Paradisus Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya

Not happy as a wedding party is allowed to continue playing loud music until 11pm tonight on the family side of this resort namely the Paradises Playa del Carmen. It’s a Thursday night and many families surround this part of the resort with no recourse but to put up with it. We paid plenty of money to have a vacation too. We were never informed that this would happen. I’m not saying anything positive about this place since it’s really disrespectful for the rest of us here who are trying to enjoy a relaxing vacation.

Flora at Paridisus La Perla was so yummy! Everything our waiter Bersain recommended was amazing! Everything was perfect presented. Flavors were great and delicious! Presentation is amazing and beautiful! This hotel never disappoints.

I’ve stayed at about 6 resorts in Mexico over the last 8 years, this one by far the worst. Similar to others experience, the resort is confusing and I left disappointed in my family’s stay: 1. Restaurant bookings. If you are booking this resort any other way than thru Meliá directly (which ownes Paradisus), forget about getting a decent restaurant. When you book thru Melia directly the family concierge reaches out a week before your arrival to get your restaurants booked for dinners during your stay. My family booked this resort thru a travel agent 6 months prior to our arrival meaning when we got to the resort all the restaurants were booked solid with nothing left for us. I can’t review the restaurants but I can review the buffet as I ate dinner there most nights. The food was at best average and when an item ran out the staff was very slow to bring more. 2. Lounges at the pools. Upon arriving it was clear to see there were significantly more guests at this resort than lounges. You have to be out by the pool at 6am to get your spot for the day. Most resorts if you show up to a pool mid day you won’t get a prime spot, but you’ll get a spot. Here people just have to basically drop their stuff on the ground in order to go for a swim. 3. Daily room cleaning. Basically it happens at random. We stayed for 7 days and were out of our room most of the day, had the “make up room” sign out but the room was only cleaned 2 out of 7 days. This is a basic service the resort should have figured out. I shouldn’t have to chase staff in my vacation to clean our room. 4. Staff. Some staff are friendly but some not so much. I’ve been to several resorts in the area where the staff are happy you are there but not here. I recall bartenders specifically when my kids were getting drinks pouring the drink and putting it on the edge of the bar closest to them where my kids couldn’t reach it. Seriously? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing multiple times. 5. Family concierge. I’m not sure what these people do all day. They’re supposed to be your go to for everything at the resort but what I got was a lot of instructions from them rather than action. Want to book a pool cabana, go talk to that person at the pool. I expected them to be booking it for me ( as is described in the write up). Then you talk to the pool concierge and they say talk to the family concierge. The run around never stops. All in all, my family arrived on a Sunday and by Tuesday I was ready to go home. There’s lots of options in the area but I would avoid this one.

Jesus was the best bartender at the resort. Really took care of us and was super friendly and made us feel at home! He’s amazing! Love him! If you’re there, look for him at the South Bar!! Made the best cocktails and pretty much whatever you wanted!

After reading mixed reviews i wasn’t sure what to expect. Here is my honest opinion about this resort. Overall we had a great experience. I travelled with my 3 and 4 year old. They had a blast. The hotel really works around entertaining the children. There are several activities organized per day and every night there was a different show. There is also a kids club sort of like a daycare, where you can leave your children and go enjoy yourself. The staff is very nice and welcoming. Just as we arrived we had someone help bring up our luggages to our room. For the food, the buffet is quite limited with the choices of food. I got tourista 1 night after eating at the buffet and got very sick the same night after eating at the ibana restaurant. My family ate as well and they were fine however i ate shrimp and they didnt. The a la carte restaurants are hell to reserve. The culinary desk opens at 9am but there is always a line up so its best to arrive atleast 20 minutes before. And after waiting over 40 minutes in line to finally reserve the restaurants i get told there is only space in 3 days and starting 9:30 pm. Keep in mind i have two children that are normally in bed by that time. Not convenient at all. Also it is almost impossible to have a chair by the pirate ship pool unless you are waking up at 5am and putting your personal belongings on the chairs you want to reserve. As if thats what you feel like doing while you are on vacation. There are also cabanas available. You are lucky if you can get a hold of one. The closest ones to the pool need to be rented but no where is it written that it needs to be reserved. We were told by the man giving out the towels that it costed 100$ per day to rent. Other people were told 75$ and others were told 35$. And when you go ask the front desk they tell you to go see the person giving out the towels. There is no fixed price so who knows if they are just trying to make money off of our heads. The aqua park is cool. There are slides and a little pool section for the younger kids. There is food that you can order and they bring it directly to where you are seated. There is also ice cream, drinks and cups of snacks such as fresh cut fruit and veggies. The rooms are very well cleaned, our towels were changed everyday and water was brought in our room. I also loved that theres a nespresso bar open 24 hrs!! Overall we had a great time and would most likely go back.