Paradisus Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya

I’ve stayed at several 5 star resorts and I would consider this a 4 star. When we checked in on Sunday morning, we went to make dinner reservations and there were only 3 out of 6 nights we could book a reservation and the times available were 8:30pm or 9:00pm. My youngest is 3 years old so that is a late dinner. In addition, the shows all started at 8:00 pm so we didn’t get to see one show based on our dinner reservations. The staff is generally friendly but not as friendly as I’ve experienced at other Mexican resorts. You cannot see the beach from the resort and you have to walk down a long walkway to get there. It smelt and there were tons of sarcasm. They were working hard to clean it up but just keep that in mind. Food was decent. They seem to really care about safe food handling which made choices easier to make! With that being said, I was disappointed that there wasn’t an a-l-a carte for breakfast and lunch. We ran out of sunscreen and the resort was charging $50 USD for regular spray sunscreen. I thought that was outrageous and being Canadian, it would cost almost $70 for a container of sunscreen. Other than the above, it was a decent stay. I just wanted to provide an honest review.

We just returned from our third stay at this 5 🌟 resort! 11 days. We stayed at La Perla and were Reserve guests. Our concierge (Miriam) was attentive to all details. No issues with dinner reservations. Our favourite restaurant was Sal 🥩. Flora, habachi (inside Tokimeku) and Sante were also very good. Ample selection at Hadar (buffet). Excellent ice cream 🍦 at Twe12lvet. Staff was always upbeat, and their English was very good. Rooms are spacious; We like Building A. We enjoyed the peace/quiet at the Reserve pool. Sports Bar: It was fun watching the gold medal hockey game at Kicks with many other Canadians; congratulations to the 🇺🇸. Plan is to return to this resort or go to Paradisus Cancun, next winter.

Absolutely loved it. My son said he rather go here than to Disney. Every kid friendly. Pool bar was fantastic. Bladimir and rodreri were great at the pool bar!

All I can say is I was wow’s by this resort. After 6 years of going to high end resorts in the Bahamas with our young children, we decided to try an all inclusive in Mexico now that our children are both out of diapers. We went with 6 other families and their children (kids ranging from 1-9 years old). Friends’ recommendation and price is what led us to book here. The resort and facilities are beautiful and clean. The food was really good in all restaurants and anything you could ever need was available to you , the benefit of an all inclusive (unlike Bahamas where everything costs money, especially bottles of water) We were greeted by a concierge (BRIAN) at check in, and he was truly amazing. He went out of his way to make sure we were happy and well taken care of, and was always available to us when needed. He was really a big part of what made this a real vacation, which is not a given when travelling with young kids. THANK YOU BRIAN !!! Our 7 day stay flew by, the kids always had something fun to do and many fun pools to choose from. All the waiters and bartenders and staff were pleasant to deal with, something that is not a given from our Bahamas experiences even in the highest end resorts. Even though we didn’t use the kids club, our friends did and it was also a game changer. Their kids enjoyed it as much as the liberated parents did. We will definitely be returning annually. Joel

This resort is marketed as a 5-star property, but in our experience it felt closer to a 4-star stay. There are definite positives: the property is very clean, the staff are generally friendly and hardworking, drinks arrive quickly, and the resort never feels overly crowded. The water park and splash pad area are excellent — very well designed for families and one of the highlights of the property. The ice cream and coffee bars were also standout features and a daily treat for our family. The restaurants served good food overall — I personally found many of the meals delicious, though my partner (who can be picky) wasn’t always as impressed. That said, there were several drawbacks. The buffet is decent but noticeably smaller than comparable resorts. The pools — including the kids’ areas — are quite cold, and we often found our children shivering. It’s surprising that the pools and splash pad areas aren’t heated, especially at a family-focused resort. While the water park itself is fantastic, the colder water limits how long kids can comfortably stay in. Outside of the kids’ club, we felt we had to entertain our children most of the time. At many other resorts, daytime activities like games, music, karaoke, and fitness classes are standard and easy to find. Here, many listed activities did not seem to take place, and overall daytime entertainment felt lacking. Evening entertainment was also underwhelming compared to most other resorts we’ve visited. Booking dinner reservations and securing a spot in the kids’ club can be frustrating — if you’re not there right when it opens, you likely won’t get a space due to limited capacity. Service in the restaurants was mixed: some waiters were excellent and attentive, while others were less engaged with our table. We were also traveling with a child who has food allergies, and that experience was hit or miss. Some staff were extremely attentive and helpful in finding safe options, and on our first day a chef prepared a separate meal for him at the buffet, which we truly appreciated. Other times, staff seemed unsure how to help, and when we asked to speak to a chef we were often left waiting. We frequently defaulted to the same “safe” foods each day to avoid issues. Families managing allergies should allow extra time and be prepared to advocate. Our room was spacious, which we appreciated, but there were maintenance concerns: a mold smell in some cabinets, a patio door that was very difficult to open, and a non-functioning shower handle that made bathing our baby challenging. Housekeeping also consistently stocked the room with too few towels for our family of five — we had to request three extra towels every single day, which became an unnecessary daily inconvenience. The WiFi was also hit or miss — in some areas it worked well, while in others it was difficult to connect. There is constant exposure to Circle Club promotions and upgrade offers, with several areas blocked off unless you pay more, which detracts from the overall experience. We stayed for 7 days and flew direct from Toronto to Cancun, paying approximately $11,000 CAD for a family of four plus a baby. We made the most of our vacation and enjoyed valuable family time, but at this price point we would likely choose a different resort next time.