Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Save your money book elsewhere

We started with one room that smelt so bad like must and mold we had them move us to another room. Also the safe in the first room had no batteries in it. Second room there is mold all over the bathroom tub and sink. But we stayed in there rather than having to move once again. Our second night here we went to the front desk because we had a couple minor issues with the room and we were told maintenance would be up in 20 minutes. Well 3 days later and we still have not seen a maintenance guy. [... read more] Breakfast at the buffet we have seen eggs only twice but you have to line up for them for 20 minutes or more. They have shrivelled up pancakes but no syrup for them. There is next to no selection for breakfast at all. The servers bring you coffee or juice but don’t come back to see if you are ok or need a top up. Lunch has been ok not a lot of selection but we did find something. Dinners have been a mess next to nothing in selection and the food is cold even when they bring it freshly from the back. Also want to point out absolutely nothing is labeled with what it is so you have no idea what you are taking whether or not you will like it. We did the Italian alacarte the one night. We ordered chicken. The chicken was extremely dry and rubbery to the point we had a hard time cutting it with the knives. The cheese soup tasted like kraft dinner sauce and the chocolate cake tasted like the box it come in. The Japanese restaurant was amazing we did enjoy that. And the show that goes with it was on point. WiFi has been horrible on one minute off the next. No WiFi at the pool or beach either. Booted off and can’t get back on for some time. It was even very weak when on the balcony. Housekeeping the room was cleaned daily but not once all week were the towels changed just folded and put back on the shower rail. Our shower was only a wand which we had to tuck into a pole to have a shower. Otherwise hold the wand the whole time. The weather this week wasn’t as friendly as Cuba weather should be so we spent a lot of time in the lobby. We waited hours and had to flag the server down to even get anything in there. The bar was always lined up so that also took a lot of time just trying to get a drink. The entertainment team is awesome they keep the crowd going and the evening shows have been great. Also not once has the elevator in building 16 worked. Overall this wasn’t a great experience and we will not be returning here. Definitely not a 4.5 star. I would give it maybe a 2.5 to a 3. I do understand that there are shortages in Cuba but service isn’t great either and in my opinion that makes or breaks a resort. Unfortunately this one is a break for me.

Iberostar Selection Esmeralda: VERY POOR CHAIRS BY THE OCEAN AND THE POOL

I am not the only one complaining from pain caused by the lounge chairs scattered throughout this resort along side of the pool & the chairs by the ocean even worse. Had a great time other than having to come back and straight off to the doctor. Sciatica pain in BOTH legs, very unfortunate, started day 2. URGENT****** THIS RESORT NEEDS TO INVEST IN NEW LOUNGE CHAIRS.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Very Beautiful and CLEAN

The hotel, grounds, absolutely beautiful beach and staff was awesome. The food, well its Cuba so the choices was minimal and limited, never hot. The food was warm at best and salty. The snack bar The same. Fyi don't expect to get fries. ?. The drink was awesome.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Loved this resort!

We were at Iberostar Costa Dorada for nine days in early December.We travelled with air transit and their service was very good. The resort itself was very clean and the grounds are beautiful. The beach was kept very clean and we went daily. We swam in the ocean and it was warm. It was a nice stretch of beach that you could walk for a bit on if you wanted to walk. The pool was well maintained , we used it daily also. They lit up their Christmas lights December 7 and that was amazing. The main gr [... read more]ounds looked magical. That was a very special experience. Food was good at all restaurants with lots of variety. We would return to this resort.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Sadly Not Good...Avoid Cuba

Everything was as expected for the price EXCEPT the food. I'm the world's least picky eater and it was just BAD. Constant shortages of basic items (eggs, potatoes, toilet paper, Coke). Avoid Cuba rn!!

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Beautiful Resort

This is a beautiful picture perfect resort. We just returned from 2 weeks at Iberostar Costa Dorado. Great oceanfront view and highly recommend Building 1 as the other oceanfront building has a condominium development being built beside it and the work is starting to get noisy. Food is great along with staff; Domingo is the best server and Manuel in customer service is wonderful! Entertainment definitely needs some higher quality singers and the shows are a bit dated. The beach is gorgeous and w [... read more]e went on 5-10km walks daily! One great thing here are the amount of lounge chairs; never had to “reserve” chairs as they were never out of them. We always sat in the second row facing the ocean. We preferred not to sit directly on the beach. The bar service this time was much better and they were much more acute in serving as you arrived at the bar. Previous visits you would only be served in a timely manner if you tipped. Must have gotten multiple complaints as so much better this stay. Cleaning staff work hard and they did a great job! Will be returning again.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Always a great time!

This is our 7th time in Cuba, third time at this resort. We have always been successful with our travel in Cuba, beautiful people and great weather, a few drops of rain are refreshing. Food in Cuba can be hit and miss, come with an open mind and willingness to be open to new cuisine. This resort does not have typical beach, however the water is calm allowing you to see the starfish and other sea life. Please remember we are the guest, the starfish and most shells are living and should not [... read more] be removed from their homes.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Nice resort

We have been in this resort already 4 times, it is a nice place with great people. But this time it looks kind of rundown. Elevator did not work, problems with toilet paper. But in general we still like it and enjoyed our vacation

Iberostar Selection Playa Mita: Unfortunate experience

Experienced cash and jewelry theft from my room. Only received mediocre lip service in regards to the "investigation". Quite disappointing as the resort was clean and beautiful and the food was great. Hoped for a better outcome.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Iberostar Laguna Azul

The food was surprisingly good. Excellent service. No shortage on liquor there, Lots of beer, wine ,rum, vodka, and tequila. Lots of entertainment and music in the evening. We would return again as a repeat customer.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Amazing beaches

Thanks to our very helpful travel agent Eliana Anton at Tripcentral, we enjoyed again our recently stay in Iberostar Ensenachos resort. People who work there are so friendly and helpful. I want to mention Yunely and Ariel at the Ensenachos beach. Yunely is such a great human being, a hard working guy who makes everyone feel relaxed and comfortable. He will go above and beyond to accommodate anything without even us asking. Very pleased with his service. We loved his fancy drinks, kids enjoyed it [... read more] as well, specially his amazing personality. A shout out to the receptionist I don't remember her name, a young lady who will offer her help whenever she sees us at the lobby. She will remember our room's number too.

Iberostar Selection Coral Bavaro: Thoroughly EnjoyableVacation

My wife and I were looking for a relaxing week on a nice beach and Coral Level at Iberostar Bavaro certainly delivered. We ate at the Coral buffet for breakfast and lunch everyday and the food was very good. Decent selection and fresh fruit in the mornings and a good variety for lunch. Enjoyed the a la cartes for dinner although we both thought the Mexican was the weakest here. Our room was fantastic! Beachfront walkout to a patio area with both table and chairs and 2 loungers and a nice view of [... read more] the ocean. Everything was close enough and were able to quickly get a cart to the front for the restaurants/shops up there. All in all, was the resort we were looking for for his vacation. We have been to Punta Cana 7 times before and therefore didn't do any excursions.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Iberostar Resort in Puerto Plata

We found the resort to be very pleasant well maintained property was in good shape food could have used a bit of an improvement to wish the food and buffets were labeled because it was hard to decide which you want to eat if you didn't know what the name it was

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Wonderful resort!

The grounds were beautiful, clean and well manicured. The room was nothing special but how much time do you spend in your room anyway? The pool was large and wonderful. We enjoyed our vacation and would recommend it! The only negative is that the room had alot of humidity so much so that the sheets felt wet when you finally go to bed.

Iberostar Coral Holguin: Beautiful Resort

I went to the coral in October. It was a very beautiful resort. This was my first time traveling alone but after I left I knew I would go back. I can't say enough about the staff. They were so friendly and always remembered your name. It's a small resort but if you wanted more you could go to the sister resort next door which is a short walk. I recommend this resort for sure.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Unforgettable experience

The resort is located in a beautiful area. The rooms are large and kept clean. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful. The room service was good but didn’t speak English. Would recommend this resort.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Resort needs some TLC & Repair

Hotel staff where wonderful, friendly & helpful! The Resort itself needs some improvements. Bar pool was emptied on day 3 which was not a big deal for us however it was in need of repair due to tiles missing. The pool will be at least a month down for repair. While the main pool was under repair the secondary pool was then the main pool. It has missing tiles and most ladders where also in need of repair. You just have to be careful where to walk and to watch where you get out of the pool to mak [... read more]e sure the ladder is safe. There was a shortage of white wine in most places on the resort. I believe there was a shortage of things to Cuba as food was limited. Ala Carte's were better than the buffet. We changed rooms after the first night due to safe not working, no remote, toilet not working properly, and phone not working and no towels. Our second room was suitable. The maid staff did a wonderful job of cleaning our room and always helpful and friendly. For a beach towel you will need to use your credit card for $10 USA & when you return the beach towel you will be re-imbursed the money. (This is a first for me) The beach area in the water has rocks which can hurt or cut you if the waves take you. You had to be very careful. I am not sure if the hotel was short staffed as there are very few servers, however the staff that did come around where again friendly and helpful. This is not a hotel that I would recommend, but we did have a good time regardless.

Iberostar Waves Paraiso del Mar: Amazing Location

Spent a week at Iberostar Paraíso Del Mar. beautiful, lush jungle like location only a half hour drive from the Cancun airport. This is now a non smoking resort. This was great for us but we heard many people complain that they weren’t aware of this fact. A solid resort that is good value. Lots of work occurring around the property to make the resort even more appealing.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Fun family time

We had fun family time at Iberostar. The rooms were spacious, the grounds were beautiful. We actually liked all the walking. The beach was beautiful. The small water park was a nice added touch of fun for my toddler and us as well. I usually don't have a problem with the food, but i think because Cuba was having a food shortage the hotel did the best with what they had. I heard from people from other hotels and it seemed like ours was still better. Also, November brought lots of little bugs, bri [... read more]ng bug spray!!!

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Iberostar Coral Esmeralda

Having just returned from a wonderful vacation here, I can report that by far, the good far out weighed anything negative. The ride from the airport is long (about one and a half hours+-) and that can be a turn off for some. It went by quickly with a great guide on the bus. The rooms were nice, clean, quiet...the grounds were well maintained, the beach was fabulous - the water warm and beach cleaned daily of any seaweed that may have been washed ashore overnight. The food (after reading lots  [... read more]of negative comments about the food in Cuba) was surprisingly very good. I always laugh about the comments that the food is repetitive. Sure, if you are inclined to eat 3 kinds of fish, 3 kinds of pork, beef, various salads, vegetables, pastas, ice cream and so many pastries EVERY DAY and every meal at home...lol. Well, you might find it "repetitive". But reasonable people, respectful to the food shortages in the country and the sincere desire to satisfy their beloved tourists, will be pleasantly surprised and I guarantee that you will not lose weight! Drinks...well, yes, they had a day or two of no Cola but that was about it. Any kind of liquor you wanted was available. Spanish Coffee...amazing Cappuccino (complete with the Starbucks style foam artistry), cold beer at every bar...no problems whatsoever with quality or quantity. The resort itself is new (two years this month I believe) and I would say it is of the more modern style. We generally prefer traditional resorts and find the newer modern ones cold, I didn't feel that way about this place. Modern but warmer than most. We had a second floor ocean view room that we paid extra for and I am not sure I would do that again. We did have a view of the ocean and a nice sunrise view but it was reasonably far away from the beach and probably not worth it for the most part. I did not see the top floor mega suites in person but, they looked really nice and only two per building..either facing the sunrise/ocean view or, to the inside of the resort. If you need a giant suite..go for it - it looked really nice. The low floor step into the pool rooms were very nice too. I am not sure how much extra. None were available when we booked. You lack perhaps a bit of privacy since most can be seen from the sidewalks but, you can step out of your room into your private area pool which are all connected to the main pools. Very cool and I think most people who had those enjoyed them. I think you can't go wrong with any of the rooms. When you are at the Coral level, you can freely go to and enjoy the many amenities of the attached Esmeralda main family hotel. It has a great lobby...huge pool, and other features not available in the smaller Coral level. We went a couple of times and enjoyed it (much louder and full) but were happy to be on our more peaceful and smaller Coral Level side. It was nice to be able to experience both whenever you wanted. Other 'stuff' to do. Well, there is a small 'village' for shopping within a 10 minute walk but many of the stores were closed and those that were open had the usual tourist trinkets, booze store, small grocery store (with crazy high prices), a nice spa and not much more. It made for a nice short excursion. There is also a very nice and newly built (not yet fully opened) Dolphinarium but no dolphins there yet. You can walk (or ask the hotel to drive you in one of their electric carts) there to see it for free right now. It is not yet open but they will let you walk around and see some huge turtles, rays etc. now. We did not take any outside excursions so I cannot comment on those. There is a deserted beach in that area too (a bit farther from the Dolphin area) for those so inclined too. Best of all for last...the staff are incredible....ALL of them...if I started to name names, I would fill the page...from the wonderful people at the buffet, the grounds keepers, the bar tenders at all of the bars, the life guards and staff on the beach, the front desk staff, management, the spa staff, the chefs and cooks, the amazing entertainers especially Jose Luis who entertained us nightly and often through the day in the lobby with great sing alongs etc. .... I KNOW I missed some and that's why I said 'ALL'....I did not find anyone who wasn't genuinely friendly and fun. Awesome people! Overall...we loved the week and had a great time. We would recommend this resort to others without hesitation if you like the amenities as described. We do like the Iberostar brand and this one does not disappoint (us at least). In all of Cuba, go with an open mind and slightly lower expectations remembering how much you paid. Trip Central and our rep, Tammy Beamish were great and thorough with reminders and email updates. Also, if you enjoy the staff and connect, you will be blessed with meeting and learning from awesome people. If you are the type who goes on vacation to snap fingers at people, demand and look only for the negative and not the overwhelming positive...well, you should probably stay home (from everywhere lol). Enjoy life.