Room was clean and well organized, pool activities were very good, evening entertainment: shows were awesome, buffet was very good. Problems: getting the ocean front view we paid for - we had to wrangle for a room with view/balcony. Trying to get a "reservation" in one of the "restaurants" is a chore. They claim they are filled to capacity, but reality is there are only a few tables being used. They want you to eat in the buffet. The buffet-food help is mediocre. The New Year's buffet was good, but felt like cattle, they need a better system to
get that many people fed. It wasnt a bad vacation, but the hotel has a lot of rooms and everyone is just a number (poolside staff was exceptional) hotel lobby and waite staff left a lot to be desired.

Having stayed at All Inclusives in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Turkey and Mexico, we did not have huge expectations. However, my wife, daughter and I had a wonderful time even though it was a tough time to please over New Year's Week. Dec 27 to January 3. We booked via Apple Vacations and the transportation was delayed both ways from the Cancun Airport to the Iberostar and visa versa and one of the Apple Vacation Reps at the Hotel was ornery. However the booking agent on the phone was great and familar with the property!

From check in to check out Iberostar service was GREAT. In particular Lina at Check in, Harold and Elizabeth at Consierge, and Javier at the Mexican restaurant were stars. First of all, I communicated with Harold to reserve times at the a la carte restaurants before we arrived, asked for a particular location of room and inquired about a baby sitter for New Year's Eve. He promptly responded and all things were addressed. Elizabeth provided extra effort with our 20 month old daughter, Sasha. Javier saw her sleeping in her high chair during lunch and without prompting brought over chairs with a table cloth and helped lay her on the chair to resume her sleeping state. Overall, just GREAT SERVICE from A to Z

Rooms were clean, spacious and we were glad we got a balony. I STRONGLY recommend getting a balony in an odd numbered room ( even face more north with less exciting view) from rooms 23-35 for the best view. There are clean spacious bath showers with rainfall shower heads to accomodate adults and children. Due to the configuration of the rooms you are always away from elevators and potential loud ice machines which is a plus.

Beach and Pool area were clean, fun and with ample shade. The bartender at the bar next to the beach was especially nice. Pool bar at time seemed a bit slower. Drinks were great and not watered down.

The beach itself was GREAT. The waves were certainly not calm but people were always in the water. Compared to the beaches at Secrets Capri where entering water was more like navagating a field with landmines in Cambodia not allowing people to easily walk due to plentiful tree stumps, this beach was terrific with smooth sand and very wide and long. Interestinglyl only 1/2 of the beach length is used for recreation at the resort but it is very comfortable and amenable to long walks!

Of note this resort is one of the first next to the public beach ( maybe 1/2 mild walk) and security had to nicely escort a few couples daily away from the bar or sitting areas which they must have thought were public. Safety was never an issue whatsoever!

Work out area was above average but became a bit warm in the later afternoon from the greenhouse effect. Free weight up to 50 pounds, 5 cardio machines and one flat bench with up to 45 pound bench in addition to multiple machines in excellent condition were noted.

Food was decent to good. We at all our breakfasts and lunches in buffet settings and except for New Year's Eve stuck to a la Carte restaurants. The tenderloin, pork chops and rib eye at the Steak House were very good. Appetizers and desserts were buffet style there. Excpet for some crowded seating ( bizarre since there were empty seats across from us) the second visit to the Japanese Habachi restaurant, we found it predictable and flavorful. The "gourmet restaurant" was nicely situated off the main lobby and was a nice room. Service was good but the food missed the mark. The items on the menu were appealing but the executiion of taste was disappointing. The highlight of that restaurant was the dessert. Overall I'd give food at the resort a B as it did seem that there were some overlapping dishes at every restaurant. I've never eaten so much hearts of palm in my life :)

The pools were large and accomodating. As the children's pool was not heated, some parents such as us took our child into the shallow area of the adult pool ( at least we took swimming diapers which some foreigners did not...ouch). It is a family and adult oriented place so no one seemed to mind!.

We also took advantage of the free photo session which I strongly recommend. They had some significant bumps in logistics on the day of our shoot, but the result was excellent and worth the money to purchase a album.

Overally, we knew we hit a home run for a family oriented, kids accomodating, clean, great serviced resort within 24 hrs of being there. I would STRONGLY recommend it for both families and couples but not singles. Again while Everyone was nice and service was consistent and very strong, our interactions with Harold, Elizabeth and Javier were simply amazing....great job!!

This resort should be on anyone's radar who wants a relaxing week in the sun and not at a rate to break the bank!

This hotel was beautiful and very well kept. The food was great and the staff was exceptional! We had a balcony with a beautiful view of the ocean. We enjoyed tennis, beach volleyball, and swimming in the beautiful pools. I would highly recommend this place to anyone I know. I will say that it is very windy in December here because of the location of the hotel not having any wind blocks.

We spent the second 1/2 of our trip at Iberostar Cancun. We recieved a room with a real balcony that you can sit on which was important to us. After Dreams, the food was SO much better. The Mexican restaruant had great chicken wings, cold crab claws, FRESH grilled meats....at that is just lunch.
I have a sensitive stomach. The food here was very very good.
The pool was heated nicely. There was the towel card and wrist band here, but that is normal except for at Dreams. Iberostar staff was noticably freindlier. We really enjoyed our waiters and they appreciated our tips.
So, upside, super staff, great food. The beach bartender invented a drink for me. I wanted to know what he could do with the almond liquer as I love almond. It was fabulous.
Don't bother with the pool bar wait, there is never a line a very short distance away at the bar on the way to the beach.
Downside, they forgot to clean our room one day, but we don't stress on stuff like that. They brought clean towels immediately when we called and offered to clean. It was fine.
The shows at night, particularly New Years Eve, were just terrible, worse than a high school production, but no one forces you to go!

We paid $473 per night and felt like it was a very good value.
Our next trip will be Iberostar Puerto Morelos, I think. WE are Iberostar fans now.
This is super close to the airport. We took the nicest van ride back to the airport with USA transfers. Love them. We pre-paid the $65 in cash and they showed up just like scheduled.