Stayed at the Iberostar (with my buddy) the last week of November and I can honestly say that I had a wonderful time. The hotel grounds were clean and well maintained. Since this was an all-inclusive place, the food was above average than other all-inclusive hotels I’ve stayed at. The rooms were a good size. I wasn’t expecting something extravagant. They were clean and the mini-bar was stocked each day (tipping helps and we always tip so our service was great!). The drinks they offered at the hotel didn’t contain top shelf liquor and I wasn’t expecting that so I wasn’t disappointed. The bar staff was friendly and easy to talk to and they made sure we always had our glasses filled. The activities staff was attentive. We met a few staff members (Jasmine, Milagros, Francisco and Joshua) and they were fun to hang around with. They made our stay more enjoyable. My buddy and I did some diving so that was fantastic; much to see. I would definitely go back again. Enjoyed Cozumel and all it has to offer.

A group of 40 friends and family invaded the iberostar for our wedding the week of nov 10-17. I had read countless reviews on trip advisor when choosing a destination for our beach wedding. Having been to Cozumel before we knew that it would be a great place to get married. And the Iberostar was chosen b/c of all the fantastic reviews that have been posted. It says alot for the Iberostar that we could have chosen anywhere in the carribean to be married and this is where we chose. I will tell you that you will not be disappointed if you get the pleasure of staying at the iberostar, not only is everything beautiful, but the service is above and beyond. I have broken my review down into categories so that you may pick and choose what you want to read!!

Travel-if at all possible fly directly into the island. It was a really, really, rough ride accross the ferry, not to mention the bus and yadda yadda yadda. Lots of our group got sick on the ferry over. A couple of hints..take bonamine (meclizine) at least 1 hour before going, do go in daylight so that you can look at the horizon, take a purple bag! Only a couple of our guests flew directly to the island and we were all so jealous of them!

Rooms- There are lots of pics that show the little huts that you stay in, so I won't go into a lot of detail. Rooms are very adequate in size, no problems there. Bathrooms are beautiful, all in marble. Because of the humidity there was a musty smell in some of our group's rooms (ours was by far the worst!) I would take febreeze with you or incense and candles. We were aware of the possibility of a smell so all of our guests got scented candles in their "welcome package". When we inquired about the smell and that maybe the air conditioner wasn't working someone was there to fix/clean right away. It didn't help that much, but we didn't really want to change rooms so we went with it. Our "room" was 8411, very close to the beach. I don't think that there is a bad place to stay considering if you are far from the beach that means that you are close to the lobby bar and the disco etc, so don't worry too much about what room you get.

Grounds-Beautiful! top notch! The flora and fauna were amazing. Peacocks, flamingos, iguanas, anoles, hibiscus, palms, etc etc. I have never stayed at a hotel that is so lush and well kept. The gardeners were always working, and cleaners were tending the flamingo (kinda smelly!) pool.

Service-Wonderful! The staff is so very kind and caring they truly made our stay special, and I think that honestly we were not even treated that different eventhough we were weddingmooners. They are fabulous. Our group was all arriving in at slightly different times and we had wanted to put a welcome package in everyone's room, this seemed like a bit of a task so we asked the front desk if they would hand out the packages for us and they said no problem! The service was also fantastic in the buffets. They never forgot to offer you a drink and to grab your plate when you were finished. The servers never expected tips and I think that some people take advantge of that. The bottom line is that we can afford to go on trips like this so we can afford to give a few extra dollars every meal etc. The workers work very hard and do not make as much in a day as a service person in US/CAN would make in an hour.

Beach- As everyone has eluded to the water out front of the IB is not a very swimmable beach area. Swim shoes are a great idea and so are snorkles! There is great snorkling off the pier, so go see the barracuda! The sand is nice and there are ample beach chairs and umbrella's (mind you we were there in slow season). If you want the most fabulous beaching experience you must explore the beaches on the eastside (renting a scooter is the best way!). Around Playa Bonita is about as good as it gets. Trust me and go!!

Pool-Very nice pool, it was nice and chilly, good for cooling off. Swim up bar is nice, sun on one side, shade on the other, the best of both worlds.

Food and Drinks- The beer is good that is on tap, it is no Sol, but it is great with a lime. Blended drinks are the usual, if you like those types of drinks then you should be happy. The food was very plentiful. Whenever you were hungry you could find food somewhere. The main buffet was consistently good, and the service great there. I eat and drank til my heart was content. You will always find something to snack on. The reservation restuarants are fab. I ate fish everywhere and was very happy that is what I chose! Oh yeah and they have coconut ice cream, that is worth going in itself.

Facilities-lots to do. We had a big groups so I think that we tried everything there was to offer. Example tennis, horse shoes, ping pong, dance lessons, diving in pool (and with dressel divers on site), gym (good facility!), volleyball, spa. The spa was not very big at all, but they do offer most of what you would expect and you can sign up for using the jacuzzi's (free), just ask them at the spa. The theatre provided alot of activities and several family members of mine were up on the stage a time or two. Oh ya and the disco. Well it is not very busy, but when you are there to have fun and celebrate you don't need a lot of people. We still enjoyed every minute of it. It is nice and clean (like everything at the iberostar)

WEDDING- the whole reason for going to cozumel and getting our big group together. My now husband and I decided to use the wedding planner on the island as we were not sure what the hotel could offer us. Believe me we had the most amazing experience with our wp and mr. sanchos wedding, but I would not doubt that the iberostar would deliver as well. Please any brides to be feel free to message me and I will tell you many more details of wedding. We had our reception on a pirate ship, arrrrhh. A time to remember, highly recommended for anyone.(jean laffite) Then back to the beautiful lobby for a few cocktails and to say goodnight to the grandma's etc, then Party at the disco! The staff was so fab they were bringing us trays of shooters onto the Dfloor. The best time ever.

I could go on and on, but I think that I should quit! Just go to the Iberostar you will not regret it!

I really love this hotel-but-found a lot of reviews to be wrong information. We had the very best rooms 8203 and 8204. they conncet with a locking door and are 10 steps to the pool, 10 steps to sand volley ball, 100 to beach, 50 to pool grill, 100 to scuba shop and pier. One level yellow, thatch hut with a real ceiling (none are thatch inside anymore-they said) and balconies on the pool separated by beautiful flowering bushes and beautiful views of the entire beach/pool/marriage.volleyball and everything else. We saw humming birds, iguanas, the flamingos, every morning the peacocks (and black birds-they stewel sugar)ate breakfast with us in the main restaurant-we named one crucibal the dominate peacock with a v shaped feather on his backside. This place is great, but the employees are not really friendly-except for the pool bartenders. Yes, they all say hello-but this was the first time my sisters had been out of the country to an all-inclusive and I told them about games, the water aerobics(?), drinking pool volleyball, and how the "friends" always try to get everyone to particpate-Not happening! Besides that, we made our own fun, trips to the beach at 4-5AM, do you know if you go to sleep at the pool or the beach a security guard has to stay there all night long. we drove the island and went to all but 3 beach clubs on the drive to have drinks and views. The people traffic was slow great! It seemed as if it rained when we drove and was sunny when ever we wanted to stop. We never did make it to the evening festivities at the hotel (too exhausted from the day) but-taking walks in the middle of the night we saw many people coming back. Lets talk snorkeling off the pier-my sisters and I are chickens and my husband was often diving while my sisters and I were left to occupy ourselves, so we go to snorkel off the pier, it's a little murky beacuse it was raining for a short time-we see- no fish-none. An 8 year old on the pier says to me go under the pier thats where the fish are! hiding, the water you understand is like 4 feet deep, so I walk snorkel skulk to the edge of the pier afraid the pier might trap me underneath-4 inches my head was under thepier when-------NO JOKE------ 300 fish were 1 inch from my masked face, I backed out like I had a turbo engine. The we decided to swim really fast under the thinner part of the pier from one side to the other and we made it alive. There are at least 10,000 fish under that peir to include a family of 15-20 bottle/needle nose fish and a 3 1/2 foot barracuda, a 5 family black and silver striped angel fish, and once you get the nerve-if you stay under the pier-you will see a family of tiny red fish that live under one roack and a group of tiny yellow under another at the shallow end of the pier where the bottle nose fish live. The next 4 days the ocean was clear as drinking water.. so then we venture under therope into the boating area and really we should have tied on a dive bobber to show where we were to the boats but we didnt (and there is a lot of boats coming and going) We found 2 star fish, one bright orange red and anohter that was brown and marbled. We picked up the red one in 8 foot of water and took it back to the 4 foot area, where we had a national geographic hour watching it turn over under water and start walking back to the deeper water, so we took it back out so it would be safe. The only place you need snorkel is under the pier. The food was good we always found something to wet our appetites, but they do have the entiere salad area set up for european visitors-you know they eat lunch meat for breakfast and lots of nutella on toast. The grill by the pool has a superb coconut ice cream and coconut cookies to eat with-MMMMMMMMM. At night the grill becomes the Steak House-which is also good-we misssed one reservation because they didnt tell us only fish was available over the weekends. One more hint for those who like Bob Marley-his bar is not the place to get...its too expensive.....the place to shop is to go and park at the Langosta mall, shop there then go outside pass Carlos & Charlies and Senor Frogs to the corner there is a hot dog stand 3 doors down-start asking-you must buy hot dogs to buy bob. Always negotiate your prices, I never paid what they asked
in an example for a souvy they said 250.00 american, I said no way...I'll give you 40.00, if they responded 225.00, I would repsond 30.00, then they would say OK, Ok I'll take 40.00. Use your good American sense-if you know you can get something for 50.00 in the USA, why would you pay more in Mexico. Since many things are made in Mexico-it should be much cheaper there. But be nice and have fun, do not use insulting tones and condesending mannerisms. I dont attach to anything until I pay for it at my price or I go away laughing-theyll chase you ----everytime. Now you should rent a car, you can get one at the hotel or at an online rental place (much cheaper) parking was plentiful at the hotel. There is never lobster at the sea food restaurant or grill, the best path from pool to beach is the middle road, start from the pool grill and follow that main path all the way through the grounds to the restaurant. Call for any other info.

I stayed at the Iberostar between Nov 17-24th with my gf. She is certified, I was not. We are in our 20s and weren't just looking for a place to lay on the beach and eat since we would both get bored. great place for divers or snorkellers. Not a party place for singles(goto cancun if you want that)

The Hotel
Rooms - the rooms were kinda on the smaller side but were plenty adequate for the both of us. The hotel is set up into a bunch of small 4 and 2 bedroom houses basically. Everyone has their own entrance. I know we had neighbors but I never actually saw or heard any of them so there is plenty of privacy. They have a bed, free safe, tv and a bathroom. The housekeeping service was awesome. Always had the room in great shape. You cannot drink the tap water there but they always had a gallon of bottled water for you to brush your teeth etc. Our mini bar was always fully stocked as well, with water, beer, coke etc. The first thing I did when i got there was clog the toilet so we called front desk and they sent someone right away. They came super quick. Mexican toilets dont take much to clog so make sure you flush often ;)
Actually my only real complaint about this place is the bed. it is hard and it did hurt my back by the end of the week which took a couple nights on a proper bed at home to get back to normal. Also their pillows are very thin. But im not really the type to complain about small things like a welcome drink(who cares, get it yourself)

Food - The food was above average. Not amazing but better than most places ive been. The buffet was where we ate most of the time since you only get 2 a la cartes which we only went once because they were full (you can reserve more than a day in advance) We werent too upset since the buffet was so good. They do have different things at the buffet each day so it doesnt get as boring as some places. One thing I didnt like was that it was hard to get food around 4-630 since the main buffet is closed and the other food place by the pool doesnt have much selection at that time. But if you can find something to take you to 630 youre fine.

Beach - the beach is nice. lots of lounge chairs and plenty of thatched roof shade things. Not like some places where you never can get an umbrella. Its not a beach for people who want to play in the waves since there are none cuz youre not facing the open ocean. It was amazing for snorkelling tho. Go out by the pier and look around. Huge schools of fish under the dock. We also saw eels, lobsters, baracuda, some flat flounder type fish, crabs and even an octopus just from snorkelling from the dock down to the south part of that beach. There was a huge(1000s) of small grey fish school near the south part that was really fun to swim through since looking around fish were literally all you could see. Since that is what we like in a beach it was awesome. It is rocky to enter straight from the sand so either get in by the pier or get water shoes.

Pool - looked good, nice pool bar. We used it once to play basketball and a bunch of times for my pool certification dives. Otherwise didnt use it.

Grounds - awesome, very well kept. Lots of wild life. We saw lots of big iguanas, a land crab, frogs, flamingos, tortoises. Cool trees and plant life as well.

Dressel Divers (on site dive company)
As i said before, my gf is certified and i was not. I had been scuba diving once before in cuba just a little shallow reef and loved it. So i hadnt planned on doing a full certification when we arrived but once we got there it really only made sense to do the full PADI open water certification. So i did. The whole crew there are native english speakers and super nice so it was easy. You get a book to read (super easy read) You do 5 pool dives which take no more than 2 hours total depending on how many other people are in the class that day. You also do 4 open water dives which take 2 afternoons total. There you basically repeat the skills in the pool dives and dont take much time at all, so you basically do a couple skills then do a nice 40 min dive through the reef which is awesome.
There are some amazing things to see on the reef, just a few ill mention, eagle rays, sea turtles, free swimming moray eels, grouper, parrot fish, lobsters and a ton of other smaller fish i for which i dont know their names. All in all, if you are even considering getting certified, do it at Dressel. I cant imagine a better place to do it (warm water, awesome scenery) since my other option would be do to it in the St. Lawrence river. The pricing is very good as well as ive seen it for much more.
Staying at the iberostar is also better for divers since it is close to the best reefs. Its only about a 10-20min boat ride.

Thats all about i can think of to say. We both loved our stay and would go back in a heart beat. Im sure we will be back at this hotel the next time we want to dive.

If youve got questions feel free to ask.