Beautiful Resort

The grounds were beautiful, so much plantings and so well kept. Sanctuary pool area was a very pretty area. Our room was very clean & bright and was very nicely decorated. Plenty of English station on TV. The cleaning staff were very creative with their blanket decorations . The lobby bar was a nice area and bartenders were very good. Music in evening was very good. I was disappointed in drinks in pool bar as I found they were not consistent - In fairness I do not like sweet drinks  [... read more]out of machines but One time vodka and soda was good next time it tasted like they just dumped any left over clear drink into the vodka bottle. Wine also was disappointing again you would get a good bottle one time next time garbage wine. It was like they moved the garbage wine around the different bars and restaurants . All bartenders were good and service was great. Sanctuary buffet was good but was only available for breakfast and lunch. I was a little disappointed in Grand Memories Buffet but they always had an amazing cook for fish. I also enjoyed the pool bar lunch at Sanctuary. The speciality restaurants we tried were all quite good. The golf carts that took you around the three resorts was great especially anyone with a disability. .

Great Spot

Beautiful beach, great food, excellent staff. The wine wasn’t great but the drinks were good! The beds and pillows were the most comfortable I’ve ever slept on. Our butlers were so caring and helpful.

Great resort!

Rooms, food, beautiful beach, pleasant staff, all great. My first visit here was last year and I was so impressed with the beach I came back and will probably repeat again. Only one complaint is that the nightly entertainment can get too loud for me, from 9:00pm to 11:30pm. They should turn the music down several notches.

Almost a Nice Place to Stay

Must start by saying that Cayo Santa Maria has the best beaches we have ever seen. Powdery white sand as far as you can walk. We always got chairs and palapas at the beach, but by 10am there were none available. Room nice, clean. Beds were very hard and uncomfortable. Had lots of problems finding working bathrooms outside of hotel room. Service was hit and miss. Some staff were very pleasant, while others obviously wished they were somewhere else. Food was not good. We've been [... read more] to Cuba twice before and have always found something "good" to eat. Other than breakfast, we could not find edible food, which is a serious problem. Entertainment was always "dancing" – a bit more variety would have been nice

THE GOOD - THE BAD - THE UGLY

We are a married couple, and, seasoned travelers that have enjoyed in excess of 75 vacations over the years. We have visited many resorts in countries too numerous to mention, and, sailed on 14 different cruise ships to a multitude of destinations. In fact, this was our 15th trip to Cuba. Our travel agent is The Esteemed Mr. Bill Gentry at TRIPCENTRAL. He has always been the greatest!!!! We book all of our trips with him, and, recommend him to our family, and, friends on a continual basis.  [... read more] This review covers 22-29 January 2019, while residing in the 59 block, (room 5943), at The Grand Memories Sanctuary - Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. We hope that you find this review to be fair, unbiased, and, informative. THE GOOD : The beach was simply magnificent, and, spectacular. The sand was like powder, the water crystal clear, and, the beach was extremely clean with numerous lounge chairs available for the guests. A wonderful staff member took us out for a splendid thirty minute catamaran ride that highlighted the entire Cayo Santa Maria peninsula. The room was neat, clean, comfortable, and, even included two bathrobes, two beach towels, and, a free safe. Our housekeeper was charming, and, ensured that our room was perfectly maintained. A wonderful individual named Reniel, (possibly spelled wrong), even stocked our fridge with a large bottle of water, colas, and, beers on a daily basis in the late afternoon. The walkways, and, grounds were in excellent condition. This is quite impressive when you consider the actual size of this resort. It is mammoth!!!!! In fact, it is three resorts merged into one resort. When you stay at The Sanctuary, you also have the privilege of utilizing the amenities at Memories Parasio, and, Grand Memories. The golf cart drivers were fabulous. Basically, you can participate in the national pastime of Cuba - hitch hiking. They will drive you anywhere you want to go, and, are quite entertaining. They yell: "I have no brakes" at unsuspecting tourists, drive like maniacs, play music, and, encourage ridership participation. The Chicken Man was our favourite!!!!!!! However, all of them were simply magnificent!!!! The pools were crystal clear, and, numerous lounge chairs were available. All of the bar staff were wonderful. In fact, I know this is wrong, but, I want to marry Bartender Evelyn. We enjoyed wearing our swim suits at the pool bars, and, the swim up bars........after all........at home they were enjoying a massive snow storm, and, minus 26C temperatures!!!!!! The SUNWING Representative, (having a seniors moment as I cannot recall his name at the time of this writing), provided an enormously funny, and, animated introductory briefing. The seminar was held the day after our arrival. So, we would have attended the meeting on the 23rd of January of 2019, (hoping that SUNWING takes note of his name). Make sure you attend!!!!! He is a wonderful, thoughtful, and, caring/considerate human being, and, will provide information that even seasoned travelers will find informative. The management staff were always available, and, quite helpful in nature. In fact, The General Manager of The Resort even showed up at our introductory briefing to personally welcome all of us to his establishment!!!!!!!!!! Our butlers, on the second floor, (Raoul and Frank), were spectacular. They arranged our six ala carte dinner reservations. They were also responsible for attending to any problems that we might experience at the resort......there were none!!!!! The entertainment team was fun, upbeat, and, with energy that should be captured in a bottle to save for eternity!!!!!! The musicians in the lobby bars were just sooooooooooooo talented!!!!!!!!! Please, do not miss their shows!!!!! The ala carte Mexican restaurant, and, staff were amazing!!!! Make sure you order the fried mozzarella, and, the wire tacos. We went there three times, and, ordered the exact same dinners!!!!!!!!! The ala carte Italian restaurant, and, staff were equally amazing!!!! Make sure you order the shrimp cocktail with mucho, mucho shrimp, and, the lasagna!!!!! We went there on two occasions, and, ordered the exact same dinners!!!!!!!! The Sanctuary breakfast buffet, and, staff were wonderful. We enjoyed made to order omelettes in the mornings. The bacon was not completely cooked, so, we requested to have it fully cooked at the grill when the omelettes were being made.........as usual.........no problemo....... The Sanctuary lunch buffet, and, staff were extraordinary. Fresh lobster, tuna, salmon, shrimp, and, meat carving station were all offered on a daily basis!!!!! Yes........you can have these items for lunch every day!!!! The imported cheeses, and, other delectables were equally impressive. NOTE: WE HAVE BEEN TO CUBA 15 TIMES AND HAVE NEVER ENJOYED THE FOOD AT ANY OF THE OTHER RESORTS WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY VISITED....WE ARE PICKY EATERS!!!!!!!! My wife wanted to visit The Dolphinarium because she loves animals. Odd, I know, because she has me!!!! It is located about 7 kilometers from the resort. This complex is the largest dolphinarium in Latin America, and, is literally astounding. The show was wonderful. The trainers genuinely love the animals, and, these sea creatures equally adore their human friends. The cost was 10 pesos to travel to the site by taxi, 5 pesos each for the show, and, another 10 pesos for a cab to return to the resort. The total cost was 30 pesos which translates to about 41 Canadian dollars. As well, at the end of the show, I was allowed to take pictures of my wife with the dolphins on the dock for 5 pesos, or, roughly 7 Canadian dollars. These pictures are absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!! Note......when watching the show.....listen to the emcee.....he will direct you to the action and then you will be able to take magnificent pictures of the dolphins flying through the air............We were able to capture many incredible pictures....... The SUNWING pilots, cabin crew, and, planes were magnificent as usual. WE LOVE FLYING WITH SUNWING!!!!!!! We firmly believe that SUNWING always provides the most memorable vacation experiences. THE BAD: My wife suffered from insect bites on most areas of her body, but, in particular on her legs. They became elevated lesions that were red, oozing, weeping, itchy, infected, and, sore. They became blisters. We had to go to The International Clinic. She had a consultation with a doctor, and, received an injection of Benadryl, and, Cortisone. She was also given two antibiotics to take orally, and, an antibiotic cream. This visit would cost us 96.45 pesos, or, about 133 Canadian dollars. On a positive note, the clinic and staff were wonderful, my wife bounced back to great health shortly thereafter, and, the medical insurance will reimburse us for these expenses. Many guests had bites, but, not to this extent; therefore, take some form of bug spray for preventative purposes, and, some ointments for treatment before you visit. The bus transfer from the airport is about a 1:45 minute ride; however, this is not the fault of the resort. There are no toilets available on these buses which is surprising as the buses seem brand new. Naturally, this can be a problem when people are indulging heavily with beer. Note........I am not a prude.......I drink lots of beer.....please, see the notation in The Ugly Section of this correspondence. The public washrooms on the resort need improving as they can flood, and, get dirty. Note, this is not a housekeeping issue, (probably more of a plumbing issue), as the housekeeping staff are meticulous. THE UGLY: As noted, there are no toilets available during bus transfers to and from the airport. When we were traveling from the airport to the resort, I was literally AGHAST when the bus pulled over to the side of the 45 kilometer causeway to allow guests a bathroom break. The tour guide informed female passengers to go to the back of the bus, and, male riders to go to the front of the bus if they felt the need to go to the bathroom. They relieved themselves on a causeway that spans the middle of the ocean with cars, and, buses passing in both directions. This event did not occur during the transfer from the resort to the airport on our way home. CONCLUSION: In summary, we would like to thank SUNWING, TRIPCENTRAL, and, The General Manager of The Grand Memories Sanctuary for allowing us to enjoy a memorable, and, magnificent vacation. We hope that you found our review to be fair, unbiased, and, informative. Respectfully Yours, Chris and Tracey

Awsome

It's a topical 3 star Cuba resort , the food is very good and had a variety of choices, the rooms are nice but smelt a little moldy but still ok, we had the view of the pool on the first floor and it was nice. The staff is absolutely fantastic and very friendly, loved the idea that there were no kids , the drinks were good and the beer was cold. The shows are the same , they get tired after a while, the beach is one of the best we have been too. We found that some people reacted to the bugs more [... read more] then others, a few people were just chewed up bit never effected us so much. The bus ride is a little to long at an hour and a half but I think it was worth it. All in all I would go back. I would give this trip a solid 3.5 out of 5.

Awesome

The entertainment was great food best we have had in Cuba. Hotel clean freshly painted. Butler was good at getting things done bungalow 58 Lester! The managers are friendly everyone willing to help. We will be back!!!

Nice Time

We recently returned from a week at the Sanctuary. Let me preface this by saying this is our sixth time in Cuba so we pretty much know what to expect as far as amenities etc. That being said we were quite disappointed by this resort. FOOD is pretty bad...the "buffet" in the adults only section was suspect at best. We would walk down it and the only thing I would eat was cheese and salami plus whatever they were grilling. The problem is the food is so poor everyone was getting something fres [... read more]h grilled and that made for a long long line. There were so many things that were unpleasing to the eye and UFO's -(Unidentifiable Food Objects). Breakfasts were OK if you got fresh made omelettes or eggs. (again the lines) but weird things for breakfast-i.e. dill pickles?? The alacart restaurants were just ok. The Italian one was the best of the bunch. There is a 24 hour pizzeria in the main resort. This is a misnomer because every other day there isn't pizza. They switch to sandwiches. Also, 3 days in a row we went there for pizza there wasn't any. (apparently no flour on the island). ROOMS were better than some and worse than others. They were fine and we had no issues with the room other than the normal thing in Cuba where almost every day something was missing that maid neglected to replenish. BEACH is pretty good however this may be the first resort we have been to where they don't clean it up daily after the tide brings in the seaweed. There was rain and wind the one night and for a few days the beach was very very dirty. Another complaint-there are literally 20 papalos (not correct spelling but those umbrella things) on the adult side. Ummm 20x2=80 people. My math says there are way more people in this hotel than 80 and nearly everyone needs some form of shade in the hot Cuban climate. Yes, as others have said there are sand fleas...my wife was eaten alive....me not so much. BUTLER SERVICE- Ok so no one needs butler service but please don't highlight the fact there is butler service when there is NOT. The "butler service" consists ONLY of the "butler" making your reservation in the alacarts. That's it. Plus this is a terrible service anyway...you have to go find this "butler" everyday in order to make a reservation in the restaurant. You can't make a reservation for more than one day and it has to be made the morning of the day you wish to eat....when you find him he writes down your request....at around 5 PM you will receive a note on your door of the time you eat that night. (if there are spots available otherwise off to the crappy buffet you go). This is an asinine system and could easily be improved by eliminating this "butler" and making the reservation at the computer desk like every other resort. BATHROOMS -invariably one or more of the washrooms was out of order on a daily basis in the public areas. The ladies were particularly bad....backed up toilets with the ladies having to wade through "liquids" on the floors and terrible odors. YUCK! ENTERTAINMENT-while we did not go to the main nightly entertainment we very much enjoyed the nightly singers/dancers at the Sanctuary bar...excellent. STAFF- most of the staff was pleasant and helpful. The Manager at the Sanctuary is off the charts excellent in the customer service area (if you have a problem ask him he will indeed fix it). TRAVEL TIME TO RESORT- this is a deal breaker for me going forward 2 hours on a bus after you travel all day. No thanks. It was advertised as 90 minutes which is bad enough but 2 hours. UGG. Overall....we normally hate hate hate when our vacation is over and have to go back to the cold. Not this time. My wife actually said "can you imagine if we would have booked 14 days here....what would we have ate". Yeah that sums it up.

Ok resort

Hôtel in need of repairs. Could use a good cleaning. Beach is nice food decent always find something to eat even with butter it’s difficult to book a la cart restaurant. Could not get italien very busy maybe tip wasn’t good enough.

Not impressed

This was possibly the worst service of any resort I have been to You have to carry receipt slips everywhere. No plugs for sink or tub in room. Hour free internet was never available . Pay more for the week that includes New Years but have to pay extra to go to the New Year’s Eve party. Then have to pay again when wait staff accidentally discards your receipt from dinner table. Even after showing credit card receipt for paying they still charged me for the second time for not having the other [... read more] receipt. Menus didn’t have available what was in the menu. Buffet was ok but things weren’t kept hot when supposed to be. Couldn’t get a hamburger all week at snack bar. One day no hot water (don’t get any money back for that)all I expect is what I payed for and that wasn’t even close Beaches were beautiful and had good weather thank god.

Nice resort!

We enjoyed our holiday here. The beach and pools were amazing. The weather was sunny every day. We enjoyed the adults only atmosphere. There is no snorkeling close by and there are many bugs. The food was ok but not as good as the Holguin area. The staff seems tired. The room was fine but view was a maintenance back lane. We asked to switch rooms but we gave up after they gave us a runaround.

Beautiful pool and beach!!

We went to the Sanctuary from Dec 27-January 3 . I’ll be honest at first I was like hmmmmm this resort needs a major paint job, and upgrade. I didn’t realize the resort was in a hurricane over a year ago. But having said that it was a year ago... and the resort could put people to work in cleaning up the place ..its not dirty but very very weathered. The chairs need painting in the outdoor sitting, the veranda’s need painting etc. A good power washer would help. The Beach is amazing [... read more] no complaints. The pool is beautiful too. The food was ok in the buffet , if you love seafood which we do and chicken you could have something freshly grilled. They do need to turn up the tables most food in the buffet was Luke warm. The A la Cartes were delicious no complaints at all and we did them every day. The bar tenders were friendly and all the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Great first trip

Great first trip as a couple. Beaches were beautiful, staff went out of their way to help whenever possible, pools were clean, excursions were exciting. Downside: food was barely tolerable and bed sheets smelt of mold.

Good place

Great place for vacation. The breakfast and lunches were great. Dinners were not the best. The drinks were awesome. Staff friendly. Beaches were good not much on snorkeling. Is far to travel from resort to resort. Get money exchanged before you go. They will rip you off on exchange.

Beautifiul and Clean Resort. Friendly Staff

The resort is large with many ammenities. If needed, carts will taxi guests to where they need to go. The a la cartes were good, but seemed undersubscribed. The butlers were eager to please with the little extras that make a vacation special.

Sanctuary Grand Memories

Very pleased with this resort. Stayed in building 60. Ideal location to pool,beach,lobby etc.Friendly staff always pleasant and helpful. Yoel our butler,Yasmani gives amazing foot massages.Many others who's names I can't remember.The beach is the best!!

One of the best Cuban Resorts I've stayed at.

What made this resort stand out for me are the following: The grounds are beautiful and lush and well manicured. I have not seen this at the 5 other Cuban resorts that I have stayed at, in the same price point. The butler service was wonderful for arranging our a la carte dinners. They also helped to replace a coffee pot. Arrange for a closet door to be put back on. Had a man come to open our safe when I made an error with the lock code, and in general made us feel very connected with th [... read more]e resort. The entertainment/fitness crew came around and talked to us. They had some fun inclusive activities at the pool. They played great music that you could move toward or away from if you wanted quiet. The crew offered foot rubs for tips. These were wonderful and it gave us a chance to chat with them and learn more about Cuban culture. The evening entertainment in the lobby of the Sanctuary section was superb. I loved the Cuban music. There was a classical jazz guitar player one night who had the room sitting on the edge of their seats listening. If it was raining they played inside and if the weather was clear they played outside. They also had a DJ who kept the party going after the live musicians, every night except Sunday. The Memories dance team who put on the entertainment in the theater was very good. The Michael Jackson show (brought in for this show only) had very talented male dancers. That show was well worth the while. The beach is rocky at the Sanctuary end. Apparently it has eroded away this summer. There is still plenty of beach. We walked 5 km easily every day. The sand is beautiful white. There is some sea weed but less than I saw in the Mayan Riviera in May. There was plenty of food to choose from. The buffets offered a good selection and the Ala cartes were good too. We had Seafood, Mexican and Chinese. The bartenders were very friendly and efficient with service. The maids who cleaned our room did a great job. There was a shortage of towels but we managed by hanging our towels to dry and they did finally get a shipment of clean towels at the resort. There are places on the resort that could stand some fresh paint. Some of the public bathrooms are a bit smelly and there was often a shortage of toilet paper but over all not too bad. At least all the toilet seats were present and it seemed staff were available to clean on a regular basis. Our room was close to the pool area that we sat at, so we used our own bathroom regularly. Over all I would return to this resort

Had a great time!

We spent a wonderful week here at Sanctuary @ Grand Memories. Beach: The beach is gorgeous, it was a little washed up from Hurricane Micheal but still beautiful. We went when it was still low season so getting beach chairs was no issue for us, can't speak for high season. I wish there were some staff walking along the beach that can take orders for drinks, but it was not a big deal, we just walked over to the bar and got some ourselves. Food: Typical Cuban food. Nothing spectacular but [... read more] never left the resort hungry. Fresh omelettes at Sanctuary are delicious! We always went for the fresh meats and fish, which they usually garnish with some garlic and onion so ends up tasting good. Not many vegetable options. Rooms: We were in Building 61 - had great wifi ($) from the room. Rooms were clean, updated, and spacious. Good water pressure and never ran out of hot water. Grounds: Mature. Beautiful. Well Kept. It was nice having access to both the Sanctuary and Grand Memories lobby. Overall, a great time!

Amazing beach, great hospitality

We stayed at the sanctuary grand memories Sept16-23. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there the place was beautiful. Out butler Yoel took great care of us as we were there in our honeymoon. Evelyn at the beach bar was always smiling and inviting. Christian down on the beach brought us fries and fresh fruit cups daily. He was a great kid and super friendly. We can’t wait to go back!!!

Wonderful vacation

The sanctuary is for relaxation; great beach, great pool, lots of palapas at both; nice layout, friendly people. We relaxed, had great meals, good shows and made new friends. Rooms need some updates but good size. Employees were polite and always ready to help. Butler service at your floor is great to get the info you need and to book your a la carte restaurants (no limits per week). Resort is clean and safe. Nice spa and gym at nearby shopping area. We used the shuttle service a f [... read more]ew times to go to restaurants and shopping area. Only saw one show at theater as we preferred the nightly live bands outside the lobby. Only few negatives: Do bring insect repellent and afterbites as most people were getting bitten in the evening. A bit far from airport but worth the trek. Overall we were very pleased with the resort and the service.