Iberostar Grand Paraiso

Hi Trip Advisor community! Just got back yesterday from the JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar. Our first visit to this property. Couldn't wait to get my review on here. As always, I'll try to give you the most important information you will need that will help you decide if this property is for you or not. I think reviews should give more info than just shout outs to staff because they make great daquiris (which is an important thing too, don't get me wrong!) But reviews need to have details and insights about other things, too. I hope this review helps you. Sit back, grab a drink and get reading! First thing - this resort used to be called the Iberostar Grand Paraiso. It is now JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar. But it's the same property so when you see previous reviews about the Grand, that's this spot. LOCATION: It's about 25 minutes (give or take traffic) from Cancun airport to JOIA. It's in a gated community alongside four other Iberostars. NOTE #1: About those four other resorts: the four other Iberostars are family friendly, but don't worry about this. You can use all their facilities but they are not permitted to come over to the JOIA side. Best of both worlds. It's a large complex but you can hitch a ride on a golf cart to take you around if you feel like checking out the other properties. This also gives you a wider range of dining options. So it's a good thing. ARRIVAL: We were greeted warmly with a cold towel and a lovely drink that, to this day, I have no idea what it was. Guess I could have asked! But it was good. Check in was speedy. NOTE #2: I'd emailed the resort about two weeks prior with a couple of special room requests. Got them. Thank you to the staff who paid attention to my email! Greatly appreciated. Upon check in, you have to pay a resort fee. It's a very small fee similar to hotel tax (well, I guess that's what it is, a hotel tax!) It's about 14 U.S. for the week. So be prepared for that. They'll attach a lovely little bracelet to your arm. This is your room key. Beats shuffling around in your beach bag to find a card key. Bellmen (sorry, never quite sure what to call them) will escort you and your bags to your room. RESORT VIBE: The look and feel of this magnificent resort can only be described as "over the top gorgeous." Seriously, even the bathrooms off the lobby are over the top. The resort was built in 2007 but you wouldn't know it. It looks brand new. It sparkles. Everything is clean and shiny. It's well maintained. Clearly, a great deal of attention to detail happens here. The architecture reminds me of an Italian resort rather than a Mexican one. I'll attach photos and you'll see. Be prepared to be really impressed with the indoor atrium just off the lobby. That's a big "wow" moment. I'll definitely attach a photo of that. ROOM: We booked a gardenview/jungleview suite, and it was lovely. The king bed was comfortable, air conditioning worked perfectly (but we hardly heard it) and the balcony had a wood floor, swinging chair as well as a long bench with pillows on it. You also get a Nespresso machine, tea, and a bar containing the usual suspects - pop, water, beer, juice, etc. Oh, and a white wine! Thank you JOIA, for recognizing that not all of us like beer! Little touches matter, don't they? PROPERTY: This property is gorgeous, well maintained and clean as a whistle. Manicured gardens surrounded by tropical rainforest, a spotless main pool with Jacuzzis and lots of loungers. NOTE #3: No chair game here. Another bonus! You don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get a decent lounge chair by the pool. Big shout out to all the other considerate guests that were there the same week as us! They play music at the main pool, but nothing obnoxious. Nice easy listening music with occasional live musicians. There is a quiet pool as well, and this is pure heaven. It's quiet and has a lot of Bali beds for you to rest and relax. There is also towel service there of course. BEACH: Might as well get the bad news over with now ... NOTE #4: Yes, it was seaweed city for most of our week. Funny thing - first two days, hardly any. Then on day three we woke up to a massive pile of it, so it obviously came in with the tide overnight. They work hard to clean it, but it's a hard thing to stay on top of. Tractors go back and forth all day doing their best. Please - don't blame the resort and don't blame your travel agent. Blame Mother Nature. But ... the good news is this: the beach is wide and long and you can walk it. The sand is white, powdery soft and beautiful. Most of the days were red flag days, meaning the water was quite rough with large waves. Beautiful to look at, but honestly, don't go in too far! The lifeguards are not tyrants! They keep a close watch, but will blow the whistle if you venture out too far. During our week, we witnessed the lifeguards pulling a couple of people back to safety because they'd swam out too far. A bit of a tense moment. You can go in, but stay close to shore. A big shout out to the lifeguards who work that beach and keep everyone safe. RESTAURANTS: As with all my reviews, I'm not going to get into the "this restaurant was our favourite!!" or "we didn't like that!" because food is subjective. What I like, you may not like. I will say is this, though: there is enough variety to keep everyone happy, and if you have a dish you don't particularly care for, order something else! It's not rocket science, so please don't write a horrible review because you may have gotten an overcooked steak one night, or a salad that didn't have enough cucumbers in it for your liking the next night. You get my drift here. The people in these restaurants work so hard to give you a great dining experience. There is so much to choose from, including the beautiful breakfast & lunch buffets. Room service is also included in your stay. We didn't try it so I can't comment on it. I guess I should have at least looked at the menu ... sorry. Honourable Mentions: -- NY Steak and guacamole at the Mexican restaurant -- Passionfruit daquiris -- Beef carpaccio and spicy rigatoni a la vodka in the Italian No reservations for any a la carte dinners, which is also a bonus. Go wherever you feel like going (after thinking about it over a cocktail at the lobby bar, naturally!) EXTRAS! YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT: This resort offers things for guests that many others do not: -- Bali beds are included. You don't have to pay extra or reserve one. First come, first served. -- Red and white wine included in the room, as well as a bottle of Mezcal. -- The hydrotherapy spa pool is included. -- Lots of toiletries, including a loofah and bath salts. Nice! -- A pair of sandals. *** A COUPLE OF FINAL IMPORTANT ITEMS *** -- If you like loud, rowdy foam parties in the pool or "drink till you drop" tequila competitions, DO NOT COME HERE. This resort is not for you. -- If you're planning a big thing like a bachelor party or looking to meet singles and do some loud partying, DO NOT COME HERE. This resort is not for you. There are other resort options that are more suited for those kinds of gathering. -- If you like upscale, quiet elegance, COME HERE. This resort is for you. -- PLEASE be kind and tip the staff. They work hard, and they deserve it. A big thank you to all the staff at JOIA who went above and beyond and were so great to deal with. You are great ambassadors for this resort. I think that about covers it, except the final question: WILL WE GO BACK? Absolutely. We're planning the next visit to JOIA right now as we speak (er, type!) This is a new favourite. So, if you're sitting on the fence about booking, it's time to get off the fence and book this resort. If you've already chosen it, bravo! Get ready to have a wonderful week in Riviera Maya. You've made a very good choice. I hope you have found this review and my photos helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, feel free to drop me a line any time. I wish you all great travels, no matter where your passport takes you! Sue

We have booked our next visit - of particular note for this review is that we travel extensively and have NEVER returned to a hotel, usually wanting to try something new… but this one has us coming back for seconds. The property is everything you hope for when you book a 5-star adults-only all-inclusive. It is expansive, beautiful, and offers many options. Highlights for me included the coatis, spa pool, the quiet pool, the mangrove walk to the property over where there is a lazy river. Our room (lowest category) was superb and we enjoyed the walk to get anywhere we wanted. Our favourite restaurant was the steak house - each of our two servers exceeded expectations. The floor concierge attended to our two requests. The front desk, coffee bar, and bellhops all meet 5-star expectations. The only negative thing I can say about this resort has to do with the specialty restaurants (except steak house - excellent, and Japanese - we didn’t visit.) The Italian had the WORST food; it was almost comical how bad it was. And the Mexican fajitas were sadly pure fat/grissle. The service at both however was impeccable. We didn’t complain about the food because I didn’t believe it would be any better if we did. Oh, and, a surprise at the buffet has made for some very fun storytelling at home: we arrived early for buffet lunch and they were still putting out the food, and not all the labels were out either. I foolishly took an item that wasn’t labeled. I should have realized that this chocolate & pistachio item was suspect since it wasn’t with the desserts. It turned out to be fois gras dipped in chocolate (?!?!) which I did NOT enjoy. I took a photo (attached) once the label was put out - notice two pieces are missing and my guess is that that other person also took it before the label was placed. (Joia didn’t do anything wrong, and I learned to know better what I put in my mouth.)

Overall a great experience with a few reservations. First of all the staff was fantastic. Aiming to please and professional. The resort is spotless and very well maintained. Our room was spacious and quiet. Food was very good for an all inclusive with multiple choices. The Italian was the weakest of the a la carte restaurants. The buffet options were extensive especially for breakfast. The beach was beautiful but as pointed out by multiple reviews rocky to right. Need to walk left to avoid. Liked the golf course. Great condition but not easy. Lost 8 balls in 3 rounds. Pickleball courts were new and nice but no way of getting a game unless you brought players. Luis from the recreation staff did recruit one of his fellow staff members to play against my wife and I and is hoping to set up a sign up option. One caveat is when booking hotel on general Iberostar number no one seems to have correct information. I am not sure whether it is the language or poor management of the reservation agents. Nevertheless we would come back.

We read the reviews for JOIA in Travelocity prior to going and we had hesitation--primarily the reviews pertaining to the age of the hotel. When we arrived, we were not bothered by the age in the particular section where we stayed because it was so well maintained, the ocean view was amazing and JOIA is so big (the newer part of the hotel was excellent). Super important about this hotel: The cleaning, bar, restaurant and coffee barista staff were AMAZING. They worked so hard to ensure that we were taken care of and they treated with so much respect. Service is very important to us, and the reason why our stay was good is only because of this part of the staff. With this said, the negative aspect: The 'butlers' at the hotel had to be reminded to have our room cleaned; they weren't helpful with getting us restaurant reservations; they weren't knowledgeable about the other hotels within the complex. Our experience with this part of the staff was poor. We did not feel like we were getting 'above and beyond' service. Again, I want to stress that the cleaning staff for our room was excellent. Aside from this, nothing compares to the worst part of our stay---we went to the concierge to ask for information about the other hotels, to get an idea of how to navigate around the complex. We were given a map and tips about what to see, including the shopping area that has the best crepes. We were encouraged to get a better understanding of Iberostar by participating in what was essentially a time share breakfast. We made it clear that we wanted nothing to do with time shares. The young lady said it was no obligation to attend if we changed our minds. On the day that we were to attend the session, we received 3 urgent separate calls, which woke us up at 7:30am by a man who said we was calling to remind us of our appointment, My husband replied that we changed our mind and decided to not attend. He also told the man that he woke us up with the repeated calls. The response was "oh, this is REALLY BAD" followed by a phone hang up. This left us absolutely shocked. We didn't know what to make of the extreme rudeness and disrespect. I called the front desk and asked to speak with a manger, the person who answered ignored my request and asked me what I needed. I told him about the call and asked if we were going to be penalized. He sounded annoyed and asked if I just wanted to cancel the tour. I said that I did, and he said that was fine. The night prior to us leaving, we were sitting in the balcony area, enjoying our last evening on the beautiful ocean view. The phone once again started ringing over and over until we ran to pick up only to be told that our meeting time at the lobby was at 9am so that we can check out the next morning. I asked to be picked up at 9:15 because we wouldn't be picked up by our shuttle until 9:30. I was then scolded and told that we had to do a proper check out and he reluctantly agreed to 9:15. Again, very rude treatment. I felt like he was doing me a favor by allowing us to stay a few minutes later. To sum this up, we have zero issue with paying higher prices for hotel stays because we want above and beyond guest service. Our stay was not cheap by any means. Our experience by the above particular staff members left a lot to be desired.

JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar Playa Paraiso Terrible Experience 1001738657 My wife and I are members of Iberostar. We have stayed at this resort numerous times expecting a relaxing and enjoyable experience as we have in the past. Instead, I was blindsided at dinner with our guests by a false and extremely serious accusation that was handled in the most unprofessional and irresponsible way imaginable. Without a thorough investigation and or any evidence, I was falsely accused and asked to leave the property. There was no due process or an effort to understand the situation that the hotel put me and my guests in — just a complete and utter disregard for fairness, truth, and basic human decency. They never took the opportunity to question my wife, my guests at the table and other hotel guests that were present. Cameras were in the vicinity but deemed inconclusive. Since my guests, wife and I left the hotel, I received two emails from the resort. One from the general manager - “we are bound by Iberostar Regulations, as well as confidentiality and personal data privacy laws; thus, we are unable to share any information or further respond to this matter. You are welcome to exercise your rights as you deem necessary.” The other email was from member services stating that “due to the events that occurred, we regret to inform you that we will no longer be able to honor the terms of the contract. In light of the above, Iberostar the Club proposal is to cancel your Double Black membership and provide a full refund of 100% of the amount paid, as we aim to avoid any breach of contract.” The trauma, embarrassment, and distress caused by the hotel’s actions are beyond words. It’s deeply concerning that a hospitality business would treat any guest like this without a thorough investigation of the facts. I strongly caution anyone considering staying here or purchasing a membership. If this is how they handle conflict or sensitive matters, without regard for people’s rights. It speaks volumes about their values and how they view their guests.