My favorite El Dorado Royale Restaurant (So Far!)

I must admit that I had some reservations before I traveled with regard to my unfamiliarity with the resort designation of 'gourmet inclusive'. While I enjoy a wide variety of foods, a select few, if any could be considered 'gourmet'. That being said, before I left for my adventure in Mexico I kept an open mind knowing that they must have something on their 'gourmet' menu that I would enjoy.

Starting with my arrival meal, I had a number of wonderful dining experiences.

While I enjoyed every meal, and sampled as many different eateries as I could there was only one restaurant that I returned to more than once. My favorite dining experience was at Kampai in the El Dorado Royale Casitas Section. 


Kampai -El Dorado Casitas Royale



Kampai offers different menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, each with Asia-themed fare coupled with traditional Mexican dishes. Something that I came to appreciate during my time at the El Dorado Resorts were the smaller portion sizes. I appreciated that I could finish my entire meal without feeling over stuffed and uncomfortable.  It also allowed us to try multiple dishes, appetizers, and desserts.


Arooz Desayuno (Breakfast Rice)

To be specific, allow me to share with you some of our favorite selections. Beginning with their breakfast menu, my fiance absolutely enjoyed, and still raves about the, Pan frances relleno de queso crema y almendras con salsa de mango or simply a cream cheese stuffed french toast with mango puree. She describes it as heaven on a plate. My favorite breakfast selection was the Arroz Desayuno or Breakfast Rice. It may not sound very exciting, but the layers of flavor made it my favorite breakfast that I had all 9 nights I spent at El Dorado Resorts.


Pan frances relleno de queso crema y almendras con salsa de mango (Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast)

Seared Ahi Tuna

On another afternoon we also enjoyed what I would consider to be the best lunch I ate while in Mexico. It was during the lunch that we truly got to experience the Asian cuisine.  I ordered the seared Ahi Tuna, which was bookended by spring roll appetizers and a homemade tapioca and coconut ice cream. I eat Asian food frequently in the US and nothing I've had has compared with this meal. The tuna was fresh and cooked to perfection, and every dish looked almost too beautiful to eat.



Though these were some of our favorites, I encourage everyone to experiment and try something new. Try foods that are harder to come by at home, or that you are less familiar with. The chefs at Karisma Resorts are top-notch, so this is the time to escape your food routine and try something you normally would not. For example, being from the Midwest, I try to take full advantage of the availability of seafood while at the resort. If fresh fish does not entice you, it is only a small portion of a wide and incredible menu. With Karisma Resorts you can have a 'safe' culinary adventure! If you order a dish and do not like it, the staff are always more than happy to bring you something else that you will enjoy. 

   

         Tapioca con helado de coco y caramelo de palma

        (Tapioca with coconut icecream and caramel palm)

 

 

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Destination Weddings: The Options

Any bride can tell you that planning her wedding is not easy. It is why we have bridesmaids, and mothers and mother in laws, and wedding planners to help us with all the little details.

Planning a destination wedding is no different. In fact you need the help of people you trust even more since you will be doing all your planning remotely. One big decision you need to make is will you be doing a legal? Or symbolic ceremony? Karisma offers both.

For the legal ceremony, you must arrive 3 business days (this means, Monday-Friday) before your wedding. This is so you are there in time to perform the blood test, which is done right at the resort, and to get all of your paperwork in order. If you want to have a Catholic ceremony, they are available, but you will need to be married before you arrive in Mexico because the Catholic ceremony is not recognized as legal in the US. You can also choose to have a symbolic ceremony, or a symbolic Mayan ceremony. All of the ceremonies are performed in Spanish and translated into English by a wedding coordinator.  

With our ceremony choice made I was 100% ready to put my wedding in the capable hands of my travel agent and my wedding coordinator from Karisma. I had scoured every online website about beach weddings, flipped through countless bridal magazines, and attended endless Bridal shows.

I was confident in the choices that I was making for my big day.

El Dorado Royale





In October, 11 months before my wedding the opportunity arose for me to go to Mexico and stay at two of Karisma’s Resorts. My fiancé and I, along with my parents were going to spend 4 nights and 5 days at El Dorado Royale, before moving on to 5 nights at El Dorado Maroma. I was excited to get to see Royale and to stay in the Casita’s section, but in my mind it paled in comparison to the time I would spend at Maroma.

During our 5 night stay at Maroma we had arranged to do a little wedding planning. We were going to meet with our wedding coordinator, tour the possible wedding locations, taste foods for our dinner menu, and talk about colors.

El Dorado Maroma - Menu Tasting

El Dorado Maroma- Cake Tasting

The time I spent viewing the wedding locations and speaking with my wedding coordinator was invaluable! I cannot stress enough that it is possible with the help of your travel agent and Karisma to plan your perfect wedding with out setting foot on the resort before hand, but if you are a hands on bride *cough* control freak, taking a tour and seeing your resort first hand will erase any fears that you have and will make your planning process so much easier.

                               El Dorado Maroma Beach Front Wedding Location  

 

Crystal

Cystal@GreatEscapeTravel.com

www.greatescapetravel.com

Riviera Maya First Timer- El Dorado Royale first impressions.

 

From the very moment we arrived, we were greeted by genuinely happily-smiling faces and warm, receptive embraces telling us “Welcome home”.  Pretty hard to argue with that.   Every single person from the morning grounds crew and housekeeping staff to the hands-on owner and management team, were happy to have to us there and eager to make us feel a whole-new level of comfortable. 

 Having worked in the service industry, I was practically startled by how attentive yet polite the workers were at the resort.  They personalized our room scents and offered our choice of pillow selections.  We were constantly offered assistance without feeling guilted into enjoying our relaxation.  We wrote down quite a few names of the employees, many to recommend to other travelers, some we have stayed in contact with since, and others to be sure that they received recognition for their outstanding service. 

 This is Alex from Gaviotas bar, which was our favorite place to hangout at El Dorado Royale.  Whether during an afternoon party with a live band, or a relaxing evening where we had the place to ourselves, Alex and the rest of the staff took extraordinary care of us.  There are other beaches in the world, and you could find similar-tasting food if you hunted, but I challenge that you would be hard-pressed to find a staff any where near the level of quality and expertise of that at El Dorado Royale.

 

Sam

 

El Dorado Casitas Royale

 

 

Desiring a Destination Wedding!

In that fleeting moment between when I saw my boyfriend drop to his knee and ask me to marry him, and when I fell into his arms crying “Yes”, a thousand colorful images burst in my mind! I saw white-sand beaches, gorgeous flowers in vibrant hues, an ocean the perfect shade of aqua, and a beautiful dress flowing in the sea breeze.

El Dorado Royale Adults Only Gourmet All-Inclusive

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to get married on a beach. Even as a child, I never enjoyed living in a landlocked state so far from the beaches and the water that I love so much. I got very lucky that my fiancé feels the same way.

 

Like many couples, my fiancé and I had already talked about the “what if’s” of marriage. So, by the time we got engaged we knew that a destination wedding was what WE wanted, but what would our families think?

 

It’s a question that you have to ask yourself. Even though your marriage will be about you and your new partner, you will learn very quickly (if you haven’t already) that your wedding is a celebration of more than just you. It is about your families and your friends, and everyone will have an opinion. Embrace their opinions, and listen to their advice, but in the end you have to decide what is best for you.

Once we had made our decision and gotten most of our family and friends on board, we had to pick a location. Narrowing down our options started with a list of what was most important to us.

Admittedly I was a step ahead of most in narrowing down our location options having grown up around the travel industry. I knew that I wanted to get married in Mexico. One of the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen was located in the Riviera Maya, but sadly there were no resorts there that could facilitate weddings. I immediately went to my parents (who also happened to be my travel agents) with my list of demands (requests).

Without hesitation they directed us to the El Dorado Resorts by Karisma. In fact, they informed us that they would only trust our wedding to a Karisma resort. Based on our desire for an immaculate beach, and an intimate location we knew almost right away that El Dorado Maroma was where we wanted to be. It is a small boutique resort with only 99 rooms, and it is on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world according to the Travel Channel.

Crystal (travel agent extraordinaire and bride to be)
www.greatescapetravel.com
Crystal@GreatEscapeTravel.com
(913) 341-4926 ext. 2

 

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