I stayed at Ocean Riviera Paradise for three nights in March 2024; it was a part of my three resort vacation spree which began at Riu Palace Riviera Maya (click here to read that resort review), then onto Ocean Riviera Paradise, and ended with a four night stay at Hard Rock Riviera Maya.  I had my eye on ORP for quite some time because there were plenty of amenities on-site, it was affordable, and I liked the overall look of the resort.  I chose to stay in the adults-only El Beso guest room section (ages 18+), but most guest rooms look very similar with similar amenities–the only exception would be the upgraded Privilege section and I wasn’t able to access that part of the resort because I did not book that upgrade.  So, this resort review will primarily concentrate on shared resort amenities, what it was like to stay in the adults-only section, and list my pros and cons concerning this resort which will be interwoven in this review.

This resort is a large one with 974 guest rooms, not a mega-resort but a very lengthy resort (it’s built perpendicular to the beach) which is segmented into different guest room areas and sections.  A rundown of these sections may be helpful for those thinking of staying here…

• Lobby area:  In addition to all check-in desks, there was a lobby bar, piano bar, courtesy rooms for changing, plenty of seating areas, charging stations, and of course bathrooms.  There were multiple tennis courts and a multipurpose sports court outside of the lobby on the right side (south) of the building, that area was kind of tricky to find.

• Main Plaza:  This area was where most evening entertainment such as live music could be found.  On one side was the bowling alley and theater–the sports bar was upstairs and this turned into a disco at night; there was a line of restaurants across the way (Route 66, Sakura, and La Locanda) and on the other side of the Main Plaza were the spa and gym.  The gym had floor to ceiling windows with primarily a jungle-like view plus an outdoor area which looked more like an obstacle course.

• LIne of amenities, shops, and the private El Beso restaurant (Blue Moon):  The ice cream parlor and Mike’s coffee shop were probably the most popular amenities in this area of the resort, it was not unusual to see a line of guests waiting for the ice cream parlor to open at 4 p.m.  I did not see a Casino during my visit even though one was advertised.  I did, however, see a room filled with games–there were mostly older children in there but some adults as well, perhaps this was where the Casino used to be…

• Second Plaza area:  This area contained the very large buffet restaurant and the Kid’s and Teen club areas.  On Saturday evenings the resort hires another company to come in and provide extra amenities for guests including food carts (don’t miss the tacos–they were delish but an extra charge), mechanical bull riding, and souvenir stalls.  Needless to say I chose the food carts over the bull riding…I’m sure it was a safer choice.

• Start of Guest Room Building Sections:  On one side was the Daisy family-friendly section with an extensive children’s playground and separate water park area, and on the other was the adults-only El Beso section.  Each section had its own pool with swim-up bar plus a regular walk-up bar; Daisy had a snack area while El Beso had a separate luncheon restaurant (you had to be dry and wear either regular clothing or a nice swimsuit cover-up at the El Beso lunch restaurant).  All resort guests could use Daisy section amenities, but only El Beso and upgraded Privilege guests could use El Beso amenities.

• Cenote and Best Place To See Monkeys:  This area was next to the Daisy section.  Guests only have very limited access to the cenote; there was a small viewing platform but most of the time you will be seeing coatis which will bug you for a handout.  Monkeys are best seen in the early morning or late afternoon in this area by the Daisy section.  I am not a morning person, and usually too busy doing things in the afternoons to hunt down monkeys, so I did not see any during my visit.  Look for the sign depicting the three wise monkeys–see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

• More Restaurants:  Next to El Beso resort section were additional restaurants (Margarita, Steak House, and Villa Marina, plus a crepe place but I didn’t eat there).
• Privilege and Eden Guest Room Building Sections:  On one side was the upgraded Privilege section which had its own pool with swim-up bar, walk-up bar, snack section, lounge, and private restaurant.  On the other side was the all ages Eden section which had its own pool with swim-up bar, walk-up bar, and snack area.  All resort guests could use the Eden facilities, but only Privilege guests could use Privilege amenities.  Both Privilege and Eden sections had guest rooms closer to the beach.
• Beach:  Included an oceanfront pool (no swim-up bar), a beachfront restaurant with expansive ocean views, a beach bar, beach juice bar with swing seats, hammock section, beach volleyball net, and several lounger sections.  Bring your own towel.

Given the size and layout of the resort, there was shuttle cart and tram service from the lobby to the pool and beach sections with designated pick-up/drop-off stops.  Just let your driver know where you want to get off and they will be more than happy to make it happen even if there is not a designated stop at your destination.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on with my feedback about what the resort offered and my experience staying at the resort.

Let’s start with the food.  Overall I was very happy with my restaurant choices and the food served at the resort; I was only here three nights so I had to choose carefully.  Some restaurants were first come first served while others required reservations which could be confusing as to which required what.  Download the app, it’s imperative to a good resort experience.  Here’s the restaurants which required reservations–Sakura, La Locanda, and the Steak House.  I ate one night at the buffet, one night at Margarita Mexican restaurant, and one night at the Steak House.  Just be advised that if your party is staying in several rooms you may have a difficult time making dinner reservations if you don’t have a butler to make your reservations for you (upgraded Privilege section guests have butler service).  Each guest room can only make reservations for the number of people staying in that guest room which I found difficult to understand–why can’t I make a reservation for a table of 4, for example, if I have a travel party of 4 staying in two separate rooms?  I wound up having to meet with another member of my travel party in order to make a reservation at the same time to help ensure we all would get into dinner together (one room reservation for a table of 1 and another reservation for a table of 2).  Needless to say, this was seemingly unnecessary; we were able to straighten it out when we got to the restaurant that we all wanted to be seated together and it was no problem for them. ???  Margarita restaurant food was quite good but the restaurant seemed more like a noisy cafeteria.  The buffet had quite a selection plus you could visit a separate table to make select drinks for yourself.  Probably safe to skip the British Section in the buffet–I don’t know for sure but I’m fairly confident that hot dogs, a beef dish I couldn’t identify, beans, and cooked cabbage wouldn’t be staple British dishes…maybe I’m wrong on that one.  Other than that the buffet was very comprehensive and of good quality for both breakfast and dinner.  My requisite chilaquiles were present for breakfast and dished out by a staff member, both red and green sauce were available.

I tried the El Beso restaurant for breakfast on two separate occasions primarily because the food was so good and service was excellent the first time I went.  This was a mistaken assumption…the second visit the service was the second worst I’ve ever received at a resort restaurant, plus a major error was made food-wise which could have landed one of my travel party in a Mexico hospital.  Putting Nutella on a dish when someone has a severe tree nut allergy and allergies were brought to the attention of the restaurant staff and table server equals potential problems.  FYI:  If you suffer from any food allergies and traveling to other countries which are non-English speaking, I would suggest you write down in the language of the country you would be visiting what kind of allergy you have.  Obviously there was a problem with translation when ordering.

Let’s talk pools.  I spent most of my time at the El Beso pool area, so I had little experience with spending time at other pools at this resort.  However, I do know that the Daisy pool had its own swim-up bar, walk-up bar, snack area and was available to all resort guests.  Eden pool was available to all guests and had its own swim-up bar, walk-up bar, and snack area, and was a great place to have some afternoon fun playing water volleyball.  Privilege pool was only available to Privilege guests–it had its own swim-up bar, walk-up bar, and snack area.  El Beso pool was only available to El Beso and Privilege section guests (Privilege loungers were in their own roped off area).  El Beso pool had its own swim-up bar, walk-up bar, and poolside luncheon restaurant.  The food was generally decent at the restaurant–the fish burger was good but avoid the nachos.  El Beso pool had its own foam party Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m.; it lasted 50 min. and featured older American music but it was a lot of fun!  If you will be staying in the El Beso section don’t miss it.  There weren’t enough loungers poolside, so be sure to claim your lounger early.

Let’s talk beach.  While I was prepared for a horrible beach experience given what I had read on social media resort reviews, it wasn’t as bad as I had expected.  The beach itself was very narrow right in front of Pez Vela restaurant so there was no room for loungers, but there were two lounger sections–one right next to the restaurant and one on the other side of the beachfront pool; the pool decking also had some loungers but I would imagine these get chosen first.  The biggest problem with the beach was always finding a lounger with shade.  If you didn’t bring anything you needed to keep track of and you would be content lying in a hammock then you would probably be a happy camper at the beach.  Otherwise, get there very early to get a primo lounger location.  Privilege guests have their own lounger section on the other side of Pez Vela restaurant. Be aware there was no swim-up bar in the beachfront pool nor was there music; kids were everywhere but then this is, for the most part, a family-friendly resort.  Also, if you are planning on swimming in the ocean bring water shoes; there were some rocky areas when entering the ocean so best to make it easier on yourself.  FYI:  Bring your own towel when going to the beach area because there are none to be had when you get there.

I had booked two separate room categories–I had the Rooftop Jr. Suite while the other member of my travel party had the Swim-Up Jr. Suite, both in the adults-only section of El Beso.  Guest rooms were large, plenty of space for two adults in each room category.  The rooftop suite had a separate bathroom with its own door for complete privacy, and a second story with another full bathroom including a shower, space for two full loungers and a small table, plus a round Jacuzzi that could hold two adults.  The swim-up suite had a bathroom door for privacy, but there were also shutters which could be opened to the bedroom area and the outside view from the terrace.  The swim-up terrace had a fan plus ample space for a small table and two chairs; I noticed that some swim-up terraces also had a hammock but this one did not.  There were several steps leading into the swim-up pool (with handrail); guests in swim-up suites had access to the El Beso pool which was just steps from the swim-up pool.  The overall stay in both rooms was comfortable and very nice for the price point; however, there were maintenance issues in both rooms which seemed almost impossible to miss from prior resort guest stays.  I don’t think a prior guest would accept not being able to slide open their terrace door to use their swim-up pool, nor can I imagine that a prior guest would not report a rooftop Jacuzzi tub where the jets only turned on for 30 seconds and then shut off indefinitely (plus the stopper didn’t work).  While the sliding door issue was fixed right away, blinking rooms lights were never fixed and I didn’t bother reporting the Jacuzzi tub issue until I checked out.  It seemed like a major repair and I didn’t want to NOT be able to use that space because repairmen would be occupying it, so I just dealt with it.  Perhaps I am incorrect in my assumption, but these kinds of problems lead me to believe that the resort in general may have some difficulties keeping up with maintenance issues.  The resort opened in Dec. 2016; as far as I am aware there have only been renovations on the Steak House restaurant and beach pool since then.  Maybe it’s time for some room makeovers and fixes??

It sounds like I had a less than wonderful time at this resort, but I actually really enjoyed my stay despite the room snafus.  There were enough activities to keep everyone busy, the food was generally quite good, I was able to spend part of my vacation time away from kiddos at a family-friendly resort, staff were generally quite accommodating and friendly, plus the resort was laid out in a way where it’s almost impossible to get lost which can be a rare feat at a larger resort in the Riviera Maya.  Would I return?  Absolutely, but after they do room renovations.

The comments in this review are those of the author/reviewer.  The trip to this particular resort was paid for in its entirety by the author; at no time were any monies or services exchanged for this review.

Location:  40 min. south of the Cancun airport

Telephone:  52-984-159-1800

Email:  res.orp@oceanhotels.net