We have just returned from the Iberostar Resort in Mexico, south of Cancun. We stayed 5 nights. The resort is a 30 minute ride south of the airport. We have traveled many times to Cancun and really enjoy the Playa del Carmen area. Last time we stayed right in Playa del Carmen and could walk to the 5th Avenue shops. This hotel is a $20 cab ride each way, about 20 minute ride if it's not rush hour. We took the shuttle from the hotel the first day we went into Playa del Carmen. I read about the shuttle on tripadvisor. We had to walk to the front of the resort and then cross the busy 4 lane and walk down the road a bit to the shuttle palapa (hut). All locals use this shuttle. The van was packed and we we're jammed into the last row of seats. Then we hit rush hour traffic. Definitely a good deal for $2, but we took a cab the next time.
Resort is HUGE. Very nice beach, lots of palapas to sit under. Water was rough (red flag) but people we're swimming. They did a good job with activities, staff was very nice. Food was adequate, although my husband got sick for a few days...? Didn't care for the Mexican restaurant. Liked the Japanese! The trolley that they have to ride you from one end of the resort to the other doesn't seem to run very often. We ended up walking most of the time. Luckily our room was halfway between the beach and the restaurants. Beds were firm, just right for me.
If your worried about whether or not you made the right choice in this resort, don't. I have been to many all inclusives and this one is a good. one, just a lot of walking.

This is the second time we stayed at the paraiso beach resort. The hotel staff changed alot. They are not as fun as the old crew. The ages of the activities for children also changed. Archury is no longer for kids under 16. My kids really missed doing that. The nights get quite cool and windy. You might want to bring 3/4 pants and a sweater. The food here is great. The beach is beautiful. No seaweed floating around. Rooms are very clean not a single bug in sight. Fridge was always freshly stocked.The main pool holds all the activities. Best place to be if you want to join in on the fun.Overall good hotel, good food. Good service. Great place to travel for kids.

To give you a better understanding of the perspective of this review, here's a little bit of background. I am a 22 year old female from Toronto, Canada and traveling with 21 other individuals (with children between the ages of 4 - 16 years old and adults ranging from 19 - 50 years old and my lovely 78 year old grandma). We spent the week of May 3 – 10 there. This is my 3rd time in the Mayan Riviera. The last 2 times I stayed at the Grand Palladium Kantenah so we decided to try the Iberostar Paraiso for something different. My family booked this trip on our own without a travel agent or a package deal.

FLIGHTS
There were 7 of us in total flying out of Toronto. While checking for tickets we found that we were saving a significant amount of money if we flew out of Buffalo, New York (we saved approx. $400 per person!). We flew with United Airlines via Buffalo-Washington Dulles-Cancun departing at 6 a.m. and arriving to Cancun at around 11 a.m. because we are coming from Toronto, we found a “Sleep-Park-Fly” deal with a hotel right by the airport.

TRANSIT
We hired a private van through a company called “Kinmont” to shuttle us from the airport to the resort and vise-versa. It was actually more convenient than the coach buses I’ve taken before as part of a package deal. The vans were clean and the divers were professional, friendly and on time.

CHECK IN/CHECK OUT
I wasn’t impressed nor disappointed. We did not have any major problems considering the size of our group but there is still room for improvement. We had our request of having our rooms in the same building (specified when we booked our stay). We were in Building 37.

RESORT/GROUNDS
This is a HUGE resort!!! My family and I carried 2-way radios so we could keep track of each other. It sounds ridiculous but in a resort this size with my large family, we would have been lost without it! The lush and diverse flora and fauna make the long walks enjoyable. It is a very different feel than that of Palladium’s wildlife. I didn’t mind the walks to the pool, beach or restaurants. I needed to burn off the consequences of my gluttonous ways! As for my little grandma, there were always shuttle carts running through the resort.

ROOMS
The rooms were like the typical rooms of the resorts in the Mayan Riviera. It was very clean and tidy. Our fridge wasn’t working and they sent someone up right away to fix it for us. In my aunt’s room however, EVERYTHING was broken. The clock, fridge, 2 lamps, hair dryer, safe and overhead fan were broken. They called at least twice a day for someone to fix it. By the third day my aunt got tired and gave up. Stroke of bad luck I guess. There was only one night when the rooms on the 3rd floor had NO water pressure. As in the strength of water out of the shower matched that of an infant doing #1. The water pressure returned to normal in half an hour. The shower was PERFECT…if you were 4’9”. I’m 5’4” and I had a hard time standing underneath that flow of water to wash my hair. It was pretty comical. Also, bring your own hairdryer!

CLEANLINESS
Everything was spotless. Which made me wonder how they got it to be like that when their trashcans were non-existent.

POOL
Massive pool!! It never seemed crowded at all! The activity pool (closer to the beach) is louder and slightly more chaotic than other parts of the pool (obviously). The water temperature was perfect. And there are many pool chairs and a few cabanas, which I miraculously claimed in the morning when I’d get up for my “me-time on the beach walk”. Just make sure you know where your towel cards/towel are at all times because they will charge you I believe $10 US if they don’t get the cards back at check-out. I only have one complaint about the pool. There were some days were the pools got a bit dirty. First thing in the morning I’d see someone cleaning the pool. But after they were done I would still see straws and zip-lock bags floating around, colonies of bees, and random pieces of plants. Which makes me wonder was the pool boy blind or did his net have a hole?! Once, in the afternoon I saw a yellowish foam in the pool (resembling that of what I see floating in Lake Ontario). It was so sketchy! I got really creeped out and swam away from it. It was gone a few hours later. Well it’s been a few weeks since I was there and I didn’t get sick or grown an extra limb so I assume it was nothing toxic or radioactive.

THE BEACH
I love being alone on the beach in the morning, seeing the sun just rise, hearing the waves, taking in the peacefulness, and frolicking in the sand without anyone around to stare at your foolishness! Haha! It gets a bit crowded in the afternoon. The sand is fine and soft, the shoreline is a bit steep and there are areas littered with seaweed, and there are a lot of rocks in the water so be careful!

THE BUFFETS
There isn’t a lot of selection as Palladium, but I’m not a picky eater and always found something satisfying. The meat is DELICOUS! I am a huge carnivore and appreciated the meat! Especially the beef! The desserts are also fantastic! I just wished they had churros, it would have completed my breakfast. The buffets are open-air (a.k.a. no air conditioning). But it wasn’t that hot or humid in the beginning of May so we had no problem.

A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS
We tried…
Mediterranean – tasty fish selections, BEST desserts, a bit dark and hard to take a decent picture
Brazilian – salty meat, all skewer of meat (not the greatest choice for vegetarians)
Tropical – seafood soup was amazing, tender rib eye, located by the pool (snack bar by day. I wish I knew this because all 22 of us were LOST and going to different restaurants located in the lobby.)
Japanese – all seats are show table, beautiful setting, mediocre food

BARS
Wow! Delicious drinks!!! For those anti-alcohol types, try the virgin Bahama Mama! Or just ask for a drink followed by the phrase “sin alcohol”. For those who are adventurous (like me!) try my new favorites, the “Sacrificio Maya” shooter and “Coco Loco” (I ask for more loco and less coco) or a Crazy Frog. The higher end alcohol is located in the lobby bar. If you want more or less alcohol, you just have to mention it to the bartender. Shout out to my beach bartender Roger! FIND HIM! He knows what he’s doing!

SHOWS
DO NOT MISS “Boogie Nights” or “Movie Show”! the “Hollywood Show” was pretty good too. The best shows I’ve seen in a resort! Obviously not at the Broadway caliber but I was thoroughly entertained (especially with Boogie Nights). They have live bands and singers, which I find impressive. The band was FANTASTIC!! The singers could carry a tune and are no doubt talented, but I could not understand what they were singing. Very “ken lee” if you youtubers catch my drift…

STARFRIENDS
These are the group of people responsible for entertaining guests. They are a lovely group of people. They are friendly and fun, as they should be, although I spotted a couple of them getting a little too friendly. Haha! The ones I got to know are wonderful people! But I have to say, I still stand loyal to the Palladium Fun Team. Sorry guys. Shout out to Erick, Francisco, Marlene, Nico, and Frank!

THE PLAZA
This is the ‘shopping area’ of the resort. Here you can find the shops, restaurants (crepes & ice cream, burgers, etc) and the disco. The crepes were delicious! I really recommend it! The disco was the most RANDOM place EVER! It’s called “The Galaxy”, which, as its name implies, is themed ‘outer space’. I went once and I must say, I was excited because I was expecting some Latin salsa and meringue music with a touch of reggaeton. When I got there, not only was I overwhelmed by the storm trooper, Yoda, lazer decorations, the retro music confused the shorts off of me. I have no doubt they took the CD they used at the shows and played it again at the disco. Fortunately my newly-made friends were there to save my night from crashing and burning.

OVERALL
The people here were nice, I have nothing to complain about but they do have room for improvement in terms of friendliness and professionalism. I would definitely recommend this resort to EVERYONE. There is always something for different people to do. There was never a moment when anyone in my 22-member family were bored. The kids club looked well done from what I observed. I’ve heard it’s one of the best in the Mayan Riviera. Overall I had a wonderful time at this resort and would maybe come back. It was a very relaxing week which I think I deserved especially after finishing stressful weeks of exams! There was only one major thing I was upset with. I was very disappointed that we could not use the facilities on the other side of the resort. The resort is split into 4 areas (Beach, Del Mar, Maya and Lindo) It was strange because there is no division between the 2 sides of the resort. The deal we got was a “play in 4” deal which we thought meant we could cross over from Beach to Del Mar, Maya, or Lindo. But what the deal meant was we could go from Beach to Del Mar and the Iberostar in Playa del Carmen and the Iberostar in Cozumel, which seemed like too much work.

Anyway if you have any questions about what I have written or about something I didn’t write, feel free to e-mail me at tyeriz@yahoo.com . The people who write reviews like these have helped me and my family decide on the perfect vacation spot and help us prepare for it! So thank you all out there who have taken the time to write reviews!!!

We had a fabulous time at the Paraiso Beach resort. The grounds are stunning. The staff is spectacular. Everyone is friendly and helpfu. The rooms are big and clean. If you tip the maids (leave a few bucks on the bed) they will leave your room looking oh so pretty. The food is not spectacular, but I thought it was very good. I have no complaints. We weren't that impressed with the Brazillian restaurant, but I loved the Mediterranean. If you are going to watch a show, skip the "Star Friends" night. It is really bad, but "Boogie NIghts" is really good.