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EL DORADO ROYALE - Trip Report !!!


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Posted by Mark in Atlanta on June 25, 2000 at 17:02:27:

My wife and I just returned from EDR having spent a great week there (6/17 thru 6/24). Like most people we had concerns about the completeness of the property prior to our trip. However, the resort is up and running very well. It is not functioning perfectly, but the staff appears to be trying to do everything they can to make the guests happy. I'll try and describe as much as I can, and I'll be happy to respond to questions.

THE POSITIVES

First of all, we thought that the staff was incredibly friendly and attentive, although there is somewhat of a language barrier as some of the staff no habla ingles at all, it seems.

The rooms were nice with marble (or marble-like) tile floors, excellent air-conditioning, large jacuzzi tubs by the patio door, hammock on the patio, limited satellite TV (about 12 channels), an open shower.... Nice, but nothing too lavish or spectacular.

The pools were nice and they have shallow areas in which you can put your lounge chair and be partially submerged. Two of the three pools that are open have swim up bars. The beverage service at the pools was great.

The food is very good. The largest restaurant "La Isla" has quite a selection. Ask for the "El Dorado Especial" which is lobster, grouper, and shrimp. I think that they have this only on Fridays, but we asked for it on Thursday without a problem. Ask the head waiter, Geraldo, who resembles a thin Erik Estrada. Also, the two waiters who really went above and beyond were Miguel and Jesus! The other two restaurants also had good food. Service at all three restaurants was generally very quick...although there were not that many people there right now (about 50-75 people this past week I would guess).

The free massages were great. Guys ask for Anna. My wife says the ladies should request Juan Jose. The spa is supposed to open July 1st...I'm pretty sure that it won't!

The grounds are in pretty good condition. Even during the week more landscaping was added. You can see from the pictures posted by Jim (I think that my wife and I are caught in Jim's 12th picture by the pool).

They have hidden the construction pretty well. We really didn't notice much noise at all. There are workers completing the interiors of Buildings 300, 400 and 500.

Room service was very good. Just remember to speak clearly when placing your order. We would order about 12-15 bottles of water, a six pack of Coke, and a six of XX Beer every couple of days to keep stocked in the refigerator in the room.

The hotel has a security staff that walks the property 24 hrs a day.

There is daily free shuttle service in Cancun leaving EDR at 10:15am getting back at 5:30pm going to one of the shopping areas. There is also a shuttle into Cancun (every night?) departing 9:00pm and returning 1:30am. We didn't go on either of these.

There is a Lomas Travel concierge (Santiago) in the main lobby who is very helpful.

During our week's stay the sea kayaks arrived, the snorkeling gear arrived, sitting tables and upright chairs arrived, trash cans arrived,

THE NEGATIVES

I'm sure that EDR is working on the following items:

Limited beer and brand name alcohol selection.
Beer could be colder (sorry, I might be whining a little with that one).
The Italian and Mexican restaurants are poorly air conditioned...very stifling with little air flow.
No tables by the pool lounge chairs to put your stuff on to keep dry and oof the ground.
The beach is unswimmable...too many rocks.
Snorkeling is OK, not spectacular like Xel-Ha.
The open shower floods the bathroom.
No a/c or exhaust fans in the bathrooms...gets very hot with a hair dryer going.
No towel service by the pool.
Cannot obtain change in US currency at the front desk, only pesos if you need to.
The water is OK to drink, however, it did have a slight brown tint to it and appears to have an elevated salt content. Stick with the bottled agua for drinking!
We were told that a cab ride to Playa del Carmen is $20US round trip per person. You would think that EDR would have some sort of daily shuttle service!
Beds were hard as concrete, but were OK.

All in all we had a great time as our mission was to stay put and chill out for 7 days by the pool and at the beach. It's relatively uncrowded now and the staff was very attentive and friendly with good food and plenty of adult beverage. Most everyone else we talked to last week seemed to be having a good time.

One last comment: Given all the items yet to be completed I feel that we should not have paid full price for an incomplete property.




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