EXCELLENT ATTENTION TO SERVICE

Beautiful resort. Very friendly staff and management who always greet you with a smile and always ask if you have everything you need. Beautiful beach that you can walk for miles. Would definately go back.

Above and Beyond

My husband and I visited the Sanctusry in mid April. Simply put we had one of our best vacations ever. The resort and staff were amazing. Food was excellent at the Internatinal Restaurant, the entertainment was fantastic and the room ( suite) that we had overlooking the pool was lovely. But best of all was the staff who went above and beyond to make sure that every guests needs were taken care of. We will be back !

Worst service ever

Great beach, food ok for Cuba but the service was the worst I've seen in 30 years!!! Looks like they really don't care about you from waiters to managers!! All kind of promises but nothing delivered!! Buffet was the best restaurants and where the service was the best... À la carte restaurant was terrible... food and service... Imagine a sushi made of rice with a piece of corn in the middle!! never seen something like that before

Nicely Surprised

We've been to Cuba several years ago and were not that impressed. However, this trip was fabulous. Grand Memories is a huge resort but the Sanctuary part is literally a smaller resort within a resort and for adults only. There are many perks to Sanctuary -- you have a separate area on the beach; access to better alcohol; great discounts to the spa; earlier check-ins and late check-outs, to mention a few. The people who work at Sanctuary really cared about our experience. Every day, we were ask [... read more]ed if everything was working out well. Before responding with a quick "all's good," they asked us to really think about our response because they wanted to ensure any deficiencies were quickly corrected. Service is very important to them. When we mentioned we'd prefer to have more water in our room or a special bottle of wine, we received 2 large bottles of water and that wine shortly after. The rooms are very comfortable. We had a comfy large king-sized bed, a sitting area and very large private balcony. The bathroom was fantastic. I'm all about having a very hot shower with great pressure. Their hot water was even too hot for me (which is rare) and the pressure is the best I've ever felt (very strong). All in all, it made for a fabulous shower...every day. Even their bath was amazing...very huge. Each of our rooms was equipped with 4 bottles of alcohol. We were even greeted with a nice fruit platter & special bottle of liqueur. Cuba is not known for their food. However, the food at Sanctuary was very good. We were told their meals are far better than Grand Memories itself. We had our fill of succulent lobster. Most of our meals were great. There was some overdone meat at times, but no big deal. At times, service could be slow, but it's no big deal if you could lay back and enjoy each other's company. Understand the people working there could be short-staffed for whatever reason. Remember, there's always folks that are going to complain. Staff at Sanctuary work hard to ensure you're happy. Tip them well...even the maid service. Your generosity could go a long way. As for the beach -- WOW. It's a huge beach, the water is so clear you could see your toes. The water could either be very still or have huge waves, which is fun. We absolutely loved our time at the beach. No improvements needed there...unless they add cushions to the chairs or have floating mats available. The entertainment was really good. They had some amazing rock bands which had the audience dancing. Those were great nights. Even the cuban bands were good...perfect relaxing music to listen to while you're eating. Two things that could be improved upon: 1) Now that we're back home, we did have one unpleasant surprise. For two of our evening meals, we had ordered special wine. Each bottle cost CUC$18, so when we checked out, we expected to pay CUC$36. However, since we were using Visa, they take a cut (quite large). Instead of paying CUC$36, we paid US$47.38 and that amounted to CDN$64.21. For the type of wine we ordered, that was fairly steep. Had the staff told us to have cash at hand, we would have done that. However, we had spent all of our cash on tips for the staff. 2) We had free access to the internet for 1 hour each day. This should be available at any time of the day or night.

Sanctuary a true gem but not the Diamond

We stayed at "Sanctuary - Grand Memories" Varadero April 11 - 18th and I would recommend this to any adults looking for a relaxing, enjoyable holiday. Grand Memories, it self, is a huge complex that is nice but crowded, noisy, and busy. Sanctuary, a small resort within the larger, is truly as it's name implies...a peaceful sanctuary to relax and unwind. This is an adult only section. There is a butler for each building to meet your needs or solve minor problems (Ariel and Able were amazing!), en [... read more]tertainment staff to get you involved in various fun activities (Besti and Alexander were gems!), pool staff to get you drinks or food, nightly live entertainment in the lounge, lovely 3 course meals for lunch and dinner next to the lounge. When you are a Sanctuary quest you are closest to the beach and you also have access to the anything in the larger resort such as the bars, entertainment and a la carte restaurants ..... we did take advantage of that on a few occasions but were always grateful to return to Sanctuary. Best of all were the guests at Sanctuary.....everyone was warm and responsive. We have made some wonderful new friends from Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland... they are all missed. Only downside. We upgraded to the "Diamond Club" and that was not worth the extra cost as everything in Sanctuary was already great (upgrade worthwhile if you are in the main resort) and there seemed to be little extra value as compared to what the other guests were already enjoying. Deluxe Junior Rooms were large but in need of some upgrade such as painting. Need to get the towel situation sorted out. Some guests, who were not Diamond Club, had extra towels whereas we (as Diamond) went a few days without fresh towels until late in the day when we told our butler and he scrounged up a few towels. But that was easy to take. All in all, it was a wonderful holiday and do go and enjoy Sanctuary!!!!

Not Overly Impressed

Grounds were better than average. Room was dated and musty smelling. Grand buffet was disgusting. Al la carte average. Food was a bit repetitive and greasy. Not too much available for fresh veggies Pool area always clean & tidy.

Great resort, hard working staff

The hotel itself is beautiful and well maintained with a great layout and wonderful landscape. Everything within Sanctuary is well centered and not much of a walk. The pool is well laid out, not too hard to find a chair, pool bar is very close with lunch bbq served daily, and the pool staff are energetic and attentive. The staff are friendly and helpful, but we felt most eating establishments were very understaffed. They tried their best to keep up, but it was apparent they often are doing the w [... read more]ork of 2-3 people. Hopefully it's a growing pain and they will increase their staff levels. The beach was calm and warm, clear water with powder white sand. Typical minor issues: hard to find a beach chair between 10 am-2 pm, towels were often not restocked until 5 pm in the rooms, etc. All in all a great vacation!

Fantastic Trip to Cuba

We had an amazing trip to Grand Memories Sanctuary. The hotel was beautiful. The rooms were great, room service (with turn down every night) was awesome and unexpected. The grounds were being worked on while we were there and the beauty started to show a couple of days in as the grounds crew worked to bring up their newly acquired resort up to the standards desired by all. The Diamond Club experience was worth every penny. The 'butler' service was completely on point catering to every whim. The  [... read more]a la carte restaurants had a great selection of fresh food that was ready quickly and was delicious. The buffet style restaurants also had a great selection and the food and service was more than expected.

Better than expected

Booked through Trip Central and was very easy and user friendly as usual. Based on other reviews I was very concerned prior to going, lower my expectations, which turned out to be un-warranted. The Sanctuary was the most up to date resort we have stayed at in Cuba, same standards as Dominican and almost as Mexico. Staff was fantastic and engaging, we tipped but I don’t think it really made a difference. The other connected resort Grand Memories is family orientated and Sanctuary can use their  [... read more]facilitates but they can’t use the Sanctuaries. Buffet was a bit chaotic as was the main lobby in Grand memories, but if overwhelmed a short walk to the Sanctuary changed the feeling. The only gripe (and it’s a small one) is that trying to get bottled water was like pulling teeth after hours………one day our mini bar was not restocked so we didn’t get bottled water and when I went looking for it at 12:00 I had to try 5 places throughout the resort before finally getting a bottle…..

Amazing !

The Sanctuary......great rooms, clean, great staff always looking to please, great food, own reception never any line ups, lots going on,management always around,beautiful beach, bet resort in varadero, just wonderful.....

OLD,TIRED AND VERY SAD !

It is very unfortunate that this is what I have to write about my vacation. Many times in Cuba (and many other countries)so we knew what to expect but this was more then we bargain for. SHAME ON YOU SUNWING ! We bought Diamond Club Sanctuary DLX Junior Suite that supposed to offer according to Sunwing: personalized check- in, access to all Grand Varadero amenities,relaxed stylish, ideal for couples......Not so ! When we arrived the Diamond Reception was closed. Big line-up and no information. My [... read more] husband had to unload our luggage from the bus.We had to find our own way to the adults section,our first sandwich was served on the broken plate.During our vacation we were denied drink in the bar at the main lobby (Diamond costumers only,we were told -we had white wrist- bands on),we were denied access to the Diamond section in the buffet for the same reason.This time we had to get manager involved. We know what to expect in terms of food in Cuba but if you have put it on dirty,chipped plates, it makes it unbearable. When you think Sanctuary a quiet,intimate setting comes to mind instead we got bunch of rowdy people encouraged by entertainer with ear piercing voice and a microphone in her hand. Since it is Sunwing that operates this resort we should expect more.This resort looks old,tired and unkept. No effort is made to make it any better. No towels in the room - it was a daily chore to ask for them. No promised bath robe either. If one chooses to lounge on the chair by the swimming pool (with ear plugs in) extra padding is offered only to those who tip well. False advertisement I call it. We also met many professional and competent,very friendly and beautiful people. However,the compensation is not big enough for us, to go there ever again.

Went there with bad weather

Staff are friendly and helpful. I know bad weather shouldn't affect the rating of the hotel, but when i went there, there was basically nothing to do, we had to join the local tours instead to have the fun that we didnt plan. The weather was okay on the first day, though we weren't informed that the water sports are all closed due to weather condition during our check in. Food was not delicious, but i know they have tried their best. buffet is good enough if you dont like other restaurants' food [... read more]. Bed sheet stinks on the first day, after serval asks for them to change the bed sheet they finally dont have a smell. I would recommend to a friend if the price is cheaper.

Great for relaxing and pampering

The Sanctuary is a small resort, adults only(definite plus) section of Grand Memories. The a la carte on needs reservations for dinner, breakfast or lunch is walk in. We preferred room service for breakfast. Fresh omelettes, meat and cheese plates and of course cappuccinos are a must! There is also a snack bar right at the pool which offers burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and fries.The lounge offers top shelf liquor which is fantastic, even 18 year old Scotch There is live entertainment night. Cub [... read more]an food for the most part is very bland compared to other countries but all our meals were enjoyable. You have the option to go to the Grand Memories and use all their a la cartes, buffets and bars. I recommend going to the buffets early, we tended to go very late and choice was limited and left on heat tables too long. Our fault. Going first thing the food was plentiful and fresh. Service at the Sanctuary is top notch!! The staff are very nice and accommodating. You are assigned a butler who is also available to help you. We liked that option when it was raining to get rides to the main resort. Being adults only the age group was a 35+ crowd which was nice. Unfortunately during our stay we didn't see the sun so can't comment on the beach the much. We did venture down and it is a gradual beach which is nice. Worth the extra for the personal touch.