I know a lot of hitchers have looked or are looking at this hotel for their honeymoon, and i would throughly recommend it!! I have just returned from two beautiful weeks so thought id jot down some info for those going or considering it (il upload pics later, as they are on my home pc!) as i know lots of reviews with sing its praises and say how wonderful it is and they dont pick up the below (least thats what i found!)
Initial reaction when you come up the drive is that is doesnt appear to be a grand reception compared to some hotels in mexico, thres no huge name sign, or a main reception desk so to speak, but dont let this put you off as it did me (first impressions and all!)
The hotel is set in a jungle and is a heavily bases around keeping the natural surroundings in their original state..so the paths and stuff are build around the trees and so on, and theres lots of palm tress as they have a coconut nursery so dont expect to be able to see the sea even if you are close!! We were in block 38, at the back of the hotel (which is very close to the front of the beach!!) on the first floor and altho had a stunning view, could not see the sea at all.
The beach isn’t what you’d normally expect from the carribean as its all preserved to protect the surrounding reefs. There are some artificial reefs made of huge sandbags they have placed to break up the waves to protect the beach and wildlife there, lots of fishes and stingrays about!!! This means the water is very shallow very far out , although rocky in places underfoot but when the waters warm and clean this doesn’t put you off!
You will always get a beach bed or sun beds by the beach of a morning, there were very few early towel placings going on...plus, there’s literally hundreds of beach beds along the front dotted around so theres no need for 6am get ups!!
Because of the jungle setting, there is a lot of wildlife, iguanas, racoon type things and bugs, lots of them. If you travel with Thomson/first choice, they will try to tell you about a yellow wrist band that fights off mozzys for 12 days and that its 100% amazing. It’s not, dont bother buying them, we did and after a days wear i was bitten loads. Take normal bug spray and make sure you use it!!
The restaurants are amazing for dinner!!! Theres 5, Arrecifes is the international restaurant on the beach and does the most amazing food, have the flank steak!!! The Mexican has the most choice of dishes, the Italian the best service and the Vida grill the best setting. There is a fusion cusine Klay talay above Arrecifes which is amazing, Chinese/thai style food !! Men HAVE to wear collared tops in all restaurants in the evening, so t shirts, polo shirts and actual shirts..you will be turned away if the there is no collar!! During breakfast, men have to have sleeved tops so no vests. For women, anything goes for both breakfast and dinner (covered up inside, however the Sandwicherie is set outside at lunchtime and bikini tops etc are fine)
My GHDs didnt work there, and stuff we needed to charge (ipad, phones etc) took longer them usual to fully charge, its al to do with the voltage i beleive. I think newer GHDs should be ok although may not be as strong as they would be here.
EVERYTHING is priced in American dollars and you have to work out how much this in Mexican Pesos..before we went we were lead to believe it was the other way round so took pesos. For ease id take dollars!!! You have to pay departure tax once you leave the country, this was £45 per person (1600 mexican pesos) and can only pay in cash but you can pay in dollars, Mexican pesos and pounds or even a mixture of 2 or 3 of them.
We booked trips there, theres no price diff in booking here before you go!
Theres 2 shops on site, one branded shop where they sell stuff with the El Dorado logo on and another souviner shop, these are expensive...visit playa del Carmen, 25mins down the road (hope on a bus at the end of the drive, they go straight there!!) and buy gifts here, its much cheaper and a wider selection!
If anyone has any other questions or need to know something else, let me know!! Overall it was the most amazing, clean, special holiday ive ever been on and would defo say to take a visit there!!
