Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Iberostar Laguna Azul

Despite the ground-hog day environment of thr packaged all-inclusive hotel the super nice and proud people of Cuba do what most of us privileged tourists couldn`t and wouldn`t do: make pizza or clean rooms or serve drinks 6 days a week 12 hours a day for 10 to 30 years in 30 degrees C. The food - there is always something to eat and despite what you hear it is flavourful if you choose something other than bread...and yes you are likely to pick up a stomach bug like we all did because we eat very [... read more] different things at home. The entertainment was surprisingly good. The beach is spectacular, the pool great for adults and children. The hotel is safe and theft was never a doubt. When new this hotel was probably a grand hotel but time and the climate has taken its toll - it could be back there again with some investment of money. It`s Cuba at the end of the day and the economy and socialist system determines a lot of how it operates as we found out from a fantastic tour guide on our day trip to Havana. Yes the room was damp and everything smelled not like home, yes beach towels were never available to be changed, yes the room wasn't as clean as we would have wanted, yes it felt like the hotel was held together with good intentions in some scenarios Attempt to understand why things are the way they are and embrace them and you will enjoy yourself regardless of first world problems you see on review boards like limited wireless connectivity or the odd broken tile or you used the same beach towel all week or heaven forbid your cappuccino froth didn't have nutmeg on it like you asked for!

Iberostar Waves Punta Cana: Keeps getting better!

I was at the Iberostar Punta Cana 5 years ago and I must say that it has improved greatly. I have stayed at the Iberstar Varadero in Cuba and thought the one in Punta Cana had a long way to go to catch up, but I think it is now there! On our trip this March, the food, staff, animation team, guest services and entertainment were all wonderful. Guest services went out of their way to ensure we received wonderful service and receive good restaurant bookings. The circus show was the best I've seen a [... read more]nd I was so impressed. The 4 pm food and drink special down at the beach and pool restaurant every day was a nice touch. Also, the table outside the buffet set up each night with appetizers was terrific for those who had late dinner reservations and wanted to have a snack with their pre-dinner cocktail at the entertainment bar. For us older folks, the band playing every night on the Punta Cana side was also a nice touch. The only thing that hasn't changed is the vendors that are brought in one of the nights. Being Canadian, we greatly dislike aggressive behaviour, so tend to stay away. I think we would have shopped more if they weren't so aggressive (although, they were very nice). My daughter had a great time meeting other high school seniors from Halifax and a couple of young people from Argentina and because of the coziness of the resort, they were always able to find each other. They loved going to the disco and Karaoke bar every night and the fact that the buffet was open for 24 hours, was a huge bonus. I liked the fact that because of the mix of nationalities and age groups, it wasn't run over with spring breakers. Thank you Iberostar Punta Cana for making my daughter's graduation/birthday present so special!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing Resort and beach

I really enjoyed my stay at this resort. The beach was amazing, the night entertainment was great and so professional I thought I was in Vegas. Food was good with lots of variety. Rooms could use some renovations but very clean. Pool areas very nice. Fun entertainment on beach and pool area during the day. My only complaint would be more comfy chairs for the beach.

Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: Good vacation

Beautiful premises, good service. Boardwalk on the beach is a plus. Buildings are a bit dated. Handicapped rooms are not caught up to rising population needs. Food is great especially the fruit. Vegetarians and allergy sufferers have to struggle to find right foods.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: enjoyable property

This hotel is a very nice place as it is a good size and has all the amenities of a larger place. We upgraded to an ocean view and it was well worth it. The room was great and the food was good.The staff is top notch. Close to the airport.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Exceeded Expectations

Travelled Mar 7-14, 2016. Fifth trip to DR, 4th to Puerto Plata, but it has been a few years. Can say that this trip reaffirmed my notion that the Dominican people are the friendliest that I have encountered on my sunn, southern excursions. First time to the Iberostar and I must say that I appreciate the free wifi, accessible from anywhere except the beach. Furniture a little dated, but well kept. Marya our maid always left us a little surprise each day, towel art and flower petals and did an im [... read more]peccable job of keeping our room. Comfortable mattresses and crisp linens made for a wonderful rest. Always lots of hot water and great pressure. Small touches such as balcony rack for drying swimsuits, makeup mirror, awesome toiletries, along with a hair dryer, great coffee, and black out blinds were a welcome surprise. Didn't try any a la cartes, as found the buffets had a huge selection. Awesome variety, especially fish and seafood (lobster, shrimp etc.) Probably the best buffet of any we have been to. Check in was swift and staff rearranged our accommodations quickly, to accommodate another couple travelling with us. The pool was large enough that you could be a participant in the activities, or find a nice quiet spot to sunbath. Lovely beach, great for walking and always clean. We were a little disappointed that the ocean was red-flagged most of the week, due to winds. However, the weather is beyond the control of resort. We knew before we left home that the whole Caribbean was expecting overcast weather with showers on and off for the whole week. We did get a few light showers, but only enough to cool things off. Can't say enough about the staff....Nelson in the buffet, Isador at the pool bar, Angelina in activities and Marya in housekeeping, plus too many more to name. Thank you to all that work behind the scenes, gardeners, laundry, kitchen staff etc. as you all helped to make our vacation a hit. A big thank you to Air Transat for another wonderful holiday.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Wonderful familiar place

a great place. My 4th time. The staff are like family. The grounds wonderful. Rooms are a bit tired but we only sleep there. Worried about the massive construction on Cayo Guillermo. My 2 weeks at Daiquiri were very crowded.

Iberostar Origin Tainos: OK

The resort is small and old. The expectation will define how good this resort is. I stayed I Iberostar star Ensnachos and this is not to that level at all. Is small resort, the food is not great, however the service was good. No pool bar and 24 hour snack, we spent a lot of time in the town. For the money I paid I expected a lot more.

Hotel Mojito: Amazing resort ! Friendly people!

We had a great time! Beautiful beach, pools! Beautiful people! My girls 14 and 10 loved the entertainment at the hotel. Service is amazing ! They really make you feel like at home, excellent for families :)

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Wonderful experience!

A wonderful resort! My boyfriend and I and another couple just returned from the Iberostar Laguna Azul on Sunday. The lobby is very inviting - there are always things going on! Magic shows, bands playing on the terrace, a pianist, etc. and there are always a great number of drinks to try from the Lobby Bar (my favourite bar - they had the best drinks!). The service was always great as well. It didn't matter where you were. Anywhere in the lobby, someone will greet you. Sitting out by the pool, s [... read more]omeone will greet you as well. Wonderful service! The buffet I found quite enjoyable as well! Again, great service. Going to Cuba for the first time, I did not have high expectations for the food but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Most of the food had good flavour and everything was almost always labelled so you knew what you were eating. The pasta station at dinner and the omelette station at breakfast were my favourite! Make use of these stations! The only small complaint I had about the buffet were the options.They seemed to be the exact same food every single day, with only a few variations. So definitely make use of your 3 A La Carte dinners and the different stations to try different things! The rooms were..okay. Our room overlooked the small pool so it was nice and quiet at nights where we weren't up late, or afternoons where we wanted to sleep. They were cleaned everyday, given fresh towels everyday, and the mini bar was restocked every other. However, they are VERY musty. Be prepared to smell like the inside of a closet all day and all your clothes needing a good wash when you return home, and also be sure to use your balcony to dry anything because nothing will dry in that room! Another thing about the rooms - if you are travelling as a couple, make sure you request, or your travel agent request, one king/queen. We were both travelling as couples and we both ended up with 2 twin beds. Not the end of the world, but a little annoying our first night. My friend tried to switch her room a few times with no luck - so try and get this figured out before you arrive (if this is possible). All in all - a great first Cuba experience! Make sure you do the Catamaran tour - everyone must see Cayo Blanco!

Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: Great vacation

The resort was great. We however did not think it would be a place that would involve spring break issues. Rude drunk kids were not part of our girl week and became bothersome. Security did shut them down.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Fantastic time

Loved the resort. Clean, not too big. The staff were amazing and the food was also great (and not just Cuban standards). The beach and the water were breathtaking. I am not sure if the season was low, but there were always plenty of beach chairs as well as around the pool. Food and drinks around the clock, and you could always find the proper amount of activity, from none to plenty. Entertainment staff made sure to keep busy the kids and the adults. I strongly recommend this resort, after 12 tim [... read more]es in Cuba it is probably the best stay that I have had.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Beautiful resort!

This resort was beautiful and quite large. Lots of walking to the various ammenities but worth it. Not much to say about the food, but we didn't starve. Brought the kids, age 8 and 2 and they loved every moment. Beautiful beaches, great pool and kids loved the children's area and nightly kids show.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Great Resort - solid 41/2 star

The hotel was very clean, the grounds were very well kept. Great pool. The food was very good! surprisingly enough the meat was very good. Hotel room was a bit small and aged but clean. It is self serve at the pool, but the staff was very friendly. The entertainment left much to be desired.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Compact beautiful resort

My wife and I along with 4 other good friends just returned from a stay from March 21-28 2016. The friendliness of the staff from front desk, bars, maids, gardeners, waiters and waitresses are second to none. The entertainment team really go out of their way to make sure your stay is memorable and make you feel welcome. Special shout out to Odie, Ernie and Alex, what a wonderful sense of humour. This was our 7th trip to Cuba and our second stay here and our friends 1st and they absolutely loved  [... read more]it there. The Mexican ala carte is a must. The Varadero or Manztanza buildings are close to everything but really none of the buildings are far away from anything.We even had a bottle of rum in our room upon check in which we assume was because we were returning guests. The only thing we thought that might improve this amazing resort would be an improved cleanup around the pool deck and maybe a 24hr snack bar would be nice. We would not hesitate to visit again though, wonderful vacation.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Amazing resort

This was an awesome resort, the staff was extremely friendly and yes I know that they are suppose to be but not everyone is always that way, but at this resort I found all staff to be very friendly, from the reception in the lobby to the grounds personal that you didn't come in contact with very often. The food was very good in all resteraunts on this resort. The only down side to my visit if any, and I'm not sure you can even call it a downside would be the size of the pool, I found it to be a  [... read more]bit small, but in saying that if you take into consideration the size of the resort it was never over crowded and that might be because the beach was a 2 minute walk from the pool. I would recommend this resort to anyone that is looking to get away to but only if your looking to enjoy yourself.

Iberostar Selection Playa Mita: Beyond expectations!

This was an amazing place for a week. Clean, friendly, excellent food, great beach for walking, fabulous pool and not crowded. It was quiet, and we were able to enjoy without being hassled at the beach or the pool. Went to the shows most nights which were very professional and enjoyable. The restaurants were great other than we heard, the Pacific express (French) was terrible from kore than one person, so we cancelled and went twice to the Japanese which was fun and very tasty, and healthy!Trip  [... read more]Central was great to book with, we watched the price and booked a couple of weeks before we went. I made a mistake and was able to get hold of Lawrence who was extremely helpful and righted my wrong! Thus vacation was just what we needed. A must go to!

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Great spot

The beach is fantastic, the food was excellent for a Cuban resort. You can't expect having lobster on 3 different nights in the buffet restaurant. The staff was very friendly and the service was very good.

Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: A great place to go

The rooms were clean, service was excellent, and the buildings and facilities were well maintained. The food was good t the buffet. The a la cart restaurants were very good. The beach was great aside from some rocky areas in the water which you just need to avoid. The pools were excellent, and the swim up bar was nice.

Iberostar Selection Rose Hall Suites: Fantastic resort with absolutely the best service!

Our family of 4 were floored by the beauty, cleanliness, fantastic service and great suites at the IRHSuites!! Our suite was spotless and the the cleaning staff were fantastic and polite! The food at every turn was so delicious! We are in 2 of the specialty restaurants which were very good. Our 2 daughters (14&12) loved eating in the buffets though as there was a bountiful selection that was mind boggling! The service st every bar and restaurant or in the music bar was fantastic!!! One night all [... read more] I ate was fish and seafood...beautifully prepared mahi mahi/tuna/lobster tails/fresh shrimp/tuna and sushi. They had tenderloin steak that perfectly prepared (at both steak rest and buffet..we all like it Med rare). We drank our sparkling wines from glass stems, drinks in glass tumblers etc...no soft plastic anywhere! If we were outside, the drinks were served in hard plastic. the pool was clean and warm as was the beautiful blue sea that the infinity pool overlooked. We spent a day at a diff hotel for the night as it allegedly had the best Waterpark..,NOT. It's drinks were all premade, food was only ok and little selection. Our drinks were made from scratch and were soooo yummy. 24 hour room service food was delicious as well! Our girls LOVED the spaghetti. Their pizza was fantastic. I CANNOT say enough good things about this resort. It was totally ALL INCLUSIVE. We will for sure go back to this resort. Our suite was so spacious and crisp. Large shower with huge tub. We ended every night in the music bar chatting about our day and having a sambucca. They even put an odd number of coffee beans in the drink! DEFINITELY take in the orientation for no other reason than to hear repeatedly to put on suntan lotion!!! DO NOT FORGET your suntan lotion like we did as it is $27 US in the shop. That was painful. You need a hat, uv protection water shirt and lots of suntan lotion. We took our own Costco purchased goggles and snorkel though you can get them there to use. Don't forget water shoes as their are some little urchins out in the snorkling area. our girls did the 2 seater parasailing and they loved it! We all did the TWO dolphin swim (ultimate) and it was worth it. What we did not really enjoy much was the Dunn Rivet climb as our guide dropped us at the check in and we ended up waiting 45 min for a large group of SLOW folks. You don't just go with your own family and have to hold hands in a long row the entire way up... No fun. I would pass on that and just do the Dolphins. Pants for men req at certain restaurants. We had one nice lightweight outfit each. Sun dresses for woman at night = perfect. Take lots of US $1s as you WANT to tip the waiters in buffet and bars as their service is insanely good, not because your drinks aren't good etc... We left 2-3$ each rest/buffet and a1$ every drink...or every other. WONDERFUL WONDERFUL service, doors opened for you, hot delicious coffee and milk etc...I can't say enough about this place. We took a cab from the airport to resort for $35 and well worth it as you don't have to wait for everyone to get their luggage and act together to get on complimentary bus. TOTALLY WORTH IT! It was worth it on way back too as bus ended up waiting 45 min before leaving and they were suppose to leave earlier than we did with taxi. The nice thing doing it that was is that you are either there before or after bus and don't have a long line st check in that you wait for. I signed up for reggae tour the night before we left so they had my reservation and a great price. 70$ round trip for us all and only us. One taxi tried to get $150 for a 1 way... Online chat:( Go with Reggae. It's only ~ 20 min from airport to resort. After you have your luggage, just go over to Reggae Tours desk and the swiftly move you out the door and into their clean taxi. Have your bathing suit and lotion packed within easy reach as if you arrive early, you can change and go to pool while luggage waits with bellman. They will give you your pool towel cards. Also, we payed 25$ pp for the Club Mobay at the airport on return home...perfect as we did not have to stand in line for customs...they take you ahead of the line and check you through. Then you go to their air conditioned, drinks, small meals and snacks as well as wifi all complimentary while you wait to depart. TVs too. Fantastic holiday for us! Our Trip Crntral Saskia Sing was a HUGE help to me and shared tons of info. She is a go to us for future vacations!