Iberostar Waves Malaga Playa

Really disappointed with our stay at Waves Iberostar Málaga. After staying at Iberostar Selection Lanzarote last year, we were expecting a similar standard. Unfortunately, this hotel fell well short of our expectations. The first disappointment was the food. The quality and variety were poor, and the restaurant staff seemed overstretched. At breakfast, one member of staff was responsible for cooking fried eggs, omelettes, and pancakes, resulting in long waits that simply weren’t worth it. Most concerning of all, my 6-year-old son was served a piece of raw pork at dinner, which is completely unacceptable. We also found this to be a hotel that mainly caters to Spanish guests. As an English family, we didn’t feel particularly welcome. One member of the entertainment team, Chico, was especially rude, particularly during the English football matches, which left a very poor impression. The pool area also had issues. The flooring around the swimming pools was extremely slippery and felt unsafe, and there was a frequent smell of sewage. Getting a sunbed each morning became a daily battle. It often felt as though certain guests were able to reserve them before everyone else, leaving very few available. Housekeeping was another frustration. Unless you remembered to put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, cleaners would knock early in the morning, often waking us up. Finally, if you’re considering paying extra for a sea-view room, be aware that you’ll also be directly overlooking the evening entertainment. The music is very loud and often continues until around 11:00 pm, making it difficult to relax or get an early night’s sleep. Overall, this holiday was a huge disappointment, especially given our excellent experience at Iberostar Selection Lanzarote. We would not return to this resort, and unfortunately, we would not recommend it to friends or family.

Nice hotel too busy. No sunbeds around pool. Indoor pool freezing. Outdoor pool is great but very busy. Had a pleasant stay. Not much to do in surrounding area. Room very basic for the price. Pool area very slippy. Beach outside was fabulous.

This is a great hotel with everything you need for a few days' getaway. About 40 mins drive from Malaga airport, it's in a small town with a few restaurants and bars nearby but which on the whole is pretty quiet. The location is great, right on the seaftont and there's a public beach right at the hotel's back gate. The rooms are comfortable, with air conditioning which you need to leave running to be effective. The shower was excellent. The all inclusive wristband doubling up as your room key is a good touch. Modern (and free) safe in the room was good to keep passports etc in. The whole place is really clean and tidy. The food on offer was excellent - lots of choice and whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner they were always cooking fresh fish, steaks and paella etc. There is only one restaurant but if after a few days you fance something different from the chaos of the buffet, there's lots of places along the beachfront to grab a bite to eat. All inclusive drinks were plentiful, very generously measured and never in short supply from the three or four bars dotted around! The only slight gripe is that the bars shut at midnight and it seems security wants everyone to go to bed there and then. They will certainly let you know if they think you're being too loud. That said the bar staff never minded getting you a couple or three drinks in at 11.59pm to see you through. At midnight at half time in the England World Cup Norway game the queue to the bar stretched some distance as everyone tried to grab a couple for the second half. Midnight on holiday for the place to close down felt a little early. The staff here are excellent, always friendly and really accommodating - they just want you to have a good time (see bar staff above!). They work incredibly hard and are due great credit. The pool was lovely and warm, and big enough not to feel too crowded despite the hotel being really busy. Alwasy beds around as long as you don't get up too late. And sea is only a few steps away. All in all I highly recommend this place.

We recently stayed here from 27th June to 5th July 2026.It was absolutely fantastic in every aspect.The room was clean and nicely furnished,didn't look dated,guess it must have been recently refurbished.Housekeeping was great,and everything was spotless.Food was fantastic and lots of choice.The staff from reception to barstaff to restaurant, cleaners etc were really friendly.Animation team worked really hard and were very enthusiastic.This was one of the best hotels we have stayed in The architecture of the hotel was also very beautiful,Moorish style architecture throughout.I cannot believe how beautiful even the corridors were,with an inner courtyard garden.The warmest outdoor swimming pool I've ever been in.Also right on the beach. All in all an amazing hotel.

This is a wondeful hotel in most respects but the buffet restaurant did not meet our expectations. We are not fussy eaters but we have stayed in H10 and Barcelo hotels and the Iberostar does not come close to the quality of food we had come to expect. Thankfully we had chosen to go half-board and we were told, by Reception on arrival, that there was no problem switching from dinner to lunch but when we did this we were told that there would be an €8 supplement for drinks. We were a party of 4 which meant that lunch would cost us €32. We are not big drinkers so there was no way we were going to drink €32 worth of drink so this did not make financial sense. We absolutely should have been told this information when we arrived. So for the duration of our half-board holiday we ate out for lunch and dinner. Meaning our holiday was actually only B&B. The quality of the actual hotel, the cleanliness and the facilities are all absolutely 4 star. The location was sublime on a beautiful promenade so we did feel blessed if not a little over-charged for our B&B stay for a week. The staff are mostly friendly but those working on reception could do with being a little warmer and friendlier when meeting guests on their arrival and saying goodbye to them on departure. No-one seemed in the least interested in whether we had enjoyed our stay in the hotel. I also didn't appreciate one morning towards the end of our stay when a cleaner knocked on our door telling us that cleaning was going to happen and then she got impatient when I asked for 5 minutes to finish getting dressed!!!! Bear in mind we had NOT hung the required sticker on the outside of the door.