El Dorado Casitas Royale, a Spa Resort - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9952 reviews

• 

  Definately not the resort it used to be!

  We have just returned from spending a week at casitas Royale and was very disappointed. We have been visiting Eldorado Casitas now for over 20 years and it used to be a lovely place to stay with lots of amenities, activities and choice of varied restaurants. We visited in 2023 and found that the restaurant choices were very minimal but accepted this as everyone has just come through covid, hence visiting again in September 2025. Unfortunately on this visit it became apparrent that the downturn in this hotel was not down to covid as this visit was much worse with very limited food choices available other than mainly Mexican food. We were also disappointed to learn that La Isla and Cocotal are no longer opens for dinner either leaving a very small selection left to choose from as we tried to get in other restaurants but there was either no availability or they were closed. Santa Fe was closed two nights out of the 7 nights while we were there so we ended up eating a lot at the Market place in Generations which was very nice but we didn't pay to stay in Casitas to have to go to Generations and eat buffet food. Also had issues with our room the shower head would not stay up and the shower leaked through the door and flooded the bedroom, we spoke to concierge and the shower head was sorted but she said the door would need to be taken off so they would supply us with extra towels to put on the floor to mop up the puddles. The hotel occupancy was very low (36% according to concierge) yet we didn't even get offered a change of room instead we are told to "put towels on the floor"which is totally unacceptable. We didn't receive the extra towels and went to concierge again who arranged for extra floor mats to be left which they did leave two but the cleaner removed them the next day and we were back to square one. Site cleanliness isn't great as a set of toilets at the beginning of the Casita section were not cleaned once while we was there, wet tissue all round the sink, no toilet rolls in either cubicle and a half full bin. These rooms are extremely dated and tired and really need looking at for the price it costs to stay at Eldorado Casitas, I can only assume this is why the site is so empty these days as people are seeing this and choosing other hotels. We also tried to relax on the beach (not concerned by the large rocks in the water as we appreciate this is unavoidable with the erosion) but did expect to relax but all we had right by us was gardeners strimming, mowing one was blowing leaves, hosing the paths, painting the wall edges and all this was being done in the last few days of our trip as reps were due to visit. We also had the tractor going up and down for most of the day and reversing right along side our loungers near room 3001. Our room cleaning was very basic and not once in the whole week were our floors mopped, turndown was hit and miss and bar restocking was hardly non existant as we were constantly going to reception to request bottled water. Lastly I was very saddened to see that the cat huts, food and water was derelict, I am a cat lover and was heartbroken at how thin the cats were as there is no food for them anywhere which again there was in 2023 so we fed them whilst we were there but devestated at having to leave them in those conditions. All i can say is sort out your rooms, look at you restaurants as most hotels have much more and better restaurant choices and for pitys sake start looking after the cats on your site as they are starving and very neglected. I contacted the hotel and was informed they are part of the CatCafe programme but when I contacted CoCo's Animal Welfare they informed me that they do not have a CatCafe programme with El Dorado Casitas Riviera Maya and have not had for many years so shame on you El Dorado Casitas for giving false information to make yourselves look better !!!!!

  Oct 01, 2025
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  Sept trip

  Great time. The staff, food, ambience were all wonderful . Sea weed still heavy in several places but not Resorts Fault Butler Alondra and David were exceptional.

  Sep 28, 2025
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  A 4* Honeymoon at a 5* price

  I really did my homework before booking, don't ignore the negative reviews- THIS IS NOT A 5 * HOTEL. I will keep this review as concise as possible, some positives outweighed by one big negative. On arrival, friendly reception, easy check in, consierge great, thanks letty and esmerelda for your errands! Our room was clean and like the pictures, nice touches with banner on the door and sparking wine complimentary of our honeymoon. Rooms: spacious, cleaned daily, restocking of mini fridge was hit or miss, had a slight ant issue...couldn't turn the air con off so I slept under a thick blanket at night. The hotel is at 30% occupancy so feels very quiet and in turn limited, only certain pools are open. Alcohol doesn't taste premium, lots of ice and flat mixers used. Pool swim up area lovely, our bar man was very grumpy and refused to play music some days and seemed very unhappy to be asked to do pretty much anything, he just stood in the corner of the bar (under the cameras) on his phone. Night time entertainment pretty much non existent, what was on at the "big show" was in my opinion somewhat amateur. I wasn't aware of any other entertainment throughout the day despite what was advertised. The hotel is tired but still the setting is beautiful, the views are fabulous and the wildlife is great to see. Our biggest issue was the evening food, we tried over the first 4 nights all the restaurants except for the Italian....the menu was not to our taste particularly but what we did have was either salty, greasy or dry. We dont eat seafood, pig tongue, cow cheek, bone marrow etc so my advice is look at the menus of the restaurants before booking....We really struggled with the food and decided on day 5 to check out and find somewhere else for our remaining 5 days that had food more to our liking. When we asked to do so we were promised by the hotel manager Francisco that if we tried the Italian, spoke to the chef and the food and Beverage manager about our food preferences they would endeavour to find something that we could eat, we agreed and so we did that night we went to the Italian and was met by Ruben the F&B manager, spoke to the chef, I think Rebecca and was served by Edmar. Perfect! We had a simple capreze and a rare fillet mignon steak. Honestly, we didnt want to eat the same meal every single night but we knew we would at least enjoy it! Thank you to Edmar, Ruben, Miguel and Rebecca for the enjoyable meals we had on those nights and the above and beyond service. When the italian closed on the Wednesdsy, we went to Francisco and asked if we could have the same meal upstairs in the Steak restaurant...Francisco says not possible. The steak restaurant one flight of stairs above the italian was not allowed to serve us the same steak, yes a steak house was not able to serve steak, the reason is its "a different speciality", a debate on this obvious disparity ensued. Frankly Fransisco, you are rude, obnoxious and obstructive. What could have been a simple fix on your behalf turned into a fight for us to get a meal we could eat. Considering we were on our honeymoon, your apprent 5* standards and the price we paid I'm sure this oversight and in turn negative experience and review could have been avoided. Francisco claimed to be the highest of the managers I could speak to, if this is the case....you could have accommodated a simple, reasonable request. WONT BE COMING BACK, LIKE MANY OTHERS WE SPOKE TO.

  Sep 27, 2025
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  No longer that wow factor!

  We did enjoy the time away. It is still a beautiful resort and the grounds are well kept. Staff was friendly and the restaurants were very helpful and concerned with my wife’s dietary restrictions. In most cases the restaurant staff offered the chef to prepare a meal to meet her dietary needs. Most of the restaurant’s menus have limited selections of main courses compared to the past (maybe four of five). The food was not near as delectable as the past. I considered it as just okay. Some restaurant menus have additional main courses for additional upcharge. Some of those upcharges for entrée were $100.00 USD each! Casitas were unmaintained and have the same furniture that we had ten years ago. The love seat had no padding left in the cushions and was difficult to get in and out of. It felt like you we sitting on the floor. In room dining chair cushions were thread bare and stained. Overall, the Casitas were in disrepair and unkept from leaking shower to lack of hot water and towels. Drapes were old and didn’t close completely. Washcloths and hand soap seemed hard to come by we had to request them twice. As to the check-in process we were encouraged to buy a timeshare which we declined. We were also told at check-in that management would not allow them do anything in celebration our anniversary because we did not provide them with our marriage license (been good to know before we went). Finally, the webpage app for the all-dinner reservations etc. has a lot to be desired and really is not user friendly and just annoying for a cell phone. At check-out the sales pitches started all over again to pre-pay your next vacation. Overall, I would say the resort has a long way to go to get back to a five-star status. It was nothing like what we experienced in the past visits. Most other guest that we spoke with that had previous visits felt the same way and they were told the same thing as us that the owners were trying to reduce cost. The value for the food and service is no longer there. The constant up selling was just overwhelming! I have much more to say but I think you get the idea.

  Sep 17, 2025
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  MI EXPERIENCIA / MY OWN EXPERIENCE

  En cuanto a las habitaciones, muy bonitas; nos encantó que hubiese jacuzzi dentro. Como detalle a mejorar, el refri bar no tenía chocolates, solo papas, cervezas y refrescos. El primer y segundo día desayunamos en el restaurante Market y el buffet estuvo increíble, al igual que el servicio. También visitamos para desayunar el restaurante Palm y estuvo bueno; sin embargo, el jugo de naranja no era natural y al solicitar un poco más de queso cottage el mesero nos comentó que ya no había más (cosa que en un hotel 4 Diamantes no debería suceder). Para el lunch fuimos al restaurante tailandés. Me gustó la temática del lugar, aunque la comida la calificaría con un 6/10. Lo único que realmente me gustó fue la entrada de camarones y el postre, que era un rollo de frutas. En cuanto al servicio, no fue ni bueno ni malo: únicamente nos sirvieron agua y no nos ofrecieron bebidas hasta que preguntamos. El mesero nos comentó que no era su función y que otro compañero pasaría a tomar la orden de bebidas. Por la noche cenamos en el restaurante italiano con reservación a las 9 p.m. Desde que llegamos, el mesero nos recibió con mala actitud y nos pidió ordenar todo de una vez porque el restaurante cerraba a las 10 p.m. y era lo único que podíamos pedir. Pedí una Coca-Cola de lata con un vaso con hielo y me dijeron que no era posible, ya que el capitán del restaurante había ordenado que todas las bebidas se sirvieran desde la barra, lo cual no tiene ningún sentido. La comida fue muy mala; de todo lo que pedí, solo me gustó el pollo a la parmesana. En cuanto a los postres, el crème brûlée estaba malísimo, al igual que los demás. Definitivamente no regresaría a este restaurante. Otra cosa a notar es que los carritos tardan muchísimo tiempo en pasar. Siempre tardábamos 15 o más minutos esperándolos. Si me tomé el tiempo de hacer este resumen de mi experiencia en el hotel fue por algo. Espero que se tome en cuenta y que, si llego a regresar algún día, esto no vuelva a suceder. As for the rooms, very nice; we stayed in room 626 and we loved having a jacuzzi inside. One detail to improve is that the minibar did not have chocolates or a variety of snacks—there were only chips, beers, and sodas. On the first and second day, we had breakfast at the Market restaurant and the buffet was incredible, with good service. We also had breakfast at the Palm restaurant and it was fine; however, the orange juice was not natural, and when we asked for a bit more cottage cheese, the waiter told us there was no more (something that should not happen in a 4-Diamond hotel). For lunch, we went to the Thai restaurant. I liked the theme of the place, although I would rate the food 6/10. The only things I really enjoyed were the shrimp starter and the dessert, which was a fruit roll. As for the service, it was neither good nor bad: they only served us water and did not offer drinks until we asked. The waiter told us it was not his responsibility and that another colleague would come to take the drink order. In the evening, we had dinner at the Italian restaurant with a reservation at 9 p.m. From the moment we arrived, the waiter greeted us with a bad attitude and asked us to order everything at once because the restaurant closed at 10 p.m. and that was all we could order. I asked for a canned Coca-Cola with a glass of ice, and they told me it was not possible since the restaurant captain had ordered that all drinks had to be served from the bar, which makes no sense. The food was very bad; out of everything I ordered, I only liked the chicken parmesan. As for the desserts, the crème brûlée was terrible, just like the others. I would definitely not return to this restaurant. Another thing to note is that the carts take a very long time to pass by. We always had to wait 15 minutes or more, and during vacation you don’t want to waste time waiting. If I took the time to write this summary of my experience at the hotel, it was for a reason. I hope it is taken into consideration and that, if I ever return someday, this does not happen again.

  Sep 14, 2025