El Dorado Royale, a Spa Resort - All Inclusive- Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

17850 reviews

• 

  Fraudulent charges at checkout!

  I would like to share my experience to warn other travelers. The first time I visited I went alone which shielded me from some of the manipulative tactics used by this resort. I purchased a "deal" they had upon check out that included discounts on spa services and a free excursion plus a small discount on the overall stay. The resort food and room was mediocre. The beach is not that usable. The manipulation tactics were over the top. Upon arrival for my second visit we were ushered to a room after waiting in line after a big groups check in. Giving the illusion that you are "special". You are given room keys that are bracelets. I personally feel this is just another tactic. It signals staff. You are lured into a presentation by offers of a romantic beachside dinner and a free couples massage saying there is no pressure and that it will be only 90 minutes long. We fell for it hook, line and sinker. The presentation felt like used car salesman tactics so we ended up leaving after two hours passed. We got our "coupons" for our time and went on our way. Not allowing the manipulative tactics to continue. We continued our trip and upon check out we noticed multiple FRAUDULENT CHARGES. Mind you we have literally 30 minutes until our ground transport arrives to take us to the airport. The fraudulent charges exceeded 700 dollars. The spa tacked on charges for full price massages, a facial never received, and tips we never authorized. We paid over 400 dollars in tips in cash while we were there. Inflated prices on excursions etc. The front desk stated I had to go to the spa to figure out the charges as time is ticking away until the ground transportation is set to leave. It was a nightmare. I had to make demands and hubby had to get help from the member services. They also hold your luggage as collateral. You are given a ticket after checkout to get your luggage from the bell man. As a side note. Good luck getting dinner reservations. All restaurants require dinner reservations. You are given an app to make dinner reservations with none available. I just feel sorry for the people who actually have bought into this nightmare...

  Feb 08, 2026
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  Another wonderful week with a few snags

  This is our seventh visit to the casitas at Eldorado Royale. We truly love it here and are returning next February. The resort and flora are maintained in pristine condition. The restaurants are excellent in fact some of the menus I’ve been greatly improved. We love Italia Casitas, Santa Fe Grill, Kompei for dinner. La Isla and the Palms are wonderful for lunch. A water pipe broke in our room but the Casita Concierges changed our casita to one of equal quality. Big shoutout to the Casita concierges for their efforts this week despite theirs and our frustration with the Housekeeping Dept. this year! Several times towels and shower gel were NOT replaced. Despite the concierges’ efforts to request these items, housekeeping did not bring us what we needed for over 3 hours. In fact, several times they told the concierge that they had brought us what we needed, when in fact they had not. One time our room had not been made up and it was 3:30 in the afternoon; housekeeping told the concierge that they had made up our room and only after the concierge came to our room and took a photo to verify was the room finally cleaned. Despite these inconveniences, we are still returning. This is the first time this has ever happened and we hope the last.

  Feb 08, 2026
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  It Was Okay but Won't Return

  My husband and I just returned from 5 nights at the El Dorado Royale. My best description of our week was it was just okay. The check-in process is slow and frustrating to stand in a line after you have been traveling for hours. We did have a great room location in building 41 and our room was clean and met our needs. The shower head was broken so we had to prop that up to make it stay all week. The bed was comfortable and we didn't have any issues with noise. One of the biggest frustrations was the restaurants and making reservations. You were either stuck with early reservation times (cuts into your beach/pool time) or eating super late. I also found most of the food underwelming. While it wasn't necessarily bad, it certainly didn't "wow" us. The exception to this was Fuentes where the food was outstanding! I also struggled with the drinks. I'm normally a pineapple juice/coconut rum drinker but they did not have real pineapple juice...it was a artificial syrup and it was NOT good. I did settle on palomas mid-week and those were consistently pretty good. Also, the chocolate martinis at the martini bar were delicious! We do not mind walking so the size of the resort did not frustrate us but the lack of signage when walking around did. And the tiny map they provide is basically worthless when trying to navigate around. The grounds are truly beautiful and we did enjoy walking around and seeing the wildlife. We spent most of our days at the pool and we wished they would have had more sun and less shade. It was cool the week we were there and we felt like we were constantly trying to find patches of sun. The lack of pool chairs directly around the main pool was also frustrating since most is bali beds that were empty. The entertainment was fine during the day but would have loved more games, etc. The evening entertainment was dull! Apparently there was an issue with the entertainment company so the shows were not happening. So they played a few movies. And we did not find any live music anywhere in the evenings. We did enjoy the bike ride to the jungle but make sure you have bug spray! We did enjoy our beach day at Maroma and the food at that buffet was awesome. The staff were all friendly and welcoming. It was a relaxing week but we just feel the cons outweight the pros for this resort so we would not return. For what we paid for the week, the value was okay but I would rather pay a bit more to get the things were we lacking!

  Feb 05, 2026
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  Sunbed lounger unacceptable

  We are here today. Room 1204. The pictures speak for themselves. Completely unsuitable for a 5-star club. Unheard of. We contacted them; they were supposed to offer us a deal through a sales agent, but we received nothing. Have a good day.

  Feb 04, 2026
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  Honest Review

  Honest Review Jan 29th- Feb 6th, 3026 Room 1015 My husband and I choose a different resort every year to celebrate our anniversary. This year we chose Eldorado Royale after researching and reading reviews. We are Canadians and very low key travelers. We booked the package via WestJet vacations. We indicated it was an anniversary trip and requested a king bed room. So far I am extremely disappointed with our stay and will highlight the issues and end with some positive points. Bad- Upon arrival there was no welcome drink or cold towel which is advertised in their list of ‘more inclusive’ features (not a big deal but goes to inconsistent service we have experienced thus far). There was a line to check in and the process took some time and we didn’t feel particularly welcomed. You will get a weekly activity print out however there is no information on where the activity is located. For example-bike tour at 930 but no idea where it leaves from. Room has 2 double beds even though we requested a king and it was our anniversary Soaker tub dated and lots of stains on jets so we aren’t going to use it. Garbage from previous guest(s) in nightstand drawer. Shower has black mold. Dark on pathways and difficult to find anything especially if you’ve never been to resort before. We noticed many quests using their flashlight on their phone to navigate pathways in the dark. As we just arrived there were no options for supper without reservations other than the pizza place by the main pool which only offered 4-5 choices of individual pizza. Nothing else on menu such as salad etc. Hard to read paper map they provide you and you will need to scan the QR code to figure out reservations for other evenings. We can’t find an app associated (maybe it’s just us) but we have to rescan the QR code every time to access reservations, room service etc. No explanation at check in that you need to see your concierge outside your building to book reservations as an alternative to the QR code. Can’t book all restaurants at one time for the week (3 at a time with QR code) and good luck getting anything before 9 pm. We saw our concierge and they were of little help. Told we couldn’t book anything else until Sunday as they decide that day which restaurants will be open. When we asked to book a day trip to Moroma beach we were told we’d have to go to main lobby to secure a spot. We went to lobby to book that however you can only book one trip at a time therefore if you want to go more than once you need to come back from your first trip and then you are allowed to book again. Mexican (Rincon) restaurant second night was the worst food we’ve ever eaten. The steak was a really nice cut however was inedible based on the flavoring they added (over the top pepper). Soup was extremely salty and very small portions. We left hungry and I was almost in tears because of how disappointing our first supper was for our anniversary. As other reviews indicated you need to wake up around 6am to put a towel on chairs by main pool to get a spot. We got up before sunrise and found a spot by beach which is our preference. We double checked with a bartender to make sure it was okay to sit there. After the gym and breakfast we went to the spot and were asked by staff to move as the chairs were for members only. There was no sign we could see. By this time there were zero beach chairs and zero pool chairs so we laid on the beach on our towels which was frustrating and disappointing. Nothing special done in our room for our anniversary even after tipping our room cleaner and mentioning it to check in staff. There is a strong smell on pathways intermittently which caused me nausea. The only way to describe it is propane gas, sewage and pesticides. We noticed it was worse by pathways in behind casitas. I had to buy gravol which was 33.00 US at gift shop. Beach isn’t beautiful due to large rock installations however we knew that from reviews and there are small areas you can get in to swim which we did. You need to request (not sure how yet) to have mini fridge restocked. We ran out of water so we requested via the QR code app and it never got done. After numerous attempts to call front desk and room service phone numbers (no answer) literally no one picks up the phone. By 9pm we walked to front desk and we were told to go to the martini bar in lobby has cold water bottles. We noticed a pile of garbage (napkins etc) on floor of martini bar. Room service booking is disappointing. If you book breakfast at 8am expect it to come at 9am and cold. Both times we ordered the food was late arriving and cold. You can NOT get food at any restaurant and take to beach. We wanted lunch to have on the beach (one of our fav things to do at resorts). We waited in a long line at the pizza place as it was only one close to beach and once we got served we were told we had to eat it there and we were not allowed to take it away. Expect to wait in line ups even if you have reservations for restaurants. Lots of smokers at resort so be prepared to sit on beach and be in a cloud of smoke from time to time and cigarette butts in sand. Staff at health bar was very unfriendly it felt like we were a royal inconvenience. Gym has equipment which is blocked off with caution tape and there is no sanitizer spray to use once you are done using a machine. 7am is a busy time at the gym so expect to wait to use machines. You can hear music from pool, weddings and entertainment (base of music) in your room. We are very fit and enjoy walking everywhere but if you have mobility issues this is NOT the resort for you. The golf carts are around all the time however watch out as they drive super fast and you’ll get hit if you don’t pay attention. Some of the bathrooms/toilets by beach aren’t clean and don’t have toilet paper restocked. Coffee in main restaurants and room service is weak. Coffee shop isn’t open all of the days. Good- Friendly bell hop took us to our room via golf cart. Nice view of garden from room. Beds are comfortable. Vegetation and grounds are beautiful. Breakfast at Santa Fe is amazing. Supper at Asian restaurant was good however long line to get in even with reservations. Beach towels are nice and plentiful. WiFi is excellent. Drink service at beach was decent which we weren’t expecting to get served on beach so this is very nice. Room cleaned daily. Drinks are amazing quality Some bali beds on beach are free just make sure you aren’t sitting in members only area and you’ll have to ask other guests as we couldn’t find any signage. Bali beds at pool are an extra cost. No bugs. Security at beach with machine gun to keep resort safe. Most staff are super friendly which is one of the reasons we chose this resort but not all. Hot water and AC in room work perfectly . Maroma beach is definitely worth the trip! Handy information Bring a jacket and sweater to have in the evenings and at restaurants. Gets quit cool at

  Feb 02, 2026