Iberostar Waves Club Cala Barca

"For an iberostar hotel it was very disappointing. Would rate this a 3 star hotel. It did not have the elegance, comfort, style expected for an iberostar hotel!"

"BEWARE OF PAYING EXTRA FOR A “GARDEN VIEW” FAMILY ROOM We booked a 7-night family holiday at Iberostar Waves Club Cala Barca through Jet2, travelling with our 2-year-old son. Unfortunately, what should have been a relaxing family holiday turned into a very disappointing experience. We paid extra for a family room with a garden view, and quite honestly, we feel completely ripped off. The “garden view” from our balcony was absolutely awful. We were looking directly onto the back of the hotel grounds, with unmaintained land, rubble and rubbish. This is not what anyone would reasonably expect when paying extra for a garden-view room. In our opinion, this type of view should come with a warning before booking so customers can make an informed decision about whether the upgrade is worth paying for. The room The condition of the room was extremely disappointing and, in our opinion, nowhere near 4-star standard. The room was dirty and poorly maintained, with grubby walls, dirty skirting boards, worn furniture and tired fixtures and fittings. We have photographs showing the condition of the room. The air conditioning leaked consistently, the TV was broken, and the room was full of flies. There was also a very strong smell of cheap cleaning products and air freshener covering mould. To make matters worse, there was no cot provided for our 2-year-old son when we arrived. This was particularly frustrating because our room was already 1.5 hours late being made available, and we were told this was because the room was being “set up for your family”. Yet when we finally got into the room, there wasn’t even a cot available for our toddler. We reported all of these issues to reception. To their credit, they did eventually provide a cot and partially addressed the leaking air conditioning, but the overall condition of the room remained extremely disappointing. The resort and pool areas The cleanliness around the resort was another major concern. During our entire 7-day stay, we did not see the pool area properly cleaned once. Every day we came to the pool, there was dirt on the floor and underneath the loungers which appeared to have been left from previous days. Ants were everywhere, particularly around spilled drinks, old lemons from cups and food. We also found plasters on the floor first thing in the morning! The sun loungers were grubby, discoloured and looked far from sanitary. With so many families and children using the facilities, we found the lack of visible cleaning and maintenance particularly concerning. Food and restaurants The food was mediocre at best. There was very little variety between the restaurants, and the main buffet had absolutely no luxury or 4-star feel to it. It reminded us more of a school cafeteria than what we expected from a supposedly 4-star all-inclusive resort. The other restaurants were also far too small for the number of guests staying at the resort. This resulted in huge queues and what felt like a cattle-like queuing system. It was not a relaxing or enjoyable dining experience in any of the restaurants. The drinks machines were also constantly broken, and we encountered dirty cups. Illness Unfortunately, our son became ill during our stay, and both adults became ill after returning home. We obviously cannot say with certainty what caused the illness, but given the general cleanliness and hygiene issues we experienced, it certainly did nothing to reassure us. Overall We genuinely don’t understand how this room and the experience we had can be considered 4-star. We paid a significant amount of money for what we expected to be a quality family holiday and paid extra specifically for a family room with a garden view. Instead, we were given a room overlooking rubble, near rubbish and an unmaintained area, along with a dirty and poorly maintained room, leaking air conditioning, a broken TV, flies and no cot for our toddler. The resort itself also fell well below our expectations in terms of cleanliness, particularly around the pool areas. We appreciate that every hotel can have the occasional issue, but this wasn’t one isolated problem. It was a combination of room condition, cleanliness, maintenance, food, overcrowding and hygiene throughout our stay. We have photographs of the room and facilities to support what we have described. We will absolutely not be returning to Iberostar Waves Club Cala Barca and would not recommend it to other families looking for a clean, well-maintained 4-star holiday resort. If you are considering paying extra for a family room with a garden view, we would strongly recommend asking exactly what you will be looking at from your balcony before paying the additional cost. For us, the upgrade was a complete waste of money and this holiday was a huge disappointment."

"Partly a lot of people which varied somewhat during the stay. Probably visited a lot of local island clubs on weekends. A lot of Germans. A bit worn room, AC was blowing. Our first room smelled of mold but the staff smoothly arranged a change. Large complex, if you don't live in the "center" you have to walk a bit or take the complex's golf carts. Fun for the kids, fun children's pools. Friendly staff. Fine surroundings."