El Dorado in Spanish translates to the city of gold. Our stay at the Seaside was anything but golden. My wife and I booked the El Dorado Seaside for our honeymoon based on the advice and information from our travel agent. Originally, the resort had many qualities that we both liked and we were told by our travel agent that many people enjoyed the Seaside as it was a cute, quite gem of a resort. We stayed at the Seaside from the end of December to just past new years. During our one week stay at the resort we both felt that it was not worth the $4,400 CDN and if we could plan it again we would have stayed elsewhere. In the first three hours at the resort we were almost ready to call our travel agent to get us out immediately! The problems with El Dorado Seaside stem from a great lacking in customer service and general mismanagement of what otherwise should be a worthy resort.

Nothing can undo the power of a bad first impression. A poor first impression pretty much sets the tone for the entire vacation. As we transferred to the Seaside via the airport we stopped at many other impressive and grandiose resorts along the way. When the bus pulled up to the Seaside my wife and I were embarrassed by the run down grounds and tired facade of the main entrance/building. There was evidence of construction and debris in the form of bricks and dirt. We were never informed that the resort was under construction. Luckily for us, all the rest of the people on the shuttle bus exited for the Seaside and saved us from embarrassment.

Inside the resort we were treated to the most unusual front desk/checking in service I have ever had the misfortune of enjoying. The champagne and hot towels were nice touches. The spa staff came out to give us shoulder massages while we filled out forms. This included signing a waiver not to sue the Seaside (Hmm...that would explain all of the pleasant distractions). Once the champagne bottles were emptied and the forms completed then all pleasantries on behalf of the front desk ceased. There was not one opportunity to personally talk to any front desk staff. We arrived at noon and were told that our rooms would not be ready till 3pm. To kill time, the front desk staff suggested we exit the lobby to the right and eat lunch in the outdoor snack bar. No other information/instructions were given. We exited the main lobby along with the other couples and it was truly the blind leading the blind. The front desk had not arranged for any escort to the restaurant nor did they provide a map of the grounds. My wife and I stopped and asked for directions. Eventually, we were herded to the outdoor restaurant known as the Sandwicherie to experience the least of all restaurants at the resort. Items on the menu were limited to quesadillas, sandwiches, some pizzas, burgers and a salad. My wife and I ordered a chicken cheeseburger and drinks from a waiter that spoke very little English. After waiting, our lunch arrived and it was a hamburger and NOT a chicken burger. The waffle fries served on the side were dreadful. Had we initially walked out of the resort to our left we would have encountered the Mexican restaurant (the finest of all Seaside restaurants) but no one told us that this restaurant was opened. After our great lunch experience I proceeded to go back to the lobby to talk to the front desk staff about getting our room early. I was told that this was an impossible feat and the girl at the front desk rudely picked up the phone and started dialing and talking while I was talking to her! Evidently, they have not been trained in the fine arts of customer service.

The rooms at the resort are nothing to brag about. Our room was on the second floor and had a garden view. My wife and I are beach lovers and care little for pools or walk out pools. Although the room was initially pleasant to look at, a closer inspection showed dirty bed linens and dirty chairs in the room. The hot tub was also filthy and the washroom had a peculiar odor. People would leave their room service plates and food out in the hallway and in some cases it would not be picked up until the next day. Room cleaning was timely but the room was never cleaned to standards I would have thought fitting to a 4 star resort.

The dining experience at the Seaside was once again disappointing. Expect to wait 1 to 1 and a half hours at the sandwicherie for lunch some days. You will be guaranteed to have two to three people waiting on you. Alternatively, you can eat a bland lunch in the International restaurant. I would recommend eating lunch at the Mexican but it is only open some days and this information is not privy to the poor guests. All restaurants need reservations which need to be made with the personal concierge. A word to the wise, the personal concierge will try to sell you add-ons to your vacation and will try to hustle repeat vacations sans travel agent. Unless you plan on going to the personal concierge at 8:15am to make reservations count on eating at the International restaurant (a marginal step above the Sandwicherie). Reservations for the Mexican and Italian were mostly full with the Asian and the International mostly being open. In fact, we were only able to get in to the Italian restaurant once. Oddly, the concierge mentioned that we couldn’t book a restaurant more than 1 day in advance. However, the couple in front of us made reservations on Tuesday for Saturday which once again shows how inconsistent the service was at the Seaside. Expect to wait 1 to 2 hours for dinner as the Seaside is understaffed. What is more frustrating is that we paid a visit to some of the more exclusive restaurants such as the Italian and we noticed that it was under capacity. When we mentioned this oddity to the concierge he admitted that the hotel was understaffed and that the tour companies were just sending too many people to the poor Seaside. Excuse me while I get out a box of tissues to blow my nose and shed a tear for the Seaside. Wait, I can hear sad violins playing too! Not all restaurants were a disaster. The Mexican restaurant has a fine staff and excellent food. Ask the staff to whip you up a Spanish coffee. It will be a fun experience that you will not forget. Other than that, the Italian and the Asian were vastly over rated. I ordered cannelloni at the Italian and it was pretty much a tortilla with cottage cheese and tomato sauce. Room service is dodgy at best. Lacking is a menu in the room with items you can order. What is worse, is that the menu is very limited to caesar salad, hamburgers and two desserts. Expect to call room service a few times as no one will pick up the phone right away. Furthermore, expect your order to take time to arrive. If you are ordering breakfast from room service then I would advise not to bother. Our order at breakfast was mediocre with the food being both bland, cold, and the yogurts well passed expiry.

Night time entertainment was nonexistent at best and the resort was just plain boring. We were not provided with a schedule of day and night events until three days into our stay. Events at night include some music and trivia games. We rented a DVD from the front desk only to return to our rooms and find the DVD cracked in several places. So much for entertainment!

The beach was beautiful and the water is amazingly calm and shallow. I would recommend going for a snorkel. That is about the only entertainment you will find outside of heavy drinking. If it was not for the beach or the Mexican restaurant this resort would have received no stars in my opinion. If you are looking to book for a holiday or honeymoon I would seriously consider booking elsewhere as the Seaside is not worth the money nor is it value.