The short version: Stay. Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca is a beachfront four-star on the north coast of Mallorca, with a keyed gate that opens straight onto Alcudia beach (one of the best on the island), three pools including a heated kids’ pool with an octopus slide, a small but well-stocked spa, a kids’ club with a passport scheme that kept ours coming back every day, properly good buffet food across breakfast, lunch and dinner, and entertainment that genuinely delivers (the ABBA tribute on our stay was excellent). The grounds are full of lavender-lined trellis walkways, which give the resort a lift you don’t always get at this tier. The cons are real and almost all live in the room: the decor is dated and needs a refurbishment, the bathroom is in poor nick, cleanliness on arrival and during the stay was below the standard you’d expect, the safe costs extra, and our building had no lift and only one stairwell. Mosquitoes too, as with every Alcudia property. Visited 29 to 31 October 2025 as a family.
Quick facts
| Location | Alcudia, north coast of Mallorca, Spain |
| Brand | Waves by Iberostar (Iberostar Group) |
| Resort tier | Four-star beachfront family resort |
| Best for | Families and couples who want direct access to a properly good beach, good buffet food, a small spa and a relaxed entertainment programme, with a willingness to overlook room decor that needs refreshing |
| Beach access | Direct, through a keyed gate at the back of the resort. Alcudia beach is right there with a lifeguard station, deck chairs and safes for hire, and a boardwalk along the front |
| Pools | Three. Main pool with zero-degree access next to the main stage and pool bar. Kids’ pool with water-feature fountains and an octopus-themed slide (warmer than the others, probably from shallow depth rather than active heating). Third quieter pool further back, the deepest of the three. None advertised as actively heated |
| Restaurants and bars | One main buffet restaurant (Bellevue) serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Spanish/international rotation. A food truck near the beach for sandwiches, wraps, cooked-to-order takeaway items (burgers, hot dogs, nuggets). Pool bar open 10am to midnight (self-serve soft drinks, ice creams and bar service). Playa Blanca Lounge open until midnight with pool tables, piano, sports TV, indoor and outdoor seating |
| Kids’ club (Star Camp) | Three age-banded groups, passport scheme with stamps for activities, indoor craft area plus outdoor field with trampolines and play equipment, daily programme including beach turtle-education sessions and a bonfire evening |
| Spa | Small spa with a few treatment rooms and a broad treatment menu. Sports massages and couples treatments available (paid extra) |
| Entertainment | Daily programme posted on the main stage screen and the resort app. Mix of evening shows (ABBA tribute during our stay), bingo, daytime sports (air rifle, archery, beach yoga). Schedule on the app didn’t always match what actually ran |
| Accommodation | Family Superior room: master bedroom with a small window onto the gardens, kitchenette area with microwave, fridge (no minibar), TV and seating that doubles as the kids’ single beds, balcony with seating and a partially-obstructed sea view, bathroom with shower-over-bath, single sink and only two ceiling lights (dim around the mirror). Decor is dated |
| Room amenities | Microwave, fridge (drinking water dispensed from coolers on the ground floor of each block, not stocked in-room), safe (paid extra), small welcome bottle of Cava with chocolates on arrival |
| Trip type | Family of four (two adults, two children), four nights, all-inclusive board basis |
The video
The beach, the headline feature
The reason you’d book Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca over a dozen other Alcudia four-stars is the beach. There’s a gate at the back of the resort, you tap your room key, and you’re on the boardwalk with the sand thirty seconds later. Alcudia beach itself is genuinely one of the best on Mallorca: soft sand, calm Mediterranean water with no real waves, a lifeguard station, deck chairs for hire and safes for hire too. On an overcast day in late October it was still beautiful. In peak summer this kind of direct access is gold dust, especially if you’ve got kids who would rather be on the sand than at a pool.
That gate also means the resort feels closed off from the beach side, which is the safety-and-quiet trade-off you want. Florence was straight onto the sand doing cartwheels, Bertie was running into the water, and we were ten paces from a sunbed. If your kids prefer beach to pool, this single feature probably swings the booking.
The three pools
There are three pools on site and they’re laid out so they don’t compete with each other. The main pool sits next to the main stage and the pool bar, with zero-degree access (a sloped walk-in rather than steps), plenty of sunbeds and good sightlines for parents. This is the busiest of the three and the one you’d default to. Worth knowing: the entertainment team came round handing out chunks of fresh watermelon to kids by the pool one afternoon, and on another evening they were handing out cocktails to adults. These small touches add a bit of luxury that you don’t always get at four-star.
The kids’ pool sits adjacent. It has constant water movement from fountains, a big octopus-and-squid slide structure that the children clearly love, and it’s noticeably warmer than the other two. I don’t think it’s actively heated, more likely it’s the shallow depth doing the work, but either way it’s the one your kids will keep dragging you back to. The third pool is further back and quieter, the deepest of the three and the one to head for if you want a proper swim away from the splashing.
None of the pools are advertised as actively heated for summer. If pool temperature matters to you, ask Iberostar directly before booking, because this part of Mallorca has chilly pools at most properties (see also: Club Mac next door).
The food
Food is consistently good across all three meals, which is more than you can say for plenty of four-stars. The main dining room is the Bellevue, a buffet operation that handles breakfast, lunch and dinner with enough rotation to keep things interesting across a longer stay.
Breakfast is the most generous spread. A live cook handling fried eggs and omelettes, a separate station making fresh waffles and pancakes to order (which is exactly the right call, the pre-bought frozen waffles you get elsewhere are dire), a strong fruit selection both whole and chopped, multiple yogurts including fruit varieties, four or five juices including infused water, the standard British-friendly hot breakfast bits, a good pastry table with proper jam-filled donuts and ring donuts, cereals including Sugar Puffs for the enthusiasts, dried meats and cheeses, salad items, and a coffee machine. The labelling for vegetarian and vegan items is clear throughout, which I always appreciate.
Lunch and dinner are variations on the same buffet with rotation across the days. The meat station is the highlight, with chefs cooking and serving directly. Paella shows up regularly, the pasta dishes are properly made with sauces put together on the fly, the pizzas at dinner come in a larger selection than at lunch, and the seafood salads at dinner are interesting (garlic noodles, potato-and-aioli, a few different fish dishes). Cheeses, chutneys, charcuterie, flatbreads and small savoury pies are all on rotation. Desserts include fresh cakes (attacked early by guests every night, so don’t dawdle), jellies, ice cream including frozen yogurt soft-serve, fresh and dried fruit, and labelled vegetarian and vegan options. Wine is included at dinner along with the soft drinks, teas and coffees.
A nice touch at lunch: an Aperol Spritz station set up outside the restaurant. Small thing, makes a difference. Outside the Bellevue, there’s a food truck near the beach that handles a continental-style takeaway menu: sandwiches, wraps, coffee, juices and sodas to help yourself, plus cooked-to-order items from the truck itself (nuggets, burgers, hot dogs and so on). Useful if you’re spending the day on the sand and don’t want to come back to the buffet for lunch.
The bars
Two on-site bars, both open until midnight. The pool bar is adjacent to the main pool and the main stage, open from 10am, with bar service and a self-serve coffee machine, soft drink fountain, filtered water and ice creams. Convenient if you’re on a sunbed and the children need topping up.
The other is the Playa Blanca Lounge. Indoor seating, pool tables, a piano, sports on the TV, sweet snacks at the bar, and a covered outdoor section at the back of the property with music coming through the speakers. The piano and one of the TVs weren’t being used while we were there, but the vibes are right for an after-dinner drink without the noise of the entertainment stage.
Star Camp, the kids’ club
Star Camp sits just behind the kids’ pool and operates three age-banded groups so you’re not throwing five-year-olds in with eleven-year-olds. The set-up is well thought out. There’s a big open flat area for outdoor activities, a small gym with bars and equipment (some of it adult-facing), a volleyball net (the one further out is actually the adjacent public park, not the resort’s), a children’s playground with decent equipment, and a small arcade with a few games inside the camp building itself.
The thing that worked best for our kids was the passport scheme. Each child gets one, gets it stamped at every activity they attend, and that single tiny piece of paper turned getting them to kids’ club into a non-conversation every morning. Activities went well beyond drawing-at-a-table. The team took the children down to the beach for a session on turtles and the sand, and ran a proper bonfire evening event with games, running around and music across the site. Bertie was particularly keen on the bonfire night and apparently spent a good while shaking his booty to the music, which is fine, that’s why he was there.
One small grumble specifically about the playground: it’s overrun with ants. Not a Star Camp problem, just an Alcudia-in-summer problem, but worth knowing if you’re sitting on one of the benches there.
There’s a separate building near the camp that wasn’t operating during our stay. I assume it’s a peak-summer food outlet that only opens when the resort’s busier.
The spa
Smaller than a destination spa, larger than a token treatment room. A handful of rooms, a broad menu of treatments, and prices that fit a four-star (paid extras, not included). I had a sports massage, Katie had a treatment alongside, and Christina did a great job with both of us. Booking earlier in the stay is sensible if you want a specific slot. Kids in the kids’ club, parents in the spa, that’s a proper holiday afternoon.
The grounds
This is where the resort earns its tier. The site has been laid out to feel bigger than it is, with trellis walkways covered in climbing plants linking the different sections, and lavender beds either side of the main paths. The smell when you walk past in the evening is properly lovely, one of those small things that lifts the whole place. There are lavender plantings throughout, not just at one feature point. If you’re sensitive to scent it’s a real plus, and even if you’re not, it makes the resort feel cared-for rather than functional.
Entertainment
Iberostar make a big deal of the entertainment offering and on the whole it delivered. The ABBA tribute on one of our evenings was genuinely fantastic, the kind of show that has the whole audience up and dancing rather than half-watching from the back. There’s a full daily roster posted on the main stage screen and in the resort app: beach yoga in the mornings, air rifle and archery sessions (I took an “expert” shot, the scorecard speaks for itself), bingo for the adults, plus the evening shows on the main stage.
One caveat. The activities on the app didn’t always match what actually ran on the day. Some sessions got dropped or moved without much warning. If you’ve set your heart on a specific session, double-check at reception that morning. Katie won a prize at bingo, which I’m contractually required to mention.
The room
This is the section where the review pivots. The grounds are great, the food is great, the beach is great, the kids’ club is great. The room is where Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca lets itself down.
We had a Family Superior room. As you walk in there’s a kitchenette unit with a microwave and a fridge (empty, no minibar). Drinking water isn’t supplied in-room; you fill bottles from the coolers on the ground floor of the block. There’s a TV facing a small table, where Iberostar had left a welcome bottle of Cava and some chocolates, which is a nice arrival touch. The kids’ single beds are in this kitchen-lounge area, which works well enough but means there’s no real separate kids’ room (you’d want to upgrade further if you need that).
The balcony has seating and a partial sea view, with some trees in the way but the blue water and the sand still visible. Pleasant in the evening. The master bedroom has a decent-sized bed with good linen, but the window onto the garden is smaller than you’d expect (presumably to keep the heat out in summer). The safe is paid extra, which I’d flag as one of the cheapest cost-saving measures a hotel can do and one of the most annoying. A safe should be included at this tier.
The bathroom is the problem. There are only two ceiling lights, so the mirror isn’t well-lit (an issue for makeup, as Katie noted). Single sink only. Shower-over-bath rather than walk-in, with a standard handheld unit, no rainfall head. The toiletries (shampoo, hand wash, conditioner) are fine. But the overall condition is dated and the bathroom in particular looks tired. It needs a refurbishment.
Iberostar are honest about this on the booking page (you can see it’s an older-style room when you book), so it’s not a hidden problem. But it does mean the room sits below where the rest of the resort lives. Cleanliness was also below par on arrival and during the stay, which compounded the impression. If you book here, book with eyes open and pick a higher room category if you can stretch to it.
One safety-flavoured concern: our building had no lift (we were on the second floor, two flights of stairs, fine for us but harder for some guests), and only one stairwell. I don’t love being in a building without a fire escape alternative, particularly with kids. Worth checking which building you’re allocated to before agreeing to it.
Check-in and the small touches
Check-in deserves its own mention because Iberostar do it properly. Antony took us through the formalities, the kids got little steps to stand on so they could see what was happening at the desk, we were handed a glass of champagne each, the kids got ice creams. Five minutes of small effort that sets the tone for the stay. The Aperol Spritz station at lunch, the watermelon rounds by the pool, the milk chocolate handout late in the evening, the cocktails being brought round: each of these on its own is small, but stacked together they add a layer of “we want you to enjoy this” that you don’t always get at this tier.
Other things worth knowing
The resort has easy access to the local high street from the front side, so you can walk out for shopping or a change of scene without needing a car or a taxi. The buffet has a slight quirk: the animation team eat in the main restaurant alongside guests. Not a big deal, but it does make for slightly awkward moments where families aren’t sure whether the team members are working or off-duty. A separate staff dining area would solve it.
And the mosquitoes. Alcudia has mosquitoes everywhere (see also: every other review on this stretch of coast), and Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca is no exception. The playground in particular was a hot spot during our stay. Bring proper bug spray, consider plug-in repellents if you bite easily, and don’t blame the resort for the local wildlife.
Who is this hotel for?
Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca is for families and couples who want a beachfront four-star with proper buffet food, a small spa, a busy-but-not-overwhelming entertainment programme, and a kids’ club that actually engages children rather than babysitting them. It’s particularly for families whose kids love the beach more than the pool, because the keyed-gate access onto Alcudia beach is the single best feature of the resort and the one you can’t easily replicate elsewhere on this strip.
It’s not for guests who care a lot about room decor and bathroom condition, because the rooms are dated and need a refurbishment. It’s not for travellers who want a five-star experience top to bottom. And it’s not for anyone who needs heated pools through summer.
Frequently asked questions
The verdict: stay or stay away?
This is a stay, with eyes open about the rooms. Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca gets the big things right: direct access to one of Mallorca’s best beaches, three properly thought-out pools, food quality that’s consistent across breakfast, lunch and dinner, a kids’ club that genuinely engages children, a spa that does the job, entertainment that delivers when it runs, and small luxury touches (the welcome champagne, the watermelon rounds, the Aperol Spritz station at lunch, the cocktails brought round of an evening) that lift the experience above the standard four-star norm.
The cons are real and almost all live in the room. Decor needs refurbishment, the bathroom is in poor nick, cleanliness was below par, the safe costs extra, and our building had no lift and only one stairwell. Mosquitoes are a given on this coast. The animation team eating in the main buffet is a minor oddity. The app entertainment schedule drifts.
Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca is a stay. Katie’s verdict was that she’d happily do a full week here, which carries weight. Book a higher room category than the Family Superior if you can stretch to it, pack the bug spray, and you’ll have a properly good Mallorca family holiday.
Full video transcript
Auto-generated from the YouTube video and lightly cleaned. Timestamps preserved.
00:00 Welcome to the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca. This beachfront property is here on the island of Mallorca, and this is The Resort Report where I’m going to be giving you a full guide, a full review of this property, telling you all about the food, the drink, the entertainment, the kids’ club, the room, the beach, and so much more.
00:26 So here at the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca there are three pools, and I’m in the main one right now. It features zero-degree access just over here so you can walk straight in. It’s adjacent to the main stage. There’s lots and lots of sunbeds around, and of course the pool bar is just here as well, so you can grab a drink there too. As I say, three pools, and this one is the main one. We’ve got the kids’ pool, which I’m going to show you next, and then the deepest one in just a moment.
01:01 So here’s a member of the team handing out some watermelon by the pool today as all the kids enjoy the sunshine in the main pool.
01:13 Next up we have the kids’ pool. It’s got some great water movement with these fountains. I’m tempted to say that this pool is heated, it’s certainly much warmer than the other two, but I don’t know if it’s genuinely heated or if it’s just because of its shallow depth, which makes it not quite as nippy. The peak attraction of this pool is this big slide element with the squid and the octopus on top. Bertie is going to show us how this slide works right now.
01:59 Far quieter than the other two pools is this one here, the final of the three pools here at the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca.
02:13 So with the resort behind me now, I’m heading towards the beach. It’s one of the big reasons you would book to stay here. There is a door which I’m just going through now. So this door, which you need your room key to get back in. There’s the resort, and here is Alcudia beach. The boardwalk just stretching out there, and then heading out to the beach. I can see Florence just running around there. Lots of deck chairs for hire, as well as those safes for hire too. Beautiful beach even on a slightly overcast day like this.
02:54 So I’m in the water now here on Alcudia beach. The resort is literally just behind me there, and this is a fantastic beach. One of the best on the island, I’m certain of it. There’s a lifeguard station here as well, and with that easy access, you literally just walk out straight onto the beach. It’s a really big plus point for this resort. And if you’ve got kids like mine who absolutely love the beach, probably prefer it to a pool, then it’s an easy one for you to choose this property on that basis.
03:42 The resort has done a great job of building in scale. It feels like a big resort despite not being that huge. I love these trellis walkways with the flowers, and as we walk around to this one you’ve got a wonderful lavender smell from the flowers growing in the beds on either side. They’ve got lavender actually throughout the resort, and it’s one of my favourite smells. So sweet on the nose.
04:14 I’m heading round to the spa now. The spa is a few treatment rooms, and they have a really big menu of treatments. I’m about to go in for a sports massage and I’ll let you know how I get on. Christina did a great job looking after me and my dear wife.
04:40 You might wonder how we managed to get away from the kids. Well, they’re at the kids’ club. I’d like to show you now what they’ve been up to, both while we’ve been here and before and after. So just behind the kids’ pool there, we come around to Star Camp where the kids’ club and activities are. You’ve got this big flat area for activities, and over there you can see spin bikes and trampolines. They must be for one of the adult activities. There’s a little gym here and it’s got some really cool equipment and bars on, and I assume that is for adults. You’ve got your volleyball net just there. That, I think, is actually a public park, that’s not part of the hotel. But over here we do have the playground for the kids in this resort.
05:51 One thing that has been noticeable as we’ve been in there with the kids is there are some ants. Ants in your pants. Decent equipment though, kids have particularly enjoyed those bars just there. And this is the camp. You can see a small area just behind. The only other thing to point out that’s operating right now is this very small little arcade here with a few pieces of equipment in. I don’t know what this building is, I assume it’s a food outlet, but it’s not operating right now. If it does open during our stay, I’ll give you an update. It could just be a seasonal food outlet when this area becomes busy in the peak summer.
06:46 Star Camp operates three different age groups. You can see Flo and Bertie here doing some drawing before heading out on some more adventurous activities like this one where all the kids went down to the beach to learn about turtles and the sand. This now is the bonfire evening event where they played games, ran around and had loads of fun all around the site. Bertie in particular loved this, and there he is shaking his booty to the music.
07:19 So welcome then to the Bellevue restaurant for breakfast. I’m excited to show you the wonderful offering that they have here on this buffet. We’re going to start over here where we have this gentleman doing fried eggs. Look at that smiling face, and he’s doing a great job with these omelettes and fried eggs. Over here we have the porridge. There’s some interesting fried milk dessert items just there. Over here we have a more standard kind of breakfast affair that a British person might expect, with a really good donut and muffin selection here, including some jam-filled donuts as well as two different types of ring donut.
08:20 As we move on around the corner, we have a great fruit selection here, both whole fruits and chopped fruits: grapefruit, pineapple, grapes, melons, and some canned fruit as well. Lots of different yogurts including various fruit ones. I love how there’s a selection of milk here, it’s kind of what you expect in a four-star property. Onto the cereals: Sugar Puffs enjoyers rejoice, they’ve got it here, and then some kind of dates there. The ice cream and yogurt is available. So the other element that I do like to see is a great selection of juices: orange, apple, pineapple, plus infused water just there.
09:20 Moving on to these pastries: excellent quality, great selection, even got some biscuits there. Toast station here, just one in the restaurant. Worth pointing out the coffee machine and the microwave. We have some butter, some margarine, some preserves, some chutneys. I thought this was whipped cream of some description, but it is actually cream cheese and more butter there. Onto the cheese please. And then your dried meats. And then some salad items. One thing that is worth pointing out is there are fresh waffles and pancakes being made here by this handsome gentleman, and it’s good to see fresh waffles being made. I really hate those pre-bought, pre-made ones. Having them fresh is great. So that is breakfast here in the Bellevue at the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca.
10:35 I’m not going to take you through the full lunch offering today, but I do want to point out this: they’ve put out a little Aperol Spritz stand just outside the restaurant. In terms of the lunch offering, it’s variations on what was out for dinner. There are some new dishes. I had something today for lunch that I hadn’t had for lunch or dinner yesterday, so they are mixing it up and it is still incredibly good quality. The second food outlet just close to the beach is the food truck, which has a continental-style selection: sandwiches, wraps, coffee, bits and bobs, as well as some juices and sodas. And then in the actual food truck there is food cooked to order: typical kind of takeaway affair including nuggets, burgers, hot dogs and so on.
11:46 So for dinner we’re back in the Bellevue restaurant where we have a wonderful buffet planned. I’m going to take you first to the meat dishes which are being served up by these gentlemen. You can see them working hard here. We’ve got some paella here. A pasta sauce just being put together, and those pasta dishes just there. Before we go to that central island, let me show you the pizzas: a larger selection than was available at lunch. That lasagne there looks good. Okay, so this central island then: hash brown rosti style, a new soup different from lunch, some salad and sauce items, more salad, a few oils and sauces. Moving on to some more exciting salads including those garlic-looking noodles. We’ve got some seafood here, some kind of potato and aioli, more seafood salads. Some cheese please, and some chutneys.
13:26 So this side is opened up as opposed to lunch. You’ve got your breads on this wall here. The chips are ready to go. Quite a lot of chicken available. More fish dishes. Some really interesting breads and desserts. I think it’s some kind of cake. Some dried fruit, dried meat there, and even more exciting dishes. These flatbreads look absolutely delicious, as do these little pies. We’ll move on over to the desserts. We have some fruit here, more fruit, ample quantities. The cakes have already been attacked by all the guests here, as has the jelly. I love to see the labelling and how clear it is when things are vegetarian or vegan. The ice cream, good to see that stracciatella back, and the sauces. And then of course you’ve got your soft serve including that yogurt ice cream. And there’s extra seating over there. For dinner you can dine outside and inside, so you get good options of where you want to sit. In terms of drinks, there is wine available as well as your soft drinks, teas, coffees and so on.
15:28 So just adjacent to the main pool is the pool bar. It’s open from 10am until midnight and has bar service as well as help-yourself. You can see the coffee machine just being refilled there. Help yourself to a bunch of different soft drinks as well as filtered water. And then we have these ice creams as well, looking a bit thin on the ground, but the kids have been enjoying them nevertheless.
16:03 The other on-site bar also stays open until midnight, and that’s the Playa Blanca Lounge. You have this bar here which includes some sweet snacks. You’ve got sports on the TV at one end, and then there’s some pool tables just there. Lots and lots of seating. There is a piano and another TV over there, although I’ve not seen them operating just yet. And there is outdoor seating heading out onto the back of the property where you can come out and chill. Really nice vibes with the music coming through the speakers.
16:47 Entertainment is a big part of the promise. Let me show you now what you might be able to expect. There is a full roster of events and activities here. You can see a full schedule up on the main stage screen. Beach yoga just coming up there. Looking forward to events throughout our stay, even on overcast days like this. Air rifle shooting and archery are available. You can see me taking an expert shot there, fantastic distribution on my scorecard, of course. Bingo as ever-present in this resort, and the obligatory cahoots as well. My dear wife Katie there picking up the prize for the bingo.
18:39 So here at the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca we have a Family Superior room. Let me show you what it looks like. We start off with this kitchenette unit which has a microwave, a fridge but no goodies in there. There’s a bin underneath. Water is dispensed into these cars down on the bottom floor. We’ve got a great TV here. Here on the table we’ve been kindly given this bottle of Cava, as well as these lovely-looking goodies in here which I’m going to enjoy and not share with the children. Speaking of the children, their beds are in this kind of kitchen-lounge area. Single beds there. And then look at this view out onto the balcony: somewhat obstructed by these trees, but you still get that beautiful blue water and that amazing sand of Alcudia beach. We’ve got some seating out here for us as well. Maybe the wife and I will enjoy that bottle of Cava out there later on.
19:43 I’m going to show you the bathroom next. It’s a little bit darker than I might have imagined. Only two lights in here, which means on this mirror it’s not quite as lit as a lady might like to do their makeup. A single sink there. We are working with a shower over bath, and it is just a standard handheld unit. No rainfall element here, but some decent shampoo, hand wash, conditioner there.
20:21 Moving now out and into the master bedroom. Decent-size bed, the linen looks fantastic. A smaller window than I might have thought, but it’s only looking out over the garden, so you can kind of imagine why that might happen, especially to keep the cold air in in the summer. There is a safe, although you do have to pay for these safes, they aren’t included during your stay. So that is a family superior room here at the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca.
21:00 It’s time for that stay or stay away rating for the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca. But before we get there, I want to give you some pros and some cons of this resort. And there’s no better place to do that than here on Alcudia beach just out that door from the resort.
21:20 Starting with those pros then, access to this beach is really really cool. I really do like being able to come out here. The beach is lovely, and I know so many families will enjoy just walking out and coming into the sea. The Mediterranean here is just incredibly beautiful. The fruit being handed out around the pool is a really cool feature, and it’s not just fruit that they’ve been handing out. We saw some milk chocolate today, late in the evenings they were handing out some cocktails. Really nice touch that adds a lot of that luxury feel to the property. Really nice touch that you don’t get everywhere.
22:14 The check-in was really good, we really enjoyed check-in. There’s some steps there for kids to be able to climb up. Antony was wonderful checking us in. Got a glass of champagne, some chocolates, the kids got some ice cream. Really nice touches. Check-in was good. I liked how they put Aperol Spritz out at lunchtime, that was a really nice touch as well. The kids’ club giving them passports, really nice touch as well, so they could go every day and get them stamped, gets them excited. And the kids have enjoyed the kids’ club activities all the way through, and Bertie in particular enjoyed that bonfire activity.
23:01 The food has been decent all the way through. Good quality meat, and all the way through the food has been fantastic. The kids’ pool is good, Bertie’s enjoyed that. Access to the high street from the other side of the property is cool as well. The final pro that I want to point out is the entertainment has been very very good. That ABBA was fantastic, really really good, but it comes with a caveat when it’s on. They have been chopping and changing and dropping some of the activity, which is a shame.
23:43 That starts our cons then. The entertainment hasn’t always been as listed on the app. The fridge in the restaurant, not many people would notice this, but it does make a loud noise. It’s an oppressive sound for someone like me. Most people wouldn’t even notice it. There’s no lift in some of the buildings. In our building there is no lift. We’re only two flights of stairs, but I don’t like it because there is only one flight of stairs in our building. So we’re on two storeys, and I don’t like not having a fire escape alongside that single escape route. Cleanliness hasn’t been as good in the bedroom as I would have liked, both on arrival and on the room being serviced, which is a shame.
24:42 As with every property on Alcudia, there’s a lot of mosquitoes. So many mosquitoes, especially at that playground, loads of mosquitoes around there. They really really get me and make me angry and sad. Really small point is, and this happens at loads of resorts and I just don’t know why they do it, but the animation team dining in the buffet. I don’t like it because kids and families are then unsure whether they’re working or they’re not working, whether you can disturb them, whether you can’t, and everything else. So I’d prefer if that wasn’t the case.
25:22 Now the biggest con for me is the room decor. I think the room needs a refurbishment, and they’re not hiding it on the website. When you book you can see that it’s an older-style room. But yeah, it really does need a refurbishment, and the bathroom even more so. The bathroom’s in pretty poor nick, to say the least. But my dear wife reliably tells me that she would stay here for the full week. She would stay here for a full week, and that’s a pretty big endorsement if it meets her exacting requirements.
25:56 And so ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to stay or stay away at the Iberostar Waves Ciudad Blanca, it is a stay. I hope you’ve enjoyed this resort report. If you have, let me know in the comments below any questions, any thoughts, and hopefully I’ll see you on the next one. Thank you very much.