Iberostar Tucan Hotel

Towels and sheets changed everyday. Towel art. Plenty to do outside complex.

Cons
Rooms had very poor storage (no draws). Beds were hard but have experience worse in Goa.
Bathroom although very clean needed an update and refurbishment.

Buffet selection although mainly good, some nights limited selection especially if you ate after 20.00 hrs.

Poll/beach bar lacked atmosphere and character
Not 5 star in comparison to other Caribbean 5 star hotels.

Taking all the above into account my biggest disappointment was the weather (although I do not blame the hotel for that). Expected showers and some rain however the level of rain experienced during the 2nd week was more than I have experienced in Wales in October!!

Trips
Chitchen Itsa - beautiful site and ruins, shame about the return coach trip (3 hours) left hotel at 7.50 returned 20.30 a long time in the coach and a tiring day, however I wouldn\'t have missed it

Captain Hook - boat trip from Cancun
Excellent fun, worth the $80, food great and bar service excellent
Great fun and suitable for all ages. Don\'t go along unless you want a fun evening and a laugh

Final comments
Excellent company - hello to
James and Laura, Trevor and Rose, Ted and Joy.
Thank you for adding to our holiday - we had a ball!!

If you are looking for an all inclusive complex near 5th Avenue with lots of shops, restaurants and bars which caters for all age groups try the Tucan.

However if you are looking for better food, a little bit of luxury and a smaller hotel don\'t consider the Tucan

Compared to the other 2 IB hotels I found the Tucan expensive and more basic, however the location was superb

Please feel free to ask any questions and if you have already booked you could do a lot worse than the Tucan. Would I return? To Playacar without a doubt to the Tucan the jury is still out and I would need to get it at a cheaper price

but were told by a few people that there was a nasty bug going round, not just our hotel either, it was unpleasant but not debilitating.

All in all a unique hotel with various wildlife including the very noisy peacocks and monkeys, the only creatures I felt sorry for were a pair of large Galapagos tortoise, they were confined to a small concrete pen whereas the other animals were free to roam about the grounds, as the tortoises are so long lived I did feel the enclosure was not suitable for them.

The a la carte eateries we tried were the Italian - very good, the steak house - not so good, and the Japanese - which was by far the best, for both food and entertainment value.

The rooms were lovely, large with good air con, nice balconies and a powerful shower with plenty of hot water, the only downside was an occasional overpowering smell from some of the drains as you walked around the complex.

It is a lovely complex with enough to keep everyone happy, there were families of all ages there, and it seems a popular choice for weddings, probably because of the jungle setting.

chance to visit the others. From breakfast to the late night snacks, there was something for everyone. The chefs catered for every need. Waiters needed a bit of a\'nudge\' in the buffet restaurants, but in the a la carte they were there for you from the minute you walked in.

All of the staff were extremely friendly and made you feel so welcome. Francesca in the lobby bar was simply lovely - she worked So hard and definitely kept us entertained. I think the only thing that could be improved was the entertainment.

On a few occasions, the shows were good. But a lot of it depended on audience participation. O.K. if you like that sort of thing. But it was very dated.

Would I visit this hotel again? Without a doubt. I have already booked to go back to this hotel next year.

Even the ice cream cones by the pool were the nice quality waffle cones with a choice of 6 flavours of soft scoop.
Cocktails could be had from 10am and for those who like their premium brands they were available too. Even the mini bar contained proper branded coke and sprite etc.

The hotel was amazingly kept- they were always maintaining something even though nothing looked like it needed doing!! There was even one guy who just went round the pool clearing rubbish even down to little bits of twig!!

I thought the location of the hotel was perfect. It\'s in Playacar which is a bit of a residential/hotel zone and there are numerous other big hotels there which means that you aren\'t too isolated. On the transfer we passed some that looked to be miles from no-where, but here there was a little plaza of shops 5 minutes walk away and Playa del carmen was a few minutes by Taxi($5) We only did Playa once as it takes \'looky looky\' to a whole new dimension, but the bartering was fun. For the most part bartering is expected and I don\'t think we paid the asking price for much. I think you have to view it a bit like Ebay, decide what you are prepared to pay and stick to it!!

The staff were wonderful and work so hard. We tried to tip where possible,although it certainly isn\'t expected and on the bar service you had to be quick if you wanted to because they don\'t hang around. The star friends entertainment team were brilliant, they worked a long day and were always so good humoured. The kids club staff were great- they would take them from 10:15 right through until 4:30. Our girls loved it, they even had them doing productions of Cats and Grease- just wonderful!

I think what made this hotel for us as much as anything was the grounds-the animals roamimg around were such a novelty.Numerous types of birds-Peacocks who stood on the path in front of you, Monkeys swinging in the trees, big hamster things, iguanas etc etc. It really was a stunning place.

I could go on and on, but if anyone has any specific questions please get in touch. We will go back one day that\'s for sure and for anyone who\'s thinking about going you won\'t be disappointed.

Pam

the place had been devastated. There were palm trees down everywhere, the beach and beach huts had gone and were now in the pool. The theatre had been totally destroyed as the palapa roof had gone, the seating area was completely flooded.

All the rooms from building 15 onwards were flooded including ours which was on the 3rd floor! All the monkeys had disappeared and I don\'t think that they will be back for a while as their trees and food supply has gone.

It was very upsetting. The staff were amazing working around the clock, the main buffet restaurant was up and running by 10am and by Monday the beach and all the speciality restaurants including the beachfront restaurants were up and running.

The childrens pool and activity pool were also open and by Saturday (6 days after Emily) the main pool had been cleared, cleaned and was open!

The 5 speciality restaurants are Italian, Mexican, Tropical, Steak House, Japanese. We tried the Italian which was great, Steak House - so, so and Japanese which was good. Apparently the Mexican and Tropical are also very good. The two buffet restaurants are excellent.

Hotel rooms are spacious and clean. Maid service is excellent - towels are changed every day and the mini bar is topped up everyday. We always left a US$2 tip everyday for the maid as a thankyou.

Drinks are in plentiful supply as are ice creams etc. by the pool and beach. The drink waitresses are execellent - made me feel very lazy!

Activities are good - you get 1 free hour everyday on non-motorised watersports such as canoeing etc.

The Star Team are great both with the adults and children. There is also stall by the pool/beach where you can choose ceramic ornaments/pots to paint from US $20 which they then polish up for you to collect the next day. They looked lovely.

The Star Team evening entertainment is of a good standard - they practise hard every day. The disco is good as well.
Twice a week (friday and Sunday nights) they usually have market stalls set up by the Tucan Buffet restaurant - look out for the man doing pictures using paint spray-cans - he is really good and they are great value US $20.

I ordered 2 of Chichen Itza which I was going to pay and collect on the Sunday night but thanks to Hurricane Emily he couldn\'t come and was unable to come back before we left!

I will definitely return to the Tucan again.

was in a quieter area. although tis does not mean that you were board, nor does it mean you were in the middle of nowhere. the hotel was low rise at three stories, and rooms were spotlessly clean. maid service each day was a treat in itself. clean sheets every day and a little added extra of chocolates on your pillow, a towel folded into a swan or fan shape, petals on the bed and even our daughter\'s special teddy was tucked in bed when we arrived back each day to our room. we could not fault any of the hotel staff from our arrival to our departure. this included everyone from staff at reception, cleaners, gardeners, entertainment staff, maintenance, maids, room service {which is also included in the price of your holiday}, everyone we met was unbelievably friendly and nothing was too much trouble.

another bonus was the mini bar in the room which was stocked with local beer, water and soft drinks and was refilled every other day, all free of charge. welcoming when you are thirsty and you want to rest in your room for a while.

the entertainment was based on a two week rota, which meant you weren\'t seeing the same things night after night. children\'s entertainment always finished with the \'club dance\', which was just as popular with the adults!!!!! adults entertainment followed this, but did not contain anything that was inappropriate for children. the \'star friends\' who provide the entertainment worked harder than you would believe, but they helped to make our holiday truly memorable.

would we visit this hotel again?.....most definately.

p.s. don\'t want to spoil the surprise, but the jungle path that leads from the hotel to the pool is very interesting. plenty of wild animals cross your path but it is completely safe, providing you pay attention to where you are going and not at what is going on above you???!!!!!