Iberostar Waves Quetzal

“Unique and beautiful experience”

Had an absolutely great time at this all inclusive hotel. Room was impeccable, everything was very clean around the grounds. Employees were helpful. I especially enjoyed the jungle like atmosphere and all the various animals roaming the property. Food buffets were plentiful with many many differ... more

Had an absolutely great time at this all inclusive hotel. Room was impeccable, everything was very clean around the grounds. Employees were helpful. I especially enjoyed the jungle like atmosphere and all the various animals roaming the property. Food buffets were plentiful with many many different options plus a few outlying restaurants for more variety. I would definitely recommend. My only complaint is the price for a single person was the same for two people which I found unfair as only one person is dining and drinking so the cost should have been slightly reduced. Also I had a concern about a tip I left for the cleaning staff. I had left 100 pesos on the bed and I had to return to the room an hour later(before cleaning had started) and found only 40 pesos on the bed!? Had a supervisor scooped part of the tip? No idea but very odd. From then on I handed directly to the cleaner.

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“overall, a great experience!”

We spent 5 nights at the resort and there were surprising wins and "meh's" all around! Wins: 1. the coffee. dear lord - we haven't a clue why, but my husband and I looked forward to breakfast every morning because of the coffee, despite the heat. It was a near half and half mix of coffee and milk... more

We spent 5 nights at the resort and there were surprising wins and "meh's" all around! Wins: 1. the coffee. dear lord - we haven't a clue why, but my husband and I looked forward to breakfast every morning because of the coffee, despite the heat. It was a near half and half mix of coffee and milk, but there was a flavor that we couldn't quite place that just made it a delightful cup of coffee! 2. the grounds. the walk between the main buildings/rooms to the beach and pool are gorgeous and so well maintained. there are plenty of animals to see - agouti, coati, flamingoes, peacocks, lizards and the howler monkeys up in the trees. there was always chatter outside between birds and sometimes the howler monkeys weighed in and that was fun to hear! One day it rained and a few coatis made our balcony their home, curling up together on the chairs for the evening. It was adorable. our girls loved it! additionally, I am a buffet for mosquitoes usually. From miles around they come at me. I have NO idea how they did this, but I managed to only get bit about 3-4 times over the course of the week and most of those happened offsite. For a jungle-like atmosphere, I should have been eaten alive. while I did also wear repellent, I was not nearly as consistent with application as I should have needed to be. 3. the staff. everyone was so friendly and kind. 4. the beds. I was stunned at how comfortable the beds and pillows were! I also loved the space - the rooms were a good size and clean. the rooms were also cleaned very promptly everyday. 5. the pool. while there is some downside related to the pool, one of the biggest complaints across trip advisor leading up to our trip had been the challenge of finding poolside beds/chairs on account of people saving spots and not showing up for hours. We saw a guy constantly monitoring, taking pictures and removing towels throughout the morning. It made a difference for sure. 6. the entertainment. We missed most evenings, but my daughters LOVED watching the star camp kids perform! while they themselves never participated in the star camp, they got a kick out of watching other kids dance on stage. there is a MC for the evening entertainment that was really fun and they played musical chairs with other guests. our girls enjoyed that. The Meh's/room for improvements: 1. the food. with exception of the a couple of the dinner restaurants, nearly all of the resort (outside the rooms) is open air. that means you are eating from buffets that are exposed to the heat. you are also eating in the heat. I know my prissy americaness is showing, but my appetite was not up to the challenge. There was little to keep the cold foods cold and the hot foods hot - meaning that all foods were basically room temp. This made a lot of the choices unappetizing. I did not want a warm salad, or room temperature hummus. The Italian and Mexicans restaurants (the latter is both a buffet and a dinner restaurant. I am referring to the dinner offering) were both really good. We did not go to the Mediterranean restaurant (my family isn't in to fish sadly), and while reviews were good for the Japanese place, we were very underwhelmed by that experience. it is a fixed menu and took longer than a hibachi restaurant experience normally takes. I saw flies landing on the mass prepared sushi rolls. Because it's an all-inclusive, I wasn't expecting much in the way of dining, but the heat and the food temperatures definitely made it less appealing. I don't know how to solve for it, other than maybe the buffet section of the restaurant's being enclosed and air conditioned, but it is definitely a bummer. 2. the spa. we did a couples massage that was somewhat underwhelming. it was less like a day spa experience and more like a Massage Envy appointment..at luxury day spa prices. we were ushered into the massage room to get undressed right there. we were not offered water until after the massage and we had to remind them that we had booked the complimentary hour in the hydro-therapy area (which consisted of a pool, steam room, sauna and two different kind of "spa" showers) to follow the massages. only then were we given ropes, towels and slippers. The hydro therapy area was kinda depressing. it was pretty, but one of the spa jet things in the pool wasn't working. the sauna room had wooden flooring stacked on the seats, and another dude trying to enjoy the sauna had to figure out a way to move those so he could sit in there too. 3. the sales pitch. they are pretty aggressive. every trip to the concierge started with the sales pitch on membership/timeshares or whatever it is. once they stopped for a breath, and you said no, they were usually decent in backing down. but it made me not want to ask for reccos or assistance because I didn't want the hassle. 4. the pool depth. the pool itself is fabulous - it's huge and the temperature - while warmer than you may want it, was perfect for me and my kids. However, much of the pool is deeper than 5'. my 9-year old could not stand in 85% of the pool. The pool is huge - which is great, but much of it is useless to most kids. to me, it's jsut a weird oversight because the sheer size of the pool would allow for a crowded pool to never actually feel crowded. but because the majority of kids are not tall enough to stand in most of it, the shallower ends were more crowded. the other weird thing is that the pool closed at 8. seems early, and my girls were disappointed that they couldn't do some night swimming! 5. the seaweed. This is not the fault of the resort - in fact they were doing a great job keeping the seaweed at bay compared to other areas. and there is nothing anyone can do - the seaweed is a newer thing and likely here to stay. it was a bummer for someone like me looking forward to crystal clear waters and pristine beaches but again, the resort did a very good job minimizing the annoyance! None of the negatives would likely keep us from coming back. the resort is well maintained and staffed so well that you very much feel taken care of. It's a great place for families!

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