Iberostar Waves Quetzal - All Inclusive

Customer ratings & reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9282 reviews

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  Great Spot

  We had a great experience at Iberostar Waves Quetzal. This is a family friendly place. It is set-up and operates in a way that is friendly to all age groups. We had people in every decade of life from 3 years old to 70. The pool caters to younger people and has access to swimming, kids activities, food, drinks and is close to most of the rooms. The teenagers gravitated towards the beach which is immediately adjacent to the pool. The buffets had a good mix of food for different tastes and pallets. We would stay here again especially if we had a big group or we were travelling with a group of people from young to seniors. If we were looking to be around other adults or a place that had more night life we probably would look to stay some place else. The Playacar area is good. I would stay there again as well.

  Jan 04, 2026
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  Christmas Vacation. Beautiful lush resort and beautiful sandy beach. Smaller footprint, no pool or beach drink service.

  Stayed at Quetzal Dec 18-26. Check-in was easy and quick and they took us to our room. Minibar is small and not overly generous, although ours was always stocked and we never went without. We had family suite (two adjoining rooms). Rooms are basic but solid and clean. Bathroom fan doesnt really work well, but bathrooms are totally separate and not open areas as in some newer styled resorts. This is a plus when you have two teens. AC worked well. The room was always cleaned quickly and very efficiently. We had some minor room issues with water leaking, but was fixed quick enough. Main pool was refreshing and clean. It has a shallow section, a mid deeper section and a deep section. I liked this a lot as it kept younger kids in one spot in the pool. The adults only pool needs some TLC and was very disappointing. Was dirty, tiles need repair, and only a handful of adults in there, one who looked like he may be a permanent fixture. We grabbed our drinks and got out pretty quickly. Food was consistent and we ate at ala cartes and enjoyed them enough. I found lunch to be good at the main buffet but lacking closer to the beach/pool. Drinks were good. Resort is very clean and lush. The beach is amazing here and you can walk forever. All soft sand. No rocks. If you don't know, there is no poolside or beach drink service here. It seemed to cut down on the number of visibility drunk ppl and kept things tidier. We never had issues finding pool chairs. The beach did get busier. The wildlife and jungle vibe here is our of this world. However, the howler monkeys trapped in cages needs to be addressed and corrected. My understanding as it has been a year now. It seems inhumane and cruel, and we would not stay here again unless this was addressed.

  Dec 30, 2025
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  Nice resort but food has gone downhill

  Our family experience was that the food was relatively cold much of the time and in particular the Mexican restaurant was below standard. Also massages are an eye wateringly expensive at $180 for a deep tissue massage for 50 minutes with a 35% discount. I'd be hard pressed to pay this much in the US. Now the positive: Staff are friendly as always, the grounds are beautiful and the beach is wonderfully kept and is very large and possible to walk long distances down the beach unharassed. Also, the fitness center is quite nice.

  Dec 27, 2025
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  Excellent service and superb staff

  We would like to thank Antonella for her help and kindness. We asked her a question directly at reception, and she took the time to provide us with clear and very useful information. Many thanks to her.

  Dec 23, 2025
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  Outstanding vacation

  We just returned from a wonderful trip tp Iberostar Waves Queztal. We traveled as a multi family, multi generational group, but had no little kids with us. I was very impressed with the staff, food, and facilities. We checked in with Sarahi, who was excellent and helped us with our complicated room reservations as well as dinner reservations for our large group. We ended up upgrading one of our rooms to an oceanfront and it was really nice to wake up to the sunrise and to be close to the beach. We found the activities to be much more fun than anticipated. We jumped in for the foam party and the aquafit, and tried pilates at the fitness center. Sergio in particular was the best and we tried to do more activities when he was working. He was so much fun and his energy was infectious. He also helped me with some exercises for ongoing injuries I was dealing with. The gym is a bit small, but is adequate. And it was fun to have the peacocks and gray-crowned crane staring through the windows (they are really looking at themselves in the mirrored glass, but it looks so funny from the inside). All of the restaurants were good, and I was glad that even the smokehouse had a vegan option. What surprised me the most was how incredibly pleasant and helpful all of the servers were. Being an American, and knowing that these servers were not working for tips, I guess I didn't expect much. But they went above and beyond. At the Cozumel buffet, Yahir overheard me saying that I saw chilaquiles but was disappointed they had chicken in them, and offered to have some made without chicken just for me! Other servers who really went out of their way were Isidro, Bernadino and Mirna. David in Gondola also took outstanding care of our large group during a birthday celebration. My only restaurant complaint was that the hood over the cooking station in the Japanese restaurant wasn't working, and there was cooking smoke that blew in my face the entire meal. The ventilation hoods were working at the other tables, and we seemed to be the only ones with smoke in out faces though. One of the things I liked best about this resort were all of the sun shelters. I think it wasn't a very busy week when we were there, but we were always able to find beach loungers in the shade together, and without going out early to "reserve" them. The pool was a little chilly in December, but the ocean was perfect. I did wish for a hot tub though! I didn't go to much of the entertainment since I like to go to bed early, and had no trouble with noise. I also found everything very clean and the housekeepers did a really good job--especially considering all of the sand. I liked the environmental focus, and that there was very little waste. It was also great to see how well the animals were all cared for.

  Dec 22, 2025