Iberostar Paraiso Maya has about 60 spacious, beautifully furnished junior suites with a step-down living room, all with balconies, housed in a three-story building created around an open-air atrium. Each of the six buildings has a concierge responsible to make your stay carefree. They will…Read More

Iberostar Paraiso Maya has about 60 spacious, beautifully furnished junior suites with a step-down living room, all with balconies, housed in a three-story building created around an open-air atrium. Each of the six buildings has a concierge responsible to make your stay carefree. They will make dinner reservations and spa appointments and offer suggestions for sightseeing and any information about the resort you may need.

As you enter your room, a hallway with closets, a safe, minibar, and coffeemaker occupy one side, and a marble bathroom with twin sinks, a glass-enclosed shower, Jacuzzi, powerful hair dryer, magnifying mirror, and plenty of towels is across the hall. The bathroom has mood lighting and even a speaker in case you care to hear TV or music.

As you open the next door, you enter your suite, again with mood lighting. The bedroom area has either a king-size or two queen-size beds. The doors, cabinets, tables, and armoire are designed with decorative inlaid mahogany. The beautiful armoire provides ample storage and hides a TV with many US channels, a CD player, a DVD player, and an interactive keyboard (if you have a Yahoo account, you can access e-mail for $1 per hour).

One step down, separated by a half wall and pillars, is the living area with a pullout sofa, chairs, coffee table, and desk. Sliding glass doors lead to the balcony with a small marble-top table, two chairs, a hammock swing, and a drying rack (hopefully to prevent the awful look of towels and bathing suits hanging from the rail). There are no ocean views here because of the design of the resort and the mangrove that separates it from the beach area, but the foliage is very lush considering that Maya only opened in December 2004.

There are no musty smells here, everything is spotless, and the workers always leave a surprise - animals fashioned from towels and flowers and petals in unique places (like on the roll of toilet paper, in the corner of the shower, etc.), and even the shear curtain was tied into a different design on separate occasions. The minibar is replenished daily, and a jar of nuts and a small bottle of tequila may be left for you midweek.

On my birthday, I was surprised with turndown service, a note from the concierge, towels in the shape of a heart, and a bed covered in rose petals and chocolates, which certainly brings a smile to your face at the end of a wonderful day.

The rooms are very quiet (the extra door to the closet/bathroom area helps keep out hallway noise). A/C and ceiling fans control the temperature, the hair dryer is powerful, the water pressure is good, and there is plenty of hot water. I never experienced an electrical failure, great for Mexico.

The superior suites differ from the standard suites in that they are 100 square feet larger and have an extra chair in the living area and upgraded furniture.

Maya's rooms rank high with the best that I have experienced in Riviera Maya, only surpassed by the Casitas as El Dorado Royale, and that is an adults-only resort. There is not much that disappoints at Iberostar Paraiso Maya. Put it on your list!!

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One of the best attractions of Iberostar is its pools. There are so many of them, appealing to all types of personalities and all ages, all superbly clean and crystal-clear. They weave on down between Maya and Lindo from the main lobby to the…Read More

One of the best attractions of Iberostar is its pools. There are so many of them, appealing to all types of personalities and all ages, all superbly clean and crystal-clear. They weave on down between Maya and Lindo from the main lobby to the mangrove bridge near the beach.

Reflecting pools with waterfalls and a couple of resident swans can be seen from the lobby on your way to the rooms. Next in line is the toddler's pool at the mini club, fenced in for security and adorned with a slide and waterfalls created by water flowing from animals’ mouths. Kids and adults like floating on a tube in the lazy river slowly making its way around a lush island and under bridges. The landscaping here allows you to imagine that you're in the wild with replicas of crocodiles, tigers, and wild birds.

The activity pool with water volleyball, water pool, and water basketball can be loud at times, with teenagers and adults enjoying the competition, cheered on by their family and newly made friends. Every hour for 20 minutes, the gradual-entry wave pool with a waterfall becomes really crowded - it's "wave time." Bring along a floater for some added fun. On the back side of this pool is a smaller, quieter pool. Although brochures depict an adults-only pool, no signs were posted and children were in all pools.

The two larger pools - really large - are next, the first with an island with two Jacuzzis (the same temperature as the pool water, plenty warm at about 84°F) and landscaping, This pool also has a swim-up bar with a waterfall overhead, which sort of creates a cave to sit under with a waterfall over the top creating a water curtain behind you, and it’s shady and cool. The last pool in the chain is also quite large, with a choice of steps or a gradual entry. Many float around in this pool, but you must bring your own floater - the hotel does not provide any. A couple of waterfalls, rocky landscaping, and an island gazebo make it very attractive.

Special to Maya guests only is access to three small freeform pools behind buildings nos. 60 to 63 and no. 66. Teak chairs with tan cushins, lots of palapas for shade, landscaping, and an attractive shower station make this a choice for guests looking for quiet relaxation.

The pools have adequate shady areas created by an abundance of palapas and wooden trellises. Activity areas are spread about: Ping Pong, hair-braiding, ceramic painting, and massage tents. You don't have to wander very far to satisfy your hunger or thirst, with a buffet restaurant at Lindo, a grill station at Maya, an ice-cream parlor above the swim-up bar, and even poolside service for drinks, but there’s no top-shelf liquor available here, only at the lobby bar. This is truly a five-star, well-designed pool area that you're sure to enjoy.

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If you are adventuresome and don't like wasting your money, I will share some ways that we explored the area. The resort offers free shuttle rides to the main road. From there, it is easy to catch a local air-conditioned bus to Playa del Carmen…Read More

If you are adventuresome and don't like wasting your money, I will share some ways that we explored the area.

The resort offers free shuttle rides to the main road. From there, it is easy to catch a local air-conditioned bus to Playa del Carmen for $1. Once there, you can choose from ferry rides to Cozumel for $16 round-trip or visit the full-service bus station offering air-conditioned Greyhound-quality bus trips (with movies!) to all locations - even the airport! We went to Tulum for $3 each. Admission was another $3 each, and we had a wonderful lunch before returning home. It was a lot cheaper than the $58 per person "tour package."

On another day, we opted for the resort's round-trip shuttle service to Cancun (over the local bus at $2 per person one way) for $7 per person, which allows you to explore for the entire day and return easily from a predetermined meeting spot. We had thought it might be tricky once in Cancun to find the local bus home.

Since our room included a kitchen, we took the $1 bus into Playa del Carmen, carrying along one of our rolling suitcases, on the first day and loaded up with groceries! It helped a lot with expenses to have milk and cereal and sandwich fixings in the room. We even prepared a spaghetti dinner one night! Room service brought us chips and homemade authentic Mexican salsa for only $2.80. We ordered that many nights! Pizzas were also delicious and very affordable, especially with kids and teenagers! We ate one meal 'out' at a nice restaurant each day and looked forward to it. Some days it was lunch, some days it was dinner.

We ended up not going broke on food, so instead we bought souvenirs! Great prices on jewelry, hats, t-shirts and Mexican art can be found all over Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and even at the resort. Don't shop in Tulum! The prices seemed very high there for gift items.

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Playa del Carmen is the most happening place on the coast with one of the best stretches of beach. Most of the restaurants and nightlife are on 5th Ave. The 5th Ave. is a pedestrian street (no driving on it). The atmosphere is casual and comfortable. The…Read More

Playa del Carmen is the most happening place on the coast with one of the best stretches of beach. Most of the restaurants and nightlife are on 5th Ave. The 5th Ave. is a pedestrian street (no driving on it). The atmosphere is casual and comfortable. The local architecture has elements of native building (i.e. rustic walls and thatched roofs). Playa del Carmen was a little more a tourism city than I anticipated. More and more mainstream resorts are moving in, we were hassled about see timeshare presentations, and most restaurants had American menus. The shopping on 5th Ave. was great, but the merchandise gets a little repetitive. On 5th Ave. you can find anything you want. You can take the ferry to Cozumel, wine and dine, find 24-hour doctors, try some free samples of tequila, or anything else that you might need. In particular there is a general store on 5th Ave where you can find any supplies that you might need that are harder to find in other places.   Close

After lengthy flight delays, we finally arrived in Cancun at 1pm. We got on our tour bus (Royale Tours) after clearing customs and had an hour drive to our resort. They had Corona beer available on the bus, but Hubby and I decided to wait…Read More

After lengthy flight delays, we finally arrived in Cancun at 1pm. We got on our tour bus (Royale Tours) after clearing customs and had an hour drive to our resort. They had Corona beer available on the bus, but Hubby and I decided to wait until later to drink. We arrived at Aventura Spa Palace at 2pm and checked in.

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HOTEL!! There were hand-painted tiles everywhere, and the ceiling in the lobby was made of stained glass. They gave us each a glass of champagne, and then we went to our room. Again, WOW!! It had a huge king-size bed, a giant Jacuzzi, and a view overlooking the ocean. They had left us a plate of cheese and fruit, a fruit basket, and a bottle of bubbly in our room! They also had flowers and fluffy bathrobes, and the bath towels were twisted into the shape of swans!

After we checked in, we walked around the grounds. There are actually two hotels on the same property. We were on the spa side, which is quieter and laid back. The Aventura side is a little wilder, which I'll get to in a minute. Everyone was so nice! The major language, of course, is Spanish, but almost everyone spoke English, too. Hubby and I tried to remember our Spanish classes from high school, and we did pretty well. After our walk, we went back to our room and showered. The bathroom had a giant two-person shower, which was heavenly. We went to dinner at La Hacienda, a Mexican restaurant. Since the hotel is all-inclusive, there were six restaurants and four bars/snack bars on the property. Our waiter at La Hacienda was named Noel, and he was terrific. He kept bringing me these huge mixed drinks; I have no idea what they were, but they were good! I am not a big drinker, but I had about five drinks that night!

After dinner, we went to the Spa Labyrinth, which is a huge, winding path. It was dark by this time, and the whole property was lit up with white lights. We walked down to the lagoon and sat in a gazebo overlooking the ocean. By this time we were pretty tired, so we went back to our room, even though it was only about 9:30pm. We climbed into the Jacuzzi, filled it with bubble bath, and relaxed. Our balcony had a hammock, and after the Jacuzzi, I laid in the hammock for a bit. We were on the third floor, room no. 3538. We watched HBO ("Miss Congeniality" was on) and went to sleep.

SATURDAY: I woke up at 7:15am and peeked out the window. The day was gorgeous, so I put on my workout clothes and slipped out the door for a walk. I then headed over to the gym and took a hi-lo aerobics class and used the free weights. Then I went back to the room. Hubby was up by then and wanted to eat. I never eat breakfast, so I sent him over to a restaurant called El Greco for breakfast while I showered. I scheduled a facial for myself at 10am and went over to the spa for that while hubby went down to the pool. The pool is huge and winding and wraps around the entire property! The facial was fantastic. They wrapped me in a bathrobe and gave me an aromatherapy pillow - I was sooooooo relaxed! After the facial, I joined hubby at the pool. We went down and swam in the lagoon. The lagoon winds around the property, and there are huts available to sit under, along with chairs.

Then we went to lunch at a place called Mundaca. After lunch, we headed over to the Aventura property. Here is the wild part: almost half of the women at that side of the pool and lagoon were topless! This is not really a big deal, but Hubby and I were a little nervous about it. We did not know where to look! Silly Americans that we are! People on that side were really whooping it up, drinking heavily and acting crazy. Thank God it's an adults-only resort! Hubby and I decided to do something a little quieter, so went back to the spa side and played ping-pong. WE ARE PARTY ANIMALS!!

By this time, it was evening, so we decided to get dinner. The place we chose, Mo Mo No Hana, was an Asian restaurant, and the food was pretty bad. We left and went to a snack bar, where I ate nachos. They were kick-butt nachos! Then we decided to drink in earnest. Jay had Dos Equis beer and I drank Toasted Almonds. I got a little drunk! Hubby decided to join me in the Toasted Almonds and now has a new favorite mixed drink! At 9:30pm we went to the theatre and watched the dance show. It was International Night, and they gave dance revues from all around the world. It was Las Vegas style, and the dancers were half-naked, which cracked me up in my drunken state! After the show, we went back to our room to lie in the hammock again.

SUNDAY (Our anniversary!): I woke up again at 7:15am. Internal alarm clock! I went to the gym again. It was another gorgeous day, sunny and hot. After the workout, I joined Hubby at El Greco and watched him eat. There was tons of food at the resort! As much as you could eat and drink. I gave him a card for our anniversary. We went over to the military obstacle course and walked through it. We saw some gigantic lizards in the woods! Hubby started singing, "Here, lizard, lizard, lizard," in this terrible Spanish accent, and I laughed so hard that I fell over an obstacle! We decided to take it easy until 12pm, when we took a taxi over to the resort town Puerto Aventura, about 5 minutes away. At PA, we walked around the shops and restaurants and looked at the marina.

Hubby had signed me up for the Dolphin Discovery as my anniversary present! That was the coolest thing ever! I got to touch the dolphins and play with them. Hubby took a ton of pictures. I had always wanted to do this! The dolphins were named Venus and Athena, and they were so friendly. They constantly wanted attention! The trainer told us dolphins can live up to 55 years in captivity! After Dolphin Discovery, we taxied back to the hotel for lunch. This was about 2:30pm. I had nachos again at El Greco! Then we went to the pool and lagoon again. We had a few drinks, joked about the topless people, and played some water sports. We attempted to snorkel, but I had trouble with my gear and decided to forget about it. We played ping-pong and foosball in the arcade, and then went back to our room for the Jacuzzi again. Ahhhhhhhh!! For dinner we went to La Huerta, a vegetarian restaurant. AWESOME!! I am semi-vegetarian and had been dying to try this place. It was so good! I had veggie burritos and puff pastry salad. For dessert we went over to Mundaca and had drinks and listened to a jazz band. We went back to our room about 10pm and watched "Say It Isn't So" on HBO.

MONDAY: We packed, showered, and went down to the lobby to buy souvenirs for the kids and postcards. Hubby and I had been given T-shirts as part of our hotel package, so we did not need to buy anything as a souvenir for ourselves. We got on our tour bus at 11am and drove to the airport. Now I am home, tired but happy! It was a fantastic time! So romantic. They really take good care of you at that place, and I highly recommend it to anyone! The only problems I had were the lack of good snorkel gear (they always seemed to be out of it), the food (really good at La Hacienda and La Huerta, but not so good at the other places), and the constant timeshare pressure. You wear wristbands while at the hotel, and the staff is able to identify people by the color of their bands. Honeymooners are pink, and old married couples like me and Hubby are yellow. The always want you to buy a timeshare, and they try and trick you into taking the timeshare tour by offering you spa vouchers. I don't think it's worth it, but it's a matter of opinion. All in all, I would give this hotel four out of five stars for service, beautiful grounds, and relaxation!

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This was the first trip to Mexico that we did not stay in Cancun. Because we were so close to PDC we took the public bus for $1 to the bus station. The station lets you off right at 5th Street which is where all…Read More

This was the first trip to Mexico that we did not stay in Cancun. Because we were so close to PDC we took the public bus for $1 to the bus station. The station lets you off right at 5th Street which is where all the shops and dining are located. 1 block down is the beautiful beach. We also took the ferry for $15/person one way to Cozmel for the day. It was well worth it. On this trip we walked and shopped. Next trip we will definitely rent scooters and tour the island. We had heard that that is the best thing to do and very inexpensive. We did take the bus to Cancun one day, but we all agreed that our PDC trip was the best.   Close

At Iberostar there is no full service, a la carte lunch, but the options are many. If you're at the beach, a small grill area is set up with nachos and cheese, salad station, and a cook is grilling hot dogs. The hamburgers are tasty…Read More

At Iberostar there is no full service, a la carte lunch, but the options are many. If you're at the beach, a small grill area is set up with nachos and cheese, salad station, and a cook is grilling hot dogs. The hamburgers are tasty and even cooked rare if you ask and on a daily rotating basis there is either sausage, beef, or pork. It's basically serve yourself on paper plates—the beach bar is close by and there are shaded picnic tables to sit at.

As you walk over the mangrove bridge to the pools, a grill is set up on the deck of the Mexican restaurant by the pool—a bit more extensive than at the beach. You can eat on the deck, take it back to your lounge chair, or sit inside with fans. Across the pool on the Lindo side is a buffet—quite extensive with the usual soup, salads, fruit, meats, fish, cheeses, pastas, and pastries. The grill station always has hot dogs, hamburgers, and either pork, flank steak, chicken, or rib eye. There is a carving station and a pizza oven. Plenty of vegetables, and choices of meat or fish dishes, and a desert bar. Waiter service is for drinks only. And again, a choice of eating inside with fans or on the deck.

If you don't mind the walk and prefer tablecloths, better service, a few more choices, and air-conditioning, make your way to the Italian restaurant near the Lindo lobby; all of the above plus-plus-plus. Waiter service here is attentive and wine is even available. Don't forget to stop at the ice cream bar on your way back to the beach—it's above the swim-up bar by the large pool.

For us, room service was a last choice, but OK if you happened to be on a tour and came back late. It takes about a half hour for service and the choices are skimpy—salads, wraps, sandwiches, soup, eggs, chicken fingers, pasta, and a few deserts.

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Have you ever heard of the Mexican adage of "mañana?" This is where you don’t worry about a thing and leave it for tomorrow. Our mindset for the duration of all of our Riviera Maya vacations was, "ehhhhh, we'll do that tomorrow." We believe that…Read More

Have you ever heard of the Mexican adage of "mañana?" This is where you don’t worry about a thing and leave it for tomorrow. Our mindset for the duration of all of our Riviera Maya vacations was, "ehhhhh, we'll do that tomorrow." We believe that there is a difference between traveling and going on vacation. With this trip, it definitely was a vacation…a vacation from doing anything. It's funny, prior to the trip my wife and I told ourselves, "we’ll be there 7 nights....we'll be bored!" Bored we were indeed, but in a very, very good way. We most certainly took 'doing nothing' to new levels.

Let me recap our routine on most of our days while at the resort in the beautiful Riviera Maya stretch of beaches on the east side of Mexico. Each night, before bed, we make sure that the curtains in our room are never shut all the way. That way, we naturally get woken up by the rays of the sun. What I love most about hotels is that I get to stay up as late as I want watching TV, passing out, and then waking up because of the sun. Such a great way to go and what awaits us in the dining are? A Huge breakfast buffet and the beach waiting for you right around the corner. We get ready just enough to be presentable. We scrounge around for clothes, brush our teeth, maybe a little bit of deodorant and off to the buffet.

Soon after breakfast, I grab my snorkel gear, the wife grabs her beach bag and we're off to the beach. By the time our feet hit sand, it's about 9 - 9:30am. It's so peaceful. Hardly anybody is out. Quite a number of loungers laid it in rows and plenty of space underneath some shade from coconut trees. Also, the resort music hasn't turned on yet, so even better. All you can hear is the light surf. We grab a couple of loungers, find a group of trees with adequate shade and then done, we plop on the lounger and don't get up unless we have to.

This is the perfect time to be up since it isn't that hot yet. The wife usually digs a book out to read, but I walk around and look at stuff. I head right to the water line most mornings. It's a good chance to walk off the huge breakfast. I sit there for a moment and say "hey" to the Tortugas. The water temperature is cool enough this time of day for the turtles to hang out and not enough humans to drive them away. I must have seen 4 - 5 that morning.

Our morning routine typically consists of getting breakfast, cleaning up and then head straight to the beach. I read a chapter or two from the one book I decide to bring, put on my snorkel gear to look at fish, close my eyes for a nap or just plain stare at the beautiful, turquoise water. That's really all there is to it. From there, the only other movement my wife and I ever make is to make sure we catch up with the shade.
The afternoon schedule is tougher. We have to figure out how to do more of nothing. We both do more reading, more napping and more snorkeling in between. As hot as the Mexico sun can get, there is that beach-side breeze that just helps put you to sleep. Naps are the best when all you can hear are the waves. I remember waking up from naps in the fetal position many times, I'm so comfortable. I curl up, let my arm fall to the ground, and I play with the sand until I pass out. It's funny because sometimes I wake up and my wife is farther away from me in the shade while I bake.

We love doing nothing, in fact, we embrace it.
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