I booked an Ocean View Room but was only able to see a sliver of the beautiful blue water. The room was nice and well kept; however, the sliding doors to the balcony lock behind you if closed. Yes, we were locked out of the room on the second floor balcony ready to repel down using the hammock. We yelled to staff but were ignored. Finally some guests alerted staff that we needed help and our door was drilled open and we were saved. Staff said, there is a sticker on the door that reads do not close but I looked after he said that and there was no sticker. It seems silly to let the AC run out.

Unlike the other all inclusive resort that we stayed at in Jamaica it was hard to decipher what was included and what was extra. In Jamaica watersports such as Kayaks, sailboats, etc etc were included. In addition, rafts to lounge in the blue sea were available. There was none of that here.

The food was OK.

If you are adventorous, I highly recommend the
All Tour Native - off track Adventures
We took the tour of Coba which is the only Mayan structure that you can climb up. The tour was a whole day in which you kayaked, repelled down a cliff, ziplined through the jungle, swam in an underground fresh water ? and finally explored the ruins. The guides were great! We were picked up at the resorts front door in the am and dropped off in the pm.

We arrived at the EDR on August 26 2007 & stayed 8 nights. The people were very friendly & the service was great. Plenty of food & if you are still hungry order room service (my husband did almost every night). The grounds were very nice & they had plenty of room around the pool & beach area. Breakfast was not over the top-but dinners were very nice. The only thing that was a turnoff for us was the large black sand filled bags that covered the beach (prevents the beach from eroding away). But it messed up the view of the ocean-but hey gotta do what ya gotta do. Friday-was topless day since it was an adult only place. We had a swim up conected to the pool (very nice when you've had a little to many & too much sun.

My husband and I stayed at the El Dorado Royale for our delayed honeymoon. We were there from July 31-Aug 4 in a garden view jacuzzi jr. suite. Since we were more than 30-days past our wedding date, we were not able to take advantage of any of the special upgrades or offers that other couples on anniversaries or honeymoons are given, but that didn't matter to us at all.

I'll start with the room. It was very clean and looked exquisite. We loved the canopy around the bed and the huge walk-in shower. The jacuzzi tub was very comfortable for two as well. I will say that the floors are very slippery when wet, so be careful. We were on the first floor and did not notice any noise from neighbors. The bed was very comfortable, and there is a nice patio with a hammock to relax on if you want to be outside. Our minibar was restocked daily with soda and water, which was convenient to grab as we headed out the door for the beach or a trip. We were also very close to everything. Our room was a 2 minute walk to the main building, La Isla pool/restaurant, and the beach. I have read complaints about Casitas stayers having more perks, but we did not experience any problems at all. The Casitas seemed very removed from the main part of the resort and were pretty, but we enjoyed our smaller room just as well.

We were able to eat at several of the restaurants while there, but not all of them. Our first night there, we went to the Red Carpet Night at Fuentes and enjoyed it. The performers were really fascinating. We didn't care much for the cooking show, but they had several circus acts and dancers that were good. We also thought the live band was amazing. We also ate at Fuentes for breakfast several mornings because we like the size and variety of the buffet. Our favorite meal was at D'Italia. They have an excellent mushroom risotto, ravioli, and a pear dessert that is to die for. My husband also highly recommends the appetizer with the duck. We also had the opportunity to eat at La Isla, JoJo's, La Cabana, and El Cocotal. We enjoyed to the food at all of them. The portions at each restaurant are not large, so don't be afraid to order several items. While we didn't try Kampai or La Fondue, some friends we met there said that they enjoyed both those restaurants - but they were not favorites. Probably depends on what you are in the mood for at the time. I would make one recommendation on the restaurants for dinner. We typically ate between 6:00-7:00, so there weren't problems with waiting for tables; however, if you eat later, plan on waiting to be seated. We went on a day trip one afternoon and didn't get to dinner until 8:00. We had to wait an hour that night to be seated for dinner. After that, we only went to dinner early and had no issues with waiting. There was also room service available 24/7. We usually had an afternoon snack of fruit and nachos, which hit the spot. We also ordered supper one night. It was okay, but we both preferred the selection and quality of food in the restaurants to the room service menu. A note on tips - they were not expected, but the staff that gave us great service (D'Italia, La Isla, maids, and bellboys) really appreciated the tips that we provided in appreciation for their services. We didn't feel it was necessary, nor did we see an increase or decrease in our service based on tips. The staff did respond with lots of excitement and enthusiasm to those who could speak some Spanish though. We noticed how accommodating they were to a bi-lingual couple we met on the trip. My husband and I felt it was because many of the wait staff in the restaurants did not speak much English, so it was easier for them to meet your needs when you could speak their language. We never had trouble with the service, but it was an interesting difference to see!

Now, on to the drinks. Drinks were very good at all of the bars in our opinion. There wasn't anything that we asked for that we were not given, and they were all well made from the swim-up bar in the pool to the Martini Bar and the drinks served with meals. I have read people complain of the drinks being watered down, but we did not notice a problem with that. We did drink a lot of water along with our tropical beverages due to the heat, but we had no complaints with the quality or quantity of liquor in the margaritas, daquiries, or pina coladas - of which we drank many.

We enjoyed many drinks on the beach and spent a lot of time there rather than at the pool. The beach is not the most beautiful in the area, but we made the most of it. We actually liked the sandbags because they made great wading and snorkeling areas that protected you from the waves and wind while you were in the water. There is also a bit of a natural reef starting to grow on them too. The water was very warm and comfortable, so we spend two days playing in it. The beach near the Casitas seemed rockier to us that the beach by JoJo's. All the damage, we were told, is from a hurricane in 2005. Besides the beach, we spent at least two days lounging at the La Isla pool. We got a bed both days by going around 10:00. We weren't right next to the water, but that didn't matter to us. The swim-up bar was great, and they also had people that would walk around through the beds to take drink orders. We also liked this pool because it was close to three places to eat for lunch. You were not allowed to eat around the pools, which helped keep them very clean and beautiful. It wasn't an issue for us because you could leave your towel on the bed, throw on a shirt, and get some lunch or a snack, and then you could go right back to your bed. We also took advantage of some of the activities near the pool - ping pong for us. There were lots more activities near the Fuentes pool, but we like the laid back atmosphere at La Isla pool.

The resort offered activities daily and in the evenings. We went to the karoake contest at Los Guacamayas one night. It was fun, but we didn't stay long after the contest was over. The live band was okay that night. During the day, we went on the bike tour. Bring your bug spray for this! We went around the grounds, through a back entrance to a spot where they have a natural mangrove area with catfish and crocodiles, and through a short jungle path to a ranch with horses and monkeys. The ride was not visually stunning, but we felt like it was a good work-out. We were interested in the Latin dance lessons, but we didn't make it to these or the cocktail mixing. It was nice not to feel pressured to do anything!

I also want to mention that we made two small trips off the resort. First, we took the free shuttle to Playa del Carmen one night. It was interesting to see the night life and poke around the shops, but we were not that impressed. We bought a few t-shirts, but the prices were not very competitive in our opinion. We heard this from others traveling with us that night. However, one couple told us later that the tours offered in Playa del Carmen were more reasonably priced that those offered at the resort. I will also say that the free shuttle service from the hotel is only available M-F and you must book it on your day of arrival. I didn't like this because I felt like it limited some of our options for other days.

The other trip we took was to Xel-Ha and Tulum. We ended up having about 2 1/2 hours at each place, which was not enough for us. Next time, we will likely take a taxi to Playa del Carmen and ride the collectivo for about $3 to Xel-Ha for a day of snorkeling and playing in the water. It was truly beautiful and fun. I think the ticket price at the gate for an all day, all inclusive pass was only $75. The other half of our day was spent at Tulum - which is about 10 minutes away from Xel-Ha. Tickets at the gate are only about $5, so we wouldn't spend the money for a tour next time. In fact, you could spend half the day looking around at the ruins and half the day on the gorgeous beach at Tulum. It was a truly stunning view. We loved both places, but felt very rushed on this day. In retrospect, we wouldn't book a tour, but would go back to each site. We also met some couples that recommended Coba as a neat Mayan ruin. We didn't meet anyone that went to Chichen-Itza, but I heard the bus ride was 2 1/2 hours just to get there! I have also heard people say they rented a car and found it relatively easy to get to several of the sites offered as tours.

We enjoyed our time at the El Dorado Royale and look forward to visiting this part of Mexico again in the future!

We stayed at EDR from May 17-24 to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary. We booked an ocean front room (#4011) through AAA for about $4,500. We chose EDR based on the reviews from Trip Advisor and because it was adults only.

As my rating would indicate, we had a great overall experience. This was our first time in Mexico (we don't count Tijuana) and our first all inclusive trip.

Pros: Food, weather, and daily activities (especially water polo).

Cons: Inconsistent service, and Montezuma's revenge.

Since we've never been to an all inclusive resort, and only had 7 days, we decided to skip most of the excursions. The only time we left the property was to take the free shuttle to Playa del Carmen. We also did the EDR jungle tour, and participated in the daily activities to help pass the time.

We tried every restaurant except the fondue place. The anniversary package was included with our stay, so we had fondue with our candlelight dinner on the beach. BTW, the candlelight diner is not worth the extra $$$ in my opinion. We are pretty picky eaters, but we thoroughly enjoyed the food at every restaurant we tried. We both thought the portions were adequate. The only negative experience we had was at the Italian place. The service was awful. Tops on our list would be the Asian place, followed by the Mexican and pizza lunch spots. There were at least two occasions when we were running late for an activity and we able to eat lunch (w/ a beer or two) within about 20-25 minutes. The only time we actually had to wait to eat was at the Italian place, but it was only about 20-30 minutes.

We spent most of our days at the Fuentes pool (aka the active pool) although we did wake up early one day to stake out a spot at the main beach. BTW, be careful if you swim in the ocean b/c some of the sandbags have razor sharp corral on them. There's plenty of beach and sand at the main beach, but not so much elsewhere. If you want cabana beds you will have to get up early. We didn't mind using the lounge chairs, since we didn't want to wake up early and spent most of the time in the pool anyway. The swim up bar was a popular place, I only wish they had a better beer selection (only 2 choices).

I liked our room location (second floor) because it was so close to the "active pool" and the swing bar. We visited the casita section, and while I'm sure they're very nice. it seemed too far from the main resort activities. We walked everywhere without any issues, but it did seem like the were plenty of golf carts to shuttle people around. Our room was spacious and had an excellent view from the balcony. We had some plumbing issues and we lost power during the day once. Our AC leaked constantly and if you leave the sliding door open with the AC on the condensation will cause the floor to become very slippery. The main drawback to our trip is that we both "lost" 2 days each b/c of stomach issues. Add that to the time it takes to actually unwind on vacation and you can see why a 7 day trip wasn't enough. The concierge/timeshare thing wasn't a problem once we told them we weren't interested. We tried room service a couple times with mixed success.

Nighttime activities are somewhat limited, and after a night or two at the swing bar you get tired of hearing the same songs. The live events were nice, but it wouldn't hurt to get a DJ or at least change the play list every night.

The weather was great our entire stay. It rained one day for about 5 minutes and that was it. The temperature was about 85-90 with clear skies. The resort didn't seem crowded and waiting to be seated was never really an issue.

Overall, I would recommend staying for about 7-10 days and make it a point to at least try all of the restaurants. We had some of the best service at the lesser restaurants and vice versa. Try the daily activities at the resort, and don't be afraid to talk to the other guests. We met a bunch of great people, but not until our trip was almost over. Finally, read the other reviews and don't focus on the negatives too much. For up-to-date information about the resort check out the forum section on trip advisor.