Julie , Omaha, NE
Visted resort between 12/21/2008 and 12/12/2008
I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews before picking the Paradisus. My main concerns when choosing a place for our group of 13 were the beach, pools, and food. All three of which were excellent! Our room was..
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Julie , Omaha, NE
Visted resort between 12/21/2008 and 12/12/2008
I did a lot of research and read a lot of reviews before picking the Paradisus. My main concerns when choosing a place for our group of 13 were the beach, pools, and food. All three of which were excellent! Our room was spacious and clean. The air worked perfectly. The room fridge was cold and if you leave a couple of bucks in the fridge with a note, they will stock it to your specifications. The only complaint I have is the beds. I read a lot of reviews and they all said the beds were hard. That was an understatement. It was like sleeping on plywood. I'm not even sure there was a mattress in there! The only good thing about the bed was that if your spouse gets up in the middle of the night, you won't even feel it!!! The beach had very soft sand and kids are able to run right into the ocean without stepping on rocks, etc. There was a lot of seaweed this time of year and the temperature of the water took a little getting used to, but they do rake the beach several times a day. The pool water was a little chilly, too. I'm not sure if the hotel is equipped with a heater, but it wasn't being used over Christmas! They also bring around different animals that you can get your pictures taken with and then they sell the pictures in the lobby. Beware of the monkey... he likes to go to the bathroom on people's heads!!! Going to Mexico in December is perfect for someone who wants to take a lot of excursions. You are able to do a lot more than just lay at the beach or the pool because it isn't so hot. Our temps were 80-85 each day. It was perfect for laying out or doing things. The other times of year I have gone (April, May, June), it has been so hot, you couldn't do anything other than be in the water! It was still nice enough outside to lay out all day if you wanted to, but the sun is not nearly as hot as in the Spring/Summer. We still got a lot of color, so no need to worry about that. The food was very good. The buffet offered a lot of variety. We were able to make reservations at all of the restaurants without any problems. The Mexican restaurant was the best. Nobody in our group cared much for the French restaurant. The buffet had a pasta bar every day and we didn't try it until the last day... big mistake! it was fabulous! You just put your noodles in a bowl and told them what kind of sauce you wanted & they flash boiled your noodles, cooked up your sauce and put it all together. Fabulous!!! Much like the omelette maker in the mornings! Don't miss the ice cream... it was very good! The resort offered snorkeling and canoing, etc., for free. They just required you to pay $2 for a reef tax and they gave you a pink bracelet. If you get one of these and plan to take any excursions, DO NOT take this off. Almost all of our excursions required that same pink bracelet and it costs $4 off of the resort each time you need one. If you leave it on, you don't have to purchase a new one. We rented ATV's through the jungle and on the beach. That was a lot of fun. If you plan to jetski, you can combo that trip and do 1/2 ATV and 1/2 jet ski. We also rented 2-seater boats through the ocean, which included snorkeling. That was a blast!!! It was VERY bumpy and you get completely soaked, so make sure you're aware of that up front. Our 3rd excursion was booked through the resort at that same hut that you can get the kayaks and canoes at.... it was a catamaran trip to Isla de Mujeres. DO NOT TAKE THIS EXCURSION!!!!! It is through Mystic Diving... it was not what we were told it would be!!!! They took us on the boat & we got to snorkel, but as soon as they let us off at Isla de Mujeres for 1 hour, it went downhill. We were told we could explore the island, but they took us to a small trinket shop and we got bombarded to buy things. They didn't have the free drinks they promised, the bathrooms were disgusting, and when we got back to our boat, it was gone. They had rented it out to another group to snorkel, so we had to wait another hour on the dock in the hot sun. I think they do this a lot to get extra money. We were late coming back by 2 1/2 hours and missed our dinner reservations. DO NOT TAKE THIS EXCURSION!!!!!!! It sounded SO fun and ended up being a nightmare! All in all, for Mexico trips, this was fabulous. I always recommend Adults Only resorts, but if you have kids with you, like we did this time, the Paradisus is a great place to go.
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