Melia Buenavista: Still a very good resort

Melia Buenavista, 21st to 28th August 2019 Several time to this Hotel because as described in my previous report it was the best Resort I have visited in Cuba...... Still a very nice resort but, this time around I sensed deterioration (compare to 8 months ago) example: Service still very good but you feel the staff is exhausted, less friendly...some people work extra hard and other I can't tell what they are doing!... Introduced unnecessary red tapes and cut on some services and offering ( [... read more]like sparkling wine at sun set and at some restaurants, Herbal tea, vegetables....) Maintenance, A/C, Torn curtains, Broken furniture, broken tiles, pealing painting......all down one notch. Food quality and variety has deteriorated. Beaches are still excellent. Landscaping still impeccable. Night Shows still very good. All in all still a very good resort but unfortunately lost altitude. In the future I will still consider it but it is no longer on the top of my list.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Excellent hotel!

Very nice and child friendly hotel with a high quality of service, clean and spacious rooms, lovely and professional staff, a good variety of food, lots of activities, heavenly landscape and a pristine beach.

Melia Cayo Coco: Fantastic time

We have been to almost all 4+ resorts in Cuba and this one is up in the top 5. The building block that we requested was not ready when we arrived but we are seasoned travellers so we were prepared. The beach grill, and lobby bar coffee was the best. The pool area was a lot of fun. Overall we had a really great relaxing trip which is exactly what we were looking for.

Melia Las Antillas: Gorgeous beach, hospitable accommodation, and friendly staff!

I had an amazing 4 nights, 5 day stay in Melia Las Antillas in August 2019. I felt really pampered and taken care of during my whole stay. Yoselin and Maria Y. were the receptionists who assisted me. The resort was clean, staff were always available for assistance, food selections were not bad and I found them really satisfying despite what everyone would say about Cuba having limited food options. The a la carte restaurant reservation line up though is a bit of a wait, so I suggest you line up  [... read more]early to get your time’s worth. I suggest you tip your servers whether in the restaurant, bar, alcohol service, reception area- they will be your friends as they’ll remember your name and presence and give you superb service! I stayed alone in this trip and I felt really safe and well taken care of;) The junior suite room I had was a “bit” outdated, but had the necessities I needed during the whole stay. I will definitely come back if given the chance. Every penny spent was worth it! 5/5 for me! All stars!

Melia Cayo Coco: Nice resort

The hotel was very nice and the grounds were lovely. Food was decent and there was a good variety available...probably the best I've had at a Cuban resort. We go for the beautiful beach and it certainly didn't disappoint. However, on the 3rd day of our vacation we were sitting on the beach and a bi-plane flew extremely close to the ground, right along the water. After the third pass we realized it was a crop duster and we were being sprayed! I completely understand that there are an abundance of [... read more] mosquitoes to be dealt with and pests are not good for tourism. But it's also not good to spray at noon when there are hundreds of tourists on the beach. This kind of thing should be done early in the morning. Also on our last day we noticed that no one was in the water. Unfortunately the storm from the previous night had stirred up some "chunks" of oil that stuck to your body and were almost impossible to remove. Otherwise it was a very relaxing vacation and if neither of those incidents had happened, it would have been perfect.

Sol Palmeras: Great resort

The hotel itself was beautiful, the rooms and bedding were a little dated and not a fresh as I would have preferred. They should have left more than 1 bottle of water for a room with 3 people. The staff were very nice for the most part and the food/drinks were good.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Great service and clean

The resort was very nice and clean. The service was great, but the food, so so (it’s Cuba). The vegetable were all coming from cans... no fresh vegetables, except cucumber. But beach, service and the hotel was very clean.

Melia Las Dunas: Beautiful beach, poor service

Room was average, hotel grounds were beautiful. Friendly staff, but poor service. The servers favored the locals, and there seemed to be alot there. Most Canadians we met there felt the same, that the service was poor and the wait for drinks and food were long. We felt like we were begging for service. It was very disappointing. There were alot of shortages - ice, beer, bread, towels, coffee cups (plastic was used for coffee)... Would not return to this resort.

Sol Palmeras: Sol Palmeras

The hotel was very tired looking and dated. The a la cartes were mediocre and the buffet was acceptable. Our room smelled of urine, all the time! We had difficulty receiving water despite the fact that the water was not potable and tipping everyday. The staff were polite and helpful. I would not return nor would I recommend this.

Paradisus Los Cayos: Waste of Money

I am struggling on finding a way to politely express how awful of an experience I recently had at paradisus los cayos in Cayo Santa Maria Cuba. Upon check in I asked if we could have a room on the ground floor or something close to the buffet or beach as I was traveling with my Mother and young son and was told "it is impossible, there are no available rooms". I thought fair enough, it's a beautiful resort it must be fully booked. . Which was not the case at all they had entire wings that had no [... read more] guests in them and rooms on our block that had no guests staying inside. There wasn't a single day where something didn't go wrong. On our first morning after our arrival we had no power for about 4 hours. Air conditioning, water, fridge nothing was working. The same thing for the buffet, all that good sitting in that heat speaks for itself; the food spoiled quickly. Half the elevators weren't working for days after the power outage.. Imagine going up four flights of stairs and having to walk over 400m to your room in 37 degree weather with a 65 year old woman with herniated spinal cord discs and a 5 year old with asthma. On our second day we decided to try the 24 hour snack bar restaurant by the pool; we sat on the patio for over half an hour before one of the servers decided to come over and ask us if we wanted food. Every other patron (95% of which were Cuban / spoke Spanish) was served almost immediately after they sat down. Never have I had such awful service at a resort in my life. Our 3rd day we awoke to our beautiful view of the ocean and main swimming pool... Only to find that the swimming pool had gone green. Not a little green, literally moss green. I thought to myself maybe it'll be clean by tomorrow, nope. You could see clouds of algae floating around in the pool on the 4th day. The 5th night going into the 6th night my son had awoken at 230am vomiting and having uncontrollable diarrhoea. I was trying to clean up the mess and put him on the toilet only to find out that there was no running water. Literally couldn't flush the toilet and couldn't wash him off or my hands. I had to use all the towels including beach towels to try and clean the mess up. We only got running in the room at about 530am. It may not be pleasent to read but the stench from my poor son was almost unbearable, and I couldn't even flush the toilet. I had to use bottled water to clean him off with our towels cold water from the fridge. My poor son was so uncomfortable and the cries from him; it just broke my heart. He didn't understand why there was no water for him to take a bath. I tried calling the front desk 5 times to have my call ring out. I spoke to another guest who was staying with her husband and 1 year old baby and found out that they didn't have water for the same block of hours 2 nights prior.. I was shocked. Is the resort shutting off the water at night to save money??? What other reason would there be for no running water for more than 2 nights in 4 days? We had to stay in the room the whole next day only leaving to get bread for him to eat at lunch time. When we came back to the room I had found that the maid cleaned up the room but left us without blankets and pillows cases for my son's bed on the pull out couch. My son really enjoyed the pizza at the snack bar and we went back 3 seperate times during the course of our trip to find out that they had run out. Same with hamburgers. The buffet was awful for their portions they served on the platters. They would put (for any given fish) the same amount of portions for a dinner party of 20 people. It was literally a race to each dish to try and get food. It was so sparse with them filling up the dishes. All of these problems I could MAYBE understand experiencing them at a small 2 star resort where you're paying next to nothing to be a guest at. But to pay collectively for 3 people over 500 a night to experience these issues it's simply unacceptable. I thought spending a little bit extra than normal I would be comfortable.. not the case at all. I have used trip central in the past for a family vacation where we paid 680$ per person and had a wonderful experience; although this past experience where I spent literally double the price per person is making me want to rethink my decision to use trip central in the future. Double the price and not even a quarter of the quality and customer service from the resort. Had I known that I would have had a vacation like this I wouldn't have even boarded the plane. I am truly gutted that my family vacation (which as a single mother I can't afford many of) went so badly. How do you explain to a 5 year old he can't go swimming in the pool because it's dirty? Truly disgraceful on the resort's part.

Melia Marina Varadero: Great

It was very nice hotel the only thing is that they should have handles on the washroom the toilet is very low I am senior And the only thing is when you need golf cart and you want to go back to the hotel my Daughter and I waited for long time Golf cart the golf cart should be running every Five minute had great time and the people are very nice we mice them when we came back

Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: Amazing resort

Great experience I love it with hotel food and people was amazing for sure in the future will go there again I will recomend it to people to go there is amazing you will have great time will recomend to go to Robert he is a tour guy will help you to set up a tour for you he is amazing

Melia Marina Varadero: Good Resort

It was good we enjoy your self the only thing we had to wait for golf cart to pick us up from the beach my mom is a senior and it was very hot for her they should have the golf cart running every 5 minutes to pick up people from the beach and take them back to the hotel that's the only problem everything was great the people are very nice and I got treated like royalty

Melia Marina Varadero: Good resort

The hotel was ok needs bit of TLC its modren tho, the mattresses were deep and need to be changed house keeping was very good altho I take my own bed linen and ask them to keep it on. Food was fresh every day good selection but exact same thing for seven days. Also Someone need to explain to the locals that occupied 95% of the resort to be respectful and stand in the line with the rest and stop bidding in front as you wait for your orders eg shrimps, grilled chicken, egg or at any station [... read more] also they need to hire staff that speak english . The resturant manager is such a hard worker and organized everything and plays a fair game regardless if your cuban or tourist. Beach is very pristine and beautiful enough loungers around. Swimming pool needs to be updated all the tiles are broken and very slippery inside you could easily slip. But my only compliant was few of the resturant staff and beach bars were not doing their job to their potentials unless you tipped but its understanding too that their job isn't easy with so many orders especially the ppl in the swimming pool that swarm the bars with alcohol and the resort was full of kids which you could not even enjoy a moment of peace with one or two jumping over you in the pòol or jacuzzi.

Melia Marina Varadero: Great resort with absolutley wonderful staff

Amazing staff at the kids club,friendly hotel staff,clean rooms,good variety of food,minutes from the Ocean,clean pool & definitely a place to come back to. Would recommend it any time and can't wait to go back.

Melia Las Antillas: Great resort with absolutley wonderful staff

Amazing staff at the kids club,friendly hotel staff,clean rooms,good variety of food,minutes from the Ocean,clean pool & definitely a place to come back to. Would recommend it any time and can't wait to go back.

Melia Cayo Coco: GREAT place for a quiet vacation

the beach is spectacular. Service, staff very courteous. I was looking for a quiet place, really remote and this was it. the only thing was the food was really not so great. It could have been better. the a-la-carte restaurants were really terrific so there's no reason for buffets to be so lackluster. otherwise great place. went solo and its very safe and comfortable.

Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: Not a great resort - would not recommen it

The only nice thing about the resort was the beach. I have been to Cuba many times, but food selection was the same everyday, ran out of ice cream, desert selection same and not a huge amount, fruit same everyday and some days only a few bowls offered at breakfast/super. Waiter staff was good. Service at reception was poor, had to wait over an hour to check in when only two people working and they knew a bus load of people coming. Air conditioner in room was leaking to the point floor was [... read more] soaked with water and had to get it fixed 3 times until final stopped leaking, bathtub was stained with black spots. Were a lot of locals in the resort vacationing and found many of them to be rude and pushy and even though I was in line first, the bar staff would wait on them first. For the bar in the lobby, the line was huge to get a drink at night time and I don't ever remember having to wait in such a long line ever at other resorts. Lobby needs fans for circulation as it is very hot even at night time. There is only a breeze at certain times. Entertainment at night wasn't the greatest. Best nights were in the lobby and the water show. Cuban show was awful (not the greatest dancing) and disappointing as you are in Cuba. Again I have been to Cuba many times and had no complaints.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Very great experience

This was our first family trip to the Caribbean and it was better than expected. So many helpful reviews and some misleading comments left us wondering what to expect. As first time to Cuba we had much to experience. We chose Melia CSM for it’s smaller size and beautiful beaches. And the beach was glorious- white sand and clear blue water - this was the highlight of the destination. The resort was very nice. Beautiful gardens, majestic palm trees swaying in the background of every view [... read more]. The pool was bustling with activity morning and afternoon with staff keeping everyone entertained and satisfied. The entertainment was very good. Thoroughly enjoyed the many presentations from live music to theatric synchronized swimming, magic shows, fashion shoes, dancing and acrobatics. The food was much better than forewarned. Nothing bland or short of flavour. Many choices kept our family with a few picky eaters never without options. The rooms were slightly dated but very clean and well kept by the maid service. Really had no concerns as we weren’t expecting luxury. A safe and comfortable room to handle our needs between beach pool dinner and nightlife. The staff - the people of Cuba who welcomed us eager to serve and make our experience memorable were top notch! Despite our first time - with much research and review and discussion with other guests, we really did enjoy this resort and experience in Cuba. We may have caught the travel bug as a result of this trip. Thanks Melia CSM for great memories!

Melia Buenavista: Hidden Gem

Staff: Awesome and friendly people who treated us like VIPs, shout out to our butler Odlanier, lifeguard Kariel and animations Nayer Service: attentive and went above and beyond setting up our room , night turn down service and bath set up without us even having to ask Food: better than expected for Cuba, no buffet all a la cart, tastefully presented and prepared Beach: great , clean , warm 3 beaches , 2 pools Resort: Melia Buenavista is a smaller resort but clean and rel [... read more]axing, lively entertainment at night Guests can visit 2 other nearby Melia resorts