Iberostar Waves Punta Cana

“Solid resort all around - love the food, beach, rooms, and grounds.”

Second year we’ve stayed here. For context, We've been to many AIs - Valentin Imperial Maya, Royalton, NOW Sapphire, The Moon Palace, Privilege Aluxes, Marina el Cid, Grand Sirenis, Grand Palladium, Iberostar Quetzel, Paraiso, Lindo, Grand Bahia, Sandos, Dreams Dominicus, etc. Overall, the resort … more

Second year we’ve stayed here. For context, We've been to many AIs - Valentin Imperial Maya, Royalton, NOW Sapphire, The Moon Palace, Privilege Aluxes, Marina el Cid, Grand Sirenis, Grand Palladium, Iberostar Quetzel, Paraiso, Lindo, Grand Bahia, Sandos, Dreams Dominicus, etc. Overall, the resort is well-managed but the grand prize for excellence goes the to FOOD TEAM - food presentation at buffets snd and a la cartes is beautiful. CLEANLINESS Resort is SPOTLESS. Grounds and rooms are kept immaculate as are the beach and the pools. Groundskeepers work tirelessly keeping the plantings beautiful around the resort. LOVE the fact that there are no disposable water bottles - so environmentally friendly. Beach/Pool The week we visited in Dec – no seaweed whatever and the water is walk-in ready -- free snorkling by the Iberostar flags (better in 2023 but Mother Nature can’t be controlled!) Spectacular sprawling beach. main pool is gorgeous and huge. Plenty chairs. Gym The gym is great! Our entire family worked out every day. Pickleball This resort now has four courts and a handful of people used them daily. Paddles and balls are complementary and readily available. (unlike the PDC Iberostar that charges, which frankly is ridiculous considering Walmart sells sets for $15!) Rooms Building 79 was quiet and we slept great… Our room was always clean by the time we returned around 6:00 pm. Housekeeping was good and we received new towels, etc daily. Minibar and soap were not consistently refilled but no biggie. Safe worked fine. We brought 5 young adults 18-26 - their rooms were on 1st floor, ours on 2nd floor. Less buggy on patio HOWEVER -- outside steps are TREACHEROUS AND SLICK WHEN IT RAINS - so will request a first floor in the future. Food We are picky and healthy - for the 2nd year were very happy with the food. Buffets are GORGEOUS and always full of delicious options. Nothing ever runs empty even in the later hours - incredible variety. Love the proximity of the buffet to the beach -- super convenient and love the open air dining. We also enjoyed the bars -- if you take fresh fruit to bartenders, they'll gladly make you a drink with it. The passionfruit margaritas were fantastic. Service at buffet There was a change in service since 2023. Perhaps due to understaffing, but at buffets, after receiving our initial water/drinks, servers vanished. They only returned to collect dirty plates. Last year, servers offered drink refills, etc. Also, there are no spoons readily available at lunch or dinner in the buffets - odd. The ice cream at the pool and in the buffets is delicious -- love the waffle cones!! Plenty of healthy salad topping options available at every meal, which we love. A la cartes Loved steak house and hibachi! Greek restaurant was severely understaffed and we had to fill our own water and wine glassses. The hostesses have ATTITUDES - like they’re doing you a favor by getting you in, even on a light week. Staff on phones Another stark difference we noticed this year - everywhere we went, staff were on their phones. Hardly a smile or hola from anyone when we walked by, unlike last year. They don’t seem happy. Housekeeping requested pictures Several of us were approached by housekeeping staff to pose for pictures. In 30 years of going to AI resorts, this was a first. No idea where these pictures end up, or if employees are incentivized to take pictures with guests or what. Odd. Location Just 30 minutes from the airport. Tips/Tips Bring drink containers with lids to enjoy cold drinks in the pool and plenty of $1/$5 for tips. They are appreciated by staff. Shout-outs to exceptional employees Daniel at lobby bar Erlin the hibachi chef Eduardo “Bronnie James” in buffet and steak house Maria - head of entertainment Chef Belkis - very kind to our daughter with celiac All in all – a solid resort. Just a few minor HR kinks to work out. Appear to be employee satisfaction issues but hopefully management will figure out a new plan to turn this around.

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“Meh”

I’m underwhelmed. A few things—- - if American— be aware that many many of the staff does not speak English. It’s a real problem. - attitude/helpfulness of the staff is really varied. Some people are very friendly, and some literally roll their eyes at you. My kids have asked for drinks that requi… more

I’m underwhelmed. A few things—- - if American— be aware that many many of the staff does not speak English. It’s a real problem. - attitude/helpfulness of the staff is really varied. Some people are very friendly, and some literally roll their eyes at you. My kids have asked for drinks that require blenders and the people working at the bars just refuse, and just hand them a sprite. The staff often seems very annoyed when you ask them for anything. - housekeeping is very spotty. Things not refilled, room not cleaned. One day the tip we left was taken but the room was not cleaned (like nothing was cleaned— bed not made, garbage not taken out, no clean towels, nothing.) I didn’t like this at all. - we’ve done ok at breakfast and lunch but dinner has been a true disaster. We can’t get a reservation (at all, at any time, all week) at any of the restaurants requiring reservations. We’ve been going to the other restaurants 10-15 minutes after they open and then waited 90 minutes- 2 hours for a table and then once you sit down another 90 minutes for food. Literally. It’s a mess. The breakfast and lunch buffets work ok but dinner is a fiasco. We’ve just given up at restaurants after waiting for food for an hour and left and gone back to the room and ordered room service. (Room service is not great at all) The ocean is beautiful and the pools are nice but we wouldn’t come back. The service is not great and the struggles at dinner have been very, very aggravating.

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