Arrival: Feb 8 – 15 Arrival was great. Left Toronto at 0610 am and was at the hotel just after lunch time. The staff had a great refreshing welcome drink as soon as we walked in. This was my 4th trip to Paradise so was excited to see the new renovations. We also took along some newbie’s with us. A group of 13 in total. Some of our rooms were not ready yet but it did not matter. We just dropped our luggage and started showing the crew around. Hit the swim up bar right away.
Rooms
We had a total of 5 rooms, 4 of which were called Junior Suites. (The old attic rooms.) Wow….these rooms sure are the place to be now. Very roomie and comfortable. But if you can’t climb stairs then not the place to be. Our 14 year old twins had their own room and just loved it. We had rooms in buildings 6, 12, 13 and 15. The renovations are very beautiful and still ongoing. During the week, the work continued on our room which would bother some I’m sure. At the start of the week we had no kitchenette and by the end of the week, we did. Yeah sure, there are lots of little glitches still to be worked out but hey….be patient. The rooms are always kept clean and we loved the complimentary bottled water and pop left in the fridge daily. The electronic keys were a bit of a pain but not a huge deal. Our air conditioning worked great, just left one of the keys in all the time. Our problem that kept repeating was no cold water…..just hot….too hot to shower in.
Restaurants and Bars
Enjoyed the buffet……lots of food all of the time. My brother and nephew loved the omelette fella. If you can’t find something to eat, then there is something wrong. Went to both ala carte restaurants. What an improvement to the italian. Looked like a funeral parlour before. Now much brighter and updated. The food was very good. A bit disappointed with Eden’s. They have changed their menu and it was OK but not outstanding. However, we celebrated my nieces birthday there and the staff were very good. Candles in a cake and sang for her. She was tickled.
The bars are all good……service is excellent. Glad to see Allan and Juan again. The kids loved Allan. Go Wiarton Wild !!!! The kids gave Allan a pin from our local hockey team and he wore it all week. The kids were very pleased.
Beach/Pools/Grounds: Paradise has the best beach!!!!! We visited the Barcelo beach when we went on our fishing trip and got eaten alive by sand fleas. None on Paradise beach. We swam in the ocean only with the exception of the first day when we got there and got in to go to the swim up bar. The pool was too cool and the ocean was warm. We have loved the hot tub in the past but they are having problems with it and it was not hot. Hopefully they get this fixed.
The grounds as always are beautiful and they work very hard keeping them tidy.
Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: The activities staff were all very friendly and get you involved if you are willing. We did some of the crazy games and played volleyball. Thanks to Beauty, Rambo, Bon Bon, Ronaldino, Lucas and others for all of their energy and friendship. We also enjoyed the boys at the water activities shack. "Johnny Bravo" I’ll never forget ya…..you are a great dancer. We loved the banana boat ride that we did on Saturday. A total blast !!!! We loved the magician that visited on Tuesday night and the beach party on the Saturday evening. In the past, the staff have done the majority of the shows and we really enjoyed them. The entertainment is being hired out at present….bands etc. Would love to see the staff get back to doing some of the shows again. They were always very entertaining. We called this our adrenaline holiday. On Tuesday we went fishing with "Gone Fishing." and had a blast. The weather was not good, very high seas and no fish but hey. We chartered the boat before we left for 13 of us and had a blast. We had wild dolphins come rig ht up to our boat which was a thrill and my nephew saw a whale. Thanks to Chappa, Alex and Herman for a great day. Then on Thursday we went on a country tour that I had prebooked with Linda at Mels Tours out of Sousa. She was great. We did the Tropical Sun Jeep Safari. Linda came right to our hotel for the deposit on Monday morning. She promised us a great tour and that it was. Our tour guides name was Elvis and he was outstanding. The highlight of this tour was jumping off the Damajaua Waterfall. We were only allowed to go up 2 of the levels due to the recent heavy rainfall. Still had a blast though. The guides here were also wonderful and looked after us all very well. What a great day. Then on Friday, my brother took his family to Ocean World where they did the dolphin encounter and snorkelled with the fish. They enjoyed this and had a great day. Meanwhile, my kids and I went zip lining. It was an amazing experience. Zip Lining was with Yasika Adventures. Thanks to Cesar for a great day. It ended up that he is the manager and picked us up at the resort because the bus was running late d/t a flat tire. He was very informative and friendly. Yasika Adventures is very new, only just over a year. The staff area all excellent and our instructor Franklin was very good. The safety precautions were always taken and there was no fear of falling at all. The line is out the tourist road to Santiago and the scenery is just beautiful. The drive out there was just amazing. You look back over the city and the Atlantic Ocean. I am definatley recommending this adventure to all !!!!!!
We booked the zip lining and Ocean World from CARLOS off the beach and had no problem at all……just buyer beware when you buy off the beach. We loved Carlos.
Other Comments: We were hoping that they had not changed the atmosphere of Paradise with all the renos and we were glad to find that it still feels like home. Will make many return trips to Paradise!!!! We had rain for the first 3 days but hey….didn’t let us stop our fun. By mid week it was typical beautiful weather. The only complaint I have was that we were constantly being bugged by the time share guys. Felt like having a t-shirt made that said "NO to time share….leave me alone!!" They are all over the resort…did not like being bugged constantly. Did some souvenir shopping at the plaza, the orange market and off the beach. The girls got their hair braided from Nancy on the beach. (#8) She is wonderful. She even changed my nieces beads at the end of the week and fixed up their braids that needed it. Thanks Nancy !!!
k.srydall@bmts.com
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