Everything you need to know when visiting Playa del Carmen, Mexico. A tour of Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla, a review of the resort’s restaurants and security, and currency exchange advice.
If you’ve been following me on Snapchat (thepkpway), you know that I was in Playa del Carmen, Mexico a few weeks ago for a friend’s wedding. Playa del Carmen is about an hour and a half south of Cancun and was our home for 4 days and 3 nights. This week I’ll be sharing everything we did, beginning with where we stayed.
We stayed at Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla, an adults only, all-inclusive resort. If you’re traveling with children, the family friendly side of the resort is called Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Esmeralda. The resort is about a 45 minute drive from Cancun International Airport. To get from the airport to the resort, we pre-booked a Super Shuttle, which cost $19 per person. Booking the shuttle was convenient, but could get a little time consuming because the drivers wait until the shuttle is full before departing. Luckily, our resort was the first stop. We also booked a Super Shuttle to take us back to the airport when we checked out. Before the check-out date, be sure to call to confirm the time they’re going to pick you up from the resort.
Our room was the Junior Suite, which was a whopping 570 sq. feet, complete with a king size bed and a 129 sq. feet private terrace.
The bathroom had his & hers sinks, a large soaking tub, and a two person rainfall shower.
The sitting area was a great place to plan our days and enjoy room service. I love not having to do everything on the bed.
Our room had the garden view and the terrace over looked the lush landscape.
From the terrace, you can see the ocean and downtown!
Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla has a large pool area with plenty of cabanas and showers.
There are even rooms that step out right into a separate pool and jacuzzi area. How fun is that!
One of the best parts of the resort was it’s proximity to the beach, which is directly accessible by crossing a bridge.
The sand was white and water, blue.
It doesn’t get any better than that!
We woke up early one morning to watch the sunrise. I just loved all the colors.
{Where to Eat}
Being an all-inclusive resort, everything in the mini fridge is yours for the taking. The staff makes sure to keep your fridge stocked with bottles of water and soft drinks at all times. The 24 hour room service is also included and can be used at your disposal (although the menu is limited between 11 PM to 6 AM). On one of the mornings, we had an early start (5 AM), so I called ahead of time to schedule to have breakfast sent over at 4:15 AM. They were 5 minutes late, but we did get our breakfast.
Most of the restaurants and bars were also included (there was only one restaurant that had an extra charge). I loved being able to walk into one of the buffets, grab an ice cream cone, and walk out! There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, from buffets to sit-down style, each with varying cuisine choices. Make sure to take note of the hours because some are only open for dinner and require reservations. Also take note of the dress code requirements for each restaurant because they will enforce it and not seat you until you’re in proper attire.
I’d say the food was satisfactory. I found that the chefs shied away from strong authentic flavors, whether it was an Italian restaurant or a Latin restaurant. My guess is because it’s a resort that has to accommodate palates from all over the world.
My favorite places to eat were the buffets (Hadar, Naos, & The Market). There was a certain salami that I was hooked on and I couldn’t get enough of. During breakfast, Hadar even had a make your own smoothie station, where you pick out the inclusions and they blend it for you on the spot!
{Security}
The security at Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla is top notch. Before being allowed in, the driver needs to report the name and room number of the guest. If you’re checking-in, the guard has a list of guests checking-in for the day. There’s quite a distance between the entrance of the resort and the resort itself, so if you’re planning on leaving the resort, plan to spend $150 Mexican Pesos on a taxi if you don’t already have pre-arranged transportation.
{Currency}
If you’re going to use cash, try as best as you can to carry Mexican Pesos with you, rather than completing transactions with US dollars (USD). Most places will charge you more if you pay with USD. For example, the cab ride to get out of the resort was $150 Mexican Pesos, which with the exchange rate at the time was about $7-$8. Had we paid in USD we would have been charged $12-$13. This was common everywhere we went. Before going on the trip, I called varying currency exchange establishments to check their rates before going in to exchange. To find the current exchange rate, Google “1 USD to MXN” to find out how many Pesos $1 USD is worth at that time. Then, choose the establishment that will get you a rate as close to that number as possible. I found that private establishments beat the rate of my bank.
I pre-calculated the amount of Pesos we would need based on what we wanted to do, and added a little extra for tipping and other incidentals. You don’t want to exchange too much because then you’ll be left with extra Pesos to have to exchange back, which means you’ll be losing money when you exchange USD to Pesos (buy) AND again, when exchanging from Pesos to USD (sell).
If you’re going to use a credit card, check to see if there are any fees associated with international charges. Once we used up all of our Pesos, we used a card that paid according to the exchange rate at the time and didn’t have any additional fees. Before going on your trip, make sure to call the credit card company to let them know that you’re going to be out of the country. Otherwise, your card might get declined for unusual activity.
I hope this was helpful for when you plan your trip to Mexico. See you later in the week for some fun excursions we participated in while in Mexico!
I enjoyed this article! I stayed here for a week in March of 2016. The article brought back great memories of the trip!
I’m glad I was able to transport you back :D It is a wonderful resort!
Thanks for creating this post! Your photos are wayyyyy better than what’ on their site. The rooms and the actual atmosphere of the place was well illustrated here. Thanks again!
Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful time :)