My girlfriend and I just returned from 7 days at Maroma (April 6-13) and had a wonderful time. I won't go into too much detail about restaurants and such because most has already been discussed but I will tell you about the things we really liked.

Our Room - We had an infinity-pool suite on the 4th floor of the new side of the resort, room 441. I believe the first 2 towers are the only ones to have the pools on the 3rd and 4th floors. The rest of the towers just have large balconies. We LOVED the room because of the ocean view, the privacy and the 4th floor rooms are the only rooms to have the outdoor showers that actually open up to the sky. The rest have a thatch roof because you can look down on them from the higher floors. The only downside to these rooms is that they are on the 4th floor and…..no elevators. You're walking up and down 4 flights of stairs a LOT so keep that in mind if you're thinking about one of these rooms.

Food – We’ve stayed at a number of all-inclusives before (some small, some large) and this was by far the best food we’ve had at any resort. I can’t say that everything we ate was the best but I’d say 90% of it was very, very good. We were thinking there wouldn’t be much of a selection but there is a LOT on the menus and nice combo of both meat and fish. My girlfriend does not eat meat and was in heaven with the seafood selection at each of the restaurants. We enjoyed the Japanese restaurant the best because we both love sushi and it was good there. It’s not like your favorite sushi place at home but we thought it was great for a small all-inclusive….in Mexico. We also really enjoyed the room service for breakfast. It’s mainly omelets on the menu but they came with a nice selection of fresh fruit, bread, muffins, juice and coffee.

Pools – We spent our first ½ day at the newer pool and it’s beautiful and larger than the other one but we found that there wasn’t much of a tropical vibe over there. They were working on the new outdoor grill area, which should be complete in about a week or so, and that didn’t bother us but there was no music playing other than when they brought a speaker over for the water aerobics and then it was way too loud. We then tried the older/smaller pool, loved it and spent the rest of our days at that one. There was definitely a tropical vibe going on with all the palm trees, palapas, quieter background music and it had a much more tropical feel. It also may have been the people we met on that side who were all very friendly and a lot of fun, which I’ll talk about later.

Staff/Service – The majority of staff we encountered were extremely friendly and the majority of service we received was excellent. From the baggage guys and front desk to the maids and restaurant workers, just about everything we received was completely first class. Sure there were a few here and there who weren’t the quickest and there was a language barrier with some but the majority did everything they could to make sure you enjoyed your stay. The resort as a whole really seems to put service as a priority and tries to instill that in all of the employees. I know some of the previous reviews stated they needed to work on service but they seemed to doing a pretty good job in our opinion.

Off-site Activities – We went to Playa one evening and did a little shopping, ate/drank and mainly people watched and it was fun for a touristy destination. It was a nice change of pace from doing nothing around the pool all day but we took another trip that we really enjoyed. We heard from another couple about a retired windsurfer who has a small sailboat a little ways up the beach and takes people out on private tours. After watching the big catamarans take off from the marina with 50-60 on board, this seemed a lot more interesting to us. We walked up about 1 mile to the left of the resort where you will see a little handmade sign and a sailboat named “Eight Dwarfs”. ‘Captain Memo’ told us his normal tour consists of sailing (no motor) south for an hour to a nice reef, snorkeling for an hour and then sail back to the original spot. This is $30 per head and he can take up to 6 people, though that may be a little tight. We weren’t too interested in the snorkeling so he said we could take a sail up to Puerto Morelos (about 2 ½ hours north or 10 miles) get out, have lunch/drinks, see the small town and then sail back. This is $50 per head and a heck of a deal considering what the big charters charge. Plus it’s more intimate and much more personal considering it’s just you and Memo (May-mo). We set it up for a couple days later, did it with another couple and had a great time. You can’t set it up though the concierge, you just have to walk down the beach and see if he is there and tell him when you want to go. I would highly recommend this trip as Memo is a very interesting person, knows everything about the area and towns and treats you with the utmost respect. A couple things to consider though if you do decide to do this 1) his boat is moored about 30-50 yards off shore so you have to swim out to it, carry whatever baggage you have and climb up the back of the boat. He helps as best he can but it takes some physical ability. You then have to do this to and from the shore in Puerto Morelos. 2) You have to bring whatever beverages you want from the resort and this takes some working and planning. If you have any more questions on this, email me.

The People – I think the best part of the vacation were the people/couples we met. I know a lot of it may have to do with timing but we met some really nice/fun/interesting people from all over and spent the majority of our time hanging out with them. The resort was great but meeting these people and socializing with them really made our trip special. I have to say hello to the Kings, Adam/Kristin, Ian/Claire and the Oma family – thanks, you really made our trip great!!!

Summary (sorry to be so long winded), we really enjoyed everything about the resort – room, food, staff, service, people and the only complaint I would have is that they didn’t have an outdoor bar to have drinks at after dinner. The only real option is Rick’s and that’s ok for a night or two but the weather was so nice, it would have been great to sit outside, hear the ocean and some light background music and socialize with the people we met. I did bring this up to management and they are aware of it and looking into options. Hopefully they find one.

The only other comment I have is – it’s a VERY, VERY quiet resort. If you’re looking for a smaller version of Sandals with a party environment (we met a few couples who were), this is NOT it. Sure, you can do tequila shots with people around the pool bars and get a little loud in the afternoons but in general, it’s a very quiet place. Just know this before you book there.

That’s it. Hope you enjoy as much as we did if you go. Email if you have any questions.

Stayed at El Dorado Maroma April 7 – 13, 2008 and had a great time. We traveled with two other couples and found the resort to offer both relaxation and fun.

Sabores, the largest restaurant on the resort adjacent to the new big pool, offered a great breakfast. We also ordered in room service one morning for breakfast; which was also delicious. During the afternoon on the first couple days we hung out at the older, smaller pool. It was nice because it had a large covered area which was good for a break from the sun. From our third day onward we hung out by the new, bigger pool. We enjoyed the shallow lounging areas and the many beach beds which lined the pool and nearby beach area. Sabores restaurant had great lunches which we often ate pool side at one of the umbrella tables. Dinner was amazing at the Italian and Japanese restaurants. Karisma hotels host awesome Japanese restaurants. We preferred these two restaurants to Sabores for dinner, but overall the food is gourmet and excellent. At night we found our way to Rick’s bar for some drinks and music. It was quite busy most nights during our stay; hosting live music, a pool table, lots of places to sit and of course a fully stocked bar. One night we took the sunset lobster cruise through Lomas. It was very nice, with a fun boat staff and a great formal beach dinner upon our return to shore.

Each couple had a different room type. The older Mi Halito rooms are essentially scaled down Casita suites from El Dorado Royale. They offer vaulted ceilings, large beds, open layout bathrooms and draped wooden terraces with outdoor beach beds. The new swim-up Infinity suites are spectacular. Huge rooms finished in marble and glass with indoor/outdoor showers, jacuzzi tubs, lounge seating areas, plasma (or LCD) TV’s and large terraces with a beach bed and of course access to the swim-up lazy river…amazing. The upper floor Infinity suites are identical, difference being many have infinity pools on their terraces. Be sure to specify an infinity pool suite as some appeared to have terraces without pools.

The staff was friendly and offered excellent, quality service. They had a few events on the beach like the fresh fish bar-b-q lunch and one night a show. It was just enough activities to mix up the week, but not overwhelming where it distracted anyone from seriously chilling out.

The beach at El Dorado Maroma is the most beautiful, sugar white, powder sand beach I have seen in all of Mexico. It is simply gorgeous. I started many days by taking a long walk along the beach. It is possible to walk for miles. One day my friend and I walked to the next string of resorts (if anyone has tried you know how far that is). Point here is that the beach runs for miles and is sugar white sand and clear turquoise water for as far as the eye can see.

Overall we were very impressed and pleased with the facilities, food and service at EDM. Another satisfied stay at a Karisma resort.

We spent 5 nights at El Dorado Maroma beginning on April 1st. Overall we had a wonderful vacation but there is some room for improvement. The resort is relatively new and seems to be struggling a bit with reservations. We stayed in the Mi Hotelito section and had requested a second floor room. When we checked in I asked if they were full and the front desk clerk told me no they were only at 50% occupancy. Since we had arrived about noon they told us to enjoy lunch and they would find us when our room was ready. My husband actually sat in the lobby waiting for the room because he was just recovering from a cold and did not want to get out in the wind (more on that later) and they never told him the room was ready. He actually saw a steady stream of people come in to complain that the room they had booked (primarily the new swim up suites) was not available. When he finally went to ask about our room at 4:00 the new desk clerk told him the room had been available all afternoon, so much for finding us. Unfortunately the room was a ground floor room when my husband asked about a second floor room she told him it was too bad he had not asked earlier because she had just given out the last second floor room. Well actually we did ask and he was sitting 5 feet from her the whole time. She told us we could move rooms in the morning. When we returned in the morning it was the same gentleman from the day before who told us no second story rooms were available and he did not know if any would be available and we should just check back every hour or so to see if they could move us. We were not off to a good start. My husband went back without me and the gentleman claimed he put us in the ground floor room because your wife is pregnant and should not climb stairs – after my husband pointed out that I ran 5 miles in their gym that morning the clerk finally agreed to look for a second floor room – we moved after lunch our first day that was really our only trouble.

The Mi Hotelito rooms are fine nothing fancy but certainly nice enough. They have very nice toiletries in the room. The rooms have a double bed on the balcony and a table with two chairs which is a wonderful spot for breakfast. You can enter the ground floor rooms through the patio, some people may prefer this for running to the bar and what not, but there is not much of an ocean view mainly due to the palapas on the beach. The second floor room seemed much more private and had a wonderful ocean view.

The gym was small but adequate. One elliptical, one stair climber, a couple of treadmills, free weights and 3 weight stations.

Room service was very prompt. Breakfast was especially wonderful. The menu is very small and does not really have any snack items. One day we called and asked if we could just have some chips and guacamole and a fruit plate (even though it was not on the menu) they said no problem.

The beach is beautiful. The sand is white and powder soft. There are tons of palapas – we never had a problem finding one available. Towels are placed out in common areas. The staff came by and removed any towels that were left on beds or loungers without personal belongings periodically. There was frequent drink service on the beach and the wait staff was very friendly. There were no pool floats available – we walked over to the marina one day and bought one for $10.

We had a couples massage in the sky huts over the water. I had a pregnancy message which was just ok but my husband enjoyed his Swedish massage. They also had morning yoga and evening candle light dinners in the sky huts. We did not do either of those but I think they would have been nice.

The food was very pretty and usually very good. I have a huge sweet tooth and the desserts were mostly just ok, all the restaurants basically had the same selection so not a lot of variety. The vanilla ice cream is homemade and fabulous though! Our first night at the Italian and the Oriental restaurants the portions were very tiny, no problem we just ordered more food. The portions seemed to get bigger later in the week – but it could be because we started ordering all the courses. Lunch was at the Mexican place our first and last day were off a menu but I don’t think the menu was available the other days (I could be wrong some one told us that and we never verified it). Wednesday they grilled fajitas by the pool, Thursday they set up tables with umbrellas on the beach a guy pulled up on a boat with fish and they fried it right there on the beach, Friday they grilled salmon, chicken and beef on the beach, and Saturday they had paella on the beach. I understand they are building a snack hut next to the Mexican restaurant – that will be a nice addition as there is no where to get a quick bite right now.

It is an older crowd so fairly quiet – nights were extremely quiet. We stopped by Rick’s bar one night but there was not much going so we left. All rooms have DVD players and they have a small DVD collection you can check out movies from in the lobby. There is decent selection there so most nights we watched a DVD in our room.

The other thing to mention is the wind. I realize that is not something the resort controls but it was really incredible. I would guess the wind was a sustained 20 to 30 mph the entire time we were there day and night. We could hear the wind howling in our second floor room (we were on the end I did not notice any the holwing in our one night on the ground floor). The wind would blow the chips and lettuce off your plate for the beach lunches. At times we left the beach because of the blowing sand. Its not like the wind diminished our trip but that appears to be the norm there (they have screens up to block the wind) so be prepared.

Overall, after we got the room situation settled, we had a really great time. The resort is wonderfully small and personal. We felt like the staff was super friendly and really tried to go out of their way to make your stay special. I would definitely recommend it for a romantic vacation.

My husband and I have just returned from 2 wonderful weeks at the Eldorado Maroma. We had every intention to book the Eldorado Royale after staying there 4 years ago but when we went on line to book the Maroma came up and we are so glad we booked this instead. It is so different to the Royale and obviously on a much smaller, intimate scale.

Firstly, don't be put off by the drive up to the hotel. You have to drive about 10 minutes through the mangroves to get to the Marina and the Resort, but this fantastic beach wouldn't be found just off the road. They are currently laying tarmac all the way so bare with them. The reception is lovely once you arrive and you are welcomed with a wet towel to freshen up (smells wonderful) and a chilled glass of Champagne. You seem to suddenly forget the flight there.

Now everyone has a different idea of what a good holiday is and my review is only my opinion, some like to be constantly active and enjoy a drink etc but we like peace and quiet and tranquility. I feel that the Maroma gave us this. You have to bare in mind that the hotel has only been open since November 2007 as it was taken over by the Eldorado group so the staff are very eager to please and gain good reviews. The concierge are always wandering around the resort and checking that everything is okay and they will even get you a drink if your glass is empty. They do read the reviews every morning that are left by guests before departing.

Our experience was a good one and we have returned home with very happy memories and horrible post holiday blues.

Now, yes we did have a couple of issues one was the very loud TV in the next room which we found was on a timer to come on at certain times to welcome new arrivals, even early morning flights! (we couldn't get our heads around this) we did have to compain but when we did it was sorted out by the concierge Ruth and I was given a complentary treatment at the Spa. Now again, this is only our opinion but when one books a holiday to a resort far away from other hotels on the best beach in the world which is also supposed to be a relaxing spa resort, one would expect a bit of peace and quiet but we did experience a little noise. Lots of door banging (by staff and guests), loud TVs and unfortunately we were opposite Rick's bar so just bad luck I guess. We did suggest that maybe the TV's should have a set volume limit and they did take that on board. We also mentioned the door banging too which seemed to get better.

Someone did mention in another review that the music speaker on the beach was a bit annoying. I do agree a little as there wasn't really any need for it except for when Ivan the entertainment's guy was doing water arobics in the pool. But in the afternoon they did play alot of ballads and it was actually quite relaxing some days. Maybe they had altered the volume after the previous people had complained? They also mentioned the curtains on the balconies these were for privacy only and could be tied back if you wanted.

There was some work being carried out both weeks we were there and it did get loud at times, towards the end of the fortnight they had finished an outside grill area which will house another eating option for the hotel. We didn't benefit from it this time but we do intend to return to enjoy it soon. My husband quite enjoyed watching them build it especially when we found out to get a perfect rounded edge on a patio just use some guttering pipe!!! Fantastic!

Now, after those small grumbles I have to give it large. These people were the most warm, sincere and genuine I have ever met in my life. To be welcomed and taken into people's hearts the way we were is far beyond compehension. The staff did not require a tip to give you good service like other hotels we have visited. If we did leave a tip it was accepted with sincere thanks regardless of how large or small or on more than one occasion not accepted.

This is a Gourmet Inclusive resort so the food is exceptional and incredibly fresh, the drinks available are all the top brands except the Champagne good, but it does pack a punch but I'm not a drinker so it doesn't take much!

For breakfast and lunch you went to Sabores near the main pool where everytime we received outstanding service from Jose, Marcial and Mario (super mario) and nothing was too much trouble for them. It's even more amazing when you learn how much these guys are on a week. At breakfast and lunch you could eat outside and on a Thurs, Fri and Sat there was lunch on the beach.

Dinner was again, in either Sabores (mexican/continental), Mio (italian) or the Asian/Japanese (can't remeber the name). The asian restaurant is good where you can get sushi, sashimi and stir fries etc. Our favourite was Mio. If you didn't fancy a full on 3 course meal every night then you could go to any restaurant and just order one dish which I did on a number of occasions, my favourite was the Mahi Mahi from Mio. Alfredo and Carlos will see you right in there. There is 24 hour room service but it is very basic, don't be scared to ask for something that isn't on the menu though as they will try to accomodate you. I'm a health freak and used the gym a couple of times as I do alot of running the gym has more than enough equipment to keep your routine. I was paranoid about gaining weight but after 2 weeks of beautiful fresh food 3 times a day and a couple of runs I lost 6lbs!!!! Hilarious. Even funnier my husband lost 4lbs and wished he'd ignored my 'skip a desert today darling' remarks.

Rick's bar is where everything happens on a night, great eighties revival music videos are played (hilarious, brought back memories) and then some kind of live act, girls look out for the 4 piece mexican rock band-fantastic and boy! they melted some hearts. Alex and Christian will keep you entertained and maybe give you a game of pool. At the moment it's England 9 Mexico 7 to be continued........

The Spa is lovely and I enjoyed 2 massages and a paraffin pedicure, I recommend the pedicure the day before you come home as it really conditions your feet after the heat, sand etc.

The Marina is just to the side of the hotel and does not cause a problem in fact is quite welcoming if you like to hear the sound of boats etc. My husband did half a day's deep sea fishing and he just walked to the marina instead of having to endure a coach ride for half an hour first before catching a boat.

Now we are very quiet people and keep ourselves to ourselves and for the first week of our holiday were in bed at 8pm every night and slept for 10 wonderful hours of dreamless sleep (think it was the humidity as normally I average 4 hours a night!), but if you wear a smile and say please and thankyou these people will love you. I have come home with new friends not only from Mexico but from Canada and America and we have been overwhelmed with the kindness we have received this last fortnight. So much so, we plan to return to this little piece of paradise to renew our wedding vows very soon. We have swapped email addresses with a couple of the concierge who are going to help us arrange this so that it will be perfect.

Thank you all so much at the Maroma for providing us with a holiday that we so needed, and I hope this helps other potential guests on Trip Advisor, I almost didn't want to write a good review so that people wouldn't visit and it could just remain ours.