Conflicted: some good, some bad

The beaches were out of this world, honestly felt like a postcard. The drinks were outstanding. And some of the staff I.e Luis were incredible at their jobs. Other staff members...not the greatest. The lifeguards didn’t seem to take their jobs seriously and one was in the ocean making out with a woman while on duty for about 30 mins. Highly unprofessional. The room had a humid/mold smell, and the pillows were very thin. I asked for extra pillows that never came. It was however, very clean  [... read more]and the maids did a great job with that. Additionally on our last day, we had a late flight so we were given a courtesy room for 30 mins to change in after spending the day at the beach. I loved the idea of this, but when I got in, there were dirty towels on the counter and no fresh ones. The courtesy room was not cleaned before allowing new guests in there. I thankfully still had my beach towel that I was able to use but was uncomfortable in this used room. The food was just okay but the buffet was inefficient. The popular food stations had large lineups because of the inefficiencies. And most food items didn’t even have labels indicating what the dish was. When asked what certain items were, the cooks had no clue. For breakfast there was a vat that I assumed would be oatmeal, but every morning it was hot chocolate. Nothing bad about it, just odd that at breakfast there is no oatmeal/porridge but a large vat of hot chocolate. Ultimately the highs of the beach and the lows of the room and food bring my rating to a 3. Would I go back? Maybe. Maybe not. If you are going, keep your expectations in check and you will surely have an okay time.

Our april getaway

we stayed at the Paradisus Princesa Del Mar from April18 to April 25th and had a wonderful week. We upgraded to the royal service and very glad we did. The staff are super friendly especially our favorite ladies at the pool bar Kassandra, Anna Rai and Marlen ...we so enjoyed seeing you ladies every day. Also Felix at the towel exchange ...he is so nice . we were heading to the beach and my hubby broke his sunglasses so Felix being a sweetheart told my hubby to use his glasses( you go above and b [... read more]eyond my friend) . The hotel and grounds are very clean and well kept up . Our only issue were the mosquitos , which we never had a problem in the past 5 years going to Cuba . I will now always pack spray. Our favorite ala carte was the Japanese ...delicious and very entertaining. If you are thinking about this resort go ahead and book you will not regret it. If you like more action then book the regular side but for more quiet go royal. See you again Princesa.

Wonderful experience

My husband and I chose to spend our second honeymoon at this lovely resort. Our room was spacious and clean. Our bathroom had a large soaker tub. We had a very comfortable balcony. The pools were very nice. The beach gorgeous. The food was delicious; fresh seafood always available! And cooked to perfection. We really enjoyed the a la carte restaurants. And the bars never disappointed. We would recommend this resort to anyone.

2019 Trip South

The rooms were great, loved the suite. Grounds are beautiful and well established. Loved all the al carte's with the exception of Cuban. It appears only two people looking after the full restaurant. We would definitely go back again and would recommend to friends. Val was great. Bartenders need a little more experience, some were hit and miss.

Great Varadero resort for adults

We stayed the week of April 30, 2019, the weather was beautiful, as was the beach and the hospitality of the staff at this resort. Mostly middle aged couples, very quiet, always space at the beach and pool. The food was very good, many options for everything at all meals, no complaints what so ever. We stayed in the royal service area, and it was worth the upgrade, less crowd, no line ups and lots of other extras, check it out . The rooms are more like a 3 star, if you want a 5* room this is [... read more] not it, but it was clean and comfortable, and spacious, we had a balcony with a breeze and a great view, spent little time in the room so not an issue at all. There is no wifi in the room, they give you a card for one hour at a time which by the way is included in the royal service, you pay extra for that in the other areas. Even with this, the wifi is on and off, which I was told is typical throughout Cuba. We would go back for sure, very nice relaxing vacation.

Great resort

The resort was beautiful. The beach was fantastic. The pool bar employees were awesome. Housekeeping came 3 times in 8 days and had to call all 3 times. But most of all the food was horrible. I would not return because of the food.

Beautiful Beach

The resort is getting a little dated, some tiles in the pool are off etc. but its clean and well cared for. They seemed to have a shortage of towels when we were there, but we did get some eventually. The service is wonderful. The beach is the nicest beach I have ever been at, the water is aqua and seemed to be calm all the time. The entertainment is very good and there is something different going on every night. The restaurants have good choices. we especially enjoyed the Japanese restaurant. [... read more] The buffet gets a little repetitive but that's fairly normal I find in most resorts in Cuba.

Great resort for those who like the ocean and long sandy beach

The ocean and the beach are the best of the best The rooms are clean, no smell of mold or mildew The ground is clean and beautiful The reception is very friendly The food is so--so. Although it is getting better. The waiters and waitresses in the buffet are excellent. The entertainment is really good The pool is small. But we are not pool people.

Princessa del Mar

I returned from here a few days ago. I had also been there in January, and was pleased, so returned for more fun in the sun. The staff here are exceptional. They remembered me from the prior stay, and I was treated like a friend as opposed to a guest. Barby came around from the swim up bar, and warmly greeted me. She remembered clearly the gifts I had given her in January. Orestes was also a warm, and fun bartender. They can keep you laughing all day long. They all are really, these two  [... read more]do however deserve special recognition. At the lobby bar, be sure not to miss the outstanding voice of Javier. The ala carte restaurants are all quite good. If you are looking for something very spicy, bring your own hot sauce from home as we did. Be sure to treat the staff the same as you would like to be treated. Just because it is all inclusive, it does not mean that tipping is a forgotten item. Remember, we are Canadians, and we know better than to forget our manners. The rooms very cleaned very well every single day, and nothing was left out. There is only beer, water and pop in the room, so if you don't drink these, just tell the staff you need your drink of choice in a takeaway, and they will gladly provide you with it. The cigar bar is a great way to wind down with a two piece band most days. The nightly entertainment is not run of the mill either...don't miss the stunning water ballet

THIS IS A VERY GOOD RESORT WE HAVE BEEN THERE 6 TIMES

WE ARE IN OUR 70s THE LAYOUT IS MOSTLY FLAT AND EASY TO GET AROUND THE ROOMS ARE CLEAN AND FRESH,DINING IN THE MAIN BUFFET IS WELL LAID OUT, REMEMBER YOUR IN CUBA THE MEALS ARE SIMPLE AND FOOD PRESENTATION LOOKS GOOD AS WE SAY YOU WILL NOT STARVE WE HAD T BONE STEAKS ON WEDNESDAY EVENING THEY WERE DONE TO OUR REQUESTS, THE POOLS ARE CLEAN WITH POOLSIDE SERVICE IF YOU WANT IT , BEACH IS VERY VERY GOOD AND IS ALSO SERVICED, INTERNATIONAL DINING IS ON PAR WITH MOST RESORTS ,THE STAFF ARE VERY [... read more] FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL DO NOT CHANGE YOUR CANADIAN $ INTO AMERICAN AS THEY WILL CHARGE YOU EXCHANGE RATES TO GET CUBAN CONVERTIBLE $ IT HAS NO VALUE OFF THE ISLAND , CANADIAN RYE IS CROWN ROYAL AND IS CHARGED AT PREMIUM RATES

Most Satisfactory

Neat and clean grounds and facilities. Service staff were most friendly and accommodating. Food and al la carte restaurants were exceptionally good. Common areas and bars had room for and need for more tables and chairs. The beach at this resort is fabulous. Our only issue with our room, (building 3), was the difficulty of stepping in and out of the raised bathtub/shower. We would need a room with easier access to shower if we were to return to your resort.

Decent resort

Main lobby was very nice. Room was nice also. Ceiling could use fresh paint. The washroom was out dated. Faucets were rusted. The beach was fantastic. Sand was powder. Water did not have a lot of seaweed Ala carts were the best meals I had at this restaurant. I found majority of the staff rude. And, when I spoke to other guests, they agreed. I found that the catered to Caucasian guests first, and then the rest of the guests after. Trying to get coffee in the main dining room was interes [... read more]ting. They would walk right by me with the coffee pot. Even with my hands up. This was the main reason why I would not return to this hotel. They need to treat all clients equally. Ample lounge chairs on the beach. This was a plus.

Great resort, food could have been better even for Cuba

Had a great time at this resort. The grounds are well kept, the layout makes everything relatively easily accessible, it was clean, and the staff were very efficient, friendly and professional. It's a pretty quiet and tame resort, which is great if you just want a relaxing vacation. My only reservation was the food. I have been to Cuba many times and know its not the place you go for great food, but I was surprised by the food selection and quality even for Cuba. It mostly wasn't great; a few [... read more] meals were pretty good, but some were downright awful.

Beautiful beach

Upgraded dinner best lobster and service I've had all servers were very kind quick check in and check out adults only setting for romantic holidays enjoyed every minute smoking permitted mostly every where good for smokers not good for non smokers

Sunwing Vacations Terrible

The Hotel was fine however trip central had the check in and check out wrong , we arrived at 9 am trip central said check in was at noon , we had to wait until 4 pm,,, long day for not unloading our stuff, or changing and sitting in the heat,also on departure day, we waited in the lounge from 1:30 verified our flight was on time and the bus would pick us up at 5pm . 10 minutes to 5 we found out our flight was delayed for another 2 hours when I asked the sunwing rep what was going on she said it  [... read more]was the weather and there was nothing she was going to do for us , and ran out the door .The hotel was equally not assisting the large amount of people who had spent the day in the lounge. By this time we were exhausted around 7pm we found out the flight had been delayed again another 2hours 4 hours in total. This is ridiculous we had now spent 9 hours in the lounge, When we finally boarded the plane the pilot apologized for the delay , telling us a flight attendant had hurt her ankle and they had to wait for a replacement, which caused the 4 hour delay. Not the weather.!!! Our first and last days were horrible, for a 7 day vacation , paying top dollar it was terrible. I would never use Sunwing vacations again and wonder why we paid top dollar for such poor services.

Very nice

The grounds were lovely and well taken care of. The beach was beautiful and clean, staff available to help you get a lounge and beach activities midday. The rooms were clean and beds comfortable. We did not use the pool. There were 4 bars, always someone friendly available to make your drink. The food was good, buffet had a large variety.. something for everyone. Best of all were the staff, lovely people always available to help and provide great service. We couldn't get all the channels on our  [... read more]room tv, we called the front desk and service came within 15 minutes to quickly resolve the issue. I highly recommend this resort.

Lovely people work here

A beautiful resort with beautiful beaches. We had a lovely ocean facing room on the 3rd floor. The people that work there are so nice and hard working. A big shout out to Teresa in the dining room. My only complaint was the stagnant water out front of the lobby by where the main court yard is. Many people had bites and I’m sure that is why.

Nice resort

The grounds were beautiful. The lay out of resort was really good, one of the easiest resorts I have been to, to learn your way around. The beach was one of the best and pools were nice too. There were a few disappointing things. The resort was too big for the size of the lobby bar and common areas. Never a place to sit and the service at lobby bar was not good. Drinks were another disappointment, no drink service on beach and poor drinks at beach bar. There were some better ones at the piano ba [... read more]r and cigar bar, but still not as good as some I have had at another Cuba resort. Rooms were nice and stalked with towels( most days), mini bar could have a few more options, wouldn’t leave diet cola??? Food was ok, a la carts, pretty good. Buffet was ok, but again, the buffet was too small for amount of people at resort, food good if they cooked fresh, most of the other dishes were cold and not replenished. Good resort for price we paid, would only go back, if I got a good deal, below $1500

Nice Resort

The grounds were very nice and clean. The layout of the resort was very nice with the restaurants and bars were close together. The rooms ok. We only got clean towels once. The beach is beautiful and water was amazing. Downside would be, there was not enough places to sit in the evening. Lobby bar always full and hard to find a seat for entertainment. Staff not friendly as we are used to at other resorts. I would recommend to friends but would consider this more of a 4 star than a 5.

First trip to Cuba

This was a first trip to Cuba, we visited April 4, 2019 for 1 week with family. The room was nice and clean and we did not have issues other than did not always get a good supply of towels and had to ask for extra water. I found the service very slow and the food was not the best and ALWAYS cold. I feel the buffet could be better organized as line ups waiting for food and a lot of people standing around waiting for a hamburger. When you have an issue at the front desk they send you downstairs  [... read more]to customer service, when you arrive they are lovely but have no idea why front desk refer you to them and send you back to front desk. Customer service really needs to be worked on. The beach was beautiful and the gentlemen down at the beach always offered to help find you a chair which was great. Bug bites were crazy, never experienced this before well on vacation, myself and family all were bitten badly. The entertainment was good, during our visit there was a rock and roll show which was exceptional. Smoking - there is no designated smoking areas on this resort which I found very disturbing and people were smoking everywhere and it was hard to get away from it. Overall, not a bad resort but not sure I will visit Cuba again, just felt the service, food and smoking issues were enough to make me question visiting again in the near future.