El Dorado Maroma by Karisma

TLDR: I would not stay here again. I learned about this property while staying at a sister property (El Dorado Sea Side Palms). They have a free, “more inclusive” program where most of the activities (wave runners, catamaran, buffet brunch, etc.) take place at the Maroma Beach Club which is adjacent to El Dorado Maroma Resort. Staying next door to the beach club meant I could come and go as I pleased. If I had booked the beach club from one of the sister properties, that would have been a full day excursion with buses returning around 5:00 p.m I booked a five-night stay on the spur of the moment this summer. My plan was to scope out the property for a future stay at their way more expensive, Palafitos over water bungalows. To be clear, the grounds and beach were beautiful. The staff did a wonderful job of clearing the sargassum. And the activities and food at the beach club next door was really good. This is a small property that is easy to navigate. I booked a haven suite (which came with private, airport transportation) and was upgraded to a 3-room suite that was just steps to the beach. My butler (Victor) was amazing and very responsive. However, here are the reasons I would not return:

1. Unresponsive/indifferent/uncommunicative staff. Part of their “more inclusive” program includes airport transportation. I booked on their website and included my flight information. About a week later, I called the resort because I wanted to know who I should contact if I changed my flight information. I was not allowed to speak to their “pre-arrival agent”. I was told to email them…which I did. When I did not get a response after 2 weeks, I sent a follow-up email. About 3 days later, I received a response. They said that I could change my flight and to forward the new information. Arrangements would be made and forwarded to me. However, because so much time had elapsed, the flights only got more expensive so no change was made. It took several more emails before someone finally emailed me back with instructions to connect with my airport transporter.
2. I travelled during low season so most of the restaurants were not open. Only one or sometimes two restaurants were opened each night. To compensate for when only one restaurant was open, they would allow guests to choose from a special, abbreviated menu (up to 5 menu items) from one of the other restaurants. For example, the Mexican restaurant would allow you to order from a special menu from the Italian restaurant. During my stay, most nights included the Mexican restaurant. So there was not enough of a variety of food for me and dinner became very repetitive. I chose to order room service for breakfast every morning. The order was NEVER correct. Often forgetting the bacon or other menu items, or delivering at the wrong time (The concierge ordered breakfast to be delivered the next morning. It was delivered that very afternoon). Double-edged sword, it was nice to know I could order breakfast at any time. However, it was a waste of food (the butler was surprised when I told him I was not going to eat it). Another upside was the food was always delivered hot.
3. Food portions are very small (take a look at the size of the jerk chicken compared to the fork on one of the pictures I am including). Do yourself a favor and order two entrees to be served at the same time (they kept asking which entrée I wanted served first). The food was fine, but not great.
4. I booked a full-day excursion to Chichen Itza through the resort (Lomas). I was told to meet the tour operator in the lobby at 6:10 a.m. Not a problem. I am an early riser. Plus, the site would be less crowded and the sun would be less intense this early in the morning. However, by 6:45 a.m., it was obvious the tour operator not coming. The night manager eventually contacted the tour operator and they said they could pick me up in 45 minutes. I was not willing to wait and requested a cancellation/refund…which the night manager agreed to. However, before I could leave the lobby, he stopped me and said the tour operator could get a van to pick me up in 15 minutes. I agreed. This van picked me up and dropped me off at a meeting location for the actual tour group. What he neglected to tell me was that that tour would be conducted in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish. I didn’t learn this until I was with the tour group. The tour guide would direct some information to me in English, but for most of the 2.5 hour drive to Chichen Itza, she and the other passengers conversed in Spanish. When we arrived at Chichen Itza, I was handed off to a different tour group where the tour would be conducted in English. Afterward, I was to meet back up with my original, Spanish-speaking tour group. The tour guide (Jessica) felt bad and offered me a diet Coke during lunch. Placing me on a Spanish-speaking tour was unfair to me and to the tour guide, Jessica. If I had known the tour was going to be conducted in Spanish, I would have cancelled. I feel that I was placed in ANY tour to keep from having to refund my $139. I expressed my frustrations to the Lomas Excursion desk the next day. When I said that part of the tour cost should be refunded, he (Jaime) at first kept say “but you went on the tour.” But later said he would contact the tour operator about a partial refund and get back to me. I have not heard from him.
5. Indifferent staff/policies. Again, my reason for this spur-of-the-moment trip was to tour the Palafitos Over Water Bungalows for a future stay. A winter stay in one of the bungalows would be at upwards to $10,000 (maybe more) and I wanted to see the property before I committed that much money. The concierge learned through casual conversation that I had stayed previously at a sister property, that I travel at least 3 times per year and that I had just stayed at a neighboring property (Secrets Maroma) so I have the means to travel. They refused my request (twice) to view the Palafitos unless I sat through a time-share (vacation club) presentation. Remember, I am here during low season, so neither to resort nor the bungalows were at full capacity. Forcing me to sit through a 2-hour presentation would have been a waste of their time and mine. They would not have been able to convince me to purchse a vacation club membership. Their policy to force me to lose 2 hours of vacation time lost them $10,000 in a future stay.
6. Beware of the bracelet. Upon check-in, I was issued a bracelet that would identify me as a guest and open my room door. I was warned that if I lost the bracelet, there would be a $100 replacement charge. They said the bracelet would be secure enough to sleep, shower and swim in. I slept and showered in mine. By day two, the bracelet had become unfastened 3 times. I mentioned this to the night manager (Mauricio…the same one that handled my rescheduled excursion) and he swapped it out for a new one and offered to hold on to it until I returned later that evening. He said he would not be on duty when I returned, but promised he would leave a note for the staff. When I returned, there was no note. The person on duty kept saying that I lost the bracelet. I kept reiterating that I had not lost the bracelet. Mauricio had offered to hold on to it for me and they should contact Mauricio. It was almost time for a shift change (15 minutes) and I was told that the next person on duty probably had knowledge of this and would straighten it out. I said I would go to dinner and return after the shift change. During dinner, my butler (Victor) came over to say “hello” and I told him about the bracelet issue. He left and returned with a key card so I could at least get into my room and said the issue was being taken care of. A couple minutes after he left, he texted me and told me the bracelet issue was resolved and that I could pick the bracelet up in the lobby. Two days later, the replacement bracelet began to unfasten itself. So, make sure you pay special attention to your bracelet and know that it will unfasten after about 2 days use.
7. I consider issue #6 to also be a staff communication issue.
8. Upon check-out, I was told that I had participated in a tequila tasting and a specialty dinner and would be charged for them. I had not done either of those two things. The clerk and I went back and forth for about 15 minutes until she resolved that I would not be charged for the two items.

This is definitely not a 5-star resort. It is a 3-4 star resort at best. The aggravations suffered was enough to make me consider other properties for a more relaxing vacations.

I’m posting my trip advisor review here cause you all know this, but if you haven’t made it here yet you may not…

Seven Trips Later — The People Are Why We Keep Coming Back!

We just returned from our 7th trip to El Dorado Maroma, and once again, we left already talking about when we can come back!

There are so many things we love about this resort, but after seven visits, we can confidently say the people are what make El Dorado Maroma so special. Many of the staff have truly become like family to us over the years. We look forward to seeing their familiar faces, catching up on life, hearing their stories and making new memories every time we return.

And then there’s the beach. It is truly one of a kind—absolutely beautiful, groomed daily and very well maintained. We had very little sargassum during this trip, and there really is nothing better than spending the day on Maroma Beach.

We intentionally like to visit during lower-occupancy times because we prefer the quieter atmosphere. We’ve also visited when the resort was much busier and have been just as happy, so that’s simply our personal preference. Because occupancy was lower this trip, fewer restaurants were operating each night. The rotation actually worked really well, although we missed seeing some of our favorite faces from previous trips because of where everyone was working.

Karen and Leo were hands-down our favorite bartenders this trip! They took such great care of us and together helped create our new vacation drink, “The Jessica”—fresh pineapple, fresh watermelon and Malibu. Simple, delicious and now permanently tied to some very fun Maroma memories!

But what really stood out was how attentive they were. When my husband was feeling dehydrated, they made him mineral water with fresh lime and salt to help him rehydrate. It’s those little things—remembering what you like, noticing what you need and genuinely taking care of you—that make the staff here so special.

At Papitos, Angel and Arturo were absolutely wonderful and always took great care of us.

Our beach butlers, Manuel and Armando, were amazing as always. They serve you with a smile, but what we’ve come to love most are the conversations, laughs and stories about life that we’ve shared with them over the years. Those relationships are something you simply can’t manufacture at a resort.

Our personal butler, Julietta, went above and beyond throughout our stay and made sure we had everything we needed.

We also have to recognize Betsy, Diego, Rene and Salome. We interacted with some of them less this year simply because of where everyone was working, but seeing those familiar faces is always part of what makes returning feel like coming home.

We stayed in Mi Hotelito, and our room was delightful. The location was honestly the best we’ve ever had at the resort. Housekeeping was wonderful throughout our stay as well.

I unfortunately didn’t catch the name of the sweet lady who was constantly cleaning and caring for the area around the Bali beds, but I hope management can identify her because she deserves recognition too. She worked so hard and ALWAYS greeted us with the sweetest smile.

The Taqueria was PHENOMENAL and such a great addition! Miguel took wonderful care of us, and being able to enjoy tacos and fresh guacamole right by the pool was a huge win for us. Please don’t change that!

We didn’t try the pizza—not because it didn’t look good, we’re just not really pizza people—and we never ordered room service this trip because there were too many other things we wanted to enjoy.

We LOVE Caribbean Grill and ate a LOT of octopus this trip—we tried it at several of the restaurants! My personal favorite at Caribbean is the Brie, while my husband loves the coconut shrimp.

And can we please talk about the breakfast green juice?! It honestly deserves its own review. After seven trips, there are certain Maroma things you start looking forward to before you even arrive, and that green juice has officially made the list. Fresh, cold and SO good—especially after a few too many “Jessicas” the day before. Do not skip it!

The Mexican Fiesta continues to be one of our favorite nights. The entertainment is always amazing, but the FOOD this year deserves special recognition. After seven trips, we both agreed that this was the best Mexican Fiesta food we’ve ever had.

My only real disappointment with the food this year was dessert. Obviously that’s very subjective, but most of the desserts simply weren’t to my taste this trip.

However, the ice cream shop was GREAT! Our suggestion would be to keep it open in the evening. After dinner and entertainment is exactly when we’d love to wander over for ice cream!

Some of our favorite Maroma touches are actually the simplest ones. Those cold, beautifully scented washcloths they bring around during the day are heavenly! It’s such a small thing, but when you’ve been lying on the beach in the Mexico heat, they feel incredible. We looked forward to them every day.

We also love the little snacks brought around during the day. It’s another one of those touches that makes it very easy to settle into your Bali bed and decide you’re simply not moving!

We did miss the chocolate candy and trail mix that used to be stocked in the room refrigerator, but overall, we have really enjoyed the changes and additions we’ve seen at Maroma.

The entertainment this trip was SO much fun! We thoroughly enjoyed the country singer, Queen show, the duet and the fire show. We’ve seen the fire show many times over our seven visits, but this particular group seemed to genuinely be having such a great time performing that it made the show even more fun to watch.

And then there was karaoke!

Felipe, Gustavo and DJ Chris helped create some of our favorite memories of the entire trip. We laughed, sang and karaoke’d our hearts out. Our one request for next time: PLEASE get a second microphone for duets!

There are also so many activities and options offered throughout the day. We can’t really review most of them because, truthfully, we come to Maroma to do absolutely nothing! Give us a Bali bed, the beach, a Jessica and some tacos and we’re perfectly happy.

One thing we’d LOVE to see added someday would be an included evening catamaran experience. Being out on that gorgeous water around sunset would be an incredible addition.

A tip for first-time visitors: check-in and check-out can take a little while, and in our experience rooms are rarely ready before the official 3:00 PM check-in time. The good news is they allow you to start enjoying the resort while you wait. Pack your swimsuit in your carry-on! Check your luggage, change clothes and start enjoying Maroma instead of sitting around waiting for your room.

We’ve also always had a great experience with Lomas transportation. Transportation is included depending on the length/package of your stay, so definitely check when booking. We’ve found them reliable and easy to use.

We didn’t visit the spa this trip. We’ve enjoyed it previously, but personally, we feel the current pricing has gotten a little too high for us to justify—especially when it’s already hard enough to convince ourselves to leave that gorgeous beach!

There are plenty of beautiful resorts in Mexico, but the staff is the heart of El Dorado Maroma.

After seven trips, these aren’t simply the people who bring our drinks, serve our meals or take care of us at the beach. We’ve gotten to know them. We’ve heard about their lives and families. We’ve laughed together, shared stories and genuinely look forward to seeing them every time we return.

We created new memories this week that we’ll carry with us forever—and even came home with our own drink!

We arrived as returning guests and left once again feeling like we’d spent the week with friends.

Thank you to Karen, Leo, Angel, Arturo, Manuel, Armando, Julietta, Miguel, Felipe, Gustavo, DJ Chris, Betsy, Diego, Rene, Salome, our wonderful housekeeping staff, and everyone else who made trip #7 another one we’ll never forget.

We’re already missing all of those friendly faces.

Trip #7 is officially in the books, and we cannot wait for #8!

And Karen & Leo… keep the pineapple and watermelon ready. The Jessica will be back! 🍉🍍🥥❤️

The staff was amazing. Armando Manuel and Manual, The Beach Butlers were 10/10. Anything we needed they were on it! I felt like I was the only customer at the beach with how much attention they paid to me, that day and they had several customers they were serving at the same time.

I will be back to this resort and ask for them again.