Iberostar Grand Paraiso

Our stay at Joia Paraíso by Iberostar was absolutely incredible, and the main reason we’ll be returning is without a doubt the amazing entertainment staff. From sunrise to sunset, they filled every day with energy, laughter, and unforgettable moments. A huge shoutout to Carlos, Vidi, Pedro, Mala, Cassandra, Montserrat, Alma, Viedma, Marlene, Odalys, Ximena, Rayworld & Julio— each one brought their own spark to the experience. Whether it was games by the pool, evening shows, or just their warm smiles throughout the day, they made us feel like part of the family. Their enthusiasm and genuine kindness truly made our vacation special. And we can’t forget Daniella, our wonderful waitress — always attentive, cheerful, and ready with a smile. Her service went above and beyond every single day. It’s rare to find a resort where the staff genuinely makes the experience, but that’s exactly what happened here. Thanks to this incredible team, Joia Paraíso isn’t just a beautiful property — it’s a place filled with heart. We can’t wait to come back and see everyone again!

Over all everything was great. The staff were very friendly & went out of their way to deliver special requests. Of all the delicious restaurants, the steak & seafood was our favourite. The room and entire building was immaculate. We enjoyed the quiet pool as well as the pool by the bar.Although some parts were rocky, the sandy beach was nice. We always found a “spot” with chairs & umbrella. The ‘Dia de Muerto “show November 2nd, was fabulous and eneabled us a snesk preview of the Mexican culture. We highly recommend the Iberostar Joia Paraiso, Riviera Maya.

Beautiful resort, with many positives. The rooms and resort are immaculate, a lot of time is spent keeping common areas, restaurants, pools, grounds, beach, bars, etc. clean. The restaurants for dinner were all great, however the resort did move away from reservations, for smaller, high-volume restaurants like the Italian, it was a long wait, an hour. The staff cannot give you a time frame of how long you will wait. It's not their fault; the system they work on simply isn't set up to give wait times. Unfortunately, for the long wait, Italian was our least favorite meal. The steakhouse, Mexican, Gala Buffet and French restaurant were all incredible. Nothing special for lunch, they would be well served to open up another restaurant for lunch, your only option is the buffet and the grill which is mostly ceviche and tacos. For a 7 day trip these options get tired quick. One day we ordered room service and brought it to the pool luckily, we were in building 71 next to the pool, otherwise we may not have done it. The pools are lovely BUT people reserve chairs. Cabanas are first come first served and people were out as early as 6:30 am putting towels on the chairs. It's a practice I have stopped going to other resorts for. Go to the pool concierge, at the towel hut they may know if there are any available chairs/ cabanas, if there are, they will set you up. The service was amazing, the staff was friendly always willing to help, they go out of their way to welcome you every day and be available. There were corp. staff at the resort when we were there, particularly two woman who were always together. Every time they walked by you, they put their head in their phones, they never acknowledged you or even made eye contact. Thankfully the actual hotel staff made up for it. A few people who deserve recognition: Bulter staff in building 71, Gabriel, Fatima, Aristide, Karlina & the rest of the butler team Pool Concierge - Ivan is amazing and Elizabeth Check-In - Paula Pool Staff - Lenin, Daniela, Leticia. They will never let your glass be empty. Waitstaff - Wilbert, Silvinio, Reyes Food & Beverage / Guest Services - Ernesto & Elizabeth - the BEST!!!! These amazing people make for an excellent trip. Gabrielle even set up a private tour to Tulum. They go above and beyond. A note to the resort, bring back reservations for dinner, and get away from allowing people to hold chairs. Train your corporate staff, in addition to those already mentioned, there were 3 gentlemen who had dinner in the same (Italian) restaurant they had the chef visit their table twice (probably why my risotto was so over cooked I couldn't eat it) and had a minimum of 2 waitstaff attending to them. I get it, I have a corp. job too and when traveling the red carpet is rolled out but when you have paying customers who are waiting upwards of an hour to be sat, and the timing in between meals is spread out that you are there for over 2 hours because they were attending to corp. people it does make you wonder if Iberostar values their customers. For VIP visitors like them, they should be in a private room so that it's not so blatant to their customers that they are getting sub-par dinner because they are taking care of their own. As a Sr. Executive myself, I would never put my needs above my customers. We were approached about the Iberostar membership and did not do the session because I do question corporates commitment to their customers.

Fifth Visit over ten years and not sure why this is not a 5.0 stars! It is a beautiful as ever-clean, comfortable and great service. Ivan at the pool gets the biggest shout outs for impeccable service! All food was excellent (we have a gluten allergy and all servers and restaurants are knowledgeable and have lots of choices). Would have liked the old menu at the Asian restaurant (current one odd) but loved loved the Mexican and Gala Buffett. The App needs updating as it does not have current menus or info and would have loved a better way to refresh mini bar. We celebrated an Anniversary and were treated to many in room treats-chocolates, champagne and special decor. Tip: go visit the Snake Bar at the Maya and have a massage- excellent service and prices.

Beautiful Resort, but Deceptive Advertising and Poor Experience Overall My wife and I stayed at JOIA Paraíso by Iberostar for our honeymoon, and while the property itself is beautiful, the experience left us extremely disappointed due to misleading advertising, poor communication, and frustrating service. ❌ Misleading Promotions When we booked, the resort advertised an $800 resort credit with unlimited golf. In reality, this “credit” was 32 coupons worth $25 each, only valid when you spent $100 or more per transaction — not an actual $800 credit. The “unlimited golf” was also false; there was no unlimited golf. We also specifically opted out of any marketing or timeshare presentations during booking, but upon arrival were told the only way to receive our supposed credit was to sit through a “concierge presentation” — which turned out to be a timeshare class sales pitch. We said no multiple times, but they persisted. 💸 Room Upgrade Regret We upgraded our room for $900, assuming the $800 resort credit would nearly offset it. Once we realized the credit was misleading, we asked to revert to our original room and were told no. The logic we booked under was completely undermined. 🕒 Check-In Chaos From the moment we arrived (around 2:30 p.m.) to when we finally got to our room (almost 5 p.m.), the process was a mess. We were shuffled between staff, waited nearly an hour for our bags, and were exhausted before even starting our honeymoon stay. 📣 Persistent Timeshare Pressure Even after sitting through the first pitch, we were stopped again the next day in the lobby by another concierge trying to sell the same “class.” It took a firm “please leave us alone” to get him to stop. Not exactly the peaceful honeymoon experience we hoped for. 🏠 Room Issues Our first room had a broken toilet, no hair dryer, no TV remote, and a balcony door that didn’t lock. The humidity made everything damp — even the bed sheets. After our travel agent intervened regarding the false advertising, the hotel tried to “make it right” by moving us to a villa, offering a 30-minute couples massage and one round of golf for one person. The villa, however, came with its own issue — a very loud tree frog that chirped every 15 seconds. It was enough to send my wife to tears from sheer frustration. We ended up moving again (our third room in three days). The new room had working amenities, but our keycard didn’t work for the beachfront door for several nights, and the shower pressure was barely functional. 💆‍♀️ “Couples” Massage That Wasn’t The 30-minute “couples massage” they offered was actually in separate rooms — not together. Definitely not what we expected or needed after everything we’d gone through. 🍽 Food and Service The one bright spot: the kitchen staff was very accommodating to my wife’s gluten allergy. She only got sick once due to a mislabeled dessert, which was corrected the next day. Service overall, though, was very slow. It routinely took 30+ minutes to get a drink at the bar, and during meals, staff rarely checked on tables. Guests were getting up to refill their own water from the service stations. 🏌️ Summary While the resort grounds are stunning and the food quality was decent, the false advertising, constant sales pressure, and poor service completely overshadowed our honeymoon. We spent more time dealing with problems than relaxing. If you’re looking for an honest, stress-free all-inclusive experience — especially for a special occasion — I would recommend looking elsewhere.