TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

First, I want to say, I usually try to go with the flow when in a hotel, but the expectations for this place were high, and wow were we ever let down. Where to begin? Long story short: for this price, if you don't get a lake-view room you are getting ripped off. Plain and simple. Check out the beautiful pics of our view below. The room itself felt like being on the set of Gone With The Wind. Out-dated, old timey furniture, old porcelain flooring, drab curtains, and no fan in the bathroom. Yuck. Anyway, aside from the lack of view and feeling transported back to 1928, our room had the distinct smell of bacon being cooked. At first I thought someone next door had ordered food, but the smell persisted and seemed to get stronger. Only then did I realize our room was right about the back entrance of the hotel restaurant, where all the trash and bottles are thrown, and where the smell wafts up. I tried to go to the roof patio of the hotel where they said I could sit and watch the sun, but that was closed for a function. At dinner, we were seated inside with blaring music despite there being outdoor tables available. My seat had an a/c vent RIGHT underneath it. Why would they seat anyone there? Frankly, do NOT book through booking.com or one of the others, it appears they give you terrible treatment because you are one of "the poors", all with a courteous smile (the staff were friendly and apologetic, but did nothing to help). If I ever decide to stay here again, I will make sure to call the hotel directly, and ensure I have a room with a view of the lake, and not of a grease trap surrounded by trash.

“Worst experience ever” hosting our special company event with El Dorado. It was a bad choice. Cleanliness, hygiene, customer service and professionalism is terrible. We could have said no and paid the cancelation fee when we had the disappointing dining experience in Manteo’s restaurant rather than going to a stressful day-event with El Dorado. But because we gave second chance when Pam, the Sales & Event Coordinator Manager assured us that they will make it up and give their best service, it did not happen! Although, food tasted good and was served on time during the buffet dinner, apart from that nothing is up to standard. We were only given 4-hr for ingress so we made the simplest decoration we could. Upon arriving at the venue, the boardwalk lounge is full of cobwebs, dead pests, thick dust, carpet not vacuumed, and seating arrangements were too tight, the patio was full of dried leaves, window glass and frames were filthy that you cannot appreciate the beautiful view, full of cobwebs and unused furniture were not organized. We pointed out the cleanliness during the ocular visit and we were assured that it will be done but sadly same situation we found during the actual event. Our team cleaned up and helped to move furniture in order for the venue to look presentable. They intent to set up the main courses for the buffet on a billiard table next to the toilets of their public swimming pool on ground floor where public are in and out and horribly over 25 steps below the banquet. All serving items for food were set up on the billiard table and I must beg to move it upstairs as previously agreed. It's unusual that the Event Coordinator Manager did not show up during the event as she is the one whom we were dealing with during the entire preparation. She sent a lady who doesn’t know which job needs to be done. Housekeeping team arrived when everything was set, dirt, dust and cobwebs were falling on tables fully set up for dinner. Chairs obviously worn out has no covers at all. Hors d’ oeuvres were not served properly as 7 orders were not served at 5pm. Our team members mentioned that they have not tried the canapes, but server was buzzing out plates full of canapes on the poolside. One lady from the crew is talking non-sense with slurry words. Attached photos won't give justification to our terrible experience. Truly, sad! The name El Dorado is not worth it, basic service and expectations were not met! Nonetheless, I can only commend Nav, she attended the bar well and Raj did a great job on the buffet. I hope that the General Manager will look into this matter.

We stayed in the Arms building of the El Dorado hotel for 2 nights. We were drawn to the hotel because of the location and amenities. However, from the moment we walked in to the Arms building, we were disappointed. The whole building seemed worn and dirty, including the smell. I understand this is a historic building, but care could be taken to clean or replace worn out upholstery on chairs and couches. Even a simple vacuuming of the rug (including at the entrance) would have helped. The room we stayed in faced the harbor so it was noisy at night and the room walls were too thin (we could hear guests in another room through the night!). The bed itself was comfortable, which we appreciated, and all the staff we interacted with were super helpful and friendly and the boardwalk is really nice to walk along. To be clear, there are 2 different hotels at this resort - the El Dorado and the Manteo Hotel. The El Dorado did not meet our expectations, but perhaps the Manteo (which is newer) would be better.

There is so much to love about this old hotel. Rooms are a decent size. All the restaurants in the resort are good. The bathroom and high backed claw tub overlooking the water deserves 5 stars on its own. But this hotel is so LOUD! Loved my balcony overlooking the marina but the music from the dockside restaurant was loud from lunch until about 11 pm every night. I was here for a week so heard the same playlist over and over again. My last night there was a wedding in the board room across from my room - didn’t expect a party so close by on a Thursday night. I really wanted to stay in the old hotel while here at the resort but I’d advise people to choose one of the newer ones. If you have kids with you you’ll never get them to sleep in these rooms.

We arrived on a Saturday evening to find nobody at the check-in desk and had to go to next door hotel to sort this. Then tried to book breakfast for the following day but was told this couldn’t be guaranteed as it was Mother’s Day, i.e even though we were staying there this would be on a first come first serve basis and not just to fellow guests but to the general public also. Overall we had a lovely time, our room was clean and we had fantastic views across the lake. We also used the gym, swimming pool and hired a kayak. However we got the impression that a lot of the staff were new and although very polite, they couldn’t actually answer any specific questions and when they went off to find the answer they never came back. It was also a bit disappointing that the reception desk only appeared to be manned on a sporadic basis. It is not cheap to stay here and in that respect the service could definitely be improved. The exception to this were the staff in the Whisky Bar who were brilliant. We went there a few times when there was nobody at the front desk and they all went out of their way to help. Particular thanks to Gareth and Brett.