Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Great place to go !

First trip to Cuba and won’t be the last to this resort ! I found the Cuban people amazing , so nice ! People working at the resort tray one another like Faniky and also treated us like family. They appreciate visitors and try their best to make you ahve a great time! I felt the all who work Here take great pride in their work! From our butler David, Barbara on the lobby bar, Javier from grounds maintence and Marcelo who is their to greet you and bring your bags to your room all Amazing peo [... read more]ple. I didn’t find any shortages and enjoyed many good meals. The resort is beautiful the grounds are impeccable! I am So Glad our agent recommended this resort ! Rooms are very clean.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Holguin: Beautiful resort

I must say the resort was absolutely beautiful very modernized and well maintained! They gardens very much lush , but I was a little disappointed with the beach lots of seaweed. They did have workers raking everyday though. I’m just not a seaweed person, otherwise it was amazing. My disappointment for this resort was I paid for adults only which provided butler service, you had to contact your butler if you wanted to speak to them . I have been to the same chain Sanctuary in Cayo Santa Maria whe [... read more]re your butler was on your floor everyday and booked your à la cart for you and answered any questions you may have had . Their service was much more professional and personal!!!! Food was okay a la carts were very good ! Entertainment well let just say there wasn’t much of any , you had to go to the family side to engage which was just a bunch of dancing, the other resort had games and a lot of interaction! Would I go to this resort again ? Maybe but I’d would definitely go back to Santa Maria in a heartbeat!!!! Not worth the money I spent for an adult’s only .

Valentin Perla Blanca: Best bang for your buck!

You can not have high expectations when going to Cuba as there are shortages of some food items,but you will never starve. Valentin Perla Blanca has the best staff,especially the Lobby Bar -Victor,Adislen and Sarah, along with all the others, work as an efficient team. Lobby bar entertainment ,prior to dinner, is top notch. Bbq at the beach is fantastic! Need to get more chairs at the beach,as many broken. Second time there and will go back.

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Royalton Hocicos Varadero

Hotel setting was great , beach was fabulous ,soft sand , clear water , very few sea weeds. no big waves services was great but the choice of meals was OK and needs improvement in that the stations at the buffet were the same each day both for lunch and dinner. The restaurants were not outstanding but provided a change. We were told that you did not need reservations for the restaurants, it was first come basis ,but the Diamond club membe [... read more]rs could walk in at anytime and this was not fair especially if you have been waiting for 1/2 hour to get in and then refused entry. They should make the reservations ahead so that we know if there is a possibility of getting a table. Wifi was very difficult and we had to go the front reception area to get connected. The elevator was out of order and that made it very difficult for people who had physical problems and were using walkers. The buffet , and 3 other restaurants were all located on the second floor. We enjoyed our stay . We would give this place 4 stars

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Not impressed

The hotel and grounds were fine. The food was almost exactly the same every day for lunch and dinner anyway. The staff were okay for the most part. We were under the impression we could go to solymar also but were told no. That was another disappointment. Overall not a really great vacation o

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Iberostar Bella Vista

We stayed at this resort 5 yrs. ago when it was new. It has gone downhill since then but was still good. Our room had a beautiful ocean view, the food at the snack bar was always good and the bartenders at the beach bar were fantastic. When guests leave and they change the bedding wash the bedskirt to or remove it all together it was so disgusting. The food in buffet wasn’t the best nor were some of the drinks but we did fine and had a good time overall.

Blau Arenal Habana Beach: Blu Arenal

This was my first time.to a resort as well first time to Cuba. Close to Havana. You can take a bus or taxi. Pool and beach is nice. Food is terrible, however you will never go hungry. My favorite food to eat was the omelet or hard boiled eggs in the morning. I didn't care for thr room. I paid extra for the superior room. Overall I wasn't happy and will not go back there. However I'm not telling anyone not to go there. You may enjoy it!!

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: The shortages are real

Nice grounds, very clean which was great. The beach is the nicest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen lots of beaches! Big rooms. This was my sixth time to Cuba so I thought I knew what to expect … nope. Very lacking now (post-pandemic). Food is minimal. You can tell corners are being cut, which is scary. No fries, pizza only some days .. I have a toddler so I was sort of banking on those things. Meal times are way too late. A la cartes restaurants were easy to get into and very good, so that was  [... read more]a nice treat. The only fruit at the resort was watermelon, pineapple, papaya and sometimes these orange-grapefruit things. NO BANANAS even though they have them at the juice bar. BRING SNACKS. We had about 1/2 suitcase just snacks, and that almost wasn’t enough. If you have an early bus ride to airport the day you leave, they don’t open the kitchen early, so you’ll need to plan for that (bring ziplock bags to bring cheese, bread from dinner the night before). Also, it’s weird but spoons are hard to come by. They think guests are going to steal them for locals. There’s no food for sale on the resort and no snacks at the airport so seriously, bring snacks. The rooms have no washcloths, which is weird. If you’re from Canada, bring a power converter since your hair dryer, other appliances won’t work (the voltage there is too high). (iPhone chargers are compatible since they are sold the same way everywhere.) The fire alarm went off CONSTANTLY and it was so loud and jarring. Our power also kept going off, which was super annoying. It turned off the air conditioning, and my daughter’s noise machine, and kept making the lights go on and off. Just a nuisance. Our TV (which we had never used) also shorted out. The pool was cold but luckily the ocean was warm. Beach chairs - they get reserved / scooped up in the morning early then if you want one later they have a stash of them you can pay $1/chair for. My husband got bit by some sort of sand flea, his feet went red and blotchy and he said they felt burning and very itchy. It lasted days. No one else we were with was impacted. Tip in CAD, no need to change your money to USD for tips. Cleaning staff work hard but it doesn’t seem like anyone else really is. The workers in the restaurant are hovering over you to take away finished plates but not to ask about drinks or anything else. Lobby bar is not well-organized or well-staffed and is constantly lined up and slow.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing stay at the Royalton

2nd time at the Royalton and definitely will be returning. Amazing beach, rooms and food. Oven side grill was great for lunch time quesadillas. Butler Omar was awesome and took care of us all week. Highly recommend.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Definitely NOT wheelchair accessible

I was told by Carol our travel agent that she had been there before herself that it was all wheelchair accessible. Nothing about this resort was accessible. There were steps to get into every unit of rooms. The main lobby and pool bathroom are definitely not accessible either. I am a below knee amputee and couldn't take my prosthetic along and there were 9 of us that booked because she had told us its definitely wheelchair accessible. The people were great the staff great too!

Starfish Cuatro Palmas: Amazing time

I’ve been to varadero before, and hands down, you will not find a quality resort like this for the price. Food is the same everyday but thankfully you’re downtown! Lots of restaurants to choose from if you are bored with the food. Cleanest beach out of all the beaches! Great amazing staff- I’ll be coming back for sure.

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: Amazing resort!

The hotel is very clean, the rooms are large. The staff is just amazing, always there to help you and want you to be happy! Beautiful beach, nice pool, the food wasn’t bad at all. The restaurant à la carte is very good….for Cuba I was impressed!!!! I recommend it and I would go back anytime!!!

Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort: Nice new resort with lots to improve

The rooms nice and comfortable. Typical food and beverage shortages, lots of cross contamination at buffet and vegetarian section full of meat dishes. Check in was a disaster front desk doesn't speak English well. Was told to check in at 4, absolute chaos, staff would show room keys one by one to each guest, a patron decided to take the stack and call names. Our room was not ready till 5:30 and noone explained where the room was or offered to help. Go figure room 3518 is on the 5th floor. Bu [... read more]ffet tables never cleaned, had to clean our own tables and find staff to bring cutlery and clean glasses. Dine early to avoid the chaos. Could not make reservations at the a la cartes as they were full for the next 2 days and it was only a 4 day trip so missed that.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Reliable basic quality

My stay at Melia Cayo Santa Maria was the 4th or 5th time I have been there. Once again, I chose this resort for its long, perfect beach, pristine sea, and of course wonderful weather; for its modest size, comfortable accommodation and especially its people. I was not disappointed. The grounds and buildings remain very beautiful and well kept. The attractive rooms have been upgraded since my last visit in 2019. As warned, food quality is a problem, not as much for the quality of the ingredien [... read more]ts as their preparation. Nonetheless I found that by carefully choosing- for example the salads, food prepared on site, fresh fish, the smaller cafés- one can eat well. On the whole, the resort and its people provided another excellent escape.

Melia Internacional: Great resort

We love our stay in this hotel, very big, elegant, nice room (only some issues with the drawers), nice staff, very close to the beach, nice pool, buffet was fine, I was expected less variety, but I was satisfied. I will recommend to my friends, and I would like to come back to stay more time in the hotel and take advantage of the different activities that they offer :) Thank you so much!

Melia Las Dunas: Returned after 12 years

The hotel still has the best beach in Cuba. The weather was great. The staff do a valiant job working under a terrible government which is causing the economy to one day collapse. the shortages are no doubt caused by distribution problems in the system. Had real eggs 14 out of the 21 days we were there. The rooms have great beds and are clean and spacious. the water pressure is on the lowish side and the hot water is luke warm which was okay for me. The beach can't be beat and the pools are hug [... read more]e. The food is not for everyone. I eat eggs and fruit in the morning so I got by. The grill is great for chicken and pork for lunch and the pizza is okay. The suppers are interesting. I always found something to eat every night. I like fish so I had fish everynight for 21 days. Had salmon 1 day , tuna 3 days and sea bass and another local fish the rest of the time. Great grill man there at buffet. a la carts are spotty. All in all you won't starve. I'm not a big drinker so the lack of mix for certain drinks didn't bother me. Would I go back . Good question? But I had a great time as did my wife. One thing did bother me and that's when Melia customer service shakes you down for later checkout time. 15$ per hour. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Muthu Playa Varadero: My first time experience

Food was horrible. No test at all. Outdoor was clean but not inside the buildings. Rooms was not renovated and broken safety box and washrooms. Cleaning rooms not properly and shortage of water bottles, not changing beds on your stay. Very poor service. I will never go back or recommend anyone

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Needs Work

This is our 4th time there the grounds are still beautiful. The villa we stayed in was ok however the bathroom needs work. I prefer the bungalows. The buffet: I found a piece of wire in my mashed pumpkin which could have turned out very dangerous. It looked like it was from a bbq brush or something like that. The service at the beach restaurant was terrible I had to ask for our menus after sitting there for 15 minutes or more. Then I had to find the waitress to order our food. And they didn’t [... read more] bring our dessert that we had ordered. The manager seemed in distress because the waitresses just left. The service every where else was fantastic in the restaurants, the pool bar (Lorenzo) and the pool restaurant (Leo). The lobby bar very good service as well. The entertainment was very nice loved the violinist!! We will give this resort another try and then decide from there if we will continue to come here.

Melia Las Dunas: Excellent beach, but 2-3 stars otherwise

The beach is excellent, however be aware that the same food is served every day, 3 stars would be a maximum. Rooms and common grounds are not well maintained. It was still worth the half price I paid in early January, and Air Transat is good. .

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Wouldn't go back

So, I'm a methodical person and I'm going to give an in depth review from someone who has travelled extensively and a lot of the time, as a solo traveler. When traveling on my own I tend to pay more attention to everything going on around me. Food - I know everyone warns you about the food, which it totally valid, this is not 5 star dining. I have some food allergies so I'm limited to seafood and poultry. I almost always patronized the buffet and stood in line for the chefs cooking up fres [... read more]h fish and calamari for lunch and dinner...this was delicious as was the fresh grilled chicken. The breads were baked fresh and they were tasty. I ate little else from the buffet other than some spring rolls occasionally and I always took items from the salad bar. The few times I strayed from the fresh food in the interest of saving time lining up, I was not impressed. Breakfast was a difficult meal for me as I don't eat pork and that was the majority of the offering. There were real eggs available half the time and powdered eggs available the rest of the time. There are no jams, jelly's or peanut butter to put on your morning toast, so bring that with you as many of the tourists do. I did go to two of the a la carte restaurants and they were both disappointing. Selections, the a la carte located at Sanctuary, can be skipped in my opinion. A lot of the food was the same as what was available on the buffet, just plated nicer. I had the Mahi Mahi and it was overcooked, I couldn't be bothered to stay for dessert. The Italian restaurant at Grand Memories was also disappointing. It was a four course meal with two different apps both made with cheese & tomatoes, the soup tasted like I was eating a bowl of Alfredo Sauce and the actual pasta course was bland. The coffee dessert wasn't worth the calories. Beverage - They ran out of coffee every other day. As someone who needs a coffee in the morning this was a bad start to my day. They advertise that there is coffee in your room but there is only the coffee pod machine as they can't get the pods in. The juice for the drinks are like orange and pineapple TANG, super sweet but still watered down. The house alcohol barely tasted like it was in my drink and you need to ask for a better quality liquor each time. The better brands are hard to come by at the bar as the staff sell them to tourists under the table, which is why I think they are constantly out. Service - Staff were nice but they constantly expected to be tipped every single time you interacted with them. You come across 15-20 staff per day and they all have their hands out. I was actually asked on two different occasions for a tip - once from the bartender at the beach bar and the other time from a staff that served me water for lunch. Now, I tipped staff throughout my stay for good service, which is what tipping is was meant to be, a thank you for good service.....not just a given because someone exists in the hospitality industry. I'm not oblivious to the economic circumstances that the locals live with so I brought some medical items that are hard to get, to give away, while still tipping cash. I can tell you that after the beach bartender blatantly asked me for change/a tip, that I did not feel comfortable going back to that bar. Not that I need to explain but I happened not to have any change on me when heading to the beach. Sanitation - This was sorely lacking. There is no toilet paper in any of the public bathrooms, you need to bring your own. The sheets on one of the beds in my room had blood spots on them, luckily I had two beds in the room and the other one was much better. I found 2 cockroaches in the bathroom, which I killed. There were splatters of something on the headboards and some of the walls, almost like dirty water splashed there when mopping. I had my room serviced once while I was there and all they do is re-make the beds with the same sheets and sweep the floor. Beach - This is why you go to Cuba, it's pristine. There's a long stretch that you can go on a nice walk on and there are NO vendors trying to peddle their wares. The red flag was up most of the time I was there but I was still able to enjoy the water. There are tons of sand fleas so make sure to bring repellent. As with many all inclusive beach destinations, make sure to get up early to save your beach chair both at the pool and on the beach! This is not a destination I would go back to, both the resort and Cuba.