We just returned from this resort. We took our family, had two rooms for a week. We will not return. It is a beautiful resort, but understaffed by about 50%. It took us 3 days before we could even get a reservation into any of the "gourmet" restaurants. They said that they were booked. There is one girl that works that desk from 8:00 to 5:00 each day taking reservations. It took an hour before I could even sit down and attempt to make the reservations. Be sure and get down there at approximately 7:55 so you will be first in line to make your weekly reservations. They only take around 10 tables of reservations each hour and a half, and the restaurant has approximately 25 tables. They will give you the time that you will eat. They do offeer room service, which would be a great thing -- especially with 8 and 10-yr-old children -- but it takes approximately 2 hours to receive your food. And, yes, it is cold when it finally arrives. There are no motorized water sports. I certainly understand that that wouldn't be included in an all-inclusive. But it would be nice to be able to have a service that offered it there on the beach that we could pay for. Our children love to jet ski, and we've always had that available at other resorts. I understand service is always a little slower in Mexico, but I honestly felt like I was in line my whole vacation or waiting for something.
Another problem we had was that our room keys would not always work. This happened three times. We were in Building 5, which is a pretty long haul to the front desk. After this happened the second time, I called the front desk from the other room we were staying in, and I was told to walk down and let them fix the key. I refused to do this due to the length of the walk and told them to bring a working key to my room. They told me it would be awhile because they were so busy. We got it an hour and a half later.

For the men, be sure and take a couple of pairs of pants for the gourmet restaurants. And if you send them out to the laundry service, be sure they understand you have to have them back by 4:00, which is what they advertise as long as they have the cleaning by 10:00 a.m. They did not have ours ready as promised. They told me they would be ready the next day, and I had to spend an hour on the phone with them trying to make them understand that we could not eat dinner without the pants. They actually ended up returning the laundry to us about 20 minutes before our dinner reservations.

I will go back and stay in Playa del Carmen. I've heard that the Riu Palace is very nice and the Royal Hideaway. Any input on these would be greatly appreciated. I will say that the resort and pool at the Paradisus are beautiful. The place really has a lot of potential. They just need a lot more staff. They employees are very nice people. It's definitely the corporate office that's trying to cut all the corners. Maybe they will get it turned around one day.

You CANNOT engage in motorized water sports in that area! That would mean certain death of the coral reef! That's why you are not allowed to wear sunblock during the snorkeling trips, which incidentally, you should've taken the kids to do. Mystic divers also offered VERY affordable scuba lessons, and if you have no health problems, they are a must! I agree with the annoying reservations policy, but you know what? I was in Mexico, so why would I want to waste my time in pseudo-gourmet cuisine? Not that I don't agree, but it is a nice option to have. I did not sweat it. I talked to another couple and we split the cab to Playa del Carmen, where we were able to find some real Mexican food. Yeah, the pool rocks!