Iberostar Waves Club Cala Barca

There is need of a good deep clean of the pool area

Would recommend for families. Lots of lovely pools & facilities. Reception staff very friendly and welcoming. We stayed in room 5453 which was a perfect location

We stayed at Cala Barca for 4 nights with our 3 year old and I have very mixed reviews on this hotel. Aircon issue!! On arrival, the reception was like a green house, very stuffy and no aircon which set the scene for the rest of the hotel. They claim to have aircon but the lowest it goes down to is 21 and they said they were not able to make a change to this due to their energy saving policy so pretty much everywhere we went was stuffy, the restaurants, our room etc. so not only was it 30 degrees outside it was 21 inside so no real break from the heat. We had to ask for a manual fan for our room as we were struggling to sleep (this just seems ridiculous to me). Avoid block 11 - email and ask to be put in block 54/55/56 as this is central to everywhere. When we first arrived, we were given room 1171, which was about a 7 minute walk away from everything (baring in mind we have a toddler and had booked this a year ago so extremely disappointed!), it had a view of the maintenance block and the bathroom was disgusting. Due to this we complained and asked to be moved the first day. We were given another room more central at the cost of 365 euros… they were not offering a free upgrade despite the state of the room they put us in. We were told that we would be collected by a bell boy in 30 minutes. 1 hour later still no one turned up so we ended up having to lug our suitcases down 2 flights of stairs, with a buggy, a toddler and walk 7 minutes at 10pm at night. No lifts - not very buggy or wheelchair friendly. There is 1 lift in the entire resort which is in the reception and that takes you down to the doctors. No one takes your luggage to your room unless you ask them to arrange it which seems like poor customer service, given there are no lifts! There is a handful of ramps around the restaurants but lots of stairs so they have created buggy parks where you ditch the buggies but if you have a sleeping child/baby or are a wheelchair user this is not practical at all. Mini disco for kids - not what I thought it would be. I expected it to be on the main stage every evening and be an actual disco for them and let them dress up but it was at 5:30pm until 6:15pm in the splash pool and honestly it was very poor. Getting kids to dance in a pool seems a bit of a safety hazard too. Kids club is only for age 4 plus. This is more just for information but they had some little activities (like drawing or face painting for under 3s) but they were not allowed to join in with any of the other activities they do/day club. Drinks- They have lots of drinks stations which is good but no ice machine so they go warm very quickly. The plastic cups also were not always clean, they have bins everywhere that people just chuck the cups into which puts me off drinking out of them if I’m honest! Beach - very few sun loungers and cost 14 euros for the day I believe. Need to be there very early in the morning waiting. It seemed about 10:15 they unlocked the sun loungers as they were stacked up. Naturally people were leaving their towels and going off to lunch or whatever and not using the loungers but because they had booked them for the day that was that. Given there were very few sun loungers it seems fair to allow people to have them for up to a couple hours at a time to allow more people to have a chance. I just feel massively disappointed with our stay, it was over £2000 for 4 days and it was not worth that. The basic you would expect is a clean room and some aircon. The good things I have to say about this place is that the food was nice, the beach itself was lovely, the pools were nice (the splash pools were great for kids), there were 2 shops that stayed open quite late, drinks stations and toilets were everywhere, could always get a seat at the stage where they play entertainment and the staff were kind, but sadly we won’t be returning - there is better places out there that are worth the 4.5 stars. I would rate this 3.

Don’t hesitate book! Honestly we have stayed at lots of family hotels and this one tops them all. We have two young children 6 and 2 and they had the best time, as did we. Food was fantastic for an all inclusive, the Mexican was particularly good. So many pools to choose from, from kids chaos to calm and secluded. Plus a more or less private beach a few steps away what more could you want. There is also a stunning cove 5 mins easy walk away. Great facilities, Astro pitch, padel courts and even an outdoor gym with squat rack. Only small critiques would be avoid this hotel if you have any mobility problems as there are quite a few steps. Also book a private transfer as our transfer took MUCH longer than quoted. My biggest endorsement would be that we never return to the same hotel, but I would come back here in a heart beat!

The hotel is in an amazing location, surrounded by the nature reserve and then the sea. There is a lovely little beach between the two parts of the hotel and if you walk a. Little further past block 11 there is an even better white sand cove with crystal clear water. Food was good, nothing bad but nothing outstanding like we have experienced in previous Iberostar, just good. Pools and loungers plentiful and we never had an issue with getting a lounger. One issue is the outlying blocks of rooms, these really are a long way from the main area and the snack bars close as 6pm which means a big hike back to the main hotel for a drink while getting ready or carrying one back as a night cap isn’t worth the 15 mins walk. We love the location but probably would try somewhere else next time.