Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Nice Resort

Beautiful grounds! Well kept. The beach is amazing. One of the best! Some of the lounge chairs need to be replaced but the friendly lifeguards work hard to ensure you have a good one. The staff are nice and friendly. The rooms need some work. We were in a couple and found they had a damp smell. The sliding door would not work. But we decided as long as we could lock them and not use the little patio we would not complain. The bathroom needs a lot of work. Lots of hot water and pressure making fo [... read more]r a nice shower! Food was the usual as in most of the resorts we have visited, perhaps a little better. I am fussy so usually eat from the pasta bar but the basic ingredients, as in onions and peppers were rarely available. I enjoy salads however lettuce was usually missing for the last meal of the day. But for the first time I tried and enjoyed some of the meat from the barbeque located at the beach lunch hut!

Valentin Perla Blanca: Gorgeous Resort

Hotel, beach, pools, bars are all great. Service is ok, some people are more enthused about their job then others. Food was pretty bad but not what you go to Cuba for anyways. There were days when they were out of certain foods so that sucked. Towel service was awful never got a pool towel after having lost mine previously.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Triple A+++ resort

This was our 5th stay at this hotel, it has all you need for a great family vacation. Caters to all ages, from children to teens and adults. There are 4 great pools along with a kiddies section and pool. There is a 24 hour snack bar, and also a cigar bar that turns into a disco after 10pm each night. The staff, and people are all friendly and amazing people.. makes you feel comfortable. Will definitely be going back for our 6th visit. Thank yo!

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Wonderful resort!

The grounds are beautifully kept as always. The rooms and common areas are very clean. Services personnel were very pleasant and hard working as usual. The food was tastier then previous years with better selections. The beaches are lovely and the pools are clean and well kept. This was our ninth trip to the Iberostar Ensenachos and we will definitely be back!

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Needs improvement

The rooms, the pool areas, the lobby, the beaches, were all beautiful . Except for all the public washrooms which need upgrading and repair. The issues were with not enough staff, not well trained staff, staff that did not focus enough on the client of the hotel. The food needs some improvement, the entertainment in public areas was non-existent. There were Iberostar public relations staff on sight interviewing people and we all completed questionnaires given us by the Pr staff. They w [... read more]ant to improve and were working on have issues resolved. Restaurant staff were great and attentive. Need staff at pool areas to take orders for bar service, need more golf cart shuttles available . Need entertainment or at least music at pool areas. Things were improving as we were ending our stay. Would not recommend currently.

Valentin Perla Blanca: NEVER STAY HERE!

My girlfriend and I, along with 2 other couples and a friends stayed here from Feb 15-22 2019. This was my not my first time to Cuba, I know what to expect when going to a Cuban resort. This is said to be a 4.5 star resort and I've stayed at 3 stars that were far better then this place. First off, when we checked in. They placed us at completely different ends of the resort (about a 8-10 min walk from side to side). We said no and asked for all the rooms to be in the same building or at leas [... read more]t close. Then had to wait 2 hours for them to be ready. When we came back, they tell us they have given the rooms away and then for the first night, we would stay in 1 room and then move out to the building with our friends. We did not want to keep moving from room to room when we settled on staying in that room for the entire week. We get settled into that room, we come to realize that there are no towels, no beach towels, no water, no pop, or beer and THE SHEETS WERE DIRTY! like someone had walked on them. This was also the same case in my friends room. When we go up to the front desk, they tell us that someone will be there in 10 minutes. AN HOUR LATER, still nothing. We go back up, they tell us that they got lost and are on their way. ANOTHER HOUR LATER! STILL NOTHING! at this point we give up and just want to complain to hola sun and customer service in the morning. We turn our lights off and get settled into bed, and the lights over our bed keep flickering every 3 seconds! Stupid pot lights! At this point I'm so angry I go back up to the front desk FOR THE 3RD TIME IN THE FIRST NIGHT! they then tell me that they will send someone asap to fix the light and get the sheets changed but don't have any towels to give us. When I get back to the room, I can hear knocking, look outside and I can see someone from the hotel knocking on rooms and seeing if they're empty and then taking sheets off those beds and giving us the top sheet. A fix, but not what we wanted. Never fixed the light and ended up Pulling the light out of the ceiling (nobody came the entire week to fix it also) Next morning, we go to complain to the customer service and hola son, and we tell them everything that happened and they tell us okay theyre going to fix it. At this point I'm upset and cranky and say this is unacceptable and something needs to be done and I'm told "I can't do anything about yesterday I wasn't here, I can only fix the problems you have today" ...... At this point I lost all hope for this resort. The food - they had bread for 2 days of the 7 of the trip. Other then that, food was typical Cuban resort food. But still couldn't have sandwiches, burgers or even just a bun with dinner. The lines at the buffet were nothing less then 20 minutes or any pasta or grilled meat. So so so stupidly long that you end up giving up on getting anything. For the A LA CARTS! ABSOLUTELY INSANE!! never experienced anything like this before. We were offered 3 a la carte dinners, and they had 3 choices; Spanish, french, or Italian. They tell us that Spanish and French are all booked up and that we can only have the Italian for 3 dinners. UNLESS we PURCHASE a wine (ranging from 8-50 CUC) or upgrade our dinner to a steak or lobster dinner (25 CUC a person) only if we did either of those could we have a table at the Spanish or French restaurant. My girlfriend and I decided to have a special night and we get a bottle of wine and do the Spanish, we ask what days and time they have a table, only to be told that we can sit there any time any day. ALSO! To only be served the EXACT same beef and potatoes we had the night previous at the buffet. Extremely disapointing. The staff- RUDE AND TIP FOCUSED! go to any of the bars and If you don't have some pesos in your hand to tip, good luck getting a drink! Even if your only one getting a drink, if you haven't tipped they start tapping the tip jar and looking at you to put a tip in there. If you tipped your first drink and kept going back and didn't keep tipping, they will start pouring you less and less (this happened at all bars but especially the pool and beach bar). They expect a peso or more every drink... I don't even tip that much back Canada after a night of having 10 drinks at a bar. As for room cleaning - sheets never got changed once during the week we were in the room, the beds got made, and that was it. Not swept or moped. Even after complaining and tipping. The pools and beach- the pools are very poorly taken care of, missing many many times almost cutting our feet in the pools. Most of the step ladders in going into the pools are broken as well, you have to jump in (okay for us were all 20-24) but anybody with bad knees and joints, this would be totally garbage. The beach, only a certain amount of chairs and shade, maybe enough for 70 people, but IF YOU TIP! they'll get you chairs and shade spot. We spent 1300 a person for the week, and just absolutely waste of money. I would never go back to resort even if it was down to 500 all in after taxes. WORST RESORT EVER!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Cant wait to go back

This was our first family vacation and we enjoyed it very much. The staff was super friendly, and work very hard,we made some great new friends. The beach was incredible. We were able to go barefoot as there were very few rocks, and the sand was so clear. Booking excursions was very easy. We can not wait to go back.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Alright been better!

Pros: - beautiful beach - big lobby with lots of seating - great nightlife - great crowd (18+) - very relaxing - maids made our beds wonderfully everyday. - stocked our fridge everyday. Cons: - resort wanted people to pay for spanish/french a la cartes which should be included. - resort was out of bread most of the week for the snack bars. - some staff pushed on tipping after going up once for a drink. - beach chairs were next to impossible to find unless you paid money to get them [... read more]. - couple people travelling with me had trouble with their rooms being dirty. Second time being to this resort, first time was absolutely amazing I had zero problems hence the reason I went back. A lot of things changed this time as you can see in the cons and the resort was so overbooked food, service and maintenance obviously were neglected. Check in took around 2hrs which is obsurd, three bus loads of people came in on the same day as us. Very beautiful hotel in the slow season, Cuba is Cuba! You go for the beach and the bar!

Memories Paraiso: Memories to be made! But not with the bathrooms

Loved the very friend staff and people at the resort! Clean rooms and the beaches are to die for! The first day when I arrived I had no water or beverages in my room which was not convenient. Food was decent for Cuba! Excellent breakfast but Not very impressed with the lack of vegetarian options on the “a-la-carte” menus. The Mexican restaurant was not very Mexican but still very tasty food. Bars were not stocked up all the time and always lacked booze. Very sad to see stray cats and dogs on [... read more] the resort that looked to be abused. We tried feeding them some meat but there were signs for us not to feed these starving pets. Also the washrooms amongs the resort never had toilet paper and if it did it was a miracle so make sure you bring your own from your room. A lot of them also had broken locks and broken toilets. A lot of the sinks were broken and the beach bathroom was very run down and not clean. Activities listed on the website such as fruit carving were not offered and when we inquired about it the staff laughed and said they don’t offer a lot of the activities listen online. Overall very fun pool area with a swim up bar and a clean beach. Me and the girls still had a wonderful trip despite some of the issues on the property.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: As expected for Cuba!

The hotel was typical for Cuba. Our room was clean and well kept with some small issues that did not really bother us. Overall the staff was very nice with the exception of some(front desk!!!!and anyone who you would expect to provide information)they did not seem very knowledgeable about where they worked!! The beach was very nice, my sister loved it even though it was a little windy. The pools were nice, everything was clean and well kept. The food was typical for Cuba some good some bad, n [... read more]ot much flavor! Overall for my sister having never been to Cuba it was a good trip.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Some Issues

Upon arriving at the resort, there was a guest passed out in the front lobby (not a good first impression) especially considering this is a family resort. It would be helpful to get a heads up on all the shortages of this resort. We could not start our vacation immediately due to a towel shortage, there were no beach towels available. Really??? This is a beach resort and not one beach towel was available let alone exchanging for a clean one every day! There were shortages on mint for drinks, [... read more] vodka, white wine, as well as other items. For the most part you can get by without these items but the beach towel would be nice to know in advance so I could have packed one myself. Beach is beautiful, staff is mostly friendly, the front desk and service desk could improve. The rooms were nice but the cleanliness was about a 4 out of 10. There was a squashed bug on the wall that had not been cleaned off and a lot of hair still on the floor when first entering the room. The resort itself had a good atmosphere and was enjoyable overall. Again, informing guests of some of the shortages in advance would have been helpful.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing beach, decent food and resort but bad service

Grounds and beach are 5 star worthy, the food is decent (good for Cuba) but the staff is rude and unconcerned about the wellbeing of the customer. The resort is also 1h45 away from the airport on a good day. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes. There is zero entertainment and nothing to do but snorkel and swim. I would not go back.

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Secret Gem

This private resort is a diamond in the rough with lots of potential but be prepared for 1:45 bus ride with no washrooms. The beach is outstanding, the food was very good and the service was good. A few shortages like bread one morning & white wine. Reserve the restaurants early. Skip the Mexican restaurant that did not serve the basic staple of Tortilla chips. The cleanliness & building maintenance needs improvement as well as the evening entertainment.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Beautiful Beach Resort!

We just spent a week at this lovely adult resort. Very clean, fairly comfortable rooms, wonderful friendly staff, and the most amazing clean beach we have ever seen. The beach is beautiful soft sand, with no seaweed or jellyfish. There seemed to be plenty of beach chairs and shaded areas most days. Food is basic Cuban food (bland) at both the buffet and a la cartes. Nothing outstanding and I recommend you take your own ketchup, hot sauce, & salt/pepper. This wasn't a surprise to us as we had bee [... read more]n to other areas of Cuba before. The only disappointment was they seemed to have a shortage of bread for most of the week and were serving hamburgers and hotdogs without buns, and they would run out of beer at the (quiet) beach bar daily, as well as white wine at the lobby bar daily. Two buffet areas would serve them better to avoid long line ups for food. There was beer on tap at the other bars on the resort, just not at the far end of the beach near our hitel rooms. The walk to the lobby was 5 or more minutes away so not very convenient. We would take our own beer from the mini fridge with us instead but that was limited. Evening entertainment was typical for Cuba, but there was no nightclub or disco for those that enjoy the nightlife or dancing.

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: Good resort if you do not care about food

Stayed for a week Feb 14-21, 2019. Fresh, new, modern resort with great entertainment. Room service is good. Horrible food - testless or overcooked, HUGE lines in all stations. And cooks takes their time, looks like they have no experience at all. Honestly, I can do it better. Shortage of food is another problem. If you want to get some choice - come when they open the buffet. In one hour it is empty. It can be because they have just opened and had new cooks. I should say that I noticed a sl [... read more]ight improvement throughout the week. Pool is GREAT, you can see the ocean from the pool. Beach is quite shallow with a lot of weed on deeper side. Tons of fish. We had never had any problems with getting chairs, like in other resorts. Stuff. Majority are really nice, always greet you and smile. The only exclusion was some people in the main bar. They look like you own them something. Or like they have to give you their own alcohol. No matter how much tips you give

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Resort is beautiful

This hotel had beautiful grounds, pools very nice, clean and spacious, everything close by, beautifully gardened paths and walk ways, main dining buffet clean and spacious, speciality restaurants nice- however most of the time book and also on the select menu a lot of items not available, food was okay but if you have any type of food restrictions very hard to get something to eat. Staff very friendly and helpful (always pleasant and smiling) wonderful people :) we had an awesome stay here but t [... read more]he biggest let down was the Hotel room its self, it was in much need of repairs (bathroom door broken, toilet leaked over floor, shower head broken, walls were full of stains really needed to be painted and the bedclothes and towels full of stains and did not feel clean and fresh at all. unfortunately the bedrooms felt dirty :( If I were to recommend this Hotel (because it does have some very great qualities) I would have to be honest and warn that person about the bedrooms. I have to rate this at a 3 only because of the bedrooms! :(

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: Great Resort!

Great hotel, very friendly staff. Food was really good at the two restaurants (Asian was our fav). Pool bar had really good pizzas and snacks. Buffet was hit or miss, depending on what you got. It was good, just some choices were tastier. Beaches are great, access to the sister resort for drinks and snacks. Great vacation 🤗

Valentin Perla Blanca: Shabby Resort

Not only did the resort feel shabby, the food was downright awful. I got sick halfway through the week and the other 4 ladies got it as soon as we returned to Canada. Our sheets were not changed once in the whole week and thank goodness I grabbed rolls of toilet paper from the cleaning cart or we would have been out a few times. All in all, the resort needs a good amount of money infused in it to improve substantially in cleanliness and service (no phones from rooms worked even though we were [... read more] told to call the front desk for pick-up). Best thing about this resort was the beach, which is quite nice, and the entertainment - it was fantastic - kudos to the young hip-hop dancers who did a great Michael Jackson tribute. The folks at the desk in the Privilege Lounge to book meals, etc. were lovely as was Naldy at the Privilege Beach setting up chairs. I would not recommend this resort to anyone in future.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Nice Resort

Beautiful Beaches, Beautiful resort grounds, Lots of activities at the resort, Food is acceptable for Cuba (better than most Cuban resorts) A bit disappointed with cleanliness and friendliness of staff (compared to other resorts in Cuba, the staff was not as friendly... and I had higher expectations with cleanliness since it is a 5 star)

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: A long way to go.....

Our first trip to Cuba - and maybe our last. Although we had known that the food in Cuba is not the best, the early reviews for this new resort, especially for the food, were encouraging. Sadly, by the time we arrived, it was not. The resort is spectacularly beautiful. Opened in October 2018, it is smaller and quieter than most. Party fans should steer clear - stay at the Dawa at the other end of the beach. Two beautiful pools with two beaches at either end of the resort; a large sweeping bea [... read more]ch that leads to the Dawa resort. At the other end of the resort is a smaller, more secluded beach but is a bit of a walk past the Cabanas. 1) We payed a little extra to stay in a garden view Cabana (#2 and two minutes from the beach). The room is beautiful, has a large sitting area and a sprawling bathtub. We had to call maintenance twice to fix a leaky toilet and plugged shower drain. 2) The gym is nicely equipped however, since there are no mats, I had to do my stretching on the carpet in my room. 3) For those of you who are sensitive to no-see-um's (or chiggers), take bug spray. My wife and I came home covered in bites. I understand that this is a Cuba-wide issue. The resort is fogged every morning at 7am. Scares me to think what it might be like if they didn't spray. 4) There are two beach towels in your room when you arrive. You are to exchange them at the recreation desk (behind the snack bar) but, more often than not, they don't have new ones. 5) You will receive one hour of Wifi each day and is only good in the vicinity of the lobby. Make sure that you turn your Wifi off after each use to save your unused time for later. 6) Staff are very friendly and helpful however, the restaurants are generally understaffed. 7) Food. On our first day, we sat at the snack bar for lunch and encountered a just checked out couple waiting for their airport bus. In the two weeks there, they saw the quality and selection of the food deteriorate dramatically. And we spoke to a lady who had been there just after it opened in October and she couldn't believe the change. Breakfast is good with many offerings except good fruit. Lunch is the best at the Ranchero Playa which is at the end of the resort by the large beach (This restaurant doubles as the seafood a la carte at night). At lunch there is a BBQ out back where you can choose from chicken, ribs, sometimes beef, and good Chorizo. My only complaint is that the tend to overcook everything. Every day from the kitchen they have fried or grilled fish (sometimes chicken wings) which is generally good. There is also a small buffet. And you can sit outside with great views of the beach. The seafood a la carte is just OK. The Asian place is good, depending on what you order. As mentioned, things tend to be overcooked. The DR buffet ranged from atrocious to OK. On the last couple of nights I created snack plates - cold meats and cheeses, etc. and stayed away from many of the inedible hot items. And on our second last night (a Sunday), we arrived to the DR at 8pm (it opens at 7pm) to find that they had run out of wine (every type). It is a terrible shame as this place has so much five-star promise.