Riviera Maya Vacations & Riviera Maya Beach Resort Reviews

El Dorado Seaside Suites Review Top All Inclusive Mayan Riviera

KM 95, Carretera Cancún - Tulum, Kantenah

Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo

77710, Mexico

Telephone: (52) 984 8751910

Telefax: (52) 984 8751911

http://www.karismahotels.com/seaside/

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• 280 rooms, All suites
• Adults Only
• All Inclusive
• Located on 2 kms of beachfront
• 25 minutes to Playa del Carmen
• 60 minutes from the airport

El Dorado Seaside Suites is part of the Karisma hotels chain.  It is an adults only resort that was built in 1994, with recent renovations.  It is located just 60 minutes south of Cancun Airport and 25 minutes south of Playa del Carmen. 

What people are saying

• Large, spacious rooms
• Friendly staff
• Beds are a little hard
• Food was very good.  Check out the Italian restaurant
• Nice beach, rocky water
• Good snorkelling
• The mangroves can smell, but hey, they're mangroves

Editorial Review

All the guests at the El Dorado Seaside Suites can choose their accommodation from 280 rooms housed in 19 buildings.  You are sure to be enthralled by the newly renovated interiors of the El Dorado Seaside Suites.  All the 280 rooms in the resort are suites with romantic 4 post beds and lovely décor.  The room amenities include ceiling fan, air conditioning, shower, private bath, DVD player, color satellite TV, coffee maker, mini-bar, safety deposit box, hairdryer, amenities kit, living room area with sofa, balcony or terrace with chairs and hammock.  All this is  just a few steps away from the beach. People who love spending their time by the beach can use the beach beds lined up on the shore.

Guests have three options for the pools.  There are two outdoor pools – the ‘quiet’ lap pool and the activities pool, which also has a swim-up bar.  Many guests hang out at the beach so the pools are not very crowded.  The third pool hosts all the activities.  Guests can also enjoy non-motorized water sports like snorkeling, paddleboats, and kayaks at the marina situated by the beach.   El Dorado Seaside Suites is ideal for honeymooners and weddings, as well as couples looking forward to celebrating their anniversaries.  You will notice that, unlike other resorts in the area, this resort is parallel to the beach, giving guests better access to the beach. 

Karisma has ensured every aspect of an ideal romantic holiday is covered.  The furniture is wooden, giving the interiors a friendly and visually appealing feel.  Premium suites come with a king-sized bed and access to a private pool.  Newly weds and couples celebrating their anniversary can opt for the honeymoon and anniversary package respectively.  These suites come with private beach bed in front of the suite, fresh flower arrangement, bottle of house wine, aromatherapy, favorite liquor and champagne included, VIP amenities in the bathroom, etc

El Dorado Seaside Suites has five restaurants (Local, Italian, Traditional Mexican, Oriental and International) and bars (main bar, swim up bar, pool bar, and lounge bar).  Being a la carte restaurants, the chef's menu is changed every day, so you won’t have to worry about eating the same thing twice.  Some restaurants have a dress code: typically Bermudas or pants, a shirt with sleeves along with any kind of shoes, but beach sandals are not allowed.  If you are connoisseur of wine and liquor the El Dorado Seaside Suites offers a wide variety to choose from.  The swim-up bar is ideal for people who like to sip wine while they enjoy a nice dip in the pool. There is also a contemporary open air sea sight lounge that has a unique atmosphere and view.

Like every other Karisma property, El Dorado Seaside Suites is all-inclusive.  The best part of spending your holidays here is the extravagant palate of food served.  As mentioned earlier you can try a new dish every day.  As well, you have a concierge on every floor attending to your needs. Since the resort is only for adults, it is serene and calm.  The swim-up suites are situated away from the beachside, and are set toward the back of the property where it’s tranquil.  So, if you are keen on spending your next holiday away from all the hustle of the city, El Dorado Seaside Suites may be the place to head to.

12v2

Reviews

Christy

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

27, Married

Eldorado Sea Side Suites, Nov 2006

Our Rating: 5/5 Stars - the resort was "wonderful in every way!

My husband and I were in the Mayan Riviera at the El Dorado Seaside Suites (5*) in November of 2006.  Just a quick preface - we stayed for two weeks in celebration of our first anniversary, in addition it was our "babymoon" as we were expecting our first child, and I was 5 1/2 months pregnant when we were there. We traveled with Signature Vacations and flew direct from Edmonton.

This resort was wonderful from start to finish. When we checked in, we were greeted with trays of frozen drinks and neck massages. I couldn't have the alcohol, so they rushed off to mix me a non-alcoholic version of the drink. Check in took very little time considering the number of people arriving at the same time. Within half and hour we were into our room and heading off for supper (we arrived around 7pm, and not having eaten since "breakfast" on the flight around 8 hours earlier, we were starving!) We were pleasantly surprised by our room - we had booked a garden view but received an upgrade to a swim up suite for our first anniversary package. It was fantastic!

We also got a free dinner on the beach - which was lovely - the baked Alaska we got for desert was our favorite desert of our stay. The salmon I had was very good, my husband's beef was okay. I don't think we would have paid the $140 for this dinner, but it was nice.

All of the restaurants were wonderful, our favorite being the Italian. We stayed for 2 weeks, so we ate at each restaurant several times and did not get tired of the menu until the last couple of nights. Service was fantastic in all restaurants, although sometimes a little slower at lunch at the Sandwicherie, but we were on vacation and did not have issue with taking our time at meals. My favorites included: pizza at the sandwicherie, the corn soup at the International, the veggie lasagna at the Italian and the ice cream (at any restaurant). I always found well rounded meal options, breakfast we usually had the buffet, as it was quick and easy.

We didn't have any issues with food while we were there. We only ordered room service once for breakfast, and it took a very long time to come, so we did not order again. The food was okay, but we felt it was easier and quicker to eat at the buffet. Others around us had better experience with the room service, I think we might have ordered on a bad day (there was a lot of room service being ordered which went by while we were waiting for our food). Anyone who writes that there is not enough food must be the hungriest person ever. We were so stuffed after every meal, that we could do nothing but go to bed. Each restaurant has from 3-5 courses plus desert, and we made the mistake of ordering all 5 courses at the Italian the first time... we could barely make it through the pasta course, and felt horrible wasting food! They are always willing to bring more food if you just ask for it, and the portions were usually quite large. Some appetizers could have gone for meals for me, and I'm eating for two! The food quality was also very good - quite rich, but much more flavorful than food in other places I've been (Cuba, Dominican Republic).

The drinks were good (both alcoholic and non alcoholic - for my husband). Only once did I order a drink with no alcohol and received one with. And I had my fair share of virgin daiquiris etc, during our stay! Just had to say no alcohol, they didn't understand "virgin" drinks.

The resort itself was beautiful. It looks just like the pictures.  The animation team was really friendly, we had a fun time learning Spanish from Bamboo, Javier and Diana. The personal concierge was a nice touch too - we never had difficulty getting a dinner reservation for the time we wanted, as we booked at least 1 day ahead of time, and usually booked for 2-3 days ahead if we knew what our plans were for excursions.

The ocean was not the greatest for swimming - we didn't ever just go swimming in it. However, the snorkeling there was fantastic and was much better than the snorkeling we experienced at Xcaret. We saw some pretty amazing stuff just off the pier! Water shoes are nice if you have sensitive feet like I do! The water is shallow for miles I think, so no need to fear getting over your head! We don't swim with flippers, since it makes too much dust and you can't see as much, and this is especially true in water that is only 2 - 3 feet deep!

The pools were nice - we didn't swim in the lap pool. We had to request extra cleaning of the swim up pool at our suite, it was a little windy and so I think very difficult to keep clean. They were diligent at it, but there were a few days where I would not even stick a toe in on account of the scum and bugs. But nothing bad enough for us to let it damper our vacation.

We always managed to find a beach bed, although sometimes we had to go down near the pool side rather than the beach side. If the towels were rolled up and no other items were on the bed, we considered it fair game, and never got told otherwise by other guests.

Our signature reps (who changed a couple of times while we were there) were all helpful and friendly.

We accepted the offer to listen to the Exotic club spiel - but only because we got $150 USD in return (which we used to purchase our trip to Chichen Itza for basically free). It took an hour, and no matter what they say, it is basically the same as a time share, you just don't own any property. Basically they sell you a membership to a discount club, whereby you get 30% off travel. I'm not sure, but when its high pressure and when the deal is only on the table until you leave the room, it says scam to me. However, we were pleased to get our "reward" and felt it was worthwhile. We heard other couples only got a beach bag as a reward, and had that been the case, we would have felt differently. Our invitation said we would get $150USD to use for excursions or in the spa or gift shop, and that is what we received.

We did many excursions - and for very cheap. From this hotel, if you walk to the highway you can catch the local transport (completely safe) called the Collectivo. It runs from Playa del Carmen to Tulum, and costs $2USD per person per ride. We took this 15 passenger white van to several places - Tulum to the Mayan ruins, to Playa to do shopping, and to Xel-Ha. It definitely beat paying the package prices which cost around $30 each for transport, when you can knock that down to $4 each. Definitely the way to go! We saw the ruins at Tulum for $17 (for both of us), Xel-ha for $68 (both of us together) + $14 for lunch and $2 for a locker. We also took the collectivo to Xcaret. It was convenient, and flexible, and allowed you to get to these places before the mass rush of people (and actually get pictures of stuff without 2000 people in them!). The only tour we took was Chichen Itza because it was a 3 hour bus ride, but well worth it.

We used the internet in the lobby, it was very fast, were able to check and write emails just like at home. The evening shows were okay, we didn't go to many, just not our thing.

There was a lot of progress being made on the new buildings, which were coming with another swim up and another bar. I'm not sure how the restaurants will handle another 80+ suites, as they were busy now, but like I said, we didn't have any issues. I'm sure they will figure something out, perhaps add another restaurant.

Overall, the resort was beautiful, well kept and we would highly recommend this resort to anyone!

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