We've stayed here for two nights, to end our trip through Mexico. Isla Holbox is really paradise! But for not longer than a few days, because there is really nothing to do, except for lying at the white beach. There are a few small shops and I suppose there must be some places where you can eat. We've made a trip by horse and did the whale shark tour. You can rent a buggy and make a tour around the island.

This is an excellent way to finish a holiday! Beaches are amazing and there are hardly no people. Our hotel wasn't even half full. We were completely alone at dinner.

The hotel is great. Rooms are really big and clean. Staff is really friendly. Swimming pool is rather small. But who needs a swimming pool if they have the whole sea?!

Food is really great and because of the fact that so many people had an all-in, we didn't have to wait a bit to get our drinks from the bar.

As we were there during the raining season, we had a small thunderstorm that only lasted for an half an hour. Otherwise weather was great.

Good advice: take something against the mosquitos!!!! It's full of them!!!!!!

We stayed at this hotel for two nights during a three week long tour in Mexico.

Holbox is an off the beaten track destination and we would only recommend visiting if you are staying a couple of nights or plan to do some whale shark swimming.

It is a quaint little place and interesting to see but really not much to do beyond 48 hrs.

This is partly because of the moissies which seem to be attacking at all times of the day meaning that it's not a pleasant place to sit on the beach or around the pool.

Partly also because Holbox is a fishing community which discovered tourism only six years ago so is not geared up for it properly yet.

Saying that we enjoyed the restaurants there and had fun hiring a golf buggy and seeing the island.

We were pleasantly surprised by the hotel when we arrived. We had expected something far more rustic. The reception area is beautiful and the staff helpful. The rooms are nice and clean.

We did have a problem with security in the room. The windows and shutters do not lock so we tied a belt around them to make them more safe. It was just as well as on our second morning at 7am someone tried to break into the room through the windows. They then tried our front door and ran off when they realised someone was in the room.

The hotel backs on to the beach and there is no security so if you are staying here please be careful of this.

The whale shark diving was amazing. We organised this after landing on holbox for $70pp.

We picked this hotel after reading all of the reviews on this website, and unlike the reviewer before me, I think the reviews were accurate. Don't go to Holbox expecting first class luxury resorts and pristine beaches. Don't go expecting to stay busy and see the sights. If you're looking for a chance to just relax and forget about everything you left behind at home, then this is a good place to do it. I would recommend going some other time than July, unless you are interested in swimming with the whalesharks (they are only around from July-Sept.). It is hotter than heck there this time of year and the stories about the mosquitoes, the horseflies, and the no-see-ums aren't an exaggeration. Bring 100% Deet and nothing will get near you! Definitely rent a golf cart for at least one day and explore the island. We enjoyed getting off the beaten path and seeing the local wildlife.

I thought the hotel and the grounds were kept neat and well-maintained. The room was cleaned every day, and the housekeeping staff was excellent - they left us amazing towel sculptures any time they changed our towels. The pool was absolutely beautiful and looks just like the photos on their site and on TripAdvisor. Very comfortable chairs are placed in view of the beach. The receptionists and the lady who runs the boutique were polite and always willing to help. They offer a lot of services, including arrangement of tours and golf-cart rentals, which is more convenient than walking into town for the same services.

There is some construction going on next door to the hotel, and, as luck would have it, just opposite our bungalow. There was also one building on-site being rennovated. This meant hearing chainsaws, hammers, and whatnot during the day. We chose not to let it bother us, but sometimes we chose to relax by the pool instead of by the beach, just because we couldn't hear the noise when we were by the pool. I would suggest contacting the hotel and requesting a room on the side of the property away from the construction if you are able to do so.

The only major issue we had was trying to arrange transfer from the airport to the hotel. I tried several times to send emails to the hotel from my Earthlink account, and they were returned to me as if they were blocked by a spam blocker. I emailed the people who do the booking and was told they would forward my messages to the hotel. Never got a response. So, I tried from my work email - it didn't bounce back, but I still never got a response. My husband booked transfer through [--]. When we got to the airport, we had two drivers waiting for us - one from Cancun Transfers and one the hotel had sent. The driver from Cancun Transfers spoke English, and the other guy didn't. So, we went with Antonio from Cancun Transfers (I highly recommend them, by the way).

When we arrived at the hotel, they didn't say anything to us about the transfer issue, until we checked out at the end of our stay. They showed me the email they had sent to me at my work address (which apparently got blocked by the email server at my work), confirming the details of the transfer service, so they said they had to charge us for the transfer. We could understand their point of view, so we paid it, but I was a bit aggravated that communicating with them by email was so fraught with trouble. (We traveled to Italy two years ago, and I arranged everything by email with no difficulty whatsoever.) If they intend to communicate with customers by email, they should allow all emails to come through, without being blocked. Also, they waited until we were trying to leave and make our flight before they said anything about the charge (when we didn't have time to dispute it).

My recommendation is that you should book your transfer through someone else like Cancun Transfer, or if you have trouble communicating with the hotel by email, just pick up the phone and call them. Everyone at the reception desk speaks English, so I would confirm by telephone if you don't get a response to your emails.

The restaurant at the hotel was so-so - they only have buffets at meal time and a snack bar by the pool when the restaurant wasn't serving meals. We didn't do the all-inclusive, and I am glad. You can eat a lot better and cheaper in the town, which is only a 10 minute walk down the beach. Our favorites: Conchi's Papas y Los Palones - it's on the main square, upstairs, but they have a menu at the street level; really good Italian food. Zarabanda - it's off the main square a couple of blocks back from the Pizza Edelyn; just follow the signs, and you won't be disappointed. Tuch's Bar - great drinks for almost half what the hotel will charge you, and it's right on the beach; you can't beat it!

Bottom line is, despite our communication issues, we would still stay at Villas Paraiso del Mar again. We really enjoyed our stay there.

I chose to stay here based off this website. Tripadvisor had never failed me before. It's so nice because I can see pictures and read first hand reports to coorabirate it all. So there was no need for me to worry that I had picked my wife and I an 8 night stay there right? WORNG!

I have travelled to very many palces, luxury, economy, business whatever. I have seen many places, stayed at many. And have mostly always had the deciding factor to stay somewhere based on this website. It failed me miserably this time. I read all enormously great reviews, and was so excited to stay there.

I cant say enough about how NICE the staff was, and that was the ONLY 5 star part of the stay. The food was horrible, the unclean way in which they kept the food on the buffet was disturbing. It had flies and mosquitos landing all over it. It wasnt kept on ice therefore the "cold" stuff was all served warm. There was never anything spectacular on the menu.

Our room was the first one to the beach. BAD MISTAKE! All night you can hear four wheelres and people screaming on the beach. It sounded like a third world contry on our door step at 5AM as that beach also doubles for a main road. UNPLEASENT!

There was nothing "official" about the hotel. No official toiletries or shampoos, the room looked like it was poorly put together. I guess AC is a luxury on that island, but the one unit we had in the room was not sufficent enough for us. The showers were nasty, and who KNOWS how you get the water there?

The town itself is very poor, I guess some people find that a plus, but being that we felt like everyone was starting at us like we didnt belong there made it very uncomfortable. The mosquitos attacked us ALL night and day long. I honestly cant say anything great except the staff was VERY nice. Thats it! After 48 hours we left, to go to Cozumel. We dont like big tourist places but we just had to go where we knew there other tourists and we were going to have good food.

Like I said this hotel is not for everyone. It's very very rustic, out of the way, WAY ot of the way, our phones were down the whole time we were there. Its a great nature preserve, but I think the people are destroying it with polution. The water was VERY FOUL! Not very pretty. If your on a HUGE budget, I guess this place is ok, if you can bear the mosquitos and thought of malaria. Take a chance if you want, but you have been warned!