Ocean Riviera Paradise: Great facilities and entertainment

The resort was overall great. The food was plenty with a good selection. The restaurants were very tasty. No reservation required. The kids enjoyed the mini and teen clubs. The bowling alley was lots of fun. The nightly entertainment was spectacular. The only down side was the beach. It was dirty and small. Not great to swim in. There were lots of rocks and seaweed.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Dream vacation

The hotel was clean, modern amd beautifully laid out. The beach was outstanding with white sand and clear water. I loved the cuban people. The staff were so friendly, helpful and polite. I thought the food was very good. The only thing I missed was lettuce but it's just something they don't have there. Unfortunately I got saminella but non of my friends did. Don't know what I ate that they didn't. These things happen but it would not stop me from going back to this resort, I just loved it [... read more].

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Never again...worst hotel management staff!!!!

Here's an overview of our experience at the Ocean Riviera Paradise: DAY 1 - Our arrival, Sunday May 7th: When we arrived at the resort we proceeded to check into the hotel. The hotels check-in representative, Uriel told us that he could only find 2 out of the 5 reservations. Uriel told us that the 3 families did not have a reservation in there system. Uriel told the 3 families that in order to receive a room they would have to stay in the Daisy suites. The 3 families had to sign a document  [... read more]for Daisy Suite. For 2 of the families they gave them both document to sign for "what we were told" was for the Eden Suite. All of this process took 2 hours at check in. Everyone went to there assigned rooms, however when I and the one of the families went to our section of the resort, we realized that our key card was not for the Eden section it was for the Daisy section. We immediately contacted our sunquset rep here in Mexico, Antonio and Paul. Much couldn't be done until the next day. Day 2, Monday May 8th: All 5 families met with Antonio from Sunquest at 9am. We explained to him our check in experience and our missing reservations and the room category booking. Antonio spoke with manager prior to our arrival that morning to find out that the hotel over booked the Eden section of the resort. Which wasn't our problem. Antonio did the best he could with resorts management staff and told us that they would move all 5 families to the Eden suites as originally booked, however we would all need to wait until the following day Tuesday May 9th or receive a credit for the downgrade between both room categories. We all decided to make the change. Later that day at around 3 pm we spoke to Wendy our travel agent representative from Trip Central and she reassured us everything would be adjusted (Wendy is amazing!) The Sunquest representative, Antonio followed up with us every moment and did the best he could do to communicate and liaise between us and the hotel. Day 3, Tuesday May 9th: All 5 families packed their suitcases and prepared for the room change. At 9 am we met with Antonio and a hotel representative, Regoberto who explained the process of the room change. We were told to place our luggage at the door in our room and keep our room keys and to check back with front desk at 3pm for our new Eden Suite keys. All rooms were ready and we received our new room keys. Laura Iafrate went to the new room to find that there was only one bed for their family if 3. They had to walk back from the Eden section to the lobby with all their luggages. Laura and her husband were extremely upset with the front desk staff. The front desk staff said that they made the changes to accommodate the original reservations but could not guarantee a room with 2 beds. If they had explain this before wasting time with move, Laura would not if made the move. Laura and her husband demanded to be moved back to the Daisy suite because the suite had 2 beds. When Tony and I arrived to our new Eden room we found small black bugs all over the bed. We immediately called down to the front desk and they asked us to go back to the main lobby to explain the problem with the new room that we were assigned. So we walked all the way back to the lobby. By this time is was nearly 6:30pm. We were so fed up with the chaos we had to endure the first 2 days, we asked to be moved back to our old room in the Daisy section. They agreed to move us, but we had to sign a waiver. The document was written in Spanish and we couldn't understand it. The front desk representative Carmina explained to us that we would not receive a credit for moving rooms as it's a downgrade. By the time Carmina received approval from the resort management staff the time was about 8:00 pm and we hadn't had dinner, seen our family and we were exhausted. We signed the document. I took a photo of it for our records. Carmina called for a personal cart ride by Giovanni at the concierge desk. Giovanni took us to pick up our luggage from Eden to old room at the Daisy section. We showed him the bugs and he said that the resort had a tendency to over book the Eden section of the resort. Giovanni was very nice and gave us a bottle of wine. Day 5, Thursday May 11th: We returned to our room at 10pm from a full day of being at the pool, beach and going into town 5th Avenue. There was NO water for taking a shower, NO water to flush the toilet, NO water came out of the bathroom faucet. Completely, ridiculous, right ?!?!? I called the front desk and the told me that there is construction taking place and that water would be restored in 30 minutes. Day 10 - Departure day! Checked out of the hotel at 11:30 am. Process took 5 minutes. We handed back our room key and towel cards. Sunquest shuttle bus was scheduled to depart the hotel at 12:50 pm. Our flight was scheduled for 4:30pm. We asked the front desk representative what time the buffet opened for lunch to grab a bite to eat before leaving on the shuttle, they said it opened at 12 noon. We all headed over to the buffet to find out that the buffet was closed until 12:30 pm. We asked if we could get in a little early 5-10minutes before opening so that we can have some time to eat, they said NO. We were so upset and annoyed. We literally had 15 minutes after they opened to eat quick and get to the lobby to catch the shuttle bus. A few things about the resort: Trolly service The trolly service between lobby, resort sections and A la Cart restaurants is extremely slow. They only had one trolly running. We spoke to the concierge desk about this and they said that they have 2 trolleys and they run during peak times, but this was not true. This was difficult especially for people that are older and can't walk for a long time. Pools Pools were very nice, But were very dirty and not cleaned often. The concrete around the pools were not cleaned often either. Waiter staff poured drinks that were not consumed into the plants near the pool which brought bugs. None of the shower stations near the central pool areas worked. There was only one bartender at the pool bars and had to wait awhile for drinks. There was not enough staff to attend to guests. Beach Although from a distance the beach and beach pool looked beautiful, when we spent time we noticed the sand was not raked like at most resorts and garbage was left around by people probably because there were not enough garage containers. There were shower stations on the beach to rinse of the sand before going in the pool, but several of the stations were in the middle of the sand so you had to walk through the sand to get to the pool. The other shower stations were in locations close to the pool on the beach, but you had to walk through the sand to get to catch the trolley. The waiter staff poured all the liquid from drinks into the sand causing allot bugs to gather at the beach chairs. A la Cart Restaurants: let's just say the buffet was better! The a la Cart restaurants had a ridiculous wait time after being seated. Waits 1 hour at the Steakhouse and 2 hours at the Mexican this was extremely frustrating. We stuck to the buffet for the entire trip.

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: Would return!

Great service, great modern rooms, great food and great people! It's been an amazing trip and we would definitely return again. The only thing I would say is to have more food choices in buffet but restaurants were amazing!

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Nice Resort

Was our first time to this resort and 5th to Varadero. Buildings and rooms, showers were really nice and new. Clean rooms and gorgeous plants and grounds. Food was not met 4.5 star hotel. We are not fussy eaters, but food was the same every single day. Seafood was freshly cooked on grill but always same three kinds of fish, Not even a single shrimp or lobster, not even in their a la carte restaurant. Fruits were yummy and plenty, so were the desserts. Have to point that the buffet was air con [... read more]ditioned and cool and had no flies. Beach was great but we were soooo disappointed about the palapas. Even a 3 star resort would have had better palapas than this resort! All of them almost had big chunks out and sun was penetrating through to us and having sun burns. Palapas were not enough, people were going to reserve them at 7 am! All waiters and waitresses are awesome, our room cleaner lady, China, was very nice. Yohan and Lazaro from beach maintenance crew were the best. We might go back to this resort, but we also know that our friends at Iberostar Laguna Azul had much better selection of meals, including lobster and shrimps.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: second time around

this was our second time at this resort, the hotel was great, the grounds were laid out prefect, well kept, the people were the most friendly of all of the other resorts that we have stayed at, only thing that i found bad was the quality of the food had dropped a bit since the last time there, but over all the trip was great, would recommend this resort to anyone.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Beautiful Beach. Horrible Customer Relations

Overall our experience at Ocean Casa Del Mar was positive. I would likely not return due to the size of the resort and the poor customer service. I also do not believe the resort can handle the amount of patrons if it was at full capacity. Pros: - The most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Crystal clear water, tropical fish swimming around, white sands. It was perfection! - Decent drinks. Best Mojitos ever! - The food was quite enjoyable. The Buffet does become repetitive however there is  [... read more]always fresh meat, fish and pasta to be made. - Pool and grounds are well maintained and beautiful. This is a newer resort and in a few years I am sure the foliage will be even more beautiful. - Amazing service from the staff at the buffet (especially Daniel and Russo!). - Housekeeping is thorough and always leaving nice towel designs in your room (Thank you Yenier!). - No issues with beach towel exchange, we got fresh ones every few days. Cons: - Worst customer service at the front reception, guest services etc. Basically anything on the top floor. Hopefully you have no issues at this resort, if so, good luck having them resolved. - Hours of Operation - do not exist. The bank is scheduled to be open from 8:00am to 8:00pm and it took us 2 days to get pesos because it was either out of money or not open at all. Similar issue with the internet cards. - We arrived rather early on our first day and our meeting with our rep was not until the following day. We have no idea where to find food, the beach etc.. We were dropped off at our room and left to fend for ourselves. - Snack bar on our side of the resort was not open during the day, therefore we always went to the buffet or took a long walk to the other side. Tips: - Change your money at the airport to ensure you have pesos - Internet will work in your room (it did in ours which was building 18) - Buffet and A La Cartes usually open 10-15 minutes past when they should be. If you tip a waiter well the first day he/she will go out of their way to seat you right away. - Bring comfortable shoes - there is a lot of walking - Located 10-15 minutes away (walking) is a shopping center where you can buy artifacts, clothing etc. - Speaking Spanish or French is an asset at this resort.

Playa Vista Azul: Amazing ressort

L'hotel est vraiment magnifique. La plage de toute beauté. Nous avons passé une merveilleuse semaine dans les installations du Ocean Vista Azul. Le seul commentaire que je pourrais dire est concernant la douche qui était soit froide, soit chaude et le buffet qui n'a pas changé du tout de toute la semaine, mais c'est un très beau ressort, les installations bien aménagées et très propre.

Playa Vista Azul: Good and beatiful

Room very great but the shower water are toi cool or too hot good view in the room of the blook 8 but i think is si relax at the mingnith. The beach are good and they are almost chair for all the touriste

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: It was great

I thought the servers at the pool bar and at the beach were not that friendly but the bar at the lobby was fantastic service with always a smile. I was very please with everything else would consider going again.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Had a great week!

Nice resort. Food was good, beautiful beach and service was good. Rooms could use a little cosmetic maintenance but were clean, have good shower and fridge. Great little coffee bar where you can have cappuccino and coffee drinks (included). I would return here definitely!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great Santa Maria resort

We went at the start of May which is off-season at the resort. As such, it wasn't too busy and we never had to wait in the buffet or at any a la carte restaurants. The resort is only a year old so it has a nice modern design. The pools and beach were great. However, watch for the rocks in the water -- when it is wavy you can't see them and they are very sharp. When the water is calm, the beach is great and you can snorkel and see plenty of fish right at the resort's beach. The food was typ [... read more]ical of Cuba. Decent selection but the buffet is the same every day. The Origami Asian restaurant was our best meal of the week -- highly recommend it. Also, Mike's Café has great drinks and awesome service! Finally, all of the staff we dealt with were very friendly and helpful.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Friendly Resort

We traveled from May 4 - May 11 -beautiful grounds, very well maintained, great size, could easily get to everything quickly -beach and pool, amazing -food was good, but always the same -rooms, clean but dated

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Nicest & newest resort in Varadero !!!

Great hotel ! We stayed in the privilege section with a lovely quiet pool area! Great service over entire resort with premium drinks in all areas with excellent wines at all times of day, not just dinner ! Beautiful beach!! and modern, clean rooms. The house band is the best and the Thursday night lobby party with them is more fun than we've ever had. Food was great in some areas (Italian and Oriental), good in buffet once you scope it out, awful in beach restaurant (should be a buffet, not [... read more] menu/table service for more variety and quick timing to be back at the beach) and very bad at the "gourmet" restaurant!, skip this one. Overall food was good with the highlights being omelet station, pasta bar, pasta dishes, breads !! Cuba always means lots of carbs. If you're looking for amazing food you need a cruise or Jamaica but for Cuba it was good. Cuba is all about the amazing beach, great people and great value. Most of the staff were very friendly, especially the gardeners (Noel !), the bar tenders and the maids in the lobby area !!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Resort was beautiful

I really enjoyed my stay at Ocean. The rooms were clean and the staff was (for the most part) friendly. The beach was a little too small (not much sand). The mosquitos were brutal. The wifi was a rip off though. You will have to purchase an hour pre paid wifi card that usually doesn't really give you an hour and the wifi is usually not working at all.The gym was also great and there was a really nice worker handing out water and towels and spotting you while you lifted. I would stay there again  [... read more]but I would make sure to bring some good walking shoes because it is very large. Be prepared to do A LOT of walking.

Playa Vista Azul: First class

For anyone who has had a bad experience in Cuba I would highly highly highly recommend the Ocean Vista Azul. We spent a week from April 15 to 22 2017 and had an awesome time. There was not one thing that I could complain about. Staff was awesome, accomodations were unreal and food was delicious. Beach and pool were also amazing. This is our 6th time to Cuba each at a different resort. Each time we have come back feeling very good about our trip but this one was an axception...it was amazing!!!!  [... read more]We will be back next year and thanks to all the staff at Ocean Vista Azul.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great Resort

Although we only got to enjoy 5 and a half days due to Cubana air flight delay the resort was great. The food was more than adequate, lots of choice. A la cartes service was ok but the food served did not reflect the menu. The bar servers were courteous and very efficient.(Thank you Yireni) Our room was clean and comfortable. (Thank You Georje in Privilege building #9) Good entertainment, many activities by the pool. Massage therapy not worth the money. Beach has beautiful sand not enough shad [... read more]e and no bathrooms close by. No attendant available to rent scooters or cars.(Hit and miss) The grounds were well maintained. We happened to be at the resort when the mosquitoes were at their peak. Smogging during the day seemed ineffective and a health concern. We would rate this resort a 3.5 star.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Nice place to vacation

The hotel overall was very nice. The buildings and layout of the property is beautiful and it is very clean, well maintained and organized. The rooms are beautiful, with large beds and nice bathroom. We preferred the a la carte options for dining over the buffet, especially the Asian one. The food is "okay", lives up to the stereotype of the bland, unseasoned food that is typical of Cuban all-inclusives. The beach and pool areas were both great, also very clean. Get up early if you want to find  [... read more]your own patch of shade for the day. Entertainment was good but to me, a bit redundant. They would be down on the beach in the mornings (about 9/10am for a few hours) and then would move up to the pool in the afternoons. Personally, I go down to the beach to relax in peace and quiet, read a book, listen to the waves and enjoy the water. 1 or 2 days of daily entertainment like that would be okay, but it was the same things every day. I was very impressed with the medical centre, they let me in after-hours on a Saturday afternoon because I was covered in heat rash and having an allergic reaction to something. Apparently this (heat rash-allergic rxn combo) is relatively common in Varadero, and the cause is still unknown (and esp unknown to me because I am not allergic to anything and have been to the tropics before), but be prepared with your $$ though. Overall, it was a good vacation to get away and relax and enjoy the warm weather.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great Holiday !!! I want back!

I spent the greatest time at Ocean El Patriarca with my friends , everything was just perfect. I saw the nicest beach & the cleanest water in my life. The Animation team was amazing, organizing all kind of dancing and games on the beach during the day and shows and concerts during the night. Cesar and Jadira were the best animators! The rooms were clean and towels were changed each day. The staff was always friendly and smiley. The food was varied, you always can have fresh fish or meat  [... read more]prepared in front of you. Their fruits are something, I ate the best mango in my life there. The only thing that needs to be improved is more life music & dancing during the night. With all said, I definitely will go back to this hotel!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Wonderful resort

The staff were amazing, the beach and pool were unbelievable and the hotel room was impeccable. Overall such a wonderful experience. Even the food was impressive- so much choice and you could tell the effort put into each and every dish.