TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

After 12 years of visiting Cuba (3 different regions) we decided to give Mexico a try. It did not disappoint!! We went as a group of 6 ranging in ages from 12 to 63. There is soooo much I could write about, so I'll put them in categories. The Pros: Staff: The staff are for the most part (I'll get to that later) excellent. Very helpful and friendly and genuinely seem to enjoy their jobs. The Grounds: The beach is beautiful (there was some seaweed but the hotel did the best they could to remove it), the grounds are large and well maintained. There were lot of loungers on the beach, a walk up bar, decent washrooms, water bottle filling station and a great little burger stand with picnic tables. The pool is a large lake style pool with lots of loungers and varied depths. There are swim up bars, lots of entertainment, an activity pool (volleyball, basketball) etc. The grounds were so enjoyable. There are main walkways/roads that are direct walks, but if you want a walk through the jungle, there are winding pathways that are great for getting some shade or for a jog. There are so many animals on site. It was wonderful seeing all the peacocks, macaws, flamingos, turtles, iguanas and our personal favourites, the coatis. The coatis travel around in a herd, easily 30 of them, looking for their next meal. Dont turn your back on your food around the pool or beach, those little guys have no problem stealing from you! Guests at the Beach and at the Del Mar can use either lobbys and any of the 2 buffets and a la carts. The Del Mar lobby is quieter in the evening and the Beach lobby is where the entertainment is. Choose your evening location accordingly. The Rooms: I spend very little time in the room, so it was more than satisfactory. It was well appointed, cleaned thoroughly, and the mini fridge was restocked daily. Each room had two large glass water bottles you can refill at the water bottle filling station on each floor of each building as well as at least one on the beach. Food: the buffet was enjoyable. Each evening there would be some repeat dishes but there was always something new to try. Same goes for the breakfast buffet and the Lunch buffet (in the Italian a la cart restaurant by the pool, close to the beach). All food was fresh, hot as required/cold as required, and replenished frequently. No one in our party had any issues with food. The a la carts were amazing. You must try the Mexican - our waiter Josh was so much fun. Make sure you ask him for "Mexican Water" ;) The Smokehouse was a relaxing meal, the Brazillian offered more food than we could eat and our waitress was hilarious (she told our teen daughter the pork was monkey meat lol). And of course the Japanese!! Now that was a show!!!! Misc: Once we were able to log in, we loved the app! We booked our a la carts on the app, and even though we wanted a reservation for 6 (two different rooms) it was easy to do. Use the app for its map of the complex, it really helps to learn your way around the resort. Also, it shows the various buggies that go around the grounds, in real time. VERY helpful. The wifi worked really well, no complaints at all. Surprisingly, for our week, we had very few bug bites which was a nice surprise! The plastic cups at swim up bars and beach bars are sturdy and large - we had no need to use the yeti cups we brought. Now for the Cons: Prices: Everything outside of the "all inclusive aspects" are crazy expensive. A 50 minute massage was $350CAD (That's 3 hour appointments here at home), sunscreens in the shops were $50CAD, souvenir beach bag was a couple hundred CAD. etc They also advertise 'the good evening entertainment' as an extra charge. At the Japanese restaurant, we were presented Saki and Japanese beer and asked if we wanted it. After we said yes, then they told us it was $9USD for a small bottle of beer. We declined. Plumbing: There were several times toilets were plugged/wouldn't flush. Once we personally observed a staff member pushing the contents of an overflowed toilet around the pool INTO the pool. Electricity: Seemingly randomly, the power and AC would go out in our room. It seemed to possibly be on a motion sensor. So when we were asleep, and still, the power would go out until someone moved around. I really did not appreciate that. I understand its to be eco-friendly, but on day 5, not only would the AC randomly turn off, we couldn't lower it below 23. Pushy Staff: While most of the staff were great, by the day we left I couldn't wait to be away from some of them. If you spend the day lounging around the pool, you will be interrupted (from your book, your conversation etc) many times. Spa staff, paid entertainment sales reps will both come around several times a day. How many times do I have to say no thank you??? On our final day, an employee asked for my "help" in writing a google review, but only after I said that yes I did enjoy my vacation. So beware of the google reviews, the staff are heavily involved in their comments. And honestly, when they told me "This is my job to ask" all I wanted to say was "I'm on a vacation that took quite some time to save up for, I truly do not want to give up my remaining time on vacation to help you with your job. I will go home and write a review when I have the time." So while that was how my vacation ended with pushy staff, it also started with pushy staff. We were met with a concierge at check in. Helpful with booking reservations and getting a feel for the resort. But oh my goodness, she was sooooo push with her sales tactics. She admitted Iberostar is a business so its her job to offer further upgrades etc. She wanted us to meet her for breakfast the next morning to go tour around one of the more expensive sections of the complex. We already spent $8000CAD, if we wanted to go to the Maya/Lindo, we would have booked it. We did our research prior to booking, as do most people. We've been on site for 30 minutes and you're already trying to upsell?? We had been up since 1:30am, spent the day travelling, and won't get into our room for 4 hours, and you think this is the perfect time to upsell us?? Overall, we had a great time and hope to return some day!

Visited in July 2023. This is not a 5-Star resort, as Iberostar has advertised. I’ve been to other resorts in the Riviera Maya but have not experienced such a big difference in what I saw in real life versus what was advertised online prior to booking. This is (at best) 2 Stars, with a ton of price gouging to make it seem more refined than it is. Everything online in comparison seemed to be heavily edited and filtered. All the positive 5-star reviews on Trip Advisor are fake, and I can see that now. You’ll see a ton of positive reviews for concierge staff - these people were the most unhelpful and rude staff members we encountered during our stay. Instead of trying to make your stay comfortable and going above and beyond with service, they are extremely defensive when you talk to them, and then try to sell you something - upgrades, memberships, etc. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I waited many years to come back to Mexico and Iberostar has ruined that experience for me. Extremely disappointing on so many levels. I feel like I got cheated out of a good vacation and I can’t believe I paid as much as I did for this. Never have I been to a resort that was so shockingly different from the picture they painted online. Felt like we were being scammed. Everything from check-in to check-out was a bad experience. Check-in: Check-in took almost 1.5 hours. They also did not seem to care that the dinner buffet was closing in 15 minutes until we asked and made a run for it. The whole reception area is also not air conditioned and no one bothered to give the newly arrived guests water or towels. Room: Our room was gross. The shower had cracked tiles, tons of ants, and basically no water pressure. Would find ants crawling all over our stuff in the morning. Bathtub was in atrocious condition, barely any pressure in the shower and the water kept going hot and cold. Maintenance told us it’s working fine. The tub was honestly disgusting - chips, dents and year old stains. Extremely gross. The AC worked but they’re all locked and do not go below 22C - extremely inconvenient when it’s close to 40C outside and the AC can’t keep up. Also, no room service at all. When asked about this, the lady at reception said “a hotel at this level doesn’t have room service.” A supposed 5-star hotel doesn’t have room service?! I’ve never come across something like this. Property: We picked the resort for its lush forests and expansive property, but we soon realized this was a horrible mistake. Everything is super far and designed poorly. In the middle of summer, walking from your room to the dining hall in +36C is a workout. But the front staff assured us that they had lots of buggies (golf carts) running between the front of the hotel, the rooms and the beach. This turned out to be a lie. Barely any carts running. If you want to make it to the buffet on time, be prepared to leave early and walk. Spoke to other guests at the stops and sometimes they’d be waiting for over half an hour. Every 5 minutes one guy with the “members only” buggy would come by, stare at everyone and leave. Absolutely unacceptable as this is supposed to be a family resort - we had trouble trying to get our child to walk the distance as waiting for 30 mins at the stop in extreme heat was also not an option. Saw many other kids crying at the stops and on the pathway as well. Complained to reception about this and the guy basically smirked at me and didn’t say a word, just nodded and walked away. Family: The kids club and kids playground is not included. That was also stated online but turned out to not be true. They had nightly shows in the open air hall, but nothing specifically for children. Not a good resort for families with small children. It’s very boring for them. Food: Food was decent, nothing fancy. Main dining hall is not air conditioned. This made the whole dining experience quite unbearable. The servers in the dining hall were the best though. They were clearly short-staffed and overworked but trying their best. We got 3 dining reservations, and the food at those restaurants was tolerable, but the main pull was that they were air conditioned at least (not well, but to a moderate temp as above). No 24-hr snack bar. For a supposed 5 star hotel, this is unheard of. They have a “snack” bar which is basically the main dining buffet with some leftover cakes and fruit from dinner (open until 1 am). This combined with the lack of room service made for a very stressful time with a small child. Pools/ Beach: Standard, like other resorts. Nothing special. It was tough to get chairs so one of us would go early to grab chairs. There was no service on the beach or pool. You have to walk to the pool or beachside bars and wait in line to get your drinks / snacks. The food at the pool and beach bar for “lunch” was atrocious. It was mostly cut up fruit, burgers and fries (at the beach) and some kind of meat / fish (at the pool). Some activities on the beach we noted were volleyball, dance class and workouts in the open air gym. At the pool they had a few parties here and there. Service at the swim up bar was also slow due to understaffing. The water slides are also not included, they want you to pay an extra fee to use them. Seaweed was being cleaned periodically. Despite all of this, the front staff never failed to call everyday and offer us a membership for more money. They will tell you to come down to reception to collect your “voucher” but it’s basically bait and switch to get you to buy a membership to receive a coupon for services at the hotel. I’ve sworn off Iberostar for life after this experience. This was the definition of false advertising. We were all ready to go home after day one. I wish we had spent our hard earned cash on a different, more reliable, reputable resort. This was the most disappointing trip I have ever taken to Mexico. I have no respect for businesses that try to trick their customers, essentially lie about what they offer, and want you to constantly shell out more money to receive amenities that they previously advertised as standard. I will never recommend Iberostar to anyone. Horrible experience.

This was our fifth or sixth time here and probably our last. Our last visit was 5 years ago. This was also our seventeenth stay at an Iberostar, so in general it is or was our preferred brand. The staff remain pleasant and the grounds beautiful. However, probably due to the pandemic and the chain being taken over there is less on offer unless you pay extra, which is annoying. Neither main buffet was open for lunch and although the selection at the beach buffets was okay, we prefer the calm and change of scenery in the middle of the day that the main buffets offered. The Star Prestige seems to be a ludicrous business model whereby for an extra $50 USD or so per day 3 to 5 % of the clientele get 80 % of the service. We saw 3 bar staff waiting around doing nothing at the new Star Prestige only pool bar while it was a 5 to 10 minute wait for everyone else. This new area also took over the former adults only quiet area that no longer exists. The same happens at the Star Prestige lounge in the lobby. I suggest Iberostar distributes the staff elsewhere and make everyone's wait time less. If I wanted a fancier experience I would go elsewhere since Star Prestige privileges do not change room assignment or eating options. The main pool area for the remaining plebs needs a walk up bar. Shouting down the stairs of the pool bar works but seems silly and when they are busy they do not always see you. Finally, their self-serve stations are mostly broken. None of the ice machine worked and at the main pool area none of it worked at all. Lining up for something that you always used to be able to get yourself is silly, especially now that there is no wait staff coming around asking if you want anything. We plan to try other brands and see how things go from there.

So as a person who's is a little cynical at this point with All Inclusive resorts, I can honestly say this one renews my interest a bit. This place isn't perfect, but overall I can definitely recommend it. The good: Beautiful, clean, inviting landscape. Off the shuttle, this property stood out over the others we saw when letting people off. Pulling in off the highway it has appeal, compared to some other - even very expensive - resorts in the area. The food overall is pretty good for an AI. Much of it is just "okay," while some of it was pretty good - standouts were the Japanese and French a la cart restaurants. The buffet always had edible options. I'm not a food snob, but I found the last few resorts I've stayed in Mexico - all RIU I think - the food was pretty terrible. Here at least you can feel comfortable filling up. Still a good idea to eat a couple meals off resort to mix it up. The food is a solid C+ overall, which is better than avg for an AI. The room was nice, clean, large. Had a jr suite near pool. Balcony was pretty large and faced the jungle. Was really peaceful and a great experience to hang out there. The pathways from the rooms to the pool or beach were carved out of jungle. Very nice experience. The beach was very good. Ocean calm enough due to the reef, but still fun waves. Water is gorgeous - clear, blue. Occasional tropical fish swimming by you. Nice white sand. Palapas for shade and decent loungers. We didn't hang at the pool at all. Service was pleasant and professional. Never experienced attitude like I have at other AIs. These people seem to understand how to treat guests and perhaps value the repeat customer. Shuttle service was convenient. It's a good 15 to 20 minute walk from the beach end to the lobby end. So these golf cart shuttles are really useful. They stop running at 11pm, which is reasonable but midnight would be nice to get back from the night club or lobby bar etc. Location is fantastic. You have Playa Del Carmen to the south, for nightlife and the ferry to Cozumel. North you have Puerto Morelos for great snorkelling with a cool smaller beach town vibe. You can get to cancun by cab for around $70 usd. If you plan to spend time in Cancun, perhaps stay in cancun. I prefer a bit south as spending time in the ocean is a big part of my trip - and cancun water is often too rough for swimming - no reef protection is what I'm told. It's also busier and more crowded up there. The not so good: The resort is large, and getting around can be confusing and a bit of hassle. There is a lack of good signage so it's easy to end up further from your room from where you started. It takes about a week to get it all sorted out. Staying closer to the beach/pool area is a good option, but you need to go all the way to the lobby side for breakfast or just a decent cup of coffee - that's either a 15 minute walk or a shuttle ride. If you're a coffee in the morning person - bring your own machine I guess. They have coffee in the room but it's not the best. A big problem is getting a lounger either at the pool or beach. They are all "reserved" by folks by around 7am. They don't enforce anything it seems. It's annoying showing up at the beach at 11am or so, in the heat, and walking around for an hour trying to get settled. This is the biggest knock on this resort I would say, and if they found a system to change this it would be rated higher. I found it challenging knowing where to get food during the day. It seems the buffets are often closed at either end and sometimes closed at both ends. We struggled almost every day to get food at the time we wanted to eat. Perhaps this is our fault for not consulting the app. But on vacation, who wants to do this?? With the size of the resort, you just give up and go back to the room hungry. While the beach was overall good, there are some rocks I occasionally stepped on. You figure out where they are though and avoid. Also, some seaweed issues, but it varied day by day and wasn't terrible, but some days there was a lot. A nuisance, but not a deal breaker imo. Overall, I definitely recommend Iberstar Playa Paraiso Beach. Or the other ones. There's not much difference from what we saw. Although, a couple of times it would have been nice to access what was going on next door at the Linda. If the price is similar, might as well get the lindo or Maya just for more options. But I wouldn't spend a lot on an upgrade. Didn't check out the Grand, but I've heard that's another level up for sure. - probably better food too. The golf course was quite nice and guests get a discount - around $130 USD, plus club rental.

Jose and the entertainment crew at the Beach Del Mar pool made a great vacation even better! The resort is beautiful and the staff is so friendly and attentive. The food is very good and the rooms are very nice. We would definitely return in the future!