Written By: Geoff Millar, Owner – Ultimate All-Inclusive Travel Inc.
This month we are going to look at our review of Iberostar Resorts in other areas. This month will be reviews of all resorts in other areas except Europe. We will look at Europe next month because they have more Resorts in Europe than anywhere else. This makes sense because they are a Spanish company. This will be a little different than other reviews as the majority of Iberostar Resorts we have left to look at are not All inclusive but deserve mention as they provide the same services and level of quality as the All Inclusive Iberostar Resorts. We will look at these resorts by country with a brief description of each resort. The countries we will be looking at are Brazil, Cuba, The United States, South America and Africa. What we will do is a short review of each resort in each country. Most of these resorts ae either not all inclusive or in smaller off the beaten path locations. We include the resorts in Cuba in this review because of the fluid situation with Cuba.
We will start with the United States. In the U.S there are 2 Iberostar resorts. One is in Miami and one is in New York. We will look at the Miami Iberostar first.
The Miami Iberostar is the Iberostar Berkeley and is in the Heart of South Beach. It is a 1940 style art deco hotel just across Collins Ave from the beach. It is a smaller more boutique style hotel with only 96 rooms ranging from Standard rooms – deluxe rooms with room service and standard amenities. It has a pool on the roof and 1 restaurant and bar. It is European plan only, not all-inclusive. It allows kids and is rated 4 stars.
The next resort we will look at is the Iberostar resort in New York City. It is the Iberostar 70 Park Ave. located in the heart of Manhattan close to all the major attractions of the Big Apple. It has 205 rooms and suites made up of standard, Deluxe, Premier rooms and 6 levels of suites from the Jr. Suite to the Presidential Suite. This hotel does not offer room service as the hotel does not have a restaurant on the property. Amenities include a fitness center as well a shopping and dining within walking distance. What sells this resort more than anything else is its location. I would rate this resort 3.5 stars.
Next, we will look at Cuba. In all, Iberostar has 18 resorts in Cuba. We will not look at each resort separately as they are all about the same. They are very popular with the Canadian and European audience. Most of them are beach resorts except for the 3 located in Havana. All of them are all-inclusive with a mixture of Family Resorts and adult only resorts. They rate all their resorts in Cuba as 5-star resorts, but most are in the 3- and 4-star range. Cuba does have some of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean. These will become more relevant as the Cuban restrictions are lifted or changed for U.S. travelers. They all have the same room categories as all the Iberostar resorts ranging from standard, Deluxe and suites. Most of them have 3-4 sit down A la Carte restaurants and strangely, in a good way, very few buffets. They all have the same activities as the Iberostar’s throughout the Caribbean, a variety of water and land sports, all included.
The 3 Iberostar resorts in Havana have one located along the Malacon overlooking the Ocean and two that are located in the old Havana section of town. These resorts are more high-rise hotel style and are housed in rebuilt historical buildings. All 3 of the hotels are EP hotels with full amenities but most of them come with an extra charge. There are a variety of room categories ranging from Standard to Deluxe with one of them having what they call cosmos level or their concierge level. Restaurants at all 3 hotels are A La Caret, no buffets.
The hotels in Cuba, as of now, really cater to the Canadian and European market. They are nice hotels but are closer to the 3 -3.5 star rating. If we relax the restrictions on Cuba, I know they will be come more popular in the United States.
Next, we will look at the Iberostar resorts in Africa. There are 10 Iberostar Hotels and resorts in Africa, they are located in Cape Verde, Morocco, and Tunisia. These areas are in the northern part of Africa closer to the Mediterranean and Europe.
Cape Verde is located in the northern part of Africa on the Atlantic. The area is popular with surfers and kite-surfers. It tends to be an uncrowded area on great beaches. The resort here the Iberostar Club Boa Vista is a family all inclusive resort with a wide variety of activities for the whole family. They have a kid’s club with a variety of activities for all age groups. There are water sports and land sports as well as a fitness
center.
For dining they have 3 restaurants and 4 bars. They don’t have any buffets. They don’t have room service here.
This resort is for those guests that are into surfing and kite surfing. They deal mainly with European travelers.
The next resort is in Morocco. We covered the main resort in Morocco last month, the one located in Marrakesh. The remaining 2 Iberostar Resorts in Morocco are 3-star resorts, one located on the Atlantic and the other one located on the Mediterranean.
The first one is the Iberostar Saidia. It sits on the longest stretch of beach in Morocco on the Mediterranean and the town is called the Blue Pearl of Morocco. It is a nice 4-star family all inclusive resort. It has a kids club with a wide variety of activities for kids of all ages. It sits on a beautiful Mediterranean beach. The resort does not offer any water sports but other vendors on the beach do offer them. Golf is big in Morocco and there is a beautiful golf course in the town of Saidia. There is a beautiful pool and a separate pool for children. As far as dining there are 4 restaurants and 3 bars. As with the other resorts in Morocco they do not have a buffet restaurant, they are all sit down A La Carte restaurants.
This is a great resort for those that want to visit Morocco and stay on a very nice resort on the Mediterranean. This resort caters to locals and the European crowd.
The last resort in Morocco is the 3.5-star Iberostar Founty Beach Resort. This area has some of the best year-round weather in Morocco. It sits on a nice beach just outside the town of Agadir on the Atlantic side.
The accommodations range from standard rooms to ocean view rooms and family suites. This resort has nice amenities but does not offer room service. They all come with King bed or 2 double beds.
Dining of only 2 restaurants, a buffet and a morocco restaurant. There are 3 bars located on the property, a pool bar, a lobby bar, and a show bar.
Activities range from golf, 5 courses within close distance of the resort. There is a kid’s club for ages 4-17 and activities for all ages. They have a great spa with a full list of treatments. There is also a fitness center. The beach is great for swimming and just relaxing.
This is a nice 3.5 star all inclusive resort that caters to locals and Europeans.
What I want to cover next, in Africa, is Tunisa. There are 6 Iberostar resorts in Tunisa. This area is not really recommended at this time. as they sit in close proximity of Libya. Looking at all 6 of them they tend to be in the 3 star quality and tend to really cater to locals, the European, and the Arab market. They do have nice looking Mediterranean beaches.
Next month we will finish by taking a quick tour of the European Iberostar resorts. Most are in Spain and Portugal which makes sense as Iberostar is a Spanish company.
Until then safe travels and good selling. Remember we will come out of these trying times stronger than ever.