El Dorado Seaside Palms - Adults Only

“Fantastic holiday - lovely hotel”

Read a few negative comments before the trip which I feel gave a negative view of what is actually a lovely hotel. So I will do an honest review. We arrived at night to a lovely reception, welcome drink and nothing too much trouble. Staff excellent on reception and the buggies to take you around… more

Read a few negative comments before the trip which I feel gave a negative view of what is actually a lovely hotel. So I will do an honest review. We arrived at night to a lovely reception, welcome drink and nothing too much trouble. Staff excellent on reception and the buggies to take you around if needed. Buggy took us to our room and carried the cases up. Nothing too much trouble. This is a big complex - we utilised the facilities on both sides. The entertainment team - big shout out! Great upbeat and enthusiastic staff. One side is very upbeat and booming - the other side more relaxed. Tui rep on site very friendly. Booking restaurants was a bit hit and miss but we did get in at the Italian which was really nice. We tended to utilise the Culinarium restaurant (the food is to die for and service is excellent) or the English pub both included waiter service and we never waited longer than five minutes. Beach BBQ a great spot for eating. There are two main buffet restaurants only tried these in the day as preferred a sit down meal at night. The bbq evening with the fire show was outstanding, you do not need to pay for a table, they will try to sell you one! The seaweed was if full force and the staff tried their best to clear it. Be aware this is a losing battle. The number of pools more than made up for the seaweed! Gaviotas swim up bar was out favourite. Bar staff fantastic. Tipping is welcome but not essential, sometimes we forgot to take cash out and it really made zero difference to the service Just a negative - our room was so damp, the rep said about leaving air con on and keeping the door shut which we did but it really was unpleasant. I suppose we could have complained but we spent very little time in it. Looking back I think I should have asked for a swap. A warning, on arrival the airport is chaos, the baggage handling is dire. Overall an amazing totally chilled holiday.

less

“Average resort stay w/great price as members - Beware of the rotting seaweed smell!”

Overall a nice property with a very attentive staff. I would consider staying again provided the member pricing was good. This was our first stay at an El Dorado property after the Karisma break up - things have changed (some - not for the better). The Good: The property was very nice and the room… more

Overall a nice property with a very attentive staff. I would consider staying again provided the member pricing was good. This was our first stay at an El Dorado property after the Karisma break up - things have changed (some - not for the better). The Good: The property was very nice and the rooms were well cleaned. Butler service was excellent and helped us completely avoid all the dining reservation issues that others report. Our Premium swim up suite was perfect and the extremely low occupancy rate made things very quiet and relaxing. The Not So Good: The food is not great. It is comparable to mid-level cruise ship food. If you are looking for the "gourmet experience" of the past ... it is gone. The exception is the premium dining at an added cost - these were very good ... but pricey. Also the Italian restaurant was very good .. the others ... were "ok" - the Gourmet Pub was gross. Also, because of the low occupancy – the Vegan restaurant was closed. This was upsetting as we had a vegan in our group and we were looking forward to it. All in all, there was an attempt to try to accommodate a vegan diet with food allergies. But like most resorts in Mexico, there is a VERY large lack of understanding of the difference between Vegan and Vegetarian. The workers, unfortunately do not understand and it's frustrating. I can't count the number of plates that came with meat or allergy issues. Overall, everyone tried to make it right, but if you're vegan or have complex food allergy - prepare yourself for the hassle and bring lots of patience. The Terrible: Obviously this property has very little usable beach - if you're coming specifically for the beach and you don't have an Emerald level two-story condo with a private beach area, don't bother coming here. Our group was OK with this and was not an issue for us at all. But the real problem is the seaweed/sargassum . It's usually left in piles to rot on the shore and on some days when the wind blows in just the right direction, the resort smells like rotten sewage. They do have a few people working to clean it up, but this is just for show. There is no real attempt to actually solve the problem using a large team of manpower like other resorts do. Maybe there are larger teams at the Seaside Suites or at Hidden Beach ... not sure as we did not go to either of those. Regardless of whatever answer is given by the resort that this problem is being worked, it is not being worked in a meaningful way at all.

less