Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful Experience

Grounds were beautifully taken care of. Pools were clean and well maintained. Resort was nice size and didn’t have a lot of walking to get to places which was great. Food was great and plentiful. BEACH was the most beautiful I’d ever experienced. Rooms were good size and clean - beds were very hard.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Beautiful, Large Resort…just head certain warnings. Be cautiously optimistic and go have fun!!!

Date of Stay – Feb 11, 2019 to Feb 18, 2019 For all the overly negative reviews, those people clearly had different expectations, desires, or overly sensitive senses and palates. Having a bad experience at airport security where you left to go to Cuba has zero impact on the resort itself. Just because you got sick doesn’t make it the resorts fault. You have thousands of tourists daily, coming mostly from Canada…you probably got sick from one of your own and not the food. On the othe [... read more]r hand, the overly positive reviews are great and we’re glad you had an amazing time, but let’s not overlook some of the glaring issues this Melia Jardine Del Rey resort has. Down to business. 1- Buffet food. It’s terrible. Just terrible. We took advantage of day trips to other Melia resorts and the food was stunning everywhere else. The buffet breakfast and dinner times are way off. They do not open their doors at posted times and usually not for another hour. The whole resort seems to run out of bread and buns often. They ran out of all forms of bread on day 4, and even more unbelievably, they ran out of beer. No joke, for 1 day, no beer or buns. And many menu items are “not available” consistently. This was not a problem at the other Melia resorts, so something is wrong here. 2- A la cart restaurants are passable. Not great, but better than the buffet. 3- Towels. This is shocking to many but if all the reviews gave one glaring consistent issue it’s the lack of towels. Just bring your own like we did and then you have no worries. We know that’s not what you expect from an all inclusive resort but it’s true here. So take warning on that one. There is one small backup tip but it’s no guarantee. You need to line up at the towel service desk well before they open at 9am. Just be one of the first 10-20 people and you may get some. But if you do, don’t be a dirt bag and expect new fresh towels everyday. They just can’t meet the demand. So if you are one of the lucky ones, leave it at that and keep the towels all week. 4- Attentive service, forget about it. You all know there’s the expected “Cuban slow way” which is kind of island relaxed and laid back....but there is a limit to that. And at this resort they miss the mark. In fact, while visiting other resorts on the day pass we came across other employees who were very happy to discuss other resorts and we learned that the Melia Jardines Del Rey has a very young and inexperienced crew on all levels. Where other resorts tend to keep servers and stuff for 15-20 years. That helps explain service attention issues, but it fails to explain explicitly why this Melia resort couldn’t get more experienced staff. 5- I hate to say it, but after 4 days, we started to get more bug bites outside. Now nowhere in the world are you immune to that, but I do wonder that with so many people in small places, small stomach flus can be passed around quickly. The Cubans resorts (everywhere)just may not have the $$$ to fog out the properties, and they leave so many standing water “ponds” with no fish to help eat up the mosquito larvae so take that into consideration. Clearly with all the above there is a severe supply chain issue for foods and amenities. Don’t know why. Maybe Melia headquarters have given up on this one resort. We don’t know. With all said above, let’s be clear, this is not a dump or a hell hole. It’s beautiful. It’s massive (we like big resorts). We had a great time. Family of 4 with two teenage girls. All loved it. Even the one rainy day was great. 1- The pools are to die for. So many large pools, islands, always had chair availability. Clean. Very clean. No damaged tiles. There’s two main sections of pools. The west pools are quiet and more for family with kids (some very shallow pools for babies) or just anyone who wants to get away from the pumping thumping fun and loudness. The east pools are the party pools. By that we mean that the music is on at an audible but not offensive level starting early in the morning and the animation team does activities at this pool later in the afternoon. 2- Do take advantage of the Melia benefit to visit the other resorts. They are all beautiful. There is a hop on hop off but ($5/person/day) that can take you to at least 4 other Melia resorts. We visted 3 of them and they were all great, but the adult only Melia Cayo Coco was calming and had great food, and the Melia Cayo Guillermo was simply stunning (this is the place for beauty and great food, still Cuban level, but Cuban great) 3- Rooms clean and nothing broken. Nicely decorated and laid out. And the bungalow style allows for lots of closeness despite the resort being huge. 4- The beach. What can I say, it’s a beautiful and long beach. There is a BBQ, a beach bar, paddle boats, catamaran rides (when the water is not rough). Walk time to the beach is only 5 minutes, which is nothing. Some people complain on the reviews, well, then don’t go to a HUGE resort. Part of the appeal of a huge resort is that everything is spread out. 5- The ice is safe. The water is safe. If you have sensitive gastric systems (and many of you may not know it until you travel and experience more out of your usual) you may run into trouble anywhere. 6- Evening Shows are amazing, big, lots of costumes, choreography, different every night. 7- Night Life is fun. Every night the DJ is out at the Mojito bar outside, and it’s classic bump and grind, drink and dance. And when they shut it down on the resort at 11pm, they have a disco club just a short walk out the front lobby where it continues until 2am, drinks all included. This place just is great for clubbing it up. We’d like to give a shout out to some specific staff who were wonderful. Boris Luis - lobby bar, Miguel at the pool bar (You rocked man), and Lemay at customer service. There was a waiter at the 24hr restaurant snack bar, and he was attentive and for the life of us we can not remember his name. But thank you for your service every morning. All in all, it is a beautiful place, the staff are polite. Would I go again? No. I would stay at another Melia resort and hop over to this one as a day trip for the beach and pools.

Melia Las Dunas: Not bad resort

The resort needs a bit of renovation. The beach was excellent. I wasn’t empressed a long waiting lines. We didn’t have a beach towels for 3 days but asking people who cleaned our room were fast finding them. Also, we didn’t have tv that was working for 3 days. Sunwing busses didn’t wait for us when we arrived. Just left us behind.

Hotel Vigia: Amazing Beach- Friendly Resort Could Use Some Love

Beach- I have been to some of the nicest in the world and this was a top 5 beach. Definitely the best feature of the resort. Beautiful white sand for miles, beautiful, clean, clear aqua water. Lots of shelter. Easy to find beach chairs most days. This beach can be windy on a regular basis though. An even more incredible beach (Playa Pilar) is a short bus ride away for a day trip. Resort- This was my first trip to Cuba and I knew this was not a high end resort so my expectations were low. The  [... read more]resort is small and well layed out which I liked, easy to get everywhere quickly. The pool area was fine. I liked that there was no swim up bar full of drunks. The restaurants, bar and lobby were basic but clean and nice to hang out in. There was free tennis, ping pong, shooting range, paddle boats and kayaks. This resort was affected by the 2017 hurricane but they have done a nice job of restoring the landscaping. Many of the pathways/walkways were in poor condition. Several of the hotel room blocks were a bit rough looking on the outside and it seemed like a good number of rooms were still out of commission following the hurricane. Having seen photos of the damage following the hurricane, they have done an admirable job of restoring the resort with more renovations to come (so I'm told). Again, this is not a high end resort. Food- As a foodie, I was always scared to visit Cuba due to the the horrible reviews I've read about the food. The food was not as good as Mexico and some other destinations I've been to, but I enjoyed every meal. The only real negative was the lack of fresh vegetables some days. Maybe most travellers are turned off by "real" food. The meat is a bit more tough, the fruit tastes great but does not look picture perfect, there is very little processed food in Cuba. That's a good thing. The various pork dishes, sausages, bread and coffee were highlights. The hot dogs were surprisingly good! Great drinks too. Rooms- Our room was clean but in need of updating, and definitely rough around the edges. Renovating the room blocks and surrounding walkways should be the first priority of this resort. Once we got used to our surroundings, we were comfortable for the week. Lots of hot water. Housekeeping did a good job but we didn't get drinking water every day. Staff- Definitely a highlight. Although I prefer to remain anonymous when travelling, the staff were very welcoming, kind and helpful without being intrusive. There was definitely a family atmosphere at the resort with lots of returning guests. I am not interested in the entertainment but it seemed like they made a lot of effort to have activities and shows for the guests. There was some really good background live music in the lobby/bar a couple of nights. Overall- I would recommend this resort if you get a good deal (we got a great deal) but there are better options out there if the price is higher. If you want a cushy, luxurious vacation or want to party, look elsewhere. If you are OK with basic accommodations/facilities and prioritize relaxing on a world class beach over all else, this is a good choice.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Amazing beach, nice resort, horrible food and management

The hotel itself is very nice. Rooms were clean. Bathrooms on the resort were dirty. We had no beach towels for the entire stay as the machines were down so they had to send them out for cleaning. Food was the worst i have ever experienced and I've been to cuba before. They ran out of flour mid week so didn't even have bread. Ran out of beer on the beach multiple times. Bottled water was extremely hard to get. Staff were not overly friendly.

Sol Cayo Coco: Perfect!

We loved the resort! We really enjoy the smaller resorts and Sol Cayo Coco was just great! Loved the staff the Cuban's are beautiful and are so willing to make your stay perfect. We spent alot of time on the beach as we lucked out with amazing weather. Love the Los Pacos Bar on the beach. The bar tenders are super fun! The food was great as there was good selection for choice for your own personal tastes at the grills. We ended up with a ocean view room which we accepted with delight. I gu [... read more]ess the only negative I can think of is that the bathrooms closer to the beach often ran out of toilet paper :(

Melia Peninsula Varadero: MELIA PENINSULA VARADERO

I WOULD LOVE TO GO BACK AGAIN HAD ALOT OF FUN AND ALSO RELAED ALOT WHICH WAS GREAT. WE ARE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT COMMING BACK NEXT YEAR AROUND THE SAME TIME . THE SAFF WAS GREAT VERY NICE FRIENDLY ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP OR ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT WE HAD. HAVE TOLD CO WORKERS ABOUT THE RESORT AND THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT GOING THERE AS WELL.

Hotel Vigia: Disappointed

I felt there are renovations required. The walls are paper thin. I didn't get any water to take shower when I arrived! The restaurant food needs huge improvement! Would like more emphasis in adult entertainment. Many staff sitting around not entertaining. Noone hardly came around to ask for drinks until second last day. Poor service in main eating area. I got a very dirty cup of coffee! I work in food industry and this place needs huge improvement in the food too! Was grateful that I was moved [... read more] after a few complaints.

Melia Las Dunas: Beautiful beach, amazing staff

My fourth trip to Cuba, third time to Cayo Santa Maria. First time to Melia las dunas. The resort staff was incredibly friendly from the front desk clerks to Gardners all making an effort to get to know guests and help in any way possible. The pools were perfect always lots of chairs and shade. Beach was beautiful as usual. The staff on the beach always made an effort to find us chairs and Palapas If available. The room was clean and comfortable staff did an incredible job at cleaning eve [... read more]ry day, always leaving a fun towel creature on the bed. The restaurants staff was incredibly friendly. Buffet had an omelet bar for breakfast and pasta and rice etc. cooked fresh for lunch and dinner. Had a wonderful week. The hospitality of the staff is what made our vacation as excellent as it was :)

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Great Trip!

This resort is great, nice size lots of different options to eat, have a late night snack or just chillax with a hot cappuccino. Only negative was that the night club was closed so nowhere to go for any nightlife.

Memories Cayo Largo: Tired resort overun with cats

Pro's - Nice beach, great weather and lots of chairs and space. Super quiet and relaxing, just 10 min from the airport. Typical Cuban food. Great pasta, omelettes, toast and jam and roast chicken. Con's- most of the food comes from a jar or can, including fruit and vegetables. None of the open food was covered even with plastic wrap and the flies were on everything. Soooo many cats with the smell of cat urine in the buffet and wooden walkways. Many of these cats have infected eyes and beg fo [... read more]r food at the edge of the restaurants or wander in and clean up the floors. We were told that a few cats were brought to the island to rid it of lizards but no one thought to spay or neuter them. The staff seemed very unhappy The rooms really need some attention, especially the bathrooms, and electrical. We had to move rooms because our first one had no power in the main room unless you manipulated the plug.

Melia Varadero: Great People, dated resort

The people at the resort were excellent, the beach was very nice. The snorkeling directly off the beach was not great but you could get taken out on a catamaran for 20 cuc. About 500 meters offshore it was amazing snorkeling. I feel the resort/ room itself is slightly dated. I feel for the money we paid, the resort was not as nice as we expected. We upgraded to the Level and again the people were great but we got an older room with two beds pushed together rather than a king bed. An old bath [... read more]room and the room was quite small. We are not likely to return to this hotel/resort.

Melia Las Dunas: Fantastic resort!

Hotel was great, rooms (standard) are okay (nothing outstanding but nothing to complain about either). Food was fantastic (Lots to choose from and spices!!) Staff was friendly and welcoming. Bar service a little slow.

Paradisus Varadero: Disappointed, not returning.

We were at this resort the same time, last year. We loved it so much we wanted to go back again this year. This year we were somewhat disappointed and will go somewhere else next year. PROS:Our maid was great, pools were well maintained. we loved the restaurant by the pool which served the best chicken wings, calamari, fresh pizza, cheese strips, burgers and sundaes.Entertainment was acceptable.The a-la-cartes were just okay. CONS: Beach was only cleaned once in the week we were there, Mini bar [... read more] in room was only refilled once with beer after a request at the front desk and after customer service called asking if everything was good and if there was anything we needed. Coffee was never replenished. Food was not as good as last year, never anything really spectacular. I was disappointed in the 2 level room, asked to move and was not accommodated. One of the reasons we chose to come back to this resort was the pristine ocean, unfortunately the water this time was very rocky for the most part, making it hard to get in and out.

Hotel Camino del Mar: First Stay in Cuba

I took a shot on my first stay in Cuba, did much research on other hotels and comparing, and was not let down by Meliã! Great staff, clean room, was told the food was better than most and that was true. Great buffet with lots of options and decent a la carte restaurants. Very talented staff in the shows, the grounds were well kep, decent gym, and amazing beach! There were games and events held numerous times daily. My only “complaint” would be that the water was shut off for 12 hours or so  [... read more]at one point. But that’s why you have an ocean! Worth your money! Gracias Meliã!

Melia Las Dunas: Great Resort

Overall, my husband and I were extremely happy with the resort. It is quite large with many different buildings so if a lot of walking is not for you, then you will need to utilize the free shuttle service they have within the grounds. Our room was a bit dated and the water pressure in the shower a bit lacking, but it was functional and clean. Our housekeeper was super friendly and took very good care of us. The adult pool with the swim up bar was amazing. Treat yourself to the daily massag [... read more]e by the pool. They are free of charge but you will want to tip afterwards. The family/activity pool is a good distance away from the adult pool so you almost feel like you are at an adult only resort. The beach is breathtaking! The sand is white and the water is the most amazing colour of blue I have ever seen. You can walk for miles in either direction. Again, it is a bit of a walk to the beach, and no shuttle service available but we didn't mind that. The one thing that would have been nice would be bathroom facilities closer to the beach area. The food was great. Everyday I asked my husband how anyone could complain about the food. Each morning I started my day with a freshly made omelet with my choice of add-ins plus fresh fruit from the buffet, and a delicious cappuccino from the lobby bar. How does it get any better then that? Sometimes there was a line up for the omelets but that is to be expected. Lunch was usually fresh grilled meat from the bbq down by the beach and dinner was meat or pasta from the buffet with salad. We did try two A La Cart restaurants. We were not impressed with the Cuban one. Much of the food was the same as what we could get at the buffet. The Italian one was really good. We both had the Calzones and enjoyed them. If burgers and fries are more your thing then the beer garden is great. There was one day during our one week stay that the resort ran out of a lot of things including burgers, fries and hot dogs. But, their shipment came in the next day and everything was back up and running. The resort is on a small island off of a larger island. Sometimes shipments are going to be delayed. This should be expected and is not worth losing your mind over and certainly not the fault of the wait staff. The staff is great. We tipped occasionally, not every time we were served, and always received service with a smile. If you tip well, you will receive exceptional service. For example, a good tip at the beginning of the week to one of the waiters in the buffet guaranteed us an available table in his area each night for dinner. We left a small tip and small gift for our house keeper each day and she took very good care of us all week. I also tipped the omelet cook occasionally as she really worked hard every morning and was always super friendly to every one. We will definitely return to Melia Las Dunas!

Melia Las Americas: Mediocre to horrible! 3 stars at best.

Where to start? Arrived early, found the bus to take us to resort, sat for 1 hour and 45 minutes at the airport, reason waiting for 2 more people, who were waiting outside the bus.. Actually waiting while the tour operators agent hocked beer on the bus. Get to the resort, no one from "the Level" met us, stood in line for 10 minutes before we went looking and found the Level reception lounge. Checked in, then started a 12 minute trek to our room. Resort was notified that I had mobility problems  [... read more]when we booked. The room was great, it was the last bungalow on the south side of the resort, we were behind the main entrance/security to the resort. After checking the distance, taking the sidewalk out front, discovered it was .7 kilometers. that is 2310 ft. from our room to the lobby. We inquired about moving, and they were very understanding and accommodating, but the room was much smaller and not all that much closer. We were also offered a room in the hotel, if we wanted to stay in a huge multi room hotel, we would have gone to Casino Niagara for a lot less. We had to walk that distance every time we went to eat in one of the restaurants, I got to the point, that my knees and back would not allow me to walk it anymore. We started flagging down taxis at the guard shack and paying 3 pesos for a ride to the lobby and later 3 pesos back to the security, then walk the 60 feet to our room. We had a total of 14 meals over the period of 6 days. Only 1 meal would garner a "good" rating, the rest were sub par to say the least. Forget "room service", average delivery time was 1 hour, 15 minutes. three orders and all were ice cold when they got to out room. The first night, room service hung up on us 3 times. My wife hiked backed to the lobby to complain and the staff in the Level concierge placed our order for us, we ate maybe a quarter of it and the rest, ice cold of course. There was no such thing as hot food at the buffet for breakfast, unless you waited in line for an omelette or fried eggs. No coffee in any of the restaurants after dinner, " go to the lobby" is the stock reply. We also found that we had to call everyday to get our fridge restocked, just 2 of beer and cola, orange and ginger ale. NO ALCOHOL could be delivered to the room. It took 3 days of asking before we got face clothes, rest of the bathroom supplies were fine. The room service maid was excellent. Nancy, kudos. The resort is pleasant looking, and has beautiful grounds, with nice sight lines of the beach. Numerous stairs through out the resort, some ramps, some are very steep and could be a serious hazard to people in wheelchairs and walkers. The marking of stairs and elevated floors is nonexistent. In the one restaurant(The Limoncello) the centre of the restaurant floor is raised by 9 inches with no indication of the change in the height. I stumbled into it and careened into a table that flipped over with me following it to the floor. Everything that was on the table was smashed on the floor, luckily I was not cut, just bruised and sore. The morning entertainment for the patrons, who by the way were the only ones to come to my aid. I was not asked by the staff if I was alright or offered any assistance. Everyone seemed unconcerned with my fall, including the staff at "the Level" concierge. If there are cameras in the Limoncello. look around the 9 to 9:30 am time frame, Saturday Feb, 16. Paying for "The Level" service did not seem to benefit us in anyway.

Memories Cayo Largo: Our favourite Cuban resort!

This was our third stay at Sol Cayo Largo. It is our favourite Cuban destination. The staff are friendly and the accommodations very nice. The food is quite good also. But the best feature of this resort is the excellent beach. It has a large clothing optional section as well!!! Next year we plan on going for two weeks!!!

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: MeliaCayo Santa Maria

the hotel was awesome very clean. People were very helpful. The grounds were beautiful well looked after. The size of the resort was perfect for us it was very easy for us to get around. The food was very good lots to choose from. The beach was beautiful lots of activities as well as the pool. Our room was always clean .As for the entertainment the theatre not so much , we enjoy going to the lobby every evening, entertainment was awesome. We would definitely go back to this resort.

Hotel Camino del Mar: Awesome Resort

Amazing resort, fantastic staff, stunning beach and pier! Carlos the manager of the resort goes out of his way to interact with each and every guest. He is always listening to any questions, comments and concerns about the resort. The buffet is fantastic and there is always something different each day. The lamb, pork and white fish were the best we had ever had. We had excellent servers at the buffet; Yaniris, Yasnery and our student waiter Terry. They were very attentive and their service was  [... read more]impeccable! The International Al la Cate was absolutely fabulous! Special mention to Sally and Amel on the entertainment staff, they went out of their way for us! The room was fantastic, always clean and the fridge was well stocked. The beach is stunning, an abundance of palapas and chaise lounges awaits you. The water is turquoise, clear and full of beautiful aquatic life! There was a water main break during our stay. However Carlos worked very fast to resolve the issue. In approximately 4 hours we had water again. This type of situation can happen anywhere at anytime. Of course there will always be people that complain about a situation like this. We ❤️ this resort and will most definitely return! 9/10