Beautiful, Large Resort…just head certain warnings. Be cautiously optimistic and go have fun!!!

Date of Stay – Feb 11, 2019 to Feb 18, 2019 For all the overly negative reviews, those people clearly had different expectations, desires, or overly sensitive senses and palates. Having a bad experience at airport security where you left to go to Cuba has zero impact on the resort itself. Just because you got sick doesn’t make it the resorts fault. You have thousands of tourists daily, coming mostly from Canada…you probably got sick from one of your own and not the food. On the othe [... read more]r hand, the overly positive reviews are great and we’re glad you had an amazing time, but let’s not overlook some of the glaring issues this Melia Jardine Del Rey resort has. Down to business. 1- Buffet food. It’s terrible. Just terrible. We took advantage of day trips to other Melia resorts and the food was stunning everywhere else. The buffet breakfast and dinner times are way off. They do not open their doors at posted times and usually not for another hour. The whole resort seems to run out of bread and buns often. They ran out of all forms of bread on day 4, and even more unbelievably, they ran out of beer. No joke, for 1 day, no beer or buns. And many menu items are “not available” consistently. This was not a problem at the other Melia resorts, so something is wrong here. 2- A la cart restaurants are passable. Not great, but better than the buffet. 3- Towels. This is shocking to many but if all the reviews gave one glaring consistent issue it’s the lack of towels. Just bring your own like we did and then you have no worries. We know that’s not what you expect from an all inclusive resort but it’s true here. So take warning on that one. There is one small backup tip but it’s no guarantee. You need to line up at the towel service desk well before they open at 9am. Just be one of the first 10-20 people and you may get some. But if you do, don’t be a dirt bag and expect new fresh towels everyday. They just can’t meet the demand. So if you are one of the lucky ones, leave it at that and keep the towels all week. 4- Attentive service, forget about it. You all know there’s the expected “Cuban slow way” which is kind of island relaxed and laid back....but there is a limit to that. And at this resort they miss the mark. In fact, while visiting other resorts on the day pass we came across other employees who were very happy to discuss other resorts and we learned that the Melia Jardines Del Rey has a very young and inexperienced crew on all levels. Where other resorts tend to keep servers and stuff for 15-20 years. That helps explain service attention issues, but it fails to explain explicitly why this Melia resort couldn’t get more experienced staff. 5- I hate to say it, but after 4 days, we started to get more bug bites outside. Now nowhere in the world are you immune to that, but I do wonder that with so many people in small places, small stomach flus can be passed around quickly. The Cubans resorts (everywhere)just may not have the $$$ to fog out the properties, and they leave so many standing water “ponds” with no fish to help eat up the mosquito larvae so take that into consideration. Clearly with all the above there is a severe supply chain issue for foods and amenities. Don’t know why. Maybe Melia headquarters have given up on this one resort. We don’t know. With all said above, let’s be clear, this is not a dump or a hell hole. It’s beautiful. It’s massive (we like big resorts). We had a great time. Family of 4 with two teenage girls. All loved it. Even the one rainy day was great. 1- The pools are to die for. So many large pools, islands, always had chair availability. Clean. Very clean. No damaged tiles. There’s two main sections of pools. The west pools are quiet and more for family with kids (some very shallow pools for babies) or just anyone who wants to get away from the pumping thumping fun and loudness. The east pools are the party pools. By that we mean that the music is on at an audible but not offensive level starting early in the morning and the animation team does activities at this pool later in the afternoon. 2- Do take advantage of the Melia benefit to visit the other resorts. They are all beautiful. There is a hop on hop off but ($5/person/day) that can take you to at least 4 other Melia resorts. We visted 3 of them and they were all great, but the adult only Melia Cayo Coco was calming and had great food, and the Melia Cayo Guillermo was simply stunning (this is the place for beauty and great food, still Cuban level, but Cuban great) 3- Rooms clean and nothing broken. Nicely decorated and laid out. And the bungalow style allows for lots of closeness despite the resort being huge. 4- The beach. What can I say, it’s a beautiful and long beach. There is a BBQ, a beach bar, paddle boats, catamaran rides (when the water is not rough). Walk time to the beach is only 5 minutes, which is nothing. Some people complain on the reviews, well, then don’t go to a HUGE resort. Part of the appeal of a huge resort is that everything is spread out. 5- The ice is safe. The water is safe. If you have sensitive gastric systems (and many of you may not know it until you travel and experience more out of your usual) you may run into trouble anywhere. 6- Evening Shows are amazing, big, lots of costumes, choreography, different every night. 7- Night Life is fun. Every night the DJ is out at the Mojito bar outside, and it’s classic bump and grind, drink and dance. And when they shut it down on the resort at 11pm, they have a disco club just a short walk out the front lobby where it continues until 2am, drinks all included. This place just is great for clubbing it up. We’d like to give a shout out to some specific staff who were wonderful. Boris Luis - lobby bar, Miguel at the pool bar (You rocked man), and Lemay at customer service. There was a waiter at the 24hr restaurant snack bar, and he was attentive and for the life of us we can not remember his name. But thank you for your service every morning. All in all, it is a beautiful place, the staff are polite. Would I go again? No. I would stay at another Melia resort and hop over to this one as a day trip for the beach and pools.

Amazing beach, nice resort, horrible food and management

The hotel itself is very nice. Rooms were clean. Bathrooms on the resort were dirty. We had no beach towels for the entire stay as the machines were down so they had to send them out for cleaning. Food was the worst i have ever experienced and I've been to cuba before. They ran out of flour mid week so didn't even have bread. Ran out of beer on the beach multiple times. Bottled water was extremely hard to get. Staff were not overly friendly.

Good resort

This was a good resort. A little big and can seem short staffed when the lobby fills up around the bar. The food was good and always something to eat at the 24hr restaurant. They ran out of bread there for about a day but I didn't find that such a big deal since they had tons of fries! The buffets are a little small for the amount of people they have to serve. They can seat everyone just fine though. They also have two buffets, one next to the other, exactly the same, but they only open one at 7 [... read more]am and don't open the other until 9am. It confuses the guests and long lines start to form. Breakfast! They put out a lot of pre-cooked eggs (some not so cooked) but they do cook to order, however, you may have to wait in line a while if you go during prime times. The bacon, when they serve it, is a little under cooked and thick for a lot of people's liking and tastes a little different. And if you were lucky enough to be around when they were serving hash brown patties, you had to get them quick because they would run out fast! I brought my own gluten free bread because I knew I'd have a hard time getting food in the mornings and I can't tell you how many people asked me where I got my nice slices of bread. I'd also recommend bringing your own peanut butter since they don't have anything, except butter, to spread on the toasts. you could also bring your own ketchup or salsa for the buffets because they rarely had any. The 24hr restaurant seemed to have some most of the time though, and the catsup was pretty darn good! The grounds are kept daily and there's always a groundskeeper around, even if the job is done lol. Nice guys! The place has many cats, a rooster and a hen, and a seen 3 dogs one day. No little critters (lizards) from what I saw. The staff are very nice, always helpful, no complaints there. The public washrooms ran out of toilet paper a lot so either have some on you or ask the person in the stall next to you. The rooms are nice. Beds made everyday and washrooms cleaned. Our toilet ran constantly the whole stay but at least it worked. You get a mini fridge stocked daily with pop and beer, although we rarely got two beers restocked, even when we asked. You will be given a large water bottle daily, but its a little bulky to carry around with you all day, so make sure to bring a bubba or a smaller reusable cup to make it easier on yourself. The AC worked well in our room and didn't hear anyone say theirs didn't so that's good. We also had nice hot water and awesome water pressure in the showers daily. The beach is beautiful, always able to find a chair and the beach was kept clean. The pools are huge! So I can understand how hard it was to keep them clean. But you can always find a spot to sit there too! Usually people would get out early and claim all the chairs, but now here! Pool bar ran out of beer a few times so some guests didn't like that. The a la cartes had good food but small portions. If you get the steak, ask it to be cooked more than medium because everyone's steaks came out rare or blue rare when they asked for medium or medium rare. The wine was so much better here than anywhere else on the resort. They were also very empty, even if you got a reservation earlier in the evening. Barely anyone would be in the restaurant with you. Not sure if it was people not making it to their reservations or if they booked them that way. Seemed odd to be at an a la carte and have just a few tables with people. The lay out of the resort isn't too bad, but if you have a hard time walking long distances, you'll need to use the carts that come around to give people rides. Sometimes you may need to call for one to come to your bungalow, but you may have to wait a little for them to show up. We didn't need to use one to get around, but we did when it came to getting our luggage to the lobby on check-out day. Overall, this isn't that bad a resort. For the price, we just couldn't beat it!

Melia Jardines del Rey Cayo Coco

We just returned from our vacation at the Melia Jardines del Rey. The weather and the beaches were great. For the size of the resort there were sufficient beach chairs for all. Check in was quick, and informative. The Beach Towel Service was terrible. We were a group of 6, there were no beach towels available. After 24 hours i complained to the Air Transat Rep on site and had my towels within half an hour. Both Reps were amazing, and assisted/answered all questions, and went beyond their scope [... read more] to assist. Talking with some of the other guests they still did not have towels on their fourth day of stay. they were travelling with Air Canada. There were no towels available to exchange. We were only able to exchange once. The main buffet had a good choice of meals, during the first few days they only had one station for pasta bar, breakfast bar which took an hour to get your meal. As the week progressed they did open up more stations to assist with the time it took to get your meal. The a la carte restaurants were a HUGE disappointment. In the Cuban restaurant i ordered a red snapper. When the meal arrived my fish was like a piece of leather, dried out, and i could pick it up and bang it on the table. The other parties with my group ordered Lobster which cost 20 peso. The lobsters were not edible. We left the restaurant and had our dinner at the buffet. Unfortunately in was sick that evening. We also tried the TexMex restaurant and the Italian. Again both were below average. Items on the menu were not available, and the quality of food that was served was BAD. In all the years of travel the a la carte restaurants were usually very good. This was very disappointing. The buffet was our go to place. The sun set cruise was great, as well as the meal. The Safari tour and horseback riding was great. They served a Cuban lunch which was good. Deep Sea fishing was a disappointment as the crew were not very engaging. they did not converse much, we did catch barracudas, and one small mackerel. but again they left the fish on the ground, and did not assist in taking of the photos. Over all if the towel service improves, and they add more stations to their buffet it would be a 3 plus to a 4. The a la carte was a 1.

Fit our family and budget

Take advantage of the excursions. The guides are fabulous and extremely knowledgeable. Bungalows are clean, and family friendly. Lots of food choices, fresh ingredients and stations. We took our own beach towels, bug spray and after bite which I highly recommend. Saved a lot of stress. Would recommend to everyone.

Large resort

My husband and I book this resort 1 week before leaving. Overall we had a good time but there were a few things that were a disappointment. The hotel was very large which meant line ups at the various beach bars, for the morning coffee, no towels (unless you paid a premium price), food was ok by Cuba standards. The staff expected a tip every they provided a service which we found disappointing. Service staff were friendly but it seemed that for the size of the hotel there just weren’t enough  [... read more]staff on hand to handle the amount of people.

Ok for the price

My first time in Cuba so wasn't sure what to expect but all in all it was ok. The lobby bar was awesome, food well it's at your discretion cause everyone has there own opinion but I advise to have food cooked in front of you. The rooms are nothing to be wowed about the cleaning staff never dusted washed the counter tops or tables & only had 2 beers in our fridge the first day. Our air conditioner broke but was fixed ASP thank god. Pool areas was nice & big. For the price I would go again kno [... read more]wing what to expect now.

Great Time!

Overall Fantastic! The hotel itself is relatively new showing some age and wear. Our room was very clean the maid I forgot her name (Nyala?) cleaned building 6 second floor was super clean, I saw her when she wasn't looking dust and mop behind and underneath the bed. The only thing that was annoying was the faucet and shower temperature in our room was super hot almost to the point of scalding. We basicly jumped in got wet shut it off shampoo then turned it on when ready to rinse. :( Custom [... read more]er service was fantastic from the bartenter/barista to the waiters. Everyone smiles and say hello. BTW the cappuccinos and Spanish coffee were excellent! An ongoing issue is not enough towels so I brought my own and 3 days later we booked the catamaran/snorkling excursion and received towels. The food was ok - its Cuba. You will not starve go for the grill stations but theres sometimes a wait. The drinks were great they are generous with the alcohol. The entertainment shows were tipical except one night they had a live rock band that was very good they played anything from the beatles to AC/DC excellent they had the whole crowd on their feet! Also look out for the gardener with the Prairie Falcon that hangs out at the resort cool bird.

Horrible Resort

12 hour delay through Air Canada. No pool towels for days. Bottom floor in our Villa and it smelt like sewage the whole entire time. Lost power for a whole night. The whole resort ran out of bread for days. Ran out of champagne. Staff were rude and not friendly at all including front desk. We will never go back there!

Great place

Clean , good food, friendly staff , beautiful beach , entertainment was entertaining, great value would return for sure . lots of seating at the beach sunsets activities food drinks sail boats beach towels was the only downfall

Meliá Jardines cuba

It really was an amazing trip. I went with my daughter it’s a trip we will always remember. The rooms where clean the food was great . The most important was the employees where so caring and on top of everything. Gardener would have flower for us as when went for breakfast. The beach was amazing I will return with my whole family.

Amazing resort

I stayed at the resort last week and it was wonderful. Friendly staff and large resort with always something to do and see. The entertainment was really good at night. The only thing that can improve is the food. In particular, the Italian a la carte restaurant was a big disappointment. Other than that the food was reasonable.

Beautiful Resort

This hotel is huge but did not ever feel overcrowded. The lobby has many different sections both inside and out that can accommodate the crowds. Three buffets made the wait for breakfast a bit easier to handle. The food is what it is...but you won’t go hungry! Our room was big and clean with hot water every time we needed it. The beach...spectacular! Beach towels were a bit difficult to get fresh everyday so if you are the kind of person who needs a clean one everyday then maybe bring one  [... read more]from home. Remember, this is Cuba, they do what they can with what they are given. You go for the beach and the friendly staff.

Will definately be back!

I travelled to the Melia Jardines del Ray in January 2019. We will definately be back both with the kids and without! I loved that it was a quick drive from the airport! Check in was very quick as they directed everyone into one big room and called out your family name at which time they asked for your passport to verfiy with the front desk and presented each family with an envelope with their room keys, a la carte selections (these could be changed if you didn't like what was chosen), wi [... read more]-fi cards and bracelets. We were at the 24 hour Grill ordering a late night snack and drinks in under an hour from arriving at the resort. Lisbett was very helpful at the front recception if I needed anything. The front entrance and Lobby is huge! It's very open and beautiful. Every morning we were greeted by Dagne who brought us a cappuccino, expresso or spanish coffee depending on our mood. There is also a mimosa bar set up to help yourself to champagne and orange juice! In the evening, the Lobby came alive with music, dancing, entertainment and a variety of pop up shops (cigar, special fancy drinks and specialty coffees). When we were staying at the resort, there were 2 breakfast buffets that opened and closed at different times. I have never been to a resort with a fresh fruit smoothie bar, but wow.....what a wonderful treat that was! There seemed to be some different foods at each of the buffets. Not completely different but it was a nice variety at both. We did find the food wasn't terribly hot in the buffet. So if I didn't get the fresh made omlettes or crepes (both of which were fantastic), I stuck to items I didn't mind at just a warm temperature. My very first morning at the breakfast buffet we were greeted by Aniuska. She presented me with a beautiful beaded bracelet I still wear today! She remembered us every day we came for breakfast and always waited on us with a smile! The dinner buffet was pretty good. Again, not terribly hot if taking food from the heated stations instead of the grills. But there is something for everyone (fresh grilled chicken, beef or fish and pasta made to order). Only one of the buffet locations were open in the evenings. On a few nights there was a line up to get in for dinner. I think it would have been beneficial to have both buffets open, but maybe the numbers at the resort didn't warrent it with the a la cartes. We didn't have lunch at the Lobby buffet, but we did venture to the lunchtime buffet at the Beachfront Grill. The variety was fantastic. I love the Cuban rice and pork!! Alex was such a wonderful server. He takes the time to talk and answer questions and was an absolute joy to see every time we dined there! The 24 hour grill also serves breakfast (amongst many other wonderful foods). The chicken sandwhich, the cuban sandwhich and their french fries were always a treat to have at any time of the day. The wait was sometimes a little on the long side, but please remember they are making it to order. Rafa was always prompt at taking our order and he makes a killer Gin and Tonic!! There is a 2nd daytime grill that serves "kentuky" fried chicken and mini pizzas. We only ate there once (because the beach front pizza grill wasn't open) and there was a wait for that food. But please remember they can't pump the pizzas out any faster. They are limited to the number of pizzas can fit into the oven at a time. But the food was so good!! We dined at a few different a la cartes while we stayed at the Melia. The Cuban restaurant was at the beachfront grill and they had an amazing dinner with Cuban soup, rice, pork and vegetables. It was a full moon that night and sitting by the water made the night that much more magical. We also dined at the Bana. That night we had chicken and red curried shrimp amongst other tasty treats. The chicken was done perfectly!! The Tex Mex was our favourite a la carte......so much so that we changed our fourth a la carte to eat there a second time! The tortilla soup was amazing, as were the fajitas and the shrimp wraps! I ate the shrimp wraps 2 nights in a row! The white wine was a really great match to the Mexican food they were serving. And I loved the black and white photos on the walls of the older farmers! One night we ventured over to the Japanese Restaurant beside the resort. It isn't included in the resort and you have to pay extra to dine there. But for 20 cuc each we were treated to a restaurant all to ourselves and a bottle of delicious red wine. We watched the chef do a private show for us while cooking an amazing terryaki dinner (fried rice, beef, chicken, shrimp and fish). He even engaged us in the show which was great to watch and video to show our kids back home! Since we had the restaurant to ourselves, we even pulled out our ipod and speaker and played our own music! Also in the shops beside the resort is the spa, a small marketplace, the after hours disco a variety store, a cigar shop and the Bowling Alley. We didn't play a game, but we ventured in to check it out. They sold alcohol and ice cream by the tub. They had a few bowling lanes, a pool table and a room with a vidro game system all set up. If it's raining or you're looking for a break from the sun, this is a great little fun spot to check out. The spa was beautiful! We didn't pay for their features, but when you do, you have all day access to their private pool, hot tub and sauna. The pool looked beautiful and refreshing. It was the most peaceful spot on the resort! If you like desserts, there is an ice cream bar that's open all day, every day! And there was a Churro Man who made fresh churros on a number of nights! The pool areas were huge!! They are broken into mini pool areas separated by walkways, which made it feel like you were in your own private pool at times. There are 2 major pool areas. One seemed like it was more for families (they also had a big inflatable obstacle course for kids to use at that pool). The depth of all the pools was perfect for kids and people of all heights. The water was always clean as we watched some workers spend a lot of time in the mornings skimming the water to free it from debris. The pool with the volleyball court always had activites and loud music. Miguel and John (I think that was his name......) were fantastic bartenders! We stayed in Bungalow 2 on the bottom floor. Right in front of our room was a hard surfaced soccer field (which also doubled as a volleyball court) and 2 full sized tennis courst. There were people there every day enjoying their sports. They even have lights and had a few night games going when we were there! Our room consisted of a free safe, a king sized bed and walk in shower. The bed was comfortable and the water pressure was fantastic. Best of all, the toilets flushed and we never had any issues!! Our maid immediately brought us extra pillows when we requested them and always left us water, pop and beer in the mini fridge and fun surprises with our towels and fresh flowers. There are mosquitos around, especially at night. So if you aren't quick with the door you may find some in your room. Take bug spray just in case (we never needed it though). We did find the walkway a bit dark at night I'm certain areas. We always bring a small flashlight and found we used it at night when walking to dinner and the lobby. w The grounds were well kept and there were lots of gardeners working hard on any given day. You can often see (and hear) the cats and roosters who also roam the resort. On your way to the beach you can stop and get a fresh coconut to sip from! The beach was huge! Lots of huts to lay under and there was never a shortage of loungers. They had peddalboats to take out and hobbie cats running when the weather cooperated. There are some sharp shells at the edge of the water, so if your feet are sensitive, you may want water shoes. On the beach there was also a station where they were making fresh battered fish.......SO AMAZING! All of the public washrooms were well kept and the majority of them even had a maid standing outside to constantly keep an eye and clean them. I think I only ever had one stall that had run out of toilet paper the entire week! Once I told the maid at the door she immeditely went in to fill it. Over all, this was a fantastic resort! We booked for a very good price and felt it was well worth the money. The staff are very friendly and engaging. The food was average for Cuba with a few excellent exceptions. Whether you are looking for a resort to relax with your significant other, party with friends or take the kids for a memorable family get away, I would highly reccomend the Melia Jardine del Rey!!

Huge Resort

Just came back from a vacation at this resort Jan.24 to Feb.1,2019. The weather was amazing only one day of rain. That day we spent it bowling just at the end of the resort a lot of fun seeing I had never bowled with big balls.... We stayed in the elegance room block 9, which was a fairly good walk to wherever you wanted to go, but there were carts that can pick you up and bring you to the beach or to your room. We had 4 a la carte restaurants, the first one was the Ranchon Cena close  [... read more]to the ocean but a word of caution bring bug spray as the mosquitos are fierce. The food here was ok, nothing great. The second one was Bana, close to the hotel and again it was very tasty. The third one was the Don Pepperone, a lot better food was very tasty. The last one was Bistro, this one was the best overall, plates were presented in a beautiful manner. The buffet was pretty much the same every time, there was always something you could find to munch on. At the 24hr spot had the best fried chicken with fries. Our room was very, very nice, updated, king size bed, walk in shower, clean, fresh towels, beach towels and a bottle of rum and a stocked fridge which was replenished daily with water, drinks and beer. The night entertainment was awesome, beautiful colorful shows, short be very nicely done. Lobby area was always clean and seating was in abundance, the cappuccino's were fantastic. The drinks were very good as well, Lime daiquiri's were our favorite. All in all this was a great trip there were 7 of us in total and yes I would recommend this resort. But traveller beware there is a lot of walking involved. Bring bug spray!

Amazing Service - Mediocre Hotel

The staff was absolutely fantastic. They were kind, positive & went out of their way to make sure your time at the hotel was incredible. The staff made the trip. The rest was dissapointing. We stayed in a room on the ground floor. There were dead bugs/flies all over the wall and we spent atleast 1 hr every night killing flies. My son got hurt by the pool twice on the tiles, small cuts on his toes. The food was the roughest part. Hopefully you can live off fries and water. None of the food items  [... read more]are marked so definitely not the right spot for someone with any allergies. The nights were great, shows were awesome. Again, staff made this trip!

Lovely LARGE Resort

the Melia Jardines del Rey is a 4 year old resort that is overall clean, beautifully landscaped and tries very hard to meet expectations. The beach is gorgeous with lots of shade and loungers available. However there are areas that could do with improvement. The food starts as good quality but is bland and somewhat confusing in final presentation. There are issues in some rooms with water flow and leakage. Staff are overall helpful and friendly but some of the younger ones have significant dif [... read more]ficulty with understanding and communicating in English. Overall good value for the price. Good for those with mobility issues as it is flat with smooth surfaces with no steps and transportation is readily available. good for multi-generational family travel.

Tis resort should be rated a 2 worse place we have ever vacatioed

This was the worse resort we have ever stayed at! We went for 10 days and the first 5 days were terrible, no water, no power, toilet doesn't work, the shower came off the wall and no beach towels ! For the whole time we had the same towels! The food was terrible as well as the a la carts. We will never return there or recommend this resort to anyone! Everyone was complaining!

Had a great time!

The food was alright it was the first resort I have been to that they did not label the food at the buffet. The staff were wonderful. The rooms were clean and maids were great and helpful. The al a carts were good to, my favorite place to eat was the lunch restaurant beside the pool that had the best chicken and fries. Pools were clean.

Good week stay at Melia Resort

Our week stay was pretty good. We had an issue with the toilet not working when we arrived into our room but was resolved within 4 hours. The rooms were comfortable and clean. The restaurants were large and offered many options amongst them all. The resort is huge a spread out. Lots of walking or you could take a golf cart ride. The weather was not as cooperative as we would have liked with some very windy and rainy days. The pool was green in many areas and needed to be cleaned. The beach is va [... read more]st and amazing. Overall we got what we paid for and would recommend the Hotel and area of Cayo Coco to anyone.