Our room was dirty others where ok

Very disguted with our room, sheets were stained and bathroom wall were very dirty, don't want to know what was on it, but rooms were spacious, it must have been beautiful at one time... friends had no problems in their rooms... hubby and i won't be returning for sure

Relaxing Stay & Friendly Staff

The resort is expansive and beautifully situated. The beaches are beautiful, with fine white sand & crystal clear water. We were treated wonderfully by the staff, who are among the friendliest people we've ever encountered. Excellent service from the buffet staff, Adults-Only area staff & beach waiters. Always greeted by workers /gardeners throughout the resort. Entertainers encouraged involvement from beach volleyball games to evening magic & dancing in the main lobby. Our expectations of [... read more] the food weren't too high, but the a la carte Cuban & seafood restaurants were quite good, as was the option of the omelette bar at breakfast. There are many choices at the buffet restaurants, but often bland & room temperature. We stayed in the Adults Only/Spa area. Our room was large, with a balcony, but it was pretty tired. It could use some improvements. Housekeeping was fine, but not as stringent as we're used to in a 5-star in North American hotels. Regardless, the fantastic staff & beauty of the beaches will draw us back to this resort!

Our 3rd time to this excellent beach hotel, but will go again before KFC shows up

As you can imagine, we saw familiar faces when we got there the third time, staff there recognized us, too. This is not a single case - as a mater of fact, many visitors we met in the hotel also went back many times. Why? Here are some reasons I can think of: extremely friendly staff willing and accomodating all the time, food is good with variety on daily basis (e.g. four dinners out of seven have lobsters), clean and well maintained environment everywhere, excellent garden design and layout [... read more]; best private beach, and the only hotel with over 4KM walking distance one way end to end, etc., etc.. This hotel is masive. You see, you can enjoy all the delicious food, wine, juice and desert without gaining much weight - if you keep walking. Oh yes, if you fly Sunwing and you are thinking of buying an excursion, buy it during the flight, so that you pay CND$ without tax, saving you 30% vs. buying in hotel where you pay CUC (=USD$) by the same number. A lot more to tell but this is all I can remember today.

Beautiful Landscaping

We weren't sure how we'd feel about not having an ocean view, but the absolutely gorgeous grounds to walk through were worth it. There is a lot of walking which is a good thing to counter balance all the food and drink. We enjoyed the a la cartes as well as the buffet. There were never long line ups at the main buffet, the beach buffet or the bars. Food was pretty typical for Cuba and we enjoyed what was offered. The beaches are amazing! We never used the pools, but they were pretty with lot [... read more]s of loungers and very clean. The room was clean and our bed was comfortable. There are a few minor repairs and paint touch ups that could be done, but for once our balcony door lock worked! The resort is 90 minutes from the airport, but it's nice to see the Cuban countryside. There are excursions, but as this was our third trip to Cuba we didn't go on any. The best part of the resort is the staff. They are genuinely friendly and the Nautico guys were really helpful. Go out on a hobie cat. Thanks Rafael for a great time! Another plus is that the other guests were really friendly too. We made new friends from acoss Canada. I'm not sure if it's because we were there Feb.3-10 which is before any of the school breaks, but there were always loungers and sun shelters available. The Iberostar Ensenachos is a lovely resort.

Ensenachos was great!

The hotel was great. Clean, friendly staff, good food. The only complaint was that it is pretty spread out. With a four and two year old, it was a bit challenging. We would have packed a stroller had we known how spread out it was. Also, the Air Canada representative did not show up for our scheduled meet and greet at the beginning.

Cuba's Best Resort!!

I have been to Cuba at least 12 times went with a friend to this resort my first and will not be my last!!It was amazing the grounds well groomed very clean everywhere.. The staff were very friendly and all new there jobs to make you feel welcome and your stay perfect we stayed at a 2 bedroom villa in the Grand Village section (adults only) .The Playa Ensenachos beach was stunning white powder sand clear water and you could swim and also snorkel very easy which was amazing I seen a star fish tha [... read more]t was big like a dinner plate...we stayed in bungalow 6202 the room consist of kitchen 2 bedrooms, cathedral living and dining room with large soaker tub with free standing tiled shower very clean...full stocked fridge as well Jacuzzi on our outside deck. We had breakfast at our own restaurant in the Villa section was very good and superb service, lunch there as well and dinner sometimes we ate at the beach grill as well which was all amazing the chefs they no how to cook ...The pool at the grand village section was nice as well. I cannot recommend only one staff member because they were ALL awesome... My only negative comment at this resort is I feel that people that still smoke they should have designated areas for them and better wifi connections... I will be returning here ....also need to say thank you to Kim Hartlen who once again has made our travel arrangements go thru without a hitch we have been dealing with Kim for a long time she is very good at her job... It would be nice if the airport was closer maybe someday..

Our 6th visit to this resort

As usual, we arrived at the resort and were greeted with a welcome fruit punch drink. The check in was quick and our room ready. We arrived in the evening and had supper at the buffet. Our favorite waiter "Yuri" remembered us from last year and we talked as we ate. The arrival and welcome at this resort was great. Then for two weeks we enjoyed the hotel, sun, food and entertainment. This resort really does have the best beach in Cuba! One day it rained but we found other things to occupy our [... read more] time. Historic Trinidad Cuba is only a three hour car ride from the resort. The resort is very clean, the staff are fantastic and the food was good. Thanks to Yolie at the Seafood restaraunt and to Yan at the Gourmet restaraunt. Each time we visit, it feels like we are welcomed by family members! Go to this resort if you want peace and quiet and a fantastic beach. The head life guard / Red Cross person "Chino" will make sure that you are safe in the water and on the beach. We are already planning our return trip in November. (We book through Tripcentral.ca) maguirejp from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Cuban Perfection

First I have to comment on our Agent Kim Hartlen...amazing to say the least. Trip Central is very lucky to have an agent so dedicated to her profession. January 26 - February 2, 2017 via Sunwing. Was my first time flying with Sunwing sine early 2000 and have to say I was impressed. All flights on time and Elite Plus filled the bill. Would have been nice to receive a meal at no charge but the addition of Lynn Crawford's meal a huge plus. Iberostar Ensenachos is my go to place and has been f [... read more]or year. This trip was number 10 and I've already booked for April 2017 we love it that much. I've stayed in all three sections since 2006. Stayed at the Grand Village section and it's the place for us due to the quiet atmosphere we are looking for. The staff are simply amazing and they can't do enough for you. The Villas are huge. The food at the gourmet is amazing and the quaintness of the restaurant is simply amazing. No issues at all with the food. All hot and made to order. You have your very own section of the beach with bar service to your chair. Same for the pool area with the swim up bar. The gardens are beautiful as is the wildlife from birds to Iguanas(only on this cayo) they will actually come to you to be fed fruit. While you are at dinner in the evening a maid comes and removes your wet beach towels and clean dry ones are waiting. Very nice touch. Any issues are dealt with promptly. The other sections are just as great as they have their own personality from family section the adults only...everyone can have what they are looking for. Even the buffet food is great. If anyone is considering booking, you are in for a treat.

Very nice resort

We stayed in the spa section which was nice and quiet (adult only). The rooms are spacious and very clean with a separate tub and shower. The grounds are well maintained with lots of beautiful flowering plants. The Ensenachos beach is the better of the two beaches, and you can snorkle along the side by the rocks. The food is fairly good, with only one day where the buffet food was not up to par (not sure what happened that day) but there is lots to choose from, including delicious desserts an [... read more]d many types of cheese. We didn't swim in the pools as it was a bit cool and the ocean was much warmer.

Definately recommend this resort

The best part about this resort is the hotel location - so private and the beaches are like no other- sand like flour - such many shades of turquoise blue is the ocean- I ran on the beach every morning - so shallow- you could walk forever. All of the staff at the hotel were very accommodating. What is not to like meals prepared for you - the hotel was immaculate, drink, sleep , lie in the sun - repeat . If you go to Cuba - Embrace what they are good at - seafood. Kudos to exceptional se [... read more]rver - Damarys Gonzenlez and Osneil in the main dining room and Ubaldo who made my omelette every day and Chinos the lifeguard - all very professional - Very great staff

Everything was AMAZING!

The Iberostar resort with all its features and services (buildings, swimming pools, Spa, rooms, tennis court, surroundings, food, entertainment and the politeness and correctitude of the personnel (forgot my belongings twice and found them in good standing) are remarkable. The Ensenachos beach and ocean are surreal! Excellent value for money!

Excellent Resort - Fabulous Beaches

Positives: This hotel was excellent. Staff very friendly and the lobby was a fun place to be in the evenings. Entertainment every night in mini theatre was a nice touch with loads of local talent. Tennis courts were brand new and a pleasure to play on. Catamaran outing was very good value and they actually raised the sails! Food was very good - no complaints! The beaches are the best in Cuba - better than Varadero! Negatives: Check in was a chore and could easily be improved. VIP package ($3 [... read more]5 CDN each) for departure was a disaster. (Air Transat needs to investigate... Refreshments were a joke. Seating in lounge was limited. Non VIP people got much better treatment and much better seats on the plane.)

Still Decent resort

The week of Jan 26, 2017 was our second time at the Iberostar Ensenachos. Our party of 2 adults, 2 seniors, and 2 kids stayed in two communal rooms by the kids friendly pool. We were very happy with our first stay at the hotel because there is always a lot to do for everyone...the white powdered sand, chystal clear waters, the complementary tennis, non motorized boats, archery, and air gun, evening shows, kids club activities keep you very busy and entertained. Also, food and selection is dec [... read more]ent. We are puzzled with the discrepancys at the hotel this stay...the tap in one of one room was running and will not return off. Requests for repair at the front desk and with our Air Canada rep were ignored. Room service never delivered our food on one occassion with no follow up. They "ran out" of ones at the bank for 6 out of our 7 day stay so we could not convert our money to tip the staff. Finally, on our previous stay guest were not allowed to save beach chairs just by placing towels on them but not actually being at the beach for hours. As a result, the beach was mostly empty but there was no place to sit for those actually at the beach! Although these things were annoying and disappointing...The Iberostar at Santa Marie would be the only resort we would go to when travelling to Cuba and we have been to Cayo Coco, Varadero, and Havana

Awesome beach, so-so hotel

I wouldn't give this hotel more than 3 stars. There was a bunch of annoyances that added up. Rooms were ok, but service was inconsistent. I had to remind the maid to empty trash and change towels on a couple of occasions. The floor wasn't always properly cleaned. I'd complain less if I wasn't tipping, but i was, leaving 2.5 pesos per room (we had 2) every day. We had rooms side by side and there was a playpen for our toddler just as we requested. However, one of our rooms (#4023) was next to cen [... read more]tral ac unit for the building. The ac unit was right behind the wall and was extremely irritatingly noisy. We could even hear it in the other room. We should have requested a different room right away. Our bad that we didn't. 3 days later my mom who stayed in that room could no longer sleep at night. At that point we did request a room change and got a different room a day later. I suspect the management knows about ac noise but is unable or unwilling to resolve the issue. They said they'll send someone to check the ac but we didn't see any change. Again, this was central ac, not the in room ac. The ac kept loudly whirring in the next 3 days, we just didn't care anymore as we were further away from it at that point. On one occasion the room fridges weren't refilled. We did completely empty them on that day, but that shouldn't matter. After a complaint at the from desk the fridges were refilled on that night while we were away for supper. Buffet restaurant wasn't bad. We were able to find food to our liking and were mostly satisfied with it. A la carte restaurants are overrated by some reviewers. Don't go. I'd take buffer any day over a la carte. Mediterranean was comparable to buffet. Italian - food was nothing special, i expected more out of Italian. Service was good, the guys tried. They don't seem to be toddler friendly though, no chairs for little children. We felt hungry after Italian and went to buffet. Asian - absolutely horrible!! Or perhaps i'm spoiled by Vancouver's fine Asian restaurants. Don't go there if you never tried Asian cuisine or you may decide that all Asian cuisine is just like that and hate it for the rest of your life. Sushi - what a joke, 3 tiny pieces (not 3 rolls) with rice in them tasting very wrong and having wrong texture. That probably wasn't even sushi rice. Tempura - bad. Fried rice and shrimp were kind of ok. Dessert - we didn't stay long enough to try it. We saw 2 cockroaches in front of us on the table and left. The cockroaches were the last straw. Headed to the buffet of course. There are so many smokers everywhere. The restaurants seem to be the only non-smoking areas. Family pool is surrounded by smokers. It's unpleasant to go there with kids. Some old smoking jerks are very inconsiderate to families with children. Well, that's not a hotel's problem, but having 2 very long beaches the hotel could probably allocate some portion of them as a non-smoking area. So one day 2 couples in their sixties moved into a spot on the beach next to us. They started smoking in turns making seemingly very intentional puffs of smoke in our direction. What jerks. 4 of them were going one after the other in turns non-stop. I understand we are not the most nicest neighbors ourselves with 3 sometimes noisy kids. Well, we at least don't make the noise intentionally and we try to calm children down if they go too far. Anyways, we lasted about an hour and then just moved further on the beach. Another family with children nearby stayed but they were a few meters further from the smoke, perhaps it didn't bother them that much. Now comes the best part - the beach. We stayed on Ensenachos beach all the time and we loved it. It's awesome. We were lucky to have very good waves on the first day (due to the storm on the day before). The rest of the time the ocean was calm and crystal clear. You can snorkel on the east side of the beach so bring your snorkeling gear. Beware of the jelly fish. They are tiny and there aren't many of them but they do sting if you happen to touch them. We saw a crab hiding in the sand, a couple of pelicans over the beach, 2 iguanas and a hermit crab in the bushes near the bar at Ensenachos. Make sure to bring enough sunscreen as the hotel store doesn't have any. Fortunately we brought enough. We spend most of our time on the beach and overall we liked our vacation much (because of the beach). The hotel doesn't really meet its 4.5-5 star rating though.

The resort was better than expected

We liked meeting the staff they were very friendly and helpful. They treated us like family. The grounds were well kept with manicured gardens and a jungle like feel backdrop. The food was ok lots to choose in the buffet, the El Colonial a la carte was a 5 star restaurant. The beach is everything and more then what is described on their website. 2 weeks was not long enough... can't wait to return.

Wonderful family stay at Iberostar Ensenachos!

This was my 6th visit to Cuba and first time on the Cayo Santa Maria coast. We travelled with a 4 year old and my parents for my mom's 50th birthday. I will start with the outstanding features that were an immediate hit with my family - ensenachos beach, which was much better than the closer Megano. A picturesque walk through the hotel grounds can be conveniently replaced with a golf cart ride from the lobby. You can even dial for a cart from the hotel room. As everytime and everywhere in Cuba t [... read more]he crystal clear waters were the best part. This beach boasts beautiful fish for those who like some snorkeling. The hotel itself was spacious with a balcony that can easily fit 10 people, a dressing room separate from the main sleeping room and a spacious bathroom with a stand alone shower. The grounds of the resort were massive. I won't lie we were lost the first night, and tired of walking some days. But again, a golf cart as at your service. My parents love the chance to walk through spectacularly kept landscapes of this resort. The food had variety every day and plenty of options. The people friendly and welcoming as always and, even though we didn't visit the pool area often, my daughter loved the water park and the kids club. The hotel also features a full indoor theatre for evening entertaining which helps avoid mosquitoes at night. My only complaint was the Cuban a la carte restaurant and the service we got there waa terrible. I've never experienced anything so bad in Cyba before where we had to leave half way through the dinner because the server wouldn't even refill our drinks. Overall, a wonderful stay and can't wait to go back!

Good trip

Amazing hotel. We got an upgrade without asking. Beach amazing. Only thing I would have changed was the early evening entertainment. In Cuba we are used to hearing Cuban talent in the lobby and dining rooms. Loved that in the past. This was the only resort where the talent was poor and very little of it The food was the best I have had in Cuba. Sunning rep great.

Really nice resort

Beautiful beach & people. Adult side was quiet and comfortable. Food and service were both good. Lobster was available for lunch and dinner. Rooms in the adult section were spacious and clean. Would definitely recommend this resort

Amazing Resort

We normally stay at smaller 3 star hotels but thought we'd give ourselves a treat and tried this upscale one. We were really impressed with the food in the buffet and the restaurants. The service was excellent and our room very spacious. While the hotel has over 500 rooms, these are spread out over a large area so you never felt like it was crowded. The beaches were well maintained and and had restaurants and bar service right there. Snorkeling was good in close. We met some super staff [... read more] who went out of their way to make us feel at home. The only downside was the 90 minute bus ride and the airport facilities at Santa Clara. The airport is too small for the number of travelers and needs an upgrade.

Amazing resort!!!!!!

I stayed there from Dec 27th, 2016 to Jan 5th, 2017. Note that this was my first time in Cuba. Everything was amazing. Actually though. The food was incredible, the service was great! We did have an issue with having towels for the shower on occasion. And it happened a few times that we couldn't exchange the beach towels because they ran out of clean ones. I was however disappointed that the pools closed at 5.00 pm. That's really early to close a pool. Overall though, absolutely amazing. The  [... read more]location, the service, the appearance, the food. I have always heard bad things about Cuba, but this resort proved them wrong. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone interested in visiting a resort in Cuba.