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Reviewed 22 December 2004

Just got back from our honeymoon (12/11 - 12/21)...We had a lot of fun...
- Snorkeling was decent right off the pier....
- Pool bar was fun...Candelario has a very special tequila you all need
to try
- No bugs at all
- Beach was fair....bring the water shoes....don't expect to go running down the beach and dive into the crashing waves....
- The grounds were immaculate....very beautiful
- The employees are all very hard working and very nice
- Food was good...ate at all the places and think the buffet was the best...I did like the snapper in the mexican restaurant though.
- The bed....dear god the bed is hard....i looked into it to see why...the mattress is fine, the boxspring is the problem. I looked at the boxspring AND THERE WAS NONE!!!!! It was built up like there was one (dust ruffle and all), but all it was was plywood boards that the 4 inch mattress sat on. OUCH.....many mornings with sore backs....
- Shows at night were very amusing...worth a look a few nights out of the week

- Tips and tricks
1) Bring a coffee caraffe...no coffee pots in the rooms but you can pring the carraffe to the restaurant and they will fill it for you
2) Bring water socks...need these to walk around at the beach
3) Lower level rooms do not have bug and lizard problems...request one
4) Chankanaab was very cool and has great snorkeling
5) Rent a jeep for a day and go around the island...some of the stops are beautiful
6) Sunset is between 4:45 and 5:00...DON'T MISS IT!!!
7) Everything in the room is controlled by a motion dector...you leave A/C goes off....hang a towel from the ceiling fan so it creates motion in your room.
8) Tip your maid...she stocks the bar everyday instead of every other. Plus you get cool towel animals folded on your bed with fresh flowers from the grounds.
9) Make all your reservations for the restaurants the day you get there...you can always change them....they fill up really fast!!!!
10) We did not have any bugs at all but bring spray if you think you may need it.
11) MELON SOUR.....Best drink ever....pool bar...ask for Candelario.

That's it...would love to go back or to one of their other resorts somewhere else in the world...If you have any questions, let me know. Kaniajoe@gmail.com

Date of stay: December 2004
    • Value
    • Rooms
    • Cleanliness
    • Service
18  Thank Navigate26071
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 22 December 2004

On June 14, 2004, my family and I traveled to Cozumel for a wonderful family vacation. Unfortunately, we did not have the ultimate experience we so hoped for. Cozumel had just been flooded due to heavy rains prior to our arriving. If our travel company had warned us about the problems, we would not have flown there. We would rather have lost money than travel into the conditions we did. We first were booked at another Cozumel property but upon arriving we found it totally unacceptable, so we moved to the Iberostar. It is a beautiful property with an open air lobby, thatched roof huts and gorgeous trees and flowers everywhere. We thought that we had finally found a resort to complete our dream vacation, however, we experienced many problems at the Iberostar. Maybe it was weather related, maybe it was not, I'm not sure because we have never traveled to Cozumel before. Our first room had no phone service, so we asked to be moved. The second room had no electricity, but when we complained we found out over half of the resort had no electricity. We spent a very uncomfortable night with no air. You can't sleep with your doors or windows open because of the lizards. Finally, my husband fussed enough and they moved us to a room with electricity, even though other guests still did not have any. The last room had electricity but the air did not work most of the trip. The room always felt very stuffy and smelled like mildew. The food at the resort was incredible and the staff is accomodating. I can't say anything bad about the food because we loved every meal. I felt like the staff was friendly and at first seemed very helpful. But, when you called for housekeeping, it would take forever and I felt like when we had all of the problems, we should have been offered some type of compensation, which we were not. The Iberostar is a long way from the city and from something different to do. If you like relaxing by the pool, it is a great resort and the snorkeling was wonderful near the pier. We were disappointed in the beach and in the water near the resort. We have been to Cancun and this water is nothing compared to there. The beach is not the prettiest I've ever seen and the water was not very appealing either. The main restaurant is open air (and you eat there most of the time because it's difficult to get reservations in the specialty restaurants) which sounds very charming. But due to the heavy infestations of mosquitos we experienced, we could not enjoy our meal or even walk around the property. I've NEVER seen mosquitos as thick as they were there and I live in Texas. They were absolutely brutal. We went through 6 bottles of Off for a family of 4 in just 4 days. All in all the trip was just ok for us. We would not go there again. But, I can not say ALL aspects of the trip were horrible. We had some fun there just not the best trip we've ever taken.

4  Thank Roving32557
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Management response:Responded 2 January 2005

Thank you for your comments regarding your stay with Iberostar.
Unfortunately, you experienced the effects of pouring rain for four days straight while vacationing with us. For many days, most of the island was experiencing problems with phone service and electricity due to the storm - not to mention the flooding. Some areas of the island experienced two feet of water accumulation on the streets and in homes and businesses. With all this rain and residual water, the mosquitoes were overwhelming. These problems; electricity, phones and mosquitoes were not an isloated Iberostar condition. Some staff were working over 15 hours daily to return the hotel back to normal working conditions. Housekeeping was one of the departments with the most work. Mopping up floors and providing more towels to all areas of the hotel including the rooms.
The beach is sandy but there is coral at the entrance to the water. Plastic sandals are available and guests can enter the ocean via our pier as well. We face the mainland so we do not experience the open ocean and the waves as seen in Cancun or the other side of Cozumel.
Since your stay, we have added additional seatings for dinner in our a la carte restaurants.
I hope you will reconsider returning to Cozumel, not during the rainy-hurricane season, to experience all the island, and our resort, have to offer.

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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewed 20 December 2004

My husband and I stayed at the Iberostar from November 28 - December 3rd. We loved the jungle atmosphere, the beds were comfortable (not sure why others said differently), the food was plentiful (good variety) and delicious (compared to many all-inclusives), the drinks were very good (not watered down at all) and the bartenders would make nearly whatever you wanted--even create new drinks.
The service was good and the facilities were beautiful, clean, and very relaxing. You can walk around the whole resort barefoot if you want to. You can sit on the beach or by the pool, even lounge in chairs in the wading pool. We didn't do any of the activities, but there are certainly enough to keep you busy, including bike tours, water aerobics, and beach volleyball. The shows were cute, but nothing to write home about. The spa was good for massages on the beach, but didn't really offer other quality services like manicures, pedicures, etc. The rooms were clean, bathrooms worked well, and satellite TV was good.
In terms of the negatives: depending on where your room is, you may smell sewage in the early morning (not sure why, but if you get a room closer to the pool or on the north side of the resort, you won't have this); sure there a mosquitos, but that is true of ALL of CANCUN, COZUMEL, and RIVIERA MAYA--bug spray was sufficient to solve that problem; we did find a gecko on the wall of our room one night, but my husband simply put it outside and problem solved. All in all, if you want a relaxing jungle hideaway that is all-inclusive so you don't have to leave the resort--this is the place! If you want a modern, standard hotel-style resort with hallways and elevators and a Bally's style fitness center that is close to town, then don't choose the Iberostar.
Finally, the diving was GREAT!!! Dressel divers was high quality, very professional, and very flexible. They have a morning AND afternoon session of two-tank diving, and you can pick one or both each day. If you buy on-line before you leave at their website, they will give you 15% off, and it is worth it! Don't worry, they will honor it when you get to Cozumel. They are a bit more expensive than other diving on the island, but the flexibility and convenience can't be beat! We usually try to always save money on diving, but this time it was worth it to be able to get up each day and simply sign-up for whatever dives we wanted and settle up at the end of the week. Plus, you can walk right from your room to the dock in your wetsuit with fins in hand and just get right on the boat!

11  Thank Exploration9562
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 20 December 2004

My wife and I were at the Iberostar from Dec. 10 through the 17th. I can't imagine why anyone would give this resort a bad review. We've stayed at the Fiesta Americana and Reef Club in Coz within the last two years, and this place was much better. The food was good, the grounds were clean, and service was good. This was my fourth trip to Coz in the last three years, and my wife's 8th in the last six years, and we both agree that this is the best all inclusive place we've been to on the island. People that have complained about this resort would give every other all inclusive resort on the island even worse reviews. The only negative I have is the distance to town. We rented a car for the week through Avis. We reserved it on line for a week for $140 U.S. It was a new Ford Focus, which was small, but it had a/c and a cd player. It worked out well for us, being that we like to run around the island a lot. It's around a 20 minute drive to/ from town.
There's also a little restaurant on the beach just down from the resort called Alberto's. If you want a fresh lobster dinner, just walk there from the resort in the afternoon and wait on his fishing boats to pull up and you can pick your dinner from their catch. I think it's the best lobster I've ever had! They set a table for us on the beach with tiki torches for a candlelight dinner. The rest of the time we ate at the resort. We ate at both the Mexican and steak restaurants, and they were decent, but the buffet was really good. They always had a huge assortment of food. They had lobster on the buffet one night and steak on another night.
We did 14 dives while we were there. We used Dive Paradise and there were no problems with using Iberostar's pier for pick up. They will only pick you up on a small boat, though. If the sea is rough, you'll have to go to town to get picked up by a big boat. Dressel divers is on site at the Iberostar, and they run big boats. We heard of no complaints about them. My wife and I are partial to DP because we've got to know some of their divemasters over the years.
Basically, I don't think anyone can do wrong by staying there. We've also stayed all inclusive at Sandals in St. Lucia and Breezes in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and the only thing they have on Iberostar is that they include diving and water skiing in their package.
All that said, we definitely recommend the Iberostar. We'll be staying there again the next chance we get.

15  Thank John T
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 19 December 2004

We enjoyed our time at the Iberostar. We knew that it is was far from town, and we didn't mind being away from all of the people the cruise ships bring in. The grounds are very tropical and well maintained. It was one of the best things about the resort. We loved the small wildlife around (birds, lizards, etc.) and felt very close to nature. After all, isn't that what being in the jungle is about?? The beach and pool are very nice as well. At sunset you will need bug spray on the beach, 100% Deet seemed to keep all biting bugs away. The rooms are very clean and the mini-bar was restocked daily. We packed a full size egg crate in our luggage because of all of the reviews here about how hard the beds are. It definiately helped, but the beds were not as bad as others we have had in Cozumel. The food for breakfast and lunch was o.k., but could use a few more choices and the service was lacking. Dinner at the buffet was great, they had lobster one night and steak the next. Service was fantastic. We ate at the Steak House and Mexican restaurant and did not care for either one. Next time we will stick to the buffet. We did one of our dives with Dressel (night dive). They were friendly and well organized but were a little pricey and did not provide the service on the boat we were used to. Overall, for the great deal we got, we thoroughly enjoyed our vacation and would consider staying here again.

7  Thank cajundiver
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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