All Inclusive Resort Review: Iberostar Paraiso Lindo

Let me start by saying we have never been disappointed with a stay at an Iberostar resort, we really enjoy all they have to offer.  Our trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico in December 2019 was no exception. This was our second trip to the Iberostar complex in Playa del Carmen.  In February 2019 we stayed at the Maya and in December we stayed next door at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo. This review will focus on our stay at the Lindo.  

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I’ll set the scene for how this resort complex is setup.  There are five resorts in total. There’s the Grand which is the most expensive and is pretty much separate from everything else.  Next to that is the Maya then the Lindo, Beach and Del Mar. The Maya and Lindo share the same pool area, entertainment team, theatre and many restaurants.  The Beach and Del Mar are set up together like the Maya and Lindo. By staying at either the Maya or Lindo it allows you access to restaurants, pool area and such at the Beach and Del Mar, but they don’t get access the other direction.  When planning our trip back we knew we would want to try the Lindo knowing that it would be less expensive than the Maya, but we would still have access to everything except maybe a restaurant or two.

Tip: You can often save hundreds of dollars on your all inclusive vacation package by checking pricing for different hotels on the same property. They often share many of the same amenities!

On Saturday, December 7, 2019 we flew out of Chicago O’Hare around 7:30am and arrived around noon.  It was a smooth flight and we even got in early. Honestly that day was one of the best travel days we have ever experienced, everything went so smoothly.  After getting off the plane it took us about five maybe ten minutes to get through immiagration, got our luggage right away, rolled on through customs and found our shuttle without any problems and next thing we know we were driving towards the resort.  This got us to our resort around 2pm; we checked in, but weren’t able to get into our room until closer to 2:30, so we grabbed a drink at the lobby bar. Part of what made this travel day so smooth was staying the night before in Chicago, check out our post Park, Sleep, Fly: Make Traveling to Your All Inclusive Resort A Breeze for details on this amazing service.   

Room

When we checked in we were able to ask about getting a room closer to the pool because we are total pool people and would much rather have to walk further to get to most of the restaurants and lobby and be closer to the pool area.  The room itself was very comfortable. We had double beds, a chair, table, balcony, mini fridge, closet with a safe and a nice bathroom with a walk-in shower. In the mini fridge you get some soda, beer and bottled water. The room didn’t need to be anything too fancy as sleeping is the most time we spent in it.  I was very impressed with the housekeeping staff as they would clean our room everyday mid-morning and would give us plenty of water and leave behind a cute towel animal, which was always a treat when we got back from a long day of relaxing by the pool.

Tip: Using bottled water in your room for drinking and even brushing your teeth is absolutely essential. Never underestimate how quickly ingesting any amount of tap water can ruin your trip!

Food

The food was something I was really looking forward to besides just getting away from the cold!  I love the ala carte restaurants so I was excited to make reservations for: French, Japanese, Thai and Brazilian.  They were all so amazing! Brazilian is something I had heard of, but never experienced. The wait staff came around with 7 different types of meat for you to try, my favorite was the roast beef, melt in your mouth good!  We ate at the buffet for dinner a couple of times and it was good as well. Breakfast you don’t have as many options to choose from, there’s the main buffet, the buffet by the pool, but that opens a little later and then you could go to the coffee shop as they have a few food options like pastries.  Lunch allowed for a few more options besides the two main buffets. There was a snack place on the beach which has the best chicken sandwiches! By far my favorite was taking the time to walk to the shopping mall on the property to a little taco place where they served tacos, quesadillas, burritos and nachos.  The steak tacos and shrimp quesadillas were amazing! Going hungry was not an option! Check out our related post Exploring Ala Carte Restaurants at Your All Inclusive Resort for more on why we love ala carte restaurants.    

Activities / Entertainment

One of the reasons we keep going back to Iberostar is the entertainment!  They have the Star Friends, who are the people that help with activities during the day, but also many of them help with the shows at night.  The nightly shows at the theater are very important to us as it gives us something fun to do and look forward to after dinner! They have professional dancers and singers for some of the shows, such as Broadway, Boogie Nights, and a Circus!  During the day there are so many activities for both children and adults. We enjoyed aqua aerobics just about everyday. They have pool games as well and different things on the beach. The pool itself is huge, so we would enjoy relaxing with a cocktail in the water or heading to the lazy river.  Yes, they even have a lazy river! We don’t need a lot of activities to keep us happy while on vacation, but it is nice to know the options are there. Mostly we just like to find a grass hut to sit under, relax and read.

The Grounds

The Iberostar complex is beautiful and very well maintained.  We loved walking around and enjoying the nature surrounding us.  The resort is huge, so there is a lot of walking. The nice thing is that on the path in between the Lindo and Beach there are golf carts that will take you down to the beach or up to the lobby areas.  I also noticed multiple people using scooters, so this resort is handicap accessible. A few mornings we even saw a cat taking a nap along the path on our way back from breakfast. There are also many coatis, which are related to raccoons that call the complex home.  If you head over to the lobby areas of the Beach and Del Mar you’ll find swans, parrots and pink flamingos. The flamingos were really neat as I have only seen flamingos in the zoo, so to see them much closer and just walking around in the grass was a really fun experience!

Tip: Take time for walks on the grounds every day and enjoy their beauty. Lounging around all day can have unintended consequences. Taking a walk will keep you energized and regular.

I really can’t say enough about our stay at the Iberostar Paraiso Lindo.  It was a wonderful 9 days and 8 nights and we are looking forward to another trip there.  I didn’t make a section on drinks, but you won’t go thirsty either. If it’s cocktails you’re looking for or a good mocktail you are covered!  Comfortable rooms, beautiful grounds, great entertainment and activities as well as delicious food it really is paradise!