Paradisus Rio De Oro Reviews

Just a quick warning to others that have booked for this hotel this year. We are due to go in July/Aug 2006 and have just received notification from First Choice that the Hotel are currently undertaking building work and this will continue until Nov 2006! Although we were advised that we could be (depending on availability) situated as far away from the building work as possible we felt that it was not worth the risk and have therefore decided to change our booking and go somewhere else. The Hotel is planning to build beach bungalows and a new beach grill. We didn't want to risk suffering noise and disruption when we were looking for 2 weeks rest and relaxation so we have changed our booking.

The hotel is fantastic with tremendous staff, wonderful restaurants, a lovely pool and a fantastic beach. Our favourite restaurants were 'El Patio' and the Japanese restaurants and we'd advise to book your tables before you go to avoid missing out.

Rooms are huge and kept very clean with a TV, CD player, hairdryer, mini-bar etc and you are also able to get (free!) room service 24 hours a day.

Entertainment was not great, but all in all a fantastic holiday!

Well what can we say Wow comes to mind.

This hotel is Paradise.We had a most fantastic time at this hotel. The food was good,especially then restaurants. We liked them all, but our favourite was The El Patio.The room we had was nice and clean with everything you need.The bar was a good place to go and mingle and chat to other guests.The staff in the whole of the hotel are so friendly and make your stay such a happy one.Drinks are a plenty,Champers all day long if you want.The evening entertainment was very good.The beach was absolutely fantastic. We spent alot of time on the beach and loved walking up and down it.The beach restaurant is well worth a visit too,and what a lovely view to enjoy while having lunch.We did not want to leave to go back home and we shall be going back here again very soon and taking our friends with us.

If you choose to go to the Paradfisus you will not be disappointed.

HOTEL. Clean. Large, spread over a large area. Gardens wonderful. Lounges well furnished, very comfortable wherever you settled.

LOCATION. Remote. However the hotel, its natural surroundings and trips out were more than sufficient to keep us occupied. If you like birdwatching, you'll love it.

ACCOMMODATION. Best and largest room in my holidaying experience.

FOOD. Lots of it and bearing in mind this is a holiday hotel the choice and quality was admirable. The al a carte restaurants served excellent food, but the menus didn't change in the 2 weeks we were there. Some of the pre-prepared buffet food was not very hot, but like the Greeks, maybe the Cubans think hot food is bad for the digestion.

Booking restaurants is not a problem, bit of a queue sometimes. A lot of people Emailed bookings ahead. The Japanese restaurant excellent but somewhat theatrical performances by chefs cooking food in front of your group. El Patio has the atmosphere of a top international restaurant, and the Mediterranean's ante-room is really quite magnificent - take coffee in there and feel like royalty. The Cuban restaurant is the least impressive but still is excellent with romantic dining 'islands' outside the main area. Other restaurants cater for lunchtime, the one on the beach gives a brilliant combination of fresh cooked food and a table beside the coral sand and blue Caribbean. You could pay a fortune for this alone in other resorts.

DRINKS. Good quality, not just local brands. Wine OK rather than impressive.

SERVICE. Impeccable. Smart, cheerful and friendly without any over-familiarity.

BEACH. Clean. Watch for one or two dips in the sand when wading out. Snorkel below the massage balcony to see fish (take some bread to be mobbed). At low tide it is almost possible to walk out to the rocks - good for nervous swimmers.

POOL. Big, clean. Plenty of sun beds, but needs to be - usual selfish behaviour- hours of non-occupation by reservists! Hotel managers please note. DO something about it. Don't just put up notices - give them a 'warning ticket,' move their stuff after an hour - yes, they'll be a upset; good! The rest of us will be happier.

ENTERTAINMENT. Professional standard, not the usual holiday reps doing amateur night. Really good shows, a live 10 piece band, large ensemble of dancers, singers. You would have to pay good money to watch this back home. First time I've bothered to go to a hotel show.

SERIOUS BIT. The Cubans are poor. A senior waiter gets $10 a month, he can double it with overtime. A manual worker might get $5 a month. A teacher we met, $15 and a doctor $35. But, they are happy, reasonably content and have all their essential needs met by the socialist state, which, by and large they support. So, when we guests are tipping we need to dwell on the context. Tipping a dollar in Cuba equates to, say in the UK, a mega-wealthy person on £50,000 a week (Footballer, industrialist, pop star) giving a £150 tip to every waiter, bell-boy, the man who gets your sun bed, the cab-driver etc etc. It just wouldn't happen. We gave our room cleaner a $1 a day. If half the 16 rooms she cleans did this she'd be picking up a months wages per day in tips alone! I'm not saying don't tip, I'm saying think about it; a dollar for every little service and showy $5 tips were becoming noticeably commonplace. If you feel that you need to spread your wealth around then there are people in the world infinitely worse off than the Cubans. Maybe the $5 handouts should be heading their way. Just a thought.

(PS after I had this personal debate with myself and I cut back on the over-generous tipping, I found to their great credit that the staff carried on giving me the same, wonderful cheerful service).

Final summary. I've been to a few 4/5 star holiday hotels and I reckon this is equal best. I heard some people complain that it wasn't a true 5 star. Well, yes, it's not the Paris Ritz or the London Savoy nor does it pretend to be. As a holiday hotel it really will take some beating, and if you take the price into account it would win hands down against any 5 star hotel in the world.

We booked this holiday not only to enjoy a first class accomodation but also to get married.

This hotel is most definately top class.The food is fantastic and such a good variety and quantity.The resort has high security no body bothers you on the beach.The sea is clear and warm and no Mosqito Bites!.The day of the wedding was superb no stress very well organised and every effort was put in by the staff.The gardens are superb and the staff work very hard here to maintain a lovely resort. The wine waiter in the El Patio restaurant Raymondo does ensure you get first class treatment and he loves football. If you have any old football shirts take them with you he would greatly appreciate them.If you like a good glass of wine look out for Mary in the buffet restaurant she will make sure your glass is never empty.

If you like top class accomodation and food etc we would sincerley recommend this hotel.