Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

We were a little worried after booking as we had seen some really bad reviews. Overall we had a great vacation with our family. We stayed on the 12th floor and our room was great. No bathroom issues. Cleaned promptly everyday, mini bar restocked daily. Only a couple small things like lock on the sliding balcony door was broken and the nespresso machine in room wasn’t restocked. There was no budging on check in time. It’s 3pm. We had a red eye and arrived early, were able to get our all inclusive wrist bands at least. Check in staff don’t give you a lot of info… so you kind of need to explore yourself. The main pool area was great. 4 pools (including a kids pool) and beach access. Best to put towels on loungers early to reserve a spot. Zipline and mini golf both seemed to be closed. Wasn’t a huge deal for us as our kids our young but some family’s were disappointed. The one day we went to the water park…the big water slides were closed. We tried all the restaurants… buffet was always good, Waves was great for grabbing a burger by the pool. Cactus had grab and go sandwiches which was convenient. Florencia was our favourite dinner restaurant. There are no reservations. You just show up and put your name down. Earlier you go… shorter the wait. Longest we waited was about 45 mins, and they usually just come get you from the bar. All the bars stop serving alcohol at 11pm, and only the one on the 1st floor stays open until midnight. We would stay there again.

We returned to Iberostar Selection Coral Cancun because we truly enjoyed our one-week stay two years ago; however, this visit may be our last. Despite booking six months in advance and requesting a king bed for our anniversary, we were initially assigned a double queen room and asked to pay extra for a king bed on a higher floor. We spent the first night in a king room on the first floor above the lobby, which was noisy and poorly maintained. The shower faucet was covered in rust, and there was noticeable nighttime noise, possibly from nearby guests or operations below. We then paid to upgrade to a corner room the rest of our stay, which offered a beautiful view, but maintenance issues persisted. Both curtains had fallen off the track and could not fully close, and the coffee machine was leaking water. In addition, service at the à la carte restaurant in the adults-only building was very slow—we waited about 15 minutes before anyone took our drink order, not even offering a glass of water. As a result, we avoided the à la carte restaurant for the rest of our stay and only dined there on buffet nights. Overall, this experience did not meet the standard of our previous visit.

Upon arrival, we had two people walk into our room without knocking. We did check in just a little bit early, but we figured it would be communicated. A few days later, they came to drop towels off and we didn’t hear the door knocking and they proceeded to also walk in. Other than those experiences, the room was great. It was very modern and spacious. The bathroom door doesn’t finish all the way to the ceiling and close all the way. It did not feel private at all. The pool areas also don’t have a Jacuzzi, which was a negative since the days weren’t too hot and the pool water was very cold. The entertainment of the evening was great every night. The food at the restaurants was just OK. We preferred the buffet since there was more option. The other thing we don’t like is the pressure of trying to buy whatever program they’re trying to sell. The other thing to note would be that our original reservation was at the other hotel which would’ve had our room facing south and would’ve made our pool area maybe a little bit warmer.