Iberostar Grand Paraiso

Stayed here in mid-December. Check in took some time. We were told our room wasn't ready (not an issue as we were early) and were informed we would be notified when it was ready. We went and ate, checked out the property to familiarize ourselves and at 4 pm we still had heard nothing about our room. Upon going back to check on our room the gal we had originally spoken with was busy so we informed another person and they couldn't find out what happened. Eventually the original gal came over and told him to give us a room. No recognition or apology of any kind. Not a great first impression. Got to our room and it was nice. A little gaudy with a gold embossed settee but nice. The balcony overlooked a courtyard area across from the spa and had a swinging basket chair and a small couch. Worked perfect as I loved the basket chair. We found the bed uncomfortable but dealt with it. It was hard and not comfortable like the ones we've had at so many other Mexican resorts. Our concierge brought us to the room. It was a man and a young woman. Never again saw either of them the rest of the week. That being said the concierge desk staff was very helpful and took care of any needs that arose. We found the crowd to be over 70, for the most part, the week we were there. We were a bit surprised at that and we aren't spring chickens. It felt fairly geriatric. The last day it appeared the tide had changed and the group was more 40-60 in age. The main pool is nice and the pool bar is lively and loud as expected. We're not pool bar people so didn't spend much time here. They did have food daily for lunch at the end of the pool away from the ocean. They also had a croquet set up on the lawn by the pool which we played daily. Always able to get a lounger at the main pool. The beach was large and very walkable which we liked. They had the finest beach machinery we've seen to groom the beach. We took a daily walk to Maroma Beach. The sargassum was not an issue during our visit, thankfully. Never an issue getting a lounger on beach. Beach service was fantastic. Best we've had at a resort. The serenity pool was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Too quiet for us and we're quiet. That was a shock to us. So we spent zero time there. Food was very good for all inclusive. Desserts were sublime. Room Service was fantastic. Foods were served at proper temperature. Lots of options. There are many employees who are wonderful. I'll name a few: Delfino at Las Brisa, Isaac the restaurant manager, Roberto at the Italian, Eduardo at Las Brisa, Lorenzo on the beach and Adrian on the Entertainment Team. We found Italian to have great steak. Didn't care for L'Atelier. Toni's had good food but the waiters were running around like maniacs and it made us a bit uncomfortable. Not sure why but they appeared to be under the gun. The buffets were good overall and you could have food cooked to order. The golf course looks great. We didn't play and I wish we had. The main plaza area has a great coffee shop and it's a short walk away. We started our day every day with a visit and sometimes returned later in the day. There are some shops over there along with an ice cream/smoothie place if I remember correctly. The gym across the street from the Plaza is amazing. Best place to work out. The lobby bar was a winner with great drinks, great bartenders and great desserts. The Rhapsody bar appears to be trying to carve out an identity. It looks like a sports bar but the sign outside has a martini glass on it. I had a martini but it wasn't served in a martini glass. I thought they had interesting drink creations there, from my reading prior to arrival, but found they didn't exist. Went once and never returned. The shows were pretty good. We especially liked the Celtic one with Sophia on violin and Leah on flute. Sadly, it was Sophia's last night to perform. She's so talented, as is Leah, and we wish her well The more disappointing thing was Christmas decorations. We typically visit Mexico at this time of year because we love the festive decorations at the resorts. They were just beginning to put some up at the Grand where the sister resorts appeared to be much further along. The tree in the main lobby took several days to put up but was accomplished before we left. We spoke to a gal who stays every December and she was soooo disappointed that they weren't up. She went later in December this trip as the previous year they weren't up early in the month. Unfortunately she had to leave, again, before they were up. The employee Christmas party was held during our stay. It's quite the deal. Elaborate and held in the convention area just past the main plaza. It runs till the wee hours of the morning to accommodate every employee who can/wants to attend. The employees were dressed elegantly and looked to be having a great time. Overall it's a nice place. We understand why it has a loyal following. We probably won't return, as it just wasn't a good fit for us, but glad we gave it a try.

Overall, I think this is a very nice resort: lots to do, great service, nice facilities and nice rooms. I was unhappy about the following details: 1) the toilet kept running after flushing (I don't want to have to open the back and re-position the stopper when on vacation) 2) flushing required pulling the handle forward and holding it until finished; 3) the nice bathroom scale did not work (the battery was dead; they replaced it once I put it on the sink with the battery removed); 4) very little water pressure (fortunately the shower head was the rain style; the tub's spray handle attachment barely sprayed); 5) the outlet on the table/desk did not work; 6) there were too few outlets in the room (I was there on business) and 6) the water features around the shops in the shopping center had lots of trash in them and the water was foul. Other than that, our group enjoyed the Grand Paraiso thoroughly.

We were so happy with our decision to stay at the Iberostar Grand Paraiso. It exceeded our expectations and then some. Location, food, drinks, service was all great. They catered to us in a way we never would have imagined. We will definitely be traveling back to this location again!

We went to this hotel last year the same time and loved it so much that decided to go back and bring family members with us . O boy what a difference and not to the better! We remembered the place with great food spectacular shows and amazing service! The food this trip was so bad! It looked good but was not tasty at all and a lot of it especially in the restaurants was loaded with salt to the point that instead of the food all u tasted was salt! We stayed in ocean view building and 2 times in 8 days our room was not clean in the morning till almost 1 pm . Now until we had to let concierge know it was done. The shows are the same but the hotel changed almost the whole team of the band and the singers so from something amazing it became very very average . Just like any other resort in that area. The last 3 days of our stay we realize that there were way more people and got very loud and destructive also on lunch time there were lines for the food and waitress couldn’t deal with the amount of people as a result dirty plates on the table and long wait for drinks . When we asked what was going on we were told that it was a convention of a real estate company around the region with people from all over . I thought that the place of that altitude doesn’t do that stuff because instead of having meetings in conference room all those people were hanging out by the bar most of the time. We spoke with another 4 couples that were staying there 2 ,3 ,4 times they said the same thing we felt: we will never go back to this resort! Very disappointing I feel so bad not only for a very substantial amount of money we spend on this vocation but also for bringing our family and making them to spend a lot of money also.

A little background info about me: I'm an art historian and curator; my wife is an artist. I've been to a lot of hotels of varying levels around the world as I travel for work constantly, however this is our first all inclusive resort vacation together and my second. We stayed at the hotel Jan 6-13 in room 7261. Overview Overall our stay was very pleasant. The highlights were the service, the spa, and the beach area. There are also quite a lot of amenities and events to keep you active and entertained, should you wish to be. I want to express my personal gratitude to Luis, our concierge (promote him immediately - he is on top of everything), Felipe from the Club team (he should be running the department), Oscar from the Prestige team, and many other staff too numerous to name. Everyone genuinely tries to make sure the guests are having a good time. In the 2 buffets and the 5 restaurants the food was always very good and fresh. That said, my expectations for certain things were a bit higher for a 5-star 4-diamond level resort. The Grand is the highest level of Iberostar hotels and in certain areas it doesn’t come close to similar chains like Four Seasons or Intercontinental. The atmosphere in the hotel in general needs serious thought and improvement. The beverage menus for the restaurants are not thought through. The selection and quality of cocktails at the several bars is closer to an average all-inclusive resort: so-so (more on all that below). There is a lot of room for improvement and the hotel desperately needs someone with knowledge of how to curate the atmosphere and the experience of guests. The Room The room had all the amenities you would expect - a minibar, a coffee machine (no teapot though...), a TV, etc. On the small terrace there is a divan and a suspended basket chair. Iberostar Club members get a bottle of champagne in their room on check-in and spa-quality products in their bathroom, which is a good perk. People who are sensitive to decor and style may be put off by the interior design choices, but the hotel has big problems with that in general. I can only describe the style as a very strange mix of colonial and tacky luxury a-la Trump with a dash of surrealism. The bathtub in our room could use some maintenance, especially on the hydromassage function. The Service As I mentioned before, the service is the absolute highlight of this resort. Everyone genuinely wants the guests to have a good time. I think their 40% guest retention rate is mostly due to the service. Room service can sometimes be slow, but it depends on how busy it is at the time and if there are any big events going on. My one big issue with the service was the total confusion regarding transfers to and from the airport. When I called Iberostar on the day of our arrival, I was told that stays longer than 5 days at the Grand get you free transfers from and to the airport, but I had to reserve it through my travel agent. I tried to do so with Amex Travel, and they were told one had to reserve it several days in advance for it to be free. Upon calling Iberostar again I was told my only choice was to try and find the Iberostar shuttle at the airport and convince them to take us to the hotel for their standard $140 fee. Needless to say, we were not thrilled. I ended up using GetTransfer and had a private driver take us to the hotel for all of $35. Later at the hotel I tried to book a transfer to the airport a few days in advance, and was told that I’d have to pay for it or do the charade again through the travel agent (which if you book through Amex shows up as Expedia for Iberostar, while of course Expedia has no idea about your booking). We ended up using GetTransfer again, which is probably the most convenient transport company in the world. The day of arrival was super stressful because of this - they really need to be clear about transportation with their guests. The Food The food was another highlight for us. Breakfasts were phenomenal, and the various restaurants are quite good. We did have one issue on the last day. We booked a hibachi style dinner at the Japanese restaurant and after sitting down at a hibachi table and starting with our appetizers, we were asked to move to a regular table because not enough people showed up for the hibachi. That was a bit disappointing and confusing. While the food itself was good, a major problem with all of the restaurants are the beverage choices - they are the same throughout the hotel. When you are dining at a french restaurant, you want to have good French wine. When you are at a Japanese restaurant, you want to have a decent selection of sake. When you are at an Italian restaurant, you want to have Italian wine, grappa, limoncello, etc. In other words, you want to have a relatively authentic experience. Some other things make very little practical sense - like the tea selection. All of their teas are in teabags (which are actually bad for humans and for the environment). Loose leaf tea is actually cheaper than teabags, and the quality is much higher. It would be less expensive to get some proper tea pots for loose leaf tea and it would add presentation value to the hotel. The atmosphere at the dinner restaurants leaves a lot to be desired. Dimming those absurd looking colorful lights and adding real candles would go a long way. The Drinks/Bars This area needs a lot of improvement. The hotel has 5 bars - a lobby bar, a cigar bar, a mixology bar, a pool bar, and a beach bar. At the cigar bar you can purchase a hookah or a cigar and smoke while you drink. At the mixology bar supposedly you can get some inventive cocktails, but it is exactly the same in terms of menu and stock as the lobby bar. Every one of them is exactly the same in terms of stock, with varying bartender skills. Kudos to Dario at the lobby bar - he actually tries. You cannot call a bar a mixology bar if you barely have 50% of a full bar and nobody knows what the currently popular cocktails are. All you have to do is google top mixology bars and cocktails - there is a rating. You can’t have top shelf vodka and gin and not have decent whiskey. None of the bartenders know what Absinthe is or how to make a Sazerac. They don’t have a single peaty single malt scotch, even though a 10 year old Laphroaig costs less or the same as Bombay Gin, which they do have. It seems like whoever is choosing the liquors for the bar is using a “Opening a bar for dummies” handbook and choosing brands from every category by ear. The wine selection is terrible, even the premium wines that you could purchase are all hilariously mediocre. I doubt a real sommelier would be prohibitively expensive to hire - maybe Iberostar should invest in one for their Grand hotels. And invite some real mixologists to train the staff if you want to have a mixology bar. The Atmosphere As I mentioned above, the atmosphere is severely lacking inside the hotel. The only positive thing is the live music in the lobby bar every evening. Whoever the decorator was couldn’t decide whether to go classic colonial or full-blown imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. You cannot have cheap reproductions of famous paintings on the walls of a 5-star 4-diamond level hotel. There’s no excuse for cheap motel level art at this price point. At least get some art from local artists, I’m sure there are many. The hotel invested more in Christmas/New Year’s decorations than in actual artworks. The color scheme of the entire hotel makes you wonder if it was designed by someone who really likes neoclassicism and surrealism, but can’t really decide which one and generally suffers from psychosis and schizophrenia. It’s a mix of cold yellow walls and columns, bright red abstract carpets in combination with marble tiles and earthy mosaics, and poorly painted ceiling frescoes with various surrealistic elements attached to the ceiling and walls (giant flowers, Spanish knight armor, lobsters, etc.) It’s all enough to give someone with aesthetic sense a nervous tick in the first 10 minutes. If you want to know how to do the absurd style correctly, look at Faena Miami Beach - they manage to pull it off. The Beach Definitely another highlight. It’s very clean and well maintained. There’s plenty of entertainment like jet-skis, catamarans, etc. that you can rent when the sea allows it, as well as book snorkeling trips, parasailing, and so on. Waiters serve you on the beach and Club members get a special reserved area with comfortable recliners. On the beach just in front of the Grand there are some reefs, but walking about 100ft along the beach you will find pristine sandy shore. If you walk a bit further past the divers and activity shack where you book snorkeling trips and rent jet-skis, you will be on the beach of the Iberostar Selection hotel that’s more family oriented and therefore a bit more populated. The Amenities The Spa is very nice at the Grand with a good variety of treatments and procedures. The main Spa of the resort has a few more options than the one at the Grand, but doesn’t have the nice indoor pool. The therapists are very good at both. The main outdoor pool has the bar and a number of activities throughout the day, so a lot of people are generally there the whole day. They have nice cabanas and tanning beds. I did a diving tryout in the pool and its actually pretty dirty on the bottom, with cups and various unidentifiable debris, even a few large insects. Probably should clean it more often as drunk people tend to drop things into the pool. The gym at the Grand is inside the spa. It is quite small with only a few machines, but covers basic needs and all of them are pretty high quality with the exception of a couple runners and climbers that were broken. There is also a “Shopping Center” which has a number of cafes and souvenir shops, a pharmacy (beyond expensive, like 5-15x more for everything), a nightclub, a casino, and the main spa. The main gym for the entire resort, across from the shopping center, is better maintained than the one at the Grand, with a lot of equipment, staff, and classes throughout the day. The Club Upon arrival the resort will offer guests to purchase a membership in their club at a consultation/presentation with one of the salespeople. Various levels make sense for various types of vacationers. We ended up purchasing the entry level which comes with enough perks to justify it. The sales staff are all very professional and don’t push you into something that you’d later regret. If you like the resort and believe you’d come back, its definitely worth it. They take members’ comments and requests very seriously, so we will definitely reevaluate the experience on our next trip.