Recently, our family experienced a seven-day getaway at the all-inclusive Paradisus Cancun resort. This vacation was just what we needed to escape winter's cold and recharge our batteries as parents.

We've been fortunate enough to visit several all-inclusive resorts in Cancun and other parts of Mexico. In this Paradisus Cancun Review, I'll share our family's pros and cons with this specific resort and whether or not we'd return for another visit.

Paradisus Cancun Overview

Paradisus Cancun is located in the Cancun Hotel Zone in Quintana Roo, Mexico. There are over 500 rooms in this 5-star deluxe resort located just 12 miles from the Cancun city center. This family-friendly all-inclusive beachside resort features a spa, kids club, and a golf course.

For us, the destination of Cancun was more than ideal because it was a short 3.5-hour direct flight from our home in Detroit. We worked with Apple Vacations to book our entire package so the resort, flight and transportation from and back to the airport were all taken care of.

We traveled in February and the weather was phenomenal! Our trip had high temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s during the day. And at night, the temperature dipped down just slightly so you could get a reprieve from the hotter day. So you'd wear bathing suits and T-shirts during the day and then a very light sweater with pants or shorts at night.

Paradisus Cancun Review: Best Features

There was so much we enjoyed about visiting Paradisus Cancun. We had a group of twelve family members with us so there were lots of opinions. To keep this review succinct, I'm going to share the top 3 best features of the resort based on our family visit.

Proximity to Airport

A couple of years ago, we visited the Riu Palace Mexico. The resort was beautiful, luxurious and relaxing, but the trip to and from the airport was long. That was not the case with the Paradisus Cancun.

Our trip from the airport was only 10 miles and took us around 20 minutes. This paled in comparison to our hour-long trip to the Riu Palace Mexico near Playa del Carmen.

My daughter typically gets car sick during extended trips in buses or passenger vans. This time around, no sickness and no upset stomach! Definitely a parenting win!

Hotel Layout and Amenities

The resort property is truly a work of art. With growing vines draping down five stories, it feels like the resort is alive.

There are a series of “pyramids” that break up the campus. Each of these pyramids features hundreds of rooms and different hotel amenities. Some of our favorite amenities were the gym, 9-hole golf course, buffet, sports bar, coffee bar, and the series of no-reservation-needed restaurants.

The fact that we didn't need a restaurant reservation for our group of twelve people was a huge perk. This allowed us to all sit together and make some excellent memories.

The Beach

Saving the best for last, the beach outside of the Paradisus Cancun was spectacular. The sand was soft enough for long walks, creating sand castles or just burying yourself in the sand as my son did.

The water was so turquoise that it looked unreal. We were drawn to it like a magnet! So much so that we found ourselves body surfing in the ocean waves almost daily.

Paradisus Cancun Review: Areas For Improvement

There's always room for improvement when you visit an all-inclusive resort. To give you an honest and balanced view, here are our 3 top areas for improvement for the Paradisus Cancun.

Too Close To Party Central

While the proximity to the airport was a definite pro, the proximity to the party scene was not. With all the life and money mistakes I made in my 20s, I would have loved being close to the nightlife action of clubs, dancing, and parties. But not much as a Dad in my 40s who loves a good night's sleep.

For our first three nights at the resort, there was a party scene outside of our window that we heard LOUD and clear from 1 am to 4 am. Consistent and thumping bass beats shook our room and woke us all up.

Pro Tip: Avoid Pyramid 3 facing the city if you want to sleep at night. Luckily, they were able to move us to Pyramid 2 on our fourth night. I slept like a baby after that change.

In general, I think being closer to the Hotel Zone made for more of a party scene. While there were mostly families at the resort, we had some college kids partying late at night in the halls and we even slipped in some puke one evening. Nasty!

The Continuous Upcharge

The resort experience was supposed to be all-inclusive but the amount of people trying to sell you stuff each day had me questioning that fact. Here are just a few examples:

• Excursion Sales Guys: Every time we would walk from the pool to the hotel, someone would approach us from the resort team and try to sell us an excursion. The same salesperson asked me 3 different times one day. It was annoying and not relaxing.
• Room Service: One perk of the all-inclusive was free room service. However, the hotel front desk people failed to mention the free room service was limited to three uses. After that, you'd be charged the full price.
• Dinner Extra Charge: When we ate at the restaurants, our meals were included. Several options on each restaurant menu had “extra charge” labeled on the most appealing entrees. That felt like a bait-and-switch to us.
• Pool Beds: The pool had excellent seating and lounging options. Unfortunately, not all of them were free. We were told the lounger beds cost an extra $250 each.
• Pool Towels: The pool towels were indeed free, but they were housed and kept by the excursion sales guys. This meant that getting a towel also came with another sales pitch for excursions.

I understand that resorts need to make money but part of the appeal of buying an all-inclusive is that you don't have to worry about the extras. This experience felt a lot less all-inclusive than other resorts we've visited. We were prepared to spend a little extra though since we budgeted ahead of time.

Related Content: Best Budget Apps for Families

Staff Management

The staff at the Paradisus Cancun was friendly, kind and attentive. Unfortunately, there were too many hotel guests for the staff to properly support and still provide a quality experience.

The food truck and breakfast buffet lines were often quite long. Luckily, there were plenty of other food options to consider. I'd suggest moving some of those sales guys away from the pool and bulk up the hospitality staff to keep that 5-star appeal alive in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions: Paradisus Cancun Review

During our 7-night trip, we experienced quite a bit that the Paradisus Cancun had to offer. As we were preparing for the trip, I had a few questions that I couldn't find answers to. Now that we've visited this all-inclusive resort, I thought I'd place some of them here.

What is the dress code for the Paradissus Cancun?

For the restaurants and the resort, it was “resort casual”. Essentially, as long as you had a shirt on and didn't have a wet bathing suit, you were just fine. T-shirts, sandals and shorts were worn by many.

Do you need reservations for the restaurants at the Paradisus Cancun?

No, we did not need reservations for any of the restaurants we attended on our trip. In fact, we had a group of twelve people and they were still able to seat us together.

Is Paradisus Cancun safe?

There was not a moment where we felt unsafe during our family trip to Paradisus Cancun. The resort staff were friendly and accommodating.

Final Thoughts on Paradissus Cancun Review

Our trip to Paradisus Cancun was a wonderful getaway from the winter cold. Since we've had the opportunity to visit a half dozen or more of these resorts now, I would say it wasn't the best place we've visited.

While the proximity to the airport, resort amenities and beach were major pros, the lack of sleep we experienced from being so close to the party center was a bit too much for me to want to return. Additionally, the constant upselling at this all-inclusive resort left me wondering why they just didn't include more and raise the price a bit.

I suppose that's the beauty of family vacations. You can try one location and then if it's not a good fit, you can try somewhere else new in the future.

With that in mind, it's time for us to start saving up for our next trip! Tracking that vacation savings has become a lot easier for us with our new go-to family budgeting app Monarch Money.

Check out our full Monarch Money review here and see how it can help you prepare for your next family vacation!

What do you think of this Paradisus Cancun Review? Are you considering visiting this all-inclusive resort?

Please let us know in the comments below.