Is El Dorado Seaside Palms Plus Size Friendly?

Recently, two of my best friends and I stayed at El Dorado Seaside Palms in Puerto Adventuras, about an hour south of Cancun, Mexico. As a plus size traveler and travel advisor, I am always on the look out to see how plus size friendly new destinations are.

I won’t go into the nitty gritty details of getting there, as we all know planes are not built for plus size people. But I actually found American Airlines seat belts to be roomier than average. I didn’t need a belt extender on the way there, but did on the way back. I always recommend asking for one when you’re getting on the flight to make it easy, just in case you do end up needing one.

We booked a private transfer from the Cancun airport to our resort through Nexus Tours. Nexus has some varied reviews out there, some of which are not so positive, but we had a smooth experience with them. Once we arrived in Cancun and made it through customs, we were able to easily find the Nexus employee waiting at the transfers area (they were in bright orange so super easy to spot). We were escorted to a roomy, air conditioned, 12 passenger van. Since there was just 3 of us, there was plenty of room to spread out. We booked a private transfer, which I fully recommend doing if it fits your budget, just so you know you have space to spread out and enjoy the ride, especially if you’re going to one of the resorts on the south end of the Riviera Maya like we were. Overall, transportation was smooth and plus size friendly.

If you have other mobility needs, make sure to make note of this with Nexus/other tour company (or have your travel advisor do this for you), so that they can make the appropriate accommodations for you.

The resort overall

Overall, I think the resort was excellent for plus size guests. To start, the staff at El Dorado are incredibly warm and accommodating. They have golf carts to shuttle you around the resort, transport your bags, etc., so you never have to walk very far if you don’t want to. If you don’t want to ride the golf carts, there are flat walking paths all throughout the resort which make it easy to get around. I never felt judged or like I was being stared at, and I saw lots of other plus size guests.

The Room

We stayed in Premium Oceanview Junior Suite with two double beds. The room itself was incredibly roomy, with plenty of room for the three of us. The bathroom was also giant, and there was two sinks to spread out. The shower was a great size with a detachable shower head, and the toilet room was also nicely sized (and had heated floors!). There was also a giant tub which would have been plenty big for me (size 22/24) to get in an enjoy, but I didn’t have a chance to use it.

The beds were very sturdy and comfortable, no major creaking. The couch was pretty comfortable and had a nice big foot stool to use when you wanted to put your feet up. There was a lot of room to move in between the beds and other areas of the room. The balcony was a great size, but the chairs were definitely narrow. I could sit in them at my size, but they were a tight fit. That being said, there was a nice sized day bed for lounging which didn’t have any arms so could fit guests of any size.

The AC was GREAT. Our room was always crisp and comfortable, which was very well appreciated because we went in August and it was very warm and humid outside.

Overall, I found the room to be very comfortable and plus size friendly. See room tour video below!

Restaurants and seating

I really have no complaints about any of the seating at the El Dorado Seaside Palms. All of the restaurants had armless, comfortable chairs or VERY roomy booths. I felt very comfortable sitting at all of the restaurants, including the buffet and outside seating areas. The only seating that was a bit iffy was folding chairs at the Mexican Fiesta beachside buffet which was held on Friday night, but that’s somewhat to be expected with something held outside that is set up each time for an event.

The Bali beds, which are first come first serve by the pools and beach, were also very study and comfortable.

The spa

The spa was our favorite part of the trip, hands down. It is such a beautiful facility with an incredibly relaxing atmosphere. More on my spa experience will be included in my full review of the resort, but overall, I found this spa experience to be very accommodating for plus size folks.

I was originally given a regular size robe that didn’t fit very well and ended up asking for a larger size. They had a larger robe regularly available and swapped it out for me with no problem. The massage table was sturdy and comfortable, and all the seating throughout the spa was very accommodating. No problems at all. Staff continued to be kind and accommodating.

Maroma Beach and Catamaran Excursion

El Dorado is part of Lomas Hospitality, which offers included excursions as part of their More Inclusive offers. We chose the catamaran and reef snorkel which also included access to Maroma Beach and lunch in their buffet and grill.

Transportation to these excursions is included which another great perk. On our way there, we were in a smaller 12 passenger van which was quite full. There were a few other plus size passengers on the bus with our group, and it was definitely a tough squeeze in between the aisle to get to the back of the van. There were more readily accessible seats towards the front, but overall, the transportation wasn’t the most plus size friendly (although doable).

The beach was very well appointed with nice sturdy beach chairs. There were also bali beds to rent for an additional fee, which looked comfortable, although I didn’t sit on them at all.

The snorkel excursion was amazing, but did come with some challenges. We had to take a large step into the boat from the dock,so if you have any mobility issues, this is something to be aware of. There were steps to get in and out of the ocean, which I found doable, but they were steep.

If the catamaran excursion isn’t a good fit for you, Lomas offers other complimentary excursions that may meet your needs. If you ever need help navigating how to find excursions that are plus size friendly, please reach out!

To sum it up…

I would highly recommend El Dorado Seaside Palms to plus size guests! If you are interested in booking this resort or other resorts in the Riviera Maya, please reach out below! I would love to help you plan your next vacation.