- Mexico Holidays
- Playa del Carmen
- El Dorado Casitas Royale
This beautiful exclusive adult only resort is in the heart of the Mayan Riviera, Mexico facing the beautiful Mexican Caribbean on 450 acres of tropical jungle. Situated among hundreds of palms trees and covers over mile of the beautiful Punta Brava beach. These casitas go a step further up the ladder of progression to the experience of luxury and personal attention. Usually only experienced by attending a private retreat. Starting April 1st, 2024, your MORE INCLUSIVE stay includes: Free Cancun Airport - Hotel - Cancun Airport transfers, Access to Aqua Nick Park, Access to eco-park Rancho Bonanza, Access to Maroma Beach Club, Catamaran Cruise with Snorkeling, and Non-motorized activities at Maroma Beach Club. To book airport transfers, email reservaciones@lomashospitality. com at least 72 hours in advance. Approach the More Inclusive® desk in the lobby for assistance.
Relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages, body treatments and facials. After dipping into one of the 14 outdoor swimming pools, you can spend some time at the private beach.
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
As a former fan of El Dorado Royale and Casitas, this was my third visit to the property, having last stayed here in 2023. Sadly, the strict attention to detail that used to define this resort is completely gone, and the property is suffering from noticeable neglect.
On the positive side, the food at most of the restaurants was still good, but not quite as good as I remember, and the service and attitude of the staff was still above average for an all-inclusive in Mexico.
Unfortunately, the buildings and landscaping feel increasingly dated and ignored. Most of the iconic thatched roofs are in serious disrepair. During a rainstorm, the roof at the Guacamaya Bar leaked so severely that they had to shut down the evening entertainment show early. Compounding the sense of neglect was the sargassum (seaweed) on the beach. It was incredibly bad in both appearance and smell, and unlike my past experiences here, the resort was doing almost nothing to combat it. It was obvious the property was running at about 10% to 20% capacity at most, despite the staff claiming they were at 50%. Seeing it operate like a ghost town makes sense given how much the quality has dropped.
Furthermore, as a member of the Prestige Travelers Club for several years, an "update" meeting was triggered by the club's recent split from Exotic Travelers, which removed this property for us to receive our usual VIP member benefits when visiting (we were only told this upon arrival). Because of this corporate breakup, both parties have lost half of their respective resort portfolios, severely diminishing the value of the original membership, and sadly, the pitch to buy into Exotic to patch the gap was entirely unappealing, and we declined.
Adding insult to injury, to get us to fill out a survey after sitting through the nearly 4-hour sales pitch, which had been billed as a 60-minute update, they handed us a faded black and white printed $100 certificate in "Exotic" cash. The sales representative explicitly told us to just charge our resort shop purchases to our room and present the voucher at checkout for credit.
However, when we went to check out, the front desk flatly refused to honor it, claiming it had to be presented at the point of sale. We waited for nearly 30 minutes while they made some calls but did absolutely nothing to fix the situation. We finally just had to give up and pay the bill in order to catch our transportation to the airport. Apparently this is a somewhat common tactic: the sales team knowingly lied and gave us "money" counting on the fact that guests checking out have a flight to catch and will just pay the bill. For me, it's less about the $100 than the deceptive tactics. I know, I should know better.
Between the structural decay, the uncleaned beaches, and the dishonest, predatory marketing tactics, El Dorado Casitas has lost its charm. We will not be returning.
To be upfront, I have been an Exotic Travelers member for the past 15+ years. I have seen the membership and the resort go through A LOT of changes. In my opinion, not too the better. From arrival to my departure I had nothing but issues with Staff from check in service for members, concierges, butlers, and sales personnel. Check in was a state helter-skelter. Exotic Staff were requiring members to sign an itinerary of activity page noting a $100 charge if the member did not attend the signed for event. Members were required to check in for the event even though there were no check in areas for the events. I wont go into all the issues I was confronted with over 10 days but it was tiring and frustrating. It seemed like every day there was something new. My well needed vacation turned into the worst vacation at this resort. I left with a sour taste in my mouth for the resort. It appears the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. So much miscommunication , if any, between departments to correct VERY MINOR at times issues. Rooms are definitely showing their age. It appears that the supposed renovations do NOT include The Casitas. The stairway's top rail at 27 literally fell apart from rot in my hand almost causing me to fall to the ground. I would like to say all the bellman were excellent. Most of the wait staff were good. Concierge and butler service needs improvement. I would like to give a thank you to Marilyn who I believe is a Housekeeping Supervisor. She was VERY HELPFUL. I was last at the resort 2 years ago and I must say the food has definitely gone down hill. Some of my favorite dishes at the resort are no longer great. My least favorite restaurant this last trip was Rincon. I couldn't even eat the meal. I know this is my opinion, but I know how this resort has been in the past and how it is now. Will I return, probably, but with great apprehension. I would rate this holiday a 3.5/10.
I surprised my husband while he was on a solo trip to the Casitas. I contacted Maritza Aguirre, who is someone I have worked with many times over the years, in regards to reservations and requests. I told her about the surprise, and she added a note to the reservation so no one would say anything to my husband. Everything worked out perfectly and he was totally surprised! Thank you, Maritza.
We have noticed some changes to the property since our last visit a couple of years ago. My husband arrived on 9/15 and was put in section 27. Unfortunately, that pool had no bartender/bar set up, so if he wanted something to drink he would have to get out of the pool and walk over a section to another pool. For the added expense of the Casita pricing compared to the Royale section, one of the perks is having your own pool with a bar/bartender. There was another couple at the pool and they stated that there has been no bartender/bar for the 4 days that they have been there. No one was working on it, so it was not a maintenance issue. He asked to switch rooms and the next day he was moved to section 28. We did notice that by the end of the week when it became Members week, section 27 had a fully stocked bar with bartender.
Francisco( along with Clemente ) did an excellent job throughout the week making drinks and talking with the guests. Shout out to our new friends who we met at section 28 pool….Aly/Dave, Alice/Paul, and Ann/Bill. They were part of the reason we had such a wonderful vacation.
We did notice that the overall appearance of the property seems to have gone down. Rarely did we see anyone working on keeping up the grounds. Fallen coconuts everywhere, along with fallen leaves and debris. Once Members week started, we did see a turn around in this as well. Lots of people all of a sudden sweeping and picking up coconuts. The coatis have taken over the property. They are everywhere. One had actually opened the slider to a swim out room and was going after the coffee creamers.
Food was very good, as usual. Excellent waitstaff members at restaurants to mention: Israel at the Palms, Alfredo at Cocotal, Javier and Amado at Sante Fe.
We did have 1 bad experience at Sante Fe for breakfast. Did not get the waiter’s name, but once we sat down at 8:15am for breakfast, we asked for cappuccinos and were told “no cappuccinos” and asked what else we would like. We then mentioned that we had cappuccinos a couple of days before at this restaurant so we knew they could make them. He then stated “no milk for cappuccinos”. What??? 8:15 am for a breakfast restaurant and no milk??? Asked if we wanted coffee, I then replied that there is no milk. He said black coffee only. A better response would have been “ It will be about 10 minutes as I will need to get milk from another restaurant “
For the prices charged to be in the Casitas section, there should never be a no, but instead, let me see what I can do. Asking for milk at a breakfast restaurant is not an above and beyond request. Needless to say, we got up and left. Went to Cocotal and Alfredo was fabulous.
We did get to see Edgar at Bellinis Bar. He is always so happy and great to talk with. He is our favorite bartender. His partner during the week was Viridiana. She was fabulous as well. We had ordered a margarita with Grand Marnier on top and they needed another bottle of that so it was ordered. While waiting for it to arrive, Viridiana ran over to the closest bar and got a cup full it use in the meantime so we would not have to wait for the replacement bottle to arrive. Excellent service.
Letecia and Isa were our assigned representatives and were very friendly always asking if we needed something.
We still feel like this is home and we will always come back. I have always rated this as 5 stars, but this time it is a 4 star rating.
Awesome experience w/ 13ppl!! We stayed in Rooms Casitas 3214, 3204 swim up pools were a nice refreshing dip every morning!! l highly recommend this resort!! Carlos, Eduardo, Brian, Cyntia, Miquel Elana Alma Chefs Breakfast Amazing!! hostesses Aimee, Sarahi Omelets Adolfo, Jose Mgr. Breakfast cook Jessica Jade Maria, Porfirio Awesome Team!! Miquel Sling bar, excellent bartender!! Jose/ Ramon Beach Butler Butlers Extraordinaire- Alondra, Paula, Xime, Luiz, Rene Manuel, Wine Kitchen Roberto, Pizza Guy🍕 Herbie, Palm Restaurant Generations Pool Martha!!
Back from another wonderful vacation with my husband and friends, staying in Casita Honeymoon Suite Swim up for 8 nights. We had the best weather and fun times with our friends that came to meet us there. We enjoyed Aqua Nick one day, the wine and painting class and the cocktail class.
The trip was amazing as always and I don't like to do it but I need to point out some negatives this time. As we are members, I have also written into Exotic to let them know and I am currently awaiting a response that I hope to receive soon before we decide where to book our next trip.
Room 3132 - When we arrived, our room was missing several items, including the coffee machine (just an empty space), slippers and the fruit arrangement included with our member benefits. The room itself also had some maintenance issues, including curtain rods that were falling down (we had to use our own clips to keep them closed at night), ceiling fan was not working correctly and more concerning was our private outdoor pool. It was not properly cleaned or maintained, the surrounding area was overgrown, and some of the pool tiles were sharp enough that we ended up cutting our feet. We reported these issues during our stay. While some were addressed, unfortunately not everything was resolved.
Concierge & Dinner Reservations
We were specifically told by our concierge that we should make our dinner reservations through him rather than through our butlers. On two separate occasions, however, we arrived at restaurants with confirmation/proof of reservations the concierge had made for us, only to be told that the restaurants had no record of them. As a result, we were unable to dine at the restaurants as planned and had to go around and find something else late at night.
This happened at both D'Italia Villas and Wine Kitchen and was particularly frustrating because we had followed the instructions we were given.
Resort Communication
There also seemed to be a disconnect between the information provided in the resort app and what was actually open.
On one occasion, we followed the app to determine where we could have lunch and walked across the resort, only to discover that the information was incorrect and the restaurants were closed.
With both Pizza Cabana and La Isla closed, we eventually had to walk all the way back to our room and order room service.
We completely understand that restaurants may need to close or operate on reduced schedules when occupancy is low. Our concern is simply that the information provided to guests needs to be accurate so we can plan accordingly.
Private Dinner at D'Italia Casitas
We paid the additional charge to reserve the private dining room at D'Italia Casitas for eight of us, as we had friends and family travelling together.
Unfortunately, this experience was also disappointing.
Three members of our group received tuna carpaccio that was still frozen and had to be returned to the kitchen to defrost before it could be eaten.
The chicken parmesan was also extremely disappointing and nowhere near the quality or presentation we have experienced previously.
Considering that we paid an additional fee specifically for this private dining experience, we expected a much higher standard.
Our Wedding Anniversary
Perhaps the most disappointing part of the trip was that our anniversary was not acknowledged at all. We were married at the resort nine years ago with our friends and family and have returned every year to celebrate our anniversary at Casitas. This history is one of the main reasons the resort means so much to us.
Our anniversary was included in our pre-arrival information and was also specifically discussed with concierge during our stay.
In previous years, we have received our Ruby and anniversary banners and usually a small acknowledgement or special touch in our room. Concierge mentioned that this would happen when we checked in - there was nothing at any point during stay.
After 14 visits, and particularly given our history of being married at the resort and returning annually to celebrate, this was genuinely disappointing.
Our Overall Experience
We want to be clear that we still have a great deal of affection for Casitas, and we are considering returning again next year. However, this was at times disappointing.
Staff - the best!
Finally, I do want to end on a very positive note regarding the amazing staff.
As always, the butlers, servers, bartenders and other frontline staff were exceptional. They are wonderful people and a significant reason we have continued returning year after year. Even with the issues outlined above, the warmth and service provided by the staff remains one of the things we love most about Casitas. I especially wanted to mention Norma, our server at 31 section for lunch and for breakfast at Santa Fe. Cesar Rodriguez, the best bartender at the resort with a second shout out to Juan for being amazing also. Aketzali is a new employee at Haab and we went back to eat there a second time because she was such a ray of light and fun, mingling with guests and ensuring everyone had a wonderful experience.
Shout out to Gaby the butler for being an amazing human all around.
Omar is an amazing masseuse! Book the outdoor massage on the beach, you won't regret it.
I can update this review once I get some resolution from Exotic with Member Experience and a reply.
Thanks
