Iberostar Selection Cancun

Good food, pools, beach and activities

Veronica at the Lobby Terraza bar is fantastic. We enjoyed our time chatting to her and the service was amazing.

Our stay was deeply disappointing due to extreme overcrowding and constant noise, making relaxation impossible. Despite advertising 7 restaurants, only 2 were operational, leading to huge queues and limited choices. The atmosphere was chaotic, and the resort failed to manage capacity effectively. Not recommended for a relaxing vacation. The resort was packed beyond capacity, with the adjoining hotels not even accessible to us. A massive disappointment was that only 2 of the 7 advertised restaurants were open. The lack of variety resulted in boring, repetitive meals. The staff seemed overwhelmed and struggled to handle the high volume of guests, leading to slow service and issues not being resolved. Apparently, the same group has booked the majority of the hotel for the past several years on the same dates. It would have been great if the hotel had been upfront about having limited access to everything upon booking. My husband and I felt very deceived. Constant noise from screaming, loud music, and thin walls meant we had almost no sleep. We were looking forward to relaxing, and instead had a full blown carnival outside of our bedroom window that went well past 1:00am. We had previously stayed at the Iberostar in Jamaica and absolutely loved it! Unfortunately, this hotel paled in comparison. I would give it zero stars if I could.

This was a consistently poor experience - particularly relative to what Iberostar is capable of providing - with the caveat that we are members and have been numerous times to the Riviera Maya complex at Playa Paraiso. That said, this visit failed at any standard. Housekeeping was awful. We had two consecutive days where they did not clean at all - we were out of the room for nearly all of both days. On the first day, someone came by with an apology and offer of towels. He had no glasses for us - more on thst momentarily. One would think that would put us on the -must clean- list for the next day. Nope. The silver lining, I guess , of no housekeeping is that when our room was cleaned, housekeeping removed all glassware for some reason and also removed complimentary wine bottles that had been delivered to us. We had to go down to prestige lounge for glasses. The music is everywhere and crazy loud. Atrium was at times so loud we had to plug our ears to walk through it and our room was too close to the central atrium and also faced the pool area - constant. Even the beach area had music at 7am. The buffet restaurant singer was so loud that you could not have a conversation at dinner. We asked to sit outside on the nearly empty patio and were told no. We complained and they allowed us to sit out there - while making derogatory remarks about us in Spanish. Food was fine but the buffet had little day to day variety and the steak place was basically a poorly maintained buffet. On the monday of our stay, they parked a sewage truck at the entrance to the members beach area to drain the septic tanks - it took several hours, it was loud (a break from the music I guess) and stank to high heaven. Bell stand initially refused to let the driver from our medical clinic come on the property. They claimed it was for our safety, but also said we could walk down to him. I had had surgery the previous day. What they were protecting was cabbie kickbacks - they eventually relented. The iberostar-owned W2M transport basically forgot us and the bell stand coupd not have cared less - same on the inside - until they realized we were members - and then we had a van there in five minutes - but 45 minutes late. Thankfully our flight was also delayed. I could go on. Unacceptable experience. We will not be back.

Conclusion:
 I stayed five nights at Iberostar Cancun Selection, and it was much better than expected. I’ve stayed at similar hotels in Europe before, which were not the best experiences, but this one was different—great food, good cocktails, and amazing service. I will definitely be back. Review:
 Getting a taxi at Cancun Airport can be a nightmare, which is why I booked a shuttle to the hotel in advance. It was an easy and good choice. Uber is not allowed to pick up passengers at the airport. I arrived at the hotel around noon, so my room wasn’t ready yet, which is understandable. The check-in process was very efficient, and the staff were kind and welcoming. The only downside of the hotel is its location. It’s quite far from everything, but it’s still easy to get around with Uber. However, since Uber is not allowed to pick up directly at the resort, you need to walk to the main road. On the positive side, the hotel is located directly on the beach. I booked a Premium room with a balcony and sea view. The room was spacious, clean, and very nice, with an amazing view of the beach and pool area. The hotel is all-inclusive, which also covers the minibar in the room, although it mainly includes sodas, beer, and juice. The hotel has several restaurants, including Italian, Mexican, and Japanese options, as well as a large buffet restaurant where breakfast is served. All the restaurants offer very good food, and my favorite was the Italian one. Be aware that it can be difficult to get a table during peak hours. The pool area is large and clean, but you need to get up early to secure a sunbed, as many guests reserve them before 8 a.m. There is a pool bar serving good cocktails, and the service is excellent. You’ll also find a bar and a burger spot by the beach.