First solo trip

Being on my trip alone this time, it was crucial for me to feel safe. I needed to change rooms, they were awesome in assisting me with my needs. Folks are very nice, was told it's very safe and eventhough it's slightly old... they work very hard at keeping things clean. I was already warned that the food wasn't that great, so I brought stuff and I did manage to find a few things to feel content. I had brought gifts to offer everyone that assisted or served me. If you can bring shoes or school su [... read more]pplies to help the locals. My cleanilady was the sweetest and I will miss her smile. The beach is gorgeous and the sand very clean and soft. Plenty of long chairs both at pool and beach area, as well as shady spots. I was grateful the sealed bottles of water they gave but I had brought water tablets in case. Their was entertainment such as dj and fashion show at pool area during the day, in the evening the dj would keep everyone laughing and dancing at the bar. The bus ride is very entertaining and they tell you about Cuba. The airport is small but clean, make sure you get many 1usd dollars to give as tips & don't exchange too much of yr money in pesos cause you might stay stuck with them. Their currency changes every 4-5 yrs. Bring tiny kleenex packs, wipes & a tiny handsome bottles since most of the public bathroom have none. You may see ladies offering some but they do it to get money to survive so pls tip. Lots more to say but this should help. Overall a beautiful place with very hard working kind ppl but I will be going to explore other places.

Not bad for $685 per person

There was good and bad. Beach is wonderful, probably nicest one i ever been to. Its easy to get into water. Plenty of beach chairs. Sand is beautiful, but full of sand mites and they will bite you so bring bug repellent. Beach bar isn't far at all. Daily entertainment team tried really hard and had some good activities. Bar service, and service in general was very quick. Lots of bars around so almost never had to wait to be served. Drink quality was good. Swimming pool is enormous, and you can  [... read more]easily find a spot to be on your own. Its pretty shallow, but lots of chairs for everyone around. Our room was great, no issues at all, everything worked, warm water, toilet, etc. Really liked adult only concept. Staff is super friendly and servers come up to you regularly. There is a shopping plaza near by that you can easily walk to. Snack and drinks are available 24 hours so even if you are hungry at 3 am you will be able to grab some food. Food is one of the worst i ever had in Cuba. Everything is cold, undercooked. Very limited choice compared to other places i been to. No beef at all. Eggs are powder eggs. Occasionally had seafood which was good. Also they advertise that they had four a la carte restaurants, that is a lie. There is only one a la carte restaurant. That restaurant was very nice and they do change the menu on daily basis. Night entertainment was the worst one by far compared to other places i visited in Cuba. For 3 straight nights they basically just put music on and had guests dancing with some guys. Basically they were using guests to entertain other guests. Instead of putting shows on, there was almost like glorified disco. Scheduled entertainment was not followed. Also they have huge theater but do not use it, instead they pile everyone in lobby and its hard to see. Our towels in our rooms were never changed, despite being dirty, just folded and put back in place. Also our bed linens were never changed for clean ones. Resort retail store regularly ran out of smokes and cigars.

Awesome stay

Enjoyed every moment. Good food, good drinks. Overall amazing Made friends. Clean rooms good service. Wish it was for 2 weeks ***************************************************************************

I am done with Cuba!

We returned to this resort because of the great time we had here in april of this year. What a change this visit was. One restaurant only open for breakfast and lunch, with no live grilling stations. So no omelets or fried eggs for breakfast and no fresh fried fish at lunch. Sometimes no air conditioning on, with open windows and thus an abundance of flies. The ala carte restaurant for dinner with no reservations just show up and hope to not wait long. Shortages of coffee, eggs etc at time [... read more]s but the worst was when the water pump broke....I went to get my first morning coffee and was told no coffee because no water....this was my last straw for the Starfish. We asked to be moved and were! By late afternoon still no water and I don't know when they got it fixed. Thanks to my Holasun rep. that quickly acted on our behalf to fix our holiday.

Lovely Resort

I really loved it there. The grounds were beautiful, everything was well maintained, clean, and the staff were always happy, smiling, and eager to please the visitors. Its a large resort, so walking to get to lobby, pool, and beach were unavoidable but I loved the exercise.

Good time!

The bus ride from the airport to the resort was less than impressive. No working toilet so we pulled over, next to the highway, for the bathroom. It was disgusting. The ride from the resort to the airport was much better. 1.5-2 hours is a long haul regardless. Front desk staff were helpful and timely. Room was clean and kept stocked. Beds were uncomfortable. Grounds were kept well. Managing cigarette butts must be a challenge. ALOT of walking which was great! More signage on direction of [... read more] facilities would be appreciated; although, we did figure it out after a couple of days. As a non smoker I truly struggled as all common areas allowed smoking (not the buffet area though). Any entertainment I couldn’t partake for cigarette smoke. The beach is spectacular! Never struggled for a lounger. Entertainment crew are outstanding! Food was good yet repetitive.

Relaxing Resort

The Good: The staff are outstanding, the beach is the best I have ever visited because of the beautiful sand, many shade areas and plenty of chairs, ability to walk a good distance on the shoreline, this is a quiet resort with no loud music playing constantly thus the title relaxing resort The Bad: Cuba has supply issues thus the food is prepared well but very repetitive, no milk 1 day, room towels and beach towels are not changed, bed linens changed once in 2 weeks, asked for a wake- [... read more]up call didn't happen

First Time to Cayo Santa Maria

My husband and I (seniors) stayed for 2 weeks March 30 - April 13,2023. We have stayed at other Starfish resorts in Cuba but this was our first time to Starfish Cayo Santa Maria. Overall the resort was good,food was good considering the shortages in Cuba but there was no shortage of lobster. We ate lobster at 3 meals here and could have had it for a 4th. Dinner plates at the buffet sometimes were gritty, not always clean, i returned some to staff. The beach guys were great, Hosea always foun [... read more]d chairs for us. Can only remember his name.all the guys were good. Didn't sit at pool as not much shade there. We stayed in building 26, room 2605, ground floor. Our maid did a great job. All the staff here are friendly, always smiling and helpful. Leonardo,and other entertainment staff greeted us each day.

Amazing resort

This resort was by far the best resort we have ever stayed at in Cuba. The staff made us feel welcome as soon as we walked in until the final moment of departure, the beach was spectacular . The room was nice with an ocean view. The food was good didn't go hungry by any means always could find something, even if it was the same everyday.The beach bar was our favorite thanks to" Javier " always a great time and loads of laughs. 10/10 in our books.would recommend this resort to anyone.

Awesome resort

The hotel is very nice the have the best beaches I’ve ever seen the people were outstanding couldn’t of asked for a better vacation the food was good and the rooms were very nice the view from our room was amazing

Worst resort

This was my 5th time to Cayo Santa Maria and by far this was the worst resort. It is an old resort and there are so many issues related with maintenance and service. The staff and entertainment team are very nice and friendly but they have very limited resources and the place requires a total facelift.

Great vacation!

Great , beautiful , long beach , especially for those who like to walk. Wonderful food, extremely friendly staff, although hotel by itself needs renovation. Overall greatly recommended place to relax.

Dont go here

This is no where near 4 stars. Had no soda, juice or beer for days. No toilet paper. Using unwashed used plastic cups to serve people because they ran out of cups. Also terrible service compared to the rest of cuba. Our AC didn't work for a few days too.

Had a great time!

What a great week we had indeed. The atmosphere was fantastic; sun, heat, pool, drinks, beach, ocean and waves. The staff was friendly and helpful. They remembered what my favourite drink was. The entertainment was fantastic. They were great with the kids as they had a kids' show as well. They went out of their way to make sure our kids had a great time. As to be expected, the food was not the best, but you could find something you would like. Of course, there are the little things that are to b [... read more]e expected in a socialist/communist country; namely the fit and finish. This could be seen throughout the resort. Things were just not put together as you would expect them to be. if you are able to get past these things, you are going to have a great time, as the weather, entertainment and drinks well make up for the other shortcomings.

Worst resort ever

Service ,rooms end food really bad!!! Never again in dis resort!!! Not recommended .Table not clean you have to serve your self to take forks end spoun ,if you ont something to drink you gonna need 3-4 time to ask.

Very disappointed

This was my second time visiting this resort. Last time was about 4 years ago and wasnt too bad. This time it was very disappointing. There was no returning guest dinner or bottle of rum. Apparently some people do get it as my friend did this trip. Food was disgusting and cold and huge lack of food in general. The guests would near knock you over to get in front of you. I skipped several meals as it was it worth it to me. Entertainment staff engaged to the guests who were showering them with g [... read more]ifts mostly. They were not rude just not very sociable. The life guard spend his days flexing his muscles and exercising on beach and never seen him watching the water at all. The room was good, clean enough for my liking Beach is amazing and grounds were well kept. Front desk staff were pleasant and helpful. I love Cuba but will hir be returning to Starfish again

Beautiful scenery, horrible service

First day no a/c, by the end of the second day I requested a new room after 3 different people came to repair and left saying it was working fine, room would not go below 24 but a/c was set to 16. I had to fight with them to change rooms, they were extremely rude. Spent more time in my first two days in the lobby then I did enjoying my trip. Second room had water leaking from light fixture in bathroom and the bathroom flooded every time you used the shower. Had to go to Management multiple times [... read more] and they just said someone would be there but no one ever came, finally gave up and just lived with it! Weather was beautiful everyday! Pool and beach were amazing! Bar staff, and entertainment staff were wonderful and very friendly.

Starfish tropical resort

Wonderful entertainment team. So much fun. Great bands, shows at night. Beach is stunning. Lionel of the entertainment team who is a twin is making people want to visit this resort again. Wednesday nights at this resort is extra special. Champagne, seafood, roast turkey. Pork, and dessert as far as the eye can see.special mention to service staff, norrhay, Brenda, Mary, and Dennis. You made our stay even better. Look so forward to seeing you all soon.

Never disappointed

Second trip to Cayo Santa Maria Starfish. Have yet to be let down by this place. The staff are always positive, and work hard to give their guests a most pleasant stay. Improvements are constantly being made to better the guests experience. We fell in love with this beach and resort. Try it you’ll like it!

Excellent Resort

The hotel itself is beautiful, spectacular, it's a home away from home. Staff are friendly, helpful, accomodating. Great entertainment, esp. The "Audinos", enjoyed that very much...also the Group called "Amanecer". Great songs they rendered, unforgetable... Food was always a variety, tasty and yummy😋😋😋 Would recommend this Resort with no hesitation to our friends and family! We found our Resort in Cuba...👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 Would definitely go back to [... read more] this Resort!!!