I could go on and on about this place. First of all, the staff is remarkable. Gabby, Diego, Mario, Jorge and bartender "Stitch" and all of the others were amazing and catered to our every need. Whatever we needed, there was always someone there to help and they knew who we were.
The room was absolutely gorgeous. We had a swim-up room, 302, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I'm glad we chose that one. The infinity pool rooms were nice, too, but this one suited us. The staff came by twice a day, once to clean and once for a turndown service. The beds were amazingly comfortable and the room had everything we needed, including a stock of Tecate.
We really enjoyed the food. We tried all of the restaurants and the room service. Sabores has a wonderful breakfast bar, but the room service breakfast was good, too. I have read some comments that the portions were too small for dinner, but they will bring you what you want. For example, order 2 or 3 types of sushi at the Japanese restaurant. We tried many new foods at the Italian restaurant that we enjoyed and one that Carlos recommended (ask for the four cheese pasta with shrimp!). Every day, for lunch, they did something special on the beach. One day was tacos, one day was paella, etc.
I don't think the drinks were weak at all...if they were, all we had to do was ask and they accomodated us. Try a Miami Vice or a Coco Mango!
The place was immaculately kept and the beach was beautiful. We didn't do any excursions because we just enjoyed relaxing at the resort. The day we arrived, our flight was very early, so Diego gave us our tour, ended at Sabores and we ordered breakfast. He held our suitcases until we were done eating and then we changed in the spa and began our relaxation in the pool. As soon as our room was ready, which was early, Diego let us know and we settled in.
We enjoyed Rick's every night. They had some new entertainment every night and they kept the drinks coming.
Bring cash to tip....the staff works so hard to make your stay enjoyable. We will definitely return!

There were 2 reasons I could not give this resort 5/5 stars:
1) The beach I expected was one of "the top ten in the world" - while the beach sand was powdery soft, the water color was not the usual shades of royal and turquoise I have found in this area.
2) ALL 5 days of my visit, workers were hammering tile directly next to my room and in some of the suites above me in the newer section of the hotel. This did not go on all day, but at least a good 3 - 4 hours each day. It is annoying when you are trying to nap or relax and there is a constant pounding on tile. I know repairs must be made, but really, this section of the resort is only 6 months old!

This resort is what everyone says - calm, quiet, and relaxing. I have been to 6 other AI's in the Playa/Cancun area and the rooms at EDM are the most spacious and beautiful I have been in. Our room was a swim up suite rm 602. We had a nice view of the pool and ocean. The patio area w/ bed, 2 chairs and a table was huge!

The food was very good for an AI in Mexico. Room service was exceptionally fast and delicious. The waiters and waitresses were very nice and attentive.

This is my first time to stay in a boutique resort, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. While "quiet, and relaxing" sounded great to me, I ended up feeling bored. Probably, much of this had to do with the weather (it rained/overcast EVERYDAY - not the resort's fault). There really isn't much at all to do here - especially at night. One night at Rick's there was a 4 member band and 4 people in the entire place! I had to stay on the activities director to do anything other than volleyball - finally, after me bugging him repeatedly, they set up a cocktail class and a cooking class poolside. These were VERY FUN!!!

My husband and I had a "sunrise couples massage" on the sky deck above the water. It was WONDERFUL!!! for 160.00 we each had a 50 minute massage followed w/ a glass of mimosa. In hindsight, we wished we would have booked their special - 80 minutes for 105.00 each. You can also have that special in the sky deck.

By far, the most fun we had was sailing/snorkeling with Captain Memo. When you leave the resort, take a left and walk for 25-30 minutes. You will see some netting decorated w/ driftwood and old buoys and a small sign. He takes small groups (2 - 4 - 6 at most) out at 10 and 2 for 2 hrs of sailing and 1 hr snorkeling. Memo was friendly, amazing, and the BEST value for 35.00 per person. We had never sailed before and were surprised by how relaxing and calm it was. I HIGHLY recommend finding Captain Memo. Thank you to the previous trip advisor reviewers that mentioned him.

We met some really fun people from Colorado (Hi Bicky, Edwin, Mike and Wanda Woman), and had a lot of fun with them. I won't return to EDM just as a matter of personal preferance - I enjoy a larger resort with more to do - - If you booked this resort for a quiet, relaxing trip, hopefully by then repairs will be complete and you will have a blast. I would absolutely recommend this resort to others, it just wasn't for me.

We just returned from EDM and had a wonderful time! My only regret is that our stay was too short and wish it wouldn't have rained several of the days we were there.

We stayed in the older section of the hotel and loved it. At first we were given a room on the first floor that was right beside the pool bar area (rm#106). It didn't have much of a view or any privacy. We asked if there was a 2nd floor room available and they had another room ready within an hour or so. We were very pleased with the view and cleanliness of the room. The maid service was wonderful and we especially loved the turn down service with aromatherapy.

All the employees are very friendly and go out of their way to accommodate you. We didn't try room service, but we found the food in the restaurants to be very good. However, a few more options on the menu would be nice.

We thought the drinks were a bit light on alcohol, but we weren't there to get drunk so it wasn't a big deal. The drink service on the beach was nonexistent at times, but it isn't far to the pool bar so that wasn't a big deal either. As others have said, an outside bar that remained opened in the evening would be nice.

We went to Ricks every night and had a great time. There was live music several nights that was really good. We found the drinks there to have more alcohol in them.

The only negative thing about our trip was a group of 3 or 4 couples that were extremely loud and obnoxious. It was impossible to relax by the pool or on the balcony if they were around. Not only were they entirely too loud, but had filthy mouths as well. I can only hope they realize this was not the place for them and will find another place more suited to their kind.

All in all, we loved everything about the resort and plan to return. It is extremely romantic and the perfect place if you're looking for some R&R.

We were looking for a quiet, remote very small place to "chillax". We looked at some the "eco-friendly" resorts down in Tulum, as we wanted that sort of remote, off the beaten path feel. But we decided that air conditioning and electricity were on the high on the list of priorities. Our friends stay at some of these and really like them, but it wasn't for us.

We have a coffee table book that has "The Tides" hotel in it, and listed it as one the top places to stay in the world. So I went on the best travel website in the world, Tripadvisor.com, to check out the reviews on The Tides. Reviews looked great but the El Dorado Maroma (EDM) kind of jumped out at me for the value.

Booked through Orbitz, as they had the best combined deal with airfare. About $600.00 less then all the other travel sites. We flew on Alaska Airlines and they are by far the best way to get to Mexico.

We rented a car (which I would not do again) as we thought we would want to explore the area. But once we plunked down on the awesome beach we didn't want to leave. Warning to anyone driving themselves, The hotel is difficult to find and the only sign says "Mi Hotelito" not EDM. We drove past this place at least 4 times before we pulled in.

You may have read in other reviews that the narrow road to the hotel is not the best. But it is now paved, but it is real narrow. I kind of liked the road, through the mangroves. It made me feel we were heading off the beaten path to our own little slice of paradise.

We get the hotel and Diego greeted us with such warmth that I felt we were family. He walked us into the very nice, but very small lobby where we were handed a refreshing cold towel and a glass of champagne.

Check in was a breeze, Diego took us on a small tour of the hotel and then took us to our room. We were in room 341 which most of the staff felt was the best room in the hotel. It is on the 4th floor , on the end. The ocean view from this room was incredible. It had a infinity pool on the deck (which we never used) and the room was spacious and clean.

WARNING: The hotel does not have any elevators, we had to climb up 4 flights of stairs and back down multiple times a day. We loved that and felt it was part of our daily work out. But someone not in the greatest shape or knee/leg problems might want to ask for a ground floor room.

ROOM: The room was spacious clean and the bed was really, really comfortable. The mini bar was included in the all inclusive (AI) and had a selection of Mexican beers and sodas and some OJ. The outdoor shower was beyond belief incredible, if you are on the top floor the shower is open to the sky, on the lower floors it has a thatched roof for privacy. But taking a shower with the hot sun overhead was something not to be missed, even at night under the stars was a treat. If you can make the climb to the 4th floor, do it just for the open roof shower. I took 2 to 3 showers everyday, it was that great.

Room also has a nice jacuzzi tub for two. Robes and slippers were provided, along with a blow dryer, iron and room safe.

FOOD: For a A.I. the food was outstanding. Sometimes I felt they were trying to hard to be gourmet, but really the food was excellent. You have a choice of 3 different restaurants, Italian, Mexican and Japanese. All there were good. We always had the house wine with dinner (red or white) and both were good Chilean wines. They have a wine list you can choose from but that is extra, and I thought the house wines were good.

Portion sizes are small (compared to the massive portions served in American restaurants) more like spa cuisine portions.
We liked the portion sizes though and never felt stuffed. And we didn't feel guilty about ordering desserts.


We had room service (breakfast) delivered twice to our room, took about 20 minutes and was real good.

Couple of days for lunch the had some extra fun stuff for us.
One day the fishing boats came up on the beach, you got to pick out the fish you wanted and the chef would grill it or fry it whole.
Another day was taco day, then a bbq day. It was nice.

BEACH: Was great, yes it is not very wide, but it was excellent. Water was crystal clear and warm. Sand was white and soft. We always had a queen size covered beach bed and lounge chairs for our use. Snorkeling off the shore is pretty much non-existent. But a 5 - 10 minutes boat ride out to the reef and the snorkeling is much better.

Next door is a small marina if you want to rent jet skis, go scuba or snorkeling, go on a booze cruise catamaran, parasail, etc.
Everyday I thought about doing these things, but was so relaxed chilling on the beach I could never find the strength. The marina was quiet and did not bother us at all

The best thing about this hotel is the remoteness. Every morning my wife and myself would walk down the beach approx. 3 to 4 miles away from the hotel. The whole way not a single other hotel (just one huge house being built) it really felt like you were away from it all. The walks were the best part of the trip. The beach was awesome for the whole 3 to 4 miles.


SERVICE: Everyone that works at the hotel is so friendly! They told me that is a great place to work and it really shows in their attitude and smiles. EVERYONE WAS EXTRA KIND AND SERVICE EXCELLED. One morning I mentioned to our waiter Mario that I was they had some hotter salsa for my eggs. He went into the kitchen and made me two different kinds of habenero salsa (his mother recipes he said) that were incredible. We always heard "it was a pleasure to serve you", and had many interesting conversations with the wait staff. Very gracious people.

My only complaint is the wait staff was pretty scarce when we were on the beach.

DRINKS: The drinks are included in the A.I. but the mixed drinks had little to no alcohol in them. We didn't do it, but agreed on our next trip to order a mixed drink with a shot backer . I only pretty much drank the beer and wine so this wasn't much of a problem for me.

SPA: We had 3 massages while we were there, and 1 facial. All were amazing, and top notch! High marks for the spa

ENTERTAINMENT: Warning! If you are looking for a hotel with lot's of exciting nightlife this is your worst choice! There really is nothing to do at night! Yes they have the one bar open, Ricks bar. They had a really good band (playing classic rock) on 3 nights from 9:30 to 11:00 pm but that is it! This is not a party hotel! But that is exactly why we loved it here. Most nights were in bed by 10:00 pm and up at 5:30 am for our morning walks! That is my idea of a raging party! WOO HOOO!

PROS: Ideal remote location on a powderdy white beach with warm crystal clear water. Great food, awesome wait staff , great room, awesome spa

CONS: Better service on the beach, and better mixed drinks.

By the way, as in every hotel in Mexico they hit you up to go through a timeshare presentation. We did to get our $150.00 off, but it wasn't the real high pressure sales pitch I have experienced in other hotels.

We are heading back in October, and we both agree this will be the only place we stay anytime we go back to the Mayan Rivera. We did go and tour The Tides hotel, which is about double the price of the EDM and not A.I. It was super exclusive and nice, but we liked the EMD better and the greater value.