Iberostar Founty Beach

Good value for money, but a few H&S concerns worth mentioning

We stayed at the hotel for one week and had two sea-view rooms. These were located on the side of the hotel opposite the swimming pool, with lovely views of both the pool and the ocean. Just bear in mind that the evening entertainment usually finishes around 11pm, so if you're looking for complete peace and quiet, these rooms may not be the best choice.

The Good Stuff 👍

Staff The staff were polite, friendly, and always willing to help.

Rooms The rooms were spacious, clean, and had large bathrooms. There were plenty of water refill stations around the hotel, which was a nice touch. The rooms could do with a bit of TLC in places, but overall they offered very good value for money.

Food & Drinks There was a good variety of food available pretty much all day, so you were never short of options. One tip: if you fancy something better than the machine instant coffee served in the restaurant, ask for a coffee at the bar. It's definitely worth it!

Pool & Beach There were plenty of sun loungers available across the hotel grounds and on the hotel's private beach area.

A Few Negatives 👎

Bathrooms There are no extraction fans in the bathrooms, so they can get very steamy, and unfortunately every smell tends to make its way straight back into the room.

Health & Safety Concerns ⚠️

My biggest concern was the food hygiene and H&S standards in some of the dining areas.

On one occasion, a waiter responsible for the bread station dropped the bread knife on the floor while clearing the area. To my surprise, he simply picked it up and placed it straight back on the bread board for guests to use.

Another incident happened in the poolside restaurant. Tables were pre-set with placemats and cutlery ready for guests. During breakfast, I watched a family leave their table with leftover food still on the plates. Within seconds, around 15 to 20 small birds descended on the table, hopping over the plates, cutlery and leftovers, helping themselves to breakfast.

About 5 to 10 minutes later, a waiter cleared the dirty plates but left behind the cutlery that appeared unused, despite the birds having walked all over it, as well as the placemats. I found this quite concerning from a hygiene perspective.

A simple improvement would be to keep wrapped cutlery near the food stations and allow guests to help themselves, rather than leaving it exposed on tables where birds can easily access it.

The Great Sun Lounger Olympics 🏖️

One final observation: we ended up using the beach loungers more often because we couldn't be bothered to take part in the daily battle for poolside seating.

It became quite amusing to see that by 7am, half of the poolside loungers had already been "reserved" with towels, yet not a single person was actually using them. It felt like the towels were having a better holiday than the guests! This is something hotel management should really address, as it makes it unnecessarily difficult for other guests to find available seating.

Overall

Despite a few concerns, particularly around food hygiene and the unofficial towel-reservation system, we had an enjoyable stay. The friendly staff, good food selection, spacious rooms, and beach facilities offered excellent value for money. With a little more attention to hygiene practices and some management of the sun lounger situation, the experience could be even better.

We visited 3rd week in August and are just back.

We had a fab week. Yes things are a little bit tired in the rooms and by the pool but I didn’t think it was much as everyone else is making out. As other folks had mentioned, my feet were dirty after unpacking so we contacted reception and the floor was mopped. I wish I’d taken slippers… it was no different to anywhere else I’ve been though… you are by the beach and you’ve been to the pool etc all day your floor is going to be a bit dirty! There were a few ants, again we told reception and this was sorted. The staff were all really nice.

Some beach towels were a bit stained but they smelt and felt clean. I didn’t feel like I needed to use my own beach towels that I would have to use all week without them being changed?! You could swap your towels easily at the hut.

Certain loungers at the pool (side ones mainly) always went before others and these were generally gone by 8am but there were plenty of other loungers left after that…. I’d probably say by 9/9.30am most ones were gone but still odd ones left. Lifeguards did bring others out though if people asked and they’d always get you an umbrella if you asked. There are loungers at the beach too. The pool is deep so an inflatable to float around on is a good idea. I saw someone selling them on the beach and there were ones in the shops near by but we just took a couple with us.

Sea mist is real. Their summer months are Oct- Feb. It’s a shock to come down to the pool and it’s grey and overcast. We were lucky though and it burnt off by mid morning. You still tan through it though so don’t be fooled and not put suncream on. The temperature for us was perfect though, we like cloud bathing! Evenings were chilly too and I wish I’d taken a light jacket/cardigan for the evenings and some mornings.

We liked the food. It’s an AI buffet at a 4* hotel and I think it was comparable to anywhere else we’ve been. Lasagne was lovely! I must admit there wasn’t much variety from night to night but we all still found something. Husband had a bad tummy one night but the rest of us were fine all holiday. Pastries and snacks at the pool 4-5pm were nice. Oh! Desserts didn’t actually catfish you! They didn’t all taste the same … carrot cake actually tasted like carrot cake!

You could book two ‘restaurants’ (both set menus) - the Moroccan one was ok, not my favourite. The fish one was a small area by the pool bar and the food was nice. It was a set menu and there were 4 courses which were; tuna salad, prawns, salmon and chocolate brownie. We all enjoyed that one.

Take drinks bottles to refill from the water filter machines. We used that water to brush our teeth too; there’s a carafe in your room you can fill. Fizzy drinks were sometimes flat so we’d try another machine and they’d be ok. They had bottles of coke behind the bar too so you could ask for that if you were bothered. I didn’t like the cocktails. Beer was nice!

We did quad biking with Sun and Sand Quad Agadir and that was good (they picked us up from the hotel). We went to Souk El Had (got a taxi with no problem just to the left of the hotel for 50 dirhams) but discovered bartering is not for us! Good to see it though. We went in at gate 3 or 4 and it seemed to be a good pace to start. We got a taxi back outside gate 3 with no problems.

I just think the Moroccan cleanliness is not comparable to Europe. I didn’t see anyone with anti-bac spray wiping tables in the dining room and that was my biggest gripe. Now and again there’d be someone with a cloth but who knows when it was last washed.

The grounds are really pretty. We loved having the promenade and beach to wander down. I loved how the beach was lit at night and so busy all the time. Police were always about so it felt very safe. Lots of runners about. Teens aren’t allowed out of the back gate unless you have given permission which I thought was a great idea. We didn’t make it all the way to the marina but I think it’s a 50 minute walk.

Our room was a family room on the ground floor. Air-con worked fine but things did feel a bit damp. Our room didn’t face the beach but it was just off to the side (so not pool side) and that was good. We had no problems with noise. All our beds were comfy and the room was spacious. Our two teenagers shared the pull out bed and we asked for two separate duvets and they were fine.

In all we had a good holiday. I wish I’d taken slippers and a jacket or jumper. I really hope they can start wiping tables properly. Hope that helps! (My sunny photos all had the kids on them so I didn’t want to post those!)