Upon arrival in Cancun Airport be prepared to encounter a stifling hot scenario of crowding , chaos, and endless lines for customs and immigration. Signs are non-existent, and many of the workers and government officials are only grudgingly helpful. Be sure to fill out all customs and immigration forms fully and correctly before you deplane or you will be reprimanded and pulled out of line. You’ll know you’ve mastered the system when you finally meet up with the nice Apple ground transportation people who greet you at the back door. Beware of vendors who fraudulently claim to be from Apple but who are not.

As for the Iberostar Paraiso del Mar, you really need to be reasonably fit and active to stay at a hotel complex of this size. Specifically, it requires a good deal of walking to reach the beach and the restaurants from your room (they’re in opposite directions). And at night, it’s difficult to follow the myriad of darkened walking paths that dot the courtyard . Visibility is less than optimal because of the dim sidewalk lamps and there are very few, if any, meaningful signs or maps posted. In addition, the del Mar is laid out very close to a second hotel—the Iberostar El Paraiso Beach—and you can very easily wind up at the wrong location despite your best intentions.

At our 1:00 PM check-in there were no lines and our room was ready. We had some trouble understanding the lady behind the desk who spoke really quickly and, as a result, there was some confusion about the various rules, locations and times for meals, buffets and late night snacking. While still in the lobby. we made a quick visit to the concierge who made all of our a la carte restaurant reservations.

While being shuttled to our room, we were impressed with the cleanliness and beauty of the property, including the lush tropical foliage, the peacocks, swans, flamingos and free running coatis. We were also pleased to see that our “standard room” was roomy, bright, up-to-date and well-appointed. However, there were no chests of drawers to store our stuff. Additionally, a toilet clogging problem arose almost immediately and some light bulbs were burned out. Maintenance took care of it within 15 minutes of our call. We later found a few tiny gnats hovering around the bathroom sink but didn’t bother to report it. Again, the mattresses were a bit on the soft side and the A/C didn’t really seem to cool down as much as we needed at night. Some of the caulk was coming away from the interior of the tub but there were no leaks to speak of. In fact, there was lots of hot water and good water pressure.

While the beach at this hotel has been described by a number of other reviewers as “tiny”, this is difficult to ascertain since there are no demarcation lines and the beach itself runs contiguous with the beaches of other adjacent Iberostar hotels. We walked afar to find a lounge chair and no one stopped us, although a bartender at one of the beach bars noticed that our identifying wrist tags were of the “wrong color” and limited us to one drink.

Because we avoided travelling the week of President’s Day and possibly because a storm in the Northeast US apparently disrupted a lot of incoming flights, the hotel and the beach were only about 3/4th full at most. Thus, there was no problem finding a lounge chair. However, there was some problem finding a shaded spot on the beach before 2:00 PM. The sea was relatively calm, clear, beautiful and more warm than cold. You do need to tread carefully, however, to avoid patches of algae/seaweed and clusters of rocks beneath the surface. Swimming shoes might have helped. The swimming pools at this hotel also looked inviting but we didn’t use them very much.

All of the a la carte restaurants had a pleasant ambience, although the rule that males have to wear long pants was annoying. In fact, I saw several women wearing shorts. As for the food, “It is was it is”. My friend was not happy, although she did seem to enjoy the surf and turf served at the Mediterranean restaurant. I, myself, would have to say that the meals were generally Mexican interpretations of various international dishes. Don’t expect Ruth’s Chris, etc. One night, we took a side trip to the nearby city of Playa del Carmen where we ordered wine, meat and seafood at a very nice local restaurant while watching a cheerful and colorful “Carnivale” procession go by.

While on the topic of side trips—we took a very long day excursion to visit the amazing Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. Unfortunately, it hit 95 degrees that day with no shade available. The grounds were also filled with hoards of vendors hawking gadgets, gizmos, knickknacks and tchotchkes. Think twice about making this trip.

One added observation is that all of the Hotel staff that we encountered were very friendly, quick to smile, neatly groomed and anxious to help. We were also pleased that our departure from Cancun Airport was much more pleasant compared to the chaos of our arrival. It was an efficient and nicely air conditioned experience. Also keep in mind that second week of February can provide very favorable weather in the Rivera Maya. The temperatures we encountered ranged from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties and there wasn’t one drop of rain.

Just stayed 5 nights at Iberostar Paraiso del Mar with my wife and two other couples. This place is set up a little differently than many places that I have been. There are 5 Iberostar resorts side by side and you share some facilities with the resort next to you (the pool, some restaurants). Overcrowding is not a problem though. The resort is quite large which is made up for by the extremely well maintained and beautiful grounds. The pool area is great. Swim up bars are a blast. Great bartenders! No problem getting chairs anytime of day.
The beach is very nice too! Great sand, swimming and waves.
The rooms we stayed in (ocean view suites) were clean and nice but nothing spectacular. Very few rooms here are ocean view so if that's a requirement you may want to upgrade in advance.
The reservation-only restaurants are excellent but you need to make reservations ASAP as they are very busy. The buffets and snack bar restaurants are at best average.
Iberostar Paraiso del Mar is considered the least exclusive of the 5 Iberostars in the row, but overall, I was very satisfied. Great service! Beautiful grounds!

My wife and I stayed at the Iberostar in Cancun in August and loved it! When searching for a vacation our travel agent suggested Iberostar Del Mar, because of our stay in Cancun we decided to go for it! When we arrived, Danny at the front desk was very professional and his English was very good with plenty of tips. The resort was impeccably maintained and our room was very nice. Luis at the pool bar was a great bar tender and always had our drinks poured when we got to the bar. Buffet had a lot of variety of food and I rate it ok. I did not starve. We met a lot of nice people and had long walks on the beach. Off the resort they should clean up debris on the beach. Wish we could have stayed another week the weather was perfect! We were there from Feb. 4th thru Feb. 11. My opinion about this resort is you cannot go wrong going there! It has left us with a great impression of the Iberostar Resorts and their quality.

Not certain why the negative reviews exist for this resort...I found the resort to be delightful. Great food, great staff. Our room was always clean...minibar stocked everyday, and this is the first place I've stayed where room service is inlcuded....Elena at the front desk multitasked like no one Ive seen. All pool bars were great...thank you luis and esteban. Ate at both the mexican and mediterranean restaurants...delicious...first time for tamarind and Gilberto at the mediterranen went the extra step to find me flan and rice pudding when all was depleted from the dessert bar. The buffets were loaded and the staff had that morning coffee and water ready. At no time did I and my companions feel we had to walk too far for food,fun,or a drink. We would go there again. Did I mention how gorgeous it was...look at the photos they don't lie.