Older resort

Rooms were nice except when we arrived on the bottom floor of the bungalow we found a scorpion in our room on the floor there was no door sweep on the door we then the next day switched rooms to the second floor in a different bungalow and the rest of the stay was amazing very nice staff and people

Amazing time amazing resort

We have been travelling to Cuba for 15 yrs and this was one of the best trips we have been on. starting with the 24 snack bar. which at 3am they made us a the best burger ever. our rooms were amazing clean and beautiful ,new beds ,new pillows and robes in the room , we had hot water every night. the grounds were beautiful , the beach was stunning best I've ever seen. our bartender Radiol made our trip so amazing ,he was amazing to talk to and was super friendly carlos by his side they wer [... read more]e stupendous . we also had alexander our animation guy, without him we wouldnt have had the vacation we did. he was super amazing keeping us up to date with activities and made my daughters day everyday. truly an amazing young man . our butler sergio was great and the food was 9/10 for cuba and the buffet was great at the grand memories and the al a cartes were superb. this resort was excellent for only 5 mths out of hurricane irma the pool chairs were great and had comfy cushions avail if needed . we brought bug spray because we saw on trip advisor it was bad , but i only got bit 2 times and not from the beach , the staff at the lobby had some language barrier which i know is frustrating, but the wifi was strong and amazing @ only a peso for and hr , and we could use it everywhere but the beach . all and all i will be returning next yr to visit the staff , i did however meet the general manager and tell her that some of he staff was amazing and she did not communicate it to them which i found disappointing and unprofessional . so if you want a relaxing time and a great vacation then i recommend this resort the blues from waterloo ,ontario thanks so much

Incredible resort- Will be returning

First time in Cuba and, boy, am I glad this was the place we stayed! Amazing first impression! Hotel room was clean and spacious (huge bed and flat screen tv was a bonus). Service was very good and, for the most part, quick and efficient. Best beach I've ever seen (although not a lot of shade, so get there early if you want shelter). Swim up bar with an amazing bartending team (Radiel and Carlos were phenomenal). Entertainment throughout the week at the pool, beach and lounge - everything from l [... read more]ive music to a bmx biker to a balancing act. I absolutely recommend the catamaran trip. It was an unbelievable day with the crew. Ww will definitely be back to this resort, no doubt. Even the food was surprisingly great *from what we've heard of food in Cuba.

Great Value

Clean bright rooms, courteous staff and mostly well maintained grounds. (Post Irma considered) Public toilets were always an exception as it seemed there was a stall or urinal out of service in every public washroom. Although I was staying in a newly renovated bungalow, updates are an ongoing procedure. Some, while clean, are older wiith somewhat stale decor and others are closed for renovation. All in all my experience was terrific and with all of the updates I only imagine it getting bette [... read more]r.

Nice Place to stay!

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria We visited the resort for 7 days January 18-25. The flight with from Halifax with Sunwing was good and on time both ways, we did upgrade to Elite Plus and used the VIP lounge on our return trip, both worth the extra cost. The bus ride to the resort was 1 ½ hours but quite enjoyable as we did get to see a lot of the countryside, think of it as a free excursion. When we arrived at the resort we were whisked off to the Sanctuary Lobby where we allocate [... read more]d a room. We did request a top floor room with some kind of a view when booking, what we got was a ground floor room on the backside of the building with a view of nothing much but a dirt pile and a few bushes. We did mention this to our “Butler” he sort of shrugged his shoulders and did little more about it other than say we would have to talk to reception. I did talk to the receptionist and she said it was all that was available and had no record of our request. We spent night one in the room, next morning……. no hot water and the closet door fell off . At the orientation meeting I talked to the Sunwing rep and explained what was going on, and found out that I had paid for a better class of room than we were allocated, he got the ball rolling and we were moved to a deluxe room (which is what was on our contract) in a nice building (58) with a superb view. Things Improved greatly from there on. After the move we had two great Butlers, Sergio and Jordi, they would book our ala carte meals and would try make things right or help if you had any problems. Our maid, Yanis, did an impeccable job of keeping our room clean and the beer, pop and water guy was reliable too. Food: As for the food, you are not going to starve! The food is typical Cuban resort food, some excellent some is awful. Generally you can’t go wrong with breakfast, there is always some alternative to the buffet for lunch, such as the beach grill at the Sanctuary, the best sandwiches on the resort, and other BBQ’s in the other sections and if you don’t like your ala carte meal leave and go to the buffet. The drinks were really good all over the resort anything we wanted they seemed to have and it wasn’t the cheap stuff! The beach is fantastic, the pools were well maintained, the grounds are coming along nicely, they are putting a lot of hard work into the recovery from Irma and it shows, and in fact the guests probably would not realize that they had such a storm other than a few damaged trees. Overall it is a good resort and it’s best assets are the “people on the ground”, the maids, gardeners, waiters and all the other manual workers, these are the guys that make it all work.

Amazing Beach

Arrived at Sanctuary after a long drive there and had to wait over an hour for our room. No robes with our room and had the coffee maker changed out and it was so slow we just went to buffet to get coffee.The room was clean and we had lots of hot water.We had to request the in room liquor dispenser to be filled .The view from the room was piles of garbage in the back from the storm damage which was removed after 4 days of being there. We had many troubles getting a clean table to sit down and [... read more] have breakfast at Sanctuary, and at times went to Grand Memories for meals as they had a better selection and more comfortable place to sit and have a meal.The food was not the best, we left the only A'la Carte we went to for the Grand Memories buffet.The line up's at Sanctuary grills were long and blocked the rest of the buffet, sometimes our meal was nearly over by the time we got some water or coffee.The entertainment was enjoyable. Smoking is allowed every where !! The resort is big and cart buggies are available. It seemed dangerous at times as some didn't have working lights and the people were expected to move off walkways when 2 carts met on the road. Service seemed to be good with tips and not so good without tips. The beach was beautiful but not much shaded spots at Sanctuary.No beach bathroom here but Grand Memories and Parraiso have beach washrooms.You have to walk down to one of the other resorts or go back to your room.Everyone was allowed down at the Sanctuary (Adults Only) part of the beach.There are no vendors on the beach which allowed you to really enjoy your time there.The Market was enjoyable.There was nothing available to eat when we checked out at 5 am.It was our first time to Cuba and it was a let down.

Nice place

It's older the food is typical the beach amazing the pool area clean and nicely done lots of hot water and pressure the room dated but clean we had butler and he made our reservations dinner and we could have a la crate every night 2 bottles of water and drinks in room every day.

Great Resort

This is a very nice and relaxing Resort to visit. The entertainment is top notch and there is always something going on. The food was great as well with good variety. The staff was friendly and nice to visit with .

Best beach

Hotel was clean, no insects or mosquitoes, slight issue with air conditioning, Room complete with fridge and full bottles of vodka and rum plus soft drinks. Good TV reception including CTV and CNN as well as sport channels. Internet only works in the main lobbies but still problems using Skype. Food both buffet and restaurants were very good and well stocked. The beach was fantastic - clean clear warm water with no stones, no shells, no sea weed in the water or the beach. Some sea weed did [... read more] appear on windy days, which was cleared from the beach as it appeared, The sand was white soft but firm both on the beach and in the water. You can walk out for quite a distance and see your feet in the clear water. Best beach i’ve Been to.

Amazing butler's

Sanctuary section makes vacation more intimate without sacrificing the amenities of a large resort . Rooms were spacious and beds comfortable. Maids did an excellent job and always left towel sculptures. Food was good for Cubian enjoyed the Itian restaurant and International restaurants Beach was powder soft white sands and due to a breeze there were always waves the 12 days we were there. Most of the time were carts available to take you where you wanted to go including the market. Ne [... read more]gative mosquitoes and no see ems

Great Resort

This adult-only hotel was clean and spacious and the landscape was lovely. The food was good and plentiful. The staff was wonderful! They were so friendly and helpful and went out of their way to ensure that guests were having a great time. It is about a 2 hour bus ride from the hotel. However, the tour company makes it as enjoyable as they can. The bus was comfortable and the guide provided us with information about the area so it didn't seem so long. Suggestion: Bring deep woods bu [... read more]g spray, afterbite and/or calamine lotion. The one morning I forgot to put it on, I was bitten by the sand fleas and/or mosquitos.

Vacation from hell with bed bugs and sand flies !

We have been to Cuba at least 10 times including 4 times to Santa Maria area. It was the 1st and last time to Sanctuary bungalow 61. We read the reviews prior to booking and knew the food was repetative and poor quality, we weren't expecting the best.It's Cuba after all but we expected with a 4 to 4/12 star rating it would be better and couldn't believe it was actually that bad. Lunch and dinner in the buffet was exactly the same every day for 7 days.Breakfast was similar but there was fresh egg [... read more]s and cereal. Ala carte reservations had to be done through our so called butler who harassed us every morning to make arrangements which they never booked the for proper time or said restaurant was full but they would see what they could do only looking for a tip. That's not the worst, it's the sand fleas and the bed bugs. Not only us but other guests got eaten alive even though we used plenty of bug spray which did not stop the bites. We got so many bites ( over 1000 all over my body) I had to visit my doctor when I got home. My doctor said the bites were not Mosquitos but bed bugs or sand fleas . I have read the managers response to other complaints about the bugs and he said they spray the area twice a day which is bull , as I saw the spray truck once in a week spray only part of the resort. This hotel should never be rated as a 4 star but if you want to ruin a week of your vacation because the price is right,then go,but I STRONGLY recommend you stay away from the Sanctuary . The only good part was the waiters and waitresses and most of the staff were very friendly. This is our LAST trip to the Sanctuary in Cuba!

Good Value

I have personally been to Cuba about 10 times now, 4 times at Cayo Santa Maria, and I have to say I was somewhat worried before traveling to this resort due to the mixed past reviews and lack of current reviews. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. This is not the highest end luxury resort but you aren't paying for one either. For the price, we felt the resort offered very good value. For reference, we stayed Nov. 22-Dec. 1. More Details: Rooms - basic but clean and all had a fresh co [... read more]at of paint. No major issues. I had read about people losing water for periods of time but we did not experience this issue and showered at different times throughout the day. There was always hot water available. Our A/C in our first room did stop working one day but we were quickly offered an upgrade to a room with an even better view and the move was handled quickly and efficiently. Food - there was always a good selection available and always a grill station at lunch and dinner with steak, burgers, hot dogs, pork, chicken, fish, calamari, mussels, etc. Probably the best and most consistent availability of grilled meats I've had in Cuba. There were also grills every day by the beach and pool if you wanted to grab a quick burger or chicken on a bun instead of changing and sitting down to a meal. We had no issues and between the two of us sampled everything including meats, seafood, cheeses, cold salads, hot dishes, pizza, sandwiches. Not sure what other reviewers experienced as I saw a lot of reviews mentioning lukewarm dishes at the buffet. Maybe that was toward the end of the night because any time we took food from the buffet, it was steaming. Beach and Pools: both beautiful and clean! Not sure if it was time of year but we never had issues finding loungers. Prime spots at the beach were taken early but you could still find something and it was never a problem to find a shady spot at the pool any time of day. Service: We found the service to be excellent, as others mentioned. Everyone works very hard here (I think 24 hour shifts??) and despite probably being exhausted, always went the extra mile. Resort over all: The Sanctuary side of the resort is a smaller, adults only resort, which we enjoy because it was so easy to get anywhere including beach, pools, lobby. It was also a very quick walk to the larger main lobby or carts were always available to take you. My partner went to the gym most days which is located in the nearby pueblo and the driver would even return to pick him up at any time he asked. Main lobby had shows most nights. Smaller Sanctuary lobby has 24 hour service for drinks or snacks (pizza, ham sandwiches mostly). Negatives: The butler service thing was somewhat annoying and unnecessary. It did feel like the service was an excuse to involve another person you had to tip. The butlers are supposed to be there to help you with anything you need including a la carte reservations but you also have to go through them to obtain water for example which is unnecessary. I don't think I should have to ask for a basic necessity on a daily basis. Sometimes we really had to insist that we needed more water. Also, the butler for each building alternates with another butler every second day and combined with moving rooms, for us it was difficult to form any type of relationship with the person who was supposed to be serving us. Also - the awful reports of the sand fleas are true. I've never had a problem with them anywhere and I was covered. I was one of the lucky ones in that my bites didn't itch but so many others we met couldn't sleep due to itching, ended up with welts covering their bodies, and had to travel to a nearby clinic for Benadryl. Repellent didn't seem to work either so not sure what the solution is. Possibly this aspect is worse after the recent hurricane. Over all, we had a great vacation and I would recommend this hotel.

The Best

Arrival was very smooth. Hour and half from airport which is tiring after three and half hour flight. Arrive to Grand Memories then transferred to Sanctuary section. Rooms were large and updated. Butler service was awesome. All of the staff there were wonderful. Paola the general manager was always available. Anya my maid was absolutely wonderful. My daughter was on the 3rd floor she had two amazing butlers. Yagniel and Pedro. I was on the main floor and I had two amazing butlers as well. Leon a [... read more]nd Carlos. Melisa in the buffet was always accommodating. The buffet is outdoors and the mosquitos are terrible. Bring lots of bug spray an use sunscreen as I received 2nd degree burns not paying proper attention. Would I go back? In a heartbeat. It was wonderful. The best part, as always, was the beach and the people. I have made many friends there from past trips. Janny in the Paraiso lobby bar. Rene, chicken man, cart driver and now all my new friends from the sanctuary side. Peaceful and relaxing. I will go again.

Fabulous Vacation!

The Sanctuary service and staff was excellent. Everyone was super friendly and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Rooms were clean and modern. The food was very good and their was tons of selection. The best part of course was the beautiful beach - absolutely breathtaking!

Another day in Paradise

That's what I said each morning when I arose from the comfortable bed at Sanctuary. This resort is awesome. Number one being the customer service. The staff are the best. The facilities are very clean and welcoming. The food is great, but the Mosquitos were nasty to me. But that's nature! We had a great stay and made many new friends. Can't wait to return

Great Improvements!

We have been to this resort twice previously when it was Memories Azul. This year we stayed at the Sanctuary (adults only) and really enjoyed it. The renovations are nice (refreshed furniture, paint etc...). We are beach people so that is the star attraction for this resort. We have walked the Beach from Memories all the way to the Melia Buenavista and Memories has the BEST BEACH! The grounds are lovely and well kept (as always). The service is amazing! The Butler service is a nice additi [... read more]on as is the Sanctuary lounge/buffet area (previously known as Route 66).

Just a horrible experience, that's all

I am really sorry to give this hotel a bad review, but there was no warm water during our stay. We could not have a shower !!! The butler informed us that there is no sunny weather so the containers with the water on the hotel roof don't warm up !!! The hotel grounds were nicely kept but there was no area to sit down and relax, no launge area and it was only adults hotel !!! All the beech chairs by the pool were reserved all day long with no people occupying them, only beech towels. No i [... read more]nternet was available during our stay April 14-21, 2017. The cards we purchased did not work. No internet was available in the lobby either. The washroom around the resort had no locks !!! And this was a 4+ star resort ! The food was nothing special as were all the restaurants, less than average, but the worst was all the servers waited for tips !!! No tip - bad service. My last comment is AVOID CUBA AT ALL COST and save your money. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE ! During my stay the cleaning lady stole my gold & diamond ring right from my purse. Of course I reported it to our butler, but guess what, we will look for it I was told. The butler made a written report on the stolen diamond ring, it had not only a high monetary value but a sentimental value as well. Really dissapointed, it was 4+ star hotel in Cuba, Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria. Just don't go there, save your money !!! Sincerely, Barbara Toronto Canada Sent from my iPhone

A Slice Of Heavon...

We stayed at the Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria Apr. 11 - 21 / 2017. The weather was fair as it was windy this time. The Resort was excellent. Lots of water/pressure and heat. Our room was kept clean every day and when ever we needed anything , the resort responded promptly. Our cleaning lady did a superb job . Our butler ladies , Mercedes and Malyses , worked hard in a very professional manner to please us . They made all our arrangements for dinners and gave us special attention to he [... read more]lp make our stay very special. We will always remember our stay as A Slice of Heaven . The people that work at the resort are always pleasant and smiling. Everybody was smiling ! The staff is of the upmost ! The Entertainment was great . The poolside music was our music ! The resort staff treated us like family. Such a wonderful place to have a holiday. We ate very well . The food was very good. The presentation a 10/10. The choices were many , the beach....o that beach. If only I could have that beach...I long to have that beach ... again. Oh yaaaaaaah . Soft sand like talcum powder , and the blue ocean water , the gentle breeze on my face..... The electric carts that moved us around the grounds were superb. The different games on grounds , chess, volley ball , pool , bingo...all of it ..just so exciting. A holiday is a time to relax , have fun and spend time with that someone special. This is that place to do just that. I would say to anyone , don't put it off , go. You will never forget it !!

Excellent Resort

Our stay at Sanctuary at Memories was most enjoyable. The Hotel was very clean and while some construction was going on during our stay to some accommodation it did not affect our enjoyment of the place. The Beach is Fab! Very long sandy beach and great for walking along. The Pool was also very nice. The Buffet was a relatively good standard for Cuba as were the individual restaurants. It was very clean and the ground staff worked very hard to keep it like that. The Hotel staff were a [... read more]lso very good and our 'Butler' service with Marlon was great he was so lovely and accommodating. Did feel the night time attractions lacked somewhat and were over and done with very quickly. All in all we had a great holiday and would for sure return to this resort.