Completely in harmony with its lush, jungle setting, Iberostar Waves Quetzal provides a truly tropical escape. Enjoy the finest open-air dining under thatched roofs, surrounded by exotic plants, toucans, flamingoes and friendly monkeys. Explore nearby ruins, ponds and caves, suba dive among brightly colored fish, stroll along a spectacular beach and shop at the famed 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen. Or just relax in expansive beach area or your own corner of our lagoon-like pool with the kind of warm service that lets your worries completely disappear. It's all here, in a setting that lets total relaxation come naturally.

Location

Playa del Carmen - On Beach
Cancun International Airport (CUN) : 37 miles

Property Information

Year Built: 1997
Accessible rooms: 2
Floors: 3
Total rooms: 350

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Resort Details

Amenities

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Activities

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Hotel Advisories

Advisory ***Important Information For Our Guests*** Please be aware that due to changing weather and ocean conditions, beach shapes and characteristics may vary.
Advisory SPRING BREAK POLICY: Bookings traveling in the months of March and April will be subject to the following conditions: · The minimum age requirement for check-in is 18. One parent or chaperone at least 25 years of age will be required per room for check-in. · In the event that any guests engage in inappropriate behavior or cause physical damages to the facilities, the Hotel Management reserves the right to expel the said guest without reimbursement or refund of the remaining nights.
Advisory SPRING BREAK GROUPS POLICY: Students/youth are considered between 16 and 23 years of age. In addition to the Spring Break Policy for all bookings traveling March-April, Groups shall adhere to the following conditions: · Any student/youth group must be pre-approved and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. · Upon check-in, each group will be required to leave a refundable cash deposit per room for any charges or damages that might be incurred during the stay.
Advisory The state of Quintana Roo will be charging a sanitation tax of 32.57 MXN (approx. $2.50 USD) Eco tax, per room per night. This amount is not included in your vacation price and will be collected at your hotel. This fee is subject to change at any time without notice by the hotel.

General Policies & Fine Print

Check In: 3:00 PM
Check Out: 12:00 PM
Minimum Check-In Age: 18
General Policies: Check-in Policy - Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.

Convention Policy - Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.

Spring Break Policy - IBEROSTAR HOTELS AND RESORTS is a family oriented environment. Bookings traveling in the months of March and April will be subject to the following conditions:
· The minimum age requirement for check-in is 18. One parent or chaperone at least 25 years of age will be required per room for check-in.
· In the event that any guests engage in inappropriate behavior or cause physical damages to the facilities, the Hotel Management reserves the right to expel the said guest without reimbursement or refund of the remaining nights.

Transfer Policy - A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.

General Information - Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price.
Minimum night stay restrictions may apply. Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Pet Policy Pets Not Allowed

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

TRI_LOGO_ANCILLARY_4.5 9165 reviews
  • TRI_LOGO_ANCILLARY_ 5.0 star tripadvisor rating
    Can't wait to go back!

    I spent ten days at the Iberostar Quetzal in December. It was my 37th time and it was an awesome visit. The staff at this hotel can't be beat! Everyone is so friendly and always anxious to help and make sure you're having a good time. The food was great and we never had problems with getting into the restaurants we wanted but the buffet was just as good. They talked about closing for renovations from June to December but that has been put on hold. Our room was always cleaned first thing in the morning but sadly no towel animals even though we always tipped well. The pool was a little on the cool side but so was the weather in comparison to other years we traveled at the same time. It didn't keep us from going in! So much fun to see the same staff. Grecia in the office, Mauricio the bellboy, Leticia one of our favorite waitresses, Apolonio our very favorite chef, Omar by the pool, Nataneal and so many others who have been there for several years are just a few of the people we look forward to seeing! These people are like family and are the reason I will always come back to the Quetzal!

    Jan 09, 2025
  • TRI_LOGO_ANCILLARY_ 5.0 star tripadvisor rating
    Amazing Riviera Maya resort

    Beautiful grounds with animals, monkeys roaming Great Playacar beach incredibly Clearwater great diving Services Wonderful bar services Wonderful food with a lot of options Renovated rooms by the sea Yeah, we went over the holidays and had a great time. Lots of kids activities.

    Jan 04, 2025
  • TRI_LOGO_ANCILLARY_ 5.0 star tripadvisor rating
    Great experience.

    This resort is phenomenal. The variety and quality of the food is amazing. There are great options for all meal times. Everyone is so friendly and accommodating. We had a large group and everyone could not have had a more wonderful experience.

    Jan 01, 2025
  • TRI_LOGO_ANCILLARY_ 3.0 star tripadvisor rating
    Iberostar 5* it is not.

    We are currently staying here, so will put in a full review when home. We booked this hotel, as we’ve stayed in several Iberostars, so presumed this would be the same. How wrong were we… There are no staff coming round taking drinks orders around the pool. This would be fine if there were enough bar staff but there is often a large queue. On a more than few occasions they have run out of aperol, champagne and tonic for drinks. We just get told, we’ve run out for now. So have to walk from the beach to the hotel reception. Cannot get tea or coffee at pool either. No decaf coffee in the breakfast buffet restaurant. We might use Iberostar for Europe again, but will look elsewhere next time

    Jan 01, 2025
  • TRI_LOGO_ANCILLARY_ 3.0 star tripadvisor rating
    Ride the Quetzal wave up and down!

    Ride the Quetzal wave up and down! We visited the Quetzal the week leading up to Christmas and left after Boxing day. We had very high hopes as we were part of FB group that mostly said positive things about the resort. It was not bad by any means however it was not spectacular either. We rate it as MID. Check in was suitable however the rooms are dated and the A/C and other items in the room can be faulty. You are not able to control the thermostat. It is either extremely cold or barely cooling depending on the room and how well the AC functions. The ceiling fan can be loud as well. Some rooms have horrible views eg of Riu kitchen or back of restaurant. It is very important to choose a room with a better view and less noise. Definitely worth upgrading the room to closer to beach and pool. Multiple items in room needed to be fixed. Sensors in room would shut off entire room when one person left even though someone else was in room. Eg. Lights, AC and power would go out while showering if someone left the room. Beds were comfortable however if you have additional people sharing a bedroom that will be a challenge. Their roll away bed is not comfortable and their sofa bed isn’t either. The door to the bathroom opens in with a stopper on the floor which is very irritating while getting ready because it is impossible to open the door fully. The door interferes with using the bathroom counter and sink. The shower goes from warm to very hot multiple times while showering. The fan in the bathroom is very loud and there is no way to shut it off while having the light on. The room is very dark even with all the lights on. Not enough outlets. You need to unplug the floor lamp to access an AC outlet which makes the room even darker. Sleep quality is non-existent. The hallways are narrow to the other suites and most doors get stuck while shutting them so there is constant loud banging throughout the night. We were woken on multiple occasions by doors slamming and kids screaming throughout the hallways. Clothes would not dry on balcony due to lack of sunlight on balconies. This was very irritating. The campus itself is easy to navigate after a couple of days. The property is beautiful . The jungle is amazing however after a few days the landscaping, jungle and animals are just not enough to ensure an excellent vacation. The beach is wide and beautiful however there was seaweed and it smelt bad first 10 feet in water. Food. Missing fruits from other resorts eg. Mangos, grapes, berries etc. Some days no bananas and cantaloupe. No peanut butter in Quetzal side. The food can be improved greatly The buffet was only okay. It had a lot of junk food/burgers fries onion rings etc. No chicken breast most days. No egg white options. For dinner it was nothing to write home about. We ate to eat but not to really enjoy the food. We found we were filling up on breads and desserts and we don’t normally do this at other resorts. It was definitely lacking and it was a definite step down from other 4.5 resorts in area in terms of food quality. Most of the buffet was desserts and bread and the other side was other food including the hot stations and salads. Buffet for breakfast and lunch had no real napkins. You had to use small disposable paper napkins and it wasn’t enough to cover lap and use to wipe mouth. Only dinner had real cloth napkins. Stingy workers – while at the beach paella my husband asked for more shrimp and was denied by the worker. He said to him you have a shrimp on your plate however he saw many people with multiple shrimps. Also during the Christmas Eve gala night I asked for more turkey and was denied. How is this all inclusive? During the Christmas show in the theatre you needed to reserve a table with bottle service. They had roped off almost the entire theatre for the extra charge of bottle service. I paid a premium to visit during Christmas and you would expect the Christmas show and tables to be included at an ALL INCLUSIVE resort. Most of the tables were empty that were roped off! I was not impressed. Coffee If you are a coffee lover you will be disappointed. The buffet serves machine coffee only. No good cappuccino only at lobby bar but even then no cinnamon to top it off and not fantastic. Missed a good coffee shop and or good coffee early. Lobby bar didn’t open till 8am and most days up by 630am. Bathrooms On many occasions the bathrooms around the resort were not clean and had run out of toilet paper. Most of them were not stocked by 9am the next day. Multiple complaints about this to reception. It seemed to improve by end of week but who knows if that will stay consistent. Illnesses We saw multiple people vomiting throughout the resort during our stay there. Some at the beach and some at the buffet. Not sure if it was a virus or something else. My daughter also had diarrhea on day 2. None of us got it after so we are assuming it was something she ate. Also during the lunch buffets we saw raw fish being served on the platters above the grilling stations. They were raw in centre and semi-cooked on the outside. The Quetzal is located in a beautiful jungle setting. It is a very small campus. After a couple of days of exploring you have seen everything. They have a lot of animals there but again after seeing them for a few days it gets repetitive. Would I return probably not. The property is priced too high for what is offered there. Rooms are dated and not functional. Food is subpar quality, coffee is not great. We were definitely missing the finer things in life that we look forward to on vacation. Most of the staff was hard working and friendly though.

    Dec 27, 2024
Prices per person based on double occupancy including round-trip airfare via U.S. certified air carriers and round-trip airport/hotel transfers when arriving at airport closest to destination (for exceptions see Frequently Asked Questions), hotel taxes and baggage handling, fuel surcharges, and all pre-collected U.S. and foreign taxes. In some instances, pricing may specifically apply to one of multiple flights on select departure days. All packages are based on the lowest hotel/air classes available at time of publication, capacity controlled, subject to availability and change without notice. Promotional pricing may only be available for a limited time. Fees may apply for carry-on and checked baggage-view Baggage Policies. Some resort fees, environmental levies and departure taxes are not included and may be payable in resort. View Frequently Asked Questions for more information. Apple Vacations is not responsible for errors or omissions. Cancellation policies apply. Bookings are subject to the Fair Trade Contract. All public charter flights are operated by ALG Vacations Corp: Allegiant Air: PC 18-231, A319-156 seats or A320-186 seats /PC 18-234, A319-156 seats or A320-186 seats; Miami Air operated by TUI Airlines Belgium N.V. : PC 19-085 & PC 19-117, B737-800, 180 seats/PC 19-091, B737-800-183 seats; Swift Air: PC 19-092, B737-400-150 seats; Viva Aerobus: PC 18-228, A320-180 seats/ PC 19-079, A320-180-185 seats/PC 19-094, A320-185 seats. CST2139014-20 120319