Paradisus Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya

“The location is just perfect for a walk around the public beach. The room was spotless had a remarkably comfortable bed”

“We are currently on our last evening here at the resort after a 4 day, 3 night stay for a wedding. Our kids are 12 and 9. Pros: Staff is friendly and helpful. As we walked through the resort, we were always greeted. Housekeeping does a great job, bedding and towels are always fresh. The resort grounds were well-kept and clean. There are lots of pools, so if a pool gets crowded you can always move to another. There were lounge chairs open all around the pool area, but be warned- other guests may claim the primo spots early in the morning with their towels. The kids loved all the coatis, raccoons and cats that roamed the grounds. The Nespresso Corner coffee was always consistent/good and Twelvet was excellent- the flavors of the gelato we tried were all delicious. Cons: While there are many restaurant options, we only tried two and they were, unfortunately, pretty disappointing. We first tried Cielo- the service was a bit slow, my husband said the fish was “mushy”, the pozole didn’t have much flavor, and the short rib was somewhat over seasoned (it may have been the sauce?). The best things we ate were the guacamole with the chicharrones and the churros with the hot chocolate. We tried the buffet for dinner tonight (we had reservations for Bana, but after chatting with a few other guests at the resort who had eaten there and felt lukewarm about it, we decided to pass). The buffet restaurant setting is nice, but the food is just okay. Lots of options, but if you stand around long enough and observe the kids around you, you may reconsider eating certain dishes. I can only imagine that it’s difficult to manage the buffet in a family setting, but it was wild watching hands touch the food- a kid overloading their plate with jello and then watching them use their hand to put it back into the serving dish. The charcuterie options were nice, but it would be nice if all the cheeses/meats were in a cooling tray because the room was pretty warm and the cheeses were sweaty. Room service- all the attendants were great! So warm and friendly. The food, however, was consistently subpar to okay. We ordered room service 4 times. Consistently, the food was lukewarm to cold, fries and sandwich bread were soggy, the kids burger was cold. The soup was only thing that was lukewarm. The desserts were probably the best items we ordered as the quality wasn’t temperature dependent (the chocolate cake and the cheesecake). We did breakfast room service once- the hash browns and chilaquiles were soggy, my son said the scrambled eggs were good. Our room was overall clean, but the closet door was broken/unable to close, and although I’m sure it was operationally fine, the sink had large visual cracks and the running water had a unusual sulfur-like odor. Seeing how this is marketed as a 4 or 5 star resort, it would’ve been nice to have at least a coffee machine available in the room. I understand that the more premium rooms offer this option and there is a Nespresso Corner available, but sometimes it’s nice to not have to fully change my clothes and leave my room to fetch coffee. I know there are other sleep deprived, exhausted parents desperate for caffeine that would agree with me. Be aware, depending on where you are hanging out in communal spaces, it will get noisy. There will be screaming and younger kids running around, this is to be expected. This resort would be suited best for younger kids. Older kids over 10 may get bored as some of the activities/ pool apparatuses are geared more toward younger children. This was our first experience at an all-inclusive resort. My kids likened it to “being on a cruise ship, but with food that doesn’t taste great”. 3 stars for all the wonderful staff, the animals and the ice cream, but minus 2 stars for the consistently disappointing food. We won’t be coming back.”

“Le meilleur hôtel familiale , je n’ai jamais autant bien mangé ! (Translated by Google) The best family hotel, I've never eaten so well!”