Wow!

Where to begin.... Well, this newer resort offers all one needs for utmost comfort and pleasure. The architecture was very pleasing and carries throughout the resort. The grounds keepers appear to never sleep as they are always on the run keeping the resort clean. Room cleaning was very well. We noticed they take the whole room apart between visitors; a full cleaning. Our room was a fair walk from the lobby but golf cart service was available if needed. The beach.... by far the nicest we've seen [... read more]! Clean and very wavy at times (we like that!) The only negative was the long causeway to get to the island resort, but we made the best of it. A MUST-try Cuban destination!

Great value for your $

I had a lot of fun. The entertainment team was amazing especially if you love to dance. The staff was very friendly. Service at all bars was amazing. The rooms were clean and the maids did a great job to keep rooms clean and were super friendly. The for was ok. The chefs at the buffet tried their best to custom make orders and to satisfy. The beach is a piece of paradise on earth.

Nice and quet resort

Rooms are clean with adequate storage space.. Shower curtain looked soiled and inside bathroom door was spotty with some stains .Bedspread had a blood stain. I did enjoy meeting resort staff and every interaction with resort staff was a pleasant one . I will go back there any time . Food was ok, you need to match food groups.

Great Resort.....lots bugs/jellyfish

Nov 7-14th - 1.5hrs bus ride to hotel was fine, hotel very nice and clean, rooms are decent, pool was nice, Beach was beautiful, Staff were nice, Food was fine. Downside: no activities all week, lots of bug bites and tons of people got stung by jellyfish. I dont regret it but would not return.

Family friendly resort - even good for babies!

We stayed in room 0810 - it was perfect, great location to the beach, pool, lobby and restaurants. I was happy to see that they accommodated us with two babies in hand. The baby care was fantastic - we dropped the girls off four afternoons for some r'n'r time. I have never left them anywhere before but they made me feel very comfortable leaving them in their care. The buffet could have used a bit more fresh veggies but the breakfast was great including bacon, and there was always fresh meat cook [... read more]ing on the grill in the evening so that was enjoyable as well. The beach is super. Do not expect communication to be consistent, some employees told me that you could go by catamaran to snorkel in the near by coral (they took some people but not others - frustrating). Staff said not to trust the taxi, and some said to trust the taxi. There was supposed to be a bus. Some drivers wanted 25 CUC but the fair price is 10 CUC there and back - be careful.

Excellent Value

Pleasantly surprised with this resort. Food was better than expected, as Cuba doesn't have a very good reputation, but we found many things at the buffet that we really enjoyed for each meal. 1 1/2 hour bus ride from the airport goes quick and you get to see a few cities along the way and can buy beer for the ride. My husband and I really enjoyed our time here and most of the staff were very friendly. Internet/ phone service was the only thing we were disappointed with. Calling to Canada was ver [... read more]y expensive and the wifi in the lobby wasn't always reliable and staff working didn't know how to log in/out from our ipad.

Great resort

This was everything it said, great beaches, clean pool, the staff was excellent,the food was what you expect of Cuba but always find something to eat! Small market near by to do a little shopping, amazing ice coffee we drank every morning as I find coffee too strong. Bungalow 9 was the best close to pool, buffet, and ocean! The only thing wrong was seafood dinner didn't have anything for non seafood eaters. Will return to this resort!

Beautiful!

We stayed at the starfish from September 27- October 4 and loved our vacation. The staff are very friendly and accommodating, our room was lovely and big for a junior suite, and the house-keepers cleaned our room every day. The food was good- best bet is to go to the fresh grills. The best part- by far, was the beach. Drinks were awesome- bring a bubba! We didn't see any of the shows, but heard they were good from other travelers. Pool was also gorgeous with tonnes of seating. This was my fourth [... read more] time to cuba but first in Santa Maria and would definitely go back- the price is incredible and if you're not picky, it's perfect. Loved this resort and had an incredible vacation!

Beaches make it worth it!

Had a great, relaxing holiday. Didn't enjoy the long drive from the airport. Hotel was very quiet due to time of year. Staff were very hit or miss with the service. Housekeeping was absolutely terrible in terms of not cleaning properly. The shower curtains were absolutely disgusting. The food was ok. Never went hungry. Great little market close by. The beautiful beach and great pools make the trip so worth it. Overall, good holiday for a great price.

Big resort

We had a good experience, best part was the long beach, sand was like powder, weather was good only one night with rain storm. Like the resort because it doesn't go inland spreads along the shore, I would probably go again

It is what it is

We have been to this resort before and this time a few changes were seen. They do not include beer or pop in the room fridge any longer. Only water is supplied and you can buy the beer from the lobby bar. I do not consider this all inclusive if you have to buy beer for your room which was previously included . The employees did not look happy and the public washrooms were dirty. We go for the beach and it is still magnificent. The food was not good and that was no surprise.

Had a great time

Room was great and our maid even better. Thank you adalis :) the resort was good however if you didn't tip then there was a lack of service. The 24 hour buffet was non existent and you had to talk your way into getting food at anytime. The excursions were great and the sunning representative was extremely helpful. Id love to go back to Cayo Santa Maria but would try another resort.

More than expected!

The resort was perfect! Room was more than enough! Pool was perfect, beach and ocean was exceptional! Food kept you alive! I would return just with different company! Thank you Starfish! I do recommend using the safe for valuables.

The best beach!

This was a good hotel. I have had better food in Cuba, but there was enough selection, so we did not have problems with it. The services were not the best, but once again, it did not bother us, they just did not get tips. The beach has been the best in Cuba. My only complaint is that someone was playing with a drone in the beach (he was staying at the hotel) the guy lost control of it and the drone almost hit my face, the beach was full of people and I was paying attention because I was not comf [... read more]ortable with the toy. When I went to complaint the woman at complaint's desk told me that the hotel could not ban or prohibit such toys. For that reason alone I would not go back to that hotel or recommend it. I have been in Cuba 12 times and I have never seen anybody play with remote control toys let alone a drone. My family and I go on vacations to Cuba because of the relaxing time and to disconnect, I do not understand why they can not ban such toys in the beach or at least look into it.

Very nice resort

The resort was very nice. The beach was amazing. Best beach we've ever been to. Need improvement on the mixed drinks but everything else was awesome. People were very friendly and always wanting to please you.

Beautiful Beach..Resort was good for the price!

The beach for this hotel is beautiful.. we enjoyed the pool and 24hr "grill" which allows hotdogs and burgers all the time. However, the night before we checked out our safe was robbed :( Everything but our passports were taken from us... Including a precious family cross. Be careful as we heard this happening twice on our resort... Very disappointing end to our trip, however the employees of the hotel work very hard. We found the wait for things to be fixed (ex: our air conditioner broke, we di [... read more]dn't have a remote) to be a while, but I've been to Cuba before and this is not unusual. We had a good time for the price, however the hotel and the robbery left us disappointed.. do NOT bring ANY valuables at all on this trip! we brought very little: just our wallets and one or two pieces of jewelry... and everything was taken. -our friend had his iPhone 6 stolen from the room. - our other friends got robbed of all their belongings inside their suitcases.

Not what we expected

When we got to the hotel there was only one person working at the front desk. We had to wait in line for almost 30min. There was no elevators to take our luggage to the second floor we had to carry it up ourselves. We went to the 24hour bar that on the website says they have food, the bartender said they didn't(later I saw someone eating a sandwich there) and go to the restaurant it closes at 10 and it was 930. We went to the restaurant the chef told us to sit down the servers were speaking Span [... read more]ish saying they were going to tell us they were closed and we have to leave, unaware that my boyfriend speaks Spanish. When they realized he could speak Spanish they served us food but they said they only have chicken and potatoes left. I have been to lower star hotels and have had way better serves. Plus our toilet was broken the whole time water constantly running.

Biggest disappointment Ever! Hated it

After getting off the plane we get on our shuttle which was completly full. After a 2 hour drive the first drop off to Memories every person on the shuttle got off but us. 5 minutes more we arrive to starfish. Completely dead and dark. We get to our room and settle a bit we are starving we go to the lobby and ask where the food was were told thete is NO FOOD and we had to go to Memories to eat. We get carted there abd had a disgusting ham and cheese sandwich then the 2 hour wait to get back to o [... read more]ur resort noone from memories wanted to bring us and we had no way of getting ahold of dtarfish ppl. Finally after 2 hours we get back to starfish. The whole resort besides the lobby was completly dark we couldnt find our room there was no lights on. Once we get to our room we noticed there was a plate if old food in the halleay that looked as if it was tbere for 2 weeks. Our room had dirty sheets no hot water at all the phone didnt work the tv didnt work the list goes on. The next morning we notice there is approximately 6 other guests at the whole resort. I called my travel agent to ask for help because the sunwing rep would not be at our redort until 5 that day. The 6 minute call cost 20.00 we were told that for a cost we would get switched. We finally were told we wete being moved to sol cayo santa maria whete there would be ppl there and working hot water and most importantly FOOD!! Our Cuba experience was horrible and a complete waste of money. Never ever go. The women who worked there gave us all dirty looks wow if looks could kill.

Best beach and pool!

Resort well laid out to access everything. Rooms spacious, especially the corner units. Food was really good with lots of variety with the beach grill being our favorite. Beach is amazing and we will be back!

Beautiful beach

This resort is beautiful, problem was they were in the process of closing for renovation and we found as the resort got empty the service really slacked. We have been to Cuba 12 times and the food at the resort was one of the worst, but I don't go for the food, the amazing beach and fabulous pool made up for it . I would for sure return to this resort once the renovations are done.