Beautiful and Good Size Resort

I have no complaint about this resort. This resort has friendly staff and good services. I really like the self help liquor stand in the lobby bar. Roberto the grill guy made our trip that much better. He grilled lobsters, fish, chicken, and beef by the pool. Being at Royalon allows access to Memories. Memories is a resort beside Royalton. The shows at memories are better. The beach there is " Wow ". I highly recommended to any Adult couples.

FANTASTIC!!! BEST VACATION EVER!

ROYALTON CAYO SANTA MARIA May 23 – May 30, 2015 AWESOME! The best resort we have ever stayed at – and we have travelled many times throughout the years. First of all the resort is very small; only 122 rooms and it is an adult only vacation spot. The Royalton is nothing but luxury plus!!!! Once you arrive at the resort, you are greeted by several well-dressed staff members directing you to the air conditioned bar area where drinks and a cold cloth were waiting for you. You don’t even have [... read more] to stand in line to register at the front desk, because one of the “butlers” does this for you. Every couple is assigned a butler to show you the grounds, let you know where and when to get anything you desire. We were given a tour of every aspect of the resort including the beach. We were then taken to our room, where once again, the butler explained what was available to us during our stay. FOOD – the food is unbelievable! We had lobster every day of our one-week vacation. Maybe we just hit a lucky week, but for us this was a bonus! There are no buffets – the closest thing to a buffet that you will get is the breakfast in the main restaurant where a great assortment of cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, vegetables, juices are available. This is in addition to the option of ordering from a menu. Each time you have your breakfast, lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants or “snack bar”, you have the opportunity to order from a menu. We can’t say enough about the service and the food – FANTASTIC. The snack bar and “Bar” – which is opened 24 hours a day, shouldn’t really be called a snack bar because of the terrific menu they offer; from garlic butter shrimp to roast chicken – the choices are more than what you would expect. No dried out pizza or hot dogs – real restaurant style food. BBQ Grill by the pool – our favourite spot during the day. This was available from 12 noon to about 4:30 p.m. Chicken kabobs, beef kabobs, lobster, chicken wings, ribs, fish and rice were available to us each day – thanks Alberto!!! POOLS – there are two pools; upper (by the main lobby) and then the larger pool located in the middle of the complex. Each pool had its own bar with fantastic service – thanks to Yorkis and Dayaimi for taking such good care of us. The pools were always crystal clear and just the right temperature – never crowded. You also didn’t have to fight for a lounge as there were plenty of them to go around for everyone. BEACH – Amazing! Beautiful white sand, gorgeous multi-blue ocean and lots of lounges and huts. The beach was the perfect “walking” beach if you so desired. There is also a bar and mini snack bar here. The resort is currently working on an addition to the beach bar which looks like they may include a sitting area and bathrooms. This project should be completed by the time we visit this resort again. STAFF – the most friendly and attentive resort staff we have ever met during our travels. Because the resort was so small, they knew your name, what you drank, etc. etc. We were catered to, way too much as we are not used to this type of service. The Butler, as I mentioned earlier, is available to you from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm daily to take care of any issues or wishes you may have. Our butlers were Alexis and Denyis – they alternate days. Both of them always touched base with us throughout the day to make sure we were enjoying your vacation. ROOMS – terrific, clean and big. Along with a few two unit buildings located near the main lobby, there are 11 two-storey buildings with 10 units in each building located closer to the beach and main pool. We had a king bed, a sitting area with a couch, coffee table, two chairs and another wee table. The bathrooms were big as well, with a separate tub, shower and toilet stall. The shower was a rain shower – wonderful!! You can open the folding doors from the bathtub area to overlook the rest of the room – a nice touch if you wanted to sit in the tub and watch TV after a long day in the sun. There are lots of cupboards and closet space. The safe is free, the fridge/freezer is cold and well stocked daily with beer, pop and water. The maid service was amazing!! Swans, elephants, cowboys – all made from towels. Our last day Yobaissy spelled out “bye” in towels!! I always say that there are pros and cons to every resort/vacation, but this time I am finding it hard to find the “cons”. Even the 1 ½ hour bus ride from the airport wasn’t so bad as it turned out to be a bus tour rather than a bus ride. We were able to buy ice cold beer – 2 for $5.00 Cdn on the bus which was a nice way to start your vacation and we got to see and learn about the towns we travelled through and a little bit of history while travelling to the Royalton. One of the best vacations we have ever had. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in style to a point that has probably spoiled us. We plan to return to the Royalton Cayo Santa Maria!!!

Very nice, but not 5*

My husband and I stayed at the Royalton from May 1-8, 2015 and we had a fantastic time. I was 7 months pregnant at that time. The resort is beautiful and the staff are extremely friendly and attentive. One of the best things was the fact that there was live music at almost every meal; such talented musicians! We stayed in Cabana 501 which is like a suite and was very good looking and modern. Unfortunately the king size bed in our room was broken from day one and never got fixed or changed. Fur [... read more]ther, the air conditioning stopped working on Wednesday and although repairmen were sent to the room after several prompts, the situation did not get corrected. We were told that the AC unit was not powerful enough to cool such a large room. Being pregnant, I was not at all happy with this since I could not take afternoon naps in the room since it was 28 degrees C. We escalated our complaints to management who finally, on the second night without AC, found us another room where we could sleep. The toilet in that second room would not flush. We think all of these things were just bad luck on our part and we still had a great "babymoon". This hotel is for you if you are looking for a very quiet, relaxing vacation at an adults only resort in Cuba. The beach in Cayo Santa Maria is phenomenal. Just don't be fooled by the 5* rating as there are definitely things that could be improved...

Very relaxing

Enjoy the beach pool room.food was good but not much varity for dinner. Lunch bbx ws good.drinks were good. Entertainment was very short. We enjoyed going to memories for italian.I would probably not go back.

Beautiful Beach

Very quiet, relaxing resort. Meals weren't very good but Cuba isn't really a place you go for the food. The beaches were outstanding. Our butler Mario was great and while I wouldn't call the resort a 5 star. It's a great value for the cost.

Best Cuba Vacation

The Royalton is small, personal and impeccably clean. The staff are engaging without being annoying. We were very impressed with the level of personal service. The beach is the best we have ever been to - coral blue water and fine white sand. We played volley ball followed by drinks and seafood quesadillias on the beach everyday. We spent 2 weeks at the Royalton and would return in a heartbeat. A fabulous oasis with a staff that is eager to please.

Great resort but not a 5 star

Hotel, grounds and pools were beautiful and very well kept. The beach was one of the best I have been to. The only downside was the food...it was terrible!! No selection at all we were eating the same things for a week straight which weren't even good to begin with. The food was all so bland and tasteless. Bread was always very stale (literally like crouton stale). The drinks were terrible too. Watery piña coladas and the vodka tasted like rubbing alcohol. Will definitely not be going back to t [... read more]his resort, we paid a lot for it, especially for Cuba and were very disappointed. Also no swim up bar!!! What!? It was so annoying to get out of the pool everytime you wanted a drink. Thought that was very strange as I have never been to a resort without a swim up bar. Also they do not have water bottles except the very big ones and they give them to you so warm you can't grab a chilled one. So it's either that or a tiny cup of cold water that will last you about 30 seconds.

Stunning resort with room for improvement

our trip started out on a negative note as it was our honeymoon and none of the information was relayed to the resort from our travel agent. It all started at the airport and went downhill from there. Although disappointing, I feel because of these consistent stumbles we were already let down. Understanding this is no fault of the Royalton, I want to give a fair review. The hotel is breathtaking and pristine. The beaches are perfection. Pools are incredible, especially the infinity pool! Cons: [... read more] food. There needs to be snacks offered in common areas throughout the day that you can grab and go. Restaurants were repetitive. Second, there was so much management onsite just wandering and meeting consistently. It became slightly uncomfortable Had a room with a garden view (all that was available) and it was everything but. Our view was a sewar with some half overgrown, half dying bush. Very odd. The room itself was beautiful and no complaints but the view was horrible for the price. Last con, and maybe I'm alone in this but I found this very weird. There is a whole section, fairly large, that has trees, flowers, etc planted with plaques of people's names. For the first 24 hours I though it was and in all fairness it looks like a cemetery. It just had a very morbid feel to it. It is not, but it took me saying something to realize it is guests names that planted things. Either way, very unessessary for this type of 5* resort. Very tacky Wilvy is the Sunwing rep here and we really appreciate all he did to salvage our honeymoon. He is incredible at what he does. We did our research and were expecting much more based on the reviews and tripadvisor ratings. We were spending quite a bit of money and were disappointed with the experience. To sum things up, the property is beautiful, beaches among the best we have ever seen if not the best, but there is definite room for improvement at Royalton. Communication would be number 1 and culinary number 2.

Best resort yet

The service, hotel, beach, pool, food, drinks- everything about this resort is fantastic. There is nothing bad to say! No buffets, all the restaurants were delicious. The only drawback is the two hour bus ride from the airport.

ROMANTIC,LOVELY AND PEACEFUL RESORD

We found this resort absolutely beautiful and romantic. Our room was excellent, the staff excellent and the food excellent. We are beach people so the beach went above and beyond our expectations. This was our 7th time back to Santa Maria.

Loved it!

Great easy, quiet vacation resort. If you want to relax (not party-party), this is the place for you. No long lines, always a table at restaurant, always a chair at the beach/ pool...Only 3 restaurants, but you can always go next door for something different (try the Italian). That said, the 3 restaurants at the Royalton were great! We're going back next year...just book early, it sells out quickly!

Amazing resort

Everything about this resort was fantastic. All staff was very friendly. Our butlers, Ariel and Alexis were so nice and very helpful. I wish I could have brought them home with me. Food was delicious. A nice quiet resort to have a relaxing holiday at. More snacks during the day and a bit more softer beds would be a nice upgrade to this already beautiful resort. We will definitely be back.

Beach and service top notch

Beautiful landscaping,pools and amazing beach! The staff are wonderful and very friendly. They could use some more activities and music would be nice at one of the pools. After a couple of days it became boring. The food was good but once again after a couple of days everything seemed the same. If you want peace and quiet with nothing but laying around it's wonderful! If you need more activity it's not the place for you. A beautiful place with wonderful staff...just too quiet for us.

Let down

Pros-Beach was beautiful,sand felt like you were walking on flour. Entertainment was nice, low key if you are into that. Drinks were fancy. Room was clean. Cons- Could not find lifeguard on the beach when a couple were in trouble and panicking in an undertow, my boyfriend had to go in and try to help once I did find someone they have no floating device to send out to them, horrible. Food is....so so, found bones in my chicken pasta, a rock in my Cuban beans at breakfast,ketchup taste like vomit [... read more], dry dry dry everything and they run out of a lot of items all the time, dessert is horrible unless it's ice cream if you order the 24hr service it's cold, getting extra bottles of water is like asking for their first born child. Bed is like sleeping on a box spring, everyone who I spoke to about it agreed. I had a lululemon top stollen from my room,the managers who are dressed in ties (sergio) walk around with a blank face thinking they are kings of the world and do not treat their staff well. We will never go back. I've heard they give you extra treatment if you agree to write a 5 star review so that they keep their title as best resort in Cuba.

This IS an example of an AMAZING RESORT!

First of all I would like to say that we are very seasoned travellers and I have been to Cuba about 6 times previously. We are RIU diamond members and although we do try different hotel chains from time to time we are used to RIU Palaces and tend to compare everything to that level of quality. I’ve now stayed at 4 of the top 7 All Inclusives in the world and I can honestly say that the Royalton deserves to be in the top group! The Wonderful butler service: I learned within minutes of being her [... read more]e at the Royalton that I could get basically whatever I wanted by asking nicely and using the butler service. No, a butler does not mean that you get your own person following you around everywhere you go, but it does mean you have someone that will do everything they can to make your stay a little easier, a little more romantic, a little more … anything you can come up with! Yoldy (Joel-dee)was our butler in 11 block and MAN was he good! Yoldy set us up a private romantic lobster dinner on our balcony, saved our sunbed, had the chefs prepare dinners that weren’t even on menus for us (pizza & Lobster!), made and changed all of our dinner & spa reservations, prepared our room, flagged down drivers to take us to the market, spa and memories – the list goes on and on! Yoldy even made dinner reservations for us coordinating with friends several times! One night he even found us because we got “lost” at the bar and he delivered us to our friends intact – even had our drinks forwarded to our restaurant! Appreciate and you SHALL receive!! Alexis was also a WONDERFUL butler, unfortunately not ours however he seems to be everywhere so we adopted him as ours and he was more than willing to cater to us! We chose the Royalton specifically for the butler service after having experienced it in Cancun at LeBlanc Spa. Now that I have had a butler, I’m not sure I want to experience a vacation without! The Wonderful Service Staff: Managers met us at the lobby to offer us drinks and wet cloths, our luggage was brought to our room while had the most elegant and easy check in EVER! I never stayed somewhere before and had no need of the reception service at all. We handed over our passports, unpacked and were at the poolbar with drinks in hand within half an hour of arrival! I almost felt guilty when filling out response cards because I couldn’t say anything about reception! I just simply never used them until we were paying our bill on the way out! Leniel is the golf cart driver (bell boy) at the front during the day. He was the first staff we encountered and he was amazing! He took my husband to the market every morning and drove me to the spa for my appointments. He was ALWAYS smiling, chatty and available to tote us around. The resort is small enough to walk around without wheels however we enjoyed our little drives and a chance to visit. People like Leniel are what makes your vacation – that personal touch that takes it to the next level! All of the drivers, gardeners, pool cleaner (Yulanitis) and service staff were great. I love the hospitality of the staff here. It’s such a small resort (122 rooms) that you really get to know the staff as you see the same faces day in day out! We were there for 16 days so we really got to talking to a few. The Wonderful restaurant service: To clarify I am talking about the service, not the food. The food was typical for Cuba although presented well it tended to be under-seasoned and overcooked. The restaurants were very elegant, nicely set up and easy to find. Waiters and waitresses were quick to serve, take orders and in our experience always got it right. One night I asked for a difficult side dish and our waiter Misbel came through. It took him three tries but he was determined to get it right and didn’t accept it when I said don’t worry about it. He really went the extra mile and that is what the restaurant service was mostly like. I was a little apprehensive about a la carte dining because I was fearful with having so many people to serve that orders would be wrong or I would be waiting long periods for simple things like water being filled or more wine. Never the case, these servers were on it. Yuslaika (You-Lee) was also our favorite waitress for breakfast/lunch. She became so well acquainted with our orders that she was able to tell us what we wanted. She always had our little sides ready too! That was outstanding! Really made us feel special and welcome. I really thought dining at the same places would feel repetitive but it actually was fun because of the staff. Again, ask and you shall receive! One day my husband let a waitress know that he LOVES hot peppers and the next day Belkis had a selection of them to put on his burger! Exceptional personal service! These are the things that makes this resort a 5 star! The Wonderful Bartenders: We frequented Yidiel (Je-deal) at the pool bar and Frank at the Lobby Bar. Now, there are a few other bars but we gravitated towards these two in specific and again, it was the people. The bar tenders got to know us and what we liked to drink, made sure they had it and by the end of our 16 day visit our drinks were being poured as we walked to our seats. Yidiel is a lot of fun, a ball of energy and excellent at catering to your tastes. One day he made me about 10 different drinks trying to find a new favorite for me to enjoy. My husband would spend most of the day at the pool bar enjoying chatting with Yidiel while I lounged on my bed reading while having drinks brought to me from Yidiel. Again, excellent 5 star service. Not one time did we have to wait in line for a drink! Frank at the lobby bar makes AMAZING breakfast coffees, mojito natural teas and Conchenchera (sp). Like Jidiel Frank went out of his way to make sure our drinks were perfect and always gave them a special touch/flare. The first day we arrived my husband (who is the PICKIEST coffee drinker ever) explained to Frank exactly how he likes his coffee made and it was done perfectly by him everytime he went in for one. Everyone wants a bartender with a memory and attention to detail like that! Again, 5 star service! The beverage choice was amazing as well. I have been to 5 stars that boast a good drink selection but rarely have I experienced this. Cognac’s, Brandy’s, Tequila’s, Rye’s, Whiskey’s and Vodka’s – all name brands and some vintage choices as well! There were some very expensive bottles on the bar that were not just for display. They were being poured freely. I was impressed to see this as nothing was watered down and they really were serving the best. The wine was pretty good for house wine, be sure to ask to try the different wines though – don’t just assume what you were offered is all there is! There were a couple whites, reds and a blush so try them all until you find what you like! I found a white I really liked and as soon as the servers realized it they made sure it was available to me at the restaurants and the bar! We also bought a bottle for a special celebration one night for a hefty fee ($85 CUC) but we knew the damage upfront and decided it was worth it. True 5 Star bar service and drinks. The Wonderful Views: Everything during our stay was like eye candy. The pools were lovely, the beach was incredible with powder sand and perfect colored water. The gardens were just amazing for a resort that has only been there a couple years! I really felt like I was walking through Eden. The gardeners never stopped and they were an artistic bunch. There was beautiful artistry shown all through the walking paths, around the pools, and even off the paths. They even grow their own herbs! The level of care that goes into the grounds here is stunning. I took so many photos of the gardens and flowers and displays! It actually amazed me with as little rain as there was (two nights it rained) that the plants bloomed and thrived the way they do! Great job! All and all we had a fabulous vacation, very relaxing and fell in love with the Cuban people. The Royalton is a VERY VERY low key resort. The entertainment team play some games, host dancing and Spanish lessons as well as yoga, beach walks etc. They even do “wellness” hand and foot rubs around the pool. They are not there to play drinking games, play loud music and wake you out of your relaxed vacation stupor like most 3 star AI’s. I would say this resort is for an older or just quieter crowd. The Managers at this resort let their presence be known, talk to their guests and follow up and through with any concerns. Raoul was great in checking in with us and the love he shows for the resort and all the attention he pays to details is very impressive. The Christmas Eve dinner, shows and entertainment were phenomenal! We were thoroughly impressed and although we have spent some Christmas Eve’s at AI’s we have never seen anything like that before! Well done! This is most definitely a 5 star resort but with 3 star food. We will not be returning to this particular Royalton but this decision is based on the secluded nature of Cayo Santa Maria. The resort strip is at the end of a long causeway which makes visiting Cuban towns difficult and expensive. We hired a taxi for a day to go visiting but it’s such a long trek that we did it only once. I hope to visit another Royalton soon!

Paradise revisited

Hubby & I travelled to Royalton CSM Nov.28th to Dec.8,2014. This was our 2nd visit to Royalton our first visit was January 2014. The resort is officially 2 yrs. old as of December 1,2014. We really wanted to be there to celebrate the resorts 2nd anniversary on arrival at the resort we were greeted by the General manager Raul Garcia, Arturo, Mateusz & the resort butlers. We were ushered into in the Royalton Cafe (lobby bar) for a lovely glass of champagne & a cool towel which was very appreciated [... read more].. Royalton CSM is a small Boutique hotel for adults only. It is a place to come, relax be pampered You are assigned 2 butlers as they work from 7am to 11pm, one day on & 1 day off. The butler service is more like upgraded Conceirge service. Your butler will make all your dinner reservations, look after special requests, help you with dietary needs etc. if you are celebrating birthdays, anniversaries your butler is there to help you make those memories awesome. All you need do is ask they are there to make your holiday amazing. We had an ocean view room with king size bed. All rooms are lovely, all depends on Your needs & wants but how much time do you really spend in them. Love the large bathtub & rain shower. We arrived back to our room one day to find a lovely bubble bath had been drawn for us after a day of being out & about by our butler Ana. My pillow was a bit too soft for me & our butler Lester got me a firmer one. Our bar was restocked daily by Alain. Kept us in wine, beer & Champagne without us asking. Phenomenal service. The entertainment is low keyed but so beautiful. You have water ballet day & night, Flameno dancers, Jazz night, Cuban music night & a Michael Jackson Show that makes you feel you are watching Michael. During the day live musicians perform at breakfast, lunch & dinner. At 3:30pm (Cuban time) at the lower pool you have the Royalton dance to work off some of the calories you piled on during the day plus different entertainment & activities including dance lessons, drink making contests, flowering making, & the Cuban Evil Knevil. There are 2 pools, the Lobby pool (infinity pool) & the lower pool where all the activities take place. There are 5 bars. Cafe Royalton open 24 hrs., the Gintonic Bar open from 10-10:30pm(closes from. 5-6pm for change over) it is the upper pool bar, the Cuba Libra Bar the main pool bar, El Mojito Bar the beach Bar & the Sunset Cafe Bar. We personally loved the food. Eggellence is open for Breakfast, lunch & dinner. There is a mini buffet arvailable at all meals. Senses is a very romantic restaurant & one of my favourites. The Sunset Cafe is the 24 hour snack bar & ala carte restaurant in the evening. This is not your typical snack bar where all you can get is hot dogs, hamburgers or pizza. The menu is varied & I have not been able to eat my way thru it as yet. Absolutely love the soups that are offered at all restaurants. If you feel that quantity of food offered is not enough for you they will double or triple the order. We constantly were having triple orders of Shrimp in garlic sauce. There are sandwiches offered at the lower pool with fruit skewers in the afternoon plus the Pool Grill operates from 1:30pm (Cuban time) to 3pm. It offers, beef, chicken, pork, & lobster skewers, fish & rice. The beach bar offers quesadillas of chicken, beef & seafood. On hot days ice-cream bars magically appear at your palapa or Sunbed. The beach is truly amazing. White sand beach no shells, rocks or pebbles in the water to stub your toes on. It is always warm. At certain times of the year the red flag flags a lot because of the wind & undertow. Never had a stay where we did not get in the water once. Royalton has the best beach on the strip. I can not say enough about the staff & service of this resort. I have never felt so pampered or cared for at any other resort and with that being said I must say this is a small boutique adults only resort with just 122 rooms. It is a quiet peaceful spot perfect for being pampered & recharging your batteries. It is not geared for large boisterous groups. I am a fan of The Royalton CSM,it's staff & unbelievable service. Only holiday resort I have gained weight at. If anyone has any questions I can help with please let me.

Will be returning

Beautiful resort, friendly helpful butler service. Good nightly entertainment. Very clean resort and beach area. Marketplace close walking distance. Unfortunately I required medical attention while on vacation. Our butler arranged cab travel to the tourist clinic 3 miles away, cab driver waited for me, 6 pesos roundtrip, prompt service by doctor 25 pesos, prescriptions filled, returned to Royalton 30 minutes roundtrip. Butler waiting for me to see how I was doing. Medication worked, vacation was [... read more] saved.

Paradise

Where do I start.The grounds were meticulous.the staff were so friendly and our butler was at our beck and call from morn til night! The food was very good from the quesidias at the beach to the chicken,beef and lobster at the pool.Dinner was to die for,gourmet meals !The only downfall were the rough waters ,red flag every day.However this was to be expected given the time of year.We were told the ocean is like glass in January and February . The property was just the right size to make it a fam [... read more]ily atmosphere,we got to know so many people The Royalton clicked all the boxes on our wish list!

Excellent Resort

If your looking for rest and relaxation, the Royalton is the place for you. A very small resort, which allows you the ability to quickly go between the pool, the beach and your room within minutes. The personal butlers are great and are there for you with whatever you need. I would recommend this resort to anyone

Clean Relaxing Prestigious

Now, if they can only do something about the sunset grill (especially service) I would also like to see a buffet like serving during the day at the sunset grill, or maybe even at night to help improve on the service.. Other then that, immaculate beach, very clean and quiet resort, attentive and caring staff, relaxing atmosphere, i recommend and hope to be back someday soon!!