Bang for your buck

The grounds were will groomed. The hotel is a little tired but I didn't spend much time in my room. The staff was great, I didn't tip much, I brought gifts for the bartenders and when I tried to put $$ down they didn't want it. They were very thankful for the gifts. They had Smuckers peanut butter and the food selection was good.

Memories varadero

********************************************** needs some TLC food was ok, but lacked variety rooms could use some updating for a good deal its ok ********************************************************************************************

Great resort

The hotel is very nice, a little broken but the people are amazing, very helpful and friendly. We enjoyed our family Christmas trip to the resort where the staff helped us organize and celebrate the holidays! Beach was amazing, loved the Diamond Club service. Only went to the pool once, not too impressed but lots of people seemed to enjoy it!

Memories varadero

The hotel was great value. We got an amazing deal and traveled with the expectation that we would get what we paid for. I was extremely pleasantly surprised. The resort does need a bit of work but it really didn't bother us at all. The food was fantastic! We had brought our own condiments (ketchup, maple syrup, peanut butter) but really didn't need it. Cubs makes the best desserts :) donuts were so good! The drinks were great too! Especially the frozen Pina colada and mojitos. I had read many ne [... read more]gative reviews before going, and I am used to staying in 5 star resorts in Mexico...but I really enjoyed my vacation to cuba. I would definitely go back with my family again. Such a great value. I really don't have any complaints. The staff were absolutely amazing. So incredibly hard working and very appreciative.

Fun But Needs Updating!!

Resort is very large, great pools, kids loved the waterslide however rooms need updating especially the bathrooms and we had a broken bed. Lots of places to eat however the specialty restaurants are not good. The kids club, pool activities and entertainment were great. Keep an eye on your belongings around the pool!!

Memories Varadaro

Some of the main washrooms were in need of repair, but that was over looked because everything else was almost perfect. There is always something people can complain about but theses people in their truest fashion, give it all to try and please you. We have to remember that only now is or might there be change.

Okay-Not Great

This resort could be good but it isn't. The room was always clean and the maid did a good job but the bathroom had a broken shower head that my husband had to tie wrap to keep in place. The towel holder fell off the wall when we tried to hang up the towel. The toilet didn't flush properly. The patio door didn't lock and was very hard to slide open. Easy fixes if they spent the time. Many of the bathrooms throughout the resort were out of service. The lighting through out the resort was poor at b [... read more]est making it hard to see in the evening. The walking paths were shared with the carts going back and forth throughout the resort. A rocky path was put along side that you had to step over to get out of their way. At one point in the evening because it was so dark when a cart came upon us shining its lights and I was trying to get out of their way I tripped on the rocks and fell bruising my left hip arm and spraining my hand. If the large rocks were replaced with gravel or just removed this wouldn't have happened. The main buffet had renovations going on next door making it smell to paint and was noisy. Luckily we had upgraded to the Diamond club so we had a separate room to sit and eat. The food had very little variety and was stone cold at times. When I had the waitress make me an omelet it was raw in the middle. The desserts were so, so. not great. The a-la-carte restaurants were okay but nothing special. We went to three and the only good one was the Japanese. This resort is huge. It took 20 minutes to go from the beach to the lobby. Fresh beach towels were rarely available. The evening entertainment was all in Spanish making it hard to understand. The only good entertainment we saw was in the middle of the day at one of the pools. The manager came around at one point on our last day to ask how things were and as soon as we had anything negative to say he walked away and didn't want to hear it. The pools were beautiful but were only 4ft deep, they didn't have a deep end. On a positive note. The pools were clean, the beach was beautiful. The staff was friendly and you didn't feel you had to tip to get service. We have been to several places - Jamaica, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Cuba once before. All were 4 star resorts and with the exception of the food being poor in Cuba the last time as well. All the places have lived up to their star rating. This one definitely didn't and I really don't understand how it got a 4 star rating. Sunwing was really off the mark on this one. However Sunwing did a good job with the flight and we were very happy with that.

Bad resort

phone not working in room. no fresh towels all week even though we paid extra for diamond club, no hot water in both rooms(changed rooms once),toilets in both rooms would not flush. paid for upgrade included stocked mini fridge daily, they only put 2 beers and 2 pops in it daily,safe was locked asked for someone to come unlock it twice but no none came.had to use flashlight at night on walkways as lots of lights not working.air conditioner kept popping breaker.

It is what it is...

If lazing around on the beach/poolside is what you're into, Memories Varadero is a good pick. Pool #1 is nice and relaxing and the swim-up bar there has an excellent staff. Beach is beautiful, pina coladas from the lobby bar are the best ones there. The food is okay if you're not too picky, but hey, that's Cuba. Room was decent. Toilet needed some convincing to stop running, shower head could use a CLR bath. The grounds are MASSIVE so be prepared to walk. Also, be prepared to be surrounded by dr [... read more]unk Canadians. If you want to see the REAL Cuba...go elsewhere. Varadero is where poor people go to treat poorer people poorly. The whole experience reminded me of a trip to Walmart. So yes, I'd recommend (to some)...but I personally won't be returning.

Wonderful resort

The hotel was super clean, including the rooms. The staff were friendly and always willing to help. There was ample staff for anything we needed from the rooms to the beach. The entertainment was super on all 6 nights we were there. We most certainly got more than what we paid for, especially with the jovial and generous Cuban workers at the resort.

Would not visit resort agian

Cuba is an amazing place to visit, however I would not stay at memories agian. The service is great when you first arrive but after that you are on your own, my friend and I had to switch rooms which meant hauling our luggage down three flights across the resort and hauling it back up three flights. The first room we had had bugs in it and the patio door would not close, when we asked for help we waited three hours and then decided to switch rooms. It was pretty easy to book our restaurants and  [... read more]tours for the week, but we both ended up getting food poisoning, and the tours took a long time because we had to make eight stops to pick up other tourists from their hotels. We repeatedly asked for new towels for both the beach and showers and were told to come back in an hour, Every time we went back we got the same response. We also noticed that one of the pools often had old cups and garbage floating in it.The resort is beautiful, the food service staff is very friendly, but the problems we faced were not relaxing and the whole point of a vacation (an expensive one at that)is to forget your worries and explore a beautiful place and experience a new culture, this resort was more stressful than anything, it's up to you but I would not go back to this resort.

Beautiful grounds but mediocre food.

Problems with room but the were fixed promptly. It rained for 4 days and drainage was poor. They were fixing the dining room so space was limited and the range of food was poor. Do not look for lobster at the buffet.

Great Resort

The staff were very nice and always willing to help at any time. The people are always smiling and happy. Creates a great mood. The grounds are beautiful and kept up. The entertainment is good and has different variety of shows.

Just a 3*

The beach is amazing: huge, clean, a lot of shade and a lot of chairs! There is a snack bar and a bar with some table in front - very convenient! The lobby is nice, renovated and clean. All common area are clean and there is always someone moping. The grounds are also well entertained. The complex is very big! The walk form the lobby to the beach is nice but a bit long. Definitely not enough carts to take you around, at least off season, when we were there. The food is Cuban! If you like simp [... read more]le and well cooked, it is great! If you a re fancy eater, not he best. But I don't think anyone stayed hungry. There is at least 5 choices of meat for every meal and not always the same, a plenty of other things. Now, the room are NOT 4*! At all! Very moldy, the beds need to be changed, AC is not the best. Things are not working. They get fixed in a day or two but not necessary everything is working when you arrive. I've been many times before in 3* hotels and this one is not different. Just bear in mind that. It is not what you pay for 4*, it is 3*. TIPS: bring your own beach towels; lock the balcony door if you are on ground level (there is a chain on top).

Thank god for natures beauty

Sunwing service was horrible to begin with!!! Do not book on line. Use a travel agent. Dining buffet was under construction during dining hours! Birds in dining area were pooping everywhere. I have never seen such unhappy employees at any resort in the Caribbean. Room air con sounds like a transport truck. No clock in room, terrible tv , channel choices.

Worst food/service but beautiful beach

I will start with the good side of the hotel: The beach was beautiful and the resort itself over was nice. The pools and swim up bars were great. Take your walking shoes because the resort is about a km long. Now for the bad. Cuba isn't known for good food, but the food here was bad. Horrible, yuck! Sometimes they didn't have food at all and we had to into town to get food. The rooms were basic but it had a constant running toliet and leaking shower. The room was dark and could hardly see. F [... read more]ront desk never answered their phone after 6. Never could get new beach towels. Disco wasn't open everynight. Places like the snack bar and bank that claim to be 24hrs, were not!

Memories Varadero

We really liked this resort. Nice nature, pools, great entertainment, clean beaches, helpful staff. The construction in the main restaurant was not the best, of course as there was noise from morning till night. The food selection was so so, and the restaurants were not air-conditioned. The food was OK.

Great Resort with some Issues to Solve

Let's just say we had a five-star experience, but it's tough in some ways to give the resort even a three-star rating. After reading all the mixed reviews of Memories Varadero, which I found hard to interpret but now understand better, I will try to explain our experience. This is a beautiful resort, nice grounds, pools, beach – but with serious management and supply problems. If you are laid back and looking for a good value, nice simple vacation – this place is for you. If you can't over [... read more]look numerous small problems and will be stressed or irritated by them, then go somewhere else. Also, it’s a huge resort, over 1000 rooms, so if a ten-minute walk is not to your liking, then you must either have patience to wait for rides, or consider a smaller resort. The good: - Stunning beach! Can take long beach walks in either direction. Nice shells can be found heading left on the beach towards the rocks. - Awesome bartending staff. Even at peak times, there was little waiting, and they tried very hard to make you happy. - Lots of hot water and good water pressure – even at peak times. (for the toilet flushing complaints: push down and hold the flusher and count to 10 and you should be fine) - Well maintained grounds – lots of blooms! - Beautiful pools – main active pool and quiet pool were both well maintained. Large waterslide at main pool was well used. - Lots of activities available and outgoing activities team. - Most of the staff were pleasant, although there were comments that some asked for tips, rather than just appreciating getting them. The less good: - Food – we've been to Cuba 10 times, so we know the standard, but this was voted by my group as the worst so far. It seems ironic to me because I was always satisfied – the made to order pizzas were great, but that was offset by the crazy wait times, further irritated by vacationers who do not respect queues. Same for the grilled meats and omelettes. (Big shoutout to the older omelette lady in the main buffet – she makes up for any wait with her bubbly character). - Snack bars selection – at both pools, there are nice snack bars (the 24-hour one is at the quiet pool close to the lobby). These both have nice menus, but they normally only have hamburger, ham and cheese sandwich and spaghetti. Sometimes they surprise you by having something else available (like tasty grilled fish or a nice breaded chicken). A solution would be just to have a blackboard which shows what’s available “today” – because when you sit down and decide you like something and then are told you can’t have it,… of course it makes you disappointed. Also, there is no wine at either snack bar ... no reason for that! The staff, especially at the quiet pool snack bar which seems to have a larger menu but typically less options available, seemed disheartened – understandable – they probably get a lot less tips from disappointed customers. - Beach towel exchange – after reading previous reviews, I tried out of principle every day to exchange the beach towel that was provided in our room. New towels were available exactly one day out of seven. That day was luckily about half-way through our stay! I was also disappointed with guests loudly berating the poor towel attendant – don’t shoot the messenger – they can’t help whether they have new towels or not… - Stained laundry – towels, sheets,… all had iron stains. From what I understand they are clean but stained from older laundry equipment… but not what one expects from a 4-star (or any) resort. - Lack of toilet paper – carry your own – they don't seem to be able to keep the public washrooms stocked. Also sometimes both washrooms were closed for cleaning at the same time... (?) Regarding birds and flies: birds were bothering some people at the snack bars – they are quite bold if you are sitting alone. At the main restaurant, the hotel has a good solution by using a red-tailed hawk (with handlers) to scare the birds away. Flies around the food wasn't an issue for us – but these guys that look like houseflies actually take a nasty bite out of you, and the bites ITCH! The flies got noticeably worse when the wind died down. Bug repellent helps. We were a group of seven in four rooms in low season. I can imagine that the problems and wait times will amplify during peak times.But we enjoyed ourselves and could see going back again in the future.

Great resort

We had a great time at memories resort, the people were so kind, the grounds and our room were clean. The food for the most part was good. There was entertainment every night. The beach was absolutely beautiful, I would recommend this resort to my friends

Good

First trip ever to Cuba it was good just a few thing that could be better.... More tolet paper in the restrooms at night time never had any... Rooms down by the beach the restaurant needs to be open for all 3 meals for the people down that way.... Buses need to start right at 7 am because it's like a 20 minute walk from the beach area and it's a little loud at night time they should tell people that so they don't take a room near the beach... And pool should be a litte cleaner black mood in the  [... read more]tilles ... Had a smell in rooms but ones door is open not bad ... Over all we did have a good time