Melia Buenavista: Three different Beaches

From April 5 to the 15 we stayed at this wonderful resort, small in size , just over a 100 rooms, 3/4 of them have ocean views, the others face a wondering pool. Three restaurant all enclosed so no problems with birds, good to great meals, far above the usual Cuban offerings. Larger rooms well cleaned twice a day, we had room 321 with a balcony that looks out over the west beach.Sandra our maid was wonderful. She was training another maid who also did a great job.The room comes with an outdoor [... read more] shower as well as an inside jet tub. A young Cuban man (Javier)was the acting manager when we were at the resort and was doing a great job. We had two butler's (Joel and Lilly)both doing a wonderful job.We met the chef (Sandra)at the breakfast restaurant early in our stay and she could not do enough for us, making special meals for us for lunch on a regular basis.She was supported by a number of great wait staff.(Marie and Anais and many others whose names escape us) The lobby is small compared to most lobbies but does have free wifi. The lobby bar was well staffed with talented bartenders .The new bar and food manager (Rafael) was working on adding more brands to the bar stock. The main pool has a bar and a snack shack that amoung other things has great pizza chefs. The pool staff are always around and if you are wishing to try something they are always there to help. A big hands up to Levon and Dany. The middle beach is used for snorkeling as it is well protected and has lots of coral.the pool guy (Dany)will take you out for a lesson. The main beach is a long beach that travels the length of the Cayo so you can walk for miles.All beaches have bar service. Entertainment takes place after dinner outside the lobby bar on a large patio, mostly good Cuban bands.Sorry if we forgot any names.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Wonderful vacation

Peaceful and quiet, very clean, friendly staff, delicious fish, pasta, pizza. Slow service at lunch , 2 hour wait for food, 30 minute line ups for grills at buffet restaurant. Fine sand beach, peaceful waves, but lots of sharp shells in sand. Good wine and beer. Very long bus ride from airport , therefore not planning to return

Valentin Perla Blanca: Just okay resort

It was my first time down south. Resort much too big. Long walk to get anywhere. Stains on blankets. Patio door doesn't lock. Food terrible. Beach amazing, pools very nice. Service only good if you tip and seems fake. Not overly impressed. Catamaran made the whole trip, so worth your money. Resort was much too far from airport. Entertainment at night was great. Disco not good, only cuban music? The lobby staff are not very helpful. Had trouble with rooms keys, little to no help. Drinks are terri [... read more]ble, if you like fruity drinks your out of luck they are not sweet at all. Bartender told me they were out of beer but the bartender on the other side of the bar was serving beer. I read good and bad reviews before going and was very hopeful and only listened to the good, was a mistake. The bad reviews here are really true. Got sick one day and after returning home got sick again. Beautiful country but not for me.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Great resort - service outstanding!

Quite a big resort with 2 sets of buildings surrounding the lobby & buffet. Food was above average and the beach was fantastic & ocean with turquoise colours! Service was terrific - staff were friendly! However, the bus ride is over 1.5 hrs to the resort from the airport. There were plenty of excursions to choose from and we enjoyed swimming with the dolphins & lobster lunch! There are entertainment shows every night and you can dance the night away in the disco after! Had a wonderful we [... read more]ek with super weather, and even left little gifts for the cleaning staff for our room. I'm sure you'll enjoy the Valentin Perla Blanca resort!

Melia Las Dunas: Worth the Price - Best Price/Quality ratio in Cuba

I don't understand why people complain about the food. It's very good for Cuba`s standards, if people go in expecting a 5 star North American food service then of course they will be dissapointed. I like to compare apples to apples, Melia Las Dunas has great quality food compared to other resorts in the region.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Good and Bad

The resort itself, although it's only 3 years old, it still needs improvement. Tiles in the pool, lighting on walkways, walking paths, condiments, changing of sheets daily and bananas, yes bananas, were all missing from this resort making it feel more like a 3 star resort. There were many pluses, like the beach, coffee, ocean (beautiful turquoise), al-a-carts, 24hr snack bar and entertainment. Easy fixes would be the lighting on walkways and removing all the broken walkways to the palapas so  [... read more]no one breaks an ankle and replacing all the lawn chairs that are broken with new ones. We had a nice trip over all but I would not be returning to this resort. You get what you pay for.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Great Resort

Pros: Beach was beautiful. Facility and rooms were great. Staff were very friendly. Cons: Very limited on chairs at the beach and food was just ok Would recommend and would consider re-visiting

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: playa cayo our family

We know that many people both good and negative reviews on the hotel but, we have been at this resort eight times and have stayed 11 weeks in total. We know that there are many hotels in Cayo Santa Maria but, listed below are the many reasons why. For starters the hotel is in process of changing the beds for those who thought they were to hard and also changing the brown blankets with new comforters during our stay. As soon as you get off the bus from the airport you are greeted by the lo [... read more]vely ladies Claudia, Yumary in front reception always willing to help out. We did see Mykael who used to work in the Spa but, now in sales. Also Michel, Yusef and Eric who are always willing to take time to ensure that you are enjoying your visit. In the main lobby bar there is Lusieny, Javier, Adrianna, Sergio smiling and asking what they can get you to drink weather it be hot or cold. In the customer service room you have Gustavo, Marta, Yulien who take care of any issues or concerns that you have. The 24-hour snack bar servers, Rafael, Yurquemy, Joicey, Leo and Yipsy always providing excellent service in the restaurant. During one day of the week is Cuban day, which you can have a real Cuban meal in the patio beside the 24 hour snack bar, which was served by Lisbeth. The main buffet food was always hot and had cold food also. During our stay we had fresh mangos, which was nice surprise as many of the crops were damaged from the hurricane and only now are starting to grow and produce again. The staff of Pedro, Gretel, Raidelyn, Yainary were outstanding. We did eat at the Romantico ( Dago and Noel) and Seafood ( Yosbel) provided us with excellent recommendations on choices. The beach is truly stunning to the eyes and there are many palapas to shade you from the sun. The beach has been repaired and there is more sand and easier access for those with mobility issues. The beach bar staff of Paulino and Maidelin, Yosmany also ready to refill your mugs ( drink , drink). As always the guardians of beach ( lifeguards) always alert for our safety. Thank you Rafa, Adrian, Roberto, Dido and Yovi. The gardener (Cobo) and towel exchange ( Yosmani) And of course the animation staff of the very friendly and outgoing Lisdania, Duniel and Delvis The staff goes out of their way to help you to have a good vacation. We know that they see many clients 52 weeks a year and it must be very hard to remember your face but, they seem to recognize and remember you when you arrive and treat you like part of the Playa family. The reason why we listed they names of staff above is that it is always good to see old friends and meet new ones. Lastly, We would like say a special thanks to Marta in customer service and help during our stay, which allowed us to relax and truly enjoy our stay. We will be definitely be returning.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Maybe a 3*

I will start with vacation is what you make it. In no way do I expect the people of Cuba to make my vacation great, however I do expect to know the conditions of the resort before I go so I can decide if it's for me or not. The pictures of this resort are deceiving. It has aged badly for not being very old. The hurricane sure didn't help this place with not enough shaders on beach or sun loungers either, a lot of them broken. Buffet very busy as I think it is just too small. Everything was wait  [... read more]in line ups so by the time you got food most was cold. There was a death the day on the resort the day I left so I was glad to go. Beach was Beautiful , loved when the tide was out. I would not return here but I did have a great vacation🏝

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Nice Resort on an Amazing Beach

Loved the beautiful white sand beach at this resort. Many kind staff who work very hard. We did not have a good check in experience, but have read other reviews who had the opposite experience. Many days it was hard to get change at our resort, so we would have to go to the bigger resort beside us. We could always find something good to eat. Very hard to find shade on the beach at our resort, but we could walk farther down the beach and sometimes find shade at the other Memories resort.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Beautiful Resort

The majority of the staff are very friendly and very helpful. There was not enough staff in the restaurants. The Italian Restaurant was great. The one complaint that I had was that when you go to the front desk to get your keys reprogrammed, they don't even ask your name. You could be getting the keys to any room. The snack bar by the quiet pool was the best place for breakfast and lunch. The beach here is beautiful.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Not public ready

I was overall disappointed with this hotel. They were not ready to be open to the public after the hurricane. I did take time to give the manager my constructive criticism and hope that he will consider the suggestions I gave him to better run this hotel. I love the Cuban people so I am hoping that things will improve in it will inspire people to return

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Ocean Casa Del Mar, Cayo Santa Maria

They sprayed chemicals in the early morning & supper time. A communcication breakdown a bit with front desk staff. Room was close to the most beautiful beach I have ever seen! ... amazing weather! No rain!

Melia Las Dunas: Great vacation

It is a beautiful hotel. The lobby is very big and spacious. Grounds were very nice. Beach was amazing. Pools were beautiful and could always get a chair. They have adult and family pools. Had a few issues with the room but they were taken care of in a timely matter. Saw a few familiar faces from the last time we was there. Frank was in the Buffett . He is very friendly and attentive. One of the gardeners was also named Frank. He was a very friendly gentleman. Spoke to us everyday as he went abo [... read more]ut his work. Manuel was also another server in the buffet. He made sure we were well taken care of. He was very friendly and attentive also. Always smiling and happy. One of the drivers , Manuel was also there the last we time was there. He was always smiling and happy. There didn’t appear to be much staff around but then the resort was not full either, so maybe they cut back on their staff when they are not at full capacity. The resort is very big so a lot of walking. The Asian restaurant was amazing. Buffett was not bad, always something for everyone.

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing trip!

Just got back from our trip at the Golden Tulip! (April 12th-19th) We really enjoyed our stay and the amazing staff that made it that much better. It was not busy during our stay and we had no problems getting a chair in the mornings beach or pool. We spent our time on the beach but the pool is absolutely beautiful for those pool people! Easy check in & out, good food (especially the Pizza Hut on the pool YUM) Also one night they had a pig roast and that was VERY tasty! I would most defiantly re [... read more]ccomend this resort to someone and hope they love it just as much as us. We have no negative comments to make but a little tip I do have is pack face cloths & beach towels. I don’t think Cuba has face cloths so we had packed our own & there was always a long line up for beach towels which I read before our trip so I’m happy we brought our own! Also the pillows are a little flat it did not bother us my boyfriend prefers flat pillows but I just put two of the small throw on pillows under the actual pillow and I was perfectly fine. For someone that might be an issue so just bring your own! ALSO the beach was SO nice this resort has it’s on beach area which made it less busy, we really liked this! Thank you Golden Tulip for a great experience and the friendly staff! We had a nice relaxing vacation.

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Lovely Holiday

We had no problems at all. The food was very good, the staff were very nice and rooms were clean. We would go back tomorrow if we could. The beach is lovely and they are building new shade every day.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: March Break Trip to Cube as GREAT!

Beach and water was amazing. Rooms were clean and all staff were friendly and helpful. We felt very safe! The food was not the greatest - a lot of selection on the buffet - pizza/pasta/bread/sweets, but not much in the way of fresh fruit or veggies.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Iberostar Enesnachos

Lovely resort, more shade required by the adult pool area (we never stayed there as it was too open ) beautiful foliage and greenery,good staff, clean well kept rooms. good dining & drinks, killer beaches (the towel thing was crazy) I needed to be down at the beach by 6:30 to get a shady palapa, the major down side for us is the distance for walking... it is too large and spread out for us to consider returning to.

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Don’t go here

This was the worst all inclusive we’ve been to. The resort had several problems and the staff weren’t very polite or useful in coming up with solutions. You should remove this hotel from your site. Upon arrival we weren’t able to get beach towels. They made it sound as though we arrived too late but in reality they had no beach towels to distribute. We went for four days before getting a towel. They also didn’t have enough bath towels to provide those as a substitution. The resort was al [... read more]so selling Wifi access, but the wifi was down and didn’t work for the majority of the time we were there. The rooms were dirty, stained towels and sheets. The shower in our room flooded the bathroom floor when you used it. The food and drink options were limited and not good. Often the buffet would run out of food and not refill it. One day our resort even ran out of bottled water for drinking. I couldn’t have been happier when our time was up and we could return home. I would suggest Ait Transat no longer do trips to this resort.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Very Nice resort!

The room, we had the Ocean view premium suite and the views were exceptional. The beach was great with plenty of Palapas (went around 9 am) and always found plenty available. Swimmable for all ages (at times like being in a pool) . You also had sections for Snorkeling. The only drawback was NO washrooms on the beach! The grounds were nicely kept (The vegetation was still very young "2 years old"). The restaurants were fine, they can improve at the buffet by having more personnel t [... read more]o reduce lineups for Pasta/Pizza/Crepes bar! The pool's (plenty of them) for all ages. Entertainment was nice with piano (lobby) and shows were also very good. The Front desk (checkin/checkout) was quick. Reservation (3 per week) was easy to reserve. Same for internet (1 peso per hour) and access was adequate for Cuba. The only service where we saw plenty of lineups was the bank. Overall, a nice resort, but needs to adjust (quicker service), if they want to compete with its competitors.