We arrived at EDSS the last weekend of January 2012 and stayed for one week. My husband and I are in our mid-thirties so we were definitely in the minority at EDSS. It didn’t look like there was anyone there under 30. If I had to guess, the majority of the people were in their late 50’s and older. We stayed at the El Dorado Royale two years ago and it was a younger, livelier crowd than at EDSS. The vibe here was quieter and relaxed. Definitely couple oriented. If you’re looking for a party, this is not the resort for you.

ROOMS: We went with the standard Jacuzzi suite that looked out onto lush greenery and palm trees. It was perfect for us as it was very private and quiet. The bathroom is a good size with his and hers sinks. We didn’t have any problems with shower temperature. The water pressure might fluctuate now and then but otherwise it was just fine. The beds were firm and comfortable. The sheets weren’t exactly luxurious and I got one set that was actually kind of scratchy, but after a day of drinking in the sun and gorging at the restaurants, I could pass out on a burlap sack and be quite content. We didn’t bother upgrading to the swim-ups. Honestly, we rarely saw anyone using them. The idea is pretty neat as you can “swim” your way up to a lovely swim up bar. If you want to stay close to your room and mainly socialize with other swim-uppers I would go for it. But if you’re more interested in socializing and seeing what the rest of the resort is up to at the activity pool or at the beach and don’t plan on spending much time around your room, I would save your money and just stay in a standard room. P.S. TV channels get interesting in the 40’s after 11pm. ;)

POOL/BEACH: Getting a sun bed or lounger at the activity pool is much, much easier than doing so at the beach. We could usually get a sun bed at the pool even if we arrived at 9am. However, only one half of the pool really gets any sun. The loungers do go quicker but again, if you get there before 9am you should be good. We never played the beach bed reserving game. We managed to find some beach loungers pretty easily. If you’re picky about location about your beach bed/lounger then set your alarm clock to get up early! Otherwise, it’s not impossible to find something. We spent most days at the activity pool where the entertainment/activity team kept us busy and entertained with aqua-aerobics, volleyball, bingo, name that tune, darts, etc. for most of the day and William, the bartender at the swim up bar, kept our glasses full of all sorts of yummy boozy concoctions. We did not get around to hanging out at the lap pool. It seemed pretty quiet over there the few times we walked by to check it out. We enjoyed socializing around the pool and at the swim-up bar so when we did spend a day on the beach, we definitely missed the social aspect. The beach is good if you want some nice ocean scenery, if you like to wade into the ocean to cool off as opposed to a swimming pool and if you like to do the ocean activities (snorkel, kayak, etc.) My husband did go snorkelling a few times and he highly recommends signing up for the snorkel tour. It’s pretty shallow for quite a distance so you do have to go out a bit to get to a good reef. We do strongly recommend bringing some water shoes/aqua sox to wade in the water with.

FOOD: I wouldn’t say that it’s 5 star quality dining, but it is close. We usually had a sit down breakfast at either Vida or Arrecifes as we weren’t too keen on the buffets. The French toast at Vida is delicious! Lunch is actually pretty good at all venues (Sandwicherie, Vida, Arrecifes and the beach BBQ). Be sure to try to ice cream at the Sandwicherie – decadent and delicious! The best dinner and service we had, hands down, was at the Mexican restaurant La Carreta. Make sure you go to this restaurant more than once. I wasn’t really overly impressed by The Asian fusion restaurant, Klay Talay. My husband seemed to really like the curry dish there. I did really like the Italian restaurant, Mia Casa and I ate waaaay too much and was really happy I wore the elastic waist skirt. Unfortunately, the house wines at this resort are not good. We’re not wine connoisseurs by any means but we do enjoy wine with our dinner. By day 5 – 6 of trying to choke down house wine, we buckled and got over priced wine off the list. If it’s not important to you, then just order something else. But if you’re like us and end up craving a good glass of wine with your dinner and don’t mind splurging a little ($40 US for a decent bottle) go for it. We didn’t regret it.

SPA: I got lucky and won a bingo game at the activity pool one day and won a 2 for 1 80 minute massage at the spa. My husband and I opted for aromatherapy massages. It was heavenly. The spa and facilities are gorgeous. We probably wouldn’t have paid full price for two 80 minutes massages as it was $158 just for one. You’ll definitely be seeing the “marketers” of the spa wandering around the pools and beaches trying to sell you on a treatment. If you like that sort of thing and don’t mind spending the money, then definitely do it as they do a really good job of pampering you there. Or if the prices seem steep, maybe join in on some of the games around the resort and wait and see if you win a free massage?

NIGHTLIFE: There really isn't much of one. They have the nightly entertainment shows (magician, dancers, live bands, etc.) which were fine. Nothing spectacular as it's a smaller resort with a small stage. Most people seemed to congregate around the main bar after dinner to watch the show and listen to the band then everyone slowly wanders back to their rooms. As I said, not a party resort.

SUMMARY: On the whole, it’s a quiet, beautiful little resort with well-maintained, clean grounds. Aside from the spa and gym, everything is within a five minute walk. The staff is always smiling and greeting you. Go to this resort if you want a quiet, peaceful getaway with impeccable service and good food for a great price! We probably won’t return to this resort again as we always want to try somewhere new. However, we would not hesitate to recommend this resort to our friends. Maybe we’ll check out El Dorado Maroma next?

We have been 3 times now, and each time we are not disappointed. The food is amazing, and each time, we have been it just gets better. The beach is shallow, but the beach beds are so comfortable, that it easy just to sleep the day away. Just a short cab ride away is turtle beach (Akumal ) and its worth going, as swimming with the turtles is a joy, and something that will live with me forever. After the first year, we did our own thing, and would reccomend a day at Xelha, you can pay to get in and everything is included, ad if u make your own way, you can stay all day, wihout rushing off to get a coach back. Go you will not regret it. XXXXXXXXXXXX

Stayed at the resort in January after it was recommended to us by a work colleague,so glad I took her advice.The flight from manchester was 11 hours but it was well worth it.
we had an oceanfront siute room (we were glad we didnt pay the extra for the swim up rooms ,they are mostly in the shade and we spent all of our time on the beach).Its true that people do seem to get up at silly times for the beach huts but we always got sunbeds everyday with no problem.
The rooms are lovely,probably the nicest all inclusive rooms we have stayed in(we have stayed in quite a few in the carribean)
All the restaraunts are lovely especially the Italian, the Asian,and the grill.
I cannot praise the staff enough,they work so hard ,nothing is a problem to them.
The only minor thing that surprised me was one day I ripped a toe nail on a rock on the beach (be carefull of these,as I wasnt the only person who did this).I went to the sports hut and asked if they had any anti-septic wipes,to which the reply was "the lifegaurd has these but he is asleep"
Dont bother going to the loyalty club meeting we went to ,they only try to flog you time shares .
At the end of our fortnight we both agreed that it had been a wonderful holiday

Overall, this place is absolutely wonderful. It was my boyfriend's first real vacation ever and I was able to assure him that he will be ruined for any future resorts unless we spend upwards of $3000 per person.There are always little things to nitpick about (and I will go through a few things for those who like the nitpicky stuff). But overall, El Dorado Seaside Suites is the ideal place for a romantic, relaxing vacation with outstanding service, great food and a truly memorable time.

I don't think enough has been said about the ecological preservation that this resort is committed to. EDSS is NOT a palace with spiral staircases and marble floors. It IS however, a fabulous look into the beauty of Mexico. Breakwalls on the beach are made of rocks and reclaimed coral. Garden sections are separated by coconut shells lined side by side. All the beautiful landscaping is done with materials that occur naturally in the environment. Washroom stall lights turn on only if they are occupied and to eliminate wasting electricity, paper towels have been replaced by nice soft terry washcloths that are laundered and reused. I'm not an eco freak, but I liked this.

The beach IS rocky, but we knew this going there and didn't really have a problem with it. There's a decent area for a shallow swim and it's fun for snorkeling. My boyfriend wanted to go out every day to see the fish. Beach beds? Well... It IS true that most of the ones at the front of the shoreline are taken early but we always found somewhere good to sit. If not, we just went to the pool. We did happen to sit next to a beach bed one day that was unoccupied from 6:30 am until 4 pm. I don't blame the resort for this. I blame the selfish jerks who reserve and never come back. How can the resort be expected to police and punish thoughtlessness? There are so many lovely little places to lounge with different ambiances that one could never complain about any shortage of gorgeous places to relax.

The rooms were wonderful and the jacuzzi was one of the reasons we began looking at EDSS when researching vacations. Balcony was nice. Beds are comfortable, but the sheets don't fit very well and there is some plastic sheet on the bed that crinkles. I imagine if it bothers you that you could take it off. We were in room 4014 (regular gardenview suite) on the second floor just above the swim up suites with a lovely view of the grounds and the swim up bar (which was never really very noisy). We would not have booked an oceanview or oceanfront suite as the grounds are so lush with coconut trees that you really do have to walk out to see the water. Concierge were fabulous. Sometimes I like a little fresh air at night but there were only small recliners on the patio. I asked if they could bring a sunbed up to our balcony so I could relax there for a bit at night. Within 10 minutes two men showed up with it and placed it on the balcony for us. Now THAT is service!! We were both impressed.

Food was good. Some of it was absolutely excellent and other things were sort of 'meh'. Our faves were the beer battered calamari and mahi mahi fish tacos at Arrecifes for lunch. Crispy Burrito at the Sandwicherie was awesome as were the Chilaquiles at The Garden Grill for breakfast. Stuffed Poblano chile at the Mexican Restaurant was amazing as was the trio of dips (guacamole, pico de gallo and jicama with pineapple) with fresh tortilla chips. All the fish at each restaurant was perfectly done and they had an abundance of flank steak which is one of my faves. Sushi and maki was surprisingly good, but I'm not expecting the best sushi of my life at an all inclusive in Mexico. The Klay Talay salad that was the special on the Tuesday we were there was delicious. The taco cart was cool and the beach grill always had something good for lunch. The chefs are very creative about not wasting things and turning ingredients that seem a bit blah into really nice dishes. As all foodies know, to do this and keep things fresh is quite a talent. EDSS excelled at this. Room service was ok. But that's always the way with room service. It has to travel to get to you, so normally the food quality suffers a little. It was still good. Room service waiters were very courteous.

Drinks:

FAB. Any top shelf liquor you want is readily available at any bar. All you have to do is specify. The Stoli was Stoli, not some low grade vodka dumped into a Stoli bottle. Always lots of booze in drinks. If it's not enough, just ask and they will remember to make them stronger for you.

Service:
For the most part it was absolutely amazing. We were rarely without a drink, and anything we needed was attended to quickly. We did have a bit of an issue with our waiter in the Italian restaurant. He seemed to be everywhere but in his section. We had to ask three times for more white wine and it seemed that many of the staff that were there were busy with setting and clearing tables as opposed to serving guests. Perhaps the resort wants them to step up their cleanliness of the tables, but it's a little off putting when guests seem to be less important than setting tables for the next day. Maybe they could hire bussers to clear and reset the tables and the servers could offer more time to the guests. It really was only one night at the Italian restaurant that we saw this and it was a little later in the evening. Otherwise everything was above and beyond, service-wise. Perhaps that's why we were so shocked at this one isolated incident. The only other thing we thought was strange .... there was no towel art in our room. Not that it mattered that much or made our vacation any less enjoyable but I wondered why.

Entertainment:

I don't usually bother with the entertainment, but it was right there at the main bar after dinner and we enjoyed the reggae night, casino night and acrobat show. It was also nice to sit outside in the fresh air or under the stars as opposed to a lobby bar. Lobbies are boring. Everything happened by the sea and it was wonderful.

Spa:

We had a couples massage in the beach and it was wonderful.My BF and I had been talking about having a couples massage for a while before the trip and we were not disappointed. I would recommend booking a massage as early in your stay as possible as we were so relaxed afterwards, we wished we had booked sooner.

Tip: Don't bother bringing books or your e-reader. Every concierge office has a little library of books that former guests have read and left there. Great titles and a perfect place to donate a book you've already read!


We will definitely be returning to this resort and will be recommending it to other couples, too. I've already raved about it to my parents, who love vacationing in the Mayan Riviera. Hopefully they will go and experience the same fabulous hospitality and breathtaking beauty that we enjoyed on our trip!

Also, I will be booking all my future vacations with Sunwing. They were wonderful. No big mega bus to the resort, making stops at fifty other resorts on the way as well as polite and friendly staff in flight. These little things also made our holiday hassle-free.