Paradisus Playa Del Carmen - Riviera Maya - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

17615 reviews

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  FRIGID POOLS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PROPERTY DESTROY THE RESORT EXPERIENCE

  Because this is apparently my first review in the 11+ years since I created a TripAdvisor account, I’m going to preface it with a little background to give some context for the comments below. I am an experienced global traveler. Over the last few years, my wife, daughter and I have tended to prefer luxury (5-star), family-friendly beach resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean for most vacations. We have stayed at multiple high-end resorts in the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Mexico; Paradisus Playa Del Carmen is the fourth beach resort in Mexico alone that we have stayed at in the last 12 months. We recently returned from a one week vacation at Paradisus Playa Del Carmen (12/27/2025 to 1/3/2026). While there were some positives to our stay -- primarily the nice beach, nightly entertainment for kids, and reasonable food (for an all inclusive) -- the temperature of the pools was absolutely unacceptable, especially for families with young children (we have a 4-year daughter). Unfortunately, this fatal flaw outweighed any positives the resort had to offer and we are candidly shocked that many other reviewers (particularly those who have stayed at the resort during winter months) don’t mention the frigid pools. The lack of focus on pool temperature from other reviewers is what compelled me to post this — my very first TripAdvisor review — as a public service announcement of sorts so that you don’t find yourselves in the same situation that we did. All pools at the resort were so cold (~76-78 degrees Fahrenheit) that our daughter refused to go in any of them. And when I say all the pools, I mean LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE POOL -- the pool connected to the Family Concierge swim out rooms, the family friendly pirate ship pool, the water park pool, the “Exclusive Family Concierge Pool” by the Lunch Box restaurant, etc. (resort map attached for reference). Not only is there not a single warm pool on the property, but also there isn't a single hot tub where you can go to warm up after doing what feels like a polar bear plunge! If you want a hot tub, you need to go back to your hotel room and fill up the bath. We specifically booked a Family Concierge room because we understood the Family Concierge pool would be heated during the winter. We see now that we perhaps were relying on a source that we should not have been -- see attached photo which appears to be an official resort website but, on taking a closer look at the site since our return, seems to be maintained by a third party travel agency. Any claim (whether from a third party travel agency or from the resort itself) that the Family Concierge pool is heated is absolutely false and amounts to fraud in our view, unless the heater just happened to be broken for an entire week during peak season which we find highly unlikely. We complained about the frigid pool temperature multiple times and nothing was done to resolve the issue, which persisted for the entire week of our stay. For reference, see attached picture which is a number of stitched together screenshots from the WhatsApp chat with our Concierge during our stay (redacted to protect the innocent as our Concierge was actually quite nice and we know the pool situation was not the Concierge’s fault). From speaking with other guests, it was clear that many of them were upset about the cold pools as well. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so, in that spirit, see attached picture of the Family Concierge pool which is completely empty. This photo was taken at about 11:30 AM on a sunny day during peak Xmas / New Years travel season; the fact that the pool is completely empty should tell you something about how pleasant it is to be in the water. Also attached is another picture showing the temperature of the water in the pool outside the Family Concierge swim out rooms at 76 degrees Fahrenheit (based on Apple Watch Ultra 2 reading). Furthermore, though not our core issue with the resort, we also found it absurd that guests were asked to pay a minimum of $900 for a table to attend the New Year’s Eve show / celebration (see attached picture). The money was not the issue; it was more the principle. We were already paying a premium rate to stay at the resort during peak season and to ask guests to pay extra to participate in the only NYE celebration / form of entertainment that night is simply asinine. There must have been some kind of outcry among guests because, after initially suggesting that paying for a table would be the only way to attend the NYE festivities, we were told on December 30th that the NYE celebration would be open to all guests “due to high demand and limited availability.” I wonder how the families who had already forked over $900+ felt knowing that they could have attended the event for free. Putting the NYE fiasco aside and coming back to the core issue, the cold pool situation resulted in an extremely disappointing experience at Paradisus Playa Del Carmen. We’re frankly still stunned that, after spending thousands of dollars on what we thought would be a premium resort experience, we couldn't find a single warm pool on the property. Maybe it’s better during the summer months but we will not be returning to find out and would not recommend this hotel to anyone if you are visiting during the winter months and want to spend any time a pool. Consider yourself warned.

  Jan 06, 2026
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  Mother Daughter trip to Paradise !

  Loved the trip . All inclusive made things so easy . We did the family concierge and having Eduardo our concierge to make reservations and show us how to navigate the resort was invaluable. My 8 yo made tons of friends at the pool and beach. I loved getting room service for my daily pot of coffee in the morning , call the night before and you can schedule the time . The activities at the beach were fun . We kayaked / paddle boarded and even had a private catamaran ride . The entertainment at night was fun but I have seen better . The hot tub on the balcony was alot of fun , wasn’t working right away and took 2 days to fix so that could be improved / make sure it was works before . We enjoyed the ability to try all sorts of dishes / tried multiple appetizers etc w each meal . The food was hit or miss / being from NYC I am rather spoiled with food but if you order enough you will find something tasty I would suggest upgrading the quality of the guacamole at the night restaurants. Would be awesome to have the guac made table side w fresh ingredients . It felt a little too large batch …kinda fast food ish . I loved the habachi at Bana , both for taste and entertainment value . The staff was welcoming , warm and friendly. I didn’t love the culture of reserving chairs / people place their stuff on chairs and reserve them for the whole day . Not sure what could be done to improve that . We just ended up joining in and putting a towel / magazine early morning where we wanted to sit . My 8 yo LOVED the water slide aqua zone. It was like an easy trip to a water park with the ability to quickly move on to the relaxing part of the day after they tired out . The cenote trip included in the reserve package was totally worth it and a lot of fun . …although I did get a little sick that night so dont swallow the water . I went as a single mom with my daughter . I felt safe the entire time . I did on more than one occasion feel the staff seemed surprised I did not have another adult which felt a little awkward, only you ? Or setting the table for 3 . Some training on expecting different versions of families can be helpful. Worth mentioning a second time how awesome Eduardo was . After feeling a little disappointed I couldn’t manage to talk w a concierge staff prior to arrival as i attempted he entirely made up for that and more and made our stay phenomenal. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful relaxing vacation and family time .

  Jan 06, 2026
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  Great resort

  Positives: The location, the rooms, the amenities, the activities, the service, all incredible. In particular, Eduardo Monroy, our Destination Concierge went above and beyond to make our stay perfect. Negatives: Food was a bit hit or miss. Some great food and some pretty mediocre food. Cost is a bit high, especially for add ons.

  Jan 05, 2026
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  Another amazing vacation!!

  This is our third year in a row staying here, and it gets better every time. The staff is friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed, and there are great activities for both adults and kids. This is our second year in a row with our family concierge, Jorge, and he makes the trip completely stress free; always available to help, answer questions, and set up fun experiences for our kids. We absolutely recommend this hotel and can’t wait to return.

  Jan 05, 2026
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  Teenagers not welcomed…

  As others have mentioned, this resort is VERY focused on the needs of families with young children. However, we travelled here is a multi-generational group with the youngest aged 16 & we feel very stuck & disappointed. We cannot even escort our teenage boys to the gym (they train back at home) & 1/2 the restaurants are off limits to our group. I really wish we had looked more carefully through some of these reviews, we would have definitely picked another resort to spend family time together. We very much regret our decision, please don’t make the same mistake as us!!!

  Jan 05, 2026