Roc Lagunas del Mar: Amazing Staff

This resort is dated and needs work. Food was not great but I expect that in Cuba. The staff were so kind and helpful. The beach had a lot of rough coral all along the shoreline. The room was fine however the toilet did not flush well. Was a very high shortage of beach towels and the resort was less than half full.The chicken sandwiches on the beach were the best food in the resort.Jose was an awesome bartender at the pool bar. Had a good vacation but likely would not go back.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Not as great as the reviews say.

Upon arrival we were not told that every Friday they have steak and lobster.{Found out from a server 4 days later.} Our rooms sink was not working.Moved us to another room the next day where we had to where earplugs because the air was freezing up and leaking on the floor.The maid said that there was an iron missing from the previous room.I didn't even look in the closet never mind ironing while I'm on vacation.LOL No maps of the place so it took us about 3 days to figure out where we were going [... read more].A lined up for the reserved restaurants even though they were half empty.Just don't get it.Food at the buffet was mostly cold and lets not forget about no toilet paper in most places even though they have it.We would not go back there if it was for free.Sorry.Just being honest.Gord and Eve.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Wonderful Stay

We stayed at the Playa Cayo Santa Maria the week of March 15, the weather was just right in the high 20s and at night low 20s, cool breeze at night time, no mosquistos or bugs. The resort is big but because of the layout, it's easy to find all the restaurants and swimming pools. There are 4 swimming pools, the noisy one where they do the entertainment and games it runs around 3pm to 5pm and it has the swim up bar, the big one with nice loungers this one has the 24 hour restaurant where you can [... read more] order dinner, lunch and breakfast, coffee and alcohol. Then there's the quiet pool, it starts to your waist then it gets deeper, not too deep. Food wise, if you're a 7 day holiday you get a 2 day a la carte dinner choice out of the 4 restaurants, so we went for Seafood and Romantic. Seafood serves lobsters, so that was nice, and Romantic, well, I overlooked the date so we missed that one. The buffet, pretty much have the same dinner every night, they might add one or two different food, but pretty much the same line up of food daily, so a lot of people line up for the chef cooked meals like pasta and meat. I wish the food would be more on the hot side, but they are more on the warm/colder side. During the day we never eat at the buffet, we either eat at the beach buffet restaurant, the food there is much hotter, they have bbq meat, they also have a separate bar at the beach, and a George Forman grill for hot dogs, right by the Bar. There's also a restaurant right beside the 24 hour restaurant, cant remember the name, but they make hot delicious lunch every day, its the same meal every day, rice, chicken, beef or pork, and soup, but its hot, so its nice. They also have an ice cream parlour, behind the noisy pool, lots of selection. The towel place is kind of tricky to find, it's behind the ping pong table just before you get to the quiet pool if you're coming from the beach. The entertainment could be better, they are pretty young entertainers, a lot of jumping around, I wish there was more story to their show, one show we though was un-classy, this woman from the audience was tossed in the air and her underwear was exposed and gyrated sexually on the floor by one of the dancer, we though it was poor taste, as the woman left the stage, she look like she was crying. What if the woman has a back problem? We saw a few people left a couple of the night show, I think they should put a better quality show. The beach, one of the best beach we've seen so far in Cuba, aside from Cayo Coco. We walked for miles, the water is so nice and refreshing, we would crash with the waves, like little kids. It was so much fun. We only had one rain one night, other than that it was great. The service, was great from all the staff, we tip every where we go. Our cleaning lady at the end of the week wrote me a note thanking me for the daily gift I left on the pillow and the 2 dollars I left behind each day. I kept that letter, that was nice. I would go back, but the only thing that's holding me back is the travel time from the airport to the resort. Otherwise the resort is beautiful, the people are great, the food you can always go to different areas of the resort and you can find something you like, you'll never go hungry.

Melia Las Dunas: Large,Mediocre Resort

Be prepared for a long bus ride from airport to resort.Shuttle service from lobby to room very poor.Customer service and communicating with the staff can be a source of frustration.Our room service was good.Nice beach and pool.Unless you get up early you will have a hard time finding a chair at the beach or pool. By the end of our stay when the resort became less busy chairs were easier to find.Problem stems from people hogging the chairs and then not use them for hours at a time.Resort should p [... read more]ass some kind of policy to prevent this from happening or supply more chairs.Food at buffet not bad by Cuban standards.Food at snack bars not the best although meat prepared at barbecue wasn't bad.Pretty well same food every day.Never tried the other restaurants.Mixed drink quality at the bars very inconsistent.Constantly running out of toilet paper in public restrooms.Resort in pretty good shape.The rooms are another story.Very dated.Could use major renovations.Example:old worn out mattresses,recommend you do not flush toilet paper down toilet(gross),terrible mildew smell in some of the ground floor rooms(We went through three ground floor rooms before settling on a second floor room).Never checked out late night entertainment so can't comment on that.Like many of the resorts in Cuba don't expect a top quality experience.Price dictates what your expectations should be.We have been to Cuban resorts many times over the course of the last few decades.This is probably our last,unless things improve.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Very nice resort

The resort was clean, nice with very nice staff. Beautiful beach..the only down side was the lack of choices for supper..we had the exactly same food for 7 days in a row..yes same..Entertainment was very good. All in all ill be back if i get the right price. Nice resort.

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: Great vacation

We just spent a week at Angsana Cayo Santa Maria. We travelled with another couple (age 55 - 65). This vacation exceeded our expectations. The resort was absolutely beautiful. Although it is considered a small resort with approx 250 rooms, it was well laid out and did not feel crowded. We stayed in a basic garden view room. It was spacious and comfortable There were several beaches to enjoy. The largest beach had approx 50 palapas. There were several smaller beaches with a more nat [... read more]ural shoreline. Absolutely stunning. Two lovely pools with some umbreallas and some natural shade, A few more umbrellas would be great. The food was good. There were plenty of options but the 24 hour pool side snack bar was a favourite. There was daily live entertainment that was great. I particularly liked seeing the ocean from the beautiful lobby. The staff was efficient and very friendly. Cubans are so nice. We plan to return next year.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Great Resort!

Love the atmosphere, especially the Beach!!! Staff are very friendly and the rooms are clean. Food is ok but the beach more than makes up for it! If you don't like the beach there are several pools to choose from. Something for everyone. Can't wait to go back! We

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Good resort

Our overall experience was good at this resort. The beaches are beautiful and I liked that it had two pools. Some of the bad things I experienced; shower was cold water, and I didn’t get water in my room the last two nights. We went to 4 a la cartes and they were all good except Italian with both bad service and food.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria

We stayed at Memories several years ago. Being March break we opted for the adult only section of the resort. Had a great time. Rooms were clean and grounds were nice. Employees were friendly and nice. Service was slow at the restaurants and bar in the adult only section. Tables were not cleaned between customers-- just brushed off or in some cases blown off with their mouths. Lack of clean cutlery and glasses was apparent. Went to other parts of resort and had quick service with tables  [... read more]cleaned. (Don't know why staff in the adult only section didn't have the same work ethics as the rest of the complex). Food was good -- something for everyone. A large lack of shade around the pool and beach. If you wanted shade, people were placing their towels on chairs the night before under the huts--not acceptable. Bugs were bad this time--take spray and after bite with you. Had no problems with bugs on our last visit. All and all had a wonderful time.

Melia Las Dunas: Wonderful resort

Clean, well maintained resort. Friendly staff, although at times seemed understaffed. Excellent customer service when we had minor issues with our room (plug for tub broken) were attended to immediately. Very good, varied entertainment through out the wewk’s stay. Second time to this resort and highly recommend it. Beach breath taking.

Melia Las Dunas: Fine

The grounds are large and lovely. The food was the same as the last 2 times I have been to Cuba, so so. The beach and water was beautiful, other then having been stung badly by a jellyfish. The staff were ok....maybe just a difference in culture. I'm Canadian and expect people to be friendly but obviously that's not always the case. Rooms were nice and clean, beds pretty comfortable.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Not a five star resort

Rayalton Cayo Coco Santa Maria , we were not happy with this resort , got eaten by bugs and they would spray the resort twice a day , this spray would go all over every one and they didn’t care which I complained and fell on deaf ears , food was bad with only 3 restaurants to choose from , rooms were exhausted and tired looking , we are still recovering from bug bits , would not recommend this resort

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: 1st time visit

very nice resort. Food not as good as other resorts we have visited, but not the worst. Only bad thing I found was that there were steps down to different levels and nothing to warn you except one small light in the middle at night. We had a water leak in the bathroom ceiling but staff were on the scene as soon as we called and we were moved to another room equally as nice the very next morning.

Melia Las Dunas: Beautiful beach, good hotel

Melia Las Dunas is probably among the better *all inclusives* in Cuba and certainly Cayo Santa Maria. The hotel and grounds are fine, of course there are rooms that are run down but also rooms that are looking quite well. Probably still not 5* but nice and comfortable. Grounds are kept quite nice. If you haven't been, the beach in Cayo Santa Maria is gorgeous. Shallow entry for kids, white sands, turquoise water...gorgeous. The food was okay. I didn't see anyone NOT eating, and I believ [... read more]e almost anyone could find reasonable choices for meals. At every meal there was always fresh cut vegetables and fruits which was important to me. SERVICE in restaurants is where there's serious room for improvement. It's really not okay, even in Cuba, to keep waiting 20 min for cutlery for at your table despite asking your waiter repeatedly to bring it or point you to a source wherw to get it, so you can feed your child. It was a common occurrence to be among people desperately trying to find a plate. Even though the food manager did frequent the restaurants, it was not enough. I don't know if it's more staff they need or just more attentivness to guests but it was truly at almost every meal that we had to wait and wait for the service. I know it's not an easy job but unfortunately it does NOT make for plesant experience if you're being ignored at your table. The whole system from the check in to food services seems very disorganized. Service at reception was helpful though.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Fantastic stay

We just returned from Labranda after our March break holiday. Myself and my two teenage daughters had a fantastic time. The resort was beautiful especially the grounds. We visited a neighbor resort and Labranda had much better landscaping and pool area. Our room was very nice and clean. We did have a small issue with our shower not draining but it was fixed within a day. The staff were very friendly and helpful. This was my third time to Cuba so I had mentally prepared myself for mediocre food.  [... read more]We were pleasantly surprised. Most meals were much better than expected. The beach and pool side grills were particularly good. I will make note that the guest were mostly older retirees from Europe. I was hoping for more families with teenagers. Thankfully we did meet another family with similar aged teens so it made our vacation that much better. I would recommend Labranda but if you want to experience Cuba you need to leave Cayo Santa Maria which is a bit difficult. We tried to rent a car with no luck. There are rental businesses but none of them had a car. We ended up hiring a taxi for the day and went to a couple cities. This turned out to be a great option.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Beautiful Resort!

My only complaint about this resort was the lack of entertainment in the evenings . Very quiet resort. The resort was so clean ! We stayed at the Spa Adults only area and our room was kept amazingly clean at all times. Everyone that worked there was so friendly , welcoming and very helpful. Drinks were great. We always had beer pop and water in our fridges everyday. Ala carte's had amazing food. Buffet was somewhat repetitive, but had great omlettes, and fish. The 24 snack bar needs mor [... read more]e variety besides sandwiches. We always found a chair by the pool and by the ocean. The beach was pure heaven! Would come and visit again and again and again!

Melia Las Dunas: Nice Resort

The resort is nice with clean pools and an amazing beach. The food was okay. It was very busy may be because of March break and that could be a reason that in the buffet area, they would run out of plates for which we had to wait a bit. In the snack bar as well, most of the items which were on the menu were not available. The waiters were grumpy and irritated maybe because of the busyness but we found that attitude very unusual especially among Cuban people. We could only book two a-la-carts (ag [... read more]ain,because of lack of availability) - Cuban and oriental, which were very nice. Overall, we were satisfied as we were not too picky. Might go back again but not during March break.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Fair Resort

this was a relaxing resort,,,not much,in the form of night life or entertainment,,,,the food was ok at the a la carts but the buffet it wasn,t the best the lobby bar was one of the finner places with great service from Yireni And Linet they were both great at their jobs and very friendly , all in all it was an ok place to go and have a queit time,the staff is all good the rooms were well kept the bedroom bar fridge well taken care of a small tip goes a long way!!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Had a great time

Really liked Ocean Casa Del Mar, the destination for our girls family vacation (2 mom neightbours and our two teenage daughters who are good friends). The beach was lovely. The two pools with swim up bars were great The food was fantastic and there were even 7 different restaurants for dinner with different types of cuisine (reservations required). The rooms were nice, clean and well decorated and the housekeeping, restaurant and bar staff were extremely attentive. There was entertainment ever [... read more]y night and an enthusiastic 'activation' staff who tried to get people into beach yoga, aquafit classes and Cuban dance lessons. It was a challenge to muster enthusiasm but the staff were so energetic and encouraging! We got a great deal on an all-inclusive, which was important.

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: A great stay!

The hotel was very nice! Very comfortable bed, modern facilities as it is a newer resort. We loved that there was a karaoke room available to kids and adult. The beach was beautiful! very nice and calm -great for snorkelling and for young children, also lots of chairs and shade to be found at the beach. More shade at the pool would be beneficial as it got very hot but we understood it was a newer resort so hence not as much shade from the trees.