Meh...

The hotel was, well, "meh". Grounds were nice. Food was what you would expect in Cuba. Tons of mosquito's, for which they did not spray (and should have). Roaches in rooms. Some staff were nice, most were completely indifferent to your staying there. Overall, a very bland place. Cuba has also changed. The scam which they call the CUC, a non existent currency intended to gauge tourists, is, believe it or not, valued even higher than the USD. lol. Soooooo, you're getting $.70 on the CDN dollar [... read more]!!! HA. A cab ride from Varadero to Havana was $160CUC!. Cuba has become just as, if not more expensive, than many other South destination. Coupled with rude, indifferent people, constantly trying to hammer out every dollar you have, I will never return. And this is coming from someone who adored this humble country in the past. Happy Travels!

Wonderful resort experience

I had a great time staying at this resort for the first time! The beach was beautiful, pools very nice, the overall resort was clean and well kept, hotel staff/ workers friendly and helpful. Pepe was a really great hotel entertainer! Nightly theatre shows were also really great! Would come back again.

A little disappointed.

After a week at the Ocean Veradero el Patriarca, I am afraid it was a bit of a disappointment. Our room was not as nice as the photo in the online viewing and the room fridge was not stocked as we were told at the orientation by Air Transat. The lock on our patio door did not work and the makeshift lock pulled part of the door frame off. The food was OK. Staff was pleasant but most had a very poor knowledge of the English language.

Great resort fantastic hotel

The hotel ocean patriarca was situated not to far from the town of varadero although we did not feel the need to leave the hotel complex as the grounds were beautifully manicured the staff were very friendly.rather than a high rise hotel we liked the set up as the bungalows were spread out around the pool and the hotel complex .it offered entertainment every evening in the hotel lobby then into a piano bat later plus the theatre had a show every night from nine till ten thirty and if you then [... read more] wished the disco went on till two am. Food we found very good ,excellent choices the main buffet was superb plus you could always have a chef prepare you steaks or chops just to your liking as well as a fish and pasta area again with its own chef. The hotel also had three other restaurants but you did need to wear dress pants and shoes to go into these.

Fantastic Resort

The accommodations was excellent. We initially were not satisfied with the cabin we were given. The water pressure was low, the water had very little hot water, and the internet reception in the cabin was non-existent. However, once customer service knew of the deficiencies, they immediately found us another room which was an upgrade to one of their premiere suites and completely satisfied each deficiency. The food was very good. The staff did their best to accommodate Canadian style of cooking. [... read more] The privileged restaurant had outstanding gourmet meals. The grounds was very clean and well kept. Even after rain storms, their grounds staff were right on every leaf, mud removed from the sidewalks. Excellent. The maid service was second to none. Always a clean room when we came back to relax in the room. (Note: sheets were not changed daily. Not sure if this is normal.)

Excited our expectations

The resort is beautiful, grounds are lovely, staff very friendly, everything is clean except the beach restaurant bathrooms, very bad smell stall doors didnt lock, and no soap in the pump, which is very important with the restaurant attached..

Just an okay resort!!

The grounds, pool, public building were all good as were the rooms. This is the worst resort I have been too, they would run out of wine or beer at the swim up bar and the mixed drinks were poor. The beach was full of debris from the ocean....not appealing. I didn't think some of the staff were very friendly even with tips. Sorry for the bad review...but us girls did have a good time.

Great Resort with a Perfect Beach

I spent 9 days at this resort in April and was very pleased with everything. The people were very kind, the resort is clean with beautiful grounds. The beach is amazing with white sand and an area just down a bit that has many different shells. The food was delicious in the buffet and at the 'a la carte' restaurants. Great beach and pool entertainment. I didn't go to the nightly shows so I am unable to comment on them. It is an enjoyable bus ride into Varadero because you get to see all of the o [... read more]ther resorts on your way. We had a pool view room and we loved the location. (#1415) Our chambermaid was very nice. The exchange of towels was difficult to coordinate because we went to the beach before our maid was there to change the beach towel. Minor detail, it was a great vacation in every way and the resort is great, too.

Not everything was good.

We never had a bath mat, facecloths and the towels were not nice. We had trouble getting the mini bar stocked with what we wanted. On the plus side, the buffet staff were very friendly. Everything was within walking distance.

Great resort

Rooms were really clean Staff were friendly Beach was nice Food was quite good for Cuba The resort was spacious but never found ourselves walking too much for beach, bars or rooms Would definitely recommend!

Quiet resort

I slept great, food was much better than my last two trips to Cuba (different resorts), most staff was fantastic, was close enough to airport. Cons: Can’t see ocean without going directly down to the beach. Very little entertainment or atmosphere provided by staff. Made friends who brought their own music. However Coffee bar and piano bar were amazing and made the resort. Probably won’t go back just because we prefer a bit more activity, and I would like to see the ocean throughout the resor [... read more]t, like sitting in the lobby etc which you can’t do here

Good

Nice Beaches,very bad service, a lots cockroaches...I was not expecting good food...but I was disappointed that there were small cockroaches on top of the food in the buffet...Very bad customer service...as they say they have problems in management, i would not go back to that hotel.

Average Resort

This is a nice sized resort, however, the consensus by many people over the week was that there needs to be some improvement. We arrived on an early morning flight, and as the webpage states, rooms are not available until 4 pm. We were told to come back after lunch, and twice after that, and never actually received our room until after 5 pm. We were told later that the people leaving our assigned room had paid pecos for a late checkout. Beach towels are in your room so there were no towels for [... read more] the first beach day. No one told us you exchange beach towels with your maid, there is no towel hut. I found this out by accident when asking where to find the beach hut, and several people told us they had been using the same beach towels all week. Most days the maid did not have clean towels available. On the one afternoon she had clean towels, we came back from the beach to find them in our room. Most of the public washrooms are disgusting and many do not have locks or toilet paper. There is a horrific smell heading into many of the public facilities, which we also experienced (sewer smell) coming from the sink drain in our room for two days. Rooms are very nice. We were in the 51 block and had a super maid. Food was very repetitive and often cold in the buffet. The Itailian and Brazilian were both very good. There was not a lot of communication of events happening, and it was during the last few days we heard about the piano bar. It is a lovely little retreat in the evenings away from the evening bugs. The beach is lovely, however, one must be down in the pitch dark by 6 am to reserve a chair and palapa. Even though spots are reserved chairs are often moved by staff and many chairs squeezed under what shade was available. We were told they lost an entire row of palapas in the hurricane, which definitely need to be rebuilt sooner than later. The staff at the Beach Bar were not pleasant and they appeared tired and non interested. The food was good at the Beach restaurant, however, same for the some of the staff there. What we love about Cuba is how lovely the people are and how gracious they can be. This was the first time we did not find this of the staff of this resort. This is our 9th trip to Varadaro, and we were slightly disappointed as we have never experienced any of these issues in Varadaro before, and the other resorts we visited were not as new as Ocean El Patriarca.

Good - but not AS good

This is my third year in a row to this resort for my wife and myself. We also travelled with 2 other couples this year and last year. While the facilities are good, and the food (for Cuba) is also pretty good, I must admit I have seen a deterioration in both the resort and the mood of the employees over the 3 years. Drinks at the pool are DEFINITELY being watered down, while those at the Hotel lobby are full strength. Repairs to infrastructure do not seem to be on a "pro active" basis (area ligh [... read more]ts needing replacement, some railings loose or not fully secure, etc.) When these are pointed out, they are noted (and hopefully rectified). But a well-run resort shouldn't need the travellers to point these things out, they should be noted and amended BEFORE the travellers even notice. The above also seems to be the consensus among our group. All things considered, the resort still represents good value for the money and I probably would go there again next year.

NOT VERY PLEASED THIS TIME AROUND

BATHROOMS IN THE LOBBY AND COURTYARD AREA DID NOT HAVE TOILET PAPER OR PAPER TOWELS HALF THE TIME. FOOD WAS DECENT. THE A LA CARTE RESTAURANTS WERE NICE. BARTENDERS WERE NOT VERY POLITE, AND ALWAYS EXPECTED TIPS. ENTERING THE AIRPORT, THE SAME ISSUE NO TOILET PAPER OR PAPER TOWELS

2nd time at El Patriarca

We went to El Patriarca in 2015 and returned in 2018... just came back yesterday and still a very nice resort... our maid Hamilia was superb and Johan at the beach a gem...food is very good and grounds are very well kept... a few things happened but not enough for us not to return there in a few years...I wish that Air Transat would offer 8 or 10 days like Sunwing and West Jet and better hours leaving from Moncton...but the resort is still the one for us in Varadero

Good Resort

The hotel was good with friendly staff. The best part of the stay was day bar, beach and the pool. Liked how we could exchange money, buy souvenir at the convenience of the resort. Food needs to be better, did not enjoy at the Al Cart either. We got there at night and night bar and food was so bad that was really disappointed.

Resort starting show it's age

The restraunts where great but fill up fast so you should be in line at 6 to get in early the staff was great and so was the entertainment the food was often cold at the buffet and the same every night the beach was wonderful but not a lot of shade.

Very nice resort for cuba

Had been to Cuba once before, Cayo Santa Maria was not to happy with it, so this time I set my expectations lower with Ocean el Patricia resort. I was pleasantly surprised room was nice pool and beach were very nice, the food by Cuba standards was good always found something to eat. The staff were excellent and there was good entertainment every night. If you want a shady spot on the beach you have to be there by six thirty a.m. but you can find a spot with shade at the pool up to about eight a [... read more].m. Not to far from Veradero took a cab cost forty pesos return. Recommend going to front desk and taking a classic car for an evening drive not every day you get to take a drive in a 1955 chev Belair. Overall good vacation.

Good resort but not a 4.5 star!

The grounds were very dry in most places, mostly due to the time of the year. The buffet did not offer as many choices as other resorts with much of the same food appearing every day. ie. no healthy cereals at breakfast, only one very slow toaster, butter tastes nasty, limited fruit choices, no roasted chicken offered - just chewy skinless breasts, dry rice dishes, few potato dishes, many very sweet cake desserts but no rice pudding or lighter desserts. The pool was very shallow (about 3 ft. a [... read more]t most) so warmed up fast in the afternoon. There was only one pool. Beach was beautiful but hard to get umbrella, cabana or a chair. Guests put their towels on chairs early in the morning (5:30!) or at night. Same at pool. Very little shade. The rooms were clean and housemaid was very good, as were most of the staff. 3 out o4 hand dryers did not work - no paper towels - no toilet dispensers in some cubicles.