Honest Review Scott,Christi,Phil,Kim,Keith,Candi STL MIssouri
We were a group of three couples, ages 26-32. We arrived at El Dorado Royale on Jan. 26, 2007 and we stayed till Jan. 31, 2007. I would love to say that everything was just wonderful, but then I would be lying. So, I will tell you the good and the bad in list form.
Check In: We were greeted by our Funjet rep and received champagne upon arrival. This was pretty much their way of assuring that you would use there services when booking any off resort excursions. While checking in we were offered a room upgrade to a Casita, which we took and for the extra $400, it was more than worth it. I feel that the people in the Casitas are treated a lot better than the rest of the resort.
The Rooms: Our Casita was awesome. It had a private pool area, with swim up bar, a private cabana on the beach with waiters bringing drinks, a Jacuzzi tub with a glass surround overlooking the ocean, a regular shower and tub, an outdoor shower that is totally great, and a balcony with table, chairs, and a hammock, great for relaxing in. The room was attended to three times a day and always fully restocked with beverages, although sometimes warmer than wanted. The only bad experience we had in regards to our Casita was that on our first night we were in the middle of a romantic sea salt and bubble bath and our whole area of the resort lost water for about 90 minutes. Also any time we showered or bathed we felt as if we were in the middle of the ocean because the water coming out of the faucets was so salty.
The Beach: The beach is very rocky and kind of dirty, lots of trash floating around, but nice enough. There is one spot worth snorkeling, unfortunately it is were the rental Sea Doo’s come in and out, so you need to be careful. I would bring water shoes if you plan on any in water activities.
Rental Gear: WORD OF CAUTION! Bring your own gear. The so called all included rental gear is in horrible condition and the attendants running the rental hut treat you like scum unless you are there to rent a Sea Doo, go parasailing, or spend money. They are completely rude and the resort needs to control them better. Same goes for the bike rental, we signed up for the jungle bike tour, but the bikes they saved for us were broken, so we couldn’t go.
Service: During the day the service at the resort restaurants was amazing. Fun and happy- go-lucky, everyone was very upbeat and wanted you to have fun.
WARNING!!!, During the night the service drops off completely. You will encounter rude wait staff, cold food, and extremely slow service. On average it took us two to three hours to eat dinner each night. All the food was okay, and none of us ever got sick. It is just really overdone and less than fulfilling. If you ask for two entrees, they treat you like you are stupid and try to show you how to order. Even if you explain that you still want two entrees they only bring you one. We found that the reason for dragging out dinner so long was because there was nothing else to do at night, but go to sleep. Also when you arrive, make sure that you make all you dinner reservations for the week.
Room Service: Because we were in the Casitas and good tippers, we always got great service. Room service was like a lifeline to normal food. The menu isn’t great but good enough to keep you from starving after a horrible dinner. The morning room service was not always correct but was always good, unless you enjoy maple syrup on your pancakes. Apparently there is a syrup shortage at El Dorado. We encountered this every day; apparently it must be considered the nectar of the Gods, because getting just a small amount of it was like asking for their first born. Otherwise room service was good.
TIPPING: I know it says,”tips are included” and a lot of the Europeans and Canadians at the resort were not tipping at all. We found that tipping greatly improved our chances of having a good time and improved our service by 100%. Although at night, all bets were off and service, even with tipping, was bad. The group I was with were huge tippers, but for the average Joe, $1 or $2 will go a long way in Mexico.
Nightlife: Short and sweet. There is none! Except for one ping-pong table, and the swing bar that is so filled with yuppie cigar smokers, you can’t see through the smoke or breathe. And the stage show is great if your ninety-two.
Off Resort Excursions: We did several off resort excursions. Make sure when making your plans, you are very exact, with the times and places you want. We had a whole day ruined because of this problem. Also plan on spending more money for your excursions from El Dorado, than most other resorts. Because the resort caters to a more upscale crowd, they tend to charge more than most other resorts do, for the same thing.
Bugs and Swamp: Every night during our stay we slept with our balcony open and never had a problem with bugs, although they were present and you could see them on the drapes or walls, they never bit us at all, or even bothered us. We also used the mosquito nets at night, maybe that helped. As for the so-called swamp everyone is complaining about. They are Mangroves; they are nature’s sewers. They keep the area around all the resorts from flooding and backing up with sewage and are necessary.
Overall, It is what it is: The resort is more for an older crowd; we all had fun every day, but each night was like being tortured. I suggest that if you are planning a stay at the El Dorado Royale, you better like going to bed early, because after you sit and have a nice three hour dinner with bad service, you will probably be a little on edge and need to sleep off your anger.
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