Laguna Azul

The Staff at Laguna Azul is fantastic. Friendly, caring, beautiful people. The food is getting even better with beautiful presentation. And no lack of food, water or electricity. Selection of alcohol seems to have gotten wider. Lots of variety with more recognizable brands. Some rooms are dated but renos are in progress. 1 pool still out of commission but actively being worked on. Relax pool is open, with a few tiles missing, but seems to be getting worked at. Main pool is good to go. Wif [... read more]i in the Lobby and most days available in the room. The Management is always looking to offer special entertainment such as the Super Bowl party, Valentines Day Dinners, bringing in the bikes and the classic 50s cars, etc Shoutout to Jose and Yarianny who were both on holidays our latest visit. 2 really great Staff members. Always a pleasure to see Maria, Pavel, Yosniel, Dania, Mady, Andy, Ari, Dido, Leodan, Umberto, Tatianna, and many of the others we have met. For a quieter holiday, upgrade to the relax. This gets access to the Relax pool and Relax lunch, which is more of an a la carte. The pool view is just plain beautiful and definitely go up to the Spa or Gym area for great views. Oceanview walk on the treadmill if its your thing.

Awesome Holiday!

From the moment we booked with Jairus, we were kept up to date and informed of all the details and options available to us. EXCELLENT service! The hotel was fully staffed with friendly, happy, helpful people. The room was clean and the resort was well laid out and clean. The food was delicious, the pools were perfect, and the entertainment was super good! There was always a cabana available at both the beach and pool; bonus!!!

A Solid Experience

The resort was pretty solid altogether. Service was above average, and the staff were quite friendly. The beach was nice, and so was the pool. We spent a lot of time in the loby and it was a great place to relax. The food was better than I've had so far in cuba, but it's still not anything to write home about. The buffet was pretty similar every day, with either pork and chicken or pork and fish as the main attraction. Lots of rice, bread beans and vegetables to fill your plate. Fresh fruit w [... read more]as usually available, but the quality wasn't great. The deserts, however, were exceptional, as was the coffee at breakfast. The resort had a few issues; some of the washrooms were in a state of mild disrepair, and our room had its eccentricities. But we had hot water throughout and no power issues. Entertainment wasn't always our thing, but you have to respect that they made a solid effort. There was always something going on. There was a special Canadian cocktail hour... this was a little silly, I'd probably skip it if I were you, and the gala dinner at the buffet just ended up being the buffet with more pageantry. The lobby bar isn't super well designed, as it's difficult to queue up and often devolves into confusion. But if you hang out in the lobby long enough, someone will come and take your order. The cigar lounge was a bit expensive (15 USD for a basic cigar), but they poured you a nice glass of rum, and the guy who ran it was friendly. Overall we had a good time and if you're easy-going, you will too.

Great place

We liked pools and beaches, hotel is great, the staff are slow but very positive people. The biggest problem was food, they do their best with the food, but I'm sure it would be problem for some people. And if you have dietery restriction, it very hard to know what food is made of, next time I would love to see name and ingredients of each food. Thanks

Family vacation

First of all I’ve been in Cuba ten times and I never had complain until now. First complain, we lost two days of our vacation due to cancelled flight by Westjet. Second complain, when we arrived in Varadero our luggage was not on the plane. Basically all passenger's luggage was left in Montreal. No explanation on the part of Westjet. I believed it was intentional since the Captain never told us about this. We received our luggage after three days and we have to pay a taxi to pick up at the [... read more] airport. Third complain, when we arrived at the hotel our book rooms were already given to somebody else. Just imagine five oceanview rooms in the same floor gone. We were given temporary rooms until available rooms come up. I told the hotel reception that they should not given the rooms to somebody else however, their reason was we did not arrive on the agreed date. So blame it to Westjet. Now we lost two days of our vacation and we were not able to get the rooms next to each other. For my entire family’s first trip to Cuba, it was a nightmare. The inconvenience and stress that we endure is not worth to have this vacation. Lastly Westjet is not handicapped friendly airline. My wife, mother and brother was in the wheelchair but we are the last group to board the plane. The humiliation as if we are not welcome was hard to take. This happened in Montreal and so to those Westjet counter personnel I forgot to ask the specific persons names you will become senior too one day you will know how we feel.

Hotel reviews

we had a great time at the hotel. We enjoys the beach, the pool, and the staff were all very nice and attentive to their clients especially the one at the lobby serving and asking whatever we wants. we also loved watching the shows.

Awesome stay

I really needed a relaxing holiday and Laguna Azul went above and beyond to make it happen. Many thanks to all the staff they made me really feel like apart of the family A spacial thank you yo Dania Alonzo for everything you do and the special lady you are We will definitely be returning

I recommended it to a friend

The hotel beach was beautiful, and the staff were very friendly. One of the waitresses at the restaurant seemed to have limited English and wasn't very patient. Every activity was wonderful. Thank you to everyone! It would have been even more perfect if the menu had been changed for the 8-day stay.

Absolutely Terrible

The star rating for this hotel needs to be updated to a 1 or less. We had to put a $15 deposit on our credit card for each pool towel, and when we went to get them, there wasn’t a single towel available. No hot water to shower, no 24 hr snack bar available, water is filtered and refilled into dirty glass bottles. There were cockroaches on the pizza/bread station table. The only good part of this trip was Heidi the Sunwing rep. She helped us to switch hotels the day after we arrived. Otherwise w [... read more]e would have been on a flight home.

2 star at best

I don’t think I can even describe in words how awful this hotel was and the experience we had. Upon arrival to the hotel we checked in and started heading to our room, to find our entire hallway leading to the room was completely flooded and the power was out. It was pitch black as it was around 9:30pm, so clearly walking through a flooded pitch black hallway was a safety hazard. We turn right around and went back to the desk to inform them of the hazard, because there’s no way they would’ve kno [... read more]wn about the flood and power being out, especially since there were no wet floor signs. When we informed them, they were completely aware, and were taking no precautions to rectify the hazard. What’s more, we asked to switch rooms as of course we didn’t want to drag all of our luggage through the flood and get ourselves and our belongings wet AND risk slipping and falling all the way down the hallway. To which the resorts staff said there were no more rooms available. This was insanely shocking as the resort was basically empty. For a resort with over 800 rooms, it was absolutely physically impossible for the resort to be full. There was no one there. No one at the bars. No one walking around. We literally saw a total of 10 people the whole time we were there. Not over 800 people. At this point, we’re already livid. Nothing is being done to accommodate us, nothing being done to protect us and provide us safety, the only thing they managed was to get SOME of the power on. Not even all of it, dark and flooded hallways were all over the place with no warning signs anywhere. So thinking it couldn’t get any worse, we went back to our room, went in, and couldn’t believe our eyes. KEEP IN MIND, this is supposed to be a 4.5 star resort. This room was the definition of disgusting and scary. The immediate feeling I had was “I need to go home right now, I can’t be here another second”. Every piece of furniture was torn and completely covered in disgusting, mysterious stains. The curtains were torn, stains on the pillows, surfaces covered in dirt and grime. The AC didn’t work. The sink was cracked, filthy and MOLDY. There were no bathroom amenities (which the TripCentral listing said there would be) besides one bar of soap - no shampoo or conditioner, and the bottles were broken and falling off the wall. There were HAIRBALLS. HAIRBALLS, plastered to the bathroom door and the floor. I literally cried. I couldn’t believe I had just spent a 2 thousand dollars on this atrocious terrifying horror movie-esque room and resort. FURTHERMORE, this room was listed as an UPGRADED ROOM in the TripCentral ad, as we booked the Star Relax room. Nothing about this room was even CLOSE to an upgrade. Another lie on the listing. We immediately started to try to contact Sunwing. No phone numbers worked so I submitted an online request for a king room to see how fast it would take for them to respond. We finally gave up and realized we would have to stay in that disgusting room for one night before we can get the heck out of Cuba. It was so sad to know that this was my first experience in Cuba, and it’s already being ruined. We decide to go get some food as we were starving after a full day of traveling. We ask reception where the 24 hour snack bar is, to which they said “No food until 11pm”. I couldn’t believe it. The TripCentral and SunWing ads both listed a 24 hour snack bar, which was ANOTHER complete lie. We specifically chose a resort with a 24 hour snack bar so we could have access at any time to food, and it didn’t even exist. It was one of our requirements while trying to choose a resort. We then sat in our room, starving, until 11pm. Finally the time came and we went to find the snack bar. They sent us down to the buffet, and it still makes me sick to my stomach the scent of the food they had. Just 2 trays of gloopy, sloppy, smelly pasta, and a bun with what appeared to be a variety of mystery slop meats, and a small amount of sushi. It smelt disgusting, was insanely appalling, just straight up gross. I know the food in Cuba is bad. I’m not completely unaware of the situation there. But to list yourself as a 4.5 star resort, and provide THAT, to your guests???? Absolutely unacceptable. We forced ourselves to go to bed in hopes of getting out of there as soon as we could in the morning. Next morning we went down to the sunwing rep, who was expecting us because of the online request I put in for a room change. After everything we experienced from the lack of any customer service (no option to switch rooms and no concern to clear or block off the flooded hallway which was an insane safety hazard), we immediately requested to get switched from Iberostar Laguna Azul to a different resort, any other resort but there. Tatiana was very helpful. We explained everything I just did above, and she said it was unacceptable and was very sorry for our experience thus far. She also confirmed that the hotel was NOT booked up, and they absolutely could have switched us to a different room. She asked for 2 hours for a gentleman named Andy to attempt to complete the resort switch. So we came back after 2 hours and were able to be transferred to Bella Vista. Out of this whole experience, it is factual that the TripCentral listing is a lie. We booked what you said would be an upgraded room, it wasn’t. You said the hotel had a 24 hour snack bar, it didn’t. You said it was a 4.5 star hotel, it was FAR from it. Everything was a lie, even the staff lying to us about having no rooms available. I can’t believe you can even list a hotel like that where the rooms are so so so dirty and uninhabitable, and MOLDY. Someone needs to go to these resorts, check the rooms and the food periodically, and ENSURE the listings you put up are accurate, and ensure the star rating they have is still accurate. I’m unbelievably disappointed in TripCentral, in SunWing (as their listing also lied although they helped us switch resorts so I am thankful for that), and the resort itself and its miserable unhelpful staff. From this experience, I would never recommend people go to that resort, or use TripCentral due to its lies, and will never recommend Cuba for vacation. Could not be more disappointed in a vacation that was supposed to be restful and relaxing, and ended up being a stressful, gross, and miserable experience. Only thing I’m happy about is being home.

Laguna Azul

As you can see in the photos, grounds are beautiful and are well maintained. Hotel is a little older and renovations are ongoing. Staff is incredible. As soon as you walk in the lobby, you are met with smiles and Hola's. Food in Cuba is always a question people ask about and I always say, I have never come home weighing less than when I left home. Beach has undergone some work and as always, beautiful. One of the pools is undergoing renos and I believe once finished they will start on another? W [... read more]as able to see in one of the suites this trip and it was something, basically two rooms, bedroom and living area. Great if you wanted to spend a lot of time indoors? Always lots of great entertainment. Been 4 times now and will return.

Nice resort

We had an awesome week at Laguna azul. The most amazing part would be the staff, always smiling and go above and beyond. We spent a lot of our time on the beautiful sand beach. We would highly recommend this resort.

Lack of Resources

The hotel didn’t have Pina colada, not many alcohol/drink options, not many food options, rooms are old and AC, safe is not working, and lots of mosquitos in early September season. Beautiful beach regardless but I will not return again.

Awful ressort

Hotel is in bad shape .Advertises air conditioning in eating areas and main buffet,but none of them are functioning. No flat sheets on bed, only contour sheets. We could not get flat sheets and had to cover ourselves with musty bed covers.No bath towels available so they provided beach towels that did not smell fresh.There was no toaster in buffet area. Really awful service. I would not recommend. I dont understand how this ressort is advertised as a Top seller on your web site. Only nice  [... read more]thing is the beach.

Definately not a 4.5 star. More like a 3 star!

This hotel has seen its hay day back 25 years ago. Chexk in: Check-in was unorganized and they gave us the wrong room and bracelets. (We paid for the VIP adults-only section and they did not give us that). We had to bring it up to them and that's when they looked us up on the computer again and noted we had the wrong room and bracelets. Staff and meals: The stay itself wasn't that bad. The staff was amazing Enrique, Dyron were the best (apart from the front reception staff) The a [... read more] la carte restaurants were pretty yummy. The buffet was boring and the food was very repetitive (to be expected in cuba). On the weekend when the locals checked in, the buffet was definately over capacity. they ran out of alot of things so if u dont eat at regular dinner time 6-7 (busiest time at the buffet) you may not get much to eat. Snack bar was non existent. We went looking for it ine one night and we were told it was the buffet after it closed, then when we went looking for it on the weekend it was the beach bar. Not sure why it changed. Maybe more people allowed them to open the actual snack bar? Biggest Minus: The main problem is that there is no security in sight. So ADULT ONLY SECTION WAS NOT ADULT ONLY. Almost every day we had kids in the VIP area swimming in our pools (sans diaper) or in our dedicated adults only restaurant. The employees tried to get then to leave but without security to enforce it, it was a lost cause. Our rooms Our rooms were pretty spacious, but completely outdated. The room was very clean when we checked in. looked like noone had slept in that room for a while. Our pillow had mold on it when we checked in, asked for a new one right away (got it next day) The resort its self had an abandoned hotel feel to it. Like they are just waiting for everything to crumble around them. Our room keys had issues all week, I literally spent more time at the reception fixing my keys than enjoying too much else. Pools: Main pool was pretty nasty (dirty) but I spent more time at the adult only pool so it didn't bother me. It was cleaner but not sure for how much longer. Unfortunately many parents had the same idea, which was very disappointing given i paid extra for adults only section. Beach: nothing like the beaches in Cuba. Very pretty an a++. Entertainment was primarily on this beach throughout the day. They are renovating so the sitting area is a bit small which wasn't a problem until the weekend when Cubans checked in. The hotel seemed very full to above capacity. Overall: Hotel is i would say in my opinion a 3 star not a 4.5. Not sure how long ago Trip central reviewed it but maybe they should go back and look again. I will never go back to this hotel again except to say hello to all the great friends we made there. I have been to.cuba many, many times and this one was the worst I have ever experienced.

Great Resort!

Great entertainment, food and drink selections. Just no beach towels available for the whole week. Other than that, it was a great experience overall. Staff were very friendly and always greeted us wth a smile.

No water to drink for 1 day

We had worst experience for our first 48 hours of our trip. The water pipe was broken . There wasn’t any water to get bath or washroom for first day . In the second day, there wasn’t any water to drink . Yes, they just have soda water and no ice.the washroom was discussing and all the resort was smelled. My kids had a rough time. I understand that couple of resort had this problem but sunwing doesn’t want to clearly explain the situation and they kept saying the water will fixed. After a lot of  [... read more]complaints , they moved us to another resort

Love this resort

Staff is wonderful! The food is what it is but won't starve. Had eggs everyday for breakfast. The have fruit, cheese, pasta, pizza, fish, pork, chicken, all sorts of different salads. Rooms are good. Beautiful pools and beach.

Great vacation

Beautiful resort. A bit dated but clean. Staff were very engaging and friendly. Pools were great but not a lot of chairs at any of the three pools. Beach was always help clean and lots of chairs. Elevators were iffy. Only one of each set worked however the one that did work sometimes would not show up when the button was pressed. We had to walk the four flight of stairs to our room a lot. The food was terrible. No salt, pepper or ketchup same thing for lunch and supper everyday. We had to go to [... read more] town to get food twice as we were tired of trying to find something to eat. Thankfully we brought snacks with us. Birds were flying all around the food and nibbling on it. This was very gross. This was my first time to Cuba so maybe all resorts are like this with food. This is the only reason I wouldn’t recommend it.

Excellent stay

Lungana azul once again was great. The food was ok booking the vip section well worth it as you really don’t have to go to buffet. Drinks were great there was no shortage of anything Rooms were good there is a few things that should be updated but not a big deal Staff are great and always making you feel welcome Overall it was a great vacation and will be returning again next year to this resort for the fifth time Go with a open mind and you will love it