie and healthy van near the beach bar, and he was incredible. He gave us so many ideas on trips to do, he made the best smoothies and never failed to talk to us or smile at us. He is an asset to the hotel, and so is the smoothie area!! Other restaurant / bars staff that stood out were… Leobardo at the beach bar Jesus mio restaurant Manuel on the beach Also entertainment staff are the best ever, big shout out too, Octavio, Alexander, hazael, Charlie, Alfredo, Chris. They did volleyball with us every day, and never stopped! Deffo a highlight of our holiday. I could go on forever, but honestly one of the most amazing holidays we’ve ever had and without a doubt we will be back. Robbie and Kate from England! X

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