Iberostar Selection Albufera Playa

The location was ok. It was 10 minutes from the port and 20 mins from the old town. If you are just happy mostly staying in the hotel it's ok but not much else around with out the car. The staff where ok. They were busy. Service was inconsistent, when at the buffet, sometimes got offered a drink, other times didn't. There was often a language barrier as not many spoke English. This was sometimes challenging as when we had issues, we weren't understood. The food was good but got pretty boring after 5 days. Dissapoting that you can only visit the speciality restaurants once per trip. Again something that wasn't told until we got there. I personally found the drinks disappointing. Not a big drinker anyway but found all the wines had a funny taste. Glasses in the buffet, always dirty, I complained twice but nothing changed. Buffet always very busy, often a big queue to get in. If we didn't have star prestige, not sure I could have coped. Don't rely on using the beach. It wasn't really usable when we were there due to all the seagrass/seaweed. It looked nothing like the photos unfortunately. The photos also appear to have beach sun loungers but this don't belong to the hotel so would be an additional cost. I found this disappointing as the other hotel I was looking at didn't have a sandy beach so we went with this one, however after visiting this hotel I wish I booked the other one as that was adults only and this was was overrun with kids. As we wanted a relaxing couples hotel, the amount of young children just meant constant noise, our room was also situated above the buffet so we had a constant noise and screaming coming from there. I wouldn't describe it as a relaxing hotel. We were unlucky with the weather also, we visited the old town, we managed a snorkeling trip one of days with active alcudia. I rang up the hotel before and was told the bikes, tennis and padel was all included which sounded great (again, another reason for booking) it was dissapoting to be told this wasn't the case when we arrived and I found the charges quite high considering the overall cost of the hotel. I only used the pool once as the star prestige area was freezing and the other pool was constantly busy so I had a quick dip when most people where at dinner. I found the guests also quite rude, it wasn't really a friendly bunch. Gardens are beautiful! Like the fact in star prestige we got a little beach bag and towels!

The hotel was amazing. We had such a fantastic trip and enjoyed every minute of our stay. From the moment we got here, all of the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and always made an effort to say hello. The rooms were spacious and both the rooms and facilities were all very clean. The food was varied each night in the buffet, each night offered a special theme too which was great. At breakfast there was ample options and for lunch there was choice of the main buffet and a grill restaurant near the beach which was delicious! The only negative with regards to the food was that we were unable to get a reservation at any of the à la carte restaurants due to them all being fully booked during our stay. There were lots of pools to choose from and plenty of sun beds to choose from too. We had a fabulous stay and couldn’t fault it. Thank you to the amazing team! We hope to come back again.

This was our 3rd year in a row visiting the Iberostar Selection Albufera Playa, and it was so dissapointing. We were thrilled to come back based on our experience in 2024 & 2025. Upon arrival, we were greeted and the room was available straight away at 1pm, which was great. The rooms are starting to look very worn, no upgrades made since opening in 2024. We are a family of 3, but only ever given 2 towels for the entire room, each day. On the first day we headed down to the pool for 8:45, popped some towels on the beds and sat down. Our little girl needed a quick wee (which took about 2 minutes), when we got back the towels had GONE, with no explanation. 1 hr later we found them. Without notice, a change to the guidance now means no towels at the pool until 9am, which I understand if you're trying to reserve a bed, but the pool staff knew we were using the bed and nipped to the toilet. The pool is overrun with guests. On our first day, we didn't get a sun lounger all day, families were resorting to putting towels down on the floor to use the pools!! Some people were reserving sun loungers and going away for hours at a time. The pool is too busy, and full of dirty cups being kicked over with drinks all over the floor, which the hotel staff no longer collect. The last 2 years there was an abundance of activities round to pool; fruit markets, inflatable slides, paella at the pool, cocktail making. Nothing this year. Our little girl was so dissapointed, we went for 7 nights and didn't see any activities around the pool other than the water carpet and 1 foam party. The self service drinks stations were very dirty, and the slush machines had brown dirt inside them where the slushes were being mixed, gross!! Again, the issue of lack of seating continues to the evening entertainment, unless you head down to the stag for 8:15 and join in with Kahoot quiz, you're not getting a seat for the entertainment. We booked all 3 a la carte restaurants for the last 3 nights, but ended up cancelling the last 2 after such a bad experience at the Greek, the food was vile, the member of staff taking our order was rude, and they forgot to send out our food. The only decent course was mussels. The kebabs were soaking wet with a watery substance and my daughter nearly choked on beef which was overcooked. The hotel is too busy, I'm not sure if they have started to let people in using say passes but the hotel couldn't cope with the amount of people there, in June, so I dread to think what it would be like in the summer holidays. The "bouncy pillow" in the pool is hazardous. Unlike previous years, the hotel have decided to allow adults on it. We saw a few accidents whilst we were there, where 6ft men fuelled with alcohol nearly landed on small children, it's going to cause a big accident one day, but the lifeguards just sat and smile like everything is fine. The only time they said anything was when myself and another guest told them to get the adults off it so our children could enjoy it. Ice creams were apparently being handed out around the pool but we never got any as we sat near the kids slides and they had always run out by the time they got to us. Similarly, they never had any ice creams left when we went to the bar, and on most days ran out of crisps. The star cafe had a minimum 15 minute wait each time we went, and the staff really didn't seem like they wanted to be there, very rude at times. We used the BBQ restaurant once as it was a 20 min wait each time, which in the 30+ degree heat is almost unbearable. The buffet restaurants also had a queue each time we went, sometimes up to 15 minutes waiting outside for a table. Adrian and the entertainment team were great, and the bar staff opposite the stage were also fab. The biggest issue this year for us was smoking. Generally, people smoking cigarettes went to the designated areas in the hotel to smoke, although a few people were smoking cigarettes walking around the hotel, and right next to the kids disco. The biggest issue here is vaping! People blowing vapes in your face around the pool, in queues, at the disco, and even in the direction of our child sat on a sunbed. The hotel did nothing to stop this. The beach this year was unusable with all the recent natural debris washed up on the shore from storms. Not the hotels fault, but made the beach completely unusable.

So many great things to say about this property! The grounds are beautiful. All staff, from the front desk staff, to the serving staff, entertainment crew, and housekeeping staff were all so friendly and helpful. The food at the buffet restaurants and a la carte restaurants was very good....we especially enjoyed the a la carte restaurants! The bartenders made great cocktails and would go out of there way to research a cocktail if it was one they were not familiar with. The rooms were very clean. I thought the rooms were on the small side, but other reviews have said differently. The pools were all very nice. We especially enjoyed the rooftop pool and the beautiful view. My only con......the Albufera Playa side of the property was described to us as being the "adult" side, with the Albufera Park side being geared toward children, as it has the water park. This was absolutely not the case. Both sides of the hotel had more children than Disneyland. We were not traveling with children and were disappointed to find that there was no "adult only" pool. Children should absolutely enjoy the pools , but having an area designated to adults without children would have been a huge plus. Overall, we had an amazing stay and made a ton of great memories. I would definitely recommend this property.

Clearly this isn't a positive review given the one star rating so ill keep to the main points. Good things - the staff (cleaners, chefs, waiting staff, animation team, lifeguards, gardeners etc) all worked really hard and were very professional. - the buffet restaurant food was very good. - the weather. Bad things - the hotel layout. This is really two hotels joined together (Playa and Park) making it a very large hotel. The space between the four storey buildings was limited. As a reult the pool areas were cramned full of loungers with little space between. There was no open view to the beach. Overall it felt enclosed and claustrophobic. - food in the themed restaurants was average at best - the management showed a complete and total lack of respect for their customer. See below. On our first morning we finished breakfast and went to find four loungers. We found three in complete shade on the end of one area. The second day (while I was doing my morning swim at c8am) I noticed people were reserving loungers with towels and heading to breakfast. We also noticed that many loungers were left unoccupied (with towels) for long periods during the day. Again we struggled to get a lounger. From the third day onwards I would go for my swim, put out our towels and I would pop back to the room to shower, grab a coffee and then head back down to the loungers (I dont always breakfast). The family then joined me shortly afterwards. On the sixth day I did the same. Swam 7.45-8.30am (leaving bags and towels by the pool), popped back to shower, grabbed a coffee and headed back to find the loungers empty. Personal possessions gone. I went to reception who told me that the policy had changed that day and loungers could not be reserved. I spoke to the manager immediately and demanded to know where my possessions were and why they had been removed. She said that an announcement had been made to all guests via a note in our rooms and that a change in policy had been implemented and that the possessions had been removed by security. She was not sure where they had been taken. My sons allergy medication was in the bag so I ended the discussions and went immediately to find them. What I can say is this. 1. No note communicating this policy change was placed in either of the 2 rooms we had booked. We double checked and nothing was left 2. No announcement was made on the hotels beloved app that they are so keen to direct you towards. 3. No communication was made at check in, at dinner, at the evening show....nothing. 4. I finally found the belongings. Not with security. They had been thrown into a wheeled cage and dumped by the towel cabin. No thought or care had been taken with them at all. See pictures. How our possessions were dealt with was quite frankly a total disgrace. 5. Even assuming a customer notice had been received (which it hadnt) as a minimum the possessions should have been carefully put into the bag and placed by the loungers with a note explaining why. Even better they should have been carefully moved them to reception for people to reclaim. With care and attention! 6. I was told the new policy was that loungers could not be reserved before 10am. Why? 7. Luckily I found my son's medication (we also carry a spare of course) but it could have been a major issue. This whole affair was poorly conceived, poorly executed and very poorly managed. I received no apologyand there was no follow up from management despite the obvious distress this caused. The way my personal possessions were treated was totally disrespectful and lacked any sense of professionalism or personal duty of care. Such a shame that management have so incredibly failed their staff and their customers. I will not stay with iberostar again.