I planned a wedding at the Iberostar Del May April 2009. Over 60 of our friends and family came with us. As you probably thought I got a LOT of feedback. Sixty people leads to lots of opinions. So I am going to let you know what I thought and what my guests thought. It is a wonderful resort with very helpful employees. You could not find a prettier resort. I really took a lot of these reviews seriously when deciding on where to have my wedding so I want to give some thoughts. I also at the bottom have included some great tips!! Positives: Great service! Everyone working at the resort is very helpful and friendly. The wedding coordinator and photographer were great. The grounds are beautiful. The resort is HUGE. It was nice to eat dinner at one of the restaurants then walk back to our room. It made you feel better about eating so much. Our room was great; because we were the wedding couple they upgraded us to an ocean view suite. It was great I would suggest however to stay in the middle of the resort. If you stay closer to the ocean you do have to walk a lot to get to the lobby and the restaurants. My guests that stayed in the middle felt it was the best location. The hotel has an area where you can set up outings (Snorkeling, the ruins, etc) so it’s very easy to just wait until you get there to plan you’re off the resort activities. The rooms are comfortable and clean. This is a great resort for kids, but it’s also great for adults. I was nervous that it would have too many kids but that was not a problem. The bartenders are great and helpful. They are willing and happy to make any kind of drink you want. Negatives: The food is very good, fresh and tasty. The only problem is it gets old after a while. You can only eat at the "Make a reservation" restaurants a couple times. After that you have to eat at the buffets. The problem is the food is similar every day for every meal. So it gets a little old. My husband and I upgraded to the Lindo after our wedding and thought it was worth the money because it had better food and you would eat at the "Make a reservation" restaurants every night. This suggestion is for the things we did that were very helpful!! 1) BRING $1 bills. We brought $100 in singles and RAN OUT! The hotel has some cash but it’s hard to find singles. The employees there count on their tips and it’s nice to have a couple ones to leave at breakfast. And the bartenders work soooo hard, tipping is a must. I was there for 9 days and had to find smaller bills several times. So bring ones! 2) Bring tennis shoes. It’s hot but the resort is huge and you will be doing a lot of walking so plan on it. 3) Bring large plastic cups. The resort gives little tiny cups so you have to return to the bar a lot. Not just for liquor purposes but any liquids. I found myself needing water! 4) Leave a tip in your room fridge with a list of what you would like more of. The first day we were there we took all the water bottles out, put a five in and asked for "MAS AGUA" and got a ton of water. 5) Bring sunscreen but also ALOE, its a lot of sun 6) We gave all our guests welcome bags (HUGE HIT) with plastic cups, sunscreen, Advil, water toys, a couple snacks, cards, a football, itineraries and some other stuff. It was great! The bags were neon and the cups were all blue. You could tell who was at my wedding because we all had matching cups and bags! 7) Make your dinner reservations as soon as you get to the resort. The restaurants fill up fast 8) Visit the lobby bar. It a fun area people gather and mingle. We all met every night and had a blast! 9) If you have a decent size group and like to dance go to the disco tech. Very cheesy but LOTS of fun!! We went every night and danced until 3am. 10) You will need a certain kind of sunscreen to go snorkeling. It has to be approved and environmentally friendly. Try to find it before you go, it’s VERY expensive at the resort. 11) If you have kids bring blow up toys with you. They are very expensive down there.

I would return to this resort in a heart beat. Actually a few of my guests and I were talking of returning for my 5 year anniversary!!

We just returned from a 7 day trip. We all (6 of us) had a great time. Details....the lobby is very pretty, and the entire resort is sparkling clean. You will see people cleaning at all hours of the day and night. You are greeted with Champagne and orange juice and a cool towel. There are flamingos to greet you too.
Rooms...room preference is selective, but I would definetly recommend an ocean view room. They are actually ocean front rooms, as all rooms in the building face the ocean. The sunrise alone is worth the extra money. We booked in advance, but the other members in our group asked for an upgrade upon arrival..they paid 1/2 what we did through the hotel. So if you are willing to risk not having an ocean front room, ask for the upgrade when you arrive. Also building 10 is right near a restaurant and the pool. If you stay on the first floor, as we did, put a towel under the door at night to keep out the bugs. There are tons of plants. Speaking of bugs, we never had any in our room. Use the towel, and spray around the slider, you will be fine. There are mosquitos, so bring spray, there are none by the beach, due to the breeze. The rooms are spotless, and spacious. All Iberostar hotels have extra firm mattresses, so if that is a problem, ask for a mattress topper. Don't forget to tip housekeeping. They work 6 days a week!
Beach...is beautiful, plenty of chairs every day. There is a snack shop and a beach bar. The sand is very soft. There are a few big rocks in the water, but they are easy to spot. Those who said wear water shoes must have stayed somewhere else, you do not need them. The further down the beach you go, the less rocks you will find. No coral either.
Food....there is plenty, you will find something to eat, and it is very good. The Japanese restaurant was very good. We didn't like the Mexican, or the Italian. The steakhouse was good too. But you can always find something at the buffet. You won't go hungry. The buffets are huge. Breakfast, you can even order omlets. (there is just no pleasing some people.)
Alcohol...The staff will make anything you want, just ask. If you don't want domestic, ask for what you want, they have it, it is under the bar. We had to ask for Absolute, but after a while even the waiters would remember.
Pool....huge! The star friends have activities every day. There are plenty of chairs. Every 4 chairs share an umbrella. Plenty of sun and shade. I brought a pool float from home. They are 12.00 in the gift shop. The staff does a great job of delivering drinks to you, and keeping the pool area clean. It's the ignorant guests that leave stuff everywhere..the staff does of a great job trying to keep up.
Excursions...of course you must snorkel in Mexico. Also I would suggest visiting Garroffon, for the dolphin experience, zip lining is included too. Be wary of Apple Vacations reps in the hotel, you won't get a deal from them, and they will show you one excursion and sell you another, we weren't the only group that had this experience. But we didn't let it ruin our vacations. Buyer beware!
Grounds....they are beautiful. You will see lots of animals and birds, and it is a lovely walk to the lobby. We stayed in bld #10, the furthest from the lobby, but the walk isn't as bad as you probably have read. Take the service path, the path the trolly takes, it is a straight shot and alot shorter walk. Also, we never had any trouble catching a trolly or golf cart, if we wanted to ride. (you can call ahead and Raul will pick you up).
Shows....they staff tries, but we really didn't enjoy the shows, there were people there who did, so it's all about your taste. The audience participation part was funny.
Finally.....go, relax, have a great time, don't worry about the negative reviews, honestly some people you just can't please. Don't forget to tip once in a while, as the staff does work very hard. I have no reservations about recommending this hotel. Next time we will stay at the "Grand" further down the beach, as it is All Adult. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

We stayed at the Del Mar from 08/10/09 for 14 nights, we found nothing to complain about, the rooms/grounds and hotel are clean and well looked after. All the staff do a very good job, they all speak to you and are very friendly. We had no problems getting sunbeds at the beach or pool. Service at all the bars was always very good, the bar staff liked to have a joke with you. The grounds are very large and for some people getting around may be a little tricky, not a problem for us though !!. All the al a carte restaurants were great except the Mexician, we found it a bit disappointing. The Star Friends shows in the evenings were ok ,some good ,some very bad ,but they try hard !!! Over all we had a lovely holiday and would stay there again without question .
If any one wants anymore information feel free to contact us

We stayed here from 10/16-10/23. It was a last minute deal for $1500 something for both of us all inclusive, airfare from DFW for 7 days.

The Good,
The grounds are totally beautiful. We looked around in awe at the lobby, wildlife & waterfall as we wandered around the first day.
The staff aims to please & would remember you, your drink & always have a smile.
The pool has alot of different areas based on what you are looking for at the time. Games with the Star Friends, quiet areas, basketball/volleyball areas & more.
The guys with the golf carts that gave rides to & from the lobby.
The main buffet was typical of a buffet, not bad but not something you would remember. I was always able to find something that I liked.
Crepes in the shopping center was absolutely delightful! Our favorite was the custard filling with a chocolate topping!
Tacos in the shopping center were really good. We tried one of each & my favorite was the garlic sausage w/cheese.

The Bad,
The ocean front rooms. We upgraded for $250 to ocean front. Unfortunately these are not ocean front access. The patio has 2 cheap plastic chairs with a little plastic table. No access to the beach this way - unless you crawl over the balcony fence & wade thru the green stuff. You have to go out the back door & around the building to get to the beach.
The specialty restaurants seem to always overcook the food. However, the waiter/waitress always had the best suggestions so be sure to ask them.
Everywhere but the lobby bar had only very bad tequila. We actually went to the Tequila store in the shopping center & bought our own bottle of Sauza Hornitos.
The loungers under the palapas on the ocean were cheap plastic loungers with the fabric stretched and worn out.
They only had around 6 of the beach bed palapas by the pool & none by the ocean. We were lucky enough to get one by the pool 2 days but that is because I got up at the crack of dawn & put our towels on them.
Huge long curly black hair in the ice cream at the buffet

The Ugly
The beds are real bad. I had read earlier about asking for a mattress pad & I did after the first night. It didn't make a difference. Luckily we brought air mattresses & I put mine underneath the sheets & that made it bearable.
The pool bar draft beer made me sick. It stunk & was disgusting.
Room Service menu is a joke. For example, the chicken nuggets looked like fried potted meat - no chicken in sight. The ham sandwich is bologna. The pizza is just soft dough with melted cheese on top. The hamburger & hot dog are dried out & only edible if you are starving. The apple desert is not bad but that's it.

We had our dream vacation at the El Dorado Maroma in January so I'm trying hard not to compare because it's a big price difference. However, I feel like this was a total waste of my time & if I knew now I would not have taken this trip even at the price we paid or for free. Email me if you have any questions.