Paradisus Playa del Carmen - Riviera Maya

We had great service in The Lunchbox with the funny and friendly Carlos serving us most days! He made our kids laugh a lot and was really nice. Thanks also to Brisa and Celeste at The Lunchbox, it’s a lovely part of the family concierge service.

The Paradisus Playa del Carmen is a beautiful resort and a lot of activities families with small kids. The Activity Staff Michelle was so friendly and keeps the kids engaged with activities, games, face painting, craft and balloons. The food is also good. Great service! We are glad we picked Paradisus again!!!

Beautiful Resort, But Only 5-Star If You Pay Extra The resort grounds and design are stunning — easily 4.5 stars. Activities and drinks were also enjoyable and well-executed. Unfortunately, the food was a major disappointment. Most meals were flavorless or poorly cooked, and one dish (burrata) even seemed spoiled. If you want quality dining, expect to pay ~$100 per person — same goes for upgraded pools and services. There’s a clear two-tier system here: basic guests get mediocre food and limited service, while those who pay extra get the real “5-star” treatment. Add-on fees are everywhere, from food to umbrellas to spa and poolside service. The beach was unusable due to overwhelming seaweed, which other resorts in the area seem to manage better. In short: a beautiful setting, but not worth it unless you’re prepared to pay for every upgrade.

My family and I had a wonderful stay this summer. Pools, food and drinks are all amazing. Maids did a fantastic job at cleaning the rooms and keeping the towels stocked. My most favorite thing about this place is all of the staff. Everyone from the concierge to the landscapers were super friendly and always ready to help if needed. I'll name a few of my favorite staff, but they all were amazing! Starting off with our concierge Eduardo, Lorenzo one of the bartenders, our server from Celsius Alejandra, our server Nelson from Capella and our dear friend Estefania that works at the front desk were all phenomenal and made our stay extra special. We are excited to come back soon!

Our recent destination wedding at Paradisus by Melia in Playa del Carmen turned out to be everything we dreamed of, even though the journey getting there was far from smooth. We were originally scheduled to have our wedding at Paradisus Cancun, but we were blindsided when we found out—through Facebook, not directly from the resort—that the Cancun location was shutting down for renovations. With a lot of uncertainty, we were rebooked at the Playa del Carmen location. Naturally, this caused a great deal of stress as we had already sent out our invitations. We were able to visit the Playa del Carmen resort in April 2025 to check it out and hoped it would be a good fit for us and our guests. Thankfully—it more than exceeded our expectations! The resort is absolutely stunning, and the service, setting, and experience ended up being truly incredible. Our wedding day was amazing (besides the fact that we did have to change some last minute things due to rain), BUT our guests haven’t stopped talking about how beautiful the resort was, how delicious the food was, and how genuinely kind and accommodating the staff were. The team at Paradisus Playa del Carmen really made it a special time for all of us! Special thanks to: Vanessa, our amazing wedding coordinator, who was incredibly helpful, responsive, and kind throughout the process. On the day of the wedding, she made sure to check in with us at important moments and reviewed everything that we needed to say/do to put our minds a little at ease. Isabel and Oscar, who took such great care of us poolside with top-notch, friendly service. Fernando, the swim-up bar bartender, who was probably tired of seeing our faces but he always kept the drinks flowing all week long! 🤣 Shaira, who greeted us every morning with warmth and excellent service at the adults-only buffet. Jonathan, our concierge, who consistently checked in and ensured we had everything we needed throughout our stay. While the experience overall was amazing, we want to be honest in saying that there were a few things here and there that felt overly strict or rigid, particularly with certain resort rules. It didn’t take away from the overall experience, but it’s worth noting if you’re traveling with a large group or planning an event. An example of this was when a worker came up to me and told me that our flower girls needed to go back to the family side because they were kids - as our wedding photographer was in the middle of taking our photos. I understand we were on the adults only side but I thought that that was very rude and unprofessional. In addition, the resort offers many luxurious touches, a lot of the amenities you might assume are included—often aren’t. Even with upgraded packages, things may still come with added costs. So our advice is: if you're expecting something to be included, always double check! That said, this resort truly came through for us in the end. We went from a very uncertain and stressful situation to a wedding week that we will remember for the rest of our lives. The grounds are beautiful, a majority of the staff was exceptional, and the memories we made here are priceless. If you're planning a destination wedding or a luxury vacation in Mexico, we absolutely recommend Paradisus by Melia Playa del Carmen. It turned out to be the perfect place to celebrate with our family and friends—and we are so grateful! Best, Angelina & John