Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9456 reviews

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  Challenge getting into restaurants

  We stayed at Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach, March 17-26, 2025 (9 nights). This was our 10th time at this resort (we go nearly every year). Unfortunately, each year there are more problems with this resort. They are clearly going down hill. The main problem is that in their attempt to get people to sign up for their time share "Club" (many thousands of dollars), they make more things worse for the average guest. Getting into restaurants is the latest example. I will list the positives and negatives of this resort: Positive: 1. The pool is amazing; 2. The daytime entertainment team is wonderful; 3. The food variety is good (although often too salty); 4. The grounds are beautiful; 5. The gym is awesome; 6. They removed towels from the chairs every morning we were there (if no one there for 30 minutes), so it was easier than usual to find a chair at the pool. Negative: 1. The rooms in Del Mar and Beach clearly need updating. For example, the plumbing (our shower never had any pressure). There are many other examples (old furniture, missing curtains, missing furniture, noisy air conditioning, ice machines on the 2nd floors not working...the list goes on!); 2. The ice cream place near the pool was closed the entire time (a favorite spot for children); 3. No longer soft ice cream at the beach snack bar; 4. The evening shows used to be so amazing (live music and shows with talented singers and dancers). There are only 2 good shows now ("Four on the Floor" and "Retro Show"). Not much to do in the evenings. Extremely negative #1: During the entire 9 days we could never get a reservation at any A la Carte restaurants, whether we used the app or a concierge. They were full regardless of how much in advance we tried. I suspect that they favor the Club people. We used to get reservations with no problem. It is probably because they changed the system last year, by having most A la Carte restaurants "First Come, First Served". So everyone is reserving the ones that require reservations, as it is difficult to get into the "First Come, First Served" ones. Extremely negative #2: To get into a "First Come, First Served" restaurant, we need to stand in line at 5:40, so that when they open at 6:00 there will be a table for us. If we arrive at 6:15, there will be a 1 hour to 2 hour wait. This is impossible for families with children. What an unpleasant experience. Extremely negative #3: Even to get into the evening buffets, there were often long line-ups. There are 2 reasons for this. One reason is that people can't get into the A la Carte restaurants, so they go to the buffet. The second reason is that at lunch time they have two buffets open (near the pool and near the lobby), but in the evening there is only one buffet open. Conclusion: When people pay money to come to a resort such as this, they expect to have a pleasant dining experience. This system make no sense. I see that many people are making this same comment in the reviews. Go back to reservations for all of the A la Carte restaurants and make them available for everyone, not just the Club members. Everyone needs to eat.

  Mar 28, 2025
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  Amazing Trip

  We had an amazing time! Maria Jose greeted us shortly after checking in to help with restaurant reservations, kids club, activities, etc. and helped make the whole experience great. Kids club staff were great and the kids were always asking to go back. Food was wonderful with lots of options and different dining experiences.

  Mar 27, 2025
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  Lots of fun for people of all ages

  Our stay has been nothing short of fun with all sorts of activities during the day and into the night, combined with relaxing by the pools and the beach. The food at the buffets and restaurants are authentic and delicious. Highly recommend anyone with kids or groups of adults of all ages to visit. The staff has been extremely helpful, being flexible to our schedules bringing the best experience to our excursions and our stay at the resort. I also want to mention Marijose Ucan who works at the front desks in the lobby, she arranged our excursions to our preferences and she’s super friendly and extremely professional.

  Mar 24, 2025
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  Paradise found and good value too

  Had a wonderful visit! Just wanted to point out a few topics to help those who are contemplating a visit. . . first of all The rooms - Ours was clean and spacious. The front desk offered an upgrade to building 10 which was the only one with a beach and water view for just a bit extra per night. Housekeeping was on point everyday to freshen it up. Each building has filtered water stations and containers in the room to use to fill up. Note: It seems the resort is very eco-concious so much so that each room has a motion sensor that turns off the AC in the middle of the night if motion isn't sensed or in the afternoon while you are out. It got warm very fast in our room. Also, the min temp to set the ac was 72. Had to call the front desk for them to override the temp setting and motion sensor control which made for a nicer stay. The food - No complaints on food quality. Seemed a bit above average on taste for the most part. Ice seemed to be in short supply, morning buffet juices and milk were always warm while eggs and some of the other buffet options could never get warm enough, so maybe a bit of a struggle on food temps. Drinks seemed a bit watered down. Had multiple, multiple etc....drinks and didnt feel a thing till I had a few beers. Also, dress codes were hit and miss. Told my daughter she couldnt get into the buffet with a modest bikini top on but at the "fancy" French restaurant flip-flops, shorts, colarless shirts etc....were all allowed even though there was a strict 'dress code' according to the app forbidding all those items. Be consistent was my complaint here. The service - Top to bottom service was always good and never an issue. The resort itself - Very beautiful. Its in a jungle and the amount of furry creatures, flamingos, peacocks etc...on the grounds is amazing. The beach is awesome, supersoft sand and warm water. They did a great job cleaning up the morning sargasum which really wasnt bad while we were there. The pools were large and always with activity, slightly colder than the ocean. Take advantage of the free one hour daily Hobie Cat sailboat, kayaks and snorkle gear. Complaints : 1. Very infrequent cart service. The grounds are large and need to triple the ride frequency to get up to speed with other places I've stayed. Prepare to walk everywhere because there is never a cart when you need one. 2. Other guests are cutthroat when it comes to beach/pool space. There is a strict 30 minute 'chair hold' policy that is barely advertised. People have no problem ratting other guests out to the "chair Police", which there is, so they can take-over your spot. Beware, most good spots are taken by 7:30 am. My wife and I could never share breakfast because someone always had to guard your spot or else you would'nt get a beach/pool chair. 3. The room AC, like I said before, you'll need the front desk to override the default settings or else your ac will not sufficiently cool your room.

  Mar 24, 2025
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  2025 spring break vacation

  Very pleasant stay, phenomenal staff, especially Marijose Ucan at the front desk/lobby. She's been extremely helpful in organizing and rearranging our schedules when needed it. We've been well taken care of above and beyond during our 10 days stay. I would highly recommend this resort to anyone with kids. The food was very delicious, entertaining activities all day long. We'll definitely come back.

  Mar 24, 2025