Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Nice resort

I'm a beach guy so I wasn't really feeling this beach. Man made and to small. Was kept clean so that's a positive. The food wasn't the greatest but was edible. Two others that I was with had gotten sick off what we believe to be the soup

Occidental Punta Cana: Nice Resort

Grounds were really nice, lush with foliage. Pool was huge. Rooms needed a serious renovation. Al a carte restaurants were great. Unfortunately everyone got sick, (the runs). We also spoke with others at the resort and they also got sick.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Nice

The hotel it's self was terrible. The room had roaches, the toilet leaked all week, and I had to body check the door to get into the room all week. The public bathrooms had no toilet seats in the stalls either. I thought the grounds were nice and most of the staff seemed ok. Not looking to ever book at that resort again. This was my first ever trip and it was disappointing.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Made the best of it but won't be back

Traveled from Dec 28th through Jan 4 with a group total of 10. Grounds-keeping a noticeable tell-tale upon arrival - they should keep a goat on site. First day arrival saw rooms ready around 5pm and later than expected. As a group of 10 (8 arriving - 2 in earlier) an offer of "here's a temp room to store luggage and change into your beach wear/enjoy amenities while you wait for your rooms" would have been nice - I might say expected - but I recall no such offer. Intermittent water supply issues, [... read more] reportedly not a resort matter, meant a few days without running water (no shower/no flush - you decide what's more important) and a stretch of 4 days with no access to a simple beach towel until "once" prior to departure gave new meaning to the importance of evaporation. Our travel mates had to have a non-working AC unit replaced (after several days of "maintenance will get tuit today promises" - and a good thing really it finally was as both spent a day and a half inside thanking that the water Gods chose that time to be bountiful - a flush was possible during their period of recovery) and we had to do our own "repairs" to get a few showers working. Resort did fog for biting bugs on numerous occasions but bring repellent if you decide to go along with Benadryl and various other proven Western concoctions of anti-inflammatory / anti-itch medications - although the Doctor that personally gave me a shot in the rear to slow the oozing was very very pleasant! In terms of room quality, I might rank it one notch above sleeping in a lounger on the beach however personally; it offered protection and reprieve from those nasty little buggers you can't see. 2 twin beds we pushed together- one with a broken leg - made movement between my wife & I certainly more entertaining than usual - I think that might have been our collective trip highlight. I can say however; that the cleaning staff did do a good daily job. On the food front - no real complaints on selection, taste or quality - it was actually better than what I was prepared for although waiting for clean plates then lining up to fill them meant any additional calories one might expect to pack on while away on vacation were effectively burnt off during the anxiety of being "almost there". As a close to my review - we traveled with several couples who make Cuba a regular (and on more than one occasion annually) experience who report a hit and miss on the Cuban experience and summed up our adventure by saying "that's Cuba". We know many that have had great experiences. For us, a good groups of friends made the week. I'm only saddened by the fact that I will never again get the chance to say "ola" or "amigo" to the several very friendly resort staff I became acquainted with during my stay. Cuba - I might be back. Gran Caribe Club Cayo Guillermo - we've shared our only one life's precious moments together.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Save your money and go Else where !!!

Rooms are rough, no hot water 4 days, bad lighting in room, no lights on our floor in hall, patio doors not opening. Had to slam our room entrance door to close, which decoded the card reader or displaced battery several times. requiring maintenance. No Map- requested a map or paper advising where and hours of dining, bars, snack bar disco etc were and told the did not have any. So for 3 days you hunt to find where they are and hope you get there when they are open too. Grounds are average, pret [... read more]ty plain and needed some TLC. Public washrooms had no toilet paper for days, cleaning staff came with out any supplies. Many toilets without seats in various bathrooms. Dining- advertise 8 restaurants- There was only one buffet open and one a la carte with only the buffet open on new years eve (food was good that day, but stood in line forever to get a table- which we had made a reservation for). Otherwise food average with no signage as to what they were made with what they may be. 24 hour snack bar was closed 3 times when we went for a hamburger, which was the only snack offered every day. If you could get one, as they were all out once too when we had requested burgers. Bars ran out of dark rum and beer 3 days which we went to 4 bars looking. Service - reception did what they could to appease us which wasn't much. In the buffet the service is horrible (we felt this was due to lack of training or management guidance) Setting Places were not reset with silverware and in asking it took a long time to received them if at all from the staff. Got to walking around grabbing silverware and then going to the buffet to be sure we could eat. Breakfast could not get a cup of coffee or tea with out walking over to a server which sometimes they came back. No coffee or tea service offered at lunch or dinner . No service of any kind of a beverage at lunch and dinner EG: Wine, beer or even pop or water. Ad stated Cocktail upon arrival, bottle of rum in room, priority reservations and late check out. NONE of these happened. Pushed for hospitality room and was told to go to the gym on the last day. Only 6 of us checking out that day and to get on the bus, there were no towels and the only water that came from shower was scalding hot- turn the lever and no cold . P.S. we have traveled over 12 times to the islands and never written a bad review .The excuse "It's Cuba" ... well not again I'll tell you that for sure. We have been to cuba 3 other times and do acknowledge there will be different food and lesser accommodations, but this was NOT acceptable. The only thing that was positive was the beach and the weather, which this hotel had nothing to do with. Totally dismayed with it all, which made it not enjoyable or a vacation and then causing argumentative situations between my husband and I too. Nothing more than a loss of money in our opinion.

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Ok vacation, not a 5 star

The resort was ok not very welcoming or going above and beyond for people. It took 3 days to get the room fridge replaced, not all of the rooms accomodated the number of people we had and the restaurants were long waits up to 2-3 hours, the pools were so cold you could not swim in them. noone was in them.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: It was ok!

The hotel staff were fine. The rooms were good! We had no beach towels for four days! No running water thru out the whole stay! I wended up sick for 3 days and was in bed! The day trips were the best part of the trip

Occidental Papagayo: Nice Quiet Resort

This resort is quiet with very friendly staff. This is a great resort if you want some exercise (many stairs and buildings are spread-out). The beach is a good hike as well. As it is a smaller resort, the selection of food in the buffet is limited but very tasty (there is often a wait for the dinner buffet). You can not go wrong with the weather there, very hot. I would recommend this resort to those not afraid of walking and looking for a quiet, relaxing get away.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Good Value

The hotel is good but there is room for improvement. The food was excellent for a 3 stars hotel. The pool with a toboggan is excellent for children. The people is gentle and always trying to serve well. Nice happy hour with live music.

Estelar Playa Manzanillo: Good Small Resort, a bit isolated...

We just returned from a week all-inclusive at this hotel. The resort is looks as it does in pictures so there is no disappointment on arrival. We had a ground floor suite with hot tub and had no problems with the room - spacious, nothing fancy but just fine. We really enjoyed the large and uncrowded adult pool. The beach is not great, but the water is warm and we did a little body boarding. The food was good and pretty authentic Colombian as the resort is largely populated with South Americans [... read more]. We liked eating local cuisine at all meals, but don't expect a resort catering to North American palates. It got a little repetitive by week's end, and there was little to no seafood. Excellent mojitos, drinkable wines and great cappucinos. It is true that the staff generally doesn't speak English or French, but it is Colombia and Colombians speak Spanish. Staff were helpful despite the language gap so we had no complaints there. We took advantage of the convenient shuttle into the old town 3 times; it is really beautiful and full of life. Be sure to catch sunset at Cafe del Mar. My only criticism is that you can't walk anywhere. It is a small resort and the stroll from your room to the restaurant and bar is maybe two minutes. There is no where to take a stroll along the beach, or around the hotel, say in the evening. We tried to walk the beach a few times and were repeatedly stopped by the security guard. He was friendly enough but made it clear that were not to continue. Not sure whether this was for our personal safety, due to private property issues or what the reason was. If you are planning to spend a lot of time in the lovely walled Cartagena and coming only for a week, I think this is a lovely, relaxing little resort, with no line ups for anything. Very easy and pleasant.

Memories Miramar Habana: good place but far away from airport

good place but far away from airport.. about 3 hr driving we stayed there for only two nights.. overall its a good hotel... friendly stuff only problem is too far away from airport for the short-time trip travelers

Occidental Cozumel: A must see

This is the first resort I have gone to that I can actually say I enjoyed the food. The grounds were impeccable, plush greenery. The staff were always happy and greeted you with a smile. Highly recommended and will definitely visit again.

Allegro Cozumel: Resort that has no idea what it's doing.

We arrived on December 19th, which was supposed to be their Grand Re-opening after a fire months before. Let me list the positives first, there are not many. The resort is set up wonderfully for families with small children, lots of play areas and a splash park. The resort was clean and nice to walk around. Now the negatives. On our arrival only one restaurant was open, the buffet and two of the a la carte restaurants were not completed construction yet. Only the beach bar was open unless you w [... read more]anted to go into the one open restaurant to use that bar to get a drink. Late Day 2 they finally opened the Buffet restaurant and the sports bar in the main building. Day 3 they opened the Asian a la carte restaurant and Day 5 they opened the Italian restaurant. Bars: Sports bar only opened at 6pm, Swim up bar was never manned properly and was near impossible to get a drink. Beach bar was the only bar that you could get a drink at regularly and until about day 3 it did not have proper beer taps or equipment. Restaurants: Buffet: food was mediocre but always cold as they had no way of keeping it warm at all. They actually had a microwave on the counter which we had to use every meal we had there to heat our food. Asian: Food was terrible and again cold. If you were lucky enough to get a seat at the Tempenyaki grill then your food was hot and I am told it was good. Italian: Food was average and again not very hot Mexican: The food here was the best of the bunch but still not great. This was the restaurant they used for the entire resort to have lunch at. The Buffet and Mexican lunch restaurant were never able to keep enough food out for the guests and people were waiting in large lines for them to put out more food. Beds: They are in the process of putting new mattresses in some of the rooms but not all. All the bed frames are concrete slabs and they have put a mattress on top. We were unlucky enough to get a mattress that had to be at least 10 years old. It was the worst week of sleep on vacation I have ever had and my back is still soar a week later. Pools: They have several pools available however all were dirty and the water level in all of them was so low that it was below the jets that circulate the water. On our last day there they were continually bringing in water trucks and dumping the water into the one pool while we were swimming in it. Summary: This was by far the worst resort I have ever stayed in. I would not recommend it to anyone ever. Jay

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Great Vacation!

Traveled to Gran Caribe Club Cayo Guillermo Nov 22/14(14days) Will always Love Cuba! This is a very relaxing vacation, the most Beautiful Beaches in the world! The people are so happy to see you! You can not compare Cuba to other distinations, you go on holidays to enjoy the beach,sand,sun and most of all the culture. I go on vacation to do just that. All you need is a clean room to sleep in, your there to be outdoors! You can not starve in Cuba! But you will not get what your used to at home. A [... read more]nd you will not feel this safe any were else. If you do not kite surf, just watching them is awsome! All the staff work very hard to make it a wounderful holiday! Enjoy Cuba!!!!

Occidental Punta Cana: I might not return

I did not even get what promised. We are two adults and two kids. We booked for having two queen beds. Not even that, we were only given two double beds . Very little for having paid CAD11000 for two weeks (we have Wi-Fi one hour a day, yes one hour should we would like more is a payable option....unbelievable...

Occidental at Xcaret Destination: Great vacation

Awesome food, you must go see Roman at the little colourful Mexican diner upstairs, his service is simply extraordinary. Avoid the Steak House at all costs however. Italian is great too! Cleanliness overall was really good, from bathrooms to rooms to pools. it was a great holiday, only downside is the service at the reception desk, employees have no clue how to manage issues and the manager I spoke with regarding a malfunction of our room key was sooooooo arrogant and didn't care at all our ke [... read more]ycards stopped working 3 times over the stay (during one of these occurrences my 3 yo daughter was sick outside our room... major inconvenience that she didn't even care to address)

Allegro Cozumel: amazing resort

probably best all inclusive resort we've ever stayed at ( and we've done many over the years). From Mimi and Ivan at the front desk check in to the open to the stars pizza and taco late nite restaurant upstairs with Francisco making the specialized coffee. Daytime activities with daily snorkeling from the beautiful beach, and Kayaks and sailing. The secondary highway for access to resorts only traffic was a walkers dream!!! Resort grounds and evening roosting of the birds absolute paradise. The  [... read more]quiet pool separate from the activity pool is like lounging in an all day spa. Go again in a heart beat!!

Occidental Punta Cana: Not what it was last time

Resort was dated (last there in 2000 just after it opened). Air conditioner did not work blew air but not cool air. On first day could not book restaurants until 4th day in but when we did get to restaurant there were 13 tables with people at them and 27 empty. It was that way at all the restaurants that we did get to. Only able to use 3 out of the 5 we paid for. Room not always cleaned. Only local booze, and all whiskey was scotch no rye. No Drambuie or other premium liquor. Beach crowded to ge [... read more]t spot. Entertainment with local girl who screams a lot was not enjoyable. Beach is excellent and water great.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Great place

Food pretty good. Decent variety for Cuba. Plenty of hot water. Room was clean and comfortable. It is a 3 star place so you have to have realistic expectations. But all in all it is great value. Service staff is great just not enough of them at key times.

Allegro Playacar: Average resort

Rooms were dated but ok, upper units had high ceilings, nice size balcony. Food average at best, greasy, not much choice, we both got sick. Wi fi @ $10 a day Viva Azteca next door is a way better option, friends stayed overthere.