I was recommended the hotel by my sister who visited 3 Christmases ago and had a great time with no problems. We arrived on Sun 18 November from the UK for a week only and had a lovely first 3 days in our oceanfront suite. It was a mixed bag of sunshine and showers though possibly a few weeks too early to completely miss the end of the rainy season.. The beach is wonderful and the sea is so blue (when the sun shines). The service from the staff was very attentive and I personally enjoyed the buffets though after a week they would have become repetitive. I'm glad we went out on a trip to Chichen Itza last Wednesday because from Thursday morning I was ill. I too suffered from extreme sickness and diarrhoea for the last 4 days of our holiday. I ate bread and water for the whole time, felt extremely tired and so weak from lack of food. I had no idea what had caused it and just wanted to go home. The in house doctor said there had been 'several' cases but we just thought that was possibly the norm in tropical climates. It did ruin the holiday as I felt so poorly. I've now been back 48 hours and have just had my first real hot meal since last week only just getting any appetite back. We had bookings for the Mexican and Italian restaurants but never got there!

I thought this place was wonderful. Five stars on everything. Food was awesome. Although I would skip the Italian a la carte restaurant, nothing spectacular. Steakhouse served up the most amazing steaks I have ever tasted. Buffets had lots of variety and wasn't the same daily. I have a million dietary restrictions, but had no problems because of the huge variety and because not everything was drowned in sauces. Although, if you don't eat bread/eggs or sugar you're out of luck for breakfast. But there was always lots of fruit.
The hotel was spectacular; built around a jungle/garden with lots of wildlife. Monkeys, flamingos, peacocks, tucans, and many many more.
Beautiful beach. Period. It was awesome.
Service outstanding.
Security was top notch, no need to worry about the problems of mexico, if you know what I mean.
Internet: forget it. Even if you pay the outrageous amount they are charging for wireless, it only works in the lobby, and sometimes not. Besides, you should leave all that behind and enjoy the beach.
They have a package you can purchase when you get there for unlimited long distance for north america for $25.
I took only usd and never had to convert any money at any time.
Take lots of one dollar bills for tips.
The entertainment was actually entertaining. You wanted to go see it. Lots of audience participation.
Great place for kids/families.
Not the drunkfest that you see at some all inclusives. More family oriented and older crowd.
I rated 4/5 for value because, hey, who doesn't want to pay less! But it was worth every penny.

Beautiful beach, beautiful grounds but the sickness of so many people including 4 out of our party of 7 was in speakable. we spent at least two days each vomiting, diarrhea and fever. Can't tell you how many other people were also sick. The worst vacation of our lives. The food was not good. The speciality restaurants were ok the days we actually were well enough to eat. Two days home and still not quite right. The drinks were made with sub par alcohol at best. Worst all inclusive we've ever stayed at. Make sure you bring plenty if Lysol and disinfect your room if you decide to stay at this property. Management denied any problems but we personally met 30 or more people that were sick at the same time as our family members. Go somewhere smaller and newer. Property could use a renovation. Missing tiles in pool and showers. Smell of mold in 2 of our 3 rooms. Pool bar was disappointing at best. My best advise....stay away from this property which is also connected to the Iberostar quetzal

Stayed from 11/10-17/12. I did a lot of research before choosing this All Inclusive resort for my wife and I. There are a plethora of AI resorts in this area and many of the large companies have more than one. Even the Iberostar Tucan is really two resorts in one as the Quertzal is adjoining and you access each during your stay. The resort exceeded our expectations and met our particular needs of: not overly large with to much walking, great beach that you can walk on (heading south from resort you can walk past the Sandos AI for over a mile with no other resorts - head north and you can walk all the way to Playa Del Carmen in about 30 minutes), close to PDC with easy access (cab $7/US, 90 pesos).

Jungle setting was very nice and relaxing to see animals and birds. We had monkeys eating outside our room (Building 12) every morning. Open architecture of buildings and resort was pleasant. Beach and water a strong point. Like most resorts the 'reserving' of prime spots is an issue here too but we were always able to find lounges to use. Pool area was fine except pool bar that as others noted could use an upgrade. Service in all areas was better than I get at most places at home. I took a bunch of $1 bills and tipped good service and people definately appreciated it and remembered you. Asked for better quality of tequilla in Lobby and Showroom bar and they provided.

Food overall was very good. Saw alot of attention to keeping things clean, refreshed, and a pretty good variety in buffets. We emailed ahead and got the ala carte resturant and dinner times we wanted. We ate at the Italian (excellent in every way), Japanese (sushi and habachi cooking very well done - steak, chicken, shrimp and/or octupus), Steakhouse (alot of people rated this very high but we were slightly disappointed - corn-on-the-cob was 1/2 a cob, Rib-eye steak same as served in smaller portions on buffets). We tried to get another ala carte reservation but were not successful.

Impressed by the # of people who were multiple repeat visitors (up to thirteen times) which to me is a measure of consistency and meeting people's expectations. Probably 40% English/European, 40% American/Canadians, 20% South American's during this stay. Not to many children during this time of year. Did not ever see the nightclub as it did not open until 10:30 pm and we were asleep. Some of the evening shows were so-so but the Mexican Folklore night was very well done.

We took a day trip to Cozumel on ferry (good idea to only buy one-way tickets - about $22 round trip/person) as this allows you to come back on the hour. Went to the Iberostar Cozumel ($20 taxi each way) and ate and drank free with guest priviledges. Nice way to see another property and extend your cost savings. This would also apply to 3 of the 4 Iberostar resorts north of Playa.

Definately got our money's worth with food and drink and ambience and would strongly consider returning if in this area in the future.