Why choose it: Service
Keep in mind: Walking distances
More about this resort
JOIA Paraiso is an adults-only all-inclusive on the Riviera Maya, for couples who want a butler and a whole complex to dine around. It is about 35 minutes from Cancun's airport, with 310 suites, five themed restaurants and a buffet, five bars, and adults-only pools with swim-up suites along them. This was Iberostar Grand Paraiso until the rename, and it is the adult corner of a much larger Iberostar campus whose restaurants JOIA guests may use. Guests praise the service and the butler attention, the food and the reach of the restaurant access, and the adults-only grounds and pools. The complaints are specialty restaurant reservations, seasonal seaweed on the beach, and the logistics of a complex this size. The thing people wish they had known is that the quiet resort sits inside a busy campus, and that the free transfer advertised with direct bookings has conditions attached. The plan covers the five themed restaurants and the buffet, the bars on house wines from several countries, a minibar, 24-hour room service, Wi-Fi and the run of the wider Paraiso complex; the spa and the beachfront massages are charged, gratuities are not covered, premium bottles cost extra, and the free round-trip transfer from Cancun applies only to qualifying direct bookings of three nights or more. Reserve Haiku, especially its teppanyaki table. Legado, L’Atelier, Venecia, Ember and Bella Vista currently list no reservation requirement; the Grand Cellar wine experience costs extra and requires booking. Suite Pool Access is the upgrade for anyone who will swim every day, and the 60-square-metre Beachfront Butler Suite is the splurge. Families are not admitted.




















