IBEROSTAR Playa Gaviotas Park

We recently stayed at Iberostar Waves Gaviotas Park and overall had a really enjoyable family holiday.

The hotel itself is modern following its refurbishment and has clearly been designed with families in mind. There are plenty of facilities for children and everything feels well thought out.

One of the positives was the availability of sun loungers. There was no need for the usual early morning rush to reserve beds, which made for a much more relaxing holiday. The self service drinks stations for both soft drinks and alcohol were excellent and very convenient.

A special mention must go to the animation team. Layla was absolutely fantastic with the children and her enthusiasm never seemed to dip. Mike’s yoga classes were also excellent and became a highlight of the holiday.

The main restaurant has a great play area for children, which is a nice touch for families. While the children’s food options were fairly basic, they included everything my son wanted and he was very happy throughout the stay.

Our room (2404) was spotless. Housekeeping did an excellent job every day, usually cleaning early in the morning, and we had no complaints whatsoever regarding cleanliness.

There were a few areas where the experience could be improved. While the entertainment team work incredibly hard, the evening entertainment feels a little disjointed. Once the children’s disco finishes, there can be a wait of around 45 minutes before the next show starts. The shows are also held indoors and I feel they lose a little impact as a result. With a larger stage and more headroom, the performances could be even more impressive.

The food was somewhat hit and miss. Although themed nights are offered, around 70% of the food remains the same each evening, so the variety is not quite as extensive as it initially appears.

The dining time allocation system also seemed unnecessary. At check in, guests are asked to select breakfast and dinner times, but we were then told these could be changed whenever we liked. If the times are flexible anyway, it is difficult to see the purpose of choosing them in advance, particularly when travelling with children whose schedules can vary from day to day.

Our only real disappointment came during check in. We arrived at approximately 8.30pm and were told our bags and passports would be looked after while we went for dinner before restaurant service finished at 9pm. This sounded like great customer service. However, when we returned, our bags were still sitting unattended in the middle of reception and our passports had not yet been processed. While the staff apologised on several occasions, it was still frustrating as our belongings had been left unattended.

Despite these minor issues, this is a really nice family hotel with excellent staff, great facilities for children, clean rooms and a relaxed atmosphere. We would happily recommend it to families looking for a stress free holiday in Fuerteventura and would certainly consider returning.

This was our first time visiting the island of Fuerterventura and our first time staying at an Iberostar hotel. All I can say is WOW 👌

This hotel certainly deserves every one of it's 4 🌟 and more! From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with a warm welcome by reception staff. Check in was quick and efficient. Transfers are quite long about an hour and a half but the scenery on the way down was absolutely breathtaking and definitely worth it!! 😍 We had a very early flight out from London and arrived at the hotel super early, so we were not expecting our room to be ready until the afternoon, but we were told not only was our room all ready for us which was amazing they then told us that they had given us a complimentary upgrade to the most beautiful and probably biggest suite we've ever stayed in!!

The first thing I noticed about the hotel was how absolutely spotless it was everywhere (and I'm extremely fussy!) And also how everything was so child friendly and geared up for families. There is a tube slide in the reception area which all the kids (our son included LOVED going on) Arcade, theatre, play areas and 3 gorgeous HEATED pools outside 1 of which had an inflatable ball in which was extremely popular with kids and adults & the other kids pool had a few water slides which our son also loved!

We especially loved that the hotel gives you bracelets that act as keys to open your hotel room which I think is a genius idea!! No more lost key cards or cards that don't work!! Even the kids had them!

For an all inclusive hotel, we were very impressed with the extremely high standard & variety of food on offer every evening at the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it was HOT!! Live show cooking every evening aswell and everything looked and tasted super fresh! We've stayed other all inclusive before where the food was lukewarm to cold and food very samey so this was a lovely surprise!

Another thing that really impressed us was that all of the soft drinks, beers and spirits are ALL branded!!

There are an abundance of cold and hot drinks machines dotted around in various areas of the hotel complex which is a blessing especially in the heat with a child in tow and not having to queue at a bar every 5 mins!!

This was probably one of the only hotels we have stayed in that does a late breakfast at the pool bar restaurant which on some days we found extremely handy! Again everything was very fresh not your typical pool bar food that has been laying around for days on end! Chefs and all the restaurant staff worked extremely hard consistently replenishing hot food and all with a smile nothing was ever too much trouble.

Entertainment in the lobby bar was a bit hit and miss some nights but on our last night there were 2 of the most incredible singers we have seen at a hotel. They could of been in a West end musical had everyone up and dancing.

Now saving the best part of this hotel until last... The beach..within literally a 5 min walk out the back gate of the hotel has to be one of the most breathtaking stunning beaches we have ever been to!! With a crystal clear turquoise sea 🌊 and miles of beautiful soft golden sand we really could of been in the Caribbean!!

Thank you so so much to all of the absolutely incredible staff at the Iberostar waves gaviotas park hotel for a wonderful stay and a special huge thank you to Juan the hotels guest experience manager who went out of his way and above and beyond to make our stay so special. 🙏🥰🥹🫶

Thank you Juan! 😊

The Marshom Family x ♥️

Your review is balanced and fair already. I'd just tighten it up a little so it reads more smoothly and sounds objective rather than negative:

We recently stayed at this hotel and overall had a lovely holiday. The hotel itself is absolutely stunning and there were many things we really enjoyed.

Pros

• The hotel grounds and facilities are beautiful.
• The housekeeping staff work incredibly hard and kept our room spotless throughout our stay.
• The pools were fantastic for children. The slides were great fun, but the inflatable pillow in the pool was the highlight for our daughter and husband, who spent hours enjoying it together.
• We stayed in a Family Wave Room, which was excellent. The room was spacious, with a huge bathroom, comfortable beds and plenty of wardrobe space.
• The all-inclusive drinks selection was very good, and having a 24-hour drinks station in the lobby was a nice touch.
• The food was always fresh, with excellent bread and a fantastic salad selection.
• The beach next to the hotel is beautiful and perfect for a morning walk.

Cons

• The pools were very cold, which made it difficult to stay in for long periods.
• The areas around the pools become extremely slippery when wet. I'd strongly recommend bringing water shoes for children as they were essential for us.
• While the food was fresh and plentiful, we found it quite bland overall, with very little seasoning or marinades. We always found something to eat, but few meals stood out.
• The entertainment team was disappointing compared with other family resorts we've visited. Our daughter is 9 but looks younger, and we found the staff made very little effort to interact with her or encourage her to join activities, despite her being a confident and sociable child.
• The meal and entertainment schedule was probably our biggest frustration. At check-in you have to choose either an early or late dining slot. We were allocated breakfast between 7:30am and 8:15am, lunch between 1pm and 3pm, and dinner between 6pm and 6:45pm. The 45-minute windows for breakfast and dinner felt very restrictive and didn't create a relaxed holiday atmosphere.
• The children's disco ran from 7:30pm until 8pm, while the evening entertainment didn't begin until around 9:15pm. After eating dinner at 6pm, this left a long gap, and it was simply too late for our daughter to stay up and enjoy the shows.

Overall We had a good holiday and enjoyed our stay. The hotel is beautiful, the rooms are excellent, and the pool area is great for families. However, the restrictive dining schedule, disappointing entertainment programme and average food mean that, while we enjoyed our visit, it's not somewhere we would personally return to or recommend to friends and family.