I recently (July 26 - 30) visited the Iberostar Paraiso Beach with my family, (husband and 2 kids, 13 and 8). Being a travel agent, I have been fortunate to visit many properties, and the Iberostar is now among my favorites! We had a fabulous time - with plenty of activities to keep the kids busy all week. The check in process was very smooth and the Lobby is very open and inviting with large sitting areas, a bar, and shops to keep everyone entertained while we checked in. Our room was not ready, but we were able to put our suits on and head to the beach restaurant and start our vacation right away. (Tip ** I always pack my swim suit and small bottle of sunscreen in my carry on just in case my room is not ready. I don’t have to dig through my suitcase - a quick stop in the hospitality room and I am ready to start my vacation!)
This property is very large! You will do a lot of walking…. they have trolleys that run back and forth from the lobby to the beach, but they never seemed to be going the same way we were! The majority of the restaurants are located near the lobby, including the main buffet. There are 2 large open air restaurants near the beach that are open in the morning - breakfast buffet and in the afternoon for lunch, also a buffet. There is also a small lunch buffet at the beach - we ate there everyday and loved it!!! They have a big grill and cooked everything right there in front of you. There is also a big beach bar right there, along with restrooms. There are several ala carte restaurants - Japanese, Mexican, Brazilian, Steak, Mediterranean. You do have to make reservations… the Steak House was all booked up for the week when we got there, but we did get into the Mexican (good) and Japanese (good) and had a great time at both - great service and good food. We did eat at the buffets for the other meals and they were good, with a variety of things to choose from and different items each night so you did not feel like you were eating the same thing over and over.
The pool and beach were great! It is one of the best beaches I have been on - great swimming, no coral, and amazing waves to “ride”. There were a lot of people swimming, but it never felt over crowded. We never had a problem finding beach chairs, but get there early if you want chairs in the shade!
The pool runs almost the length of the resort, with several pool bars, separate sports area for volleyball and basketball, lots of fountains, and great entertainment everyday with fun pool games! We had a great time just going up and down the pool - we called it our “walk about”. We would all grab a drink at one end of the pool, get on our rafts and float down to the other end. By the time we made it down there, we were ready for another drink and headed back! The kids loved being able to order smoothies whenever they felt like it - and the bartenders at the swimup bars were great to all the kids, making all kinds of fun “drinks” for them.
We did end up with a Jr Suite for our room in Building 31, the last building before the beach, but not ocean front. It was a great location during the day with great access to the pool, beach and restaurants, but were a good distance from the main restaurants and lobby. Our room was very nice, with 2 double beds and a couch that converted to a bed (twin). The maids were very nice the first night and made it up with blankets and sheets. We had a nice balcony, but lots of trees blocked us from having a great view. From talking to other guests, the standard rooms are just as nice, just smaller.
They did have nightly entertainment, beginning with a kids show, then an audience participation, and then a musical theme show, different every night. We did enjoy the show only one night - (it does not start until about 9:30 pm) but it was very good.
One of the other features of the resort is all the animals that call the Iberostar home! They had peacocks, flamingos, large tropical birds, swans, and one other animal that we did not learn the name of, but it looked like a cross between a cat and a lemur monkey. The kids loved seeing all of these animals wandering around the property!
I cannot say enough about the staff - always friendly, willing to help, and actually very quick! All of the waiters and the pools and beach were great! The waiters and dinner for the ala carte restaurants were wonderful - very fun and interactive! Also, this property was very clean!! I appreciate that especially with it being such a large property.
I have many pictures of the beach, pool, rooms and property so please email me with any questions you may have. This property is great for families and definately a great value! I would love to help you plan your next family vacation!
Contact Janet to book your next getaway!
