Fun Time

We really enjoyed the beach- one of the best I've been to. The people who worked there were very friendly. Doris the beach towel girl was great- friendly, helpful- couldn't do enough for us! The food was good, the wine too. I liked how the resort was small and not crowded. Our whole trip was smooth and we had no problems whatsoever. A great vacation and great price.

Nice cozy resort

Overall - I would go back at the right price. Beautiful beach, nice pool. Average rooms. "Cuban" service. Wait for your drinks at the pool bar, they are in no hurry. Two towels in the room for the whole week, no clean towels available. Food was just fair ( as expected). Some staff was nice, but the bar staff at the pool need to learn to smile. We went for the beach, and we enjoyed every day.

Amaizing Resort

************** Great daily entertainment program, lunch and dinner huge selection, specious clean rooms, fabulous beach. Every day outstanding bands before the night show. ******************************************

Amazing resort

I been before in other resortes in in Cuba.. I can compare this facility . swimming pool enough safety to accommodate family with small kids. public areas and rooms it it was nice and clean, awesome place.

Great Resort! But.........

Until the last day at this resort...I was sold. The staff were friendly, the rooms were basic but very clean, there was always hot water, the beach was fantastic, there were always loungers in the shade (thanks to our friends who worked at the beach and would save them for us everyday) the pool was clean. One important thing to mention was that there were not a lot of real loud party'ers...maybe this was because it was late in the season. My constant thought was this isn't luxury...however it is [... read more] lovely....Great Coffee bar, Super Entertainment every night, food was fine and again the staff in the Buffet were very sweet! We did have an issue with one room but after a time it was solved. So everything seemed great! However on the last day a lot of my good feelings left me and my last day was a disaster. There were some sketchy issues with late check out, yes we could have late check out if we paid 26 pesos...which is fair....however it had to be pesos as the credit card machine was not working....but it was working in the little shop next store...so how can it work in one place and not the other? But in the little shop, you had to spend 50 pesos to use your credit card...but the day before we had bought 36 pesos on a credit card and that was fine.... So this was all very confusing to me....I think it would be helpful to come up with one story that would apply to everyone rather than having a different story depending on what day it is and who you talk to. Also this deal about late check out and only accepting pesos is one I do not understand. There was also an issue with my safe on the last day and when I spoke to the attendant at the front desk she was rude and impertinent. I have been going to Cuba for 18 years and this is the first time that I have encountered this issue with pesos vs credit card. If in fact this is true, maybe guests could be made aware of it at the beginning of their visit so they could plan to have 26 pesos left. All in all the resort was great but because of the treatment I received on the last day. I do not think that I will be going back......;-( And I don't know if I would recommend it.

Resort is good value for the budget minded

4 women, 50+ for an all girl getaway... Check-in didn't go as we would've liked. I found the service to be less than friendly and our guest service agent didn't seem to care that we were even there. There wasn't a simple welcome to the hotel, no explanation of anything in our room and you were allowed only one room key(card). When I asked for a second one, she simply stated no. During the process I’d asked if our other party who had arrived the day before and if they'd had an adjoining room w [... read more]ith us (we'd requested this when we originally booked the trip) and she wouldn't answer my question, kept ignoring me, I repeatedly asked if she was going to check for us and I stood there and waited for her to answer me for about 10 minutes. She continued to wait on other guests and intentionally ignored me until I I eventually walked away. At this point I’m a little upset and to top that off we then had to find our own room as we didn’t get bell service. We had to ask someone which building our room was in and they pointed us in the direction of our building. We had to wheel our own bags across the resort to our building. Luckily, the resort is not very big. We found the other party we were joining, who checked in the day before on the way to the room and one of them showed us where to go. We didn't get adjoining rooms but we were located just down the hall from one another. After explaining our ordeal, they were able to tell us about the hotel amenities, where things were located and had already made dinner reservations for all of us. Had it not been for them, we would've been stuck trying to figure things out. To start off the beginning of a vacation on such a sour note would set the tone for the rest of the trip for most people but I let this go and decided that I wasn't going to let that experience reflect on the rest of my vacation. I'm in Cuba after all and on a girls trip! My overview of the actual resort is that it is very tired, dated and a little dirty. The common areas and stairwells especially. The grounds are kept very clean as is the main lobby area. Your room is only simply tidied up by having your bed made and presenting your towels in an animal or flower figure at the foot of your bed daily but a warning to others; they use your dirty towels that you used that morning so they are still damp, be sure to hang them up if you want a dry towel for the morning. Also; your drinking glasses are simply rinsed in the bathroom sink and laid on the sink to dry. Facecloths are not supplied and I was prepared for this as I’ve travelled to Cuba before and we brought our own face cloths. The bedding was very worn, thin and faded and the bedding wasn’t changed out at all for the entire stay. The room walls were stained, the control panel for the AC didn’t work, you had to use the main fuse panel to shut it off (on and off were your only options) and the patio door didn't lock. The Pool area and grounds were fairly nice and kept clean, there seemed to be plenty of lounge chairs but you had to claim the best spots early in the morning or you were out of luck. There was always lots of excitement, activities and music during the day at the pool and at the beach. Note to future guests: You had to sign for your beach towels at the front desk and they present you with a coupon. If you lost this or your towel you were responsible for the number of towels you signed up for at a cost of 15 CUC per towel. We were also not told this at check in and had to find this out on our own when we went looking for a beach towel. Once you had a coupon, you presented it to the towel person at the pool (hut) and they kept your coupon and gave you a towel. You had to get this coupon back before checking out and present to front desk. On most days you're lucky if you got a fresh towel as they never seemed to have any clean ones, we basically used the same ones for most of the week. The lobby bathrooms were in rough shape with broken stall doors, toilets and taps and hardly ever had toilet paper in the evenings and never had paper towel for drying your hands. I expect that in public washrooms in Cuba but not on your resort. The disco was fun but better suited for the younger crowd but we still managed to get there one evening for laugh and a few dances. The food was pretty good for the most part. There was always a great selection/variety at the Buffet during breakfast, lunch and dinner. We ate at the buffet and we also ate at the à la cart restaurants. The beach area was amazing and the beach bar and restaurant was fairly impressive. The beach bar/restaurant was our favourite place to eat on the resort overall at lunch time. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get a mojito anywhere on the resort for the first few days. It is Cuba after all! They were out of mint leaves apparently. I had to wait until our day trip in to Havana before I was able to get a good mojito. I was disappointed with the wine they served at dinner, it seemed watered down. The drink selection at the bars was basic and typical for a Cuban all-inclusive. The entertainment was great during the day and in the evening. The staff really got everybody involved, they were very friendly and that made our week a lot of fun. One of our favourite things about this place was the coffee bar. The staff here were super friendly and always knew what you wanted and the coffee was excellent morning, noon or night (with a little shot of Cuban love). I don't think I would recommend this resort to anyone expecting a 4 star service. I would rate it at more of a 2+. If you are looking for value for your dollar (on a budget) and a great beach this would be an okay spot. I am not disappointed as I’m pretty easy going and just giving it my honest review. For me personally, I don’t think I’d return to this particular resort. You only receive the very bare basics in service and amenities (ie; had to pay for bottled water as they only provided two bottles in your room for the whole week!). NOTE: You can log on to the hotel WIFI by purchasing an internet card at the front desk for 2 CUC per hour. It is a little slow and reminded me of dial up at times but okay if you want to keep in touch with your loved ones or you simply can’t be without your social network for a week.

Overall Great Resort

Overall the resort was great. The buffets were really good and had a great selection. The a la carte restaurants not so great. The staff was very helpful and there was always plenty to do with regards to planned activities and entertainment. I would return there for sure.

2nd Time and going back!!!!!!!

Just got back from our second time at Playa De Oro and loved it just as much as the first time. The staff even remembered us from our first visit which was over a year ago. We were made to feel welcomed and appreciated and can really find nothing of substance to actually complain about. Keep up the great work guys !!!!!! I'LL BE BACK !!!!!!!

Disappointed

This was our 9th trip to Cuba, but our first to this resort. Although requesting a queen bed & being assured by the hotel we could have one, we were given a room with twin This was our 9th trip to Cuba, but our first to this resort. Although requesting a queen bed & being assured by the hotel we could have one, we were given a room with twin beds on arrival. There was water constantly dripping from the ceiling along the corridor outside our room on the third floor, leaving puddles on the ceramic [... read more] tiles which made for very slippery walking. On the third day, the resort did allow us to switch to a room in another building with a king bed which we appreciated. The maid service was good, but the towels were hardly ever changed so we would put ours outside on the balcony chairs to air out. We had to fight with the lock on the door most of the time and usually had to insert the card several times before it would work. Mid-week the card stopped working completely and we could not access the safe or the door, so had to go to the lobby to have it reprogrammed. We never before had any problem with food or water in Cuba, however we both ended up with diarrhea and stomach troubles which lasted for most of the 2 weeks we were there. There was one bottle of water provided in our room on check-in, but after getting sick, we bought our water at the store every day. In regard to the food, we found the meat often under cooked, yet the cooked vegetables were mushy and the fresh vegetables were limited and poor quality. The juice was watered down and the variety of fruits was limited. The bread and rolls were good, but there was only one toaster with long lineups each morning, and on the last few mornings, the toaster had been removed completely. At nearly every meal, we would have to ask for something, whether it be butter or dishes that had run out. One server rudely turned me away from the station where she was standing when I asked for a spoon (even though they were sitting right there and there were none on our table) and made me wait at our table until someone brought one to me some time later. There were two coffee machines at the buffet, but often only one was working. The desserts at the buffet were very attractive and there was a good variety. There was often a line-up of guests outside the buffet waiting for people to leave so they could find seating. Although entitled to 2 a la carte meals each week, we were only able to get a total of 3 reservations over the 2 weeks we were there. The International was good although the steaks were very rare despite asking for “medium” and the server did not come back to ask if the meal was acceptable. Most of the steak was left on the plate. The Italian a la carte consisted of soup and pasta or pizza which was the same as offered at the buffet. The burgers, hot dogs and ham and cheese subs at the pool bar were decent and the service was very good. We found the meat at the beach barbecue was often raw or rare and the cooked vegetables were served cold. Although the lobby desk exchanged currency, they seldom had single pesos, which discouraged tipping in the way which we were accustomed to. Even the bank in Varadero could not supply pesos. There are not enough chairs or shaded huts on the beach to accommodate all the guests, and to secure a spot requires getting up at 6 a.m. to put a towel on a chair. We noted several people marking multiple chairs to have some in the shade and some in the sun. Often, the marked chairs were not used, yet people who wanted a chair could not have one, but there was no one from the resort overseeing what was happening. It took several days to figure out how early you needed to go to secure a chair. The local vendors were constantly yelling and parading their wares up and down the beach, often close to the beach chairs, and the security people ignored them instead of making them keep their distance. The main evening entertainment did not start until 10 o’clock, which was too late for us. We enjoyed watching the children’s mini disco from 7:30 to 8:00, but personally did not enjoy the lobby entertainment that followed. On check-out day we were allowed to keep our room for an extra 4 hours, until 4 o’clock, at a cost of 25 pesos. The rep had informed us of this option at our orientation, however, on departure day, we found out it was at the hotel’s discretion whether or not guests could do this depending on when the next guests for the room was scheduled to arrive. Many guests were not able to keep their room past noon even though they were willing to pay. We do not intend to return to this resort and would not recommend it.

Great resort, great price

Our stay at la Playa De Oro was great. The pool was large and sectioned so there was plenty of room to swim or just float around. I noticed how clean the whole hotel was – they maintain it very well, which is nice. We ate at 2 of the 3 restaurants and the food was good. There’s 4 bars and a couple of them have food too. I was surprised because everyone says “you don’t go to Cuba for the food” – but in this case, everything was very good. The beach is only a 2 minute walk and it’s a [... read more] large beach with lots of lounges and umbrellas. Varadero has one of the nicest beaches and the stretch of beach at Playa De Oro shows it off wonderfully. There’s also a restaurant and a bar at the beach. The barbeque at the beach restaurant was excellent! They had a Cuban band playing at times during the day and evening, there’s a show at night (incredible dancers!), and there’s a club at the hotel called La Bomba for dancing later in the evening. I’ve been to many different hotels in Cuba and I must say, this hotel is worth checking out. Everyone was friendly and helpful. The price was great and will definitely be staying here again.

Resort was okay.

This was our second time at the hotel. We requested room facing the pool and they gave us a room with ocean view. We were on the third floor and barely saw the ocean with all the trees and plants covering the view. We were nexy to an elevator that beeped all night and the rooms were very cold. They gave us a small free rum bottle because this was our second time staying and a complementry lobster dinner that was very chard and salty. Although we appreciated these little perks we found that the h [... read more]otel was not as great this time around. The food was not as good, the pool bar had no veriety for rum and the snack bar burgers did not taste good at all. When we wanted to be at the pool there were never enough beach chairs and at the beach there was never enough shade. We still made the best of our stay and always went to the bar at the lobby as this was the only one that had good rum and very nice bartenders. I think next time we will try another hotel, unless I get a very good price with playa de oro.

Terrible resort accomodations

The resort has access to a beautiful beach but it ends there. The rooms are not good and the food is terrible. I found hair in the pineapple tray and the staff that serve you are rude. The front desk staff are the worst ever.

Great Resort

Playa D'Oro exceeded our expectations. Rooms were very clean, with snow white bathtowels changed every second day. Air Conditioning certainly did it's job. Public washrooms were immaculate, always being maintained by workers, lots of paper. Grounds were spectacular and clean. Awesome huge pool. Beach was great, however had yellow flag for a few days due to wind. The food selection has come a long way for Cuba. Lots of variety. Over the top staff, they were all so pleasant and nice. Shout out to  [... read more]Walter at the Buffet, and Louis at the pool bar. Awesome personalities. Great resort, give it a try. We will definitely be going back.

Lovely Resort

A great spot - wonderful beach & staff. Rooms are fine. The food at the outside grill near the beach was delicious at lunch with live music. Grilled fish, meat & veggies along with rice & beans. All in all we really enjoyed our stay there and would go back.

Great Place

Older resort could use touch ups (lodging areas), however great place (2nd time there), small and easy to get everywhere, accessible, grounds well groomed, beach bbq great, liked live cuban music, authentic. Surprised with welcome back extra treatment.

Very nice for the money we spent!

The best part of this resort is the amazing Beach and the friendly workers. The buildings and rooms are getting run down but ours was clean and our maid did a great job. It was a very easy resort to get around if you don't like to walk to far. The beach bar had a BBQ everyday and was so good. We aren't pool goers but the snack bar was good there at the pool. Our favorite spot was the coffee bar which opens at 7 am, if you haven't had a Spanish coffee you don't know what you are missing..lol... H [... read more]alf way through our stay the resort got fuller therefore going early to supper didn't happen unless you wanted to stand in long lines. We went to kikis restrarant in Varadero, we were told it was good and it was. This resort is not very far from the town of Varadero. All in all our vacation was another hit.

Good Resort

Not the best but also not the worst. Good for a 4star and food was decent and drinks were well made. Resort was clean but some rooms had broken toliets or other issues. Some of our friends had to wait a day or two to get rooms that had working showers and also check your room to make sure all items espdcally the LCD TV work or you may be charged $650 canadian for breaking a TV

Cuba

To start, my Transat rep was amazing both the booking agent and the resource at the resort. The repost was ok. Just ok. I knew not to expect much and I got below my lowest expectations. Hot water was on and off. We went through 6 keys throughout the week. I was sick three times from the food. There was mould in the room including on the lamp shades and the air conditioner. The pool and beach was well maintained. The rum flowed freely. Overall, I wanted a cheap get away and that is what I got. Wo [... read more]uld I go back? Probably not anytime soon.

Amazing resort

Clean rooms and well maintained hotel. Very nice pool and a wonderful restaurant at the beach. Excellent Cuban cuisine. Nice entertainers and a friendly environment. I would go back for sure. Amazing time.

Awesome trip! March 2016

Not many negative things to say at all, one thing caught me off is there's no mini fridges and no free water while at other resorts they get a fully stocked mini fridge with beer water pop etc. No swim up pool bar either. other then that everything is amazing, the staff are probably some of the friendliest people I've ever met. The grounds are cleaned regularly as is the pool and beach. The food is awesome, as my first trip to Cuba I expected way worse, there was something new and very tasty eve [... read more]ry day, they had something for everyone. The cars were never to busy so you're cup was never empty for long if at all. I plan on going back to Playa de oro and recommending this place to everyone.