stayed here a couple of nights, beautiful place to relax and charge the batteries, good food, great ambiance, very friendly and helpful staff

Before I review the hotel, I must commend J B Journeys Travel Agency, for without their vision, we would not have found this hotel or planned this vacation. I traveled with my boyfriend. I am accustomed to all-inclusive commercial resorts and he prefers rustic vacations where you become one with nature. Barbara and Jean achieved what we thought was impossible: recommending a hotel that combines the best of both of our desires. EcoParaiso seamlessly combines an ecologically sound resort that focuses on nature and being one with the environment, while providing every amenity and luxury that a commercial resort offers. Barbara and Jean checked on us every day while we were on our trip and their personal service and attention to detail is unparalleled.

STAFF: The staff was not to be believed..everyone from the manager to the housekeeping staff were so accommodating and willing to do anything they needed to to make us happy. In fact, I felt like there was nothing we could have asked for that would not have been done for us. At the same time, they conducted their work in a way that was non-invasive and respectful of your privacy. We came in to the resort on an 11pm flight and left at 7am. When we arrived at night, we were told that we did not have to fill out any paperwork, they were sure we were tired, and that we could complete all paperwork in the morning. What an unexpected and appreciated surprise that was! When we left at 4 am on NEW YEARS DAY!!, the manager and assistant manager personally escorted us to the airport to ensure our safe departure. If we were to take that flight again, we would have stayed in Merida the night before the flight to avoid the 3am wake up call! The wait staff, and bar tending staff (we LOVED Victor) were so accommodating, and if they did not understand what we were asking for, they made sure to find someone who would. The yoga instructor was amazing. I am a novice, but my boyfriend has years of experience and he said that she was an excellent instructor he had ever had. We had massages twice, and Alexandra was very talented! The staff as a whole could not do enough for us, and truly was the reason our trip was as relaxing as it was.

ROOMS: We stayed in a master suite bungalow. There are no words to describe how beautiful and clean the bungalow was. The room was huge!! With plenty of closet space, a safe, a beautiful outdoor shower and our own private patio with a hammock, chairs, and a private wading pool. And you are RIGHT ON THE BEACH!! And so private. We did not miss the air conditioning at all..the constant ocean breeze kept the room cool all day and night. All the doors and windows open. The room is made up twice per day and was truly kept beautifully clean. Coffee was delivered every morning to your room.

BEACH: Miles and miles of untouched beach = heaven! The seashells and fish and bird life was not to be believed. Although the resort was completely sold out, we felt like we were the only ones on the beach. Getting chairs was never of issue.

HOTEL: The main buildings were easily accessible. Traveling the road up to the hotel can make you wonder where exactly you are going, but then, suddenly, the hotel is in front of you. The lobby is open air and beautiful. The restaurant is located in a building with the hotel store and bar. The bar has Wii, WiFi, a tv, numerous board games, hundreds of books, ping pong, pool, and foos ball. On the roof there is a serene sitting space made of twigs. There are two pools, an adults only and main pool..both pools were kept clean. Each pool has a bar and you can order snacks there. There is an interpretative trail..which we loved, but the trail did seem to stop. We had to make our way back and could not finish. Because it is an ecological resort, there is not the same manicured landscape as a mainstream hotel; however, we did not miss this at all. The natural plant life was absolutely beautiful.

FOOD: The food was awesome! Authentic, and nicely presented. Breakfasts always had fresh cut papaya and pineapple. Lunches were delicious…we loved the guacamole and cerviches..not to be missed!! Dinner was delicious; however, we preferred ordering from the menu as opposed to the buffet.

TOURS: We took two tours: the Flamingo Reserve Tour and the Cenote and Hacienda Tour. The Flamingo tour was a ½ day combination sea and land tour, which we enjoyed immensely. The Cenote and Hacienda Tour was the highlight of our trip and should not be missed!! Alex, our personal tour guide, was just as enjoyable as the trip itself! He has a love for his city, country and culture and speaking to him about all that he knows was enlightening and inspiring. The cenotes were like nothing we had ever seen before. After swimming in two cenotes, we made our way to the Hacienda, where we had a most amazing lunch and learned so much! We went into town on our own one day for lunch, which was most enjoyable. The town of Celestun is quiet and we felt extremely safe. We were told to eat at one of the four “P” restaurants. We chose Los Pampanos, which was delicious! There were also various vendors on the beach selling handcrafted wares.

NEW YEARS CELEBRATION: A most amazing experience! The hotel took Mayan and Mexican cultural traditions, maintained their integrity, but added a personal warmth and so much fun for all who participated. We had an opportunity to meet the owner of the resort; and in speaking with her, realized that this is just not a business for her, it was a dream, a vision, that she was able to implement to a tee. Meeting her made everything come together for us and we were so happy to be able to tell her in person how much her resort meant to us and how our stay fulfilled us with memories we will cherish forever.

We stayed here for 2 nights in late November, wished we stayed more and would have if it wasn't so expensive! The room was lovely and the setting fantastic. We, unlike a previous reviewer, found the sea perfectly fine for swimming. Warm and with a moderate, but significant surf. The food and drink was good and reasonably priced for a place with a totally captive audience. In our experience if you want to see birds you have to put up with mosquitoes. That said the mosquitoes were not bad and only present during a couple of hours of the day. If this really could bother you bring some DEET and light, covering clothes.

We had the place almost all to ourselves and the staff was great, but it was sad to see such a lovely place so underutilized. Lower your off season prices and post it on your website and you'll have the place full!

We checked out the prices of the flamingo tours as we drove through Celestun and decided to see what the hotel offered before going. The boat operators did not seem to know much English and it seemed unlikely that they could tell us about the birds. The hotel offered us a tour at a slightly increased price, but promised an English speaking ornithologist with good binoculars for all. Wow! Our guide Alex was all that was promised and more. He knew about everything from the politics of setting up the reserve to the biogeography of flamingos. We wish we could have had him for the rest of our Mexico tour.

Also, they need to have coffee before 7:30 AM if they wish to please their nature loving, bird watching clientele.

It was our first time in an eco-resort, I found it by searching on the net because we wanted to combine the visit of Merida with a few days of total relax. We choosed the 4 nights package because we were very interested in the guided eco-tours.

I have to say the first impression was not good at all: we arrive at the airport of Merida and noone was waiting for us (the package included transportation to the hotel). So I called the hotel and someone told me there was a misunderstanding, but the car was coming. 5 minutes later someone else call me back telling me we had to wait 1 hour 30 because there was a misunderstanding, they had lost my email with the arrival time and I had not answered they last e-mail (obvious, I already was in Mexico and had no computer with me). But they also offered me another option: to take a taxi from the airport, they would then pay the taxi fare. So I went by taxi and when we arrived at the resort they immediately apologized and offered us a free 1 hour massage for everyone!

From this moment on, everything was excellent. The staff is very polite and helpful, they do all they can to make you feel good.

The eco-tours were also very interesting, the biologist explain you everything and answer every question. Best tour, I would say the flamingos but also the night safari.

Accomodation is very comfortable, food was great even if sometimes there's not so much to choose from, but if you go to an eco-resort you already have to know that (food is always fresh and they want to avoid too much waste, and I perfectly agree!).

Beach is fantastic for long walks or just to sit and look at the wonderful sunsets. Sea is not good for swimming but there are 2 swimmingpools and during tours you can swim into the ojos de agua (fresh water): wonderful.

And if you want to relax and you appreciate quiet and nature, this is really the ideal place for you: you wake up and you just hear the birds.

About mosquitos: this was not a problem for us, we traveled in february and there were just few mosquitos as the sun went down; we had a natural repellent and really had no problem (nor our little 4 year old boy). You can sometimes find some little animals in your room, such as geckos or a little mouse, that's just normal if you are surrounded by nature and was absolutely not a problem for us.

I'd definitely recommend this resort and want to go back someday!