Iberostar Paraiso Beach

Iberostar removed the foam parties at Beach resort. This is a popular attraction. After 18 years there will be finding a new resort that provides foam parties.

We travelled here as a couple, knowing it was a big resort. It was a really nice hotel and we would definitely stay here again. The food is really good, considering that they are serving a very large amount of people. There was always a decent choice in the main buffet (and mostly always Tacos) We enjoyed most of the à la carte restaurants on site. The Mexican restaurant was great, as was the French restaurant. We went to the smokehouse only once and it was ok. The Japanese was also lovely and such a fun experience by the chefs! I would definitely recommend.

Rooms were always clean, as were the common areas. We continuously saw staff cleaning and ensuring areas are tidy, which is great to see. They were even in the pools in the morning clearing any debris, or scrubbing the tiles to keep things as nice for guests as possible. My partner saw one scrubbing the outside of a bin just to make sure it was clean.

Quality of room were good too. We were happy with a premium room and were only about 10 mins walk from the area pf the pool we liked. The walk doesn’t feel long because you’re always surrounded by the nature there. They do have shuttles otherwise which are great for other guests if they have kids or extra mobility needs.

Entertainment at the pool was always fun and upbeat. The team made a real effort every day to make things fun. If it’s not your thing, there are other pool areas you can sit at instead so it’s away from the noise (only for an hour or so) We went to a “foam party” at one of the pools and it was so fun.

The evening entertainment wasn’t for us all the time. Can be very “all inclusivey” YMCA vibes but I know some people love that. Just not for us. We went to the fire shows which were great too.

Location is good as when we wanted to go to the cenotes, we could just walk to the highway and get on a collectivo bus. It’s a bit cheaper than the resort planned activities but that’s personal preference.

The beach was unfortunately not as good as I’ve seen it before. Sargassum season did spoil the sea for us but we still used the beach/beach bar/food. I think I got in the sea once in 2 weeks but it’s not the fault of the hotel, it just happens. The hotel put out nets into the sea to block large amounts of sargassum which is great, but unfortunately the small bits manage to get through and cause dirty water. The shore itself was clear, so you could still walk.

Cons:

• upon arrival we were encouraged heavily to book onto a “breakfast” in the sister hotel. If we went on the breakfast, we would get a free excursion/boat trip or something else.

Definitely a marketing thing and not super genuine as we saw some poor people being trapsed around the resort with a staff member explaining about premium membership to the hotel groups. I don’t think they realised what they signed up for as the hotel were quite pushy about it. For a holiday, I didn’t really want to spend time listening to someone market to me. But again, their choice.

2nd There was definitely a tier/class system. We booked as all inclusive guests, but there were guests on some sort of premium tier that were definitely treated better. They were from the sister hotel but used all of our facilities. Fire shows- they all get their own proper seating/drinks/waiter service right at the front. Everyone else had to sit behind.

In the buffet for breakfast, we were led by staff to a table for 2. As we were putting our belongings down, another waiter told us that this was a premium only table and that we can’t sit there, despite someone else giving us this table.

“Premium”guests also got their own shuttles that we were not allowed on.

Good - Had a nice overall family holiday! The wildlife around the hotel was fantastic, even if the Coati constantly scavaging for food was a little annoying at times (but to be fair its thier home!) The waiters, cleaners and bar staff were some of the friendliest hotel staff I've come across (albeit two meals the drink service was non existent but partly down to running out of beer (at an all inclusive!!) The entertainment was good (although were directed to the Lindo next door as the hotels own entertainment building was being repaired, not sure the Pariso would be so good) The pool was nice along with the towel service (only gripe was limited poolbar waiting and the pool entertainment was constant, very tacky and far too loud, one day the aqua aerobics had one guest taking part but they still had the music volume double what it needed to be!) The OK - the al a carte resturants (mexican / bbq / Japanese) were nice, especially the Japenese, but booking was too hard such that we could not book the other (Brazilian / Italian / US grill) during our 12 night stay which was disapointing! Especially give the mixed quality of the buffet, definitely not 5*, more 3.5* (I'll get on to the illness after eating in the buffet under "the bad". Another ok though was the broth and plain rice concierge arranged to send to my room when I got unwell, I was greatful considering they do not do room service in the pariso beach, this is only available to those who pay a substantial upgrade to the Lindo (the actual 5*) The bad - a number of things I was disappointed about the quality, the hotel had the potential and ability to be 5* but unfortunately its all about an up sell! I was told by Thomas Cook I had booked a 5* which i always acknowledge is not going to be perfect it's all inclusive, repeating what I've seen a lot of customers say, you are pretty much told straight away you are in the budget hotel of the complex and being put in the budget rooms but everything can be upgraded. They hard sell the tour of the Lindo, the actual 5* so they can show your family what they could have had if you hadn't gone budget on £9.5k!!! You are then told you could pay for a better location by the pool in exactly the same type of room for another £1k, I didn't even ask what the Lindo upgrade would be! The room was mixed, the bed was one of the most comfortable I've slept in on holiday, the bedroom was ok if a little tired but the bathroom was terrible, the shower had been broken and maintenence had made a budget repair but it mean the shower head would not fit in the holder, in the end I had to use some gorilla tape to tape it onto the holder (I keep it in my case since a previous holiday suitcase disaster!), quite frankly if you have to bodge repair the shower after the hotels own bodged repairs which would have only cost them £2-3 to repair properly, then you are most definitely not in a 5* hotel, more like a 3*. The buffet, whilst we had a couple of nice meals and good service there were a number less good, cold food, long waits for foods to be replenished, two meals we received no drink service, one meal they ran out of beer (and wasnt as if there were large groups guzzling it) kids selection was one of the most limited I've seen in an all-inclusive, then there was one meal I clearly picked up a stomach bug shortly after having lunch at the buffet, I spent three days suffering before going to the medical centre. To be fair when my wife first went to the reception asking about the medical centre they said they could get some chicken broth sent to me, when I called for this I was first told this is a room service which is not on offer to the Pariao Beach, but they did arrange this for me twice. My disappointment here, again if it was truly a 5*, I received no follow up call to check on me, even after they were aware I went to the medical centre on day three of my sickness! Overall, the 9 days of holiday i had, I enjoyed due to the company of my family, but I would not recommend the pariao beach unless they sold it accordingly as a 4* and up their quality with less upsetting. And if they are struggling to fill then Lindo, then maybe its time to redevelop the Pariso beach and focus on the Lindo offering.