My husband and I recently had 30 of our closest friends accompany us to Paradisus la Perla to celebrate an adult only “benchmark” birthday. The vast majority of our group have kids, love their kids, and missed their kids at times…but everyone noted the serenity of not having any kids screaming at the pool, crying at the dinner table or running up and down our hallways. The “adult only” presentation and product at La Perla was a notable factor for those in our group. Of course, if you are traveling with kids there is the family area of this resort which is called La Esmeralda – if you would like more information on either La Perla or La Esmeralda, feel free to email me directly as I did spend the better part of ½ a day touring the rooms and areas of both sections of the hotel.
The resort is big enough that it offers diversity while not being so big that you feel like you are lost at the MGM Grande in Las Vegas. Some of us took in the beach, some enjoyed the main pool with its occasional bouts of music and dancing and others chose to retire to the quiet pool near the ocean to read, play scrabble and chat. All of the pools had waited food and beverage service and we never felt the need to get off our lounge chair or daybed to get a bottle or water, margarita or lunch. The pool side service never had us lacking for much.
The hotel had a large gym that was well equipped with spin bikes, a few tread mills and stair climbers. The gym had a modest offering of weight machines although some of the men would have expected a better offering of free weights and more conventional lifting machines than the gym provided. The gym might have been the only area of the resort that we felt was lacking although it was good enough to get a work out in.
We and most of our group live in Manhattan and are accustomed to a very high standard of restaurant food and service. With that as a reference point, our group was very happy with both the choice and quality of dinning. I would probably add that the breakfasts (served buffet style) at Hadar would have trumped any breakfast offering anywhere. From the light full grain muffins and fresh fruit to the Huevos Rancheros smothered in “everything” the breakfast offering was a very nice start to the day. I would add that the coffee and the coffee service was an equally high quality part of a start to a great day. You never think about the quality of coffee you get in the morning until it falls short of your expectations. At La Perla it didn’t.
We ate most of our lunches pool side (burgers, salads, tacos, etc) so I am not sure we experience the full complement of the lunches on offer. I can say however that they did the simple stuff well and the service was great so lunches certainly met our expectations. As for the evening dinning, we ate Mediterranean, Sushi, and Mexican and again the quality of the food and the service more that met our standards. For anyone contemplating a group event we worked with Israeel in Group Planning to put together a private bbq dinner for our group. The venue, the service, the food quality, and the entertainment way more that met our expectations. The hotel went out of their way to locate a fabulous venue that satisfied our needs and eliminated the worry of potential rain that evening. We had a totally private dinner where we were able to mingle and have a few speeches with the support of waiters passing cocktails and helping with every request we had. They did an amazing job for a special event with a very modest up-charge.
On to the sleeping rooms….. The hotel is brand new so everything in the room is working, tastefully decorated and appointed with music, coffee machines and ironing boards. The bed and bedding were very nice quality and the room was well cleaned each day with turn down service every night. I did appreciate the Hershey kiss on my pillow every night!
All in all I would rate the Paradisus La Perla a 9 out of 10. As for serving a large group it was a perfect choice since the “All INCLUSIVE” aspect meant that there was never an issue figuring out the bill or who was buying the first round for 30 of your closest friends or how much to tip. That aspect took a lot of pressure off someone taking the reins and figuring out the finances at the end of each rendezvous. I would add that the bars all served premium liquor brands so there was never a need for up charging at the bar to get the drink you wanted.
Our group thoroughly enjoyed Paradisu La Perla and my husband and I would definitely consider going back on our own. Feel free to drop me an email if you would like my assistance in determining which room to book or have any specific questions.