Melia Jardines del Rey: Beautiful, Large Resort…just head certain warnings. Be cautiously optimistic and go have fun!!!

Date of Stay – Feb 11, 2019 to Feb 18, 2019 For all the overly negative reviews, those people clearly had different expectations, desires, or overly sensitive senses and palates. Having a bad experience at airport security where you left to go to Cuba has zero impact on the resort itself. Just because you got sick doesn’t make it the resorts fault. You have thousands of tourists daily, coming mostly from Canada…you probably got sick from one of your own and not the food. On the othe [... read more]r hand, the overly positive reviews are great and we’re glad you had an amazing time, but let’s not overlook some of the glaring issues this Melia Jardine Del Rey resort has. Down to business. 1- Buffet food. It’s terrible. Just terrible. We took advantage of day trips to other Melia resorts and the food was stunning everywhere else. The buffet breakfast and dinner times are way off. They do not open their doors at posted times and usually not for another hour. The whole resort seems to run out of bread and buns often. They ran out of all forms of bread on day 4, and even more unbelievably, they ran out of beer. No joke, for 1 day, no beer or buns. And many menu items are “not available” consistently. This was not a problem at the other Melia resorts, so something is wrong here. 2- A la cart restaurants are passable. Not great, but better than the buffet. 3- Towels. This is shocking to many but if all the reviews gave one glaring consistent issue it’s the lack of towels. Just bring your own like we did and then you have no worries. We know that’s not what you expect from an all inclusive resort but it’s true here. So take warning on that one. There is one small backup tip but it’s no guarantee. You need to line up at the towel service desk well before they open at 9am. Just be one of the first 10-20 people and you may get some. But if you do, don’t be a dirt bag and expect new fresh towels everyday. They just can’t meet the demand. So if you are one of the lucky ones, leave it at that and keep the towels all week. 4- Attentive service, forget about it. You all know there’s the expected “Cuban slow way” which is kind of island relaxed and laid back....but there is a limit to that. And at this resort they miss the mark. In fact, while visiting other resorts on the day pass we came across other employees who were very happy to discuss other resorts and we learned that the Melia Jardines Del Rey has a very young and inexperienced crew on all levels. Where other resorts tend to keep servers and stuff for 15-20 years. That helps explain service attention issues, but it fails to explain explicitly why this Melia resort couldn’t get more experienced staff. 5- I hate to say it, but after 4 days, we started to get more bug bites outside. Now nowhere in the world are you immune to that, but I do wonder that with so many people in small places, small stomach flus can be passed around quickly. The Cubans resorts (everywhere)just may not have the $$$ to fog out the properties, and they leave so many standing water “ponds” with no fish to help eat up the mosquito larvae so take that into consideration. Clearly with all the above there is a severe supply chain issue for foods and amenities. Don’t know why. Maybe Melia headquarters have given up on this one resort. We don’t know. With all said above, let’s be clear, this is not a dump or a hell hole. It’s beautiful. It’s massive (we like big resorts). We had a great time. Family of 4 with two teenage girls. All loved it. Even the one rainy day was great. 1- The pools are to die for. So many large pools, islands, always had chair availability. Clean. Very clean. No damaged tiles. There’s two main sections of pools. The west pools are quiet and more for family with kids (some very shallow pools for babies) or just anyone who wants to get away from the pumping thumping fun and loudness. The east pools are the party pools. By that we mean that the music is on at an audible but not offensive level starting early in the morning and the animation team does activities at this pool later in the afternoon. 2- Do take advantage of the Melia benefit to visit the other resorts. They are all beautiful. There is a hop on hop off but ($5/person/day) that can take you to at least 4 other Melia resorts. We visted 3 of them and they were all great, but the adult only Melia Cayo Coco was calming and had great food, and the Melia Cayo Guillermo was simply stunning (this is the place for beauty and great food, still Cuban level, but Cuban great) 3- Rooms clean and nothing broken. Nicely decorated and laid out. And the bungalow style allows for lots of closeness despite the resort being huge. 4- The beach. What can I say, it’s a beautiful and long beach. There is a BBQ, a beach bar, paddle boats, catamaran rides (when the water is not rough). Walk time to the beach is only 5 minutes, which is nothing. Some people complain on the reviews, well, then don’t go to a HUGE resort. Part of the appeal of a huge resort is that everything is spread out. 5- The ice is safe. The water is safe. If you have sensitive gastric systems (and many of you may not know it until you travel and experience more out of your usual) you may run into trouble anywhere. 6- Evening Shows are amazing, big, lots of costumes, choreography, different every night. 7- Night Life is fun. Every night the DJ is out at the Mojito bar outside, and it’s classic bump and grind, drink and dance. And when they shut it down on the resort at 11pm, they have a disco club just a short walk out the front lobby where it continues until 2am, drinks all included. This place just is great for clubbing it up. We’d like to give a shout out to some specific staff who were wonderful. Boris Luis - lobby bar, Miguel at the pool bar (You rocked man), and Lemay at customer service. There was a waiter at the 24hr restaurant snack bar, and he was attentive and for the life of us we can not remember his name. But thank you for your service every morning. All in all, it is a beautiful place, the staff are polite. Would I go again? No. I would stay at another Melia resort and hop over to this one as a day trip for the beach and pools.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Gran Muthu Imperia- Cayo Coco

One of the worst beach I ever seen, the hotel is empty only 35-40 people on the hotel. The food is very little and limited and same food every day, this is not a 5 star hotel, please don't spend your hard money to come here at Muthu Imperial because you will be very disappointed. Sincerely I was very very disappointed with everything there and I regrate I went to Muthu where the hotels are in a swamp area, yes everywhere are swamps,,, The beach at the hotel is very rocky you can't even go to th [... read more]e water, you have to go around the hotel half mile away where you find a little beach but is really very dirty there and smells come from a swamp behind the beach.

Hotel Vigia: Amazing Beach- Friendly Resort Could Use Some Love

Beach- I have been to some of the nicest in the world and this was a top 5 beach. Definitely the best feature of the resort. Beautiful white sand for miles, beautiful, clean, clear aqua water. Lots of shelter. Easy to find beach chairs most days. This beach can be windy on a regular basis though. An even more incredible beach (Playa Pilar) is a short bus ride away for a day trip. Resort- This was my first trip to Cuba and I knew this was not a high end resort so my expectations were low. The  [... read more]resort is small and well layed out which I liked, easy to get everywhere quickly. The pool area was fine. I liked that there was no swim up bar full of drunks. The restaurants, bar and lobby were basic but clean and nice to hang out in. There was free tennis, ping pong, shooting range, paddle boats and kayaks. This resort was affected by the 2017 hurricane but they have done a nice job of restoring the landscaping. Many of the pathways/walkways were in poor condition. Several of the hotel room blocks were a bit rough looking on the outside and it seemed like a good number of rooms were still out of commission following the hurricane. Having seen photos of the damage following the hurricane, they have done an admirable job of restoring the resort with more renovations to come (so I'm told). Again, this is not a high end resort. Food- As a foodie, I was always scared to visit Cuba due to the the horrible reviews I've read about the food. The food was not as good as Mexico and some other destinations I've been to, but I enjoyed every meal. The only real negative was the lack of fresh vegetables some days. Maybe most travellers are turned off by "real" food. The meat is a bit more tough, the fruit tastes great but does not look picture perfect, there is very little processed food in Cuba. That's a good thing. The various pork dishes, sausages, bread and coffee were highlights. The hot dogs were surprisingly good! Great drinks too. Rooms- Our room was clean but in need of updating, and definitely rough around the edges. Renovating the room blocks and surrounding walkways should be the first priority of this resort. Once we got used to our surroundings, we were comfortable for the week. Lots of hot water. Housekeeping did a good job but we didn't get drinking water every day. Staff- Definitely a highlight. Although I prefer to remain anonymous when travelling, the staff were very welcoming, kind and helpful without being intrusive. There was definitely a family atmosphere at the resort with lots of returning guests. I am not interested in the entertainment but it seemed like they made a lot of effort to have activities and shows for the guests. There was some really good background live music in the lobby/bar a couple of nights. Overall- I would recommend this resort if you get a good deal (we got a great deal) but there are better options out there if the price is higher. If you want a cushy, luxurious vacation or want to party, look elsewhere. If you are OK with basic accommodations/facilities and prioritize relaxing on a world class beach over all else, this is a good choice.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Amazing beach, nice resort, horrible food and management

The hotel itself is very nice. Rooms were clean. Bathrooms on the resort were dirty. We had no beach towels for the entire stay as the machines were down so they had to send them out for cleaning. Food was the worst i have ever experienced and I've been to cuba before. They ran out of flour mid week so didn't even have bread. Ran out of beer on the beach multiple times. Bottled water was extremely hard to get. Staff were not overly friendly.

Sol Cayo Coco: Perfect!

We loved the resort! We really enjoy the smaller resorts and Sol Cayo Coco was just great! Loved the staff the Cuban's are beautiful and are so willing to make your stay perfect. We spent alot of time on the beach as we lucked out with amazing weather. Love the Los Pacos Bar on the beach. The bar tenders are super fun! The food was great as there was good selection for choice for your own personal tastes at the grills. We ended up with a ocean view room which we accepted with delight. I gu [... read more]ess the only negative I can think of is that the bathrooms closer to the beach often ran out of toilet paper :(

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Decsent resort

Nice resort. Not too big. Buffet a little tight. Bad service all around. Washrooms always out of toilet paper or paper towels. Buffet and 24 hour restaurant always out of certain foods. Rooms very nice and modern. Cleaning of the rooms was very good. Alcohol choices were descent. Mostly polite and welcoming service. Just really slow. Beautiful pools. Descent gym. Could use another pool and a couple more machines in the gym.

Hotel Vigia: Disappointed

I felt there are renovations required. The walls are paper thin. I didn't get any water to take shower when I arrived! The restaurant food needs huge improvement! Would like more emphasis in adult entertainment. Many staff sitting around not entertaining. Noone hardly came around to ask for drinks until second last day. Poor service in main eating area. I got a very dirty cup of coffee! I work in food industry and this place needs huge improvement in the food too! Was grateful that I was moved [... read more] after a few complaints.

Melia Costa Rey: The people you meet make yor trip!

I have been travelling yearly for about 10 yrs this resort was very nice, lots to do the beach was amazing the pools were clean the food in the A la Carte's was very nice the buffet was pretty good. Our room was lovely no issue's. We were hoping for some help with our bags when departing which was left up to gardener who offered to help 2 struggling ladies and a nice gentleman who helped us further at the resort when the elevator wasn't working. It was worth our hard earned dollars for a tropica [... read more]l break.

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Relaxing Vacation

We just returned from an all girls trip. The resort was very nice, clean! We arrived and it was very organized and smooth. Our room was very spacious and clean, we had three adult women in our room and it was great. The shower was a delightful rain shower! Our fridge was always stocked with water, cola and beer. We never had an issue getting a chair around the pool, however, there was not a lot of shade areas there. If you want shade you need to go to the beach. There was a lot of activity aro [... read more]und the pool but not annoying. The beach was amazing, you could walk forever. We didn't spend much time down at the beach but there was always something to do down there. (no washrooms) The food was sub-par but we did not go hungry. There was a great variety for the most part but the trays did not keep the food hot. Everything was luke warm unless you got something from the fresh grill. The a la carts were very good. I would have to say that it was very understaffed most times. The spa was the highlight of the vacation, they have a seperate spa area that was beautiful and the staff was excellent. Overall it was a great vacation!

Hotel Mojito: Food

Hotel was a bit disappointing....the food I was not impressed with at all, every day it seemed the buffet was cold ....hot table wise,service again disappointing....all n all , not worth the money paid

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Relaxing beautiful surroundings

The room was very modern and spacious. Comfy King size bed. The Beach and workers on the beach were phenomenal... The service in the dining area needs to improve and having more entertainment in the main lounge in the evening would have been nice.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: A Slice of Paradise

From the moment we arrived until the moment we left, we were subject to a friendly and courteous service. The entire resort was prestige. At all times there were a multitude of staff constantly cleaning. It was my first visit but certainly not my last.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Resort s nice!

Beautiful place, the food is good, great entertainment, amazing beach The Staff at Memories is fantastic!! They are the friendliest and very courteous. They do their best to show you a good time. Bartenders are friendly and well as fun.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Amazing beach

I just returned from this resort and we had a few issues. First off when I booked I asked for rooms side by side because I have kids but that never happened! Room were on the same floor but opposite sides of the villa. Didn’t have water a couple days and no hot water a few days! Building 9 is run down and so is the resort! Lobby bathroom was so stinky you had to hold your breath to use it! Other bathrooms had urinals over flowing. No chairs at the pool or the beach. Buffet was not very go [... read more]od and they did not have very much fruit! No bacon all week! But if you like hot dogs you should be alright! Long line ups for the grills and the pasta station! The al la cartel nothing special!

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Absolutely NOT for families with small children

Aside from the fact that our first room was mouldy and had the patio door screwed shut, or that our second room stank like urine unless we covered the drains, the fact of the matter is that this resort is not set up for familes with small children. Dinner starts at 6:30 pm - way too late. Lunch starts at 12:30 - way too late. Snackbar, which is supposed to be 24 hours, is not alway open, and when it is open it serves only two things - hotdogs and hamburgers. This resort is inexpensive, a [... read more]nd you go get what you pay for.

Hotel Playa Coco: Great resort

Best beaches. Japanese restaurant was an attraction. Food was excellent. 24 hour fish and chips, hot dog and burger place was also convenient place to spend your day. The buffet and pizza place on the beach were also very convenient and the pizzas were excellent.

Melia Costa Rey: Amazing Resort

We have been to other resorts in Cayo Coco before and this was our first time to Pullman. We enjoyed our stay here. The facility and hotel room was very good, the food was excellent and the entertainment was the best we ever experienced.

Hotel Camino del Mar: First Stay in Cuba

I took a shot on my first stay in Cuba, did much research on other hotels and comparing, and was not let down by Meliã! Great staff, clean room, was told the food was better than most and that was true. Great buffet with lots of options and decent a la carte restaurants. Very talented staff in the shows, the grounds were well kep, decent gym, and amazing beach! There were games and events held numerous times daily. My only “complaint” would be that the water was shut off for 12 hours or so  [... read more]at one point. But that’s why you have an ocean! Worth your money! Gracias Meliã!

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Great resort

Staff is amazing, so friendly and professional. There just wasn't enough lounges at the beach or pool....If you didn't take your towels to throw on chairs to reserve before breakfast you were out of luck for the day. That just really sucked because we didn't figure that one out till our third day. Also disappointed with the reservations for the a la carts. 1 was booked for the whole week before we even got there, and every time we walked by it in the evening to go to and from the buffet it w [... read more]as half empty😣. It was a very clean. The beach was amazing.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Mixed Message

This is a nice resort but is slowly deteriorating. Needs some TLC to fix it up. Entertainment is good Food has improved but still needs work! Staff are very friendly, and are the best part of this resort Good Beach Creepy crawlies ate us up 5-10 bites per arm. leg.