Amazing Resort

What a great hotel!! Customer service was top notch, from arrival to departure. Staff were amazing and very attentive, smiling all the time and going out of their way to accommodate you wherever possible. The beach was amazing and the ocean warm to swim in. The food at the a la carte restaurants was delicious, the Italian being our favourite, thank you Pavel for such great service. Thanks to Carlos our butler for the bottle of sparkling wine, to our maids for yet another one accompanied with c [... read more]hocolates and also the extra pods for the coffee machine.!! I am already missing cappuccinos on the balcony in the early morning and would love to know where to purchase the machine in our room. This is one resort we would definitely return to!!

Ok resort!

What can I say, the resort is just ok. Definitely not a five star, maybe 3.5! Most of the stuff is friendly except for the guys at the reception and food typical for Cuba:not much to choose from, same thing every day! This resort is very outdated with very poor nightly entertainment and the rooms are full of ants!!! Would not go back there again nor recommend it to anyone unless you’re ok with a 3-4 star.

Amazing resort!

We just got back on Monday from our stay at the Royalton. We had and excellent trip, very relaxing and stress free. We enjoyed the beach which was absolutely stunning, as always for Varadero. The staff were amazing everyone was so friendly and helpful, but a few stand out. Special thank you to Leonardo our butler, who always went above and beyond. Anita from the entertainment staff was very good at what she does. She is a great people person, and would make a great butler. Yvonne our Gardiner w [... read more]ho looked after the gardens in front of our room, was very nice and friendly and even fixed my fan that I had purchased at the market in town. Next was how beautifully kept all of the grounds were. All of the time we would see people working to make it nice. The food was very good, perhaps the best we have ever had in Cuba. There were a couple of the A la carts that they could have used more air conditioning. What we liked most about the resort, was that there were always different activities going on each day and great entertainment at night too, where they get the audience involved with trivia games. There were also a lot of choices for food. The lady that makes the Cuban sandwiches in her little hut, unbelievable! Barbecued sausages on the beach, ice cream bar, 24 hour snack bar which had great coffee. If we go back to Cuba again, we would go there in a heart beat!

Great resort

Although the resort was a little dated, but then again it’s cuba, it was very clean. The resort staff were incredible. Always upbeat, happy and a pleasure to talk to. They would go out of their way to make sure your stay was a great one.

Very good, except for the food

Good things come first, the beach itself is something outrageous so beautiful and the beach area is pretty nice too. The rooms and all the service in general was awesome but the food was terrible almost not edible sometimes, so do not expect to eat that much, but enjoy the beautiful view and nice moments!

Maravilhoso

In portuguese. Tudo de bom. Tudo perfeito e agradável. Eu e minha esposa comemoramos nossos 30 anos de casados. Ela amou tudo e curtimos muito tudo o que nos foi possível. A cordialidade dos empregados foi excelente. Adoramos Cuba.

Great resort but

The resort is beautiful; however there were few things I did not like it such as there were mosquitos in the enclosed buffet area. In regards food there is a variety however vegetables were overcooked in all the restaurants as well as buffet. 2 out of 5 shows were too basic but 3 of them were amazing. I had a great time but i will not go back to the same place

5 Star Amazing Resort!

5 stars! This is the third time we have vacationd at this resort and my husband and I can't wait to go back! We came back to celebrate our 20th anniversary and just when we thought it could not get better then before... They took our expectations over the top! The people at this resort are like family... They try so hard to demonstrate that with how they communicate with you and how they want to ensure you have everything you need to be having an amazing time and very comfortably. We love [... read more] love love it! From the beach to the pool, to my favorite ladies Janet and Lady at the pool bar, to the foam parties that were over the top fun and the shows and disco that were so much fun! Thanks entertainment team! And the food... Well I'm sure we had the best food at any Cuban resort... So good at any spot you decide to eat..i loved the pool side daily BBQ that was so good! When we are leaving at the airport we always hear people complain about the food at their resorts.. but not us and not others from our resort. This is the best couples resort anywhere... As much as i want to travel to other places in the world...I feel compelled to just go here again because of the all around FUN experience and the wonderful people waiting to ensure you are having an over the top luxurious vacation! Thanks Royalton Hicacos for amazing Adults only super party fun vacation for the Third Time! Looking forward to the next one!

Very classy design in both areas reception and lobby

I came to this hotel after reading positive reviews..i was mostly impressive with the ultra modern spacious look in both reception and lobby area...having said that i realised it had no cuban ambience at all...there was little cuban music playing in these areas ..if there was it needs to be vamped up!!... The beach was lovely as cuban is known for this...the music on the beach was annoying after animation had stopped!!.thumpjng on going music ..nothing cuban at all.... The staff were ex [... read more]cellent and were very friendly..not all came up to 5* standard which was a pity.. The chef on the pasta aisle never had plates nor did they refill their ingredient bowls ..it was not nice scraping what was left.. My room was well taken care of.. . my maid did lovely towel designs...she was lovely....felt it needed to be freshened up a bit..door knob missing still on the cabinet where the fridge is ....also some paint is needed as it looks like bad fingerprints over the door....a/c worked but remained on 23/ 24 ..too hot for the weather..i'm used to 17/19... My biggest complaint is lack of live cuba music around the resort every day.... one live group.. your resident band.. only played live one afternoon in cuban park a week as well as one evening a week ..not enough!!!!my reasons for coming to cuba so many times is for the live cuban band...this is my first visit to this hotel so i know the difference... I would not class this as a *5 star...the fire escape look is a put off ..its all too americanised looking hence the lack of a cuban feel around the place... . I did speak up concernng a top step that needs to be highlighted..its dangerous at night where there are no lights to see if its a step or not..its very dangerous and the report has gone un noticed... the customer care people too who have also reported same..... I spent two weeks there from 12 july to 26...i may be back if you can get your resident cuban band playing more ofter than 2xs a week..they are a drawing card to any hotel !!.. I found it quite boring otherwise..because i love to dance to this groups music.!!!..

Perfect Wedding Resort

Great hotel. Staff friendliness and always excellent service was the best part for us. Pavel and his team at the Italian restaurant were fantastic. The grounds here are incredibly well kept. Osmande is a very dedicated and talented gardener. We were at the resort attending a destination wedding. Part of a group of 65 people. We were very well cared for and the event was a success. I still maintain though, that I felt it was a better offering when operated by Sandals. We found it odd that t [... read more]he Diamond Club beach area had no toilets. We had to walk the length of the property to the washrooms at the main beach area. Also to book air and land (all inclusive) to this Royalton property from Canada you have to book SunWing. Based on our experience a SunWing flight is poorly run. We are tired of delays and they have the worst gate times out of Toronto for our liking. After this last trip being ruined by a delayed return flight of 13 hours we will never fly SunWing again. (Still no reason why from SunWing) So sadly as much as we loved our return trip to Hicacos in Varadero, we will not go back to that property as long as it is a SunWing exclusive. Still if you have patience enough to fly as such, then this property is a must.

The best!

First and foremost the staff are amazing and my wife and I have never experienced service from any of our previous vacations anywhere not just Cuba like they do at the Royalton! The main pool is huge and you also have two smaller pools with plenty of seating. The beach is one of the nicest we have ever seen. Crystal clear with hardly any vegetation or rocks and you can walk out far before it gets deep. Plenty of beach loungers and if you can't find they will make you one, with or without an umbr [... read more]ella.The rooms are big and clean with a safe.The food is the best we have ever had in Cuba. More selection and all you can eat lobster once a week. So far the best hotel we have ever stayed in Cuba

Okay, I Guess

First off, let me state that without exception, the staff was amazingly friendly and helpful. But... The resort is showing it's age. There are examples all over -- broken railings, missing eaves, empty 'hot tub', etc. For the most part, things are bing repaired, but I did notice this. I have heard that the resort was hit by a hurricane last year, so I assume that there is an ongoing repair effort underway. The food was... okay. My wife got sick the first day, so we didn't venture to [... read more]o far from the buffet that served rice and bread. From my point of view, however, when the resort kept with the traditional 'Cuban' food, it was really good -- for instance, the Cuban sandwiches served by the main pool were outstanding. It is when they attempt to provide another ethnic dish -- pasta, or the burgers. I went to Cuba, not Italy, so I'm okay with not getting any Italian food. Lastly, I would like to say that the bed was the most comfortable bed that either my wife or I have ever slept in. Fantastic.

Awesome Time!

Had a fantastic time at the Royalton Hicacos. It was a beautiful resort and the staff were awesome. I was there for a wedding and the hotel did a wonderful job of organizing. The wedding was beautiful and we all had a great time. I would definitely recommend this hotel and I will be back!

Happy resort poor communication

Hello, we were very excited to go away for my cousins wedding. I have been to the resort before we loved the resort the people were great. The problem we had was leading up to the trip Lisa couldn’t find my deposit and then I never received an itinerary at all until the Tuesday before the trip when I had to reach out to one of my cousins to get the group booking number to go to the Sunwing website and print it off myself. Thank goodness I’m a frequent traveller and I knew how to do this. I  [... read more]had emailed Lisa on the Tuesday before the trip to ask her where my itinerary was the only reply I got was you’ll get it within one week of the trip. My trip was in four days. Once I left the resort on day 7 we were delayed 14 hours with no communication from anybody from trip central from Sunwing or from the airport. My husband is a Toronto firefighter and he lost 12 hours of work because the flight was delayed without any communication it was very hard for him to describe to his chief why he missed 12 hours when there was no explanation from Sunwing or trip central. I will not book with trip central again.

Very Clean 3 Star

Hotel was nice Here’s what happened on our departure from the resort I will never fly Sunwing Airlines again !!! 12-15 hour delay to get home from Veradero Cuba ( this Friday July 6th, 2018) Up to 5 delay times No Sunwing Rep to be found No explanations, No NOTHING !!!! Absolutely pathetic & disgusting !!! Left it up to the employees of the airport to deal with us Families with young children , people with medical conditions all stuck in an airport and NO EXPLANATION!!!! The [... read more] entire flight of passengers have come together , writing our names and email addresses down as we are going to bulldoze through as a group and demand FULL REFUNDS !!! Or legal action will be taken !!! This situation was handled poorly and very unethically and unprofessionally !!! These were the delay times 11:15 pm 11:55 pm 2:30 am 3:50 am 10:45 am Our original flight time was to be 10:35 pm They finally decided that they had to put all passengers up in a hotel only bc they had to close the airport so the employees could go home The kiosks had closed so that left us with no food or drinking water or drinks of any kind Bc the employees had left to go home we were left with filthy washrooms with no toilet paper or paper towels They decided to kick us out of the airport at 2 a.m. in the morning to shuttle us to two different hotels, no information on what hotels so we had no idea what rating the hotels would be that they were taking us to We all maybe got 1/2 hr to an hour of sleep That’s it !!! Pick up time from the hotels was 6:45 a.m. Saturday morning They had to send an empty Sunwing plane and flight crew to come get us The crew had no idea of our situation They learned of it once we were in flight The flight attendants were amazing and of course the pilots as well They gave us free meals and drinks including their own lunches Children were served first , than passengers with medical circumstances and the elderly They announced how they learned of this particular situation and went above and beyond to come to our rescue !!! But they still had no true idea what we were put through at the airport Not worth the savings !!!

Amazing resort

Excellent hotel, a lots of facilities but the concept was much better with Sandals. Used to be more as a club resort with more attention and respect towards the returned guests. Loved the lobby bar and yoga program in the morning.

Wonderful resort

This was the 9th vacation to Royalton Royal Hicacos, previously Sandals. We enjoy the resort very much. The staff are great as well as the food. The only exception this year was very little mango and bananas. We were told it was because of the hurricane in September 2017, but we believe it was something other than this. Regardless, the beach is the best beach we have experienced. We can only hope that the partnerships/owners and management continue to provide value and a great experience. An iss [... read more]ue that we have noticed is that slowly perks are being taken away that were previously given under the Sandals brand, and a corporate attitude and approach is beginning to take precedence over the guest experience. Also, the new management is incorporating too many rules and regulations that is starting to erode this experience. We were told that Royalton has two more years under its current agreement and then the agreement comes up for renewal which could present a different brand other than Royalton. Let's see what happens.

Fantastic resort.

The beach was beautiful. The staff all over the resort was freindly and attentive. Overall very clean resort. Really loved the variety and freshness of the food offered. This was our first visit to Cuba and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We would gladly come again.

Beautiful place

excellent property. Well layed out site plan. Beach wonderful. Continuous activities, with good entertainment in all lounges. Bistro which is open 24 hours needs to have better service, with more on floor staff. Pool bar was busy but that’s the way it should be. Room was very nice, but toilets do not always completely flush.

Great Resort, Great Staff

The Resort was very clean rooms, grounds, beach were well maintained.The staff at the restaurants and bars were excellent. The food was great, lots to choose from. We were in the Diamond Club and it was well worth the upgrade.