Beautiful! This was a wonderful vacation from beginning to end! We were a couple travelling for the first time seeking sun, sand and relaxation.
Check-out at the airport and transportation to the hotel was quick and easy, about 30 minutes from landing to the van and a 30 minute ride to the hotel, with 2 stops on the way and a cold beer for the ride (the beer cost $6.50 + a tip, and was worth it!). Check-in got us to our room within 20 minutes even with a crowd. We were served cold sangria while waiting, and the lobby bar is right there. The reception staff is very, very busy, polite and efficient. Some reviews say they are rude, they are not, they just have a huge workload and they do it well.
The room was a junior suite and was spacious, pretty and colorful, fresh, clean and cool. No humidity smell, no bugs, everything in perfect working order. Our maid kept the room clean and the mini-bar full with beer, soda and water and made lots of cute towel animals and left little flowers. Comfy bed. Modern tv with many english channels. Air conditioning was impeccable. Sound-proofing was near perfect, there was a pool party one night near our room until 22h and with the balcony doors closed we heard nothing. We were in building 31, room 3145, much closer to the beach than the lobby/buffets which was perfect for us. The building numbers increase from the beach to the lobby. Our balcony faced the back on the pool side and we had a view of trees which made our space very intimate, virtually nobody could see our balcony. No ocean view and very few spots have one, we didn't care. We spent all day everyday at the beach.
We did not use the pool even once...beach, beach and more beach please! We walked by it often though, it is huge and clean and divided into quiet and activity sections, with a little section for children. The pool extremity nearest the beach has a slightly swampy area behind it, but that didn't stop people from lounging there even with other options. There was always music and activities happening, an ice-cream bar and of course a pool-bar.
The beach is just gorgeous! Beautiful, clean, white sand, turquoise waters, lots of chairs and shade, some beach beds pretty easy to get access to and very, very few rocks. Pretty good waves. The best spot is in front of the beach bar, NO rocks at all. Drinks are great, if you want more alcohol in your drink don't be shy, ask the barman and he will be happy to top it off. Mojitos, Margaritas and Miami Vice were the best! The barmen are all great but watch for Esteban, he makes the best drinks and has the biggest smile! You may see a couple of bare [--] walking around in string string bikinis, I certainly didn't care but I wouldn't have shown my [--] in a family friendly resort...it's a personal choice I suppose.
The snack bar on the beach is pretty good and is right beside the bar. We had our lunches there since we didn't want to leave the beach (ever!). There are 2 small buffets close by near the pool if you don't want to go all the way back to the main buffets, one on the Beach side and one on the Del Mar side. One is often closed in off-season, but they are about 5 minutes apart by foot.
There are always fun activities going on at the beach and the "Star Friends" come around and invite you to participate. We didn't do any, we just wanted to drink, lounge and swim in the ocean, but if you do want to do activities you won't be bored! Look for Gama if you want to do beach sports, he's the friendliest! Sometimes there were prizes offered, like tickets to Coco Bongo. A few locals sell wares on the beach, a simple no thank you and they continue on their way. If you want activities off-site many excursions are available and you can book at a kiosque at the lobby, and there are public busses which goto Playa del Carmen and Tulum if you are the adventurous type.
The shows in the evening are amusing, full of colors and music but not professional. If I'd known you could win a big bottle of tequila at the pre-show bingo I would have played! Watch for Danny doing card tricks at the lobby bar in the evenings, it's jaw- dropping!
This place is REALLY big, if you don't like walking use the carts, they go by all the time and stop in front of building 39 in the middle for pick-ups, but often they do pick you up wherever you are and drop you off where you want. We walked almost all the time, for healthy young people it's about 20 minutes to walk the entire length from the lobby to the beach. The first time you want to get somewhere you might want a cart, we got lost, but then we have little to no sense of direction! on the second day we were fine. You need to walk with all the eating you do, and the grounds are amazing, so lush and well-kept full of trees, hedges snd flowers, animals everywhere...peacocks, coaties, wild turkeys, iguanas, they just go about their business and don't notice you. At night the walkways are lit-up and very romantic.
The food is great, lots of choice in the main buffet and waiters refilling your juice and coffee. I sampled everything Mexican, especially at breakfast, and ate a LOT, I always re-filled my plate with seconds! I do have some sensitivity but with shot of Pepto in the morning I had no issues at all. There are some small crow-like birds around the open-air buffet, as long as you are in front of your plate they don't come near you, and the waiters are pretty quick to clear tables, but don't leave your plate if you are not done! You may hear a child cry sometimes but this is a family-friendly resort, so if this annoys you and you are going to glare at the parents, just go to an adults-only! Some reviews complain about stray feral cats, in one week we saw a total of 4 and they were not annoying at all. Don't feed them!!!
The a-la-cartes were impressive! SO good! They each have a top-quality buffet for your appetizer and dessert, we filled our plates! The main dishes were delicious. We ate at the Mediterranean (great for seafood lovers!) the Steakhouse, the Brazilian and the Japanese and we appreciated them in that order, note that they were ALL excellent. If you want to choose your wine you pay, otherwise you can have red or white house wine, a cocktail or soda. The house wine is Spanish and is perfectly acceptable. Our last night there they phoned our room and offered us a fourth a-la-carte ; normally you get 3 for a 1-week stay.
Tip the employees and say gracias, they work SO hard and make this resort so incredible! We recommend this resort with no hesitation and we will be looking for an Iberostar at our next destination!
xoxo
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