BookIt.com Verified Traveler Donatas from Landing, NJ

"anything and everything in life has a good side and the bad one. Judge for yourself that is important for you.

Lobby:
a.) Lack of information - if you want to do earlier check-out and pay room charges in USD, you have to bring your passport so that copy can be made. I was not told that, so end-up making two trips to the lobby.
b.) Access - choose the long flight of stairs, or walk the long ramp around the building, or catch the golf car which are scarce - there are no elevators.
c.) Check-in - fast and easy. No delays in the lobby. Golf car took us with the luggage to the building. Driver brought our luggage up the stairs into the room.
c.) Service - staff is friendly, but not very efficient or helpful. I asked on the phone for the restaurant closing schedule. I've been told to pick-up it at closest concierge kiosk. What happened to a 'I will bring it or will arrange it so it will be delivered to your room'. To begin this situation could be avoided, if the restaurant schedule would be automatically distributed once it is updated - it changes every week.
d.) Check-out - I asked for a golf car to be in front of the building at 11:45 AM, but it never arrived. I had to bring my luggage down the stairs to from the third floor and bring i to the lobby. I could wait for the golf car, but who knows if or then it will arrive. I did not want to be late for my pick-up to the airport. There are no elevators on the resort premises, so if you are challenged by lifting a heavy stuff or climbing stares keep this in mind.

Room:
a.) Cleanliness - Floor, bed sheets, towels, bathroom were clean. Bed curtain, bed skirt were dirty. Floor mats on the side of the bed - worn, dark and ugly looking things (it was hard to tell if they were clean).
b.) Service - good. However, I left a note asking for a de-caffeinated tea, but never sow it.
c.) TV is not interactive - you can't fast forward, select or sort when viewing room service menu or any other resort information.

Premises:
a.) Cleanliness - good. However, I had impression that old and rusty bikes which are used by staff, are left in the most visible places, ruining overall impression.
b.) Up-keep - good. However, there are a bunch of repairs and constructions going around. It is a good sign that things are moving along and being taken care of, but that might be a concern if they are in your path, or sight.
c.) Transportation - catch the golf car if you going far. They do run around like a buss with stops. Each stop has a clock indicating an approximate time remaining until next car will show-up. This was not explained to us during check-in.

Beach:
a.) Artificial reefs are created by huge sand bags. it is a disturbing sight. If you are a swimmer, no place to swim. If you are a beginner or learner, you could make it to work to your advantage. Those sand bags create natural habitat for lots of fishes, so it is great for snorkeling.
b.) Free equipment - kayaks and snorkeling are free. We were not told that in the lobby, so as a bunch of other people I learned latter.

Restaurants:
a.) Info in the room for selecting where to go - BAD. No images, no menu is available in the room. Put this on your TV or in the booklet. I want to know where to eat and what I can expect to eat before leaving the room. We ended up blindly trying all out.
b.) Availability - get the restaurant opening schedule. Some restaurants are closed for good - La Fondue is permanently closed, but it is still on the map.
c.) Food. I know a lot about good food, I cook myself, I worked many years in the restaurants, so trust me on this part of review. Breakfast - average and not impressive buffet selection. Lunch - if you arrive around 3:00 PM it could be a struggle to find where to eat. Lunch not impressive. Dinner - some dinner dishes had great presentation. Osso Bucco was really dry and bad in Italian restaurant in Casitas. If you need a knife for it - forget about it.
d.) Decor - I give just OK: Italian restaurant in Casitas was nice, Italian restaurant in Villas needs repairs (window sill was crumbling, near by bathroom was old. The rest of restaurants very average.
e.) Only 'house alcohol' is included, for all the rest you have to pay.

Entertainment:
a.) Two shows were interesting: dancers with the flames and Mexican folklore. The rest were not professional and not relevant.
b.) Music is 80's, when the crowd is in the late twenties and thirties.

NOTES to resort:
a.) Staff is willing and is friendly, but need appropriate training. For most of mishaps I blame management teem.
b.) Bunch of the guest are honeymooners, so make shows nice and romantic for them - not only Tequila, Tequila and Tequila. it is not a frat house.
c.) Check-out process is most important since you have no chance to fix any of the mistakes which happened during check-out, and this is the last thing you remember about entire your stay."

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"Suffice it to say, when we were informed the El Dorado was oversold and was looking for people to move to the Iberostar Grand Paraiso, we JUMPED at the chance. What a disappointment...golf carts that stopped, refused to pick us up on THREE separate times, rubbermaid garbage pails in the bathroom, refusal to honor a $25 dollar off at the spa given at the front desk, only to be honored if presented at the spa, not at the front desk at check out....miniscule portions of food, enough said....GO TO THE GRAND PARAISO AT IBEROSTAR..."

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"My husband & I stayed at the El Dorado Royale for seven days as part of our celebration of our 50th anniversary ,had very good service ,friendly employees,lots of special events planned for us to celebrate our Anniversary.We plan to go back as the hotel's ,restaurant's,the grounds & everything was top notch & very clean & up to date."

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"First trip to Mexico, had no idea what to expect!!!! Travel agent said he had been twice and we would not be disappointed, he under sold big time. From the airport to the lobby staff to the rooms to the staff to the food to the grounds to the ,,, well you get the idea, all 6 stars. Was asked to go on a (not) time share tour and decided to go not because of pressure but because we wanted to see what it was all about, had a great tour and did not feel any pressure from our sales rep. I would like to just drop a note here to say thank you to Franco Magnifico, Hope you had a great round of golf that day. If you go and would like to see what it's all about you will not be disappointed. We highly recommend this all inclusive. we will be back"

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"Service was excellent all the way around; maids, servers, bartenders, room service, shuttle drivers, hostess's, and concierge! The resorts attention to all of the athstetic details was phenomenal. The property is really nice! With exception to the four days of rain I had a great honeymoon. If there was anything I would change it would be that I felt the quality of food could have been better. I probably am being picky because we were stuck eating there for so many days."

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