Awesome resort

The staff I dealt with were great. . The cooks who cook in the line are wonderful. . Resort was clean.. had a great time.. my one suggestion for hotel is the near building 8-10 to make a ramp to beach instead of climbing on rocks. . If you go make sure to go to beach opening near 15.. only complaint needed more sunny days lol

Good Resort

We really enjoyed our stay at this hotel and where there for nine days. The grounds where we'll kept but there was some garbage in the brushes which was sad to see as there really is no need for that there are garbages all over . We did find that our room was a bit of walk to the main lobby but we didn't mind the walk for the exercise, they do have shuttles but they would never stop and ask you if you wanted a ride, you would have to call from your room to get them to pick you up. Our room in un [... read more]it three was great - very clean, fridge and air conditioning worked awesome , and we could see the ocean which was a bonus ! Our maid was fantastic and friendly ! The bar and grill by the beach was fantastic - had grilled chicken,pork ,rice and salad - very yummy! The beach by there was where we spent most of our days it was less busy and beautiful, we even had waiter service some days which we didn't expect. The main beach is very beautiful as well but very busy ! We walked all the way to the right of the resort and did some snorkelling and saw jellyfish, some other fishes and barracudas ! Loved it! The towel exchange was only opened the once out of the six times we had went there , so hang on to your towels and try to to get an extra one in case you need them. The pools where great, very clean and not very busy we found, you had shade as well if you wanted but would need to place your towel on a chair to reserve them, which I understand but sometimes those people wouldn't show up till after lunch which really is not fair for others who may only wanted to sit and relax there in the am ? But we had no problems finding a spot but like I said most of our days where spent at the beach. The main lobby is quite big and we always got a spot to sit before and after dinner for a drink - and speaking of drinks they where good and didn't find them overpowering with alcohol like usual ! Service was great too and not to bad for the language barrier as we don't speak much Spanish but we never had an issue getting what we needed. We did two a la carts the international was very good the Italian was ok . Overall food - it's Cuba - I lived off the pasta which was very good but sometimes depending on timing would take 15-20 minutes- but most nights I only waited about 5-10, my husband isn't as picky as me and said the food was ok - like I said its Cuba. The breakfasts where ok as well , if you want an omelet, crepes or eggs prepare to wait in line. The 24 snack bar was ok - the first night we got there we where let down, no fries no pizza so we had a hot dog which I don't eat meat so ate the bun and my husband had the chicken sandwich which again was ok . They have ketchup - well they do and don't - first couple of days they where out all the time - then none to be found - unless you asked sometimes they may get you one - but it's like a BBQ taste and they do have peanut butter and jams. The disco is under renovation which was a let down but they had a shuttle that would take you to another resort if you wanted to dance - we never ended up making it though. They had a piano man most nights and the shows we find start late so we only watched two which where good - but we where really tired from being up so early and in the sun everyday ! The one thing to remember is the ride to the hotel is a bit of a ride - it's a good hour and a half - but we didn't mind and it's our second time to Santa Clara - they have beer but one down fall no toilet on the bus - they stopped on the side of road ladies !!! Bring Kleenex and hand sanitizer everywhere you go in Cuba actually - the excursions as well bring it - we took a roll of toilet paper from our room - some people bring baby wipes which is great idea as well ! Overall I would recommend this hotel we had a great time great service and found it pretty clean - the food was not the best - but thats not the reason we where there ! The sunny hot weather and the beautiful beaches make it worth while and I'm missing my flip flops already !

Beautiful Resort, Amazing trip!

This resort was stunning! The beach was breath-taking, beautiful soft white sand with a gradual entry perfect for young families! The ocean was a shimmering sea of turquoises and greens, just amazing with plenty of activities going on such as catamaraning, kayaking and pedal-boating! The pools were incredible, pristine and clean and sporting an amazing view of the ocean...to die for! The rooms were tastefully decorated, with clean white sheets and towels, which were changed daily. I always had p [... read more]lenty of hot water even at peak hours! The fridge was stocked daily with pop, beer and bottled water and you could always ask for extra...no problem! The service was great in the buffets but slow in the 24 hr snack bar. Drinks were amazing, food...so, so but I never went hungry. The beach buffet (overlooking the ocean) had a grill going everyday with chicken, fish and pork chops and on 2 days they hosted a pig roast with live Cuban music which I really enjoyed! Main buffet served wonderful omelets and crepes but be prepared for long line-ups! ACTIVITIES: Animation team-- Thai Chi, Meringue and Salsa lessons, Aqua gym (all fun!) COMPLAINTS: No beach party or pool party! :( They should play more music in the lobby bar at night, PREFERABLY CUBAN! People want to dance!! A DISCO would be great! SHOWS: need a lot of improvement!! All in all a great vacation! :)

Some was good some bad

My room was good the ground clean well keep the beach was excellent, food was an other story they are good for a 400 room but they have 800 if they run out of food in one bowl they don't refill it. It is not my first time to Cuba I know that the food is different but there was very different they are not to clean handling the food I have been traveling for 25 years and it is the first time I was sick in a resort all and all it was an Ok trip I would not go back.

Good Resort for the money

Hotel was amazing, rooms always cleaned and had nice towel art with letters from our maids. The nightly shows were amazing, always got the crowd involved. Beach..was spectacular. Ive been to Cayo coco, and this beach beats it by far. We only saw one jellyfish that had washed up on shore one morning when we decided to go down early. The people are always nice. Our favourite bartender was at the one pool bar. Food is good for Cuba. For the morning, the best breakfast was the made fresh omlettes. T [... read more]he a la cartes were good as well. Best thing to eat while there is the vegetable crepes.Overall, really good resort for the price.

Great resort

We travelled with family from Feb 1 - Feb 8th. Had a wonderful time. Beach is amazing!!! Food was good we always found something to eat. Pasta station is great! The trick to the station line ups is to go when the buffet opens. The already prepared food is never that hot but it's edible. Go to the lounge for the cappuccinos they are so tasty! Shout out to Betty who served our drinks in the lounge. She was so nice and always pleasant. She is the BEST!!! Bungalow 15 & 7 are the closest to the be [... read more]ach, the big pool and the snack bar. Our room was cleaned everyday. We did not have any trouble with bugs or ants in our room. If you are looking for a lot of evening entertainment or discos this is not the place. Everyone just gathers in the lobby/lounge. There is always some sort of music and a magician most nights. Overall it's a great place to just relax.

Ok resort

there is not a very big beach at this resort not big enough for busy season I have been to cuba five times this was the worst food and customer service I have had I know it is a cheap vacation but I wont return to this place

Better as Eurostars

Stayed there from January 28th – February 4th, 2016. Of course everyone who reads these knows that it is just one opinion and that some people are a little more particular than others. We did chat with a lot of people and will post some of their comments and concerns as well… And here it goes!! CAVEAT: I love Cuba. I have been there 15 or so times. I have seen some changes for both positive and negative. It seems to be in a transition; and in my opinion could prove to be disastrous to the to [... read more]urist industry. Cuba works in its own universe/time continuum. Comical – when a tour guide says it but annoying when you are the one with a need. I have stayed at this hotel when it was the Eurostars. AIRPORT: Everyone is excited to be there and get going so no major problems. One person had their bags delayed ($25 per day to buy necessities until they found it – doesn’t cover much for a Mom and her child). They lost the airport baggage tag on mine and had to rescan (no big deal). Changed money at the airport at 46% exchange rate. Yes 46%. It is the highest rate I have ever seen. People have now started to tip with loonies and twoonies and on great service $5 bills. Staff will ask to change money in to bills and the process is repeated. Night time arrival – 90min or so bus ride not much to see or do. Enjoyed some “road pops” and relaxed as we travelled. Return travel was entertaining and informative. Done the bus ride 8 or 9 times and learned more each time. HOTEL CHECK-IN: Very simple – sign here, map of resort, room number and go! Bags were delivered to the room within 30 minutes. ROOMS: PROS: OURS was good enough. Modern looking, nice bathroom, safe, fridge(stocked), 2 doubles beds (not a big deal for my wife and I) coffee cups and such but no coffee machine?( whatever) Clean sheets and pillows (as to be expected) Towels and Beach towels in the room (nice not to have to lineup to get them) Mattress was firm but didn’t expect a 5 star bed. CONS Broken patio door (cracked glass) ½ inch gap under the front door allowed some unwanted guests – sprayed bug spray a couple of times no big deal. Others had No toilet seats… No shower curtains and no hot water. We were lucky. I heard that the toilet seats had started to stain yellow and looked dirty so they removed them but never got the stock to replace them. Hey I don’t really know what the rational was but welcome to Cuba. People that we met went to the front desk and nothing could be done. The staff seemed to let them know that that was the way it was going to be and shrugged them off. The rooms were in better shape last but have seen a lot of use and misuse. The maintenance workers were working on units everyday but I think that they are just overwhelmed and under resourced. FOOD: “Can’t get 5 star food in a 3 star country” pretty much sums it up. Buffet had some improvements which was nice to see – pasta station and stir fry station (which was the best meal I had) but only had one element or station which caused very long lineups and friends allowing others friends to get plates. Hey we are all on vacation… had to wait a little longer. 30+ minutes for pasta is a little much. Breakfast was the same sort of confusion. MY SUGGESTION is to go in later. No real line up but the food is often cooler. Went in once when it was supposed to be closed and got the best service ever. “amigo what do you want, I’ll make it for you now.” That was one of the highlights of the food experience next to the pig roast. This time there was no bacon at all at the buffet. Lunch we mostly did the beach grill – always great food and no real problems with lineups and such. Pizzas in the snack bar are great; takes a while to cook/get served but you are on vacation. Hidden grill near building 8 (I think) is hit or miss. Went once asked for pizza he said no and then made 2 of them for the next person. Diner always ended at the buffet. We had 2 a la carte restaurant reservations *supposed to have gotten 4 as per the Air Transat website. Some people raved about the food at these but they were average at best. Had the same (exactly the same) menu at the international (took 90 minutes from seating to meal) and the Creole grill (45 minutes). Staff seemed to be indifferent to clients. We witness people stand up and leave because of the terrible service more than once. The service was much better last time. Staff at the buffet was great – some from last year remembered me and when out of their way to make the meals nice. THANKS! Some guests ACTUALLY started smoking in the buffet after their meal. No one approached them; it clearly upset several other guests and one actually asked them to put it out. BEACHES Always are amazing but have taken a beating from the weather from last year. Sand has eroded from the shore and exposed a large plateau of coral/rock. Water shoes are a must if you approach the beach from the center of the resort. The tour guide explained that there was a “flood” that washed over the dunes and took a lot of the beach away with it. Pity. EXCURSIONS Did a scuba dive trip that was amazing. Worth every penny at $65 pesos. Others that we talked to loved the catamaran ride which we have done several times. (only complaint was weather related) The taxis are slow to get to the hotel as the CSM is isolated - if you ask the customer service rep from the hotel he seems to get miffed about calling for a taxi and often disappears. Taxis cost $5 for most if not all trips on the island. Ask as you get in to the car. The VIP cars (older cars) are sometimes $5 or $8 depending but worth it for the experience.

OK resort

rooms was average but clean,nice pools and nice beach but need to get up early to get chairs, service was good but very long wait at the buffet don't be surprise on waiting 30-45 minutes in line, overall this resort is OK

Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba

The resort was absolutely beautiful, a little large so there is walking. The food is a scale of 1/100 if I could... You waited for 45 minutes every morning for an omelet and pasta for dinner was 1 hour. They had nice fresh rolls but that was the extent of the good food. Also how they prepped their food was unsanitary. They used the exact same folk and cup to mix the omelets, if someone had an allergy it could have been a big problem. They buffet selection was terrible.. they had nice sliced meat [... read more]s and cheese but you get sick of eating that every day on roll for 7 days. The pizza isn't bad at the 24 hour snack bar - but, If you are hungry don't go you will wait 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes. The beach is beautiful but get there early you wont be able to get shade/tiki past 11 pm. The service was okay on certain nights. If you don't tip though they will come to your table last or skip a rotation, we never had this issue, but we saw it happen most of time to younger groups like ourselves. The pool closest to building ten is the party pool (aka the best pool, aka the strongest drinks). It is usually pretty rowdy come 5 - 7 pm at night, but always a good time meeting new friends.

Beautiful resort!

This resort had beautiful pools and a fantastic beach with an ample supply of sun loungers. We found that most of the staff did not speak English or understand us. Our biggest complaint was they have not designated any "non smoking tables" in the main lobby/bar area. It took a lengthy time to have an omelet cooked or meat grilled in the buffet - sometimes 30 minutes or more!! Service in the buffet was slow. The a la carte restaurants were excellent and the food well prepared and served professio [... read more]nally. This resort recently changed ownership and needs management to improve service to ensure repeat clients.

It's getting better

From year to year there is some improvement.The resort looked more tidy, better organized, cleaner. Huge variety of food but unfortunately not much to our taste.As usual we ate some fish, fruits and veggies. No mosquitos but the beach bugs (flees) are big nuisance and very hard to detect - only after bites. Overall fair bang for the buck.

No complaints

it was a beautiful resort with nice pools and beach area, great service/staff, good entertainment, decent food, lunch buffet was awesome shower head in room was a bit broken but still worked, room cleaned and fridge restocked daily

Incredible massage therapy

Gorgeous beaches and the best resort pool yet. Staff were very courteous and friendly. Massage therapy with Osdany was amazing . Entertainment was top notch. Our room was kept very clean and there was no shortage of bottled water.

Very nice resort and facilities.

Very clean and well maintained. Excellent staff overall. The food was only so so but about what you expect from the average resort in Cuba. Entertainment was good. Better than my last cruise ship. The restaurant meals were small and only so so. Next time I'll stick to the buffet. Beach and pools were great. lots of lounge chairs.

Beautiful Resort

Gorgeous surroundings and clean wash rooms nice clean rooms . Entertainment was good . Last year we stayed at the Star Fish and the entertainment was much better . We enjoyed are stay also went on two excursions which were great .

Nice hotel, not so nice food !

The grounds at Hotel Cayo Santa Maria were very well maintained with lots of flowering trees and shrubs. Most of the facilities are on side of the complex, but is only about a 10 min. walk from one end to the lobby in the middle. Our 3rd floor oceanview room was clean with a great view, cleaned daily, the a.c. and water were perfect, the mini-bar filled daily. No problem with room towels, but beach towels seemed to be in short supply. We found the staff to be very pleasant, and service was gen [... read more]erally excellent. The pool layout was different, the pools themselves generally in good shape and clean. The beach and water in front of the hotel are very nice, and you can also get around a rocky stretch at the end to reach the much longer beach where some of the other hotels are located. Lots of chairs everywhere. Some safety concerns with pathway lighting, kids jumping from bridges at the pools. large gaps in some of the wooden walkways. Biggest negative for us was food......this was our 9th visit to Cuba, but even by Cuban standards, we found this to be very lacking. We did like the lunchtime buffet at the waterfront "ranchon", but in bad weather it was not open. Drinks were generally good, and we had no problem getting mojitos, which isn't always the case. This hotel had grounds as nice as we have seen, the room and view were lovely (and quiet), but the food at this particular hotel spoiled the package. We don't normally go to the same place twice anyway, but would not go back because of this. A shout-out to Jen Huet at Trip Central. This vacation planning started out badly, but Jen came through for us, and did everything necessary to get us on our way. Thank you, Jen

Wonderful Resort

resort was immaculate. rooms were very clean and spacious. beach was beautiful. staff were always friendly and efficient. food was exceptional (salmon steak was available daily along with so many other choices)......amazing vacation.

Very bad food for Cuba - No night life, boring.

The beach is very nice, but that's about it. For Cuba and comparing to other resorts, the food is below average and overall this shouldn't be a 4-5 stars resort. Very slow service, be patient. i.e. Took us 2 hours to check in. Lots of clients, few staff. And that's everywhere. A la carte restaurants were all disgusting, buffet is better, but as other mentioned you must get there fast because they run out of eatable "safe" food very quick. Oh and the buffet doesn't respect their hours, they op [... read more]en when they feel like it. The wifi never works, but you can get lucky and access it for 5 minutes (keep in mind that you have to pay). No nightlife, no music. Very boring. Lots of rooms problems such as no toilet seats, no towels, can't lock patio doors...

Excellent Escape from Winter

This hotel met all of our needs. It was clean, the room was spacious and everything worked. Our mini bar was stocked each afternoon, the room was cleaned each day and we had no need for any special attention. Our main purpose was to do some diving and relax, we had opportunity to do both. The beach was nice and the ocean provided us with lots of chance to play, there is not much life to see under the water near the hotel but there ware a few unique shells. The diving takes place off site, the b [... read more]us picked us up in the lobby within a reasonable time frame and the workers were diligent in their duties while being friendly and efficient. On our last day of diving we had "personalized" service with only three divers and a guide who helped us to see some excellent specimens. The food was plentiful, the barbecued pork and chicken tasted as good as they smelled. The ice cream was always available and very tasty. We ate breakfast early each morning and did not get to enjoy the freshly fried doughnuts until our last morning...they are well worth a short wait in line. Cuban food is simple, some is not to my liking but there was always something to fill me up. This resort is very family friendly. I found the piano bar to be very noisy in the evening as was the formal entertainment. The room was quiet and we rarely heard any noise from other clients while in the room. There are a few sand fleas and mosquitos on the beach, their bites can be really uncomfortable so pay attention especially in shaded areas.