Nice place

comfortable beds,clean,beach clean ....on the forth day no electricity and the no water for three days,no clean sheets and towels for three days and no flushing toilets,worst vacation ever,I do not recommend

Great Beach and Pools!

Overall great resort. Beach and pool are fantastic. Food is good if you know what your looking for. Resort itself is quite big and since there are 2 lobbies the night entertainment is split up. Would go back.

Great vacation at Memories

Just returned from a great stay at Memories, wish I was still there!! This was my 1st time travelling solo and was very glad that Memories Paraiso Azul is where I decided to stay. This is a nice large resort so even when it is full to capacity (which it was during my stay - approx. 3000 people) it does not feel over crowded at all. I had read many reviews of people complaining about how much walking they had to do….realistically, unless you walk at a snails pace you can easily get from one si [... read more]de of the resort to the other in under 10 minutes (and if you don’t want to walk, there are many trolley’s to take you to wherever you want to go). I was in building 55, room 5511 (on the Azul side) and even though I was on the ground floor, I still had a little peak of an ocean view over to the right. This building was in a great spot!! Less than a minute from the 24hr grill, a few of the pools & the beach and maybe 1 & ½ minutes from the lobby, buffet and theater. Sure there where a few minor things that could have been fixed in the room (ie. Phone did not work, the light bulb on the terrace burnt out and yes, the beds are a bit hard) but really, how much time do you plan on spending in your room? My only real complaint regarding the room would be the lighting over the sink and the need of a new shower head. The beach is absolutely beautiful but make sure to get there early if you want a spot in the shade. There are numerous pools to choose from (party pools, quite pools, kids pools) and tons of loungers around. Again, if you want a spot under one of the palapas, you will need to get there fairly early. There was a wonderful pool worker there by the name of Lidsey who would greet me every morning with a great big smile, a flower and a cushion for my lounge chair. The entertainment team that included Eduardo(?) and Yandy was also great!! They got everyone (young and old) involved and having a great time with the pool side games, dancing, beer pong etc. As for the food….well, anyone that has been to Cuba before would know not to expect too much from the regular buffet food that is made in mass quantities and it was no different here. However, anything made for you fresh off the grill was absolutely AMAZING!! I had fresh fish, calamari and muscles every night & 1 night there was also fresh grilled lobster in the buffet (and note that the longest I ever waited was maybe 3 minutes in line to put my order in). The staff here was amazing & almost all spoke great English (as well as numerous other languages). From what I saw and experienced 95% of the staff were willing to jump through hoops for you (with or without a tip and when tips where given, you could tell they were genuinely grateful for it). The only staff members that I found that seemed to think they were entitled to a tip prior to providing any service was from the bartenders (even if all you were asking for was water). Overall I had an awesome time and can’t wait to go back. Thanks Memories for a great vacation!!

Great Place and Beach!

The hotel was well layed out, even though we were residing in a place behind the pool area-we found beach access and access to the buffet/theater to be close, I really liked the rooms-clean, spacious and quiet, the staff were friendly and helpful. The buffet was excellent, we ate there all the time except one a la carte dinner at the asian restaurant-it was nice but generally the food at the main buffet was better in my opinion. The beach was perfect, no rocks, perfect white sand, nothing living [... read more] in the ocean. You have to get there early to get a lounge chair but that happens during peak times anywhere. The entertainment was good, the theater is right across the buffet so it was convenient to watch a show after dinner, the Michael Jackson show was amazing and the international show was great. Overall we enjoyed our stay. One note: it was a bit windy on the beach but I think it is due to the time of year (April) when we came. And it is a long transfer from the airport, the flight times could be better..you spend 12 hours in transit just to get back...crazy (1.5 hour bus transfer from the airport and they get you there more then 3 hours ahead of your flight...so you check out at 5 am and by the time we flew back to Toronto it was 4 pm).

Amazing resort, the best I have stayed in, in Cuba

This is an amazing resort. The beach is about a half mile long of white sand. There are enough palapas for everyone, there are enough beach lounge chairs, the good ones, in good shape, there are extra 2 inch thick pads to put on top if one wishes however I did not find it necessary. Plentiful beach and room towels, always had one each day, nice thick towels. As much beach activity as one wants to join, volleyball, beach games, dancing in the sand, paddle boats, canoes, catamarans, beach bar, bea [... read more]ch lunch spot. Pleasant staff communicate well in several languages. There are two lobbies the Paraiso and the Azul, each with a group of buildings to house guests, the lobby to the North the Paraiso has building that run from 3101 to 4101 each building 11 in all has 3 floors with 66 rooms in it. The Azul Lobby Also has 11 building that have 22 rooms per. Rooms were basic Cuba, very very quiet in the rooms could hear very little outside noise or noise from inside. the room had an iron, ironing board, fridge restocked each day and coffee pot and very quiet air conditioner that worked well. There was always hot water and a lot of it, the rooms were clean and well looked after. The food was very very good, always fresh and cooked right in front of one if one so choose, I had to Q up but the wait was well worth it. There was chicken, "Cuban beef very tough", fish, pork, sea food and eggs lots of eggs any way one would like them cooked. The coffee was very good, hot chocolate, milk, juice or tea. The bread was beyond good I ate to much of it. There are 3 huge pools one sports pool per each Lobby and a children's pool with activities for the children right in the middle of the resort with a children's club house, there are lots of very nice lounge chairs at each pool. The sports pools are located at the ends of the resort, one on the North one on the South. Each pool has a bar. There are four separate routs down to the ocean and gulf cars available for those who need. There is no one trying to sell one anything, there is a market at the far north end of the resort where we were able to buy what we wanted. To many nice things to mention we were well pleased, the best place we have stayed, this was our 10th time to visit Cuba but the first time to Kayo Maria, we will return. The not so good there are no elevators, the gulf carts are very quiet I kept thinking I would get run over so walked in the middle of the route, same route for walkers as for carts. They go very fast. They have an absolutely beautiful theater with amazing entertainment however it was very loud. Every where is very loud, we took along ear plugs and used them a lot.

Great resort

el a cartes need to up grade their food maybe only give them a 3+ (easy fix), Italian only really good one out of 4. pools are fantastic-best i have ever been to, 1st day kids area pool temp was good-after that every one around (all pools) complained they were to cool-they have lots but need way more shade covers there are loads of chairs, same as beach fantastic but again need more shade-by 9:30 all shade covers gone except for way down the beach-its sad watching the elderly or people with litt [... read more]le kids wondering around to find cover and that i find not acceptable and totally unnecessary, there's loads of space where more can be added to the right on Azul side (its crucial shade be provided for all who want it) -but that said beach staff was great (recommend hats or clothing for them so they are easily recognizable) and did their best to help out, loads of chairs. Kids pools should have more shade cover over the pool itself. All staff fantastic. Booze accessibility best i have ever seen and all servers friendliest ever--never ever even a hint or look as to where's my tip-they all went out of their way to please you even when we thought they were to busy they had time-i have been to 15+all inclusive's. Going towards building 54 which is on a slight hill they need benches i found myself stopping and just standing for a break but i do have a slight medical condition-however i did see elders that did the same-(easy fix) was very nice to see alcohol cart part way up at times which i did not stop at. Fridge replenish was only a little off couple of times which was fine, yes i did tip. Will go back which i usually will not if i find pools to cool or not enough shade cover, this place was only off a little bit (again another extremely easy fix) i really hope they take heed to my recommendations as pool temp and shade so important to most. Nice to have little entertainment in main lobby nightly. Highly recommend resort to all. Great location with no worry of local's to bother you, completely safe. Catamaran with 2 snorkel stops on it was super but not really presented i only knew from research it was offered-then we needed to go on wait list (for 3 days) until they got enough people to go- but again not presented or info any where on paper or on tour board at all-we did get to go and it was very good and highly recommend. There is some snorkeling on rocky point on right side of hotel Azul side, with needle nose fish and about 3 or 4 colored fish. Overall fantastic resort.

It’s all about the beach!

1st time to Cuba. Traveled the first week of March as a couple. The weather was perfect. Booked this destination because of the great price and the fact we could fly out of Windsor and arrive in Cuba in less than 3 hours. Read many reviews prior to going so I was not totally surprised by some of the resort deficiencies. On arrival, we easily found our bus for the 1.5 hour ride to the resort. The bus was a comfortable air conditioned coach with beer for purchase (2 for $5), but no bathroom. The  [... read more]bus stopped on the side of the causeway in the middle or nowhere when the tour rep announced, “bathroom break, ladies first.” Sorry Sun Wing, NOT acceptable to tell people to go to the bathroom next to the bus in the dark on the causeway! We arrived at the resort at 9 pm and were shown to our room (3rd floor, Bldg. 57) which was clean but had an intoxicating smell of bleach which eventually dissipated by the 2nd day. The rooms could use some updating and repairs. The beds were hard, the sheets had holes, and the bathroom was not up to our standards. There was a nice view from the balcony, the fridge was restocked daily with what we had requested, daily maid service was good and towels (very worn) were replaced when needed. We left tips and gifts for the maid and room service attendant. The food was hit and miss. Breakfast was o.k.. The made-to-order eggs were very good but the bread selection was inconsistent and the fresh fruit was awful. We usually arrive around 9:30 and found that some of the food had run out. The coffee at the main lobby coffee bar was very good.. For lunch we ate at the poolside or beach side grills. My husband did not mind the burgers but I couldn't eat them. For dinner, we only ate at the restaurants -- the Italian Gourmet (the chicken was excellent), the Asian, the Mediterranean (the grilled white fish was very good) and the San Salvador (Diamond Club dinner which served lobster tails). All were fairly good with a few exceptions. I would recommend not ordering pork or beef as we found them tough and dry. My husband got sick on our last day and I got sick one hour after we got home. We think It was the food. Their food handling methods were questionable. We didn’t spend much time at the pools because we preferred the beach. The washrooms at the Azul pool were filthy. Also be prepared for lots of smokers—especially IN the pools. We preferred the pool on the Paraiso side -- nicer and more peaceful. The service in the lounge and lobby was inconsistent. Some nights the servers were friendly and attentive, others nights they were nowhere in sight. Also found they would run out of things…mint, soda water and other popular drink ingredients. The public bathrooms at the lobby were awful -- no toilet paper or soap, missing toilet seats, and dirty toilet water seeping on the floor. We spent most of the daylight hours at the beach which was absolutely stunning. By far the best thing about this resort. 11 km of beautiful fine white sand and the bluest water. The beach attendant in the Diamond Club area always found us a nice spot with shade. The wait service was generally good. Bring an insulated drink holder -- the servers will fill it up with whatever you like. The resort is very spread out so be prepared to walk. Most of the Cuban resort staff were friendly and tried their best to please. We spent about $120 during the week on tips. Overall we had a fun time (mainly because of the beach and weather) and met some great people. I might go back to Santa Maria, but I won't go back to this resort. I prefer a smaller resort with less people. I think the sheer size and number of guests at this resort is the reason for most of the deficiencies -- too difficult to maintain the facility and supply the staff and food needed. The resort standards were on par with the amount of money we paid. The beach and service were above average, the resort and amenities were below.

The resort was everything we'd hoped for and more!

We loved our suite in Building 51, our conceirge "O'neil" and the staff at every place we went, especially Jimmy and Denny at the lobby bar. We particularily loved the beach, especially the Dimaond Club section, and the end of the beach where you could feed the fish. We loved the pools with swim up bars and we felt the food was much better than our trip to Veradero last year.

Awesome resort

The resort is big but beautiful. The most amazing beach ever with the clearest water. The sand is like powder. If visiting Cayo Santa Maria it is a must to take the day trip on the Catamaran. Great lobster dinner.

Beautiful resort on a beautiful beach!

Memories is a lovely clean resort. Amazing white sandy beach! Overall this was a great place to stay. It is a large resort but they handle the number of people well. Our room was clean and service excellent. We did have trouble with water pressure a couple of days so we adjusted our shower time to a different time and all was well. The food was repetitive each day but we did not go hungry. Lobster in the buffet! - never seen this before. Overall a great vacation ! The beach that I was hoping for [... read more] !

The best beach ever

we stayed in the 36 block area we had 2 room ajoining ...rooms for being only 4 to 5 years old (as the staff claim ) need some upgrades and repairs such as light fixtures not working , ceiling fans not working dresser doors handels broken missing , air conditioning in both rooms ran so cold with no varyation in temp we had to turn it off or it was to cold no security look or dead bolt on 3634 until we asked for it to be put on .the bedding was stained and should have been renewed long ago the sh [... read more]eets were all gone bally if you know what i mean aswell as all the bath towels were stained and warn out .. the bathroom tile work was around the tub was substandard work no matter what we did to try to prevent the shower water from channeling down the wall to to bathroom floor we could not stop the flood even the bathroom wall was moulding in unit 3636 and towel rack was falling of the wall ....the buffet was just ok in presentation but the quality was of the food served was low my grade in regards to the a la carts they were ok not fantastic i found table cloths needed to be changed for clean ones but never while we were there and or othe meals .....we felt rushed at all the a la carts like in in out in about 45 minutes to fast for me ...... in regards to bottled water in you rooms yes there was but at the bars resturants in was poured from a bottel of water or picture of water but i know it was tap water only and they told us on the bus ride try not to drink tap water as it can affect you . you could smell the clolrine . the grounds were ok but a lot of drink cups ,straws ,napkins blowing about not many workers cleaning up on a regular basis the grounds not well lighted at night time in some areas around steps ect . the staff for the most part very nice and pleasent .....the beach was wonderful and the beach sevice in the diamond club area was good .....would i return to this resort ? most likley not any time soon .

Best beach

While this hotel features the best beach around, the management has to improve in terms of meals, cleaning, organization. We had lobster one day, beautiful, however mornings were poor if you Are vegetarian. Hard spirit cards on the walkway s, not something needed as the bars are all close buy. Poor a LA cards choice and service. However all in all I will go again to this hotel.

Beautiful Beach

Before going down I was told not to have high expectations when it comes to the food. If you eat from the fresh grills and take advantage of the a la carte restaurants the food is not bad. I recommend the seafood Restaurant. The room was clean, the grounds were beautiful and the beach was stunning. for the price of the trip, I would go back again.

Good stay

The resort and grounds were kept nice. Lots of shuttle service. Pools are large which means lots of lounge chairs available. The beach is like powder. Only complaint is that many bathroom stalls were out of order and many didn't have toilet paper. Hotel room was nice and quiet. Mini bar was restocked every day. One issue was with shortage of towels. Dirty towels were folded and put back on the racks. Other issue was with water pressure. It was quite low during the time many guests were getting r [... read more]eady for supper.

Gorgeous Resort!

The resort is like a little village with amazing pools and the ocean is spectacular! If you have kids bring lots of snacks, as the food is not very appealing! Minus the food, you will enjoy Memories!!

Beautiful beach

The beach was great. The staff was amazing. The hotel was run-down but clean. The food was mostly good. Most of the tourists were drunk. There was not a lot to do if you don't want to drink constantly or if you were not into suntanning. Next holiday I will choose a place with more cultural interests nearby.

Would not recommend to anyone

The resort itself is quite nice however the people there are not so much. The cleaning staff for the rooms and Tom service for amenities were excellent and were tipped accordingly. The restaurants were brutal with the exception of the Chinese and Italian ones. The bar service was pathetic and generally unhappy workers. I know not why. We were not greeted with friendliness with the exception of the fore-mentioned. One server on the beach actually laughed when we asked if they took Canadian money  [... read more]for tips and said I quote "your money is worthless". The extra money for diamond club was a waste as it got us absolutely nothing extra. The diamond club supper which is one of their bragging rights was to be lobster or chicken, our choice but they had neither and served up pork. Sunwing airlines had equally poor service and the in flight food was disgusting. in summation stay away from this resort as it is not worth 600 dollars for a week let alone what we paid to go. As for Cuba itself if my money is worthless then I can surely find other places to spend it.

WorstExperience in an All inclusive resort I have

Food was horrible, staff was not helpful at all and cleanliness was far from standard. Very, Very, very, very disappointted. The best part about the trip was the ride to the resort and back to the airport with the Sunwing crew.

Choose a different resort!

Poor example of Cuban hospitality. Claimed to be a 4.5 star so we paid 4.5 star prices, so not worth the money. Food, service, grounds and cleanliness are all mediocre. Beach was awesome but definitely won't be heading back or recommending this resort to anyone!

Great place

I have been to Cuba many times and this was by far my best experience. The food was good for Cuban standards, hotel was very clean and maintained well. Staff were great and the beach was perfect.The only negative thing I could say is that's it's about 1.45 hours from the airport. By even that didn't bother me!