JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar (Formerly Iberostar Grand Paraiso) - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

10072 reviews

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  Love it all

  Miguel made a delicious dinner and a wonderful show woop woop! The rice was incredible and crispy we loved it so much!!!!i I need 200. Characters which is crazy but we have enjoye our stay here very much and we would love to return like the many couples we have met here

  Apr 12, 2025
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  The Grand...not what it used to be but still a ncie place.

  My wife and I have been repeat Iberostar customers for over 25 years staying at many Iberostar hotels including Dominican Republic, Cancun, Delmar Beach, Maya and Grand Paraiso. We stayed at the Maya many times with our chilren while watching the Grand being built! For about the last 15 years or so, (now empty nestors), we have been going 2 times a year to The Grand. Why? The employees. We have made many friends there and really feel like we are at home when we arrive. We always book the ocean front to floor and love it. However, lately we feel that we are not as appreciated as we have been in past stays. Little things like we used to get full complimentary bottles of wine in the room...now no longer. The wine tasting with Richard was always a treat...no longer. Coffee in the room - we always have to ask for more. The nice soap bars have been replaced by the cheap liquid soap pumps - useless. All told we have spent over 100k on Iberostar holidays... now we just expect less than we used to get and the perks are gone... sad really. At one time we were invited to a repeat guest party by the serinity pool which was a really nice way to that repeat customers....now all gone. But alas, this desination is still only 3 hours flight from Chicago so it is still a value to us

  Apr 05, 2025
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  Nice, but not 5 Star, won't be returning

  My husband and I are a retired couple who have been to numerous beach resorts in Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia so we are seasoned travelers. The JOIA Paraiso is a nice resort but did not meet our expectations for a 5 star resort. Let me first say that the staff throughout the resort were very accomodating and friendly, always asking if we were enjoying our stay, if we needed anything and ready to provide a ride in a golf cart when we needed one. Rooms - We stayed in an oceanfront butler suite and we didn't feel like we received 5 star accomodations for what we were paying which was around $850 a night. The room was very well laid out and the furnishings very elegant, but some pieces were in need of a facelift. Same with the bathroom...counters, sinks and faucets tired looking. The bedding though was first class. We had several maintenance issues - the coffee maker had to be replaced once and then the replacement didn't work and had to be fixed. (We ordered coffee at 8:20am and it finally arrived at 9:50am!) The remote control had to be serviced twice, our keys stopped working on 2 separate occasions. The ice maker was broken and had to be serviced. The men's and women's steam rooms at the JOIA spa were out of service the entire 5 days. The spa staff did not even realize it until my husband and I told them. That's a lot of maintenance issues for such a short stay. We were a bit surprised we never saw our butler except for our first day and of course when we had to call with a maintenance issue. Pool - If you like shade at the pool as we do, this is not the place for you. There are no umbrellas, only cabanas with a lattice roof so the sun peaks in. The sides do have fabric which can be tied, but again more sun than not gets in. The pool area is pretty, but there is really no expansive view of the sea like in other resorts and no poolside place to have lunch with a view of the sea. The staff was very accomodating, always asking if we needed anything. Beach - It's a beautiful beach and there are ample thatched umbrellas and lounge chairs for total shade. The staff, like at the pool, was very accomodating, always asking if we needed anything. JOIA Spa - Again, the steam rooms were broken so we didn't spend much time at the spa. No treatments for us. The indoor pool was nice, the men's and women's lounges a bit tired looking. Main Spa - This was our go to place every day mainly to spend time at their beautiful indoor pool and their wet area with a co-ed steam room, hyrdotherapy hot and cold pools and unique showers. Unlike some resorts, at both spas, the pools and wet areas are complimentary which is very nice.

  Apr 05, 2025
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  Time to move on!

  Older, retired couple who have travelled to the Riviera Maya for over 20 years and have experience with over 30 resorts, nowadays staying mostly at luxury, high-end adults' only (most Secrets, Excellence, Atelier, etc) We travel to the area about 4 or 5 times a year. This was our 7th visit to Joia (nee Grand) and looks like it will be our last. Severely disappointed in the quality of the food, especially the a la carte dinners - during 5 nights, we did not enjoy a single one of them - one dish, tenderloin at Italian, was deemed very good by my hubby. OTOH, my chicken saltimbocca was one of the worst chicken dishes I've ever had - how could any chef with pride send out that cold, with slimy sauce, burnt prosciutto, and a piece of inedible chicken? Butter lettuce for a Caesar salad, when menu clearly stated, Romaine - minor, but not acceptable. Other dishes came out cold when meant to be hot, tough meat, bland - yuck! Service very slow at times. Dishes on the b/fast buffet cold, mislabeled. We were staying in a panoramic, oceanfront butler suite and at the pricepoint, (almost $1000 per night), felt we wasted our money! Shower still suffers from intermittent water temperature and we realized how small it actually is, as we had transferred from another "luxury" adult only with a huge, modern shower you could hold a party in! Also, why only one soap dish, one soap dispenser when two sinks? Not exactly high level luxury. Small annoyances, but really?? Wi-fi also dropped quite often. No enforcement of dress code (which has already been dumbed down) - tank tops on men in the buffet, even a man barefoot! For those of us who follow the code and expect it to be enforced, very annoying. No long single malt whisky offered at the lobby bar for us regular all-inclusive folks - seemingly, taken off the choice a couple of months ago (you can pay for it!!). Hubby not happy as that's his drink of choice - got the bad news at check-in when a drink was offered! Fruit and drinks cart removed from main pool (again in the recent past) - so much dumbing down of "luxury" amenities. We didn't use the pools, but the "towel game" was rampant at the main pool - not a single shaded area at 8 am; not many people, but lots of towels. Same at 10 am. There used to be "policing" of this practise, but that too seems to have been either discontinued or not enforced. Fortunately, we are totally beach people, and could find a palapa at most hours - 'though some of the padding needs replacing on the loungers. The staff are mostly still wonderful and willing to help - we appreciated our butlers managing to get us on the restaurants' wait lists at our preferred time, taking us on golf carts to the lobby and beyond, setting up housekeeping and turndown service times, mini-bar stocking and generally checking to see if all was ok. We were glad to see evening entertainment back in the air-conditioned theatre, but the level of performance wasn't very good, especially at the Latin show! Also, the app showed stuff that never happened or did not show stuff - as a result, some performances were very poorly attended. We have recommended Joia/Grand to many others over the years for its culinary experiences, drink quality, entertainment quality, standards of dress, but that wont be happening any more. Granted, it is a very nice, well-maintained property, but you can't eat and drink landscaping or buildings! Maybe we just hit a bad week, with almost full occupancy and they couldn't really cope being understaffed. However, for the pricepoint, they need to do better in the areas I highlighted. Too many new/er luxury resorts now, offering much better "bang for your buck", with more comfortable accommodations.

  Apr 04, 2025
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  Hope this helps

  Hola! Recently returned from spending 7 nights at The Joia Iberostar. My companion and I have travelled extensively over 26 years, having never returned to the same resort twice. We have stayed at both the Iberostar Grand in Punta Cana and The Paraiso Maya, next door to The Joia. We LOVED both of them. We stayed in Room 7248 which faces the quiet pool, beautiful, spacious and well decorated. The air conditioner worked really well, consistently at a cool 18 degrees. The ala cartes were very good. The buffet, especially on Gala Night and on Mexico night, were superb. The beach is gorgeous. However, if you want to swim, you should head left, toward The Maya because there are many rocks in the area along with big waves. Be careful when entering the water. Service was very good and the people in the resort were very friendly. Hopefully this helps if you are considering The Joia! Highly recommend!

  Apr 01, 2025