Iberostar Waves Dominicana — Hotel in Higüey

We returned to the Iberostar Punta Cana in July 2025 after over 20 years and it's even better than the first time we came. ||The hotel complex is kept immaculately clean throughout the day by the hard working staff - at the pool, in the lobby, in the beautifully kept grounds and in the hotel room areas. We were worried after reading recent social media about people falling ill at Dominican Republic hotels, however as a family of four we did not experience any ill health issues whatsoever at the Iberostar Punta Cana, which shares facilities with the Iberostar Dominicana. We did carry a little bottle of sanitiser with us and used it immediately before we ate, as hundreds of guests use the serving tongs in the buffet restaurants and you just never know how unhygienic the other guests are. The food serving areas and dining areas were kept impeccably clean and tidy by the attentive staff. ||There is a good selection of food at the buffet restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it is of a high standard. Omelettes made to order at breakfast, bacon, sausages, fried eggs, hash browns, a range of fruit juices and milks (soya, oat, rice milk for those with dietary requirements), cereals, pastries, fruits etc. Lunch and dinner are also varied with plenty of dishes from different cuisines, plenty of salads, cold meats, cheeses, pizzas, pasta and meats being cooked freshly in the buffet serving area (chicken, fish, beef, burgers). All meat was cooked properly, professionally and hygienically. You can also get lunch at the pool restaurant and also at the beach bar where the pizzas are amazing. The cocktail menu at the hotel is extensive and they also serve mocktails. Other restaurants in the evening include the Mexican, Japanese, Italian and American. Our favourite was the Italian. The Japanese was also good, with the starters being a buffet selection of sushi etc.||Both pools are huge and kept clean by the pool staff. The turquoise pool is where the activities and music are, the blue pool is quieter. They're right next to each other so you can switch between the two during the day. Plenty of sunbeds around the pools.||The animation team are around the pools/beach throughout the day with activities/games if you want to join in (no pressure), they also leave you alone if you just want to chill.||We went during sargassum season (I believe it's May-October) so yes we had the seaweed issue along with every other hotel in the area, however the Iberostar uses tractors every morning to clear the seaweed on its beach so that guests are able to access the sea. Most of the time the seaweed was mainly at the shoreline so once we stepped through the bits in the tide coming in, we could swim in the sea with minimal seaweed around us. There were plenty of sunbeds on the beach throughout the day but if you want a front line spot you need to be up early.||Massive bonus points to this Iberostar complex for its care and concern for the environment. Single use plastics are nowhere to be seen, along with drinking straws which are so unnecessary and awful for sea life. Instead there are large glass water bottles provided for use in the rooms, with filtered water stations dotted around the open corridors. I recommend using this filtered water for brushing your teeth too (I'd say this is standard Dominican Republic advice for guests in any hotel). There are filtered water stations around the pool and beach dispensing chilled and room temperature still and sparkling filtered water, which you can take in the reusable plastic glasses provided, or bring your own thermal tumblers from home to keep your water or drinks cold during the day.||We did the buggy/ATV excursion which was so much fun, however I highly recommend that you wear washable or throwaway old trainers or water shoes with grips, and lightweight dark coloured clothes you can wash easily because you will get completely soaked with mud. Also wear swimwear underneath for going in the sea at one of the stops (and in the cenote if you dare). Excursions can be booked via the hotel.||The evening entertainment shows are of a very high standard with external entertainers brought in every night on the Dominicana stage (don't miss the Michael Jackson show if you're a fan). The Punta Cana stage has live bands and karaoke etc every night if you prefer.||WiFi is excellent throughout the hotel including the beach and around the pools. Room cards are in the form of a small card on your All Inclusive wristband, it's so convenient.||A big heartfelt thanks to Ruben and Franklin at the Punta Cana reception, we were well known to them as Room 5219 ☺️ They are both such a credit to the hotel and their customer service skills and helpful manner were welcomed after a tiring flight from the UK and throughout our two week vacation. Their English is amazing and they made us feel so welcome and they swiftly dealt with any issues we had in a professional and friendly manner.||Elias and his similar colleague in the buffet restaurants are by far the hardest working staff in the restaurants. Always rushing around doing something that needs doing, they're so efficient and keep the restaurants running smoothly.||All of the staff at this hotel work incredibly hard, the gardeners, the maintenance team, the chefs, the pool staff, the towel guys, the cleaners and the housekeeping staff, everything runs like clockwork and this hotel is very well organised. We felt totally safe and looked after throughout the complex and I would definitely recommend Iberostar Waves Punta Cana to anyone and I would be more than happy to return here for a...

We have been many places and this was our first time in Dominican with the kids. I really don’t have many bad things to say about this place so I will save it for the end. |Pros|-At arrival the checkin was easy |-This place is huge and very well kept. People were always maintaining the property and grounds. Two different pools and the beach with bars and food all around. Bathroom by the pool was kinda brand new. |- plenty of places to eat and only one place (French)requires reservations. That made it super easy with the kids. We didn’t even eat at the French restaurant which I will talk about in the end. |-no matter where we went the staff was friendly and amazing. Cleaning staff, grounds keepers, waiters and waitresses, front desk, bartender, maintenance, etc. Hats off to Iberostar for having such a great bunch of people. This really makes the trip even better. Make sure you bring tip money for these people|-we came back one night to our room and it was a bad smell like spray paint. Like really bad. Come to find out our neighbors had the same problem. We had a connecting room with our kids and the next day they transferred us to a new room without problem. Really for the whole trip any issue we had was taken care of beyond our satisfaction. |-chairs. If you get out there around 7am ish you can get almost any spot you want. |-price was great for an all inclusive resort especially with kids. 5 of us in total. |- big pro. Every single bar was great. Didn’t matter which one I went to. The drinks were consistently made very good. Probably the best bar situation of anywhere I’ve been. Iberostar really did their job in this department. |Rooms. Not the best but no where near the worst. Bed was good. Room was decent and cleaned daily. Shower was good. Had a big balcony. I can’t really be mad at anything in the room compared to some rooms I’ve stayed in. I just went to club med in Turks and our room and bed literally sucked. |Cons|-coffee situation. They have machines. 2 in on buffet and one in another. They constant break down or need to be refilled. Which the staff does promptly. There is always a long line for the machine. The staff busted their butt keeping these thing working so nothing bad on them. This hotel need to have more machines when you have such a large number of people here |- language barrier. Everyone speaks Spanish with a lot speaking no English at all. This made communication somewhat difficult at times. If I knew that ahead of time I wouldn’t tried to learn basics on my own outta respect. Do yourself a favor and learn basic stuff like hello and goodbye. Please and thank you. Water, coffee, sugar. Where is the bathroom, how many people you have in your group etc. |- people selling stuff on the beach and in the resort. Yes all the time. Kinda annoying but they are respectful and leave you alone after you say no thank you so I can’t be upset at that. Jamacia was way worse. By the end of the week people knew I was dealing with a neck injury so they stopped bothering me on the beach for excursions. |- last thing and the biggest thing. Food is the worst food I’ve ever had at any place I’ve stayed. Here we were complaining about sandals food being just ok and I would’ve died for their food over this hotel. I mean you have to eat pizza and fries etc to have anything edible. I flat out didn’t eat or would fast all day to make it till dinner because stuff was that bad. We don’t even go to the French restaurant cause we went to everything else and figured this would suck too. The American restaurant in the front and maybe the Asian was the only kinda decent stuff. Buffets were horrible with very little that you could find for edible food. And some thing were straight up disgusting. |- people. This is the most people we’ve ever been around at a resort and if it was me and the wife it would’ve been too much for us. |Sum it up. |With kids this is a no brainer and the kids are less picky than us with food. If you wanna take your kids somewhere without breaking the bank. This is the place. |Would I come here again? No. And that is 100 percent because of the food. If this hotel improved the food and coffee situation we would sign up now to go back there. Aside from the food everything was...

This is the 2nd iberostar property that we have stayed at. The first was the one in Playa Del Carmen (Mexico), and this one is definitely the inferior of the 2. Below is my breakdown of the various aspects of our stay here

Rooms: fairly standard rooms. We didn't pick a more premium offering as the intent wasn't to spend a lot of time in them. That being said we had a variety of things fail on us. The hair dryer, the toilet flush and the tv. Getting someone to come to fix it could take anywhere from 30 mins to much longer (sometimes they would come the following day). The rooms themselves had very strong air conditioning which is a must for the warmer seasons. The other notable misses was that the coffee in the room didn't come with a stirrer or creamer or milk. Overall 3/5 for the rooms. Keep in mind that the rooms are nothing to write home about but the pictures you can find online tend to be fairly accurate representations of what you will get.

Food/drinks: the buffet is pretty varied with lots of options. Desserts are easy to overeat on. Fruits are delicious (especially the papaya). We were a bit cautious due to the heat and the open food, but did not fall sick. They have the standard options like pizzas and burgers pretty much daily, and then unique cuisine options each night. The restaurants are a hit or miss. We tried the star rock cafe, and the service and food were both worse than eating at the buffet. We also tried La Pagoda (oriental cuisine). This was a great option as the food varies significantly from the buffet, and it was quite delicious. I would strongly recommend this one.

Staff: this was easily the worst aspect of our stay. While they had some wonderful people on the staff they were few and far between. I assume there is a strong tipping culture and if the staff don't get a tip or perceive you as a low tipper then your service will suffer. I have seen high tippers pretty much get mobbed by staff before they even sit down. We are not heavy tippers, especially for buffets. So we had staff lie to us, for example they said they can't serve something in the buffet area when they had done so twice before and would bring those same items for others afterwards. They also looked annoyed providing any service at times and diminished our overall experience. The concierge did a very poor job of booking our dinner reservations and we couldn't eat at the place of our choice due to that. Lastly, there were instances of my wife being catcalled by grounds workers. This did not make us feel safe even on grounds.

Other: the swimming pool and beach also close early, so don't expect to be able to go for a late evening swim. This was disappointing as the weather (and water) didn't cool down until the evening. They also have a sales pitch for their star prestige club. They give you something in return for your time like a voucher or massage. The process takes around 2 hours. I wouldn't recommend going through the pitch as they can come across as a bit aggressive. Less so than our experience in Mexico, nonetheless aggressive. But it might be worth your while if you are keen on the vouchers or the membership.

Location: the beach was quite beautiful, and they did a decent job of dealing with the seaweed. They also had a lifeguard on duty in case you found the waves too choppy. The color of the water was eye catching.

Overall I would rate this place a 2/5. Primarily driven by the food, beach and price (and air con). But the negative experiences with staff and room were bad enough that I don't see myself coming back here.

UPDATE: We have since posting this review had our air conditioner fail (during outside temperatures in excess of 30c), as well as the toilet. Despite repeated calls (more than 5) to the service desk in the middle of the day, no one has shown up. Also in response to the response from iberostar management, we did inform staff about each of the issues, and not a single corrective step was taken. Even for the cat calling incident we were informed that it must have happened because we looked...