Comments & Reviews about Iberostar Paraiso Beach Playa del Carmen:

We spent 10 fabulous days at this resort and we do it again in a heartbeat. The resort was empty, well below 50% occupancy, so finding chairs was never an issue. We found the buffets to be decent. Not great mind you, but pretty good. The specialty restaurants are a nice change. The Steak house is the Best and the Japanese was a lot of fun. The Mexican restaurant was simply horrible, no idea why they keep it open to be honest. 9 out of 10 people I talk to thought the same thing. I found the Italian to be ok. I think you would rate the Italian low if you are from the east coast of the US, as compared to folks in the Midwest who may find it a step up from wht is available in their parts Overall we had 3 bad meals, but for a 10 day stay (30 meals) that’s not too bad.

I did 3 scuba dives while I was there and got my one son (age 10) to enroll in the resort class and come along. Off hand I don’t remember the Dive company name but they are affiliated with the resort and they their shop is just a 100 or so yards up the beach. Excellent dive shop, very Professional and friendly. I can’t say enough good things about them.

The swim up bars were a lot of fun. Beware of the yellow jackets as they are all around the sweet smelling booze. As I kept saying (Be one with the bees). In all seriousness I only heard of 2 people that were stung while I was there. I had no issues with the bees. The Bartenders work their butts off. Orlando and Roberto are awesome, but Victor is the best hands down Tip them well, they deserve it. Speaking of tips, I bought 135 in ones for 10 days and it worked out well. This included all the tips at the airports, maid service, bartenders and a buck or 2 for the waiters. There is no easy way to get ones from $20 dollar bills so make things easy and just bring some.

The entertainment was consistent with what I read on other reviews. To be honest we were so beat that we were in Bed by 10 pm almost every night, but the staff is on the beach and in the pool area all day long making your stay as pleasant as possible.

Almost everything was a pro, but if you want or need to hear a few negatives here’s my only complaints:

1. Check in was not as pleasant as some people said in there reviews. I was second in line, the family being waited on was brought a drink and the clerk was cheerful. I did not get the same welcome. Not sure why, maybe he seen the price I paid for the room  I got a nice deal from vacations2go.
2. The wait staff at the buffet buildings close to the beach were not as pleasant as the buffets near the lobby. They were not rude, but not welcoming either. I think that they’re too far away from frequent checks by managers as the other buffets.
3. While I was there occupancy dropped dramatically, they removed to many pool chairs one day and there was no getting a chair for a day or 2 at the pool unless you were there before noon. After 2 days the chair to guest ratio improved.
4. They closed down all the buffets on the beach side and only left open the Delmar side for us to use. When I booked the Beach was about $50 more than Delmar so I was not happy about that. Principal only though as they really are identical, just a little more walking.
5. Massages: Prices are nuts. I can get a better deal in NJ. The massage staff was always hanging around with nothing to do. Hmmm no customers, maybe we should charge less that almost $2 a minute.

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