El Dorado Casitas Royale, by Karisma

Best dinner we’ve had at El Dorado was last night at D’ Italia. Just outstanding!!! Our compliments to Chef Vincente & Sommelier Fabiola! We loved this gourmet meal. This was a five star meal with first class service and great ambiance. Highly recommend this restaurant and resort.

Having spent our last two Mexican vacations at the more upscale Xcaret Hotel in Playa del Carmen and the Grand Velas in Nuevo Vallarta, we were perhaps expecting too much of the El Dorado Casitas Royale. This is a middle-market hotel, which we didn’t understand from the glowing TripAdvisor reviews. During our visit in April 2021 the vast majority of guests were from Texas, with a median age of around 40. We are 30 years older than the mean. The El Dorado Casitas Royale was built in about 2005 and has been well maintained. The overall resort spans nearly 1.5 miles of white-sand beach, but not safe to swim. Our Casita on the upper floor in Building 27 was very spacious, with a comfortable terrace and Bali bed, plus a powerful and very private outdoor shower. The housekeeping was exceptional, with a complete change of linens every day, and very comfortable bedding. We didn’t leave the resort during the week that we were here. We spent most of each day on a beautiful Bali bed with thatched roof and white drapes, right on the beach. Jorge gave us exceptional and very friendly service, with towels and drinks from the adjacent bar opposite Building 28. At that bar, we got smiling service from Jonathon, but it is worth noting that the alcohol is not premium. The included Chardonnay wine was drinkable. This is an all-inclusive resort with no children permitted. We enjoyed breakfast at either La Isla or Cocotal. The former is open-air and table service only, while the latter is indoors and one can choose from a wide assortment from omelet, fruit, bread, cooked food stations. We enjoyed lunch at Kampai, convenient to our Bali bed and beach bar. It feels incongruous to have Asian food in Mexico, but the quality was very good. We also enjoyed lunch at The Palms, a beach bar in the adjacent Generations resort, at no extra cost. There are many other choices, but we preferred to stay near our Bali bed. We enjoyed dinners at: - D’Italia Casitas – an upscale Italian restaurant - Santa Fe – a cavernous steak and seafood restaurant - Rincon Mexicano – a classic Mexican restaurant - Fuentes – a live cooking theater – a bit hokey but excellent five-course menu at a small supplement, plus the option of a wine-pairing Our two concierges were very friendly and helpful. Make sure that you make your restaurant reservations upon arrival at the resort. Transportation around the resort is on electric buggies, which come at least every 20 minutes and often more frequently. Most of the time we enjoyed walking along the ocean front. We love the Mexican hospitality! All the staff at the hotel had great smiles through their masks.

My husband and I went here for our honeymoon and we had an amazing time! The facilities were all very nice and clean. The staff was super friendly and helpful to our every need. Would definitely recommend to others and look forward to going again!

We’ve vacationed at El Dorado resorts for 10 years and have always been impressed. The Casitas were amazing. The swim up room was fabulous and our butlers, Enrique and Ivan, were the best butlers we’ve had in 10 years. We really enjoyed our pool butler Isaac too. The stay exceeded our expectations!

food, drinks and grounds were impeccable! room cleaned perfectly every day! Only issue was jacuzzi in room did not work....and the TV developed some interference after it was on for about an hour. turning off and back on would eliminate the problem. thanks for nice anniversary trip!!