El Dorado Royale, Catamaran, Cenote, All & More Inclusive Adults Only

First visit to the Yucatan Peninsula. We really can't fault this hotel. We stayed for 15 nights in total, rather than 14 due to our return flight being delayed because of Hurricane Beryl! I will break the review down into segments: 1) Food A great selection of restaurants serving different cuisines. Our favourite was the "Habb" Indian restaurant. Rich, creamy curries and great starters and sides. I think we ate there 3 or 4 times in total. On our last night they brought us a cake out with "come back soon" iced onto it. A nice touch. A close second was the "Santa Fe Grill". Steak cooked to perfection. We never got to sample all of the restaurants as we went back to the ones we liked so many times. Cocotal was our favourite breakfast spot as there was such a great selection of food on offer including a taco and omelette bar. During the day we would normally grab something from the "Health Bar". A smoothie or salad. This was in a great location next to the beach. We also enjoyed dinner at the Fuentes culinary theatre (3 times!), where a local chef demonstrates how to cook a dish before it is served to the audience. A fun and interesting way to dine with great music provided by Paulo on guitar. We only had one poor meal during our stay, that was the first night. My lamb was overcooked and the chef offered to cook me something else straight away. There is also a very good room service menu at no extra charge. For some restaurants you have to walk to the Generations end of the resort. It takes 10-15 minutes but you can always catch a golf cart if you don't want to walk. The only negative about the restaurants was the booking system for the restaurants at the Generations end of the resort. People staying at our resort could only book dinner after 20:45. I believe this was allow times for families to eat. The problem is that the restaurants close at 22:00 so you felt a little rushed at times. 2) Accommodation Spacious rooms (we had a junior suite), well appointed bathrooms including a whirlpool bath and a great shower. The bed was huge and very comfortable. The mini-bar was restocked whenever we asked. We didn't make enough use of the balcony. They have swim up rooms which we will look to book next time we visit. 3) Facilities Several pools are dotted around the resort and the majority have swim-up bars. The main pool seemed crowded at times but that was because all activities such as water polo took place there. Toilets are very clean throughout. There seemed to be an endless amount of golf carts driving staff and guests around so you don't have to walk too far if you don't want to. We found them handy if it was raining and we had dinner booked at a restaurant a walk away. We used the tennis courts daily (we brought our own gear), they are in great condition but you do get the occasional iguana spectating... The only negative point was the beach. We couldn't swim as the man-made reef had been displaced by a previous hurricane which made it dangerous to try. 4) Activities. There is an endless amount of daily activities you can join in. From Yoga to rifle shooting! Our favourite was the jungle bike ride (everything not built on is still jungle). We should have used mosquito spray beforehand though! Entertainment of an evening was pretty good, from Karaoke and bands to a really good singer/circus show. 5) Staff. Everybody from breakfast to the chamber maids were friendly and always said "Hola". They couldn't do enough for us. We read some reviews stating staff were unhelpful. Not true! They were so helpful in the run up to, during and after Hurricane Beryl struck. 6) Overall The El Dorado Royale exceeded all of our expectations. We normally don't return to hotels after visiting once but would return here at the drop of a hat. For us, it was the perfect holiday.