TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Large soft big bed tables chairs couch Big jacuzzi tub High quality liquor selections Entertainment team was excellent Haybraham was friendly and good at organizing activities. Luis from entertainment team is very experienced and speaks English very well. Luis does a great job managing the gym and keeping it clean and well stocked! He organizes volleyball and other activities and is always smiling and helping everyone have fun!

Disappointing Stay – Serious Issues with Service, Safety & Value We stayed at El Dorado Royal for 10 days in February as a couple, and unfortunately our experience fell far short of expectations. The most significant issue throughout our stay was poor communication and unreliable service. Each block of rooms has a dedicated concierge, who is very pleasant but, in reality, completely ineffectual. Requests were either forgotten or took days to action. For example, we asked for extra pillows early in our stay — they still hadn’t arrived by the time we were about to leave. We also requested that pre-arranged room service (morning coffee) be discontinued, as I had brought my own coffee. Despite multiple conversations, this continued. There was also a serious safety issue. There was a large hole in the ground near one of the swimming pools, which I unfortunately fell into. There was no apology from management. The on-site medic charged US$150 simply to tell me to go to hospital. Four days later, the hole still had not been repaired and remained a risk to other guests. We raised our concerns with both the TUI representative and the chief concierge. The response was disappointing and lacked accountability. Adding to this, we were charged $170 for a Valentine’s meal that we were unable to attend because my husband became acutely unwell that day. We cancelled at the last minute due to illness, yet the charge was still applied. Given that we had only eaten within the hotel during our stay, this was particularly concerning. In terms of food generally, we found it underwhelming. It did not feel authentic Mexican, much of it was served tepid rather than properly hot, and overall it simply wasn’t that tasty. On more than one occasion we felt we could have made better ourselves at home — even something as basic as spaghetti bolognese was uninspiring. The ambience in most of the restaurants felt more like a canteen than a pleasant, relaxed dining experience. Room service options were limited, and none of the restaurants offered takeaway — even at breakfast, which felt unnecessarily restrictive. We also felt there was constant pressure to purchase additional services, particularly massages, which were extortionately priced. The more attractive Bali beds by the pool are not included — you have to rent them. Even the on-site Starbucks costs over £5 per coffee, which feels excessive at an all-inclusive resort. The main pool area was very noisy, with loud dance music and most organised activities concentrated there. If you’re looking for a peaceful atmosphere, this may not be the right fit. The resort’s booking system, which operates via a web-based page (rather than a proper app), was supposed to be used to book restaurants but simply did not work at all during our stay. This made dining arrangements unnecessarily frustrating. In addition, the system was restrictive — we were unable to download any content onto our iPad to watch on our return flight, which was inconvenient and disappointing. We also felt the marketing images on the website are not truly indicative of the current reality of the resort. Overall, this was not the luxury, seamless experience we were expecting. While the staff were generally polite, the lack of effective service, poor communication, unresolved safety concerns and poor management response made this a disappointing stay. This did not reflect the 5-star luxury experience the resort markets itself as.

Giving 2 stars purely on the food and drinks, which are very good, lots of variety available and you will never go hungry. Drink choices are plentiful with international and Mexican options. The bad stuff and the reason for a low score; the sunbed situation is horrendous. This is meant to be a 5 star resort, yet the majority of sunbeds are given to the swim up rooms and members areas. Around the Fuentes pool, I counted 14 sunbeds in total. Some days we had to sit on our towels on the concrete floor. The evening entertainment was a joke, for the first 4 nights there was none at all. They decided to show movies in the main entertainment area, who flies half way around the world to watch a movie. On our last 3 nights, there was a live band on for 1 hour each night. Reservations for the restaurants are extremely limited, we couldn't get anything before 9pm, however when walking past restaurants they hardly seemed full. Reservations are clearly held back for members and the 'big tippers'. This was particularly frustrating on our first night at the hotel, we checked in at roughly 4pm, to be told all restaurants are full for the night and we would have to eat at the family resort buffet or order room service. We booked an adult only hotel, so this wasn't a great start. We tried to order room service, only to find our phone in the room was broken. We then also found that we had no hot water. Overall, this resort just did not live up to a 5* luxury standard. There is clearly a tiered system, and as TUI guests we were bottom of the ladder. I would not recommend booking here.

This review is in regards to our recent visit to El Dorado Royale in Riviera Maya, but it also involves Exotic Travelers, their new Member Services, and Fly-back Mexico. We arrived on Saturday February 7th and were taken to the resort for our 7 day stay. In the past, Grupo Lomas would transport us by Lincoln Navigator but this time it was reduced to a Volkswagen Bus. Being Sapphire Elite members of Exotic Travelers for 12 years, the room was what we expected. On Sunday we went to the Exotic Member’s area on the beach and found a Bali Bed where we were approached by Tony, from Exotic’s Member Services. He explained to us that they were no longer hosting Member Updates in their offices but opted to meet with members in a more casual atmosphere to try and find out what they can do to make their services better, rather than just try and sell us something extra. I explained to him that our trips in November of 2024 and in April of 2025 I processed the paperwork within the 45 day window to secure our Fly-back funds and both requests were denied as I didn’t include a Letter In Good Standing from Exotic, which I wasn’t told Fly-back added. In August of 2025 I received a Letter In Good Standing from Michell Guzman, in the Exotic legal department, with a suggestion to submit to Fly-back explaining to them it wasn’t needed when we signed our contracts. That suggestion was denied. I told Tony I hold Exotic responsible for us losing $4,000.00 since they promoted the Fly-back program and specifically, because we didn’t receive the additional letter for almost a year after it was added as a requirement. Tony assured me that Exotic was in communication with Fly-back and would see what they could do. He also offered a complementary 50 minute massage for my wife and I, and that he would be in touch with further details on Tuesday or Wednesday. Never happened. It appears his visit was merely Lip-Service and Empty Promises! Side note, I was so disgusted with Exotic that last year I canceled our reservation for December 2025 to El Dorado Royale. But let’s continue with this vacation. I was deeply troubled to learn that the Cabana Pizzeria no longer offered gluten-free pizza, or gluten-free hamburger buns. My wife is celiac. They were something she looked forward to year after year. At another dinner reservation we found out that the D’Italia restaurant stopped offering gluten-free pasta. Why go to an Italian restaurant if you can’t have pasta. Needless to say that restaurant is now off the list! Another of our dinner reservations we had was at their new Mediterranean Restaurant. The food was very good and service excellent, or so we thought. It seems that something they told us was gluten-free wasn’t. My wife spent the night on the bathroom floor vomiting. Another restaurant off the list. No matter, there’s always room service… On the menu it instructs to dial ext. 62 to place the order, but neither phone in the room worked! I ended up calling our Butler, Claudio Delgado, who had the night off. He took our order and placed it for us. Claudio was definitely a highlight in our dismal experience! I know Mr. Martinez, who is the El Dorado Resorts, has always expected his resorts to be the finest they could be, let alone have a 4 Diamond rating with Conde Naste, but it appears, they don’t seem to care anymore. Under the circumstances, I don’t know if I want to gamble and have a repeat of this experience in the future.

We are members of Exotic Travel Club and our son and friends utilized our membership at El Dorado Royale at the end of 2025. Upon arrival, 2 rooms were without running water, one room had bugs and a broken balcony door. Dinner reservations were non-existing. The issues of running water and bugs were resolved, but it was not until my son sat in their office that they made some accommodations for these conditions. They ultimately did get into some restaurants. Room service was not timely (2-hour wait), thus they did not use this service. My son and wife had previously utilized our membership a number of years ago and were very happy with the accommodations. It is apparent that this resort is not the caliber it once was, and he was very disappointed and embarrassed to have recommended it to his friends. I reached out to Exotic Travel to get some of their monies refunded for their stay. However, I was not successful in doing so. This is also very disappointing and would not recommend either this resort or membership with Exotic Travel.