SUPER AMAZING BEAUTIFUL BEACH

The most amazing beach, white sands, long stretch to walk the beach, just simply beautiful. The grounds are nice, they should add more flowers around the gardens. The people are nice & quiet, some of them are more pleasant than others, but overall ok. The rooms are ok nothing great but it is a 4 star hotel so they're fine. The main Lobby can use some fresh paint, so it would look newer again and their sofas and lounging chairs should be updated also. Overall very nice place, would go again in th [... read more]e future, awesome family spring break vacation.

Divers review of Starfish

Diving at Cayo Santa Maria, 2 tank dive $55 with your own equipment. $65 2 tank dive renting, the equipment looked good Scuba pro (I brought my own) they pick you up 8am in the lobby at Starfish return 2pm. Large dive boats we had 18 divers lots of room. Diving is OK many small fish viz about 40 ft. Reef looks healthy. Starfish resort, let me start by saying we have been to Cuba many times we have been to Varadero, Holguin, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo this was our 10 time to Cuba and first to Cayo [... read more] Santa Maria. Food- Well its Cuba enough said, second worst out of 10 Cuban resorts we have stayed at. Rooms- Large, two small beds, air worked good, did not change bed sheets all week !!!!!! Because of the sheets worst out of 10 cuban resorts. Bathroom- OK size, everything worked, good water pressure lots of hot water, did not change towels all week we had to hang them on the balcony to dry everyday!!!! Waking around the resort we could see everyone had the same problem everywhere you looked you could see white stained towels drying. Because of the towels worst out of 10 Cuban resorts. Beach- WOW!!! BEAUTIFUL!!! Best beach in Cuba hands down Varadero is a close second. People- very nice very helpful and definitely over worked, servise is very slow line ups for everything. Just not enough help.

Great Beach. Not Great Food.

The resort is fairly large with immaculate pools, lots of entertainment and a long, white, powdery sand beach with amazing turquoise water. Rooms are spacious and clean if a litte outdated. Air conditioning and plumbing worked well. The food was very iffy. At the buffet, fresh grilled items were the best choices but line ups were usually very long. The dishes under the heat lamps were barely edible. Kept at a low temperature for prolonged periods and everything tasted the same, that is to say -  [... read more]bland. The A La Carte restaurants were okay. At least things were hot and you didn't have to wait in long line ups. Nothing stood out as great food but they were better than the buffet. Service at the resort was good and staff is very friendly and professional. Lots of bars and drinks were strong. Great coffee and cappucinos. Be aware, smoking is everywhere with the exception of the restaurants. Smokers seems to outnumber non-smokers here.

Fun in the sun

The beach was amazing....the staff was very friendly,great coffee bar. The rooms were big and comfortable. I went with my wife for our anniversary and it was heaven. Great stay..so go relax enjoy the sun and the great walks along the beach. A definite must.

Wonderful resort

The grounds were beautiful and well kept. Public areas & rooms were clean. It was nice to have a choice of a quiet pool or a more active pool. The beach was beautiful & kept clean with plenty of lounge chairs. Nightly entertainment was awesome. If you get tired of walking as the resort is big you can get a ride in a golf car. There was plenty of choice for dining. The mangers and staff were happy to please. I would definitely go back & recommend to anyone considering visiting the Starfish!

Cleanliness is an issue

The public washrooms were not clean, and rarely had soap or toilet paper. Also, the dishes and drinking glasses in the dining halls were often dirty and/or chipped. The staff were often lazy and unhelpful. Bottled water was a scarcity. The rooms were outdated and had stained sheets and/or curtains. Honestly, the most positive things that can be said are that the pools and beach are nice and well-kept.

STAR FISH

I'll keep this short and sweet. The resort was good the food as well and the most amazing beach Ive ever seen.Not trying to sell this place short i had a good time 4/5 just minor gripes. The main problem thou were beach towels i didn't a clean one the entire week.Every time id go to the sports club within the hours nobody was there EVER to exchange my towel! If your someone who wants to go into a real town to shop this isn't the place as your in the middle of nowhere and about an hr away from an [... read more]y real towns although they do have a tourist center close. Finally I ran into a quite a few workers who couldn't speak a lick of English a little annoying but didnt ruin the trip in anyway..BRING your own towels and you'll have a good time

Beautiful beach holiday

the grounds are well kept by the friendly Cuban staff . customer service desk responded promptly to any concerns or inquiries we had . A relaxing resort with the options to party if you like or just kick back

Much better with the new management

3 years ago I would have given this place (then the Husa) maybe 2 stars. The new management team has done wonders...Now I give it 4 stars to 4 1/2 stars. We even had lobster in the buffet one night, never even went to an a la carte.

Had an Amazing Time!!!

Had such a great time, would for sure go back to this resort, all the staff was so friendly and lots of entertainment if you wanted it. Most beautiful beaches. Pools were nice and clean and rooms were cleaned everyday and the trip to the airport was long but lots to see, so the time flew fast!

Great resort, with a lot of positive points

Great staff, friendly and welcoming. Rooms are clean, however some equipment is in need of replacement. Towels need a lot to be desired. the public washrooms in front lobby, and near grill restaurants are in bad shape. The staff don't have the proper cleaning tools to do a good job. The bed linens were not clean either.!!

Nice Break

Haven't been to Cuba for 30 years so not much to compare against. There were some issues; no towel exchange, many mosquitoes in the room and some common areas but all in all the staff were friendly, the drinks were flowing, the weather was hot. Jose the GM was extremely friendly, very hard working, acknowledged and apologetic for the shortcomings and promised to improve.

Great time at this resort!

Great resort! Entertainment was amazing and the beach was beautiful. Very nice people. The food was good but very repetitive and not that many options in the snack bar. All in all this was a great experience.

Low expectations ! High return!

The resort itself was beautiful and the grounds were well maintained. Some fresh paint could have been added to some of the bungalow but remember it is Cuba. The booze is not topshelf so it you want the good stuff, bump your package up to a *****. Our bartenders(pool bar) were the best! Yes it is all inclusive but tipping goes a long way and you will be surprised what you can get if you just ask. The beach! Can't say enough! Beautiful silky soft sands and crystal blue waters. More then enough  [... read more]lawn chairs for relaxing and free water sports (non motorized) The shows were a little hard to handle but come on it's not Vegas and truly I prefer sitting around with new friends and having some drinks And like most of cuba the food is what it is. Don't think you're going to be dinning in the fanciest restraunts. And yes some of the food I would not feed to a dog. But if you take the time and look you will be surprised with some of the items.

Very good but need some improvements

lots of tourist but n0t enough staff. Need improvements in rooms. In order to get any service you have to tip for everything. repairs to room wait is too long.Had to wait 4 days to get my tv working. Technician arrived at 1030 at night. No internet service for a large hotel no communication for tourist to Canada. Had to but internet card not must have your own computer. Could be a very nice place if these thing are done.

Average

This hotel needs improvements. I was disappointed with all public and room bathroom. Showers was always flooding the floor and had to use towels to keep it from running in the bedroom area. No clean towels was provided the entire week I stayed. Food was acceptable, service was ok, beach was the best feature of this hotel.

Great for Cuba

I've heard so many negative things about Cuba so I was delighted to have a great experience at the Starfish Resort on Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. The resort was clean and the staff was accommodating. The cappuccinos were outstanding as were the always available special drinks. The pool was beautiful. The entertainment alternated between cheesy and extremely good. Cheesy was funny in its own way :) The food is very different than what we are accustomed to here but still delicious. I found plenty of d [... read more]ishes to satisfy me. Resort chefs try hard to appeal to the Canadian appetite with omelette stations, crepe stations grilling stations and pizza stations. It is true that there is no ketchup and the food is not spicy like in Mexico, but tasty nevertheless. The beaches were stunningly beautiful. White powdery sand and aquamarine blue everywhere. These were the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Small katamaran rides were free on the resort beach and we were also allowed to use kayaks and peddle boats for free. It was so fun. We saw a baracuda further out. We experienced three days of windy, very chilly weather. On those days, there was not much to do as Starfish is fairly remote. We shopped the nearby marketplace for souveniers and rented a car to go the 50 km to the nearest town. We also explored the countryside. It turned out to be a pleasant day. The poverty we witnessed there was a little depressing. We brought dollar store candy and toys to hand out to children and they were very grateful. The sunny days more than made up for the windy days. We returned home as brown as berries. The katamaran excursion was really fun and totally worth the money we paid for it. ($125 CAN). It included snorkeling, lobster lunch, dolphinarium. I rode a dolphin for $20 CU. It was amazing. There were many, many people from Quebec (85%??) and Ontario (10%?). Albertans were rare. There were no Americans yet. Quebecers seemed to enjoy being allowed to smoke in the bar and lobby. WIFI has to be purchased at a cost of $4.50 CU for an hour. You do not have to use it all at one time unless you have a hard time logging out. All wifi has to be done in the lobby. There is no wifi in the rooms. Sattelite tv is available in rooms -- there were good movies on. Rooms were cleaned daily but we were not given fresh towels or bedding during our stay. This didn't bother us but someone who would not like this would,. I"m sure, be given fresh towels upon request. I received an extra pillow when I asked. You can 'feel' the poverty there among the resort staff. We tipped a $1 peso for every meal, maid service, bar service, etc. and found they were extremely appreciative. We were told the average wage there is $18 pesos per month. ($14 CAN per month).

Amazing beach but bring your own condiments

The beach and water are just amazing at this resort - you couldn't get a more beautiful beach and no one bugging you to buy hats or have your hair braided etc as it is really only tourists on this beach. Great staff, rooms were always clean and well taken care of. Entertainment staff were very good, and there was only 1 occasion where the nightly entertainment was not good(most people got up and left). If you only catch one show it should be the Michael Jackson tribute - the person playing Micha [... read more]el Jackson was amazing. Food was just "ok" - you won't go hungry though. Unfortunately the a la carte's were very disappointing. Bring your own condiments as ketchup, relish, peanut butter, jam and basically anything that you would be used to at home was non existent.

Beautiful beaches

The beaches are simply amazing, the pool is very nice as well. Overall the resort is nice, a little bit older but very fair for the price. The buffets were better than expected but could be better. The drive from the airport is quite long though

Good Stay at Starfish

Amazing Beach. Disappointed that there were two distinctly different sides of resort, landing us on the bad side when we arrived. We paid to upgrade to an amazing room with ocean and pool view....well worth it. Bld 9. Food was poor, but atmosphere and entertainment and activities were great.