El Dorado Royale, a Spa Resort by Karisma

We just completed our 10 night stay at El Dorado Royale in Sept 2020. This was our 4th time at El Dorado and each time is better than the last. We were apprehensive about traveling during COVID, however, the safety measures they had in place made us feel very comfortable. The staff were all wearing masks and face shields and they were constantly sanitizing all the surfaces. We look forward to our welcome glass of champagne upon arrival and check in was a breeze (as usual!) Our room was even ready when we got there and we arrived before noon! Our concierge was wonderful and called each morning (but not too early!) to see if we needed our mini-bar restocked or if we wanted to make dinner reservations and to see if there was anything else we needed.... He made us feel very special :) The restaurants were delicious as they always are! Reservations were required as they couldn't seat them at full capacity but there are so many restaurants that it was never hard to get a reservation! There are a few waiters that we would love to thank because they made our experience so much more enjoyable! ITALIAN RESTAURANT: NESTOR - he went out of his way and was so friendly. Even though Caesar salad wasn't on the menu he made them for us because I told him how much I love the Caesar dressing. He didn't have to go the extra mile and he did! COCOTAL: CELESTINO - we ate at Cocotal every morning for breakfast and a few days for lunch. By day 3 he knew our drink orders and brought them over without us even having to ask!! He always had a smile and jokes for us and I hope he is there each time we visit!! FUENTES POOL BAR: BENJAMIN - Ben was our bartender at the swim up bar in Fuentes. By day 2 he had our drink orders memorized and was a pleasure to talk with each day. He was always friendly and smiling and we looked forward to seeing him each day! The entire Entertainment Staff is AMAZING! We were nervous that there wouldn't be any activities because of the limited amount of people but the Entertainment Staff made all the activities just as fun! We did the bike tour, Spanish lessons, volleyball and water aerobics everyday! A very special thanks to Jose, Majo, Josie, Hugo & Haxby for all the fun we had! We can't wait to come back as we are always treated like family when we are at El Dorado :)

I can't even express how much we love this resort. This was our second visit, and our first visit after becoming members. Our stay did get off to a bit of a rough start. We had problems getting our water stocked in our room and would have run out had our friends not shared with us. We made multiple requests for minibar service and it took several days for it to get straightened out. We also had a struggle to get our members welcome amenities and were disappointed to never have gotten our members banner on the door. These are little things I realize, but its the little things that sets this resort apart. There was 1 staff member who absolutely MADE our trip wonderful. He went out of his way over and over to make us feel special and answer all our silly questions! And if he didn't have an answer, he sent us someone who could help us. Our butler Rudy! This man is an absolute shining star and his passion for his job is exemplary. Our other butler Israel was also very helpful! An example of how dedicated to customer service this resort is- my husband and I love having a 3rd floor room because it feels more private, but we had a blazing bright light on our balcony which was not only obnoxious when we sat out there at night, but it was also on a timer and very bright when we would sleep at night. I dont remember the wonderful man's name who packed a ladder up to the 3rd floor to climb up and unscrew a light bulb for us, but it was incredibly appreciated and was a little thing that made our stay much more pleasant. I also want to mention the app is delightful! It was pretty new when we were there and not all the kinks were out, so im hoping on our next trip in February it is still being used. It was so convenient and things got done quickly when communicating through the app. Also, I ordered a room service pasta salad from the app. They communicated back that they didn't have the stuff to make that particular salad but offered me a different pasta dish with my choice of red meat sauce or some other sauce. It ended up being the best spaghetti I have ever had in my life! Seriously, ask room service for pasta with meat sauce. You won't regret it! A note about the food at the resort- whomever makes the soups there, needs to be famous. Or sell cook books. There is a black bean and pea soup that will blow your mind. And you'll dream about it every minute you're not at the resort. Also, the cold melon soup.... the stuff dreams are made of. Basically, try the soup. All of them. Counting down the days until we are back at our other "home"!

We were thankful that we were able to visit el Dorado. Amazing staff, amazing food and excellent and professional spa therapists. Unfortunately the hotel and travel agency associated (exotic travel) still need a lot of work. Exotic travel contract says it includes airport transfers but that is deceiving because they can “arrange” airport Vans but not Provide them for free. Also it says it includes some sort of resort credits but no proof, no Email of coupons and we did not get that at check in either. Room service was way horrendous. First time we called for 7 am breakfast, no one showed up. Later that morning we found out there was a kitchen issue, but no communication from hotel, or kitchen or the concierge. The next night, we got awaken at 4 am for breakfast we didn’t order. Found out later that Probably belonged to the people below us who was checking out . The night before our departure, We tried again arranging for Next day 5 am small breakfast, coffee, and yogurt because we have a 6 am airport pick up. Guess what?no one showed up. No explanation! We called the night before our departure for bell service to get our luggages At 530am. Guess what. No one showed up. Had to scramble to get someone that early morning. The concierge guy was very pleasant but unfortunately he has no clues what is happening. Poor hotel management with very very poor communication. A long way to really become a 5 star resort.