Exceeds all expectations

The best all inclusive resort ever visited in Cuba. Spectacular well groomed beach with plenty of sun shades, new Balinese sun beds, chaise lounges so no real need to stake your spot at dawn. Large comfortable rooms with decent beds and new bathrooms. First class dining, Steak, Roasts, fresh garden vegetables, Lobster, Shrimp, Prosciutto, Cheeses, fresh fruit, premium liquor and champagne. The gardens are freshly replanted and well cared for while all staff give excellent service, polite and fri [... read more]endly with a welcome smile. Nightly professional class entertainment was very enjoyable. Also this resort is very handicapped friendly with ramps and impeccably clean washrooms. The only Cons, some rooms still to be re-painted and strangely enough no Clamato juice as they seem to have everything else. Already planning a return trip next year.

Perfect quick getaway

My partner and I stayed for 5 days at the end of January. Very pleased with our choice to stay here. Food is really good, and staff is friendly and helpful. The full day Havana tour a lot of bus time, the better choice would be to go in a private car. Minibar restocking was sometimes hit or miss, a couple days only one beer and one bottle of water for two guys. We had Diamond Club, which was nice, especially the private beach area with an AMAZING bartender, but it's not really necessary to enjoy [... read more] the resort. If we ever decide to return to Varadero we'd definitely have no reservations about staying at this resort again.

Comfortable Resort

Having stayed previously , we knew what to expect, good food, excellent service. They started to implement their diamond club during our stay which will separate the resort into two classes......still in most instances, it will not effect your stay if you do not take DC.

Good Time!

This was our first time in Cuba, with my husband and our 2 adult sons. This resort is on the quiet side, it was clean, staff friendly, room was nice, entertainment okay, beach clean, and food surprisingly good! Our day trip in a '55 Chev to Havana was very much enjoyed!

A "5" star resort that falls woefully short

The staff and beach are great however that's where the positives end. The rooms are dated and in need of an upgrade of the furniture. The door to our room was covered in finger prints to the point it was turning black near the handle. The kitchen door in the seafood restaurant was black with finger prints which the staff touched constantly then they hanled our food plates. The towels in our room where a light shade of grey rather than white. The lights in the bathroom were old and therefore ligh [... read more]ting was inadequate. The whole resort needs to be painted.

Hot and cold!

We have visited Cuba many times but Never stayed at this resort. We are accustomed to hard beds. These beds were excellent. The room was spacious and very clean. Food was above standard. However, the usual excellent Cuba service was just not there. We waited for over half an hour at times for service, at the bar or at meals. Disappointing. The next day, it was fabulous, then back to lousy.

Great resort

Beautiful beach, I couldn't believe the service, staff went above & beyond to make you happy! We stayed for 10 days and were never bored with the food selection. We had a great vacation and would go back.

Fantastic all around hotel

Hotel was well laid out, pool area was well spaced and traffic flow of the patrons was not an issue. For Cuba, food was good and not to mention the service was unbelievable. Any issues were handled right away and very professionally

Great trip!

The grounds are very nice and the beach was outstanding, very clean. The food was also very good. My only regret is related to the room: very outdated and the bed not at all comfortable. We stayed at the hotel for only 4 days and overall is was a pleasant experience.

Absolutely Beautiful!

The resort was amazing! It was just beautiful surroundings ,the plants and buildings everything was so clean and well kept. The people were , so friendly and helpful. We are already planning to go back. It was a perfect getaway!

Amazing resort, restful and resourceful

Very spacious clean well kept rooms. The grounds are always being kept up with the foliage and flowers seemingly always refreshing. Ocean is warm and breath taking, to float forever with a beach that seems never ending all well kept, clean chairs and lots of activities everywhere if you want to partake. The spa is great. Refreshing welcoming staff at every turn. A place you can feel free from stress and pressure.

Beautiful resort and awesome people working there.

The people, hotel, grounds, pools and beach were spectacular. The service was also fantastic. My only recommendation would be to add more spices and flavours to the food. This will definitely make this resort the place to go!

Do NOT upgrade to Conceirge & the resort is tired

Best: The beach is amazing and the pools are great. Not good: The resort has extensive water features, filled with water with a heavy sulfuric content- so many, many areas smell like rotting eggs. Also, the resort is being renovated. Honestly, in about 2 years it will be awesome. While it's ok right now, as they have done work and it's under construction now, parts of it are tired. The food was good- not great and not a lot of variety, but edible. The a-la-cartes were also good- best one was the [... read more] Carribean one (get the Cuban soup!). Bad: Do NOT upgrade to conceirge! Save your money! The rooms are NOT upgraded or any different from the rest, so all you get is additional butler service which didn't prove to be any benefit. We called down for ice one night and extra towels another night and they never came either time. Also, because we weren't there a full week, even though we paid for the upgrade for the days we were there, we were ALLOWED the free wi-fi that the full week guests received. The people are very nice and try very hard, but management needs to really drop the conceirge option.

Amazing service and fantastic beach!

This hotel is being renovated and turned into a Royalton. The only thing we were disappointed about was the disco and beach grill not being completed when we were there. Rooms are very large, balcony was great...food was ok. I was happy they had stations where you could get cook to order food. (omelets, fried eggs, pasta, crepes/pancakes).

Beautiful place. Will be even better when complete

Always kept clean. Wonderful, helpful staff. Attentive. Gorgeous views. Areas under construction, which we were not told about. Food, average. Staff made the resort even better. Smells of sewage at times

Great Vacation!

Very clean rooms and grounds. The staff was friendly and very helpful. The beach is one of the best I have seen, no rocks and very wide, so plenty of room. The Entertainment was wonderful and the food was also the best I have experienced in a resort. We definately plan on returning next year : )

Beautiful Resort

We were very pleased with the staff and the service they provided to us, the beach is fantastic, food was good and our room was always clean. Rooms need some up-grading and I understood that they will start that soon. The night club has been renovated as well as the grill restaurant by the beach.

Pretty good

The hotel is a bit outdated but well kept and clean. Would recommend it. Beach and main pool are fantastic. Employees very friendly. Drink selection is very good and food is great particularly in the a la carte restaurants,

Exceptional amenities, staff and beach!

We have been to Cuba nine times and this resort is by far the best we have experienced. The staff was very professional, courteous and went the extra mile to make our anniversary special. We even had the services of a butler to attend to our needs throughout our stay, a great value add. The meals were delicious. We were lucky to have a private table set up for us on the beach for our anniversary dinner. The garden view room was spotless and spacious. The beach was very clean and went on for mile [... read more]s. All in all, a fabulous vacation.

Great place to relax

stayed at the royal hicacos the last week of aug. overall was very good. I have been to cuba about 15 times and yes this hotel is a 5 star Cuban standard.The service is outstanding , I read many reviews where people say the food was great., the food is limited not bad but not fantastic! pros....... service beds are very comfy ocean of course pools are nice but not deep entertainment was very good quiet adults only check in check out ...very smooth cons......... bad smell around parts of resort  [... read more](septic tank smell) grounds need to be worked on not many restaurants , they had the buffet but the grill on beach was closed for renos ,so all they had was a little snack bar with hodogs and hamburgers not very inviting. our room was in building 6 and there was no lighting at nite they had lights but not working obviously they are doing a lot of work on this resort , but you cant get ocean view, overall nice resort.