Paradisus Playa del Carmen Riviera Maya

“Small but relaxing”

We booked here as a family of 4 in the Family Concierge swim up suite. We requested a room in building AA because other reviews suggested it would be closer to everything - beach and restaurants. Don’t worry about this - everything is so close and basically a big circle. The reviews made this place… more

We booked here as a family of 4 in the Family Concierge swim up suite. We requested a room in building AA because other reviews suggested it would be closer to everything - beach and restaurants. Don’t worry about this - everything is so close and basically a big circle. The reviews made this place sound like a fabulous 5*. It definitely didn’t live up to the expectations. It is a beautiful spot, the staff are mostly friendly - and the resort itself has some really beautiful aspects - the Koi fish and the lights int he main area are wonderful. Our room was lovely, with a bathroom, bedroom with two double beds and a separate living room with sliding doors separating that had a double pull out couch. It was cleaned daily and usually other than one day really early. The rain shower was difficult to make work - we had to get first our concierge to try and fail then maintenance. The floor was sooooo slippery throughout the room and resort when wet. Both of my kids wiped out pretty bad a few times. Wear your flip flops. The noise at night because it is a small resort was loud - but we are also early to bed so that’s us. The sliding doors did not latch to lock - and under the couch was disgusting - the cushions were also torn up. But no bugs, a great nespresso machine, and it was clean and cozy. The Resort - everything is within a 5 minute walk. The grounds are kept up beautifully, there is plenty of staff everywhere, and there is always some sort of option for food. The a la Carte restaurants were amazing - we had the Bana Teppanyki, Bana Family, Blue Agave and Sal. Can’t say anything negative about those. We were able to book pre-arrival through emails and got our family restaurants for 6pm. Sal we booked here without the kids - at first they only offered a 9pm slot but this was changed to 7:30 after the rather horrible food experience our first day. The Lunchbox was great for lunch. Room service is not expected to be immediate - you order, they call - it’s about 30-45 min later - faster than ordering a pizza at home right? Unfortunately the lunchbox was undercooked and very little options for breakfast - which we expected better than the buffet given it was concierge. A couple times at Ceilsius burgers were also pretty undercooked. But usually they were good. The buffet was - very disappointing. Not many options, but it is because it’s a smaller buffet then the larger resorts we have visited. My toddler refused most things. My 11 year old enjoyed the desserts (of course). My husband is ok with all the mixed stews. I had a lot of the salads - but there wasn’t much I enjoyed to be honest - and I’ve never had a problem before - even in Cuba. I loved the coffee place in the morning and everyone loved the ice cream spot as well as the little stations they set up for tacos and desserts in the evening and lunch time. My family isn’t used to late meals so we had room service and Celsius a lot as waiting till 1pm for lunch was a disaster with my toddler and hungry husband. The beach is nice but it was windy with a lot of seaweed - it’s the ocean this has nothing to do with the resort they try to clean it up regularly. It was very windy so hard to swim most days. Again - not the resort. The lagoon down the beach we were told to visit - had floating garbage. So we just turned around and came back. The pools were good - the pirate ships fun and shallow - the bar pool is lovely - temperature was fine every day - and the swim up was excellent too. We didn’t go to aqua park because when we tried it was closed. There is a smoothie place at the beach which had a rather grumpy staff at - it opened at 10 one day and that was the only day we saw it open. There is no other food or drink service at the beach. I’ve never experienced that at a resort before. The beds are gone at pools and beach by 7:30-8:00 so if you want a bed you need to go and clamp your towels on them early. One day I did at 6 however and I guess that was too early as when we went down everything had been removed. I asked the staff there and they acted like they had no clue what I was talking about until I asked 3x and than suddenly they realized it may be in a box where they put stuff in the towel room. It was there, all of my kids sand toys (and many other peoples). The towel clips were not there - and then he went and got them from some other place and brought them to me. Very weird, and annoying. They don’t explain things - but another guest explained - concierge can have the normal bed, and the white beds. Circle members can have the black beds. The first day they left these cute cookie monster cup cakes, and they do have a lot of families with little ones. Our concierge brought my daughters some stuffies and bags with baseball caps after that. There is stroller parking and kids club activities. My husband went kayaking with our oldest a couple times too, and we did the amazing cenote tour which was included and one of the best parts. It is definitely a family resort - and I believe the adult side has better food, and entertainment options. Kidsclub was a favourite for my toddler BUT on the first day we tried to visit we were told that there are some days that they must go to the pool and if they can’t swim a parent stays with - meaning - because she didn’t have a swim suit on when we first went she could not stay that day - and I was rather fed up with this kind of lack of information happening at this point. I’ve never had a ‘kids’ club that is more like a parent and tots club - although apparently it’s only on certain days and times. She loved the party they through with pinata - and was on a sugar high for that day. Check in took over an hour, with only one poor staff doing it - while about 5 others were texting on phones (likely to other guests). After a day of travel - this was exhausting even with the potential for snacks and making our own drink in the lobby - they should work on adjusting this. Our biggest issue was the lack of information - we saw they were putting up a board for this when we were leaving so it looks like this is feedback they get regularly. Our concierge was Marianne and she daily sent a post (like from the website) on what was happening. Minus one day - with no warning - and I couldn’t find her on the last day - but I don’t hold this against her it was spring break and I imagine she was overwhelmed. Usually I get a massage but they were double the price I pay at home. They walk around and offer you one at 50% off during your stay so don’t prebook if you do want one. And I did not go to the gym or take advantage of their hydrotherapy so I cannot comment on that. We have travelled extensively through Dominican, Cuba, Mexico over the years, Having stayed at multiple Melia resorts as well as others. I do not understand why each one is so significantly different but this one is definitely not one we will be returning to. I would recommend it to families with young children who want a smaller resort and are not foodies.

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“Family - Playa Del Carmen”

Was a comfortable relaxing stay. Only issue; a big one, you are not provided enough information regarding what is or is not included in your “all-inclusive”vacation. You cannot use certain bars on the beach; even though, the same drinks are served. Small open bar in the family building is only for … more

Was a comfortable relaxing stay. Only issue; a big one, you are not provided enough information regarding what is or is not included in your “all-inclusive”vacation. You cannot use certain bars on the beach; even though, the same drinks are served. Small open bar in the family building is only for reserve and guest with the darkest room wristbands. There is even a pool and grill area that is only for those that have family concierge. However, around the corner is the same food. Many restaurants are for “adults only”, which for us traveling with a teenager, just months short of being 18, we couldn’t use those restaurants. But we had to go to the restaurants with all the families and small kids. You can imagine the noise level in those restaurants. We don’t mind small children, but when your own have outgrown that age, you do appreciate some quiet and going to a restaurant without kids running around your table. You should be able to use those “adult only” restaurants with older teens!

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“Good Family Resort- FC Not Worth the Extra”

Pros: resort is very family friendly. I went with my family of 4, my brothers family of 4 and my parents. With 4 young kids, there was endless entertainment for them at the pools and in the evenings at the shows at Kanna. We had family concierge and enjoyed the option to eat at the lunch box every… more

Pros: resort is very family friendly. I went with my family of 4, my brothers family of 4 and my parents. With 4 young kids, there was endless entertainment for them at the pools and in the evenings at the shows at Kanna. We had family concierge and enjoyed the option to eat at the lunch box every morning for breakfast. The food was good here with your typical Canadian options for breakfast. I can’t remember the name of the Italian restaurant, but it was definitely the best for us for dinner. Cons: our room. We were only given one queen sized bed for our family of 4 and were expected to use the pull out couch for two people. This is what we ended up doing… my brothers family was also given a room with one bed and a couch, but their couch only accommodated one person! Where was the 4th supposed to sleep? They ended up having to upgrade rooms altogether at an additional cost of about $1,100 Canadian on day 3. We booked 4/5 months in advance, so I don’t know why we were stuck with unacceptable room options for a family of 4. The other major complaint was dinner reservations. We paid the extra for family concierge, however we were not able to get reservations until night 3. Our concierge said the resort was over 90% full, so this is why. I then heard that many people received an email from the hotel before their trip to book in advance- we did not. I spoke with my travel agent who confirmed she never got an email in advance. She also said she reached out to the hotel regarding our room situation (while we were there), and they would contact me directly about money back or a room switch to a room with two beds and we never did. Overall, I enjoyed this resort for having young kids. I was just disappointed with the two hiccups that shouldn’t have happened, especially because we paid extra to have FC.

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“Hoping for more”

Beautiful location, adult section is definitely 5 stars but we stayed on family side, which had small pools, limited choices. It is geared to families with small children. We traveled with 9 year old and felt out of place: couldn’t go to adult session as family not even spa, and food choices/option… more

Beautiful location, adult section is definitely 5 stars but we stayed on family side, which had small pools, limited choices. It is geared to families with small children. We traveled with 9 year old and felt out of place: couldn’t go to adult session as family not even spa, and food choices/options either had to go by yourself or out your kid into kid kingdom which she would have been on the older side and bored. Limited space near small pool.

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