Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9945 reviews

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  A Great Time Had By All! Family-Friendly and Well-Organized

  We had a really nice time as a family with our one year-old and also our in-laws. Thought I'd write a review in case this is helpful to anyone else travelling with infants/toddlers. Iberostar Costa Dorada is a great option for families, and very baby friendly imo. We saw many other babies and families there too. Perhaps some of these things are expected but I had only been to one other all-inclusive resort and was nervous about travelling. Baby-related observations: There were many baby amenities they were able to provide us beyond the expected crib; they had baby bath tubs, a toilet seat reducer, change mat etc. The rooms were clean and the furniture is sturdy so baby could crawl around and pull up to stand on the coffee table. The restaurants/snack bars all have highchairs (recommend wiping them down with sanitizing wipes just because of high traffic, especially at the snack bar, but they were fairly clean). Food options that are not too salty/sweet were plentiful e.g. fruit, variety of eggs, cheese, bread, cereal, whole milk. etc. All the staff were friendly and playful with baby, they were patient when baby inevitably made a mess; we tried to clean up but staff told us it was ok. There's a 0.4m kiddie pool which was nice though we mostly spent time on the beach which was lovely. There's also a playground at Star Camp that families can use (childcare is available for children 4+) We also had an excursion (Puerto Plata City Tour) through Camel Safari Exploring Tours which is not part of the hotel but was well suited for our 1 year old. General review: The resort is well organized and things ran smoothly. Shout out to staff that made our stay special (Frank in the restaurant gave attentive, friendly service; Dawell our concierge, helped us book reservations to restaurants without us even needing to ask). We had no problems communicating with any of the staff in general - please tip them well - they work very long shifts and do so much. The resort is also constructed in a way that you can walk in the shade/out of the rain all the way from the lobby- restaurant- room, which helped when there was bad weather. I also really appreciate their work to reduce one-use plastics with filtered water fountains and no disposable toiletries/cutlery - it really makes a difference. Food: The buffet is great! They have different themes each night (e.g. Spanish, Dominican, Asian, Gala etc.) so there's something special and you don't get bored. Sometimes they have some singers that come to your table. The snack bar is not bad, if you miss the main breakfast/lunch time. For lunch, they also cook something on the beach which helps change things up from the buffet (e.g. paella, BBQ, etc., better than lunch at the buffet which is reduced from breakfast/dinner). The specialty restaurants are a fun experience so go if you can, but the food is not super special if you can't make a reservation. My in-laws enjoyed the interactive nature of the Japanese restaurant (Hibachi style experience), but it is perhaps a bit too loud to enjoy with young children. Drinks are good, but for the best drinks on the resort, order from the main bar! Cleanliness: The rooms are cleaned everyday. One day we needed to use the room in the morning and put the "do not disturb" sign and they still came back and cleaned in the afternoon - so they clearly have a system to keep track. The linens are changed frequently which is appreciated because one day my baby ate something on the bed and left a bit of a mess so I could tell it was changed the next day. Outside of the rooms, I saw them scrubbing down the loungers, skimming the pool often and generally cleaning the corridors. Entertainment/Other: The beach is nice, if you walk far enough to the right, there's a little market but better to walk for the sake of it than to get anywhere tbh, not much to see beyond other resorts and some crabs lol. We didn't participate but we saw people having fun with the entertainment staff, from what I could see they did a great job of facilitating activities e.g. exercise, dancing, volleyball etc. and getting people to participate. There are clean towels for beach/swimming you can collect each day. At night, sometimes there are market stalls set up near the plaza, the gift shop is not too overpriced either if you're looking for souvenirs - sadly they do not sell stamps for postcards. Every night, there is some music/performance which my in-laws enjoyed, sometimes it's live music in the plaza with dancing. Also, I always felt safe at the resort; I'd heard recently about some "incidents" in the DR so I was a bit worried but there were no issues on the resort and it felt easy to contact/communicate with staff if there was anything happening. Overall, we had a great time but to balance this review, here are some suggestions/comments - there's a lot of people smoking which is fine but it'd be nice if there was no smoking around the children's pool, it seemed hard to avoid if we wanted to use the small pool. It'd be nice if the Star Camp indoor play area also had time slots open for families to use the area (I'm not sure if it is open to families but it was locked when we tried, seemed to be only for children as part of the childcare programs). The loungers are not supposed to be reserved, would be nice if this was enforced as some people simply leave a towel there all day and don't use it. The shower gel and shampoo is very weak which makes it hard to feel clean after a day at the beach + sunscreen, would be worth bringing your own/ if Iberostar could speak to their suppliers to strengthen. There are peacocks on the property which are lovely to look at but boy do they make a lot of noise at night lol! The Orchid garden is quite small, not much to see so don't plan to spend an hour there.. it's more like a 15 minute walk.

  Apr 15, 2025
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  Great Family Trip Getaway!!

  We had a wonderful time here at this resort. Particularly I want to thank one of the staff Wellinthon. He made the dinner reservations for us and even set up vouchers to use towards the spa without us even asking. Very welcoming and helpful. They provided reusable water bottles and on each floor we were able to fill it with the filtered water they had. The rooms were very clean. It's nice that the overall resort is kept very clean and they are environmentally friendly, using less plastic waste etc and biodegradable products. The bed and pillows are comfortable and we got a nice view of the sunset and sunrise from the balcony. The air conditioning was great. The tv we never used as we were outside of the room most of the time and they mostly only had Spanish language channels. The beach was nice although there was a lot of sticks etc on the sand but they do their best to keep it clean overall. All of the staff at the restaurants and bars are very friendly and always greet you with a smile as well. The restaurants were good overall and the buffets offering a variety. They're clean and again the staff is amazing! We used the spa services as well. It was very peaceful and a nice experience.

  Apr 15, 2025
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  Nightmare in Dominican

  Worst trip we’ve been on yet. Resort is falling apart the service is horrible and the food is terrible. Great way to waste 5 thousands dollars. Went to the sushi restaurant and found white larva crawling around on the plate. Stray cats spraying everywhere including the buffet.

  Apr 12, 2025
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  Good Family Choice

  Check in & check out was easy, no line ups & really appreciated the cart ride to our room with luggage. Room is good size & house keeping was adequate every day. Plenty of water pressure from the rain fall shower head. Only thing I would note is that the first night we looked all over the room for the temperature control & didn’t find it till we went to bed & found it on the head board behind the pillow. Great idea, then you can adjust without getting out of bed! Pool area you needed to get up early to get shady spots but there were plenty of full sun chairs to choose from. Pool was clean & well kept. Beach was beautiful & lots of chairs & I would have loved to have spent more time there but it was so windy our week there. Buffet had lots of choices, food was always fresh, gluten-free options & no one should go hungry here. We tried all three specialty restaurants & it was all okay but none of us had that “meal you remember for a long long time” kind of experience you get sometimes. But the paella on the beach was one of those!!!; it was delicious & beautifully cooked & so fun to watch the process despite the windy day. Great job le chefs! Spa was easy to get appointments & my massage was just what I needed to start my week. We loved randomly walking into peacocks in full display, the drinks were delicious & plenty of ice & filtered water everywhere. Family focused which we appreciated but the animation team & entertainment was not the best for sure & the microphone by the pool is way too loud for those that don’t want to participate. If you only have a dozen people in front of you why does the mic need to be at full volume?

  Apr 12, 2025
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  Not All Bad, But Not All Good Either

  We are here now, having arrived 4 days ago. For context, we have been to the Dominican Republic 22 times, having stayed all over the country, so this review is based upon all the other resorts we have stayed at compared to this resort. In all fairness, I would rate it a solid 3.5 with the Pro's and Con's outlined below. PRO's: The grounds are beautiful and well kept. Inberostar continues to renovate both the grounds and the rooms so there is some digging and gardening going on, but not enough to distract from the beauty of the grounds. The rooms are very comfortable. We are in building 7 and these rooms have been renovated with minimalistic decor. They are simple and basic but very comfortable and clean. I suffer from arthritis and i find the beds really comfortable and I sleep really well here. Iberostar pays great attention to the environment and as such, each room is given large glass bottles that you fill with potable filtered water. There are water stations everywhere so you never have to go far to get water. The rooms have biodegradable soap, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash dispensers. Love their green approach. The food is really good here. Both the buffet and the beach snack bar offer a plentiful array of selections and we have not gotten tired of the choices as is with some resorts, where by the 4th day you get tired of the same things. The wait staff work hard, but often it was difficult to find a cleaned table to eat at. We struggle almost every time finding a table to eat at. A couple of the staff look extremely tired and worn out. The drinks at the bars are really good though you can order the same drink at each bar and it will taste different at each one. The best bar is the lobby bar by far, hands down. The entertainment staff are really good and offer games you can participate in all day long if you wish. The pool is not cold like others have complained about. I will not swim in a cold pool and found the temperature to be just right. CON's: Bars - there is never enough staff at any of them and you can wait a long, long time for a drink. The bartenders are so over-worked. Iberostar, you need to have more bartenders at the bars, especially the pool bar. Pool - this is my biggest beef with the Iberostar. The beach here is virtually unusable due to the constant strong winds, dark, murky seaweed on the shore, and though I do not hold Iberostar responsible for mother nature, I do hold them accountable for the upkeep of the pool. As the beach is unusable, the whole resort flocks to the one and only pool that they do have and as such, it gets filthy fast! There is no one skimming the water and by the afternoon, you can barely see your feet it's so filthy. My husband found a dead bird in the pool today and we brought it to the hotels attention. Their solution - the pool guy gave my husband the net to go get it out of the water! These guys refuse to get in the water and clean and skim it like other resorts do. They have one pool. They need to be on top this. I have yet to see someone in the pool with a net cleaning it. Pure laziness and unacceptable that we were asked to get the dead bird out of the water. Also, this pool is in dire need of repair. It is rough and I cut the bottom of my big toe making it difficult to walk basically ruining any notion of walking on the beach or to the market down the beach or go on an excursion. Beach - unusable. First day was a red flag and it's been yellow ever since. But as mentioned before, it is useless. It is full of seaweed which doesn't seem to be cleaned up by the resort and if they do, they aren't doing it enough. There is coral in the water so water shoes are a must. I find it smells bad too to the point I won't go in as I don't want to come out smelling like dead fish. The wind is relentless on the beach and it never seems to be calm enough to sit and enjoy the beach without being sand blasted. Conclusion: would we return, absolutely not. The issues with an unusable beach and a filthy, damaged pool make us feel like we wasted our hard earned dollars here. I recommend you spend a bit more and go to Punta Cana.

  Apr 03, 2025