Iberostar Quetzal reviews
8988 TripAdvisor reviews
Amazing week at the Iberostar Quetzal
sara L (Hamilton, Canada) on Mar 23, 2024
We stayed at the Iberostar Quetzal March 6-13 2024. I rely on reviews when I am looking at vacation destinations/hotels. Here is a honest review of the hotel. We are a family of 5 with 3 teenagers. We were greeted with open arms by reception and they quickly gave us our bands for our rooms which were also our room key. This was by far the best thing not having to search for the key. We had to book 2 rooms being a family of 5 and requested rooms beside each other and were thankful they were. The beach was amazing/clean the ocean was beautiful no sea weed. Staff always friendly/courteous. We always felt safe. The resort is huge so lots of walking. The wildlife was beautiful to see each day. The food was always good. Something for everyone. It was nice to not have to book the A La carte as it was first come first serve. The rooms are definitely outdated but that didn’t bother us as we only slept in the room. They were always clean and no trace of any bugs/insects at all! Another great point is they have Purified water stations all over the resort and outside of your hotel room to fill your water bottles up. We loved this feature as it was always very hot and needed to have water on hand. The only negative thing I could say is there is nothing to do at night. The ride from Cancun airport is 1.5 hours long . The transfers were included for us we checked out at 12:00pm and front desk took care of our luggage until pick up at 2:00. They let us keep the bands on until the last minute so we could eat and drink as much as we liked until we left. This resort was very nice. Definitely suits older age people. It is not a party hotel. They ask you once if you want to sit in on a timeshare meeting we said no and they didn’t bother us again. Amazing week at the Iberostar Quetzal. ??
The worst 5 star hotel we have ever been
Olga D on Mar 20, 2024
This hotel is absolutely horrible. rooms are soo uncomfortable and dark. Food is not tasty at all. No variety of drinks. The beach is always full and people just leave a blanket on a sunbed and you cannot take it. We spent there only 4 days but i wanted to leave in the first day of staying.
A Fabulous Stay
zekibey2 (Sudbury, Canada) on Mar 13, 2024
We had a wonderful time at the Iberostar Quetzal. Good food, good drinks, lovely grounds with an assortment of animals and a beautiful beach. Download the Iberostar app!! It has the daily activities listed, the restaurants and menus (and the days they are open) plus other information. There are also sceens in the lobby. The Room We were in building 23 on the second floor. It was close to the pool area and also the paths that wound through the natural jungle setting that is in the middle of this resort. This area was a delight to walk through and to see the animals, peacocks, iguanas, agoutis, howler monkeys and more. Our room was exactly as pictured on the hotel's website. No issues with air conditioning or water pressure. Your bracelet is your room We even had a peacock on our balcony three times during our stay. The Food Breakfast at the Cozumel was the same each day but there was a wide variety of items to choose from and mimosas were available. Lunch was at the Tulum buffet (Toucan side of the resort). There was something different every day (sushi, poke bowls) and always grilled meats and seafood, Mexican items, salads, fruits, desserts and more. The Iberostar no longer requires reservations for the a la carte restaurants except for the Japanese one (teppanyaki). You could go to the same restaurant every night if you if want to do so. Mare Nostrum (Mediterranean/seafood) Order your entree and then get your appetizers (and desserts) in the centre of the restaurant. Grilled octopus was delicious, paella was good. We enjoyed it so much we went a second time. Bonsai (Japanese) A set menu with sushi and miso soup and then a show while cooking the main entrees. A fun evening. Make your reservation! La Hacienda (Smokehouse) A set menu for meat lovers with grilled chicken, pulled pork (both great) and beef brisket (needed to be cooked more). A lot of food and we couldn't eat it all La Gondola (Italian) Our least favourite. Why do people go here to have pizza and pasta when you can get it at the lunch buffet?? We had salmon which was slightly over done. It was also the busiest of the a la carte restaurants. Get there before 6pm as there will be a line up. Otherwise, you will have to wait an hour or so to get in. Since it seems so popular, perhaps reservations might be needed for this place. The Beach It is cleaned of seaweed and groomed every morning! Much cleaner than the beaches at the other resorts. If you want to be sitting at the beach, most loungers were marked by towels by 7:30am! The Pools The large pool varies in depth from 4.5 to 5.5 feet. If you're not a good swimmer bring a floatie (or you can purchase one there). It has a lot of activities throughout the day. The shallow spots were at the very front and back of this large pool. Once again, if you want to sit by the pool, you had to be out there before 8am to claim your place. We found the smaller sports pool more to our liking as it had good shade and was a lot quieter. We were always able to get a spot after breakfast usually by 9:30am. The Staff We found the staff to be polite and helpful. The young ladies who greeted us at the buffet always had a wonderful smile for everyone. This is one resort we would consider returning to for another visit!
Great hotel location, beach, food, staff and friends
Gary J (Houston, Texas) on Mar 09, 2024
We started going to Iberostar Quetzal/Tucán in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico in 2002. That year we met Rafael, a waiter in the buffet that became a very good friend of ours and is still working there. Over the years we have made many friends at the resort which some have moved up in the company and others that are still there. The wait staff at the buffet are amazing (Rafael, Jorge, Mirian) and the hostesses (Karina, Sandra) welcome you with a big smile. The food is Great! In 2016 we joined The Club to have the ultimate experience. Sayra and Igor that helped us in joining The Club are fantastic to work with. Jessica and Alexis at the Star Prestige lobby made sure that our trip was perfect. Mario the bartender in the lobby is the Best. At the Star Prestige area at the beach Javier and Emmanuel made sure our bed ready for us to relax. Neyci our beach waitress is one of the hardest working and most importantly friendly waitress around. She is the Best! This resort has a lot to offer from a white sand beach to a jungle with all kind of animals and birds. The resort is located on the southern end of Playa Del Carmen in the jungle and east of the golf course in Playacar. There are so many different animals and birds (Howler Monkeys, Sereques, Flamingos, Iguanas, Coatis, Gray Crown Crane, Great Kiskadee, etc.).
Needs updating
Klaus L (Thunder Bay, Canada) on Mar 05, 2024
We arrived in the evening after lengthy delays at the airport and issuers with hotel transfer. Certainly no fault of the resort. It was thirteen hours from the time we left home. We were tired and hungry. Check in was quick. We were then approached by another staff who wanted to give us information on book restaurant reservations. He started talking about giving us free gifts. To make a long story short this is nothing more than trying to sell you a very expensive plan for perks at Iberostar resorts. He was relentless and would not take no for an answer. We finally walked away. Throughout our stay we were approached by three other staff with the same pressure sales tactics. We were told that they wanted us to be fully informed on how we can enjoy our stay at Iberostar to the fullest so these sessions were being offered. Any information that needed to be passed on about this sales offer can easily by done through the TV which defaults to the resort information page when turned on or to the hotel phone app or by placing information pamphlets in the room. This cheapens the whole resort experience. We were offered to upgrade to an ocean view room for $99 a night! Not an offer I would even consider. We stayed on the third floor of the 29 block, close to the lobby. The area was quiet. No noise from the lobby bar which had nightly entertainment. We stayed one night in our assigned room, then request a room change because of a strong sewer smell. Our request was met with no issues. The rooms in this resort are all similar, they are old, small and in need of upgrades. There is very limited storage space. No many place to plug in electronics. There were no issues with the TV ( only what briefly in the morning to get the news) hairdryer and iron worked. We did not use the coffee maker since we don't drink coffee, but it looked new. One thing we found a little creepy was the dim light in the ceiling which came on when it detected movement. we assumed that it was a night light. Creepy non the less. The room was very clean. In fact cleanliness was evident throughout the resort. We were very impressed. Everywhere you looked you saw someone cleaning, raking, cleaning. We did enjoy the little jungle setting and the wildlife. It was certainly worth while to take a walk around and enjoy the animals. The beach was OK but we were never able to get a lounge chair. The chairs were always occupied by people or towels. The same was true for the pool area. We would go to the pool after an early breakfast and stay for the day. We noticed that there were loungers with towels over them which did not get occupied until until later in the afternoon. We were told that staff monitor the reservation of loungers but we did not find this to be the case. The food was good and plentiful. The day after we arrived, reservations for the ala cart restaurants, except for the Japanese restaurant, were no longer required. Iberostar resorts have been our choice of resorts. This resort certainly falls short of the 5 star rating being given by some reviewers. We applaud the resort for being eco friendly, its smoke free policy, for clean rooms and grounds but the rooms are outdated and not what is expected in a 5 star. We also found that some of the staff were less than friendly and avoided engaging. We will not be returning to this resort but suggest that others could find a different experience.