Getting to the Iberostar Playa Paraiso couldn't have been simpler. American Airlines flew us to Cancun Airport in just over three hours. Customs took a matter of moments, and we found our van and driver, Hector, waiting right outside.
Hector easily hoisted our two bags (how much do bathings suits and sandals weigh?). Four other passengers showed up, and we were off. Where the road forks after the airport, Hector went south toward the Riviera Maya; north is Cancun and jello shots.
We passed resort entrances on the left, beachward side and low, thick, jungly vegetation on the right. We observed approvingly that the Riviera Maya has been intentionally kept to a modest level of development.
After about a half hour Hector swung left and we entered the Iberostar hotel complex past sculpted hedges and flower banks. We passed several handsome thatched-roof buildings and a soaring, abstract conical structure in purple—the conference center, said Hector. He pointed out the Iberostar's gym, spa and medical office, complete with ambulance.
Across the road was a partially-built stucture that Hector said will house a shopping arcade, a wedding chapel and an even bigger fitness center. "And all the green grass," he said proudly, "that is our new P.B. Dye-designed championship golf course, the best in the state of Quintana Roo."
Staying in this Mayan Temple is No Sacrifice
Hector halted the van in front of an enormous replica of a majestic Mayan pyramid, built in steps like Chichen Itza. We gawked. "At night, the pyramid lights up in different colors," he said. "Welcome to the Paraiso Maya."We entered the pyramid—the Maya's lobby. The thought that came to me was, "No expense was spared." lf you didn't know you were in an Iberostar all-inclusive, you'd think this was a $700-a-night boutique hotel.
The Maya is beautiful. Its tastefully luxurious pyramid lobby is cavernous but somehow intimate, with space given to various areas—a bar in the center, a seating area, a nook with pool tables, little shops along one wall, reception in another.
It is finished in exotic wood and stone you want to run your hands over, and everywhere you look there's artwork—a life-size wooden jaguar, Mayan jade masks, light-catching mobiles, friezes painted with Aztec gods, and a swirling chandelier in the form of a rippling snake deity.
A smiling reception clerk found our reservation immediately. Armando asked if we preferred to be closer to the restaurants or the beach, because the Paraiso Maya, like all the resorts that comprise the Iberostar Playa Paraiso, is laid out vertically. "The beach," said Richard. "That way we can walk off our meals."
Armando gave us keys to a second-floor room very close to the beach, and he snapped redwood-hued plastic bracelets onto our wrists. "These give you every privilege at all four Iberostar hotels," he said. "You can eat anywhere and use any pool or beach." Then Armando winked. "But your room is so nice you may not want to leave. You romantic getaway people have 24-hour room service at the Maya."
Lovebirds Watch Each Other
Armando suggested we walk to our room to get the lay of the land, and gave us an Iberostar property map. As we exited the pyramid we passed a gigantic outdoor birdcage the size of a New York City studio apartment.I stopped to admire the many tropical songbirds contently flitting about or dozing on branches, but Richard tugged me onward. "We'll come back," he said. "The birds live here. We have only a week."
We followed meandering walkways that would would be very seductive under moonlight. The paths traced the border of a property-length pool that the Iberostar Paraiso Maya shares with the Paraiso Lindo.
The pool, hundreds of feet long, is divided into areas: a lazy river, a wave pool that rolls out a couple of surf crests every minute, a long expanse for swmming, a section for water aerobics and volleyball, and, of course, a pool bar. In the center of it all is a Mayan pyramid shading an ice cream bar that doubles as a game area.
This pool was so big and so varied, you could spend your whole Iberostar stay in it, which I'm sure many guests do. I guess that's one way to enjoy a romantic getaway.
We Settle in at Iberostar Paraiso Maya and Find the Beach >
