2nd AMAZING Visit to Iberostar Ensenachos

This is our 2nd visit to the resort....and it was more impressive than the first time!! Even after the hurricane the resort looks amazing! Overall you will be very impressed by the service, the food and of course the beautiful beach.

What to expect at Iberostar Ensenachos - Cayo Santa Maria

below - you will see more comments This Hotel needs to improve its services about - beach towels: before booking this trip, i saw a note by previous hotel customers saying the same comment about unavailability to change your beach towel; i confirm that such statement is 100% TRUE; do you think that i have time on vacations to sit and wait hours for changing our beach towel; for a hotel like Iberostar, this is a JOKE; if you don't have enough CASH to buy more beach towel for your customers, the [... read more]n close your business operations - Cuba "tipping" practice: this was my first time in Cuba, and i was surrpise to see that "tipping" was a pressure thing unless you will not have a good service; this is ridiculous and not acceptable when you pay for an all inclusive package; and if you don't give any tips (propina), then some hotel employees are giving you a "look" or even ignoring you when you ask for something; again, such attitude is not acceptable and such business/hotel practice must be banned; yes Cuba, you have nice playa to attrack tourism, but you are not alone; or maybe Iberostar would need to pay its employees better wages or have a clear business employee internal policy to avoid this "tipping" attitude - i will write to Iberostar chain hotel owner

Great resort to relax!

The resort overall is excellent, staff are very nice and the beaches are super! The resort covers a lot of activities and it was spacious and nice and clean. The fishing by the beach or snorkeling are amazing! The water are so clean and we saw many different sea creatures just by the shore itself. The only disappointment is the food, to be specific the hygiene. The chefs used the same cooking utensils for both raw and cooking food and there were flies all around. Luckily I read the review  [... read more]before going and prepared all kinds of medicine, my family of 4 all caught diarrhea after the first day. Must prepared your own medicine or first aid kit. And remember to bring enough sunscreen lotion, the hotel store didn't sell it, we brought 3 and used them all up before our one week vacation and there is nowhere you can buy it. Other than that, the staff are very entertaining and they all work hard, from the reception, the restaurants, the pool, the beach, the show and the cleaning staff. They are all very friendly and show their best to give us a relax and comfort holidays.

Iberostar Ensenachos

Pros: amazing beach and large rooms Cons: rooms in need of an update, everyone got travellers diarrhea, items stolen from our rooms and subpar service In short, it is not worth the money. I have been to this resort before and the quality has declined. It was very disappointing.

Disappointing - Don't Waste Your Money

Pros - white sand beach - most of it - speciality restaurants were okay - limited friendly workers even with generous tips - nice weather - big rooms - nice shower - walk in closet Cons - part of the beach had rocks and rocks in the water - water sports were not on the main part of the beach - rocks separated - rooms needed renovating - food at the buffet was terrible - no air conditioning so we had food poisoning all week, temperature in buffet lead to food spoiling - very poor f [... read more]ood handling practices - e.g. beach grill - cross contaminating food - cooked with raw food, temperature of food at buffet - Guest services people were rude and not helpful - if you don't speak Spanish, don't go to this resort, some workers were rude to English speaking people - limited shuttle service, resort too big - getting clean towels were an issue - the night shows were horrible and inappropriate content for children to be watching (sexual content) - bring toilet paper, there was never enough - don't put your things on a main floor room because we had items stolen off our balancy - translation of Italian menu into English were comical - 1 hour and 45 minute drive to the hotel - over 2 hours after having to make 3 stops because the bus didn't have a washroom - I would not recommend going to this resort and it did not live up to the Iberostar name

Great Hotel - the Best Beach and Ocean!

We stayed in hotel in a week of Jul 2nd. Weather was great! Hotel is clean, there are two beaches. Both are great, but I liked Ensenachos more, just because water is unbelievable clear - something I have never seen anywhere else! You will also find a lots of wildlife/ocean-life: butterflies, crabs, jellyfish, zebra fish, few types of school of fish (you do not need your googles at all - they just swim around you), starfish, iguana... simply put: beautiful! Some ppl say they saw snake(s),  [... read more]but I have not! There are kids playground and kids pool - and there is also adults pool adjusent to kids pool, witch is great, you can actually see your kid playing even though you are at the adults pool. Very well planned! Service at the pool is fantastic. They walk all they and offer drinks. Hotel room is big, balcony was large as well. We did not have hot water one evening. I called in next day, and they have fix it. Food is tasty, there is not great many choices if you compare to e.g. Dominican or Mexico, but there is enough and most importantly, it tastes good. I would highly recommend to make reservations at Mediterranean restaurant - it is on a beach with ocean view. Arrive earlier so you can see sunset (something I did not realised, so I book for 8.30pm and missed it!). Internet is in lobby only, 1 pesos for 1 hour. The only think they I would recommend for improvement was service. Reception and pool service was good. But buffet could be better. Some servants were ok, but some not so much... Overall, great value for the money!

Amazing Beach

Check in was the worst we had ever experienced, as we had to stand in a line for one hour to receive our check in envelope. The food was typical for Cuba, not great, long buffet lineups. The Al a Carte meals nothing special, and again very long wait times and uncomfortable seating. Absolutely no lobby entertainment except one night they offered a bingo game. This resort defiantly catered more to children than adults. The best part of this vacation was the beautiful secluded beach.

Best beach in the world!

Iberostar Ensenachos has a whole island for itself and it's incredible. White sand beach, calm waters, beautiful grounds... all that gives the resort a huge advantage. Don't let little imperfections in service and food bother you, just relax and enjoy the sun.

Great Location and Staff!

Staff in general very good throughout. The room was well cleaned. 'Maid' was friendly and left towel designs. Beautiful beaches and service under tiki huts for food and drinks. Wifi avail in lobby $1Cuc

Dissappointment

Hotel needs work! Stuff need discipline! They say now when you don’t tip and yes when u tip very well! Nonsense to have Chivas And not tonic! Waiters and barmans have attitude! Restaurants very badly managed and with no consideration!

Iberostar Ensenachos

Grounds were very nice, gardens well kept. Chambermaid was amazing (Youmara) took very good care of us. Front desk staff were not helpful at all...dismissive & rude upon our arrival...did not assist with requests-lights burnt out in our room-our chambermaid took care of it . Beds were terrible. Gym staff terrible...also rude & dismissive.. You come to this resort for the beach...food mediocre, entertainment was very late ..& indoor-we didn’t even know about until 3rd night in.

Great resort!

We stayed at the hotel for a week from May 12 to May 19th, 2018. We absolutely enjoyed the stay, the gardens are so beautiful, and the beach outstanding. We stayed at the spa section and it made a big difference specially at the pool which was always very welcoming, quiet and relaxing. The room was spacious, clean and comfortable, although maybe the mattress was not as good as the one we have at home but who cares?, it is a vacation so I slept like a baby having left behind and far, far away a [... read more]ll the stress and worries of the daily grind..As an aside we did found that the complimentary robes and beach towels came in handy! The hotel itself is beautiful, very much in sync with the traditional colonial Cuban architecture, but still incorporating the best of modern minimalism and relaxed beach resort atmosphere. The food was OK, if you embrace the differences, not everyone on planet Earth eats the same things, the same way, thanks goodness for that! My husband overheard once a guest complaining to a waitress about how her kids did not have anything to eat at breakfast because they serve salami and hot dogs (the little ones) for breakfast, but every day there was also milk in every form and flavor, made to order pancakes and omelets, eggs in every shape and form, bacon, yogurt, juices, breads, butter, jams, cereals, little cakes, ham, a selection of cheeses (soft and hard), salads,(fresh and cold), fruit, and many other things that I care not to remember, which left us pondering what these kids might have for breakfast...If it is a particular brand of ketchup or peanut butter, then no, you will not find that in CUBA, thanks goodness for that too! The buffet might get a little tiresome anyways but there are plenty of choices, I would recommend to try the specialty restaurants in particular the Italian one if only because it saves you from the buffet madness, because although the waiters and waitresses at the buffet did their best they were no match for the hungering masses and screaming kids raining down on them after a day of swimming (the spa section does not save you from that !) You may also wish to head to the pool's restaurant for lunch, and enjoy a quick and peaceful bite, which need not be humble as it may involve some delicious shrimp and lobster...In general I recommend trying the seafood and fish because they are FRESH!! which makes all the difference in the world. All the hotel staff is friendly and very hardworking and you might wish to consider tipping as often as you can. We destined $200 CAD just for tips and it was more than enough. I want to stress that you will get the same service and smile anyway, you do not need the tip for that but you will want to do it anyway and it never hurts! There was also plenty of entertainment to be had, activities for kids and very good music with live bands playing every night at the hotel lobby and then at the evening shows. We did not take any of the excursions on offer so we cannot speak to that, but we did take the bus to go to the little market they have and there we find that there is room for improvement. The bus is 2.00 CUC but it is not a hop on and off one, so if you get off, then to get back on you need to pay again which did not make a lot of sense, why not make it a 4.00 CUC fare and give your guests the flexibility they need when they are exploring places? A personal experience, we went to the little market and had some refreshments while there, but then when it was time for lunch we found that it made no sense to stay there and eat and wanted to get back in time before the buffet close so instead of taking the bus, we just took a taxi which charged us exactly the same fare and we did not have to wait at all! We were a party of 5, so instead of getting 20.00 CUC from us, the bus co. got only 10.00 CUC but they still have to do the same # of round trips, as I said not much sense there... Everything went smoothly with the travel arrangements, the trip there and back, the checking in and out of the hotel, the only real inconvenience is that it is a relatively long haul from the airport to the hotel (1hr and half), fortunately they have very comfortable buses. We strongly recommend this hotel and were the world not so big and life not so short, we would gladly return for a second stay!

Amazing Beach

Best part is the beach. So much shade we could go to the beach at any time and get a lounger. Buffet is the same food for lunch and supper. You get sick of it very quickly. Asian and Italian alacartes are very good. We stayed in the adult section. The snack bar beside the adult pool served lunch and it was really good. The first 2 rooms they gave me were in the wrong section. Finally the third room was in the spa section. Bed was very uncomfortable we could feel the springs in our backs. [... read more] The resort is very spread out, a lot of walking which we liked. Bring lots of bug spray, we did and still got a ton of bites. The place is in need of an update. Maid service was very good always very clean. The grounds are beautiful and well kept. So many beautiful flowers.

Home away from home

My wife and I enjoyed our stay from May 08th to May 15th. We stayed in the Grand Village section of the resort and it was fantastic. This was our 6th trip back to Iberostar Ensenachos and we will be back again next year without question. This is our summer home away from home and the only negative thing I can say is that we can't stay longer (sad how we all have to work for a living- well most of us ;) There is not one bad thing to say about the resort- not one. The resort itself is a tropica [... read more]l paradise for us with beautiful grounds and amazing white sand/coral beaches. There was some noticeable damage from the hurricane but it was only noticeable because we are familiar with the resort. There was no obvious or glaring issues if you were not a repeat guest. They worked very hard cleaning up and painting/repairing affected areas. The main lobby is awesome. Huge amount of work done and it shows. Notable additions on all beaches are the amount of palapas. I can't imagine anyone not getting one now. There are tons of them (WELL DONE!) With all the beauty around the resort, and all the great food we had to choose from (nobody would ever starve here- it's just not possible), what gives this resort its soul is the people. Once again we went back to visit our Cuban family and as always, are received with warm smiles and even warmer hugs. My wife and I will never tire of the comfort we have in our friends when we are here. The real soul of this resort are the people who make this place home. It's not even fair to call them "staff". They are so much more than that. none of them seem to treat what they do as a "job". It's more a way of life and they do everything they can to make someone happy as that is who they are. It's an amazing place with amazing people. Highest of recommendations without doubt. Completely top shelf.

Excellent second stay at Iberostar Ensenachos

We stayed at Iberostar Ensenachos for the first time from Jan 25-Feb 10/2018. Previously we’d always stayed at Melia resorts, both in Cayo Coco and Cayo Santa Maria. However, this time we made a last-minute change to our 2018 trip on a very high recommendation from a repeat Iberostar Ensenachos guest we’d met. We tend towards smaller resorts (as in fewer rooms), and those well integrated into their natural surroundings. Iberostar Ensenachos could not have possibly suited our requiremen [... read more]ts any better. In fact, we had such a pleasant overall first experience that we could not wait another year to return, and booked a second visit from May 4-12, from which we have just returned. Wondering whether or not our first experience was out of the ordinary, we needn’t have worried.. The return visit in May was even better than the Jan/Feb trip!! From our initial very pleasant welcomes at reception, to checkouts, everything met and exceeded our expectations throughout both our stays. We’d sent room requests ahead of our arrivals, and all were met. Staff here are remarkable, and do an exceptional job at making you feel at home, if not like family in most cases. The resort is an older one, done in a sort of French Colonial style. Much warmer than the newer, modern block architecture resort style becoming so prevalent now. The resort surroundings & grounds are beautifully lush and groomed. The gardeners have done brilliant work. Like most of this region, they suffered extensive damage to larger trees in hurricane Irma, which will take years to fully recover, but nonetheless Cayo Ensenachos, and the resort, have done remarkably well. The resort is very well integrated into the natural habitat, and the Cayo is a nature preserve, so expect an abundance of wildlife. Birds, geckos & larger lizards, crabs, frogs, iguanas, the most dragonflies we’ve ever seen, butterflies, and snakes (saw three beautiful ones our first trip, though none at all on the second). So, if you’re at all offended by the presence of wildlife... might not be the best resort choice. The resort is spread out over nearly the entirety of Cayo Ensenachos, so be prepared for a lot of walking. Those with mobility issues may want to consider a more compact resort, though porters will take you via cart anywhere you like on the resort. In our case, we love walking and taking in the beauty of the grounds, so loved this aspect of our stay. Rooms were very good, and spacious. We stayed in three different rooms across our two visits, and all were fine. It’s an older resort, so normal wear & tear was apparent on some things, but very acceptable. Air conditioning always worked fine, and all the room equipment and fixtures worked properly. Beaches are, in a word, stunning. Megano Beach is closest to the main section of the resort, and Ensenachos Beach is a much further distance away, though we found Ensenachos to be our favorite of the two, and spent the majority of our time there. Both beaches have snacks (Megano has an actual small restaurant, while Ensenachos is more a BBQ-style lunch), and each has a full bar. The beaches are both gently sloped (Ensenachos more than Megano), so great for wading / swimming. Lots of shade available at both, though definitely more crowded at Megano (so get there early if you need a palapa). Some great snorkeling can be had around the rockier areas between the two beaches, as well as at the sunken barge on the sandbar off Megano. Saw a huge variety of tropical fish, conch, starfish, corals, stingray, and barracuda ranging from under a foot to a massive 4-5’ specimen one day. The beauty of Cayo Ensenachos is that it tends to be much more sheltered than Cayo Santa Maria’s main beach, so a rough or windy beach day at Cayo Santa Maria resorts can still be a great beach day at Iberostar Ensenachos. Pools seem beautiful, and also have bars / restaurants available, but being beach people, we only visited them twice. Snacks at both the Park/Family & Spa/Adult section were very good. Service was excellent, as always. We only ate at one of the a la cartes during our stays (and it was excellent), since we were always content with the service, selection and quality of food at the buffet. The buffet mixes things up regularly, and there is enough selection & variety to not get bored. Chef stations are also very good, and will custom cook foods to your request. The resort always had a large variety of seafood available. Frequently there were fresh shrimp, lobster, assorted kinds of fish including salmon & tuna, etc. Vegetarian / vegan selections are a bit more limited, but no one should have trouble finding food to meet their tastes. The pastry chefs are to be commended as well, as some of the pastries and desserts were wonderful. Some of the pork selections are absolutely fantastic, definitely the most delicious we’ve ever had, anywhere. And, if you’re a fan of ice creams, their coconut flavour is to die for, and the dark chocolate is a close second. There is also a type of caramel / coffee ice cream that’s delicious. As much as we loved the resort, beaches and food, the real gems of Iberostar Ensenachos are the staff. On our return visit, we were welcomed as returning guests, often even by staff we hadn’t interacted with the previous trip. Everyone we met was pleasant, friendly and professional. Though everyone was great, some in particular stood out for us however, and felt like family after such a short amount of time spent together: Buffet: Armando & Yaima, wonderful, wonderful people. Always welcoming Marianki. The amazing & professional Carlos, always keeping us entertained & happy. The ever pleasant-spirited Daidenys. The remarkable wife & husband duo of Daily & Yuri (watching them work together in a busy buffet is like watching a dance, they’re so coordinated to their guest’s needs). Cleaning/housekeeping: Yudi, our chambermaid did a fantastic job, and always met us with a smile and a friendly chat. Belkys, always pleasant and singing, always made time to welcome us and ask how we were. Bars: My wife and I aren’t big drinkers, but Giselle in the lobby bar was always great. Zaidy at Ensenachos beach was a standout as well, as was Yadima there. Ensenachos Beach: The entertainment team here does an amazing job, Yisel in particular was always fun, and great at getting people active. Yuri met us with a heartwarming smile and greeting every morning, always finding us a good spot to set up loungers, and was wonderful to sit down and chat with during quieter times (not to mention exceptionally patient with our very limited Spanish). Mario, catamaran captain; my wife cannot swim, yet Mario always made her feel very safe & welcome, especially on rougher days if we went out. He always provided excellent guidance and info during our trips with him, and was a pleasure to spend time with. Customer Service: Geysi, the customer service manager… prompt, courteous and extremely professional. All in all, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our stays at this resort, and cannot wait to return again. It rapidly became a place that feels like a second home to us.

Relaxing vacation

The Iberostar Ensenachos hotel in Cuba was good. I have personally experienced another resort in Cayo Coco and was pleasently surprised at how much better the food was at the Iberostar Ensenachos. They always had multiple options and they were very accomodating if you needed anything different or extra. The grounds are beautiful, everything is well maintained. The two beaches are gorgeous and there is plenty to see there in terms of wildlife such as crabs, and fish. Everything about this resort  [... read more]is great other than the layout and the length but that is definitely unavoidable, we were located in the spa section in building 27 so the walk from our room to the both beaches were longer than we’d prefer and a lot of the time the carts that I think were meant to bring us around were unavailable even if you tried and looked for them at the lobby or anywhere else. Other than the walking which we personally weren’t a fan of, this resort is great and provides you with most of the tools for a relaxing vacation.

Lots of room for improvement

Public restrooms were dirty, flooded with water, had no toilet paper or paper towels, stall doors did not lock or have locks on them. Food was medicare, both buffet (cold food was room temperature and hot items were cold). A la cartes were below average. Room did not have a deadbolt or chain lock. Most staff were not willing to answer questions or even entertain them at times. No shade or umbrellas at the pools. Grounds are lovely, room was moderately clean and spacious. Beaches are amazin [... read more]g. It's a hidden gem but needs improvement.

Beautiful Resort

This was our fifth trip to Iberostar Ensenachos. We stayed in the Spa Section which is adult only. As usual, staff were great, the grounds were lovely and the beaches wonderful. Even though we had our registration forms completed prior to registering, it took over an hour to get a room. Other than this, the only negative thing I would say is the number of children at the resort. There were children sitting at the bars at 9:00-9:30 at night which I thought was a bit much. Also, it was very noisy  [... read more]in the main lobby as well as the beaches. As much as we love this resort, I think we will go for an adult only next time!

Extremely relaxing atmosphere

Although the hotel was not in a tip top condition in terms of maintenance, but our room was really comfortable and met our needs. We loved the landscape and how the pools were designed. We stayed at the adults only section but we had a selection of pool areas to sit around. The only thing is that there was not enough shaded areas for those who do not really enjoy sitting under direct sun but we managed. Breakfast buffet was awesome, they had all what one could crave for breakfast. Lunch and Din [... read more]ner were good. The one thing I would have them do is label their dishes especially salads and soups. We had hoped for more lobster but it was served only once during our seven nights stay. The other one take is the pool/beach towel issue. We had to go and trade in our used towels with clean towels everyday and they were really strict about it. On one day they had no clean towels at all and that was a bit upsetting. Staff were very nice and friendly and did their best to make us feel welcomed. In general, we had a very pleasant stay. We would definitely go back and recommend to friends.

Pretty resort

The Hotel itself is very nice , grounds are kept up and looked after. One of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see I am sure. The service was terrible tho had to wait for drinks know one would come around the lobby and ask you if you wanted a drink . The food wasn't that great but then again it is Cuba and you put up with the food because the people and the place is beautiful. Having said that I wouldn't go back there again .