Ok, I admit this quandary confused even me and I’ve been following Riviera Maya all-inclusive resorts for years.  Let’s see if I can explain the difference so that you can decide whether either one of these resorts fits your vacation travel dreams.

Unless you regularly follow Karisma resorts, you may be unaware that Karisma has renamed one of their El Dorado (adults-only) properties.  El Dorado Seaside Suites and El Dorado Seaside Palms are on the same piece of property in Kantenah Bay near Puerto Aventuras in the Riviera Maya.  Hidden Beach, a nudist resort, lies in the middle of the two properties; guests of either Seaside resort can purchase a day pass to visit if you are interested.  Kantenah Bay is approximately a 30-min. drive south of Playa del Carmen, and Playa del Carmen is about a 45-min. drive south of the Cancun airport, so you know that this property lies in the very heart of the Riviera Maya.

Before I get into the most recent renaming, I have to go back to 2015.  At that time, Karisma struck a deal with its overseas travel business associate, Tui, to turn Karisma’s remarkably successful and highly acclaimed resort, El Dorado Seaside Suites, into a charter tour resort for Brits.  Let’s just say American and Canadian customers, especially those who loved to return to the resort each year, were not happy.  It was then renamed Sensimar Seaside Suites.  Meanwhile, a brand new El Dorado resort was being built right next door and opened in late 2015; it was called El Dorado Seaside Suites.  Definitely not the same resort or look as the last EDSS.

Now, Karisma appears to have totally reclaimed Sensimar and opened it up for vacationers other than Tui charter customers.  The new name for Sensimar is now El Dorado Seaside Palms.  But wait, that’s not the final word.  You may now see these two resorts referred to as the Seaside Suites (consisting of both the Infinity section–El Dorado Seaside Suites, and the Palms section–El Dorado Seaside Palms).  Simple, right?  The best thing about this change is that guests of one resort can access the other and make full use of its restaurants, bars, pools, and beach areas.  Pay at one, play at two.  While Hidden Beach resort is located in between the two, it’s a short golf cart ride over to the other resort, or guests can walk it very easily.

ED Seaside Palms is a more quiet resort and offers plenty of beach palm trees for shade.  It has the better swimmable beach area, more outdoor activities including non-motorized water sports, and the great two-story beachfront massage structure called Sky Massage which, by the way, also offers sunrise and moonlight massages. Its pools, however, are smaller than EDSS.  In its heyday when it was known as ED Seaside Suites (prior to 2015), it received awards and accolades–Forbes had described it as “one of the ten most romantic hotels in the world”.  ED Seaside Suites is a much more modern looking resort; each level has it’s own swim-up infinity pool which traverses along the length of the entire floor of each building section–it looks remarkably like Generations Riviera Maya, a very successful family-friendly Karisma resort.  While not known as a party resort per se, it is much louder and rowdier over at this side of the property.  Don’t miss the Saturday pool foam party!

Here is a video to help you get an idea of what each resort looks like. What do you think?  Would you visit either one of these resorts?