Iberostar Paraiso Beach

Very disappointing second stay, definitely not the luxury experience we expected

I have just returned home from a 10-day stay at Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach with my family, five adults and one 12-year-old. Unfortunately, what should have been a special holiday celebrating my sister’s 40th and my boyfriend’s 35th turned into a very disappointing experience.

This was our second stay at the hotel. We first visited in 2023 and absolutely loved it, so returning for two milestone birthdays seemed like the perfect choice. Sadly, the hotel we returned to was completely different.

Our disappointment actually began before we had even arrived. Knowing we had two birthdays during our stay, we contacted the hotel well in advance to arrange birthday surprises and reservations at the à la carte restaurants. We were even prepared to pay over $100 for a birthday package. Despite contacting the hotel repeatedly, communication was extremely poor, responses were vague and we were never given any real assistance.

On arrival, we were told by the manager that only 3 of the 9 restaurants would be open each day, unlike our previous stay when the restaurants were much more readily available. We also discovered that large parts of the hotel and its partner hotel were closed, meaning facilities were shared and evening entertainment had been moved to the Lindo theatre.

It quickly became apparent that there was a very clear distinction between guests staying at the “budget” Paraiso Beach and those staying elsewhere within the complex. Despite spending over £15,000 for our family holiday, we were repeatedly reminded that we were staying at the “budget hotel”.

We were told this when questioning the quality of the food, when asking about the lack of fizzy drinks at the pool bars, when trying to use transportation around the resort and even when trying to get drinks during the evening entertainment. On one occasion, we were told drinks could not be served to us at the theatre and that we would need to walk approximately 500m back to the lobby.

For a hotel charging what we paid, this was incredibly disappointing.

Unfortunately, the food was another major let-down.

Both the buffet and à la carte restaurants were well below the standard we experienced during our 2023 visit. Meat in several restaurants was so tough that it was extremely difficult to cut, and dishes often did not resemble what was described on the menu.

The service was also inconsistent. On my sister’s birthday, we purchased an expensive bottle of champagne, only to end up having to serve it ourselves.

At weekends, when local guests arrived, we noticed further changes to the buffet, including reductions in certain breakfast options such as hash browns. We also experienced what appeared to be watered-down juices at breakfast.

When we raised concerns about the quality of the food and explained that it simply wasn’t comparable to our previous experience or what we would expect from a luxury resort, we were essentially told that it was down to personal preference.

Another significant issue was the smell throughout the hotel.

There was a strong sewage smell, particularly when the watering system was operating. Unfortunately, this wasn’t limited to the public areas. Our rooms frequently smelt through the shower and had a constant damp feeling.

Our beds felt damp on a daily basis, and our clothes became increasingly musty and unpleasant-smelling as the holiday went on. This was particularly uncomfortable and certainly not what we expected from a premium-priced resort.

Perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects was trying to get anything resolved.

Whenever we approached the hotel with concerns, we were repeatedly met with responses such as:

“We will get back to you.” “I will speak to the staff.” “This is the budget hotel.” “What would you like us to do?”

Very little was actually resolved.

We genuinely wanted to love this hotel again. We returned because of how much we enjoyed our first stay in 2023 and because we wanted somewhere special to celebrate two important birthdays.

Instead, we left feeling extremely undervalued as paying guests.

If you are looking for a genuinely luxurious Mexico holiday and expect a premium experience for a premium price, I would strongly recommend considering other resorts. There are plenty of hotels where you can spend your money and actually feel like a valued guest.

Sadly, based on our experience this time, we would not return to Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach and cannot recommend it.

What makes this particularly disappointing is that we know how good this hotel used to be and that is why the decline has been so noticeable.

We visited the hotel three years ago and had an amazing time, so decided to come back to celebrate two big family birthdays, but unfortunately it is now a completely different hotel with shockingly bad service, tired rooms and awful food.

Even though we paid for three rooms in a five star hotel and paid around £9000 for the hotel alone, it would appear from what we were told by management several times that the Iberostar Waves range of hotels are now their budget hotels, so do not expect five star it is a three star at best and the service you will receive will match this and not the price you pay to stay there.

Housekeeping was good, but this is the only positive element throughout our stay.

Restaurants Hot food is cold or tepid at best and we sent it back in several restaurants to ensure our food was hot

Meat in restaurants was incredibly tough and could not even cut meat in a number of the restaurants, making it inedible

Service in restaurants is shockingly poor, where the waiters are having to be asked to actually take a drinks order. They are so keen to get you out of the restaurant that the food arrives before you receive a drink in most restaurants we visited

Brought a bottle of champagne to celebrate my nieces birthday and waiter opened it and poured some into the glass, but did not return at any point to top up our glasses, I had to do that which I would not expect after spending £140.00 for the bottle

Trying to book restaurants was a nightmare throughout our stay and prior to arriving, as tried to book restaurants and birthday packages before arriving and when we first got there, resulting in lots of unnecessary communication and wasted time

Star American Diner restaurant was closed throughout the duration of our stay.

Rooms Major refurbishment work throughout the complex, which we were not informed off before arriving.

Show theatre closed along with a buffet restaurant due to refurbishment, which we not informed of and meant we had to use another one of their hotels facilities, which were packed and often did not have space to sit.

Continued smell of sewage every time we showered in two of the rooms

Door to cupboard in room was broken, which was only fixed six days into our holiday

No sunlight in the two adjoining family rooms, making them incredibly damp and smelly, which transferred to our cases and clothes.

Rooms very dated and in need of refurbishment

Lack of buses to move around resort, so long walks required for breakfast and dinner every day

We complained several times during our stay to make the hotel aware of the issues and on two occasions they simply ignored the issues and offered no resolve other than to send us to a presentation at their premium hotel to sell us a timeshare, reflecting the lack of care they have for their guests experiences and the importance they place on resolving issues

We paid over £9000 to have three rooms here for 10 days, including £750 upgrade to family rooms and believed that we were coming to a five star resort, to find that Iberostar have chosen their own tiering system and we actually paid to come to a budget hotel and were made to feel like second class citizens at all times, disgraceful and disgusting and has ensured we will never visit an Iberostar hotel again