Agua Dorada Beach Hotel by Lidotel

The hotel is kept very neat, and the staff work well together. DOMINGO is always cheerful and ready to help. I'd gladly visit again.

The service was really gentle, and the price is very good for a hotel at this level. It sits right by a lovely beach with white sand, palm trees, and blue water. A great spot to relax.

I wouldn't recommend Agua Dorada unless you only need somewhere to sleep. The staff were generally kind and willing to help, though some people at reception weren't as friendly. Most of the rest of our stay was disappointing. The food was the worst part. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were basically the same every day, and it was usually cold and bland. Sometimes a dish had run out well before the buffet hours ended, even when we wanted a second serving. We ended up eating almost all our meals outside the hotel. The bars had very few drink options, too. Once, the beer I wanted was warm, so I was told to take a different kind. They didn't have ingredients for a drink I asked for, and the blender couldn't be used at the reception bar because of the noise, so we'd have had to go all the way to the beach or pool to get a blended cocktail. Another time I ordered a frappé-style drink, but the blender was broken and they were waiting for a replacement part. The room was the most positive part, since it was clean, but there were no chairs, so the bed was the only place to sit. During a power cut, the generator only lit the ceiling bulb above the bed. The bathroom and closet lights, the bulbs above the headboard, and the power outlets didn't work. I had to shower using my phone flashlight, and the air conditioning was out, so it got very hot. The cloudy glass in the door and curtains that didn't block the window light meant the room could seem brighter at night than during the day. The building itself is mostly a block of concrete, without green space. The room corridors also lead to reception and the pool, and all the room air conditioners are along those corridors, making them hot. The pool was in decent condition, but there weren't enough little shade shelters. The pool bathrooms smelled bad and weren't cleaned regularly. The reception bathrooms were sometimes clean, but at other times had leaks and a ceiling in poor shape. Service for chairs and towels was hit or miss. At the pool I asked for extra chairs because our table had none, and was told there weren't any. After I kept asking, they brought some over from the beach. Towels could also be a hassle: early in the day we were told they were locked away and the staff member who could get them hadn't arrived. At other times we were told they had run out, and had to wait for clean ones. A hotel should have enough towels.

The food had good flavor, but it was cold when we ate, and the steamers weren't working. The pool also needs maintenance, and the included alcoholic drinks aren't very good quality. Around Playa El Agua, this hotel seems to be putting money into improvements, though there are still issues with the infrastructure, like misaligned doors and missing bulbs. Looks like work is underway, but there's more to do.