Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Fabulous Vacation!

The Sanctuary service and staff was excellent. Everyone was super friendly and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Rooms were clean and modern. The food was very good and their was tons of selection. The best part of course was the beautiful beach - absolutely breathtaking!

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Nicely decorated new resort

The rooms were spacious, clean and well kept. Pool area was nice with lots of tropical plants around the resort. Food was ok but seafood restaurant was a disappointing. Needed more variety of vegetables and fresh fruits in the buffet, plus labels on food so you didn't have to guess what it was. Staff were friendly, although some were a little pushy for tips. Overall nice resort with reasonable food and friendly service.

Melia Las Dunas: Good vacation!

We stayed in this resort 2 years ago and loved it, decided to come back. Since then the service and overall appeal has significantly declined. Things are old, dirty, not kept up. Beach: amazing; Food: enough that u are not hungry, but got tired of the same (no variety). Drinks: plenty, Amazing coffee at the lobby

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Great Resort!

Visited May 12-19 with my wife and kids. Beautiful beaches, great play section for children and amazing staff. Food was above average for Cuba. We swam with the dolphins. Fun experience but it was an expensive 15mins in the water with our dolphin friend. Would go again!

Valentin Perla Blanca: Great vacation!

We stayed at this resort for May11-18 and we had one amazing time !!! Staff are so helpful, just ask and they will try anything to make it happen. When we left they started updating the main lobby with brand new furniture. The food was good ,drinks anything especially if you tip, you get even the privilege. The beach is undesirable, amazing ,warm ,big ,lots of space ,lots of chairs ,no need to wake up early to reserve your spot. We had only one issue with our room cleaning she just made sure [... read more] to take her tip and gifts but not provided a proper cleaning,,,,,not sure how Manny rooms they have to clean or why ,but after I spoke to one of the hotel managers everything was so much more,,,he made sure to make it up to us with a great lobster dinner and the best champagne!!!!!! Deffently I would go back in a heart beat !!! Thank you Valentin Perla Blanca and staff !!

Valentin Perla Blanca: Beautiful resort

Rooms were great .. staff friendly ... food was mehh ok lol we didn't get to do the a la carte, ate at the main restaurant and the 24 hour grill. However ... the pizza made at poolside was great !!! I would definitely not recommend this resort for singles .. we are two straight single women .. was boring for us. Lol I would however go back if I ever end up with a mate. Ohh ya .. the staff .. the screw must have fallen out of my prescription glasses and the arm fell off. I talked to on [... read more]e of the bell boys (mario) he went above and beyond to get them fixed for me. Honestly. The man was a sweetheart !!! We did have nice relaxing time ... met some nice people and enjoyed the beach and pools. Entertainment was very good too.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Not recommended

Room average. Pool not bad. Beach was ok. Food bad and very little to choose from. Resort was dead maybe 20 pp staying. They even closed the main buffet one day and had to eat ata snack bar all day. Not impressed and won't go again 2 star

Melia Las Dunas: Fantastic Vacation Experience

Beautiful beach with turquoise waters and white sandy beach. Definitely, need to try the fresh grilled fish at lunch the seafood place. The sports club was amazing too, had a great time playing pool with the whole family.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Beautiful Beach. Horrible Customer Relations

Overall our experience at Ocean Casa Del Mar was positive. I would likely not return due to the size of the resort and the poor customer service. I also do not believe the resort can handle the amount of patrons if it was at full capacity. Pros: - The most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Crystal clear water, tropical fish swimming around, white sands. It was perfection! - Decent drinks. Best Mojitos ever! - The food was quite enjoyable. The Buffet does become repetitive however there is  [... read more]always fresh meat, fish and pasta to be made. - Pool and grounds are well maintained and beautiful. This is a newer resort and in a few years I am sure the foliage will be even more beautiful. - Amazing service from the staff at the buffet (especially Daniel and Russo!). - Housekeeping is thorough and always leaving nice towel designs in your room (Thank you Yenier!). - No issues with beach towel exchange, we got fresh ones every few days. Cons: - Worst customer service at the front reception, guest services etc. Basically anything on the top floor. Hopefully you have no issues at this resort, if so, good luck having them resolved. - Hours of Operation - do not exist. The bank is scheduled to be open from 8:00am to 8:00pm and it took us 2 days to get pesos because it was either out of money or not open at all. Similar issue with the internet cards. - We arrived rather early on our first day and our meeting with our rep was not until the following day. We have no idea where to find food, the beach etc.. We were dropped off at our room and left to fend for ourselves. - Snack bar on our side of the resort was not open during the day, therefore we always went to the buffet or took a long walk to the other side. Tips: - Change your money at the airport to ensure you have pesos - Internet will work in your room (it did in ours which was building 18) - Buffet and A La Cartes usually open 10-15 minutes past when they should be. If you tip a waiter well the first day he/she will go out of their way to seat you right away. - Bring comfortable shoes - there is a lot of walking - Located 10-15 minutes away (walking) is a shopping center where you can buy artifacts, clothing etc. - Speaking Spanish or French is an asset at this resort.

Grand Memories Santa Maria: This resort was awful

At this resort the phones did not work in our room. The lock to front door was not working and when you ask for service to fix the lock they did not give any urgency to my request. TV went on the blink just before we left. There were cockroaches in the dining room with lots of dead flies. My wife nearly got her lips cut with broken wine glass. The grounds were keep in pristine conditions and also public areas. The bathrooms were awful and most of the time some stalls was not working or no water. [... read more] We/I got lots of mosquitoes bites and I'm still recovering today from those bites with prescription medication. Some folks from our same town (Stouffville) said there were bed bugs and some got bitten very badly. There was also mosquitoes/bug truck going around spraying white smoke that also killed some folks who had asthma.

Sol Cayo Santa Maria: 1 week is not enough

Every review you read talks about this hotel needs a little TLC and that is so true but if you look closely you will see that they are trying. For example over the last couple of years people complained about the boardwalks to the beach, well while I was there they were just about to finish the last of 4 new boardwalks and after touring the three closest resorts they are the best of all three. That being said there is still a LOT of work to do. We had no water issues but I do not think the hotel [... read more] was any where near capacity. The food is Cuba, I have been to Cuba 4 times and all at different places and only once found better. It is what it is, but you never go hungry. I have to say one thing, the management has GOT to get the birds out of the buffet hall. I am not fussy but it was just unacceptable to see a bird eating the hard boiled eggs at the buffet, can you say "cannabird" The staff are the most wonderful part of the resort, the welcome and smiles never stopped, they were super! The beach is beautiful as most of the beaches in CUBA are. Water was a little rough most of the days except for two calm days. The resort is a bit quiet but being 62 years old this was just fine for me. I won't mention all the other good things about this resort just check some of the other reviews for those details. If you are satisfied with nothing but the best do not go to this resort, but if you want a quiet relaxing low cost 3 star vacation give it a shot.

Memories Paraiso: Beautiful beach nice resort

First I have to say is that if you are going for a beach this is the place for you! Such a beautiful beach! My girl friend and I spent the week of may 7-14th. We stayed in room 33-75 which was an ocean view room. Room is a little out dated but comfy bed and beautiful view. It's a place to sleep at night. We always left a gift for our maid and a tip. Our belongings were never touched and our room was always clean when we came back. This is my first time in Cuba so I had heard the food wasn't the  [... read more]greatest which was true. The buffet pasta was usually cold, but some days it was pretty decent. Found enough to eat through out the day. The Italian restaurant was our favourite. The resort is kinda outdated but when you travel from the air port to the resort you can see why. My girlfriend and I never spent any time at the pool as we have our own. The beach was our favourite part! Huge long beach nice soft white sand! Can walk out very far and only be up to your shoulders! Very clear and no rocks or coral. We upgraded to diamond club so there was always someone at the beach to find us a seat and if preferred would be set up under a sun hut. Beach bar was good but always handy to walk around with a couple pasos so you can get better service. Other wise for me 7 days was enough. I read horror stories about the resort dirty rooms and such for people with basic rooms, but like they say you get what you pay for. I found for the extra 50-100$ why not upgrade

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Great value for money vacation

We have stayed at many different resorts in Cuba, most of them Spanish chains like the Melia or Iberistar. This was our first time with Gaviota who is actually a Cuban chain is is run 100% by Cubans. The Playa Santa Maria Resort was a really pleasant surprise. The food was really good, buffet and à la carte restaurants too. The romantic and Italian provided more choices than the seafood one but the lobster was terrific anywhere you ate it. There was also an Asian one that offered an à la ca [... read more]rte meals that was good. Surprisingly, both house wines, red and white were more than adequate. They have at your disposition as well, a wine cellar that had a real good assortment of wines for sale, mostly Chilean and Spanish wines at relatively good prices. You could buy the wine and just bring it to any of your meals, even at the buffet. Even tough the room was not the most vibrant in colour, it was spacious and clean. The cleaning person took real good care of us when we needed fresh towels or clean glasses and fridge stocked every day. There are four pools you can hangout at, some more quiet than others. We never missed out on chairs or towels. The beach is absolutely magnificent and long. We could walk at least an hour on either side of our beach in powdery white sand. Most days the ocean was calm and felt like you were taking a bath...just a beautiful turquoise bleu colour. There was a rather large open building close to the beach. That's where to seafood restaurant was. On each side of that restaurant were two opened concept but covered areas for eating outside, one with a fresh hot and cold buffet and the other the pasta bar and a wood oven where you could get you fresh pizza. Good food and the views of the beach and ocean from there was amazing. The snack bars at the main pool offered a selection of fingers foods but served breakfast until 11:00 every day, make sure to say hello to Lisandra. The lobby bar was a fun place to be, it served great cappuccinos, lovely Kir Royals and always offered a pre-show, music and modelling show, parading clothing they had for sale. Very intertaining. My husband and I have been travelling south for about 15 years now and rarely want to go to the same place twice, but we would most certainly go back to this one.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Awesome time!!

This resort is beautiful!! The rooms were clean, beach was amazing and the staff was great! I would return! Food was great! The ride to the resort was fun and informative...it did not seem like 1.5 hours at all!

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: First Time to Cuba

I was happy over all with the resort , for what we paid it was well worth it.. I found the staff friendly except for the reception staff.. they were not helpful and rude when you asked them questions. Customer service staff would tell you one thing, but when time came it was never what they told us we found this frustrating .. Luckily we didn't have to deal with them a lot.. Lounge staff and buffet staff were very accommodating and friendly .. The only issues I had with the resort was the smoki [... read more]ng everywhere, everyone was smoking, for me who the smell of smoke makes me ill it was hard for me to enjoy the lounge for a drink or even the beach, smoke blowing in our faces .. and people treating the beach sand as an ashtray was disgusting .. Birds being able to fly into the buffet or grill area while you were eating was the only other thing I had a problem with.. they would practically land on your table .. not a fan .. the food was good, what you would expect for the large amount they need to make.. you never went hungry. The rooms themselves were very clean and no smoking allowed in them.. the cleaning stuff out did themselves daily washing down the rooms. I would recommend this place to friends and would go back..

Melia Las Dunas: Great time away!

Our stay at the Melia Las Dunas was from May 4-May11, 2017. The weather was beautiful, sunny every day and 30+ degrees celcius each day. The cool ocean breeze made the sunny and warm weather very comfortable. The hotel staff were very friendly and accomodating. The food was nice and plentiful. Our room was a little worn, but comfortable. The property boasts an amazing swimming pool, great for kids. Plus, the layout of the property is very quaint, with lots of great walking paths. Overall, a grea [... read more]t place to stay for the whole family.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great Santa Maria resort

We went at the start of May which is off-season at the resort. As such, it wasn't too busy and we never had to wait in the buffet or at any a la carte restaurants. The resort is only a year old so it has a nice modern design. The pools and beach were great. However, watch for the rocks in the water -- when it is wavy you can't see them and they are very sharp. When the water is calm, the beach is great and you can snorkel and see plenty of fish right at the resort's beach. The food was typ [... read more]ical of Cuba. Decent selection but the buffet is the same every day. The Origami Asian restaurant was our best meal of the week -- highly recommend it. Also, Mike's Café has great drinks and awesome service! Finally, all of the staff we dealt with were very friendly and helpful.

Melia Las Dunas: Great Vacation!

This was my third time at this resort. It is one of my favorite places to vacation. The food was amazing and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The rooms were comfortable. The cold beer and the hamburgers at the Beer Garden were excellent! The lobby is huge and open 24 hours. They serve the best specialty coffees in the lobby and we enjoyed them every morning. We stayed in building 37 on the adult side which was closest to the pool and the lobby. The buffet had a huge selection and very s [... read more]mall lineups. The animators were great fun and there was lots of dancing at night. The beach is second to none.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Great resort for the value we would return

The hotel while a little dated was very clean with excellent staff and service,we enjoyed our stay very much. the grounds were well kept pool was great and the beach was wonderful. The food was good lots of assortment. Loved the beach it was clean and the staff were very helpful we spent a lot of time there, the pool was wonderful although of course hotter than beach but always lots going on there, the pool grill was great,good food and service. The sunwing representative was very friendly and h [... read more]elpful to us. the tour to Havanna was very enjoyable our tour guide and drivers were excellent.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: cuban bliss

Hotel was clean, house keeping staff extremely friendly grounds impeccable. 4 out of 5 stars. Food was excellent and staff were very accommodating and friendly. The resort had lots to offer, chances to explore the island and all it had to offer. The entertainment team always had us laughing, amazing vacation!