El Dorado Maroma, All & More Inclusive - Adults Only

“10/10 service at this resort.”

The staff was amazing. Armando Manuel and Manual, The Beach Butlers were 10/10. Anything we needed they were on it! I felt like I was the only customer at the beach with how much attention they paid to me, that day and they had several customers they were serving at the same time. I will be back t… more

The staff was amazing. Armando Manuel and Manual, The Beach Butlers were 10/10. Anything we needed they were on it! I felt like I was the only customer at the beach with how much attention they paid to me, that day and they had several customers they were serving at the same time. I will be back to this resort and ask for them again.

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“Another great trip to Palafitos.”

Here we are again. Our fifth time staying at Palafitos Overwater Bungalows! The experience is always great and the staff is an important part of why. We love being greeted by Alberto who recognizes us and gives us hugs and asks about our family and tells us about his. Then we get to the desk t… more

Here we are again. Our fifth time staying at Palafitos Overwater Bungalows! The experience is always great and the staff is an important part of why. We love being greeted by Alberto who recognizes us and gives us hugs and asks about our family and tells us about his. Then we get to the desk to check in and someone always says “welcome home”. The bulters - Fernando, William, Yasser - are excellent and perform their jobs with care and professionalism. The wait staff is attentive and really seems to take pride in providing excellent service. Shout out to Carlos at Pepitos! The bar staff is great too. Rene at Palafitos Bar remembers our drink preferences and we don’t have to tell him how we want our drinks ( Tahine on the rims for the wife). Leobardo at the Sports pool bar is skilled and has a winning smile every day. The entertainment staff is so fun too. We like the foam party, volleyball and trivia and Naomi, Mafer, Angel, Tristan, Alex, and Cris work very hard to ensure everybody has a great time. Take a break and spend some time with these fine people you will not be disappointed.

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“Maroma Magic”

We are members and visit El Dorado Maroma every July for a birthday. We always expect and receive high quality service. We booked a swim out and were placed in Building 1206 this year. It was a wonderful surprise over the main pool swim outs. The guests can be loud in the main pool. Building 12 is … more

We are members and visit El Dorado Maroma every July for a birthday. We always expect and receive high quality service. We booked a swim out and were placed in Building 1206 this year. It was a wonderful surprise over the main pool swim outs. The guests can be loud in the main pool. Building 12 is very secure at the back of the resort. It was quiet and very private. We go to Maroma for complete peace and relaxation. The beach was beautiful, as always, with few guests. The employees remain at the top of the professional, friendly and helpful list. Exemplary status: *Carlos Herrera- From check in to check out Carlos, from Members Experience, was fabulous. Every time we walked through the lobby he would stand up and greet us. *Rusel- Server at Mio *Karen- Beach Butler *Roberto- Never underestimate the importance of a gelato treat. Roberto was helpful and friendly. He showed that he was happy to see us every day. *Laura- Massage therapist. My back was cranky and she had the magic touch. I did the poolside massages with her and a full 50 minute relaxed massage. *Herbert- and Patricia-Massage Therapists +Fabian- Members Sunset Cruise Gala dinner server. He was attentive and eager to help in any way. *Rodrigo, Carlos Cache and Flor at Papitos-Always cheerful and helpful. *Ivan Hans and Israel- World class Butlers extraordinaire!

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“Beautiful resort, but uncommunicative, indifferent staff makes it not worth the price.”

TLDR: I would not stay here again. I learned about this property while staying at a sister property (El Dorado Sea Side Palms). They have a free, “more inclusive” program where most of the activities (wave runners, catamaran, buffet brunch, etc.) take place at the Maroma Beach Club which is adjace… more

TLDR: I would not stay here again. I learned about this property while staying at a sister property (El Dorado Sea Side Palms). They have a free, “more inclusive” program where most of the activities (wave runners, catamaran, buffet brunch, etc.) take place at the Maroma Beach Club which is adjacent to El Dorado Maroma Resort. Staying next door to the beach club meant I could come and go as I pleased. If I had booked the beach club from one of the sister properties, that would have been a full day excursion with buses returning around 5:00 p.m I booked a five-night stay on the spur of the moment this summer. My plan was to scope out the property for a future stay at their way more expensive, Palafitos over water bungalows. To be clear, the grounds and beach were beautiful. The staff did a wonderful job of clearing the sargassum. And the activities and food at the beach club next door was really good. This is a small property that is easy to navigate. I booked a haven suite (which came with private, airport transportation) and was upgraded to a 3-room suite that was just steps to the beach. My butler (Victor) was amazing and very responsive. However, here are the reasons I would not return: 1. Unresponsive/indifferent/uncommunicative staff. Part of their “more inclusive” program includes airport transportation. I booked on their website and included my flight information. About a week later, I called the resort because I wanted to know who I should contact if I changed my flight information. I was not allowed to speak to their “pre-arrival agent”. I was told to email them…which I did. When I did not get a response after 2 weeks, I sent a follow-up email. About 3 days later, I received a response. They said that I could change my flight and to forward the new information. Arrangements would be made and forwarded to me. However, because so much time had elapsed, the flights only got more expensive so no change was made. It took several more emails before someone finally emailed me back with instructions to connect with my airport transporter. 2. I travelled during low season so most of the restaurants were not open. Only one or sometimes two restaurants were opened each night. To compensate for when only one restaurant was open, they would allow guests to choose from a special, abbreviated menu (up to 5 menu items) from one of the other restaurants. For example, the Mexican restaurant would allow you to order from a special menu from the Italian restaurant. During my stay, most nights included the Mexican restaurant. So there was not enough of a variety of food for me and dinner became very repetitive. I chose to order room service for breakfast every morning. The order was NEVER correct. Often forgetting the bacon or other menu items, or delivering at the wrong time (The concierge ordered breakfast to be delivered the next morning. It was delivered that very afternoon). Double-edged sword, it was nice to know I could order breakfast at any time. However, it was a waste of food (the butler was surprised when I told him I was not going to eat it). Another upside was the food was always delivered hot. 3. Food portions are very small (take a look at the size of the jerk chicken compared to the fork on one of the pictures I am including). Do yourself a favor and order two entrees to be served at the same time (they kept asking which entrée I wanted served first). The food was fine, but not great. 4. I booked a full-day excursion to Chichen Itza through the resort (Lomas). I was told to meet the tour operator in the lobby at 6:10 a.m. Not a problem. I am an early riser. Plus, the site would be less crowded and the sun would be less intense this early in the morning. However, by 6:45 a.m., it was obvious the tour operator not coming. The night manager eventually contacted the tour operator and they said they could pick me up in 45 minutes. I was not willing to wait and requested a cancellation/refund…which the night manager agreed to. However, before I could leave the lobby, he stopped me and said the tour operator could get a van to pick me up in 15 minutes. I agreed. This van picked me up and dropped me off at a meeting location for the actual tour group. What he neglected to tell me was that that tour would be conducted in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish. I didn’t learn this until I was with the tour group. The tour guide would direct some information to me in English, but for most of the 2.5 hour drive to Chichen Itza, she and the other passengers conversed in Spanish. When we arrived at Chichen Itza, I was handed off to a different tour group where the tour would be conducted in English. Afterward, I was to meet back up with my original, Spanish-speaking tour group. The tour guide (Jessica) felt bad and offered me a diet Coke during lunch. Placing me on a Spanish-speaking tour was unfair to me and to the tour guide, Jessica. If I had known the tour was going to be conducted in Spanish, I would have cancelled. I feel that I was placed in ANY tour to keep from having to refund my $139. I expressed my frustrations to the Lomas Excursion desk the next day. When I said that part of the tour cost should be refunded, he (Jaime) at first kept say “but you went on the tour.” But later said he would contact the tour operator about a partial refund and get back to me. I have not heard from him. 5. Indifferent staff/policies. Again, my reason for this spur-of-the-moment trip was to tour the Palafitos Over Water Bungalows for a future stay. A winter stay in one of the bungalows would be at upwards to $10,000 (maybe more) and I wanted to see the property before I committed that much money. The concierge learned through casual conversation that I had stayed previously at a sister property, that I travel at least 3 times per year and that I had just stayed at a neighboring property (Secrets Maroma) so I have the means to travel. They refused my request (twice) to view the Palafitos unless I sat through a time-share (vacation club) presentation. Remember, I am here during low season, so neither to resort nor the bungalows were at full capacity. Forcing me to sit through a 2-hour presentation would have been a waste of their time and mine. They would not have been able to convince me to purchse a vacation club membership. Their policy to force me to lose 2 hours of vacation time lost them $10,000 in a future stay. 6. Beware of the bracelet. Upon check-in, I was issued a bracelet that would identify me as a guest and open my room door. I was warned that if I lost the bracelet, there would be a $100 replacement charge. They said the bracelet would be secure enough to sleep, shower and swim in. I slept and showered in mine. By day two, the bracelet had become unfastened 3 times. I mentioned this to the night manager (Mauricio…the same one that handled my rescheduled excursion) and he swapped it out for a new one and offered to hold on to it until I returned later that evening. He said he would not be on duty when I returned, but promised he would leave a note for the staff. When I returned, there was no note. The person on duty kept saying that I lost the bracelet. I kept reiterating that I had not lost the bracelet. Mauricio had offered to hold on to it for me and they should contact Mauricio. It was almost time for a shift change (15 minutes) and I was told that the next person on duty probably had knowledge of this and would straighten it out. I said I would go to dinner and return after the shift change. During dinner, my butler (Victor) came over to say “hello” and I told him about the bracelet issue. He left and returned with a key card so I could at least get into my room and said the issue was being taken care of. A couple minutes after he left, he texted me and told me the bracelet issue was resolved and that I could pick the bracelet up in the lobby. Two days later, the replacement bracelet began to unfasten itself. So, make sure you pay special attention to your bracelet and know that it will unfasten after about 2 days use. 7. I consider issue #6 to also be a staff communication issue. 8. Upon check-out, I was told that I had participated in a tequila tasting and a specialty dinner and would be charged for them. I had not done either of those two things. The clerk and I went back and forth for about 15 minutes until she resolved that I would not be charged for the two items. This is definitely not a 5-star resort. It is a 3-4 star resort at best. The aggravations suffered was enough to make me consider other properties for a more relaxing vacations.

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