Mariela Zaldivar, Marketing Manager, Canada for IBEROSTAR

The IBEROSTAR brand of hotels and resorts is much-loved by agents and clients alike. For this edition of Friday 5, Mariela Zaldivar, Marketing Manager-Canada for IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, talks about the company’s new family-friendly room categories and the most romantic locations for destination weddings at IBEROSTAR properties across the Caribbean and Mexico.

Mariela Zaldivar, Marketing Manager-Canada for IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts

1. IBEROSTAR is making it easier for agents to qualify the right IBEROSTAR accommodation for the right client. Can you talk about the company’s new breakdown of room categories?

Zaldivar: We get the feedback from the clients. For many years our repeat and loyal clientele were demanding specific types of rooms, like the ones facing the ocean, or on the top floor, near the spa, near the mini-club or a lush garden, and also asking for connecting rooms guaranteed for extended families. The variables are diverse depending on the resort and its layout.

For that reason we took all the opinions from the clients and categorized the different types of rooms, so travel agents will know if we have the specifics their client is looking for.

The most remarkable (and very satisfying for agents) is that in many of our family-oriented hotels we have family rooms, and in some cases like IBEROSTAR Dominicana IBEROSTAR Punta Cana; IBEROSTAR Laguna Azul in Varadero; IBEROSTAR Paraiso Maya, IBEROSTAR Paraiso Lindo, IBEROSTAR Paraiso del Mar; IBEROSTAR Paraiso Beach, IBEROSTAR Tucan, IBEROSTAR Quetzal; and IBEROSTAR Cozumel we can accommodate a family of five or six.

2. IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts has 10 resorts in Cuba, three in Jamaica, 10 in Mexico and six in the D.R. Is the company looking at any other Caribbean destinations for its properties?

Zaldivar: Our company has more than 100 hotels in 16 countries. One of our strengths is to have the best beach location in every destination. Or if it is a city hotel, to have it well-located in a vibrant, cultural part of the city. So far in the Caribbean we are aiming to be recognized as one of the best hotel chains in terms of authenticity and consistency in the quality in the destinations we are located.

IBEROSTAR Cayo Coco. Photo courtesy of IBEROSTAR.