For my 30th birthday, Tom and I spent ten nights at El Dorado Royale Spa Resort by Karisma in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was my second time in Mexico and we were thoroughly impressed by the beachfront resort, so I couldn’t wait to share my review!
We chose the hotel because it’s adults-only, it’s on the Caribbean coast of Mexico so we were guaranteed warmth during what can only be described as the most depressing month of the year in the UK, and because there are ten restaurants in the resort.
Food is a big part of travel for me, in case you haven’t guessed from my previous posts!
The thing that clinched it for me, though? El Dorado Royale was once voted one of the Top 100 Hotels in the World by Condé Nast Traveller. Decision made.
I’ve also stayed at another El Dorado hotel closer to Tulum. You can read my review of El Dorado Seaside Suites if you’re stuck trying to choose between the two resorts.
My review of El Dorado Royale Spa Hotel by Karisma
The first thing to know about El Dorado Royale is that it’s on a site neighboured by two more resorts, which together form one large, ultra fun resort.
Watch my full-length video tour on YouTube
As you walk along the beach, you’ll come to El Dorado Casitas Royale. This is a slightly more swanky accommodation option with private pools or swim-ups but as far as I know, you still get the same access to resort facilities as you do at El Dorado Royale.
Beyond Casitas lies Generations. This resort is child-friendly and although we could use their restaurants etc, they couldn’t use ours.
Travelling to the hotel
The transfer from Cancun Airport to El Dorado Royale was an easy one – it took around 30 mins and the drive is basically one long straight road.
We travelled with TUI but I recommend booking a private transfer to potentially save hours waiting around for other travellers on your first day. Check prices for Cancun Airport transfers here.
Check-in was quick and friendly. We were given welcome drinks, then a bell boy took us to our room via golf cart so we didn’t have to drag our bags around the resort.
The room at El Dorado Royale Mexico
We stayed in a Luxury Junior Suite, which we were very happy with. It was on the second floor of a two-storey building but there were ground-floor options.
The room itself was spacious, there was plenty of storage space and the bed was vast and comfortable.
The most impressive thing about the rooms are the huge jacuzzi baths, which are separate from the bathroom. Unfortunately I didn’t get great pictures because it was dark when we arrived and we immediately made a mess!
There are various upgrades available for rooms – you can choose from beachfront rooms, which personally I wouldn’t bother paying extra for, for reasons I’ll explain soon, and swim-up suites.
Tom and I enjoy the atmosphere around the pool so we never opt for a swim-up.
The pools at El Dorado Royale
There are no fewer than six pools in the well-tended grounds of El Dorado Royale and the majority of them have swim-up bars.
We spent most of our time at the main pool, which is lined with luxurious bali beds and regular sun loungers.
On Saturdays, there’s a foam party at the main pool which is a lot of fun!
Behind the main pool’s swim-up bar, you’ll find a smaller pool which is much quieter. It seemed to be the place people would go to read and relax.
Of course, you can also sit at the pools in the Casitas part of the resort. They have more of an exclusive feel, so you can almost pretend you’re at a boutique retreat…
The swimming pools were all quite cold. Though I have very few qualms about this hotel, the water temperature is one of them! Still, it’s… refreshing on a hot day.
The beach at El Dorado Royale
Had the resort not been so amazing elsewhere, I might have been a little put off by the beach. It’s well looked after and there are bali beds and loungers lining the entire stretch, but the view is somewhat obscured by concrete boulders in the shallows.
This is part of an ongoing reef project, so the good it’s doing for the natural environment makes it hard to complain about the spoiled view.
To compensate, there are some very Instagram-friendly instalments along the shore.
I was thrilled to find that there was a ‘natural pool’ at one end of the resort, so even on days when the sea was rough, I was able to have a saltwater swim. Nothing like it!
Hotel bars at El Dorado Royale
Okay, now on to the important stuff. The bar staff are great at this hotel. There’s a decent cocktail menu on display at all of the swim-up bars, but you can go off-piste and order your own favourites or ask the bartender to whip you up their signature concoction.
Pretty much everything is covered in the all-inclusive package alcohol-wise, except for the tequila cream cart and the cocktail cart they roll out sporadically to serve drinks in pineapples.
You can also pay 8 USD at Coco by the main pool for a coconut, and then you can keep going back for unlimited refills. The Coconut Mojito is heavenly!
I thought the house wine was drinkable, which makes a change from my experience at most resorts. The sparkling wine is very sweet, so you may struggle with that if it’s your usual tipple.
The Martini Bar in the lobby is ideal for pre- or apres- dinner drinks and they have the best selection of premium spirits.
There was also a gorgeous bar on the beachfront at Casitas that we enjoyed for sundowners.
Sometimes we enjoyed it so much that we didn’t make it to dinner…
TIP: At most of the bars, they’ll give you the cheap stuff unless you ask for the brand of alcohol you want specifically. Be vocal about your preferences.
Dining at El Dorado Royale
There are ten gourmet restaurants at El Dorado Royale, which blew my mind.
One of the many things I don’t love about all-inclusive holidays is the buffet meals, so I was keen to experience a la carte every night.
#Although there is one buffet restaurant at this resort, we didn’t set foot inside it until our last day – and that was just out of curiosity.
I was a bit disappointed to find that the Fish Market which takes place some days on the beach comes at an extra charge. We would have happily paid extra to enjoy a slap-up seafood dinner with our feet in the sand, but it didn’t seem worth it at lunchtime.
Breakfast
We ate breakfast at La Isla pretty much every day. The menu is predominantly Mexican so it was fun to try new dishes, but you can also go for lighter options like yoghurt with fruit or pancakes.
We also tried Santa Fe at breakfast time but we didn’t love sitting indoors when the weather was so nice, and we popped into the buffet on our last morning.
The breakfast buffet had a lot of choice but, probably for health reasons, the staff have to serve you the hot food. I felt like it took a while so it wasn’t ideal.
Lunch
There’s a casual eatery next to the main pool that serves yummy pizzas and tacos every day, so we usually wound up there.
Sometimes I went to Kampai for sushi or there would be a pop-up burger stand where you could grab a bite to eat on your sun lounger.
It isn’t possible to order food to eat by the pool at this resort and I heard a few people complaining about that. The pop-up street food stands are the easiest workaround if that’s something you want to do.
Personally, I liked that the lack of dirty plates around the pool kept the place clean and hygienic.
The best lunch we had was actually on our last day at La Isla. The fish tacos were the tastiest I’ve ever had, and Tom ordered a melt-in-the-mouth beef short rib that we both tucked in to.
We tried the Tiki Bar over in the ‘exclusive’ side of the resort but only once – the options are burgers, hot dogs etc.
There’s also a Health Bar that serves smoothies, shakes and juices which is fab for gym bunnies. I didn’t set foot in the gym but Tom went once or twice while I was at the yoga class and he thought it was well-equipped.
They serve healthy light meals between 12 and 6 at the Health Bar. This came in useful when we came back from our horse riding trip at 4pm and couldn’t find anywhere else that was still serving. I had a delicious salad and Tom had a wrap which he enjoyed.
Dinner
TIP: Visit your concierge on your first morning and book your evening meals. It’s often difficult to get a table without a reservation at the resort’s restaurants and you have to book ahead, although it didn’t impact our stay too much.
We actually went to the Italian twice without a booking. The lasagne is excellent!
Kampai is the Pacific restaurant. It offers Asian soups, sushi, noodle and rice dishes plus Thai curries. It was one of our favourites and my only criticism is that they serve the same menu at lunch as they do at dinner. I was hoping for more variety.
Our standout dining experience at El Dorado was Fuentes.
You pay 15 USD per head for this ‘culinary theatre’ experience, plus 5 USD for the wine pairing. They don’t tell you about the wine pairing fee when you book, so I thought it was worth mentioning.
However, I do absolutely recommend paying it, because the wine was beautiful. We were also served a beer that had been exposed to Mozart’s music! Fancy.
We booked Santa Fe for my birthday meal and paid extra for Argentinian steak and a lobster tail. Our expectations were high and it was nice but not exquisite, so we left feeling a bit deflated.
The Indian restaurant over in Generations is a must-try, as well as La Isla for an authentic Mexican meal – although I do think their lunch menu is stronger than their evening offering.
Entertainment and activities at El Dorado Royale
El Dorado boasts the most scheduled nighttime entertainment that I’ve seen at any resort. They had everything from rock shows to DJs, acrobats to Mexican fiesta themed nights.
Unfortunately, it took us most of the holiday to adjust to the time difference so we were in bed early more often than not!
Luckily, there was more than enough going on at the hotel during the daytime to keep us occupied. My favourite activity was the (almost) daily 8am yoga class, while Tom played about 56 games of beach volleyball.
The entertainment team at the hotel are fantastic – especially Fernando, Victor, Miguel and Isobel.
You could choose from bike tours, interval training on the beach (I swerved that one), water polo, dance classes, tequila and mezcal tasting sessions, water aerobics, cooking classes, Spanish classes, ping pong… I could go on.
The easiest way to find out what’s on and when is to download the El Dorado app. It’s a bit clunky but it does the job.
TIP because it took us a while to find the pool table: it’s tucked away at the side of the Martini Bar!
Other reasons to visit El Dorado Royale
One of the things that made me keen to return to Mexico was the fact that the local people are so receptive to my attempts to speak Spanish. I’m nowhere near fluent, but I can get by, and the hotel staff at El Dorado were more than happy to let me practice on them.
We’ve stayed at luxury resorts in the Caribbean before and felt that – particularly at The Royalton in Saint Lucia – we could have been anywhere in the world.
El Dorado Royale, despite its undeniable indulgence of your every whim, feels decidedly Mexican.
We did a free ranch tour of the adjacent ‘Bonanza Ranch’ to see the rescued animals, cenote and greenhouse one morning and our guide explained why the resort staff wear colourful badges. They reflect the hotels’ commitment to the 17 SDGs, which I think is fantastic.
He had a little booklet and I wanted to quiz him more about the sustainability initiatives but I could tell the other two couples on the tour weren’t interested.
I found out though that the on-site greenhouse produces a mind-boggling amount of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs every week. I didn’t spot any single-use plastic at the resort and I believe they also treat their own water.
It has become increasingly important to me over the past few years to be a responsible traveller and the sheer luxury at the resorts we’ve visited often makes me feel a bit guilty, but I felt we’d made a good choice with El Dorado.
Things to do near El Dorado Royale
I travelled to Mexico City and Riviera Maya on a digital nomad trip a few years back, so I felt less pressure to explore the local area on this holiday. It was pure bliss just to lie in a hammock reading my book!
However, Mexico is an incredible country with a rich culture, so I do recommend you get out of the resort and explore.
If you like snorkelling, take a day trip to Cozumel. You can check out the different options for getting there here.
One of the most unique experiences I had in Mexico was my day out at Xochimilco. It’s a cruise-style attraction where locals tend to go to celebrate birthdays and it’s so much fun. Read my blog post about visiting Xochimilco and get tickets online here.
While you’re in Riviera Maya, take the opportunity to learn about Mayan culture. It’s absolutely fascinating! Your first port of call should be Chichén Itzá.
A taxi into Playa del Carmen should cost around 30 USD (agree a price with a driver beforehand). Get out at Fifth Avenue and walk the ‘strip’, where there are loads of shops where you can pick up souvenirs plus some cute boutiques. There are also lots of bars and places to eat there.
That was a mammoth blog post, so well done if you got this far! If you’d like to see more of my trip, take a look at my ‘Mexico’ highlight on Instagram – my username is @danniellelily.
If you’ve found my review of El Dorado Royale and El Dorado Casitas useful and it has enticed you to book, I’d be ever so grateful if you used my booking.com affiliate link. It doesn’t cost you anything extra.
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Linda Shaw says
Love El Dorado Casitas wonderful place and I can’t wait to go back
Hopefully I will get a good deal from Scotland 😎
Linda Shaw says
Love El Dorado Casitas wonderful place and I can’t wait to go back
Hopefully I will get a good deal from Scotland 😎