August 4, 2005

Iberostar Message Board

Actually, just returned from Iberostar a few hours ago. Wanted to write
while everything was still fresh!! We had a wonderful time, my family
(husband, 16,14 and 10yr. and myself). I really wouldn't have known that
a hurricane came through a few weeks ago. We arrived on USA3000
on Sunday early. Unfortunately, our rooms weren't ready but we could
use all of the facilities, but they would not allow us to make dinner
reservations without being checked into our rooms, so we didn't get the
best of dinner restaurants. We got the Seafood restaurant on Monday
at 7:00 p.m. and the Steakhouse on Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. which was kinda late. On Tuesday afternoon, my husband went to the desk and
asked if there was any earlier times, the young lady changed it to 8:30 p.m. which was better then 9. The food wasn't bad really but different. My daughter ate alot of fries. The only bad thing about being there
was the bugs!!!!! Which wasn't anyones fault but I strongly recommend
bringing bugspray with a high content of deet. We had to spray ourselves all day. They start biting as soon as you wake up. I would have to say
that was the worst part of our vacation. They even bit through our
clothes!! We couldn't find any spray at our hotel so you should bring it
from home. The beach is open and in decent shape. There was some
seaweed washing up but basically it was good. If you are planning on
doing any water sports I recommend signing up early. My boys wanted to do waverunners and we paid and waited but they kept pushing back our
time and they got tired of waiting. Getting our refund was not a problem, but they were disappointed. There are some organized activities but
with dealing with teenagers, they weren't eager to participate and the
"star friends" weren't to into it either. The bars in the pool area were
busy and it was very hard to find a chair. When we were leaving at
6:30 a.m. a woman was taking her things to that area to leave on the
chairs for later in the day. I don't think that was very fair. I noticed
that most of the chairs weren't even occupied, just holding people's
towels. We didn't do Apple Vacations, we used Olympic Tours. They
were very helpful and friendly, always came up to us and asked if they
could help. Carlos recommend we do an excursion "Tulum Extreme".
My family had a ball. It was about 8 hours long from beginning to end.
We were taken somewhere with a tour guide and we rip-corded, zip-lined.
snorkled and visited Tulum. It was a blast!!! It also was very hot. If
you plan on going to Tulum, bring sunscreen, water and maybe an
umbrella, there is really no shade there and it was brutal. We had a really nice trip. It was kinda expensive around $80.00 usd each. They provide lunch and juice for the ride home. We went to the shows in the evening.
They weren't broadway quality but somewhat entertaining, didn't hold
my kids attention, but me and my husband stayed for awhile. There
wasn't alot for teenagers to do unless a bunch of them came together.
This sounds kinda negative, but we really had a great time. I just want
to be honest with you, I read this before I left and I'm glad I did. We brought the bugspray!!!. Going into town could be a little intimiating.
We're from Philadelphia so I know about cities but there were soldiers
with uzis which was a little frightening but there was no trouble. You
just need to be aware of your surroundings. It was amazing that you
could get drugs and alchol at the same place. T-shirts were cheap,
everyone is trying to get your attention. When you leave Playa-del-Carmen you have to wait for the bus back. There really isn't much organization here so it's kinda every man for themselves. But you need to know that if one bus is full another one will be there real soon. We didn't drink the water and we didn't get sick either, so I think that they go hand and hand. Room service was prompt and friendly. The staff was
attentive. What can I say about the locals, they carried on their
everyday business and didn't seem to bother anyone. It was just
another day to them. Try to freshen up on your Spanish. It would
be helpful. You don't really need to change your money if you are
using usd. they do both. The rooms were quite large and maid service
was good. I asked my family what would they rate it out of 10 they said they would give it a 9, I would go with an 8. I hope this information was
helpful. Have a great time and remember your on vacation, there is no rush, they work on "Mexican Minutes". Also, my cell phone did not work
there and I have Verizon. I went to a payphone in the lobby and used my
credit card instead.

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This review is the subjective opinion of a Iberostar-Reviews.com user and not of Iberostar-Reviews.com.