Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9922 reviews

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  Great week at Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada!

  Beautiful resort! We just returned and enjoyed it very much. Lots of food, great options at the buffet and the a la carte restaurants. My favourite was the Mexican restaurant. Guacamole at the outdoor buffet was great, but everyone thought so, so it was often gone! Pool was clean, beach was lovely with not much seaweed. Chairs sometimes hard to come by at the beach and pool, but staff would often help us find a spot. Our room was just okay, could use an upgrade, very bad smell when we first checked in (mouldy/mildew) but once we cranked the A/C, it was fine. A/C, lights and fan switches are on the headboard of the bed! Lobby bar, pool bar and beach bar were very busy. Not all drinks available in all locations, but there were lots of options. We did a city excursion but I would not recommend, you can do it yourself in a taxi for a better price and see all of the same things. Great weather, only one day with rain/clouds. Late checkout was $20/hour and with exchange rate, was quite expensive, but worth it, as we had a late flight back to Canada. I would go back to this resort for certain!

  Mar 17, 2025
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  Stay Away!

  We arrived in March 12. 5 Adults. Had a great first night drinking & dancing. Next day a little hangover which was ok. Then the vomiting and diarrhea started the next night. Two of us had it coming out both ends and the other just vomiting all night. It’s taken two days to recover. The pool is filthy like the reviews say. The other reviews are true! Do not book here.

  Mar 16, 2025
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  Good basic no frills resort

  I love TA sorting through the reviews. You find a mix of Karen and Ken's having issues with a bug in the pool to the obvious 5 stars from 1 review people that are staff. So I will give my honest review. Let's do a compliment sandwhich. Speaking of, the food was fantastic. Pizza was really good and fresh, lots of variety and everything was pipping hot. Only place that was average was the Mexican restaurant. The servers in all the restaurants were great and provided attentive service!. Lobby bar made the best drinks and always had enough bartenders so you didn't wait. There was table service in the courtyard as well which they were very nice and pleasant. Downside was the pool bar and bar on the dry side of the pool. Usually one bartender and a long wait. It seemed to us that those bartenders were not happy to be working there. Beach bar was great!. There is no poolside service or beach service for the regular folks. Just their prestige area. Which save yourself the time for their sales pitch. $32,000 for their basic package and no we did not sign their NDA so I will post it. There are two free 30 min massages out of it and you can get a few premium liquor drinks out of it. Room. Well this depends on location. Our room wasn't great. There are newly rennovated and non rennovated. There was water leaking from two places the whole time. We reported it a few times with no remedy. There is a dehumidifier that was loud and had to be emptied often. The worst experience was at the front desk. The third time I went to the desk and he offered a change of rooms. Great, will take anything. Says only beachfront rooms available. Again fine I will take any room without a built in pool by my bed. He then proceeds to tell me he discounted the price to $125 for the 3 nights that were left. Said I'm not paying for a room switch and his mood changed to someone will be in to check your room. Never heard more. Avoid 4019!!!!!! Also there are very few plugs, bring a power bar with a long cord!!!! To sum it up. It's affordable, good food, great drinks, friendly staff, good entertainment, ok pool, ok beach,small resort easy to get around, but no frills and always a search for the elusive beach/pool chair. Yes lots of those towels that take up space all day with no humans around. If the price is right and don't need any luxuries then this is your place.

  Mar 13, 2025
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  Pleasantly surprised - will return

  I have visited many resorts in Punta Cana, this was my first time in Puerta Plata. I knew to expect a much smaller resort. Arriving very late at the resort we were given a room with only one bed, when we had requested two. Reception said to just sleep in this room for the night and clear things up the next day. It took a couple of trips to reception to sort this out but we were eventually given the right room. We had the ocean view rooms in building 5 and I would highly recommend this. Great views and super close to the beach. The housekeeping was immaculate every day. Mini bar was stocked. I loved that they served Coke and sprite in glass bottles! Also amazing is their filtered water system. Each building has a water dispenser and ice machine. The restaurant by the pool and the main buffet also have easily accessible fountain pop machines, water and fancy coffee machines. It was great not having to go to the bar every time you wanted a Coke or water. I will say this resort is wild in terms of reserving pool or beach chairs. I am fairly certain some people reserve at night. We got up at 5:30 most mornings and tons of pool chairs were already taken. The beach was a little less intense in that way. The water was lovely and seaweed was minimal. I loved how few salespeople came by on the beach compared to Punta Cana (where I once counted 15 in a single hour). Sales people were super respectful and waited to be called over rather than approaching. The pool was quite busy and got a bit loud during the day but not offensively so. There were some games that went on pool side. There are ping pong tables set up and a giant chess game that the kids enjoyed. I found the food to be very good (we only ate at the buffet). We are vegetarians and the salad options were fantastic!! Couscous and hard boiled eggs for a start (many people won’t care but for vegetarians this is great!). No one got an upset stomach or any other intestinal ailments. Honestly can’t think of anything to complain about! This place is not “fancy” but it is clean, food is good, sun is hot, beach is nice, and much cheaper than Punta Cana! I will likely be back!

  Mar 12, 2025
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  Definitely Memorable

  My teen daughter and I visited this resort in March 2024 and loved it. We were very excited to return recently in February. Unfortunately, we both got very ill on our second night and wound up in the hospital on IVs the next day due to dehydration. They took blood tests too and we were treated for what appeared to be food poisoning / Norovirus. On a positive note, the hotel doctor was excellent and we received fantastic care at the Puerto Plata hospital. We were given several medications, including antibiotics. Thankfully we started to feel better and made the best of the last 2 days of our trip, but were very cautious with the food. Disappointing though, after spending all that money and looking so forward to the break. We also had to cancel our City Tour excursion. Otherwise, we found the service, activities and gym were good, but our room was stuffy and the air conditioning didn't work well. Hopefully the issues with the food etc. have been resolved. It's a good idea to make sure you have full insurance coverage and bring relevant documents with you.

  Mar 11, 2025