El Dorado Maroma, Beachfront, Adults Only, Gourmet All Inclusive

This resort is located very close to a sewage treatment plant and you can smell the sewage on the resort grounds and even in the room. Very romantic. To make matters worse the management rudely denied that there was a smell and even lied that there was a sewage treatment plant nearby. They also nicely refused to refund our money when after the second day we wanted to leave and didn't seem to care that we had an issue. Besides the lovely sewage plant aromas they neglected to include in their advertising that the 'gourmet' food was in fact absolutely horrific and we left the resort after the second day with another disappointed couple we met just to have dinner in town every night because none of us could bare to eat another disgusting plateful of what they served in the restaurants. Leaving the resort turned out to be the best part of the trip. Sorry Karizma but frozen packaged food, msg and spoiled fish is not gourmet. They couldn't even cook pasta properly and the sushi was a sad joke. Even the Mexican food we had there was poor and they couldn't even nail breakfast. Just bad all around. And don't expect to have any premium liquor or beer as you would find in a real 5 star resort, the booze was all cheap brands and we were convinced it was watered down. El Dorado Maroma is a 5 star fraud but if you have a 5 extra grand and like sewer smells and eating bad food then knock yourself out. Just don't say I didn't warn you. Oh and the poor, poor schmucks who bought into their outrageously expensive travel club that they try and hard sell you on when you get there. Those poor souls wouldn't know real luxury if it fell on them. You know what they say, there's one born every minute and we certainly learned an expensive lesson about believing all the too good to be true reviews about this resort that's for sure. Cathy

This is an intimate resort that is friendly, yet quiet. The rooms have thatched roofs and one thinks she/he could be in the FIJI islands.

Positives: Fantastic location. Beautiful beach and grounds. Restaurants / Food are excellent with a choice of Japanese, Mexican (authentic not TexMex) and Italian. Quality and presentation of meals was faultless. Massage Man was amazing - genuinely friendly. Negatives: Overbooked (we were transferred to a sister hotel for our first night - apparently this isn't uncommon!). Rooms are clean and nice-enough but perhaps not fitting for a "luxury" resort? (we stayed in the standard room but at $500+ per night you expect better...)

We really enjoyed our stay at the El Dorado Maroma. The hotel and the rooms were really beautiful and the staff was lovely, friendly and helpful. The beach was just sooo beautiful, and some of the extras - such as waiter service on the beach were very welcome! There were some teething problems though, and areas in which I could suggest improvements. Firstly the housekeeping was a little temperamental - our room was very clean and lovely, but we got the turn down service on the first night, and no others. Some days our mini bar fridge would be refilled, but not others. The timing of when the room cleaning differed dramatically, so on one day when we wanted to spend the afternoon on our balcony after 2pm, the room wasn't clean and we didn't end up getting it done that day. Also, we felt that whilst a lot of the food was lovely, the menus, including for room service, were a little limited, and the Italian and Japanese restaurants on-site were not that great. One major issue we had was that an error had been made with our booking, and that of a number of other customers on the day we arrived. That meant that we had to spend our 1st night of only 5 in total in a sister hotel, a 15min drive away. We were compensated for this with a free speciality dinner, and a couples massage, but it was still frustrating, as one of our full days was broken up and reduced by the fact that we had to check out of the sister hotel, and back into our original one. Whilst they couldn't have been nicer about the whole thing, it was still a little disappointing when we had spent what we considered to be quite a lot of money, and only had 5 days in total. We would however go back again, but I would probably try to get a slightly better rate, as I think we paid quite a lot! :)

Our time at El Dorado Maroma was great and served its' purpose of some much needed R & R. We just returned and were unfortunately cursed with bad weather for 3.5 out of 7 days. We were told the weather was not typical since it wasn't their rainy season but we had quite a bit of rain and overcast skies. Some nights were upper 50s/low 60s and daytime 60s and 70s. The last couple of days there were fabulous and beautiful though and nothing less than paradise. The mostly clear sky days were in the low 80s, but it still felt quite hot due to the 100% humidity. Just in case, women should take a pair of pants and long sleeve shirts for the evenings and check the weather outlook before traveling. Our experience started at the airport. We took a cab which took about 30 to 40 minutes. There were security guards at the entrance to the resort who seemed to carefully check names and record when someone comes into and leaves the resort. The road to the resort was a bit of an adventure and added some excitement. It was paved but long and winding with natural Mexican jungle on both sides. When we arrived to the resort, we were greeted with a smile and given some sparkling wine. The woman who checked us in asked for a print out of our confirmation from [...]. When I told her I didn't have it, she said, "no problem". Not sure why she wanted it. They seemed to already have our names, reservation, etc. We arrived before check in, but it was not an issue. We were given a tour of the property and ate lunch at Pepito's while our room was being prepared. We had a honeymoon suite in the "500" building, that had the most amazing view of the ocean and grounds. The grounds are immaculately maintained. All of the hotel staff were very friendly and always said "Hola!" when passing by. The food was great in some cases and good to fair in other cases. Breakfast at Pepito's was great. It was nice to enjoy breakfast with an ocean view and peaceful music each morning. There was a small chef station where you could have eggs prepared how you like and bowls of ingredients to pick from to add to the eggs. There was also bacon and sausage and they frequently had breakfast potatoes and a couple of other rotating warm dishes. In addition, there were fresh fruits, granola, yogurt, cereal etc. We highly recommend the "green juice". You'll probably have to ask for it if you'd like to try it. We always ate lunch at Pepito's as well because it was fun to try the theme lunch and the special drink and dessert of the day. It was also consistently really good. If you are there on a "taco bar" day, then don't miss it!We ate at Sabores for the theme night dinners. Keep in mind that there is a dinner dress code and men are required to where pants and non-beach shoes. The entertainment was good and the mariachi band was a lot of fun. Make your reservations for these nights as soon as you can because preferred times fill up fast. It seemed that most guests ate there on the theme nights. We also tried the Italian and Oriental restaurants. The Oriental was preferred over the Italian by us. At the Oriental restaurant, we ate appetizers which were okay and had some great sushi. Each order you only get 4 pieces, so specify if you want more sushi. We weren't very hungry, so we didn't try the entrees there. The Italian restaurant was okay. The spinach soup was good, the pork was okay. The tiramisu was strange to say the least. The "deconstruction" didn't really work with the gelatin squares on the bottom.The beach butlers frequently came around and offered water and to bring other drinks to us on the beach. Margaritas and pina coladas were great. The mojitos- not so much. Try the Caribbean Passion and Rosa Maya drinks which were also very good and seemed to be popular. On sunny days you will need to get up early if you want a lovely beach bed. Most people "reserved" their bed on the beach by putting down towels and personal belongings. Beach beds by the pool were typically...

Beware of the claims that this is a "gourmet inclusive" resort as there is absolutely nothing gourmet about it. I was very disappointed with the shockingly low quality of the food being offered there. Most items were from frozen and not fresh and much of the gravies and garnishes which they drenched absolutely everything in all tasted the same and were made from packaged powder and loaded with MSG. All of the food was extremely greasy and unappetizing to the taste and to the eye. They even have the nerve to serve powdered mashed potatoes which of course were runny and tasteless. The limited selection of vegetables were not fresh, salad leaves were browning and wilted, drenched with cheap bottled salad dressing and the seafood was not fresh either which is a real shocker seeing as Mexico is a cheap and easy place to find loads of fresh seafood. The chefs try to compensate for lack of fresh ingredients and culinary skill by over salting absolutely everything to the point much of the food was simply inedible. The "prime steak" was tough, chewy, low quality, wafer thin salty flank steak floating in about an inch of powdered brown gravy. Gross. For a place that boasts five restaurants the menu was painfully limited. Only about 12 entrees available in total for 5 restaurants is not acceptable. Service is unprofessional, slow and severely lacking and I felt bad for the obviously untrained wait staff who seemed to try but they really failed at delivering an acceptable dining experience. Food that was ordered never came, menu items arrived most times missing things such as sauces, garnishes and sides as stated on the menu, the wrong item or wrong drink was often brought to the table, up to 20 minutes to get a drink in the restaurant, food was almost always cold, well over two hours to eat a two course dinner on average and the portions are so small even a light eater will leave hungry. Dont even think about trying the Sushi. No soy sauce and it was so bad that I spit it out due to the rock hard day-old rice and the slimy fish that tasted off. I politely alerted the waiter to the fish being bad and he looked at me like I was crazy and took the plate away in a huff. The "gourmet 24 hour room-service" was a complete joke. The menu consisted of only 4 things including french fries that were so salty they put McDonalds fries to shame and hot dogs that were obviously microwaved delivered with no condiments and it took over an hour to arrive. Gourmet? I think not. I didnt even eat it and the plates sat uncollected outside the door covered in flies for over 24 hours. I ordered a club sandwich one night and it just never showed up, I called the front desk several times and there was no answer so I went to sleep. The breakfast buffet was very limited and much of the food was at least a day old and cold, the only fresh items were the eggs. Sad. To sum it all up: the food was gross and it is a disgrace the way they sell you on "gourmet inclusive". The food gave me a headache and the runs and I went to sleep hungry most nights. I could go on about how the hotel was literally falling apart, the booze was not premium, no hot water most of the time, beach was infested with sand fleas, they try to hard sell constantly during your stay into buying into their expensive travel club, the pool was cold and dirty, how most of the promised entertainment and activities were canceled without proper explanation and how I could smell the nearby sewage treatment plant while at the resort but I think I have made my point based on the food alone.

We weren't sure what to expect for our first all inclusive to Riviera Maya, MX. El Dorado Maroma was small, yet intimate and recommended. Upon arrival we were greeted with glasses of champagne and given a free upgrade from the Mi Hotelito to the newer high rise area. The gourmet all-inclusive was true: grey goose vodka, cook to order breakfasts, lunches and dinners (no buffets). However, some dinners were average and the portions were small but plated wonderfully. The entertainment at Rick's Bar included a surprisingly level pool table with decent cues, and quite entertaining shows including a funny and deceptive magic show, energetic and compelling Michael Jackson impersonator, a cirque de soleil style circus, and karyoke among other various live band shows. Playa Del Carmen was only minutes from the resort, but we had some issues renting a car at the airport. make sure you see the difference between standard and automatic. We were charged an excess amount even though we paid previously through [...]. You can't really argue. The beach was quaint and snorkeling was great and free! beach reclamation is an ongoing chore but it has afforded quite a nice aquatic environment within a few yards of the beach. we saw numerous fish, starfish, crabs and rays. We also saw racoons and their smaller cousins in the evening. The pools and pool bars were excellently maintained and staffed. you name the drink and Orlando can make it! which brings me to something else, you get to know the staff. you see them every day and its their job to make you feel at home and they do. One thing you should do if you go there is take small amounts and tip. They deserve it. For example, We ordered room service one night and Oberlin delivered it in a pouring driving rain. he was soaked but smiling when he got to my third floor room. Each day the grounds staff cleans the beach. they rake it and take the rakings away so the beach was clean - the beach was two hundred yards long!! You will meet people. they will become friends. you will eat well and small portions aren't that bad of a thing. you will drink as much as you wish and be content if you wish. This is a great place to go for couples who want a little bit of entertainment but a lot of quiet.

Stayed for 6 days in October at the El Dorado Maroma needless to say it was a complete nightmare Cons Smell of a nearby sewage plant was strong by the front gate, some days you could smell it on the balcony of the room Low quality food labeled as 'gourmet' and served on goofy looking 14 inch plates Much of the food was from frozen or not fresh Welcome fruit bowl in our room was turning bad and covered in ants Small portions, still hungry after eating 45 min for an appetizer and the restaurant was near empty Drinks in the restaurant took forever, up to 20 minutes, had to ask 3 times Mains often came before appetizers No standard of service, every service was different and often confusing Food was so salty and greasy that much of it was inedible and downright disgusting Sauces were horrible, from powder with MSG, tons of salt, all sauces tasted the same Food gave us a headache and we had bad stomachs for several days after leaving Limited menu selection, not much of a choice left us bored after 3 days Sushi was awful, huge amount of hard rice, stinky frozen fish, no soya sauce Beef carpaccio was frozen hard half inch thick pieces of flank steak (same cut they use in fajitas) Cold, soggy spring rolls from frozen with no sauce Ribs were 3 tiny pork ribs and powdered potatoes Dishes arrived missing ingredients, garnishes and sides as listed on the menu, when brought to their attention they gave us all kinds of ridiculous excuses and on one occasion staff told us that we had to make a 'special order' for the sauce at time of ordering Only half the order arrived on many occasions, you would only get the main and not the appetizer or vice versa Would walk into the restaurant and no staff would be at the front of the house, would seat ourselves and have to flag someone down Most nights they were 'out of' something on the menu even though resort wasn't full Some of the breakfast buffet food was days old Up to 3-4 different waiters would try and take our order after we had already ordered No beach butler as promised, we had to hike to get our own drinks Beach had alot of sand fleas that bite, we couldnt sit out there at all some days Most staff did not speak or chose not to speak english making it difficult to order things or ask for information Most of the promised nightly entertainment was canceled without explanation made the place really boring at night with absolutely nothing to do but sit in your room $140 for two plain lobster tails as a 'dinner special' Ceasar salad was a plain leaf of lettuce with a tiny bit of Kraft salad dressing drizzled on it and an anchovie on the side, laughable Tempura was just greasy deep fry batter No steak on menu Slow, forgetful service, staff made us feel like we were bothering them, clearly apathetic service Staff would say 'Ill be right back with that sir' and just never come back Staff members were seen slapping and grabbing female staff members behinds around guests Waiters often would laugh when they brought the food making us get the vibe that they did something to it Bar and restaurants closed earlier than promised Bartender in main bar kept giving people the wrong drinks Drinks would arrive sometimes with garnish sometimes without, sometimes in a short glass sometimes in a tall glass, no service standards Pool closed at dusk Scary at night, stairway and pathway lights got turned off some nights at 11 making walking the stairs and paths was dangerous as it was pitch black, we felt unsafe with no exterior lights on the grounds of the resort No deadbolt on door Had to ask 3 times to get some snorkle gear, only got one set over an hour later Male staff were openly 'checking out' female guests Some staff had a creepy vibe and made my female partner uncomfortable Housekeeper walked into the room without knocking daily, one time while we were undressed 24 hour room service menu consisted not much more than a 'hot dog' (cold, covered in watery salsa not chili as stated in menu), 'burrito' (cold...

We absolutely loved our trip to El Dorado Maroma! We were treated like a King and Queen. We had the suite with infinity pool and loved it! The rooms highlights were jacuzzi tub, outdoor shower, infinity pool, bed on the balcony, and huge bed in the room! The best things about the resort were service that remembered your name and what you liked, excellent variety of food, and EVERYTHING included. The beach was gorgeous with crystal clear water, combed powder sand, plenty of beach beds, and beach butler service! The place was perfect for us as we were looking for privacy, service, relaxation, good food, and a beautiful beach. We highly recommend this resort!

Very quiet, small, high privacy place. If you want to get away from everything - this is perfect stay for you! There were other people in hotel, but it wasn't crowded at all. Hotel is buried in palms and other exotic plants and flowers. There were a lot of chairs availble at beach and at the pool(You don't have to race to reserve one), also they had a lot of nice covered beds on beach and by the pool. Great fresh food made right after you ordered it. 24 hour room service is great (and free). Eat when restorans are closed or if you are not feeling like coming among other people. It was my best vacation so far!