Just got back from Iberostar Paraiso Lindo!

[sparkles]

I spent last week at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo with 10 friends. Let me start by saying the resort is beautiful!

We booked through apple and the only down side was we arrived Sunday night around 10 pm at the resort so we basically lost a day. We booked through apple because it was school break week and flight prices were outrageous.

We arrived at the airport on time. Do not talk to anyone inside the airport. Grab your bags, clear customs then when you exit the airport you will see all the reps. Apple, funjet, etc. They will direct you to a bus/van that is going to your resort.

Once we arrived at the Lindo we checked in at the lobby. We were greeted with welcome drinks while we waited in line. The whole process took just a few minutes. They give you a map of the resort, room keys, towel cards and answer any questions you have.

We cruised around the resort a little and had a few drinks.

The next morning we had to meet with our apple rep. Basically they give you a transfer coupon for the ride back the airport but what they really want is to book day trips for you. We picked the places we wanted to go then checked with all the reps, the Iberostar, apple etc. With having a group of 10 people we did have some negation power. Basically we were looking for a decent deal and private transportation. We didn’t want to be stuck with a big group on a bus and waiting while they shopped for trinkets, etc.  We decided on Xel-ha, deep sea fishing and atv riding through the jungle.

Xel-ha. We had our own snorkel gear so we basically went with the basic package something like $30 to get in the park for a full day. We did not get the package that includes lunch or tours. We got to Xel-ha around 9am. We found a great shady spot to leave our gear then spent the next 3-4 hours snorkeling. We had our van come back for us at 1 and headed back to the Lindo for lunch. Overall Xel-ha was good. I am not much of a snorkeler. But the group seemed to like it. We saw lots of schools of small fish, some sting rays, barracudas, parrot fish. And a large group of huge fish with giant teeth that freaked me out a bit.

Deep sea fishing. We went out on Captain Rick’s. I have fished since I was old enough to hold a fishing pole and have never been sick on a boat in my life. This water is rough! I was really sick. However I did manage to catch a 3-4 foot dolphin fish before the ocean won its battle with my tummy. We were told we were lucky we were the only group that went out that day that caught anything. We got two fish. Again we used our group size to get private transportation and also charted a boat for the 6 of us that went. The cost was $350 including the van ride. 

ATV through the jungle. This is a must do! It was the favorite activity of our group. You go out in groups of about 10 on this two hour tour. You can ride solo (cost is about $60) or ride double ($40 each). You will get dirty but what fun is ATVing with out a little dirt?! Make sure you wear your bathing suit, about halfway thought you will stop at an amazing cave river type area. Where you can cool off and snorkel with cat fish and turtles. Back on the ATVs then a stop at a cave to view stalactite. Back on the ATVs then a short stop at a mayan ruins. Finally you ride back to where you started. We all wished this tour was longer. We were a muddy mess when we returned to the Lindo and people were staring at us!  We just laughed and said you have to go ATVing!

Ok back to the Lindo!

Food:

Breakfast buffet is great. They offer two. One is at the Italian restaurant and is much bigger then the other, which is located by the pool/beach area. We always ate at the bigger one.  They offer fruit, yogurt, cereal, eggs, omelets (made to order), pancakes, waffles, breakfast meats, juices, and even some dinner options, pasta, steak, etc.

Lunch is also a buffet. We ate mostly at the buffet by the pool beach. Again the variety was good for us. Hamburgers (I don’t eat red meat but the group I was with though they were better than what we get in the US.), hot dogs, chicken, carving stations, nachos, salad bar (the pickles are great!), pasta, etc.

Beach snack bar. Days we laid on the beach we found this was fine for lunch. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, nachos. They also dug a huge pit on the beach, put a giant pan in it and would cook something different each day.

We ate at the specialty restaurants each night. Some were better than others. None were 5 star. But when cooking for that many people… We did meet with Rosy the supervisor of these restaurants and she was asking for feedback. My suggestion was to hire people that know how to cook that type of food. Bring in an Italian chef to oversee the Italian or a Chinese chef to oversee that. Basically it’s just not what we are used to or in any way authentic food. Not that makes it bad just not what you might expect.

Chinese: this was the least favorite of the group. We went to the buffet after this meal.

Italian: People mentioned the steak was good. I had the tortellini and no amount of asking if it had meat in it in English or Spanish helped they said in both languages it did not and it did. Be warned if you don’t eat a lot of meat. Cut into stuff before you try it.

Mexican: this was great. People raved about the ribs. I was having meat issues with the menu and Hugo, our waiter saw me trying to work out the menu and stopped over to see what was going on. He then made me a custom meal not on the menu to suit my issues. Hugo was great!

Gourmet: this is adults only and so good. Go there if you can get in. Its small and books up fast.

Steakhouse: Another meal we enjoyed. Everyone seemed happy with their meal. Ribs were not as good as the Mexican place, chicken was fantastic! When in doubt ask the waiter I started doing that towards week end I’d pick two or three choices then ask them and they never steered me wrong.

Cajun: This was our last meal there and well we’d all had a little too much to drink. Half our group didn’t make it through the meal. Nothing against them it was a long week of sun of drinking. I had the scallops spicy and delish!

Room Service: The menu was limited especially if you wanted breakfast. We did use it several times. It takes about 30 minutes to arrive.

Shopping Center:

This is fully built but only about a 1/3 full of stores. More opened every day while I was there. They except it to be fully opened by March. There was a silver jewelry store, a sliver store (like tea sets and plates) an amber store, liquor store, trinket shop, t-shirt shop. Make sure you go there for the tacos. They were so good they became our late afternoon snack. You can order any meat, and combo of toppings and they cook it fresh while you wait. Burger place (did not try it), crepes yum! Make sure you try them out with a scoop of ice cream, and a bar. The disco is also located here.

Beach:

I would have liked to see it pre-hurricane. I thought overall it was pretty good. Lots of chairs and shady areas. We never had a problem getting a good spot even with 10 people. Yes there are rocks but there are plenty of rock free areas to swim in. Just use some common sense.  Every day we were there was a red flag day. That did not keep anyone out of the ocean. If you can’t swim I’d stay out but there was no undertow, just big waves. The beauty of the red flags meant an amazing breeze while you laid on the beach. And to me a beach should have waves.

People will walk around selling stuff. If your not interested just say so. They usually look for eye contact before coming over. We bought some cute beaded ankle bracelets for a few bucks.

Pool areas:

Lazy river, it sure is lazy but sometimes a girl just wants to float around with a frozen drink in her hand

Wave pool: was littered with kids we avoided this area

Pool itself. Amazing and large, we never had to play the chair towel game. There are plenty of seats both in the sun and shade. Sit down at the end by the beach and look for Noelii and Veronica. They will take good care of you! People mentioned the water was cold. I have no idea what sort of place they normally swim in but I want to be refreshed when I go in the water.  The water was refreshing but by no means cold. If you are looking to talk a bath, wait for the day the fill your tub with flower petals.

We spent most night’s pre and post dinner at the Lobby bar. Eduardo will take care of you. But watch out that man likes to pour shots.! I recommend the chocolate covered cherry. So good. I’d also give the dirty monkey and Rivera Maya a try.

Rooms:

I recommend a building that is centrally located. The shows end early so noise isn’t really an issue. We were in building 52 and liked the location. Halfway between the lobby and the beach, now this is slightly off topic but people mention the size of the resort. I am not sure if those people are disabled or perhaps elderly? But I found we could walk from the lobby bar to the beach in 10 minutes. And really with all the food and drinks who couldn’t use a walk? Ok back to the room. We had a corner room which meant we had a nice wrap around balcony. The room was large with plenty of room including closet space and a good size bathroom. There is a safe in the room so you can lock up money, passports, etc. The blow dryer, it’s like a vacuum that hot air comes out of. If your hair is long, thick, etc this is not the blow dryer for you. It gets really hot (I used a face cloth to hold it) and takes forever to dry your hair. Pack the blow dryer you’ll be happy you did.  AC in the rooms. This will not stay on if you leave a door open. So make sure your balcony and outside door is shut tight.  There is a drying area on the balcony for your swim suits.

Tipping:

These people work long hard hours. Tip them well they work hard for it.

I’d happy to answer anyone’s questions .

[George]

sparkles,

Thank you for very informative review.

George

[LucyS]

Thanks!  That was a wonderful review.  Sounds like a great time was had by all!!

[barbara1]

  good review... I would love to see some pics if you have any to share...thanks...barb

[kris621]

Great review, I'm even more excited now! 

When you went to Xel Ha, did you use America money or Pesos to get into the park? I've been having a difficult time trying to figure out what to bring, money wise.

[sparkles]

Kris,

we used american money everywhere. They will convert to pesos at the lobby check in area. We booked our tour through the hotel so it included admission to xel-ha and a van ride there and back. In Xel-ha I used american money to buy water and ice cream and they gave me change back in american money.  Hope that helps.

[sparkles]

I hope to have pictures soon. My group is buring all our pictures onto one cd, hopefully this weekend. That way I'll have the best of what everyone took.

[kris621]

Kris,

we used american money everywhere. They will convert to pesos at the lobby check in area. We booked our tour through the hotel so it included admission to xel-ha and a van ride there and back. In Xel-ha I used american money to buy water and ice cream and they gave me change back in american money.  Hope that helps.

That does help, thank you very much.

[barbara1]

thanks can't wait to see your pictures!!

[campbon]

thankyou sparkles that was a amazing review   the kind i like to hear
we also will be traveling with a group of ten   so it really helped
I dont remember if you mentioned if it was all adults? or if you had kids with you.  just curious if you did what they thought of it and enjoyed the most..  the youngest is 14 up to 26     then us  old farts   just kidding    debbin67 and I are going to try to out party them this time 

[sparkles]

Hi Debbin,

we did not have any children traveling with us. Our group was pretty much in our mid 30s. They did recently open a disco just for teens so that might appeal to some of the younger people in your group. I met several people in the lobby bar who said their teens loved the disco and went there every night. They have opened an adult (18 and over) disco in the new shopping plaza and I think its the older one they turned into a teen one.

There seemed to be a lot of activities for younger kids (the star friends were always busy with them). I also noticed large groups of teens (agreed 14-17) all hanging out together playing pool and going to the disco, so they seem to find each other and form friends for vacation.

I am jealous of your group I wish we were going back. Maybe next year!

[barbara1]

do you have any pictures to post yet???

[barbara1]

sparkles,

did you get your pictures this weekend...can't wait to view them!!! 

[sparkles]

I am still waiting on pictures. We have half the group on CD I am hoping to have them all shortly.

Amy (Sparkles)

[saundramay]

I can say ditto to this review.  Wasn't Noelii a sweetheart?  Again, we loved the pool and swam almost every day.  I had a red flag incident, and landed on a large rock which ended up in a few scrapes.  It was our second Lindo trip and would go back in a song.  We were told that they are opening in Jamaica next year and may check it out.