Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla

TLDR: This resort was fantastic in every way. The only negative -- which many reviews will have -- is the seaweed on the beaches, but that is indicative of all the resorts on this part of the Caribbean and the resort does everything it can to mitigate that so don't stress about it too much. Everything else, however was flawless. The service was exceptional. These are the best in the business -- nearly everyone was bilingual or had enough knowledge of the basics to make the experience easy. The food was great at every restaurant. DO make sure to pick the places you want to eat before you go, but know that you can change your mind if you need to. The pools were fantastic. More than made up for the seaweed issues. We only stayed on the La Perla (adult) side of the resort, but the kids side looked really fun and if you have kids it would probably be a blast for them too. The room (Jr Suite) was big, comfortable, felt like home, and was maintained at least three times a day by staff. DO upgrade to a swim up room if you can afford it. My fiance and I will be coming back and will be getting on next time. I've been home for less than 24 hours at this point and I'm already recommending this resort to dozens of other people and am planning my next trip right now.

I had an awesome time at paradisus, the staff was great. The food was amazing and Angelo by the pool kept us entertained everyday. Many different activities everyday there is something new to do.

Awesome vacation - friendly staff, great dining options, beautiful space and pool. Beach could be improved. Lots of seaweed. Miguel at the Pool services area/social coordinator and Antonio, a server at the pool were awesome. So attentive, friendly and kind.

This experience was beyond awful. We requested a ground floor room because that family member in the wheelchair. We were told there were no ground floor units available. And if there were, we would have to pay $261 additional per night. In the room we were assigned, we promptly noticed the air conditioning did not function properly. Our butler told us he could have maintenance inspect the air conditioning. As an alternative, we could move up another two floors to an available unit there. We opted to have maintenance fix the air conditioning, though it never performed at optimum level during the course of our stay. Upon further review, we realized the much-hyped “modern bathroom rain shower" didn't even work. The toilet didn't flush. And the faucet on one of the two sinks was broken. The two double beds in the room were adequate, but by no means were they the "dream beds" advertised on Melia's website. And, for me, the guy who allowed his elderly, disabled family members to sleep on the “not-so-dreamy" beds, I was provided with a flat excuse for a mattress on a filthy sofa. We requested, and I got, a rollaway bed (see photo). That was actually worse. We decided to venture outside to see the beach. After all, CheapCaribbean.com's telephone greeting goes like this: "At CheapCaribbean.com, we don't try to give you the world, just the beach; our beach-ologists are here to help you." And, we paid for "Royal Service," and had a specially designated section of the beach, just for us. Well, we didn't even get the beach. Not for one minute of the entire week. Why? There was a major SEAWEED INVASION. The seaweed consumed the beach so much, that red flags were up, the beach was closed. I know anecdotally and from reading reviews that seaweed can be problematic at times in this area. But, this was outrageous. Imagine going on vacation to the Caribbean, or any beach destination, and not being able to step foot on the beach... for an entire week!? That's not a vacation. To make matters worse, as we retreated from the beach, the odor followed us. EVERYWHERE! The smell of seaweed permeated the entire property of the resort for the duration of our visit. As "Royal Service" guests, we figured there had to be some redemption. How about La Palapa… a poolside restaurant exclusively for “Royal Service” guests. Well, that was closed for renovations the ENTIRE WEEK. However, we never witnessed any work happening on site. And we passed the restaurant every day, multiple times per day, to access the pool. We repeatedly asked staff when the restaurant would re-open. They could not offer an answer. Also, close to the closed-for-renovations restaurant during the day, raccoons and a coatis invading trash cans… and rodent traps near the restaurants. So, what's left to do? There's always the pools, right? Yeah, that’s what we thought, too. So, for those who do not know, Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla is adults-only. They have a main pool open to all guests. However, there were no chairs available at that pool. They were all occupied, presumably because the beach was inaccessible. So, we went to the Royal Service pool with the swim-up bar. Same situation. Not one lounge chair available. So, we were relegated to the other Royal Service pool, a lifeless area of the resort which saw seldom poolside cocktail service. We would spend a full two days there... with visits from our butler and no offer of any different accommodations. I finally spoke up and said I wanted better access to a pool. We were told by our butler that staff cannot reserve lounge chairs at the pool. But, staff monitors the lounge chairs around the pools to ensure guests aren't just using towels as placeholders in their absence... and after 30 minutes, staff may clear an unattended chair. My power of persuasion convinced the staff we wanted, needed, paid for and deserved more/better. That's when we met the manager... days after expressing our misery to our designated point person.. our butler. We shared our less-than-glowing comments with the manager. She was very firm about a lack of ground floor rooms to accommodate our disabled family member, and noted the added fees for a swim-up room. She finally shared with us the option to have a different ground room floor, which was considerably smaller than our assigned room. We refused. However, we insisted on better pool-side accommodations. We got our wish. Every day, the pool staff held lounge chairs for us. A gentleman by the name of Elias not only held the chairs for us, but he laid out towels on the chairs, created pillows with other towels, got us buckets of ice to place our bottled water, and even cleaned our sunglasses. We tipped him generously. He's a fine young man! Other pool staffers started doting on us... bringing us refreshing treats during the day.. including popsicles, sorbets, fresh juices... and even gummy worms. We'd been missing out on this treatment, because no one would give us guidance, despite our many requests. Navigating the resort: confusing. It's a maze with no clear way out.This maze leads you to various restaurants and bars, which are difficult to distinguish. For example, you're walking down one of the many hallways with high ceilings when you stumble upon seating and a hookah bar. It turns out, that was also a bar where they serve cocktails. But, you wouldn't know it because the bar is temporary/moveable. And, the geniuses who designed this place, have this hookah bar (where they cell and smoke cigars too), right at the doorstep of one of the resort's restaurants. Not a healthy combination. Also, not healthy to walk through that pollution on your way to dinner. The buffets are lackluster. Even breakfast was bland. How can you screw up breakfast? Very limited options. Typically, at resort buffets, you can find "something for everyone." Not here. Some restaurants were closed for special occasions. The day we arrived, one of the buffets was closed for a wedding. That limited our dining options even further. Another restaurant was closed on another evening for a "private event." So, we ventured over to the "family side" of the resort, Paradisus Playa Del Carmen La Esmeralda. Once you enter that "zone," be prepared for children.. lots of children, sprawled out on the hotel's open air furniture, fixated on their smartphones and tablets because there is nothing for them to do. And, you'll notice mats outside of the restaurants with the labeling VIK (for very important kid). It's the spot parents park their children's strollers. As for "entertainment," there wasn't much of that. The resort had a very scaled back activities schedule. A couple nights there was a gentleman performing in the hookah bar/lounge area. We couldn't enjoy that, as we would have to inhale toxic fumes. One evening... we heard it. Music. Good music. We made a beeline for the resort's open air lounge. The band was terrific. They played Caribbean and American music.. everything from disco to more modern music (Bruno Mars). Good stuff. We felt like someone put our vacation on life support. We enjoyed the music. But, kids started swarming the dance floor. I thought we were on the adult side of the resort? One evening, there was an Aladdin show. We didn't bother attending because one guest told us the performer was lip synching songs. Another evening, a magic show... which wasn't so magical. Of note: the entertainment venue was a conference room. Entirely bland with conference room style chairs. There was a makeshift bar in there... and the place was filled with children... mostly running around without supervision or a care in the world from their parents. One evening's entertainment featured a tribute to "Queen." It consisted of three men and three women singing a mishmash of Queen's greatest hits. While they were decent, they sang over a "bed" of vocals by "Queen," itself. So, we were really hearing Queen's music with a supplement from some singers. It was so-so at best. Other nights, the resort offered karaoke for guests as entertainment. Bottom line: do not go. It is awful. It is beyond awful. It is the worst vacation we ever had. The vibe, the accommodations, the lack of access to a seaweed-covered beach... all of it made us cry and yearn for home. We met/spoke to people from the following who all echoed our concerns and more: Brazil, Australia, Austria (they traveled 12 and a half hours to get there), Texas, Indiana, New Jersey, New York City. They all felt betrayed and deceived. So, we lost $7,000 we'll never see again. Take my advice, this place is not where you want to be.