Too many bugs around and pool not clean

its ok for kids , but not 4.5 * .... i would rate this resort 3 star. too much walking and limited food seletion. beach for sure is nice but pool area within resort not clean and kids theater in night is full of bugs

Very disappointed

Very big , very run down, NO RUNNING WATER FOR THREE DAYS!!! No telephone, was to be up graded to diamond club but did not happen, buns as hard as rocks served with mayo no butter!!! Arrivals stolen out of luggage in room, no help from sunwing staff, resort staff not friendly

Good resort

Very, very big!, the beach was perfect, the room was also perfect, always clean, no bugs, the sheets were clean, apparently this has been a problem in the past, this resort has a real problem with supplying beach towels daily, we went 4 days before our towels were changed. The grounds were very nice, some of the resort needs some upkeep but generally very nice. The food was not good, I do not say this lightly, I have been going to Cuba on and off for 20 years and this is the worst food in 20 yea [... read more]rs. Having said that they did have some food we have never had before, such as yogurt, ice cream from Nestles', hole shelled almonds and some days peanut butter but they only had bananas 2 of the 12 days we were there and they were not edible. This island produces bananas do not understand this problem. Dinner time also produced some perks we had not had before, they had portable bars on just about every corner! The manager, or director was not very approachable and when you did get a chance to speak to him not helpful, he could not explain why all the problems existed but did spend a lot of time complaining about his own problems with the resort.

Amazing resort

Beach was unbelievable. Gardens were well kept. All good for my family's experience. We will return in the near future. Staff was friendly kind and help full. The beach is the most gorgeous I have ever seen and will make sure everyone that w talk to will know what to expect when they go!

Superb Hotel!

Everything was amazing, the service desk, the bars,the grounds, bartenders, the gardeners,the pools and the ocean! The food at the buffet was lots of variety plus something different every night! The entertainment at the ocean and pool side were fantastic to evening entertainment for everyone. Great vacation with some of their excursions added to do something different and very enjoyable.

Not so good

Very concerned about the food. La cartes were the worst. Hot food cold cold food warm. Cold meat sat out all day In 40 degree weather grey and slimy. Beach was very beautiful. Resort very Large night life was fun. Great staff tried their best. Staff even got frustrated with lack of food. Having to tell customers that they only have one dish left to sever no beef no pork no shrimp.

Poor

There was four of us that stayed at memories in cayo Santa Maria. None of us will stay there again. The food was cold. The bathrooms where disgusting. The only nice thing was the beach and the weather.

Avoid

The grounds were well kept. The rooms were dated especially the bathrooms but very clean. Food quality and supply was very inconsistent. A La Cart Restaurants had very little to offer, in fact I preferred to eat at the buffet. Same thing with the bar drinks - very inconsistent. Some days the drinks were excellent and other days after a sip I lost interest. The line up at the bar was usually too long to go back and get another drink. Perhaps that was a good thing :) The biggest issue was the staf [... read more]f. Nobody cared about anything. First we had no hot water then no water. I understand things break but it would have been nice if the staff pretended that they cared. The restaurant and bar staff wasn't very friendly at all which really surprised me for Cuba. This was my fourth time in Cuba. The only good thing about this resort is the beach and the pool.

Average

Grounds-well kept, dining rooms- airconditioning not working, Foods-hot items were cold, rooms- very clean but not well serviced when items were broken. My TV was broken for 3 days before it was fixed after complaining 2x a day. Evening entertainment not well organized especialy for the size of the resort. Staff very friendly. Beaches absolutely awesome :)

Wonderful beach, beautiful people...

Overall I would give this resort 4 stars. It is very large, which is a bit of a drawback, but if you stick to a part of the resort for the week, it is quite manageable. Lots to eat, plenty of chairs, shade, and the nicest beach I have ever seen. We have traveled to Cuba many times and this beach beats Varadero and Cayo Coco for sure. Far enough away from the main island that there are colorful fish to see even if you don't want to go on a catamaran. Everyone always talks about the food. Resorts  [... read more]try to cater to a huge number of people from all over the world. Stick to what you know and like, and you will be fine. Rooms are a bit dated, but you are not paying to stay at a 5 star North American hotel, you are on an island 46 kms from the main island. Expect power outages, water supply issues because all of their fresh water must be trucked in. No big deal. You are on vacation, so suck it up, enjoy the beautiful island, beach and people.

Resort was ok. Sunwing/trip central issues

The beach at this resort was amazing, it made everything else seem less of an issue. We had some service issues right from the start. Upon arriving at the airport for a 10:45 am departure, we found out the flight was delayed until 5:30 in the evening. Then upon getting to the front of the line, we found our reservation had actually been cancelled. Turns out when one of our party of 7 had to cancel the week before, the entire booking was accidentally cancelled! After 30 min. of panic, Sunwing was [... read more] able to rebook, luckily noone had taken our seats on the flight while our booking was cancelled. We got to the airport in Cuba around 7 hours behind original schedule, was smooth getting through and on the bus. Drive to the resort was good, beer available on bus. When we got to the hotel, the driver said to not worry about bags getting off the bus, go check in and they would bring the bags to our room. Once we checked in, we saw all bags sitting in lobby, I could not find mine. Noone working there could help track my bag down that evening even though we knew the bus #. They wanted to know the bus drivers name, where the bus was going after, where we stopped before...then said there was no way to contact the bus and I would have to talk to SUnwing at 930 the next morning to get my bag. Bad end to a bad first day. The bag was recovered by the sunwing rep. the next day by 1030am...now we can hit the beach! Food at resort was ok, buffet was much better than alacartes. bathrooms other than in the room were really bad-no toilet seats in many, toilet paper scarce, many out of order...not flushing but not marked out of order. Rooms were nice, clean, everything worked. last day power was out all night, pitch black in resort from 12 till 5 am. then no water in the am. I guess those types of things are pretty common in Cuba. Overall I was dissappointed with SUnwing, we got a $75 dollar voucher per person for the delay of flight but were told by flight attendant it could not be used for excursions, only on another trip. after we talked to a fellow traveller who said you could use up to $50 on an excursion, we read the fine print and sure enough you could. we already went on an excursion for $110 a person, Sunwing would not give us a refund. We decided we would go for VIP airport lounge (worth it) this is $25 a person, snacks and drinks provided at airport when leaving. They would not let us use a $75 voucher for 2 VIP passes, made each person use $75 and you lost the rest of the amount. I don't plan on travelling with Sunwing again after the booking cancellation, bag getting lost on arrival by the bus and noone from Sunwing or hotel available to help, and this vouchure cheapness so we just used the full $75 for the VIP lounge. figure $25 is better than nothing. THis area of Cuba is beautiful but the resort needs some work and some staff need training on customer service. SUnwing should be more accomadating when people are delayed, you should get a decent benifit to make up for the loss of a beach day during the trip you are on, that is what you already paid for.

Great time!

The rooms in the resort were slightly outdated. One room stank of smoke. Over all the rooms weren't too bad. 4 star for cube but 3 for anywhere else. Food was great! The A la carte's wert very good. Extreamly small portions and they were always out of at least 1/4 of what was on the menu. The pools were ok. Could have been scrubbed better around the edges and especially at the bar but the water appeard clean and was checked regularly. The beach was amazing, the best beach I have ever seen. I wou [... read more]ld go hear again just for the beach! The night entertainment was extreamly well done and we throughly enjoyed it every night. The carnival in the market was a blast, had a DJ and foam cannon! The excursions were fairly cheap compared to else where I've been and were a lot of fun. All in all I would go here again.

2nd Trip To Memories Azul

We were with a group of six and this was the second time for us visiting Memories Azul. Let me start off by saying that we did get the building location that we wanted as we were in contact with the resort via email before we left. Four of the six were put in the desirable location upon arrival, but two of the six had to be changed from another building and the Diamond Club amenities did not follow for them until their last night. We found the diamond club purchase was not worth it this year. T [... read more]here was absolutely no diamond club liquor that was available. The only thing that I saw was Beefeater Gin. Last year they had, among others..Baileys, Kalua, name brand vodka, Absolute and/or Grey Goose and Malibu Coconut Rum, canned beer was available and particularly Cristal. All they had at the bars was on tap draft, even in the new Diamond Club Bar. But, mind you, when you went into the store at the resort there were all kinds of canned Cristal for sale in there. Plus I noticed at the airport lounge, they had name brand vodka and Malibu Coconut Rum available, but not available at the resort. ??? Our maid service was good and the beach is amazing. Very nice to have a waiter bring you drinks as you sit and relax on the beach. The resort lost power one night and the following two days we had little to no water. This meant no ice and not water to wash dishes, so we had to eat off of plastic. Not sure what the resort can do about this, but it is a concern for sure. We won’t be returning next year to this resort, but may try another Memories resort.

Not a good resort

No running water for 2 days. First day we arrive no toilet working in our room, not a bottle of water in the fridge. During the lunch and dinner buffet they ran out of plates. Had to take my sheets of my bed after 4 days so that they would be changed. No entertainment at each pool. Not a good resort. For my mom's first trip out of Canada the resort didn't stack up for a rating of 41/2 star. I will not go back to this resort again.

Needs improvements....

beach...amazing! white sand & shallow water for the kids pools....nice! weather....amazing! rooms.....need repairs & updating but clean staff.....mostly grumpy with a few happy exceptions food......OK but cook with way too much oil!

Very poor service, not impressed at all

The beach was our favourite. It was amazing for the kids as the sand was white and fine, very clean, the water was shallow for a good few meters from the shore. The rooms were average, and ours was not even cleaned on time. We had to call reception a few times. There was no running water for the first couple of days, and could neither shower nor flush the toilet. It was awful from this respect. The room service was very bad. I asked for drinking water five times, and I finally had to talk to a m [... read more]anager to have some water for the kids. The food was average, and the personnel not friendly at all. Would not return to this resort!

Did not live up to expectations.

This was my second year visiting this resort and it was disappointing. We paid for Diamond Club for several reasons, one was the premium liquor we had access too last year, however, this was not available; premium liquor had to be purchased. The bar ran out of things every night, ice, tonic water, etc., bottled/canned beer was hard to find, however, the store in the reception area had lots of Crystal! I find the lines of communication very poor on this resort. We were a group of six and asked to [... read more] be in the same building. When we received our envelopes on the bus the room numbers were crossed out for four people but not for myself and my sister. We were at the top end of the resort a long walk away from the buffets/lobby bar. We requested to be moved to the same building as our friends and were, however, the “Diamond Club” perks were not extended to the room. When the resort was low on towels the other diamond club rooms were given clean towels every day. Also a basket of amenities and a bottle of rum (for returning guests) were in the other rooms. My sister and I received none of these things until the night before we were leaving despite repeated requests to the "Diamond Club Manager" who assured us the items would be in our room the next day. The food in the buffet was fine but my biggest complaint there was the extreme heat inside and the flies! They were everywhere (despite the doors being kept closed), sitting on the tables, cutlery, tea cups, I found that disgusting. I’m sure they could do something to exterminate them or leave the doors open so they’d fly in and out. The beach was amazing, can't speak to the pools as I didn't go there. I will not be returning to this resort, too many irritating things that add up by the end of the week.

Great vacation but resort/staff needs work

Two weeks vacation from April 2nd to April 16, 2015. The resort is massively big so for physically active people like myself it was great, for anyone challenged for walking I would not recommend this resort. Check in was a breeze, our terrace pool view room was adequate with a few issues. The patio screen was ripped badly, the screen constantly fell off the track when slid open, the rubber bath mat was old and moldy, the bathtub plug was not hooked up so we could not drain the water from the tub [... read more] and the soap dish was hanging off the wall. Despite a power outage for a full night, total water loss for the resort for a full day and no hot water until the next day...we survived quite happily. I was a bit creeped out by the two unwanted cock roaches who resided in our room! The food in the dining hall was at times questionable. I always enjoyed what I choose but steered away from cold foods that sat out for long periods of time in the heat...the cooling system for food was pretty much non existent which worried me. Sometimes the hot foods were hot but most often they were only tepid. As I said, I never went hungry and enjoyed what I choose. The pools are wonderful, the staff at the swim up bar and the hotdog lady at the pool were outstanding! The main bartender at the 24 hour grill/ Cuban restaurant was very unwelcoming and went out of his was to avoid serving people unless you waved money at him, he was also very interested in playing on his cell phone. After 3 attempts, we completely avoided this grill. The 24 hour lobby bar was enjoyable and the staff were good and friendly, serving the best coffee! The main lobby desk requires staff that actually answer the phones and they also severely lack in the English language, especially the evening/night staff. The beverage room staff only provided us with the included soft drinks on the first 2 days...the remaining 12 days we were given water and beer only despite giving tips and requesting soda. Soda was available to buy in the resort store but not available as part of our all inclusive package as promised, disappointing to a non drinker! Five inquiries to the lobby desk made no difference, still no soda. The beach is gorgeous and was thoroughly enjoyed several times! The entertainment in the evenings was okay. Some nights were very boring while others were exceptional. The grounds and gardens were very nice especially along the main sidewalks but there is plenty of room for improvement around the buildings. We thoroughly enjoyed the close proximity of the Market to the resort and the excursions we went on...although the very long bus ride to get to the excursions was a bit tiresome. All in all, despite the little things we enjoyed our vacation but I think next time we go to Cuba we will choose a resort that is closer to population to avoid those long boring bus rides and a smaller resort since many times the golf cart people would drive by when we waved them down to be picked up despite only having one or two people with them.

Awesome Resort with a Amazing Beach!

Although this resort is huge, it's very well laid out. The staff were amazing always exceeding our expectations! The beach is the best part, so beautiful! Our room was spacious and kept very clean daily. The grounds were kept clean and lush. The food was on par with other Cuba destinations, but did lack in fresh fruit. We had a fabulous week away!

Disappointed

This was not our first trip to Cuba. We are not high-maintenance people. So when we decided to spend two weeks in Cuba instead of our usual 1 week, we decided to spring for a higher-starred resort, and Memories Paraiso Azul was our choice. We were not just disappointed, but shocked at how our experience here differed from what we read in the reviews. The Room The bed was comfortable and our cleaner was dependable. There were several little maintenance related things that were just big enough to [... read more] be annoying. The lighting by the bathroom sink and mirror was so low that you really could not use it to apply makeup or shave. The bedside light on the right and side of the bed did not work at all for our entire stay, and the light out on the terrace had been removed before we got there, and had never been replaced. For 7 days of our 14 day stay , the toilet ran water, or was unhooked back in the tank and would not flush, or would not work at all. Two full days of no water at all ( a problem that we were told was a) resort wide b) caused by the entire Cayo Santa Maria string of hotels being without water c) being repaired within the hour (it wasn't). Coming back from the beach two days in a row with no hope of even a shower besides a simple rinse beside the pool When we booked here, we were also excited about the prospect of having a stocked fridge in our room. My husband does not drink alcohol or caffeinated pop, so when the beverage service people ran out of everything but tuKola and Beer it was pretty disappointing. The store in the lobby was happy to sell him Gaseosa (sprite) and Naranjo (orange) though. We were also not the only inhabitants of the room. We killed or chased into the unknown several large cockroaches, the last one speeding out from under our packed suitcase on departure day. Not the end of the world, but it gave me the heebie-jeebies. First time I left a vacation room and was relieved to leave it. Ever. The Food The A la Carte restaurants were good, fast and had something for everyone's taste, at least at our table. The food presentation and decor was beautiful, and the wait staff was friendly and professional. I think if I wanted to nit-pick, I could say that without exception, every single a la carte menu had at least one item that was not available out of pretty limited choices to begin with- but overall the a la cartes were very good. We ate at the Chinese, International, Mediterranean, Mexican (twice), and Italian (the one at the hotel) The buffet is enormous. There are stations that will cook your food to order if you stand in line. Do that. Anything else and you are faced with complete inconsistency. Something that you found yesterday to be good will taste completely different the next day, even if it looks the same and is in the same spot. The temperatures of the food were all over the place, with most of the hot food being tepid at best, and the cold cuts and cheese sweating and drying in the tropical temperatures, instead of being chilled in some way. We had 4- count 'em FOUR different occasions when the orange juice poured into our glasses tasted like some kind of cleaning solution. We had conversations with other guests that experienced the same things in the buffet, so our experience was not at all out of the ordinary. We are not travelers that expect the very finest food when travelling in Cuba or have extraordinary expectations, but when we compare Memories food to our regular 3-star resort, I can just say that it is prettier to walk around and around to find something to eat. The Beach Cayo Santa Maria is beautiful. We had no trouble finding beach chairs on any of our beach visits. Just breathtaking blue water for and fine white sand. The Pools The pool we went to (Paraiso side) was beautiful, clean, and the highlight of our trip. The pool bar staff is amazing. They put up with a LOT, and manage to put a smile on their faces, and sing and dance a little here and there. The Activities Staff were there daily, and the lady that works with Activities has an amazing amount of energy that can keep any guest dancing in their chair, in the pool, or on the pool deck. This area can not possibly have an accurate description without mentioning the hot dog lady. She served hot dogs (very good ones) from the grill. She smiled, sang, danced and cooked in the heat with never a complaint. Activities staff member Carlos is also a gem to talk to. Just when the state of the room was getting pretty depressing, Carlos told us about some of the surrounding towns and suggested areas to visit. His local knowledge and down to earth demeanor was the deciding factor when the couple with us walked up to the lobby and booked the excursion to see Santa Clara. They had a great trip, and enjoyed the excursion with Eddie the Gaviotta tour guide. The Grounds and Resort Common Areas Most of the grounds were beautiful. You could see groundskeepers working all day long, trimming and clipping. The pathways to the buffet were for the most part nicely kept, although someone vomited on a bench about day 3 of our stay, and it stayed there for 4 days. We walked by the vomit a couple of times a day, and remarked every time that it was still there. This was not a small amount of vomit either it streaked up the back of the bench, and down along the seat and was wet when we first saw it- the Cuban sun drying it a little each day until (I suppose) it finally flaked off and blew away by day 4. Gross. There also seems to be an issue with the sewage in this part of Cuba. In many of the public bathrooms, there is a sign indicating that you should place toilet paper in the garbage can beside the toilet. For me, this combined with many hotel guests digestive response to the Cuban food- I did not even want to use the public bathrooms. The main lobby is beautiful, and the best coffee in the resort is at the main lobby bar. Nice Cuban coffee with wonderful frothy milk and a sugar cane stir-stick. It is worth the walk to go get your coffee there every single time. The Entertainment The theatre had entertainment every night. We loved the Michael Jackson themed night- it was a crowd favorite, and rightly so. Get there early for a seat. We bought tickets to the $20 "Carnival" party that takes place at Plaza La Estrella (Wednesday night for us). It has some great entertainment, but the people that would enjoy this the most are the club crowd. Stage show, DJ, dance music, foam gun to spray the dance floor, and an all-over jump around good time. Made me wish I was 20 again. Overall Memories Cayo Santa Maria Paraiso Azul had many positives. Not having running water to shower with, the toilet problems, the cockroaches, the mediocre buffet I might have been able to continue on and just be happy, but the response to all of these things was less than stellar. There was no management response at all. The front desk stopped answering their phone and if you called to see if you were going to at least get water before you flew home, the phone would just ring and ring. No complimentary bottle of rum or ticket to the coming weeks Carnival to try and offset all the negatives. No kind words, sympathies or apologies just nothing. I would give this resort a 3 star, probably equal to our regular 3 star vacation in Cuba, where we are normally happy with cheap and cheerful fun in the sun. I am removing a star though, and giving Memories Cayo Santa Maria Paraiso Azul only two stars. It might have been equal to, or even a little better than the three star resorts we have visited, but when you consider the extra cost, and lack of management response to customer complaints, they lose a star. I won't be back. Stayed April 2015