Five Reasons to Love the El Dorado

Posted on by goldenlifemusings

I’ve traveled all over the world and stayed at a number of fantastic properties. However, there’s only one property in the world I’ve traveled to five times. I have not visited this beautiful resort since launching Golden Life Musings so naturally, I just had to blog about the reasons why I love the El Dorado Spa Resorts by Karisma and why you should too!

  1. The accommodations

First, let me share that the AAA Four Diamond award-winning, adults-only El Dorado Spa Resorts in Riviera Maya, Mexico consist of El Dorado Royale, El Dorado Casitas Royale, El Dorado Seaside Suites and El Dorado Maroma. The Karisma brand also includes Generations, the family friendly resort that is connected to the El Dorado property. During my previous visits I stayed at the El Dorado Royale and the El Dorado Seaside Suites, which is a little further away in Tulum. However, on this stay I decided to try something new and explore the El Dorado Casitas Royale. My casita, which means “little house” in Spanish, was everything I thought it would be AND more!

Casita
My casita made me feel right at home

One of the things I love about these resorts is the spaciousness of all of the accommodations, including the lead-in category room, which they call their standard room, but is anything close to standard. The casita, however, boasted even more space and came complete with its own expansive indoor and outdoor shower stalls and an indoor alcove for a private spa jacuzzi. Depending on which category of casita you select – I opted for the oceanfront casita – you have either an outside deck that expands into a swim-out pool or an outside deck or balcony that leads out to the ocean. In either category you also have a private pool and swim-up bar for you and your neighbors to enjoy.  So, you have options – either a pool or the ocean is your backyard…decisions, decisions!

Casita2
I had some of the best quiet times on my veranda

Something to Note: The casitas really only work if you are traveling solo or you are a romantic couple. As is the case with most adults-only resorts, there are limited or no options for double beds. Therefore, if you want to travel with your bestie, your best bet is for each of you to get your own casita or stay at the El Dorado Royale or Generations (the family resort next door) if you want to room together.

  1. The culinary experience

If this is your first time reading Golden Life Musings let me just share with you now that I’m a foodie. That means any review that I do is going to talk about food and how much I love it. That being said, this resort had me at “gourmet-inclusive.” That means this is not your typical all-inclusive resort. These properties specialize in culinary arts and aim to give you the full palate-pleasing experience. In fact, on their web site it says, “it’s not just cuisine. This is a culinary journey.” Hello!

El Dorado Food
Some of my favorite dishes to view and eat 🙂

What does that mean exactly, you ask? Well, let me just share with you some of the amenities. There are more than 12 restaurants on the property (including the Royale, Casitas, and Generations) serving an array of gourmet options, there is 24-hour complimentary room service, and the kicker – the El Dorado Royale has a 76,000 sq. ft. greenhouse on the property where fresh vegetables and spices are grown.

El Dorado Greenhouse

Additionally, this time I opted to partake in a unique feature of the El Dorado brand – Fuentes, a Culinary Theatre. This five-course culinary experience features a full cooking show where the resort’s Head Chef and Sommelier prepare a demonstration of each course using some of the finest ingredients from their greenhouse and pair them with a premier selection of wines. It was truly an experience, and not to mention delicious!

Something to Note: This is one restaurant where you definitely need to have a reservation. There is only one sitting each night, which begins at 7 pm with a welcome cocktail and 7:30 show and dinner.

El Dorado Fuentes

  1. The service

Having stayed at this property on more than one occasion, I can say with confidence that this resort is one of the best I’ve experienced in customer service. The staff is not only super-friendly and cordial, they are extremely helpful and do what they can to make you feel like a rock star. During this stay, because I was a Casitas Royale guest, I was able to experience the convenience of having a personal concierge. This person was there to essentially take care of whatever I needed from booking my massage and restaurant reservations to finding me a toothbrush if I needed one. When you experience service like that, well it’s hard to go back to anything else!

Check-in appetizers and champagne
This was our check-in experience – appetizers and champagne!

Something to Note: There is a complimentary shuttle service that runs every 20 minutes to take you anywhere you want to go on the property. This service ends at 11 pm so if you plan on enjoying the many restaurants or bars after 10 pm, know that you will have to get yourself back to your accommodations on your own.

  1. The spa

As it is one of my duties as a travel consultant to fully inspect a property for my clients, I had to do my due-diligence, of course, in experiencing the spa (smile). There are two spas on the resort and this time, since I was a Casitas guest, I opted for the Casita Spa. Both have an ancient Mayan-themed motif and are designed to “soothe, refresh, and rejuvenate your entire being.” And that it did!

I elected to indulge in what they call “The Sky” massage, which is conducted in an open-air cabana right on the beach where you can hear the sound of the waves crashing in the background and feel the warm Caribbean breeze graze your skin as you get rubbed down. It was so magnificent, in fact, I had to go back for a second visit a couple of days later…for research purposes of course (smile).

El Dorado Naay Spa
Be sure to ask for Saidy or Angeles…their hands are magic! That photo on the bottom right shows how relaxed I was lol.

Something to Note: Try your hand at the 80-minute Kukulkan massage, which infuses different massage techniques using natural oils derived from the benefits of Mexican herbal therapy and massage accessories that include native dried gourds and bamboo. They also use a combination of various techniques including Lomi-Lomi, Reflexology, Shiatsu and Swedish, which will have you in the deepest state of relaxation and serenity you ever thought possible.

  1. The vibe

This might be the hardest part of the resort to describe, but probably one of the most important parts of a vacation for me. Every time I visit a new destination, I am keenly aware of the feeling I get when I experience all of the aforementioned amenities. It is an intangible, yet very real part of the experience, and that is the vibe.

Most of the times I visited this resort, I have been with a large group of people and with those large groups, sometimes it is hard for a resort to maintain the essence of what makes its brand shine and the quality of service that it provides. Not here. From the convention group services to our private foam party and swim-up bar service, each staff member served us with excellence and made us feel like we were right at home. And that’s why the El Dorado will see me again.

El Dorado Maroma
The El Dorado Maroma’s overwater bungalows are next on my list! Yes, please!

Oh Mexico…

Posted on by goldenlifemusings

I’ve been to Mexico more times than I can count. Cancun, Cozumel, Cabo, you name it…I clearly just can’t get enough of this country, particularly the Riviera Maya region along the Yucatán peninsula where you’ll find some of the top-rated beaches of the world. Last week I decided to return again, this time to the Tulum region, about 45 minutes to an hour outside of the most popular part of the region for tourists, Playa del Carmen. Since I was accompanying a travel partner who was conquering the milestone of earning his first passport stamp, I decided to venture out beyond my normal Mexico experiences and have a few “firsts” of my own…and boy am I glad I did.

Tulum is more subdued compared to neighboring Playa del Carmen and Cancun, and is known more so for its yoga retreats and archaeological ruins than the turn up girl’s trips and mancations for which the other regions are more well-known. So if you’re looking for more of a relaxing vacay or perhaps a romantic getaway with your loved one, this area is a great choice. I chose the El Dorado Seaside Suites because 1) I had been to the El Dorado Royale, a sister property, three times and absolutely love the Karisma brand of hotels and 2) As a travel consultant, I thought it was my duty to try out one of their newest properties, which boasts nothing but suites that have ocean views, and either a swim-up terrace or balcony with infinity pool…as research for my clients of course (smile).

I opted for the infinity pool suite. Amazing! I literally did not want to leave. The suite itself was spacious and well decorated, balancing the nice touch of making you feel at home while being away from home. The generous sized shower stall with the dual rainforest/detachable shower head and separate jacuzzi tub, made this quite possibly one of the best resort bathrooms I’ve experienced to date. And now onto the infinity pool balcony…I could live there, I mean really. The contrast of the blue pool water and the different hues of green and blue of the Caribbean Sea was magnificent. Note, try to get on the highest floor so you’ll have the best view and chance of sunlight with no other infinity pool suites above you.

As you could have guessed, being the foodie that I am, one of the things I love most about the Karisma brand is they offer “gourmet all-inclusive”, which means they take pride in giving you a luxury, gourmet food experience at their resorts. Remember that previous post about not all all-inclusive properties are created equal (Having it All)? If you are trigger shy about testing out an all-inclusive property, I recommend you give the El Dorado gourmet inclusive experience a shot before you give your final answer. This post would be extremely long if I told you about each food experience, but you’ll see some of my favorite food pics below and I’ll share that my highlight was the sea bass dish at the Italian restaurant, Mi Casa. Perfecto! In addition to the 8 restaurants that the Seaside Suites offer, you also have the ability to experience the restaurants at the neighboring El Dorado Sensimar, just a short complimentary cart ride away. Note: they also have a (limited) 24 hour room service menu, which came in handy one morning when I decided to have breakfast with a view.

One of my top 5 seabass dishes ever!
Fresh grilled veggies…yum
Delicious cannolis
Tasty dessert treat
Breakfast with a view
One of the most delicious ceasars I’ve had to date, and beautifully prepared.
Hello burger!

Before I move onto my experiences beyond the resort, I would do the El Dorado Seaside Suites no justice without talking about the spa. It had me at hola. Considering I’ve become a bit of a spa-snob in my travels, I do not say it lightly when I tell you that this was one of my best spa experiences to date. In addition to the incredible 80 minute relaxing massage, the service among all the staff was impeccable, the relaxation room had everything you would want and need, and the hydrotherapy experience was everything – well except for that ice bath. I don’t really do cold so I opted out of that one. (Don’t judge me.)

As I aim to write a balanced review, I also want to note a criticism I have of the property. If you are looking for a nice beach where you can lay out on the sand and get a nice view of the white sandy beach merging effortlessly into the green and blue waters, you probably don’t want to stay here. There is not much of a beach on this part of the coast. And much of the paltry beach they have is covered in seaweed. The property has done a great job in the investment of beautiful beach cabana beds (what they call Bali beds) that line up amongst the little bit of beach they have, but as a beach bum I must admit I was a little disappointed in that. If you want chairs that lay out in the sun for you sun lovers like me, your best option is to score a lounge chair by the pool.

20170716_145437
I made the Bali bed work, though in the shade. Note there were a few lounge chairs out there to sunbathe.

Now onto our exploration of the Mayan ruins. As many times as I’d been to this region of Mexico, I had never been to the world-renowned Chichen-Itza or the popular cenotes. Chichen-Itza, now dubbed one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, was the largest of the archaeological cities of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the Yucatán Peninsula. It was incredible to learn about all the history of the Mayan culture and the significance of the pyramids and various architecture within the site. We opted for a tour that included a visit to a cenote, which I highly recommend. A cenote is a natural sinkhole, typically surrounded by a cave or cavern, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath. It is literally some of the freshest water you can ever experience. The water was extremely cold but felt refreshing after being subjected to the oppressive heat of Mexico in mid-July. If you are comfortable, I recommend jumping in, you won’t regret it! Note: there are life jackets for those who are challenged in the swimming department. Also, if you plan on doing this excursion, plan for an all-day experience. We left at 8 in the morning and did not return to our hotel until 8 pm. It was worth it though!

Our phenomenal tour guide, Hector with Altustours. I would definitely recommend!
Before I took my dip in the cenote
My welcome to the cenote by my friendly Mayan brothers…they treated me like a queen!
El Castillo, the most popular structure of Chichen Itza.
Ahhhh refreshing!!! 🙂

Unfortunately, lately Mexico has been hit with some pretty tragic news around “tainted alcohol” at some of their luxury, all-inclusive resorts and rising drug-related crimes within the Riviera Maya region, which has understandably made some travelers wary of making it their next vacation spot. Despite that news, just as with any place you travel, I recommend that you do your due diligence when researching a property, take part in recreational activities responsibly, and be careful of your surroundings, especially when traveling off resort grounds. I still cherish Mexico as one of my favorite travel destinations and I will continue to recommend it to travelers looking for an amazing vacation experience.