Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort: Brand New Resort Great Beach!

Very nice, new hotel. After taking a tour through Varadero it was clear this is in the newest area and is in a lot better shape than many of the other hotels. The beach area has a bit of rock and seaweed but they must have dug out big sections as even the next door resort is way worse! The rooms were clean, shower pressure and hot water always. The buffets, restaurants, lobby, bars, pool area all feel clean and brand new. The staff were great, very hard working, work long hours and provide great [... read more] service but it was clear on many occasions they are understaffed. Longer wait times for food at al a cartes, tables stayed dirty at buffets and at peak times it could be hard to find a clean table, long lines for the grilles and omletes etc, and long wait times for drinks at almost all bars most of the time. That being said some good tips early and often would have the staff helping you out faster when they could. Buffet food wasn't horrible but wasn't amazing, you could usually find enough to get a dinner going. Not a lot of fresh vegetables or fruit options but this was our first time in Cuba and during a nationwide food shortage so may not just be Grand Aston. Al A Carte restaurants took a bit to book and you have to be up at 9am to get in line for up to 30 minutes. But we were able to book 3/3 times. The Al A carte food was delicious and a huge step up in quality to the buffet. The sports bar has great drinks and had NFL football, NBA etc on TV (no NHL on that we saw). Nightly shows were pretty good, seen better but seen worse at other resorts. No actual stage area apart from between the two pools outside so in rain there would be no show. They mixed in some violin, guitar, pianos and singing in the lobby bar, all of which were great! Pools were very big and our first few days it was very easy to get a chair at almost any time of the day, plus they have several day beds. As it got busier and if at full capacity they may run out of pool chairs. If you need wifi I would not recommend this hotel. The wifi is spotty at best. It worked for a day or two in our room and then would not connect there for the rest of the week. Connected okay in main areas inside but you get kicked out every 15 minutes and need 2 to 3 attempts to log back in. Overall probably 4 out 5 experience and I think this would improve if the food shortage situation improves. Side note about tripcentral. Amazing service before during and after the trip. Being able to call a human being and have them answer right away is amazing compared to other sites. They have live peiple with a ton of experience looking to help. They send key information about the destination, country, entry requirements and check in reminders after you book as well?

Melia Cayo Coco: Fantastic holiday

This was our 8th stay at m e l i a Resort. It was fantastic as always, it was really nice to see some of the a lot of familiar faces. Food was great as always, Resort very very clean as usual, staff was fantastic. Special call out to Vivian and Chino AKA Pedro. Looking forward to returning soon.

Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort: One of the worst hotels ever

I have been to Cuba many times and for the most part my experiences have been positive. This was one of the worst trips I have ever had. ?20 min waits to get a drink at any bar, drinks were horrible. ?Food was the same thing everyday for (2) two weeks, 24 hrs snack bar rarely had pizza or fries. ?Elivators were constantly breaking down. ?Cuba is know for its beautiful beaches, not at this hotel, dirty, and ZERO activities on the beach, I mean nothing, beach bar wasn't even close to the beac [... read more]h. ?WIFI was hit and miss at best. ? Insects were terrible, they don't spray. Don't waste your money it isn't worth it.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Great place to stay

The grounds and pool area are lovely. The beaches are gorgeous - bring bug spray with DEET. The room was incredibly clean and the room attendant (Heidi) was friendly and helpful. We opted for the butler service as well and Glendy Vidal, our butler, was extremely efficient and took care of our needs.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: True paradise

This is my 4th time going to this hotel and I love it. Ive been everywhere in Cuba and this hotel is by far my favourite. I’m a beach person and you can’t get any better than ensanachos beach it’s simply stunning!! Staff is amazing, staring from the lobby , entertainment, beach bar ensanachos , life guard, cleaning ladies , etc…. honestly they all made our stay even better! Now , I hear people complain about food and all, as I always say if you go to vacation for food don’t choose cuba sim [... read more]ple as that. You will never be hungry and if you are simple person you will not have any problems with food. For cuban standards food is very good! I would recommend this hotel to families with little kids and everyone who wants to relax their mind , body and soul . :) Hotel may need some reno from the outside but rooms are amazing and spacious. I can’t wait to go back there again we are latest looking for good deals to go back in April !!

Brisas Del Caribe: Amazing resort

The resort is exactly as it has been for the past five trips that we have been there, the staff are friendly and helpful, there was no problems with food or drinks, Weather was excellent. Will be going back again.

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Extremely concerned for any future travellers

Hello Trip Central team, We are writing to you on behalf of our entire family about our recent trip to Iberostar Selection Holguin, Cuba, on January 3rd – 10th, 2024, which was booked with Sunwing through Trip Central. For context, instead of buying Christmas gifts this year, we decided to take a trip with the whole family, which included 10 of us total. We heard great reviews about booking through an agent with Trip Central, so we thought that now would be a great opportunity to try. The boo [... read more]king process was smooth; Steve Langstaff was kind and professional. He provided us with all the information and resources we’d need to have a successful trip. We can’t say enough about how great the process was with Trip Central. However, to say we are tremendously disappointed with the trip overall is an understatement. Below, we will walk you through how it went. Starting with Sunwing: The Sunwing customer service staff and flight crew on flight WG6342 were by far the rudest employees our entire family has ever experienced. Many other travellers/passengers agreed. From the time we arrived at the airport, it was completely disorganized, and it felt like absolute chaos. When we arrived at the airport, we checked in and requested 10 seats together. However, we were told this was not possible. We understood that it was a big ask having not pre-selected seats in advance, so we were disappointed that we could not all sit together, but we completely understood. We then checked our baggage and received our boarding passes. It was not mentioned to us that we had to take a shuttle to a different terminal, so we were unaware until a final boarding call announcement was made (2 hours prior to the scheduled boarding time), to which we quickly received more information on where to go and then hopped on the shuttle. Upon boarding, we were told to bring the stroller for our 1-year-old on the plane and the women at customer service provided us with a sticker for it. When we boarded the plane, the flight attendants were quite rude to us about it, informing us that we should not have brought the stroller on the plane and that someone should have taken it from us before we boarded. We were just following instructions, so we gave them the stroller to secure it where they pleased. We then proceeded to our seats. This was just the start. As mentioned earlier, as a family of 10, we wanted to book our seats in successive rows. Six of us sat together across from one another in the middle of the aircraft while the other 4 were at the front of the plane. Much to our dismay, when we boarded the flight, it was only about ¾ full of many empty seats. We remained in our seats for takeoff (we have 2 young kids with us, 1 and 4) and about halfway through the flight, a family member let us know there was a full empty row of seats right in front of them. We brought the kids back to see and get some support from the family and sat down in those empty seats for a few minutes. These seats were the emergency exit seats that my family, who was in the row behind on both sides of the aisle, agreed to look after in case of an emergency and received the training for, because 10 of the 12 seats were unoccupied. One male flight attendant came over and said very nicely that unfortunately, the children could not sit in the emergency seats, which is completely understandable for safety reasons, so we apologized and switched up the seats with our family. Approximately 30 minutes passed and who we assume to be the lead flight attendant, who refused to tell us her name but can be described as a French-Canadian blonde woman, came over to us and very smugly said "Who told you that you could sit here?". We explained we had been sitting here for 30 minutes because the children were fussing and all of our family was back here. We also explained that another flight attendant had spoken to us to ensure the children were not sitting in the emergency row seats, but nothing beyond that. She was very aggressive in her approach, explaining that "these seats cost extra money per person, you can't just sit here". We apologized and offered to pay the upcharge for the seats and explained that we had tried to book seats all together upon check-in but were told that it was not possible. We would have been more than happy to pay to be closer to our family. She began raising her voice and told us “it was too late”. She then excused herself and said that “she will be back in a moment”. She then made an announcement over the intercom system regarding sitting in your own seats, to which we followed and went back to our original seats so not to have any confrontation. Not only this, but our ENTIRE family was skipped over for drink service and for Sunwing excursions, which was very unprofessional. We ended up spending a couple thousand dollars on excursions for the family when we arrived at the resort, but we booked with a different company when we got there. Cherry on top of the flight, when we were disembarking the plane in Holguin, everyone got a "have a great trip" except for our family. The behaviour of this flight crew was disgusting. All in all, customer service and communication overall were extremely poor and the employees were very rude and unprofessional. Iberostar Selection Holguin: We arrive at the resort, check-in was a breeze, the staff was great and we got shuttled to our buildings as the resort is huge. The rooms are nicely decorated, air conditioning was on, and it was great. As we are looking around the room, we notice that the mini bar is empty (unusual for an all-inclusive resort) and there are 2 canteen bottles of water on the desk with a sticker that reads "purified water" with numbers written on the sticker with a pen. Strange, as we have all been on dozens of all-inclusive vacations and have never seen this before. The water smelled like mud and tasted like what I would describe as the smell of walking into a busy nail salon (and did not get better throughout the trip). It was awful and what I would consider to be not drinkable, although we had no other option. We had requested bottles of water through the housekeeping staff, store clerk, bartenders, customer service, etc. with no success – all mentioned that there is no bottled water on the resort. After a few days, we noticed that there was mold on the inside lid of the canteen water bottles. Not just one, but most of them. This was extremely concerning and was of course brought to the attention of customer service. Within a couple of days of being on the resort, we had 2 of 10 of our family members violently ill. They were so sick they couldn't even leave the room for 24-48 hours, predominantly with cold sweats, vomiting, and diarrhea, followed by a lingering upset stomach. By day 4, it was 6 of us that had experienced this and by day 5, all 10 of us had been unbearably sick for at least 24-48 hours, not even able to leave our bed unless it was to run to the toilet. By this time, we had enough and asked some of the resort staff to bring us bottled water from their town for the next day, which we paid out pocket for. This only lasted for so long, so we ended up having to go to other resorts in the area and bribe them with tips for one or two bottles of water. All in all, each bottle we received ended up costing us between $2-$5 USD per bottle. In total we spent a few hundred dollars on bottled water. Safe, clean drinking water really should be available—it is essential. It was not until day 5 violent illness and expressing our discernment to the Management Team at the hotel that we got a big jug of water for each one of our 4 rooms. By this time, it was too late, everyone had already been so sick. The only reason we were able to save the trip was because there were 10 of us, and we all looked out for one another while the others were ill. If we had been alone, it would have been the worst trip of our lives. One of the housekeepers said in confidence how sorry she felt for us, as “many others on the resort are very sick as well”. Aside from the water issue, the food supply was extremely limited. For the first 2 days of the trip, there was only canned fruit (pears and peaches). On day 2 there was unripe pineapple and unripe watermelon. On day 4 the resort received lettuce and papaya. The only protein options were fish, pork, or beef. They ran out of eggs for breakfast. Most options were bread, pizza, and pasta. Fortunately, we came knowing that food options may be limited, but we didn’t expect it to be this bad. In all, the staff at Iberostar were amazing! A huge shout out to Axel who made our late-night meals so much fun! All staff were kind, and caring, and truly went above and beyond for all guests to ensure we were well taken care of and having a great time! The resort was clean and well cared for, decorated beautifully, and had entertainment and events every day and evening. They didn’t have much music playing in a lot of places which would have been great to brighten up the mood, but that’s just personal preference. Ending with Sunwing: Our flight was delayed approximately 5 hours on the way home due to technical reasons (which we found out via the pilots announcement after we had boarded the plane). The Sunwing flight WG6343 home was fantastic, the cabin crew were wonderful. Our children and one family member were still not feeling well, and the crew took great care us. On a closing note, Trip Central & Sunwing – it is NOT safe to send people to a resort that does not have clean drinking water (or bottled water) for their guests. Clean and safe drinking water is essential and arguably the most important thing a resort should have. This is supposed to be a 5-star resort however the lack of safety for its patrons is beyond concerning. We would like an explanation as to why this resort does not have any clean or bottled water, while the resorts just steps away did. Please do an investigation and follow up with us. We will be posting public reviews once we hear back from you. We believe compensation would be appropriate to address the significant dissatisfaction and inconvenience we experienced. This trip was far from a vacation; we collectively spent more time in bed and/or being caregivers to one another than we did anything else. This was written by a family member and sent by myself, who booked the trip with Trip Central. This concern is sent on behalf of all 10 family members. Thank you for your time and we look forward to your response.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Good Resort

The resort was nice but needs updating in aesthetics. They are trying to keep up with wear and tear but are lacking in places. Where there once was outdoor shower heads to wash off from the beach they have patched it up completely or they are not working. Toilets need to be cleaned regularly and always well equipped with toilet paper. Restaurants were good buffet good especially if you like fish but repetitive all week both lunch and dinner. The only time they took out their top quality food was [... read more] on new years! So they have the food but yet withhold it from guests the rest of the week. Perhaps we should get a refund for what they withhold it would have been nice to get some of the options we had new years the rest of the week. Room was fine but for whatever reason they are very reluctant to exchange bath towels something we pay and expect at the very least. They tried to entertain guests with special days/ events and entertainers. Beach was fantastic. Their bars are all very good and the resort tries to appeal to a variety of people with their cigar bar, piano bar and entertainment in the square at night. If they were to work on food and room cleanliness, and outdoor aesthetics it would be more pleasurable to stay at.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: ok resort

it as my first time at this resort, apparantly we are of the fews who had the less problems....we just had to fill the toilet water tank with the showerhead. Except of that the personal was great. I don't know what my expectation should be...but by the end of our trip...there was so much flies at the buffet...i was glad to leave

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Fantastic Resort

My second visit to this resort and will definitely return next year. Beach is great rooms are perfect and cannot say enough about the staff. Jamie our transport buggy driver has become a friend of ours for life, the service he gives is top notch and could not be better. He seems to truly love his job and takes pride in it The care takers of property are always friendly and polite. All the staff is friendly. See you all next year

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: Great Holiday at Great Hotel

Beautiful place! weather was great, beach was Gorgeous, white sand, love it. Had small private beach to the right of hotel and another huge beach to the left. Pelicans diving for fish like missiles-amazing sight. Star fishes, red lobsters and other amazing sea creatures to see. Pleanty of food in buffet, not too many people at hotel, not many parties, just how we like it. Hotel has 24hr bar and 24hr snack bar. Hotel was clean and lovely, we had everything we needed. Pleanty of food. Not sure w [... read more]hy some people are concerned about food: pleanty of freah fruit, veggies, rice, pasta, chicken, beef, pork, fish that is cooked right before your eyes. We were stuffed. Bring some spices and cirracha if you need that. Buffet uses simple seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic powder. Hotel staff were amazing, very helpful and accomodating. Victor, the bus guide who escorted us back to the airport was spectacular, made sure we did not forget our luggage, passports, phones and wallets. Thank you, Victor. Loved this place. Would love to come back next month if schedule allows. This trip made me realise how much I Really missed Cuba. This was our 3rd trip to Cuba. Cuban Bheaches are the Best! Special Thanks to Jenn Black for booking our tickets on super short notice, in very timely and efficient manner, gave us her full attention even thought her phone kept "burning up" with calls))

Blau Arenal Habana Beach: Terrible

The food is terrible and I'm not sure you can call it food. Hygiene awareness is basically non-existent everywhere in the resort. It’s a health hazard. I survived by basically not eating the whole time I was there. Insect bites are another problem. Broken glass and dirt everywhere on the beach...

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: 2nd time there, better last year

Massive resort. Beautiful pools, great beach, absolutely still water. Rooms nice, most with an ocean view. The poor buffet was a sign of their failing economy. Bar staff lack customer-focussed training.

Playa Pesquero: Cuba's best foot forward

This was our 3rd visit to Playa Pesquero since 2019. Cuba is experiencing supply chain issues at the moment, but the resort has used ingenuity to provide a quality experience for it's customers. For example, paper napkins have been cut in quarters then re-folded, pinã coladas are only available at the main bar, and tequila has been replaced with locally made Black Tears. Top shelf scotch and other hard liquor are served all day. The barista was very popular every morning. Fresh beer and water we [... read more]re supplied in our room daily. The entertainment was organic with musicians performing in public areas throughout the day. Unfortunately, this resort isn't renowned for cabaret entertainment, so the large amphitheater is mostly used for kids shows and audience participation events. There were also DJ events and aquafit sessions each day. Internet has been vastly improved since our last visit with free wifi available in many public spaces and as we were told, in room wifi had just been launched and ours was the first building to get it! The wifi is not seamless though. You will have to reconnect each time you change locations which requires prompting to log in again with your stored password. The RTTP was slow with a slight audio/video delay when talking on WhatsApp. Avoid using your phone because you'll be charged by the minute. The beach has many areas shaded by trees where you can stake a claim each day, but you have to get out there early. Because of the density of guests, your valuables are relatively safe unattended. Unfortunately, my snorkeling equipment and towels were stolen after we forgot them at the pool overnight. (This theft was definately done by guests and not staff because our beach bag and a hat were left behind.) There are catamarans available for guided sessions, as well as peddle boats, wind surfers, paddle boards and a laser for individual sailing. (After I capsized the laser, staff motored out to me to help right the boat and help me in. Unfortunately I took too long to catch the wind so they tied along side and dragged my boat back to shore against my wishes. Back at shore, the supervisor graciously apologized and invited me to come back for a sail the next day.) Occassional tipping is important. The salary for these employees is typically around $35 per month, and way below a living wage. Employees almost never request tips openly, but always graciously accept them. Do everybody a favor and bring lots of US $1 bills in good condition. Loonie, Toonie, Pence and Euro coins are useless to them. Employees often ask guests to exchange coins for hard currency which can be traded or deposited in a bank. Employees are also very happy to receive costume jewelry, clothing items, small gadgets, toiletries and medicine as tips, since these items are very hard to come by for Cubans. We didn't use the spa facilities due to time constraints but I did find out that I could get my teeth cleaned by a certified dentist for US $50 at the pharmacia. Overall, our experience was positive. Cubans are some of the friendliest people I've ever met. As the supply chain issues resolve, I expect that services will return to what I've usually experienced.

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Beautiful and clean resort

It was the second time we visited this resort in Holguin, Cuba ?? and certainly it will not be the last. We love the nice and clean beach ⛱️, the people who work at the resort are very efficient and friendly. Our group of 20 people really enjoyed our vacation here and hopefully we will be back again in the future.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful rooms and staff

Overall staff very warm friendly helpful Life guards super nice warm friendly interactive informative Beach bar guys funny warm friendly Water sport main guy Danny not very friendly unless you tip a lot then become one of the favorites with special privileges to people who tip well so many restrictions about using paddle boats where u can go is small area and not fun - where other hotels give you a lot more freedom to explore - Danny yelled at me for going out of his site and was band f [... read more]rom using paddle boats for rest of stay because we went around the corner to see the star fish opens at 10 am never ready until after 10:30 close at 4 pm Nice music on beach daily beach is amazing clear clean turquoise waters shallow for quite aways calm and great snorkelling and swimming saw star fish and many other species wait white sand Internet is very spotty and don’t get any in the rooms by the beach basically only main lobby is internet ret is spotty

Tryp Cayo Coco: Beautiful Cuba

Although this hotel is showing some signs of ageing ongoing efforts are being made to maintain its appearance as well as its structural integrity. Continuous hot humid weather as well as frequent and violent storms cause havoc to buildings and vegetation but the people of Cuba stoically clear the debris, replant the lost flora, repaint their buildings and rehang their welcome signs. We did not experience lack of water nor electricity as often happens on Caribbean resorts and there was no lack [... read more] of food. When money becomes available some should be allocated to improving showerheads and faucets. Unfortunately there were some isolated pockets of stagnant water near the snack bar and the main restaurant which caused unpleasant odors and which undoubtedly added to the overabundance of ravenous mosquitos. The beach and ocean are splendid. The grounds are well maintained and safe and as always the personnel was like family. The free WiFi was .such appreciated.

Iberostar Selection Parque Central: Good Hotel

Great hotel in an excellent location. Food in both of the restaurants and the breakfast buffet was very good. Pool was beautiful with towel and bar and food service. One thing I would say is do not exchange your money at the hotel. Bring USD in small bills.

Melia Marina Varadero: Not Recommended

I have a long list of disappointments during our stay in Jan/2024: we had arrived at 10pm and on my ask for a cocktail at the bar I was offered coffee or beer, they don't make cocktails after I'm not sure what hour. The elevator didn't work all the time, no mattress protection, bedding wasn't changed, toilet tank was running, it was not properly flushing even after service was called, we had to use garbage can to flush after ourselves. No variety for food, some days it was no milk for coffee in  [... read more]the morning. I had to request bottled water every day at the reception desk, they had to place a service call for the water being delivered to the room. Once on my question when it will be delivered, the answer was "when he wants to deliver". Only two small bottles were provided for a day. I was able to change beach towel only once during my stay, they never had clean towels in the morning or close to evening hours. It was our first and last vacation in Cuba.

Starfish Guardalavaca: Villas of club amigo guadalavarca

This is my 4 th time at this resort, the room did not have a safe available so I had to carry my valuables wherever I went, tried to get a room with a safe but there were no rooms left, the lady at reception was totally unhelpful. Internet did not work for my iPhone yet my friends with Samsung had no problems. There was no water on the resort, you had to go to guest services to have water delivered to your room, only 2 500 ml bottles a day, there is a plaza across the street we had to go to [... read more], to buy water, 1.00 American each. No pop available, so if you like pop for drinks forget it. Again the plaza had some 1.50$ Their water taste like moldy flowers, so you can taste it in all the coffee, juice and slush and milk ( as they use powdered milk). On the plus side, we love the beaches, the food was good, not much seafood to be found, but they had chicken, beef and pork, not much bacon but still had an omelet every morning for breakfast. Pizzas can be found at noonish at the 24 hour snack bar, or at Rico’s down on the beach for approximately $7-9 American. Don’t bother getting your money conferted no one wants pesos, not even their government lol, Take Canadian money and American . I tipped with toonies and loonies, If I needed something at the store American is preferred. Our maid was great, lily . The villas were great, beach was great, Leonard was very helpful, if you need a horse and buggy Alcides was very helpful. +5354791827 Favorite place was the coffee bar, and beach. Did lots of walking, there were no flies and no mosquitos.