The Iberostar Grand Paraiso is located on the Riviera Maya in Mexico and is a truly exquisite place to stay. I visited there recently with my girlfriend and I only have good things to say about it.
The hotel is aimed at the higher end of the 5-star hotel market and we could see why when we arrived. The thing that drew us to this place in particular, besides its location, was the fact that it has a strict 18 years old and over-guest policy. Now, I don’t have a problem with children particularly, and of course families should go on holiday, but it was bliss knowing our romantic trip was not going to be interrupted by rowdy young kids.
The Service
I think of all the places I have ever stayed in across the world, the Iberostar Grand Paraiso wins hands down in terms of the service they provide. Although we didn’t really use it much, you are assigned your very own butler who will help you out and fetch you drinks whenever you want them. Both my girlfriend and I, while impressed with this option, only ever used this service to have drinks brought up to our room. It made the whole experience of staying at the hotel even more luxurious. The service team was all well-trained, friendly, and warm and we never felt out of place or unwelcome.
The Drinks
I have come to expect this from 5-star hotels, but it is always good when they get the free drinks thing right. At the Iberostar the drinks are grown-up and alcoholic drinks, that include just about any spirit or cocktail your heart desires. We spent most days by the pool while at the hotel and although we could have got up and ordered drinks from the bar, we didn’t need to as waitresses would regularly check if you needed a top-up and bring our drinks over to us. The only payment we ever made was tips of a few pesos every so often.
The Pools
There are a total of 3 pools at the hotel, though we spent most of our time in the main one. I think if I am really honest, we loved that pool because of the swim-up bar it had. As we suffered from jet lag for the first few days of our trip, we were always the first ones down at the pool at 9 am sharp and just loved the peacefulness of it all. It wasn’t hard to feel like a million pounds when you are swimming over to a bar at the end of the pool! Well, that is apart from when you are getting slightly drunk and spilling drinks in the pool!
The Rooms
The thing I look forward to the most when visiting a hotel is checking out the room. As soon as we arrived, we were offered a move to a more beach-view room than the one we had booked, for free! I am glad we took them up on their offer, as the views were sublime! The rooms were first class and everything you would expect – comfortable, relaxing, well decorated, and tidy.
The Food
As both my girlfriend and I are foodies, we made a special effort to eat in each of the different restaurants at the hotel and could find no fault with any of the meals or services we experienced while there.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for an adult-only relaxing holiday!