Worst hotel I have stayed in - avoid at all costs!

Stayed Jan 10th - 24th 2012

The Good:

This hotel is set in lovely, well kept grounds and operates the golf carts to take you around it as it is very large.

The bar staff are great and nothing is too much trouble for them and the drink selection is one of the best I have had anywhere with so many branded drinks to choose from.

All staff are generally very friendly and always speak when they pass.

The hotel is a short distance to Playa Car or Cancun and they operate a free bus to get there. Maids brought lots of towels and mini bar stocked daily and room cleaned.

The Bad:

The beach is not very good and has a lot of sand bags as the beach got ruined due to a hurricane a few years back. We knew this before we went so wasn't a big deal and you can get into the water still. You can always get a sunbed no problem at the beach if you are about early. Beware if you go off to get food as people steal your beds and in the afternoon they would set up dining on the beach and would move you so they could do this. Sunbeds around the pool were always available but you get little sun as they have so many palm trees shading them.

The room:

This is meant to be a 5 star hotel however the room was damp smelling and on parts of the wall there was damp growing on it. Decor was old and the drapes were damaged and didnt match around the bed or the bath like in the picture. The best part of the room was the bathroom with its big walk in shower. Hot water was really hard to get.

No umberella for when it rained, no hammock as advertised.

The Food:

This was by far the worst I have had anywhere. It was not A la Carte at all. Small portions with a drizzle of oil, sauce over it served cold or if you are lucky luke warm. Definately not A la Carte standard. I think this is just a way to make the hotel sound fancy but is executed extremely poorly and didn't work at all. I'm allergic to egg and would ask for this to be left off what I would order and yet it would arrive covered in something that had egg in it so I could not eat it. I spent the whole holiday trying to get something to eat that was decent or hot.

This was also the same with room service, they would repeat the order when you phoned it in and still delivery it cold and wrong.

The personal concierge were totally useless. They failed to book some of the trips to go out and never told us, leaving us waiting for the bus only to be told our names were not on the list so we couldn't go.

This hotel is over priced and poor quality and it does not delivery anything they advertise and is at most a 2 to 3 star hotel. I've travelled alot all over the world and this is the worst i have stayed in.

Avoid and choose somewhere nicer.

Fantastic hotel that neither myself nor my husband could find a single fault with.
We booked with first choice and flew from Birmingham airport. We stayed in an ocean front junior suite at the El dorado.
We were greeted with a chilled glass of champagne and a refreshing cold towel upon arrival. Check in was quick and our room was ready for us. We were taken by golf buggy to our room which was outstanding!
The room had a king size four poster bed, large bathroom with wet room shower, in room jacuzzi, balcony over looking the sea with a hammock! The mini bar in the room was restocked daily with water, soft drinks and beers. There is also 24 hour room service with a menu in the room, however we found that if you phoned and asked for something that was not on the menu the staff would happily cook it for you.

Hotel Grounds:
The grounds of the hotel are immaculate and are constantly being maintained. There are 13 pools at the hotel, some of which are in the Casitas section but can be used by all guests.
There is a large pool by the Fuentes mexican restaurant where there is daily entertainment such as bingo, volleyball, water polo, aqua aerobics and name that tune. We found that there were plenty of sunbeds available on the beach and by all of the pools, even on days when we did not go to the pool until after 11am.

Restaurants:
All of the restaurants are fabulous and we did not have a bad meal during our entire 2 week stay. Our personal favourite was the Fondue restaurant and D'Italia in the Casitas section.
We did have to wait a couple of times for a table as we tended not to eat until after half 7, but we did not find this a problem as we were given a pager and waited in the bar sipping coctails until the table was ready.

Facilities:
All of the facilities at the hotel were excellent and the hotel even puts on a free shuttle service to Cancun and Playa Del Carmen (great for picking up presents for people back home) The shuttle buses do get booked up quickly though so I would recommend booking soon after you arrive with the concierge.
There are shops on site but we found these quite pricey.
There is also an arts and crafts table where you can paint your own pots and have them glazed to take home. They were quite reasonably priced and are a great keep sake as a reminder of your hols.
I noticed on here that someone mentioned that there isnt an ATM cash machine at the hotel, infact there is- it is located in the reps room which is outside the front of the main lobby to the right.

We are returning to this hotel next year and couldnt recommend it highly enough! Next time we are treating ourselves to an extra bit of luxury and staying in one of the Casitas.

*****

how anyone can find fault with this place i dont know..ITS HEAVEN ON EARTH!!!! best holiday (honeymoon) ive EVER been on.From the moment we got greeted with ice cold towels it was out of this world!!!!!!!
every restraunt 10/10.my fav was d'italia,the wifes was kampai.
pampered and looked after throughout,especially at the candle light dinner on the beach...if i was to find one gripe that would be a minor one would be ,ice cream YOU NEED ICE CREAM..but that would be it.ALL IN ALL >>>>WOWOWOW awsome!!!!

Brill hotel,very high quality,all the resturants are waiter service and a dollar or two along with your first glass of wine ensures the wine never hits the bottom of the glass.Kampai is the best if you like chinese very hard to get into,however there is a bar across the path if you have a wait for a table,the italian is also brill,make sure you dress for din very classy also hard to get into,unless you are staying in casita suits,bookings can be made.La isla,jo jo"s and furenties are also great,if you just want a hot dog,pizza or burger a resurant for that aswell.The food is fantasic.The waiters and bar staff are all great all the people are very pleasent and nice.would go back maybe in a few years,however going to a sister hotel july 09 for the food experience.

We went to EDR the first two wekks of April. Have to say we both thought the hotel was fantastic1 we had upgraded to a casita, and they are worth it! especially for the extra perks that come with them. We could make our dinner reservations, we got soft music playing in the room when we got back, a candle would be lit in room, lots of little touches that made the holiday extra special. We had no problems at all..maybe we were just very lucky but the whole 2 weeks were great.We thought the hotel and the grounds are spotless, lots of groundsmen out all the day cleaning, tidying, re planting. And they all said hola to you as you went past. The hotel is very large, scale wise, too us a good 15 minute stroll from our room to the front lobby, but they have golf carts going past all the time if you wanted a lift, we used this service twice, as we loved to walk. The hotel food was fantastic, if you are a fussy eater then the hotel is,nt for you. You could grab a burger or pizza in the afternoon, but come dinner time, all was al la carte menu, all waiter service, and all very fancy. We loved Kampai for lunch as it was the only restaurant the is air conditioned, we went through the whole menu! in the 2 weeks we were there. We have no complaints at all about the food.
The location is about 30 mins from cancun airport and about 20 minutes from Playa Del Carmen.
Everyone was very friendly in the hotel, from the waiters, gardeners and to people in general, everyone usually said hola to you..
The entertainment was ok. They had a martini bar were you could go and talk,chill,relax, and drink very strong martinis! then they had a swing bar, a bar were they have swings for you to relax on and to watch the entertainment. they would have a show on, they a live band would come on, they after that disco music would be on till 2oc, if you ever managed to stay up that late!

We stayed in a Casita at this resort and had a wonderful time. I think that this was due to us being casita guests though as otherwise the difficulties in finding sunbeds and the waiting for a table at dinner would have ruined it for us. We visited all of the restaurants for dinner (the Kampai had been closed but opened on our last day and we were lucky enough to get a reservation) and enjoyed all of the meals. Our least favourite restaurant was Fuentes, just not enough choice. It would be difficult to choose a favourite although we did visit D'Italia and Cocotal twice so that shows how good they were. The Fondue was great fun, we weren't sure if it was for us but we went along and the waiter explained it all to us and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our favourite place for lunch was the Healthy Bar, some great sandwiches, salads and juices. We were disappointed that the snack bar by Jo Jo's was was closed for renovation while we were there as the other one is the far end of the resort - not the kind of distance you would walk for a snack! The resort is immaculate, the staff work so hard to keep it that way. In fact, I think there are more staff than guests! All staff that we encountered were nice and always said hola! when they saw us. The concierge for Casita guests is great! You can call or pop in and they will sort anything out for you. The extra's you get in the Casita's are great. We liked the pillow menu and loved the turn down service with aromatherapy. It was lovely to return at night to low lighting, soft music and your favourite fragrance on the oil burner. The hotel is a 30 minute bus ride from Cancun and we used the complimentary bus one day to go shopping, that was really handy. The entertainment at this hotel was ok. We went to watch the entertainment a few evenings and that was good, but it was not good every night. Also as we were in Casita's we had our own pools which was great as it meant we always got a bed, but the entertainment was at the other end of the resort so felt a bit out of it. We did consider going to the main pool for that reason but there was no chance of getting a bed! The good thing about staying in the Casita end is that staff go around 3 times a day so you don't even have to move off your lounger if you don't want to. The first time they bring newspapers, books and sun lotion, the second time they bring sandwiches and cookies and then at 3 O'clock every day they bring icecream. Under normal circumstances I don't think we would visit this resort again as it is quite expensive for what you get (that's comparing it to other places we've visited). Saying that though, if I felt like splashing out I would book in to a Presidential Casita as we had a look around one and it was absolutely amazing!!

The complex is fantistic and as stated the food probably cannot be beaten (including room service)

Every restuarant was excellent although there were long q's for some.

It was also disapointing walking from one end of the complex to the other only to find that Kampie ir Fondue were closed.

The tv in the room never gave any details of the complex.

Rainy days were a nightmare (not the hotels fault) but surely the martini bar could have been opened.

the food and drink was fantastic we went for our honeymoon and i managed to put a stone on in 2 weeks the hotel was spotless and staff very helpful the location wasn't great you had to use taxi's if you wanted to go out anywhere not much entertainment and bars shut at 12

The best Hotel we have stayed in.
Main advantages no children, no buffet meals, 4 Poster Sun Loungers I mean 4 Posters as well and no chasing the Sun Beds, 24hr Al A Carte Room Service, 7 Restuarants, 15 Bars, Swim up Bars, International Brand Drinks, Music till 2am we never stayed that late,24hr Buggy Service round the Complex, helpful staff, and No Children, Heaven.

This Hotel caters for everything.
All tips are already included, but for that exceptional touch we tipped.
We had a Ocean View Suite with a 12ft bed and Jacuzzi.
We visited all the Restuarants, and people who may say same food, cant have stayed here. Each restuarant was different with their meals. Italian was good, bur Fuentes [Mexican] was as good if not better.
The only buffet option was Breakfast in Cocotal, with Optic's if you wished hair of the dog, Champagne and a Chocolate fountain. The breakfast catered for everyone.
If you wished a change there was the Burger/Pizza restuarant or the Health Restuarant, both of which made a change to the Al a Carte fare.
Rooms were cleaned every day, as was the pools and the restuarants.
The poolside was unbelievable, there were sun loungers but they also provided screened 4 Poster beds, which were sublime.
The K Team [entertaiments] were wicked during the day, there was not an hour were there was not something different to do. The UK beat the USA 4 times at volleyball and water polo.

The Rep warned you about the exchange rate, but the Hotel was as good as Thomas Cook who we booked with, 2 $ to the pound and 21 pesos to the

Hotel excellent throughout.

Had a great holiday, stayed in room 5326 so we had a sea view as well as the garden.

The rooms are beautiful and the spa is a really nice extra. The bathrooms are spacious and always clean.

The food in the Asian and Italian restaurants was amazing and the staff were very nice and helpful, they cant do enough for you. Some staff expect a tip, and if you dont give them one they huff off making it clear they are not happy. We only tipped if the member of staff was exceptional the tipping is already included in your holiday price and I didnt feel like I should tip someone who didn't deserve it. One room service waiter expected a tip even though we waited 1 hour and 40 mins for room service that came up wrong anyway and had to be taken back?? Save your tips for the staff that deserve them trust me there are plenty.

The Fuentes restaurant was slow it took almost two hours to get and eat our food, but beside that incident overall the service was good.

The entertainment needs a lot of improvement the band were good but sang the same songs over and over again some nights we were a little bored and went back to our room early(ish).

The hammocks are great on the balcony really good place to chill out. Take plenty of money with you coz the shop is expensive almost everything is $4 usd!??? and there is no ATM at all anywhere in the hotel.