Grand Memories Varadero: Not a very good resort

Beaches are amazing people in the villages just try and rip you off resort staff are very rude and the food is terrible every where in Cuba We had several items stolen from are room we told the management they just told us it was are fault we probably forgot to close are doors or we never locked it properly

Melia Internacional: Amazing resort!

Brand new, very modern and stylish resort with its own beach. Really good service, friendly and very accommodating stuff, big-hearted dance & entertainment team. They became friends with our kids, taught them how to dance and showed how truly amazing Cubans are! Grounds are perfect, well situated and convenient to use, huge territory and lots of space to wonder around. Beach is clean, lots of umbrellas and chairs, great service there - they just run to you and with your wishes. 2 beach bars and  [... read more]their waiters are always at your service. Food really surprised as a good one having in mind it’s Cuba and it’s nowadays. Perhaps, vegans wouldn’t find the biggest variety of food options for them, but it’s really doable. Lots of meat, fish, pasta, rice, local seasonal only fruits and pastry. Veggies are the most expensive food in Cuba, so their selection is limited, but still is :) Bars are working just fine. Live music is with you from the morning to the late evening, at least few kinds of activities to choose from, evening entertainment is of few kinds and really enjoyable. It seems like they got the best bands, singers, gymnasts & dancers there! Way to go guys, you did everything above and beyond so we could really enjoyed our first trip ever to Varadero, Cuba! Definitely coming back!!

Club Kawama: Good

Pool area was great. Lots of chairs and cute little shade huts. Beach was beautiful with lots to do. Rooms were good hot water and a/c worked great. Food was good different every night. Kikis a little restaurant off the resort was really good !! I will be back.

Playa Vista Azul: Clean and elegant!

The resort is a good size..not to big or small. Although there may a bit of mobility issues getting to and from the bigger beach (uneven stairs) The food was decent for Cuba, could always find something to eat!! You are at the staff's disposal, they try their best to do everything you absolutely need. We didnt get coffee in our room until day 5 tho..which was upsetting but they do have a coffee bar open at 7am The nightlife was so so. The shows started very late. They do have a after hours sn [... read more]ack bar and drinks. (Pizza, hot dogs and fries)and most nights a DJ but no real Disco. Very nice people but very slow at bartending There are 2 beaches..a small one which is shared with resort next door and a fairly large one which is also shared. Can get very busy because you cant use chairs past the roped off for other resort. If you're lucky enough to find a spot both beaches are absolutely gorgeous!!! We spoke to quite a few ppl who are return customers year after year.

Club Tropical: Just "Okay" for the Price

We have stayed at this resort twice previously. This past trip we were a bit discouraged with being out of eggs for four straight days..and no ice cream as prior. Most non-smokers were not happy that there is not any designated areas for smokers and there certainly was a "very large" number of smokers at this resort which made the non smokers like ourselves stay away from the bar area and front lobby which are somewhat enclosed. Even at the pool we were made to move as there seemed to be  [... read more]little respect for young children and non-smokers. Very little respect for Non smokers; vulnerable Seniors and Children As a former Customer Service Trainer I believe the staff needs to realize that in order to get great tips they need to provide Good Customer Service. smile..acknowledge etc. Not be miserable because you aren't receiving them... Standard rooms are below standard so be sure to upgrade. This location is amazing as you are central to all ..a few simple updates; restricted smoking areas and better service and it would be an ideal hotel.

Melia Internacional: Probably the best resort in Cuba

I had a fun and relaxing time at the Melia Internacional with my buds. We found the bus at the airport pretty easily and there was beer available for the ride to the resort. This was my first resort experience and I'm told the resort itself is about a year old and it sure was extravagant, new and clean. The room was very clean, spacious, comfortable, with good lighting, and had a balcony with a pretty nice view of the water on both sides of the peninsula, as well as the service entrance to th [... read more]e resort. Rooms on the other side with the better view are probably out of my price range. The mini fridge had a couple beers and sodas in it which were restocked each day. The resort had many different bars, indoor or outdoor, with different ambiance, so we could always find a nice place to hang out where it was as quiet or loud as we wanted it to be. The drinks were usually good though they could be more consistent between the different bars. I had at least 4 very different pina coladas. There were a few great live music performances, and DJs later if you want to dance (not my scene). The buffet pleased me 90% of the time. Though most of the food was pretty basic, that's how I like to eat, especially when I know it's all grown on the island. I was happy to make a plate of rice, a bunch of different vegetables, fresh tropical fruit, and some meat or fish. Custom omelettes were a staple breakfast for me, but there were lots of choices at every meal. It's not super fancy but I felt nourished and didn't have any *digestive issues*, unlike my friends. I will note that the food was usually warm at best, but that might have been because I was usually late for the meals. Also some things were under or overcooked. Avoid the pizza. Servers were pretty attentive, keeping the water, wine, or coffee flowing with a smile. We also checked out a couple of the restaurants which you need to reserve a seat at, and I enjoyed my selections. The pools were huge and we never had trouble finding a space to sit near the poolside bar. You can drink in the pool -- how novel for me! And there was usually music though it was hit or miss for my tastes. The beach was spectacular. We had a day with huge waves which was a blast and I felt like a kid playing in them. The lifeguards were trying to herd swimmers into designated areas by whistling constantly, which was kind of annoying. Occasionally there were volleyball games, dance competitions, and other activities that I didn't care to participate in. On the nice days it was a bit challenging to get a place to sit with an umbrella, but we made it happen. They could have had more servers taking drink orders on the beach, but lets be honest, its not a big deal to walk to the bar. It kind of made me cringe to use so many plastic cups so if you care you could bring a reusable mug. Overall, this is probably one of the nicer resorts in Cuba, and 4 nights didn't feel like enough. However, you're not actually seeing Cuba if you stay at a resort in Varadero. If I go back, I would find a more low-key place to stay in Havana or another less touristy city. Which reminds me, we took a day trip to Havana and it's definitely a city to see. The tour was a bit too rigid for my liking, in hindsight I would rather just wander the streets where my feet take me, and maybe learn about historical buildings or events on my own. But it was an interesting tour with a meal included and a knowledgeable and friendly guide, and we saw a number of sights around the city. Check out the ecological reserve if it's not beach weather and you want to kill a few hours looking at strange plants and caves. Enough ranting from me.

Melia Las Americas: UNDER CONSTRUCTION

BEACH- needs to be cleaned every day Front counter service - poor Manager- poor customer service POOLS- The:" LEVEL" pools are UNDER CONSTRUCTION. There are no pools there. Main Pools are well maintained The beach bar and the games room area are a disgrace for a 4-5 star resort. LEVEL BUNGALOES- Great suite, Great job by Mari Snorkeling- Lester great job- Masks leak. Entertainment rating- very poor CONSTRUCTION NOISE - Annoying Limingello and Roblexa restaurants good service a [... read more]nd good food ARCADA RESTAURANT- Under-whelming- service poor. Asian rest. good food

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Stay Away!!

Spent $1400+ to ensure a good trip at a 5 star resort. This place is at best at 2.5. The buffet was awful and most of the food offered would have made you sick and it did for some people. I just ate bread, cold cuts and some cheese. All of the hot food in trays was cold and the line ups at the grills to get some food cooked properly were always 10+ deep. They could of had two cooks at each grill, but they had one. Booking the restaurants took an hour and the Japanese was the only decent one. Th [... read more]e soup at one restaurant had to have come out of a can and if you were booked for the last session of the evening, your choices were limited because they had run out of everything. The room was quite nice with a walk-in glass shower, but it was infested with mosquitoes. We both went home with at least 30 bites. I did not sleep a wink most nights because I was too worried about being bitten. And no sleep leads to a sore throat. I only checked out the beach once and it wasn't groomed and all of the crap brought in by the tide sat in piles. Needless to say, I did not return. And if you think Cuba is a cheap destination, think again. This place is a $57 Can. cab ride to the city strip there and back. You can ride the Double Decker bus all day for $7 Can. if you can find one that isn't full. The exchange rate is $1.43, that is worse than buying US$ and taking a trip to Florida. I could go on, but I am running out of space.

Playa Caleta: I love puntarena playa caleta

Been there 4 times love the people very safe went to town 5 times for dinner great food buffet was a hit and miss breakfast was always good Tipping is what you should do for great service I will go back again :)

Starfish Varadero: Average resort with amazing staff!

I went into the Starfish with a bit of hesitation.. based on the reviews I had read and the fact that it is Cuba...I mean you have to lower your expectations in Cuba. The only area that lived up to the poor reviews was the housekeeping. The maids on my block only cleaned my room maybe 3 times the whole week. And when they did, it was just a lick and a promise and out the door. Bedding never changed once the entire trip! If you stay in room 8204, check the middle bed for a small red stain on the [... read more] yellow spread. My son and I are covered in tiny bites that we are still suffering with after our return. Can I prove its from the beds...no. But I believe in my soul it is as we did not find an issue with mosquitos or anything like that. The rooms themselves are pretty basic, as all resorts in Cuba. Our tv actually worked though and carried a couple of canadian stations. This was great on the 2 rainy days of the week. We had hot water issues 3 times. Cold was fine, but hot would just not work. I admit it was getting annoying by the end of the week having to go down and complain each time, but the lobby staff were excellent and the lady in charge had it fixed within hours each time. Also, check in and out were a breeze! Done in minutes!! The food here is not amazing, but it is Cuba. The good thing is there are MANY options. We started eating at Sizzlers...the outdoor buffet...as the quality was far superior to the main buffet with about the same variety. Otherwise, we just grabbed a sandwich or burger at Legends...the sports bar on the 3rd floor. Limited menu, but the food is amazing and Dayami and Pabel are the best staff I have ever dealt with!! Open 24 hours too. The drinks are also better prepared here than the other 24 hour bar 1 floor down. The beach here is ok. I have seen better in Cuba, but it is still beautiful. A big bonus for me is they have security there...and at the pool...all night long. I didn't spend alot of time there because they have limited lounge chairs. Instead they use some sort of outdoor canopy beds. I had reservations about laying on the mattresses, but I'm not a huge beach person anyway...so not a big deal to me. I spent most of my time by the pool. The main pool is beautiful, but is apparently silent. So, if you are traveling with kids, don't go to that one as someone tried to have my teenagers kicked out for talking too loud 🙄 Instead, go to the kids area by the main buffet. This is where most of the entertainment is anyway. The bars here are good. There are 7 of them, with 2 being 24 hours. Good variety of drinks, but you can't get everything at every one. They all share the same drink menu, but don't make every drink at each one. They do well with drinkware. Some of them had to resort to plastic cups, but most used glasses. They run out of mint ALOT though, so you may have to switch up if you like mojitos. The evening entertainment is ok. They seem to have something going on every night, but it's hard to know where it is located. A good rule of thumb, is go to the Spirits Bar on the second floor. There was something there 3 of the 7 nights, but I missed the beginning as I didn't know what time it started. I can't comment on daytime entertainment as it was at the kids pool. I don't have small children, so I never spent anytime there. The location is ok. It's right on Resort Row in Varadero, but at the opposite end as the main town.The good thing is the hop on/off bus goes right there, so you can get into town for 5 pesos. It is about a 1/2 an hour bus ride though, so be prepared for that. Also, the bus stops running about 7:30 even though they say 8 o'clock. So, be on it or expect a 25 peso cab ride back. So, if you want to go to the Beatles Bar, I would suggest going in early, so you only have to take a cab once!! The staff here are amazing!! All friendly, all helpful and all with some degree of ability to speak English. And even if their English isn't the best, they at least TRY!! That is what made this trip for me All in all, this was a great vacation...other than the bug bites. I would definitely stay here again. Beautiful grounds, lots of food options, great security presence and wonderful staff!

Club Tropical: Great resort

We enjoyed our selfs these lots to eat food was way better than expected we ate very well and drink we’re great the staff was awesome and took the best of care of us rooms were out of date but clean and the house keepers did a great job... everyone was very friendly.. we will definitely be going back

Melia Las Americas: Our vacation

our room was clean / spacious/ daily maid service / the grounds and hotel was clean / many staff there to help with our personal needs / great entertainment nighty / my fiancé and I are musical and the piano was readily available to us to entertain as a couple and with their extremely talented entertainers / ur travel agent Tammy did a great job ensuring all went well / it’s our first time to this hotel but have been to Cuba many times / we are planning to return again to this hotel in a few [... read more] weeks !!!

Playa Vista Azul: My absolute favourite resort!!

This was my second time at this resort and I will definitely be back again and again! The grounds are absolutely beautiful and so well kept! The beaches are beautiful and so clean! The food is always delicious and I will honestly miss the pizza so much! Haha! The rooms are comfortable and kept very clean! But the best part of this resort are the people! The staff here are amazing! They are always so helpful and friendly! Being someone who likes to have fun, the entertainment staff and bartenders [... read more] definitely made my vacation so much fun! Specifically Ariel, Yos, Livia, and Lelani at the swim up bar! They always had me and my friends laughing and having a good time! Felix, Carlos, Guss, Giselle and the entire entertainment staff kept us dancing and having the time of our lives! They are amazing at what they do and I cannot wait to come back to continue with all the fun! I love it here and I honestly can’t say enough good things about it! I will definitely be back before the year is over!

Playa Vista Azul: AMAZING ATMOSPHERE

5 STAR RESORT THAT IS REALLY 5 STARS. FOOD FIVE STARS SERVICE FIVE STARS ROOMS FIVE STARS DRINKS FIVE STARS POOL / BEACH FIVE STARS. Came here for my 21st birthday with my husband and we had the most phenomenal time. Thanks to Yolande and (can’t remember name) the short chef at the 24 hr snack bar for making our vacation AMAZING. Whenever they seen us sitting outside our room (first floor) they brought us lots of drinks and had them remembered by the first night. Jose checked us i [... read more]n and he was so nice and kind, he offered us an amazing deal to upgrade but we decided there was not much difference from privilege to deluxe. Yadiana, Yennifer and Adianet at the lobby bar go beyond expectations and put lots of love and passion into the drinks they made. I recommend ALL my family and friends to come to THE BEST RESORT IN CUBA THANK YOU

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Made me decide never to go to Cuba or use Sunwing again!!!!!!!!!!

Sunwing billed the hotel as a 5 star while trip Advisor gave it a 3.5 star and it was clear to me why. Firstly, our group arrived at the hotel a 1:00 p.m. (9 hours after we all arrived at the Ottawa airport) - only to be advised our rooms would not be available until 4 p.m.. No hospitality room was offered or locked storage of our suitcases from 1 to 4 p.m.. The food was pretty bad, at times there was so much smoke from cooking in the very large and noisy buffet dinning room th [... read more]at I had difficultly staying long enough to eat and the service was slow, carbonated bottled water was not available on any regular basis. The wheel chair lifts didn't work for people or suitcases (one man had to be carried up and down the stairs going from the lobby bar and hotel reception area). While I paid cash for my spa treatments, in addition to refusing to give me a receipt the spa had me sign and date a paper confirming the spa treatments I received and the price of same and my name and room number. While the staff assured me verbally the charges would not appear on my room bill, there was no reason for them not to give me for my cash payment - who needs this stress on vacation? My room safe did not work, the patio door on my ground floor unit did not lock without the jury rigging piece of hardware that had been added to the lock. Maps of the resort were no automatically given out .I think I was the only one in our group that actually got a copy - this was better than having to go to the reception area every time you wanted to find a place on the resort. The bottom sheet of the bed was not fitted so I had to keep straightening the sheets - they were barely big enough to tuck under the mattress! When you exchanged money on the resort - you got no receipt of your transaction unless you were getting local money using your Mastercard. Since I changed Canadian cash for Cuban currency - I just got the Cuban money and no receipt confirming the commission or the exchanged rate used. By 10 am all of the lounge chairs around the pool had towels on them for the entire day and early evening - why were people allowed to save these chairs even if they were not using them for periods of time during the day? Clearly there were not enough lounge chairs for all of the hotel guests.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Poor resort

I have been to a lot of Caribbean islands and also to Cuba ( a few years ago ). I was very disappointed in Sanctuary at Grand Memories. The selection of food was terrible no matter which restaurants you ate at. No matter what you ordered it never tasted like what it was suppose to be. If you wanted coffee or tea after dinner you had to go to the bar. Sometimes there was no hot water to shower . Our accommodations were ok and the staff was friendly.

Grand Memories Varadero: No more Cuba

Hotel outside well groomed and maintained Rooms OLD and with many flaws, old furniture and all in all obsolete Food very repetitive with many items no where to be seen (sometimes bread is rare or in very poor state, no other fruits then dozens of type of melon, no lettuce at all) they ran out of many items (Orange juice, butter, diet colas, catsup) the a la carte restaurant, although suffering from the same flaws were tasty and well presented) Beach are nice but 3 of the seven days were cold [... read more] and windy (But that's not the hotel's doing) But then again the fair days at the beach were not the Hotel's doing either and the Beach is a public one.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: wonderful Cuba vacation

Was pleased to see local produce well prepared and presented. It was delicious! With the exception of maybe some prime cuts of beef and exotic selection of alcohol missing, the variety of food at Paradisus Princesa Del Mar was on par with Sandals Resorts we have stayed at. The service was consistently good. WIFI was sketchy and weather for several days windy and chilly but resort was comfortable, rooms good size, everything worked, good selection of restaurants and lots of scenic places to e [... read more]xplore outdoors. Great entertainment and music! Currency exchange on site was convenient. Sunwing did a very good job coordinating transfers and arranging outings! The Beach is amazing!

Grand Memories Varadero: Family friendly resort

The grounds were beautiful and well maintained. The rooms could use a little make over, but little time was spent in them, so this was not our biggest concern. The resort had amazing entertainment and enough enough selection of restaurants, bars and pools to keep the whole family happy!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Could have been better.

Grounds were nice. Water in room was never hot and luke warm mostly. More then an hour late to check in. 5:15pm. Several of the front desk staff were not friendly, no smiles, curt, and one was particularly unpleasant and Not helpful at all. I cannot drink alcohol so I stick with water but like to have soda/sparkling water at meals. They had none for the second half of the week. Not enough staff in buffet, bars and coffee bars. The food was over all too salty and boring. They ran out of butte [... read more]r on several occasions. I understand that Cuba has a limited variety of foods but even the rice and beans were not good. Room was well cleaned. Windows throughout resort were not. The main bar coffee machine broke down and they did not open up the other bar where there was one that worked. Food and drink service was under-staffed at times so there were lineups. Could have been more lounge chairs by the pool. Pizza was terrible at the pizza restaurant. Drunken men were on occasion rude and loud, keeping us awake by shouting until after 2am. The gentleman providing the restaurant reservations was great. Restaurant staff were wonderful as well. The cook on breakfast eggs/omelets was great. Pasta cook as well. Sunwing lady- Lisa was awesome. Did not appreciate the money exchange person not giving us the denominations that we requested-ones and threes even though we did not request a large sum.