Warning: Long review (hopefully informative). My husband and I have been to Mexico 4 times in the last 5 years. We went to Aventura Spa Palace (about 60 min south of Cancun Airport) in 2001 and 2003 and thought vacation couldn’t be any better than that. We were wrong! In July 2005 we wanted to try someplace different - Eldorado Royale Spa Resort. Good thing we did, because we read on Trip Advisor just days before we left for vacation that Aventura Spa Palace got wrecked badly by Hurricane Emily and was expected to be closed well into the fall!.Our our vacation at EDR last year was so fantastic, we booked again for this year, this time booking one of the new junior swim up suites for Oct. 7-14 (last year, we had a Garden View room that was really great, conveniently located right near the main lobby and 2 restaurants.) Seeing some first-hand pictures of the swim up suites from previous vacationers clinched that decision for us.
Our arrival at Cancun airport was less of a hassle this year than previous ones, I think having a passport instead of shuffling around fragile birth certificates and driver’s licenses helped. Also the customs lines were much shorter, and they have been working on modernizing the airport over the years. Unless it was because it was October and there were less travelers (we usually traveled in July), the efficiency of the processing seemed to be greatly improved. Also we had our hotel transfers arranged and paid for in advance with Lomas Travel (excellent car service by the way) We opted for a private car to avoid stopping at numerous other resorts along the way (it’s not that much more expensive than a “group” rate, so we went for it). We were offered cold Coronas by the driver (nice start!). When we arrived, we were greeted by smiling and friendly EDR staff members, one who took care of our luggage, another who presented us with a tray of cool, moist fragrant washcloths to freshen up after the trip, and still another one to escort us to our concierge, who greeted us like we were old friends, and brought us chilled champagne. It only got better from there! Shortly thereafter, we were whisked off to our room in the golfcart, along with our belongings.
Our suite had the Jacuzzi for two, a firm kingsize bed, complete with towel art and flowers, lots of closet space, TV, mini fridge, etc. and a spacious bathroom. But the best was when we stepped out of our sliding door out the back -- onto our tiled patio, down 2 concrete steps that wrapped around the edge of all our swim up suites, then onto a shallow water ledge where your sunchairs go…and last, but not least, a lazy river about 5-6 foot wide and about 4 foot deep. We had indeed arrived at Paradise!
We were in the 5400 Building complex and had many fantastic neighbors from day 1 (there was a large contingent from the UK at EDR, and we were told that this time of year is more reasonable for them to travel. Most of them came for a 2 week vacation- lucky people!). We made friends quickly, and hung out with some of our neighbors often. We even enjoyed waiter service in our lazy river. The drinks were incredible! (May I recommend the Mango Margarita??) We had many options for swimming, relaxing and sunning ourselves…the lazy river lead to Las Fuentes pool and swim up bar, and the beach was only several hundred feet away from our room. But most mornings and a few afternoons, we opted to stay by our room. There is also a nice swim up bar and pool near La Isla restaurant, a smaller one between La Isla and the main lobby (Tucanes), and of course, there are numerous Casita swim up pools to enjoy, and a salt water pool, which by the way, is cool to observe the attractive fish in! Friends we met from Scotland were actually giving the fish little pieces of banana and the fish seemed to enjoy it!. Truthfully, I think all the pools were a bit salty…but no consequence to us.
We took advantage of room service several times during the week (breakfasts and an afternoon snack). All were delicious, very fresh and nicely presented. El Cocotal was our preferred place for breakfast out (they have buffet and menu) ; La Isla was OK. We tried the snack bars too. La Cabana was delicious, and so was the food at the snack bar near Las Fuentes, which was new, but service was a bit slow there —even for Mexican time! Oh, don’t forget to try the Healthy Bar (near the Casitas section) the smoothies are devine! We also had dinner reservations for D’Italia, twice with La Carreta, La Fondue, JoJo’s, El Cocotal, and Kampai. All the dinners were a work of art (especially the desserts!) We opted not to try Las Fuentes as we heard many disappointing reviews from people that ate there. Maybe by next vacation, they might work the kinks out! By the way, do try to make all of your dinner reservations ASAP. If you have the option of making them online, better yet.. We made only 5 out of 7 reservations in advance, and it was a little dicey to make the last 2 after we were there, plus we tried to adjust our reservation to have our friends join us. That turned out to be more of an effort than we anticipated, but the concierges did their best to make us happy. We gave them an “A” for effort!
The beach beds are a delightful refuge from the blistering sun, but as mentioned by many, you have to be the early bird to get one to use. We had no problems as we are early risers, but truth be told, most of the time we only really needed it about an hour or so, tops, and usually late morning/early afternoon. Too bad there wasn’t some type of fair rotation so everyone could enjoy it for 2 hour intervals to let more people have a chance to use it. Anyone have a suggestion regarding that? There are many more beach beds on the Casitas section side, but that is exclusively for the use of the guests in that section (as you will see on the signs in the casita areas). However, the restaurants, the use of the beach and the pools/swim up bars I believe, are fair game, at least for a little while longer.
Now we didn’t just eat and drink ourselves silly, we also did a good deal of walking from one end of the resort to the other. We intended to snorkel one day but always seemed too busy so didn’t happen. We also considered a bike ride (try the jungle tour if you can, we did that last year and it was pretty cool seeing the alligators!) but it was a little too hot to ride.We took advantage of a sunrise couples massage (with mimosa drinks afterward!) and it was worth it. The breeze coming off the beach was delightful and the view was equally as splendid.
Most people commented on the beach not being so hot. I have to admit it was a bit rocky, and the sand bags in the water are not the most attractive, but I wasn’t planning on spending my whole day in the ocean and frolicking on the beach, so it was OK with us. The rest of the resort more than made up for a less than perfect beach!
The Guacamayas Bar was great to hang out in at night with the daily shows, the great drinks and the open air atmosphere. Many daytime staffers perform in the nightly shows. I don’t know how they work all those hours and still have a smile on (so please appreciate them!) If you are going to experiment with drinks you’ve never tried before, do it at an AI resort such as EDR, at least if you don’t like it, it doesn’t cost extra! We loved sitting on the swings in the bar instead of at a table. It’s not like a wild dance club you might find in Cancun or Playa, but it was fine for us and our “new” friends. Very laid back and fun, but not insane. The last night we were at Guacamayas , a couple that had just gotten married that afternoon on the beach had an informal wedding reception right next to the bar, and we danced a bit with the bride and groom, their parents, and other friends and family, who were from the UK. Because it was especially warm that night, most of the wedding party took a dip in the small swimming pool where their tables were set up around. We opted to stay dry though! We congratulated the couple and thanked them for letting us “crash”! Isn’t it funny how you can mingle with people you have never met before when you are on vacation, and most people are cool with it? I guess people are in a more relaxed frame of mind when on vacation, and are there to just have fun, just like us.
We also visited the Martini Bar a few times, we even had the husbands order Jalapeno martinis to see if they could drink them, it was quite entertaining! LOL The chocolate martini and the Pink Lady were quite tasty, as were the Cosmos. They had a huge TV screen, where we casually watched a little soccer and some baseball in between conversation.
All too fast, Saturday came rolling around, and the thought of going back home to 50-something degree weather was too much to bear. We had a 2 pm flight, and had to be in the lobby by about 11 a.m. Our driver came to greet us and escort us to the car, and when we got outside, we were amazed to see our ride was in a Lincoln Navigator stretch limo that took up most of the length of the curb. So we drove back to the airport in style! It did help make leaving a little easier! Thank you again, Lomas Travel!
I know many Casita visitors raved about their accommodations (some even made it sound like the rest of the resort was for “commoners”) and I have no doubt their rooms and amenities were magnificent, but I don’t think you will be disappointed no matter where you stay at EDR. Every type of accommodation has its advantages, and you will enjoy them. We will be back again, and again! So if you have any apphrehensions from a few reviews by travelers who seem to find fault wherever they go, ignore them and have yourself the time of your life!
We would be remiss if we didn’t give credit where credit was due…To Pepe and Carmina in Concierge Services, thanks for taking good care of us! Also to Julio, the best bartender in all of EDR (Las Fuentes pool bar!), Gaby in La Carreta restaurant, she is very sweet, and also Raul at JoJo’s (he takes politeness to a whole new level!) Actually just about all the staffers, from the waiters to the spa attendants, the bartenders and various other staff members, thank you all for making our stay most pleasant!
And last but not least, to the wonderful new friends we made while we were here: Sharon and Ivan from Scotland (looking forward to getting together in March), Kurt and Jessica from St. Louis MO (hope your honeymoon was full of good memories!), also Mark and Kelly from Minnesota; and Sharon, Martin (aka “Tom”), Rob and Jane, all from England, thanks for making our stay the best ever!
Tips- Tile floors & patios can be (and ARE) slippery when wet or damp, so be careful! One of our neighbors had 2 incidents of slipping.
Take lots of sunscreen -- it’s very expensive in the gift shop (and you may need higher SPF than back home). The sun in Mexico is much more intense than you think! A hat helps too.
Bring lots of singles! Tipping is not required or expected, but when we felt they deserved it, 1 or 2 dollars here and there for meals, or bar service, was appreciated. These people work sooo hard to please you! We tipped more for massages, car service etc.
