Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Incredible resort, food, staff and beach! Best. Honeymoon. Ever.

My husband and I just returned from our 11 day honeymoon at the Royalton in Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. This was my fourth visit to Cuba, but a first to Cayo Santa Maria and the beach and resort exceeded my expectations. We started off by meeting our butlers for the week, Maria and Javier, who were so professional, friendly and helpful. When we walked out our door each morning, they were there to greet us with a friendly smile, ask how our day before had been and asked if there was anything they nee [... read more]ded or could do for us for the day. You name it, they did their best to take care of it. Maria set up our dinner reservations for our stay including a special one set up by the pool for returning guests and honeymooners, Javier set up a special bath with flowers floating and champagne for us. Our requests weren't huge, but included new batteries in the TV remote for the evening, shaving cream, and water in the room and everything was provided in a timely manner. There were three consistent managers we saw day and night, always helping out, talking with guests and making sure everyone was having the best experience possible. Any issues were taken care of immediately. Beyond that, the food was incredible and I was pleasantly surprised as my expectations for food in Cuba were not high. There is no buffet here, which I liked because it gave us a chance to have a served meal every night and I found the quality of food to be better this way. Guests at the Royalton have the option to eat the buffet (or restaurants) at the Memories resort next door, but we never felt the need to do that as we didn't hear the best reviews about food there. Our part of the beach was the most beautiful (if I do say so myself). The room was really spacious and clean. The air conditioner worked amazing, I haven't slept so well in years! The entertainment at night was very good. It was more intimate and I liked that. I find the big staged performances a little cheesy. This included bands, dancers and musicians and I was really impressed - everyone was so talented. The pool was beautiful, infinity style and there was an upper pool and lower pool (upper was a bit more quiet, lower had music and afternoon entertainment). Both were gorgeous, with really comfortable and high quality beds as well as cabanas with curtains that swayed in the wind (small things make a big difference for me!). The bar we liked the most was the lobby bar, its ambiance was so relaxing and sophisticated. In the evening, someone was always playing the piano, dressed so well and the drinks there was so good. We favoured the Spanish coffees, but I also liked getting tea there to settle in for the night. For those who are wondering, internet worked well, though we weren't on our phones much. Your given a card, either pay 1 CUC for an hours worth of time or we were also given three hours free, just remember to turn your wifi off when you're not using it or the time will continue and you'll run out! There were little cats on the resort, but they were harmless. They didn't bother you unless you gave them attention or food (the resort staff asks you not to feed them for obvious reasons, but people still do because Canadians are suckers for pets!). They were actually really cute and we named them all. One last thing, we noticed smaller palm trees with stones at the bottom that had people's names on them. Apparently, if you visit this resort three times, you get to plant one and have your name there (how sweet is that?). Both my husband and I would highly recommend this resort if you're travelling to Cayo Santa Maria. It's close to two hours from the airport, but it's definitely worth the drive.

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Wonderful Vacation🌞🌴🍹❤

We just returned home from a lovely vacation at the GoldenTulip in Cayo Santa Maria Jan.2-10. The staff is wonderful and always ready to help! Our room was beautiful with 2 ocean views, always clean and with fresh towels each day. The beds were comfortable however the pillows were not... BEACH is spectacular! Soft white sand, turquoise blue waters and lots of palapas for shade! Hot and sunny 27-31°C each day! POOLS were beautiful and clean, infinity pool as well as kids pool! GARDENS  [... read more]and flowers, simply beautiful! FOOD is actually very good! Breakfasts: omelettes, pancakes, ham, bacon, cold cuts, cheeses, yogurts, smoothies, fresh breads and fruits. Lunch: Beach restaurant offers fresh grilled pork, chicken and fish each day. Also pasta, paella, rice , fresh fruit, pastries, ice cream and a SPECTACULAR VIEW OF THE OCEAN!! BEACH BAR: Makes delicious pizzas from 1-3pm and great drinks!! Dinner: We ate at 3 "a la cartes" during our stay... Italian grilled salmon was excellent! Buffet always had a great selection as well! TRIPS: We took the speed boat/snorkeling tour. I did not enjoy the speed boat. The waves were high and the boat was bouncing on the waves a lot but the snorkeling was amazing!! Many beautiful colorful fish and corals to see!!😁 All in all we had a WONDERFUL TRIP!!

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Amazing beach, so so resort

World class beach but has lots of sand fleas. Bring bug spray. Rooms and hotel outdated and in need of repairs. Staff super friendly and helpful. Cuba going through a recession so not all food options available all the time (bread) and 24 snack bar closed or no options many times.

Melia Las Dunas: Hotel

The rooms where large and the beds very comfortable and big, they clean every day the towels you need to put in the bathtub if you want fresh ones, we were on the first floor but we didn’t have any bugs, there is a big variation of fish and meets at the buffet, the best way to eat fresh is to stay in line and cook it on the spot,there is not a lot of fruit or vegetables, do not expect to eat exotic food or spices because they don’t have it,we tried the restaurants a la carts and the best one [... read more] was International, the ice cream is good and the bar makes a great capuchino, if you want to get good service be ready to tip everyone, they will remember you the next day !

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: Love love love it!

This Hotel was brand new and was over the top beautiful...... the food was great ... I loved the beach and the ppl that served us were amazing!!! I was by myself on this trip and felt well cared for !!! The only complaint I have is that I should have booked 2 weeks!!

Memories Paraiso: Wasn't the greatest resort but beautiful beach

The room was not very nice, we got so many bites and were worried that we got bed bugs. The food was pretty bad. Not much to pick from, barely any all you can eat shacks. The market that was a 5 minute walk was really nice. The beach was incredible.

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Its Cuba

The beach at this resort was to die for. By far the most beautiful and breath taking beach ive ever been too. The food/beverages were near to awful and the resort its self was mediocre. But the beach made it all worth it.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Best resort on the quay.

Resort was spotless and well maintained. Staff were very friendly and courteous. Management was top notch. Good selection of excursions at reasonable prices. Transat representative was very helpful. Food was very good. Beach was amazing.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: great hotel

We stayed at Dhawa for two weeks, it is the best hotel we have been to in Cuba, relative new, and super clean, it has the best beautiful landscaping, food is good, especially the lunch with sea bass and other fresh sea food, evening show is great too, especially the pool show is unique, the beach is the best, there is even a small reef near the shore for snorkeling to see a lot of fish. They give you free Wi-Fi, which is rare in Cuba. People are friendly as all cubians. The only small bad thing  [... read more]is the beach towel service is not good, we only got changed twice of towel in the two weeks.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Beautiful beaches, amazing staff with a room for improvement.

This hotel was perfect four our family of four with beautiful beaches, friendly staff and lots of healthy walking to get to where you want to go. The food was as good as we could expect for an all-inclusive and the kids water park was perfect for our 4 year old and our 2 year old. There is a ton of space in the rooms and we never struggled to find a shady spot at the beach. The Great: Beaches, staff, the drinks and the shade at the beach. The Okay: The food, the rooms and check-in proces [... read more]s. The not so good: We thought how amazing it was that they didn't use straws at the beach which we loved to see but it was all ruined when on New Years their staff decided to use New Years poppers at the beach literally littering the beach and the water with thousands of pieces of small plastic; just terrible. Who ever approved this should be fired, it was a terrible decision. You could see plastic floating int he ocean for days later.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Not impressed

This was possibly the worst service of any resort I have been to You have to carry receipt slips everywhere. No plugs for sink or tub in room. Hour free internet was never available . Pay more for the week that includes New Years but have to pay extra to go to the New Year’s Eve party. Then have to pay again when wait staff accidentally discards your receipt from dinner table. Even after showing credit card receipt for paying they still charged me for the second time for not having the other [... read more] receipt. Menus didn’t have available what was in the menu. Buffet was ok but things weren’t kept hot when supposed to be. Couldn’t get a hamburger all week at snack bar. One day no hot water (don’t get any money back for that)all I expect is what I payed for and that wasn’t even close Beaches were beautiful and had good weather thank god.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Amazing resort

Entertainment team are the best, especially Emilio, Markus Food is alright, they can work on it to make it little bit better with more choices. Restaurants food were not that good.The Beach is so amazing Overall it is perfect

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Nice resort!

We enjoyed our holiday here. The beach and pools were amazing. The weather was sunny every day. We enjoyed the adults only atmosphere. There is no snorkeling close by and there are many bugs. The food was ok but not as good as the Holguin area. The staff seems tired. The room was fine but view was a maintenance back lane. We asked to switch rooms but we gave up after they gave us a runaround.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Excellent Family Resort

Grounds: Were absolutely beautiful, and well maintained. Food: Excellent food in all restaurants and buffet. Service: The staff were all exceptional!!!!!! Flight: Had delays on both ways with Air Canada. The only complaint I had was that there was never any toilet paper or paper towels in any of the public washrooms at any given time. Would definately return.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Incredible Time and Time Again

We have returned to this resort every year for the last 3 years in a row, and we will continue to do so. The resort itself is held to an excellent standard. Very well maintained, very clean, beautiful beaches and extremely hard working and attentive staff. I cannot say enough positive things about this resort. I highly recommend visiting this resort whenever you get the opportunity. The resort next to us ran out of provisions, and our resort was kind enough to help support them, too. I always ha [... read more]ve an incredible holiday at this resort and cannot thank the dedicated and caring staff enough for always taking such great care of us. Thank you!

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Beautiful pool and beach!!

We went to the Sanctuary from Dec 27-January 3 . I’ll be honest at first I was like hmmmmm this resort needs a major paint job, and upgrade. I didn’t realize the resort was in a hurricane over a year ago. But having said that it was a year ago... and the resort could put people to work in cleaning up the place ..its not dirty but very very weathered. The chairs need painting in the outdoor sitting, the veranda’s need painting etc. A good power washer would help. The Beach is amazing [... read more] no complaints. The pool is beautiful too. The food was ok in the buffet , if you love seafood which we do and chicken you could have something freshly grilled. They do need to turn up the tables most food in the buffet was Luke warm. The A la Cartes were delicious no complaints at all and we did them every day. The bar tenders were friendly and all the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Great Place for New Year's Eve

Visited before in 2016 and found it has slipped a bit. We stayed in Spa section both times. Beaches and accommodations are excellent but food was inconsistent. Staff are the best especially Guerra and Danarys at the Pool Bar and Daimy in the Buffet. Dianne in Customer Relations was also very helpful. Maintenance of communal washrooms not the best. Distance from Santa Clara airport makes for a long bus trip and the service at that airport is not very good. However it's worth it once you are at th [... read more]e resort.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Great resort!

This resort is a true gem. Beach, pool, rooms and staff were all great - in particular Yinette in the snack bar and Adrien in housecleaning services. Wonderful New Year’s feast - lobster, champagne and roses for all the ladies. Truly a memorable evening.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Best so far!

We love Cuba specially Cayo Santa Maria for the beaches. We went to many hotels so far and love to try new ones to compare. This was our first time to Dhawa. We loved it! Great food as far as Cuba standards go. Great service, staff very friendly, beautiful beach with plenty of chairs and palapas to choose from and waiter on beach to take your drinks order. Smaller hotel where you are basically only one minute away from everything. Will certainly recommend it and also return sooner than la [... read more]ter.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Nice resort, shame they don't bother to tell you anything

The resort was nice, the food adequate to Cuban standards. It's just a shame that the rep didn't explain much at the welcome meeting... such as there are 2 areas to the resort... east side is quiet, west side is where the activities take place. You have to queue up for at least an hour in the morning to make your reservation for the a-la-carte. There is a limited menu at the snack bar (no pizza) although the food is always hot and freshly cooked from it. Also, it is supposed to be open 24hr  [... read more]but if you walk by around 10pm (ie after the evening show is finished) it is all in darkness and it was only after about 3 nights that we realized the staff are in the back with the lights off and it's only when a handful of guests enter the building and knock for service that they come out and put the lights on/resume service. Don't be surprised if you dont get allocated to rooms/blocks that you request upon booking... I'd requested block 11 ground floor and we got block 14 2nd floor. Also, small things that were annoying.. we had 2 rooms and after multiple ignored complaints we gave up with the safe in the rms... 1 was locked open and 1 was locked closed :-( also, lucky we had connecting rms as the room our daughter was using... the door didnt work for the 10day duration - she had to come and go via our room and the connecting door.