El Dorado Seaside Palms, a Spa Resort - All Inclusive - Adults Only

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

14547 reviews

• 

  Extremely Disappointing — Nothing Like the Photos or Description

  We booked a seven-night vacation package through JetBlue Vacations at El Dorado Seaside Palms Spa, expecting an upscale, AAA Four Diamond resort for our 30th Wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, the reality was dramatically different from what was advertised. This was one of the most disappointing vacations we've ever taken to Mexico, and we've been vacationing there for more than 30 years. The resort was nothing like the website photos. The room, pools, and beach did not match the images we had seen when booking. We later learned that a sister property with additional restaurants, pools, and beach amenities was closed for renovations, leaving far fewer facilities available than we expected. The rooms and facilities were rundown and poorly maintained. Our original room had old, stained furniture, and the stairwell light was burned out. We had paid an additional $400 for a Premium Oceanview Junior Suite, but at check-in, the resort told us the upgrade wasn't on our reservation. We eventually got the room after complaining, but we should never have had to fight to receive something we had already paid for. The upgraded building was still run-down, with dirty linens, an overwhelming odor from a nearby water filtration system, and a diesel generator that repeatedly belched black smoke next to the building. The pools and beach were disappointing. Initially, only one small pool was available. When we arrived at the pool, all of the lounge chairs and beds were dirty and covered with either dishes or wet towels. It was also a total ghost town with hardly anyone there. When we asked the attendant whether the chairs were cleaned/reset, we were told to "put a fresh towel on top" of the wet towels. The pool in the Premium Building was also poorly maintained, with rust and stains across the bottom. The beach was effectively unusable due to massive amounts of sargassum seaweed, and the "hidden beach" and other beach amenities at the sister properties were closed. We had serious concerns about safety and guest service. On our first night, another guest near our room was screaming and shouting in a way that genuinely frightened us. When we tried to call the front desk, we discovered that our room telephone was broken. Repeated calls from our mobile phones went unanswered. We contacted our JetBlue Vacations representative for help, but even he initially had difficulty reaching the resort as well. After several hours, the resort manager offered to move us to the Premium Building the next day, but would not relocate us to another property unless we paid out of pocket. In another disturbing incident, a wild raccoon jumped onto me from behind while my husband and I were on a Balinese beach bed. Other guests told us that someone had reportedly been bitten earlier in the week and required hospital treatment. When I reported the incident to the concierge, the response was dismissive. The raccoons were running around in the restaurants as well. Dining and spa services were also far below expectations. Only three of the resort's five restaurants were open on a given evening, and we often found no tables available when trying to make reservations. Room-service food arrived ice cold the two times we ordered, and they came back 20 minutes after delivery to collect our dishes, I guess they were short on dishes? We also visited the spa as a special treat, only to find cracked windows, missing tiles in pools and hot tubs, and generally run-down facilities. We decided to make the best of it, and book excursions so we wouldn't have to be on the property. Even the off-resort excursions were problematic. Our Cozumel sailing and snorkeling excursion involved an overcrowded boat that broke down, leaving us stranded for approximately two hours while waiting to be towed. We were unable to complete the snorkeling experience we had paid for, and the staff provided little information about what was happening. After requesting a refund from the excursion company, we were told the issue was being investigated, but we never received a follow-up or refund. To make matters worse, both our outbound and return journeys between San Francisco and Cancun took nearly 24 hours due to "mechanical issues." We booked this through JetBlue Vacations using 250,000 TrueBlue points, which costs approximately $8,000 to purchase. When we complained to JetBlue Vacations, we were told that no refund or credit was available because the hotel had already been paid. Our biggest complaint is the enormous gap between what was advertised on the hotel and Jet Blue websites and what we actually experienced. They actually have photos of a room that is on a different property, which we thought we had booked, and instead got a run-down room with dirty linens, furniture, broken closets and even had to call to get soap to wash our hands. We expected a relaxing, upscale resort vacation and instead encountered poorly maintained facilities, limited amenities, safety concerns, disappointing service, and a failed excursion. We returned home exhausted and stressed rather than refreshed. Based on our experience, we would not return to this resort and would urge anyone considering booking it to carefully verify the current condition of the property, which amenities are actually available, and whether the photographs accurately represent the accommodations they will receive. This was absolutely not the vacation we paid for.

  Oct 19, 2026
• 

  To be clear: it’s a 4 star hotel not a 5

  For context I have been to this hotel before, before it was sold to both TUI and Hidden beaches, whilst it was a Karisma chain - it was the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at. They’ve obviously sold it at the right time before major renovations are required, those renovations never took place, it’s run down and it needs some serious care. I like that it’s not modern but I don’t like that it’s falling apart. For context, we upgraded our room before arriving to a Luxury junior suite, nice room and nice view of the sea but the ceiling leaked all over our wardrobe, our clothes got ruined, it also leaked in 2 other places including through the electric fan that’s next to the bed on the ceiling. We attended reception, a separate concierge, the app both TUI BLU and direct with hotel internet browser and to be honest I actually think they thought we were lying. We waited over 2 hours for someone to come and look for themselves, when they did they said someone who spoke English from reception would call, that call never came so we went down there another hour later and they said there’s nothing they can do. We had to ask for a room change they “upgraded” us to a beach front room but if anything it’s worse (for pics the second upgrade is the ground floor and the original upgrade is the balcony). The bed is significantly not as good as the cheaper room, the place is smaller, less storage but they are very clever with their wording I’ll give them that it’s beach front not beach view. There’s about 23metres to the wall of the beach which is covered in cabanas that were not allowed to use because they belong to an Elite club, most of which are in shade. This is the decent stretch of beach that the majority of the hotel can’t use unless you’ve remortgaged for one of the top rooms to be in a top club, which honestly is just giving Benidorm tower block. I actually think it’s the facilities that have been most disappointing, the restaurants have been okay, you do have to book. The Japanese restaurant is genuinely the best but the 2nd time we went my partner ended up getting food poisoning (annoying because it was genuinely the best), went to tell the concierge and he literally said they won’t accept its food poisoning unless I PAY $120 for an onsite doctor to confirm it, I politely declined. There’s very little seafood options across the board. Avoid the culinarium, the food is one of the worst alongside the Italian. I do think obviously try them all and see for yourself but we just had some pretty bad food across the board in terms of the restaurants. The Japanese was the best until my partner was sick. What I will emphasise is the TUI ladies were fantastic, I felt like they were fighting a losing battle against the hotel staff sometimes as everything seemed to be an inconvenience to the hotel staff but the TUI ladies were exceptional. They stated they’d make sure the hotel cleaned our clothes that were in the wardrobe that got drenched and when we went direct to the hotel we actually didn’t bother as it seemed like such an inconvenience to them my partner and I couldn’t be bothered to fight it, so we just ended up leaving. Also the fact the American side which on Google maps seems open is actually shut for TUI customers at least, there are fewer restaurants open than made out. The entertainment was kind of as expected but that karaoke night needs to stop - this hotel is claiming to be a 5* luxury resort in Mexico: be that. It’s not Benidorm. We also had no hot water for 8 hours all evening on our last night, very much similar to the previous scenario except we waited literally 4 hours for anyone to acknowledge we aren’t lying and then a further 4 for it to be fixed. I appreciate this review is a negative one but if you’ve been here before then you’ll know this hotel used to be incredible and by far a 5 star however now, it’s a solid 4 not a strong one either. It’s nice but it’s not excellent and I wouldn’t pay full price for it either even on the cheapest room. The hotel staff just want your money and trying to make us pay for stuff we didn’t have as we were leaving, it’s just a bit of a joke - hold your ground and dispute it. I eventually laughed in their face and said I am not paying $350 for a “moonlight dinner” I didn’t have and they accepted it just like that after a fight - they knew they were trying to pull a fast one.

  Oct 16, 2026
• 

  Should be much better.

  Nice hotel with excellent staff let down by poor management and very poor food. Lots of seaweed on the limited beach which they struggle to clear. Of the boasted 11 restaurants fewer than half were open at any one time, and then finding them became the challenge.

  Oct 12, 2026
• 

  Fabulous hotel and staff

  We booked this for our honeymoon and wanted a nice relax in a beautiful setting and we were not disappointed. The hotel itself is lovely, its not modern but we thought had a nice charm to it. It is very clean in all areas and the beds comfy. Staff are so friendly and do everything they can to make your stay enjoyable. No shortage of drinks and the food was all great. We tried to book a couple of restaurants for the same day and was limited or no availability so I would plan and book well in advance, however there is always room service so not a major issue. The grounds are kept tidy and golf buggys can drive you up to some of the restaurants and bar. Pools were great, it was low occupancy so wasn't an issue in finding a sun bed however I think it may be different in the busier months. I woudn't hesitate to book here again, we loved the hotel and Mexico!

  Oct 07, 2026
• 

  Truly wonderful stay

  After a long day of travelling to El dorado we were greeted by friendly people with a cool flannel and a cocktail. They then took us to out room by golf buggy. These buggys came in handy to get around the resort also if needed. I have to say this is one of the nicest places I've stayed at. The food was absolutely lovely, all freshly cooked. The taco guy and the omelette making guys too work hard with the hot plates in front of them. The mexican people are the best in the world they make you feel so welcome and work very hard here..big shout out to Luis and Benjamin the entertainment staff around the pool and also Claudia for her aerobics and yoga out on the pier. No promlems booking Restaurants most nights and again the staff work hard to look after you in them. Beautiful beach and the room spotless. Added bonus was the 2 cats and the wild caoti and raccoons. I recommend the room service at least once while youre there, perfect for after a day exploring chichin itza. We definitely would stay again. Top drawer 10/10.

  Oct 04, 2026