Melia Trinidad Peninsula: Great Resort

The resort itself was great with beautiful design and modern amenities service from the staff was also fantastic and consistent. Resort does lack entertainment and the dance shows do get old after a week

Valentin Perla Blanca: Beautiful like usual

Best resort beach in Cuba. Tons of privacy and miles of beach to walk. Very large sand bar extends far and wide. Hardly ever any seaweed. Pools very well laid out for private basking. Lots of room.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Good Resort - Getting a little dated

Dec 22 - 29th!! Good Resort, Getting a little old. Beach's and Beach bar's & food shacks were good, clean and white sands!!. Lot's of Bar's - food options! Staff is very friendly and grateful to help! Lacked coke & soda water? No hot-water for showers. Pool was cold New staff change-over, slow on room access & set-up, supplies

Grand Memories Holguin: My Honest Review

Here's my honest review of our stay (December 27th - January 3rd) . We booked our trip to Grand Memories Holguin last minute (one week prior) and elected to go with the Premium rooms. Since we were traveling with our 2 teens we booked two separate rooms. Our rooms 3434 & 3435 were in building G and were ocean/pool view. They were modern and clean and no signs of any pests during our stay. Maids were great and replaced our towels and bed sheets daily and restocked our mini fridges with coke, s [... read more]prite, beer and water as needed. Our first 2 days the food was poor even for Cuba standards with very limited food selection and no vegetables or fruit at all at any of the restaurants. We even ventured to the nearby market to try and buy some but they too had nothing. From day 3 and onwards the food got a lot better and suddenly had tomatoes and cucumbers and even fries but no other greens. Their bread is made fresh daily and is really good. Buffet has good pizza but limited to cheese, tomatoes and ham only. They also have pasta with tomato and/or alfredo sauce although they lack parmasean to give it more genuine flavor. Their grilled wraps are quite good and have choice of chicken, pork or Tuna and have similar taste to a melt sandwich except I found these to be tastier than ones back home due to their freshly made/baked bread wraps. They do also have a wide variety of other meal stations but they do lack any greens -lettuce, spinach, broccoli, etc.. Their desserts were pretty good too - my personal favorite was their guava ice-cream. Since we had 2 Premium rooms, we had 2 butlers ( Orlando & Luiz) who were each helpful in getting us reservations to the 4 allacarte restaurants as well as dinner reservations at the Premium restaurant. Therefore we ate dinner at 5 different restaurants over our 7 days. Japanese was the best in terms of entertainment followed by Creole, Agea, Premium and Italian based on our likings of the food. Each allacarte had 3-4 course meals so we left full every time Drinks They DO NOT have any Vodka and unless your Premium, no coke either.. But they do have a decent selection of rum and whiskey and tequila. Pina-colodas were hit and miss based on availability of ingredients but they always had espresso martinis which were tasty. Mojitos were also hit and miss based on (mint) availability. The 3 pools all looked clean although we opted for the beach instead which was cleaned every morning of weeds/ rubbish. That said, there is some garbage which floats in from the ocean with waves. The water right in front of the hotel was clear but often stirred up by the waves however 5mins down from there the water was insanely clear mostly due to the reef which broke down the waves. Snorkeling was amazing and we saw every type of fish possible- just like visiting an aquarium, and found numerous shells and conch's. They also had pedal boats and kayaks which could be reserved for free. We also booked an excursion which incluuded sailing via catamaran, Snorkeling and visiting an island with a jeep tour of the wildlife including zebras, antelope, wild horses and iguanas. The beach was amazing and the Snorkeling was AMAZING. Had I'd been asked to rate my experience on our first 2 days, I would have been a lot more critical and advised people not to come. While they are still lacking green vegetables and most fruits, I would rank my stay as 3 out of 5 and would therefore return to Cuba but maybe try a different hotel closer to the bigger cities as I believe the issue with their lack of supplies has to do with this resorts isolation coupled with Cuba's fuel and other shortages.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Disappointing!!

Not a 4/5 star resort, dirty hotel room, mold, stains, drywall damage, damaged paint, non working safe, locks broken on doors, worn furniture. Black mold and all other issues reported to hotel but nothing was addressed.

Starfish Varadero: 50/50 Chance you will love it

Food selection was good. Worst coffee I have had in my life - never hot and tasted like mud. Huge resort with lots of stairs, lots of walking. Limited availability of elevator. Badly lit walkways after dark. Not much to do after dark. TV was all static with few channels. Great beach and pool areas with good music, a canteen and interactive poolside activities

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Horrible Experience

This is our 10th to Cuba and our second time to this resort but has gone downhill since. The biggest issue was the shortage of toilet paper in the entire resort. There were times where every stall was out of toilet paper. There are no soap dispensers in the pool area bathroom. We paid for the premium package which we did not receive at all. We were to have the premium drinks and that bar was actually not even open. Customer service for the first time in our many trips was very disappointing. We  [... read more]know what to expect regarding food in Cuba but the food shortages was shocking. Ran out of food everyday half way through service. I am so disappointed with our entire trip. Although the snorkeling trip was amazing thanks to Daniel our guide. A big shout out Maria and Yanet as well.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Great resort!

The following is our review of our trip Dec 27/25 Sanctuary area: very good Pool: ok Rooms: dated but clean Beach bar/pool bar/24hr 'Cigar' bar: great Sanctuary restaurant: very good Staff: Amazing! Private Beach: Amazing! Memories buffet: lots of good options but too many annoying people Memories Specialty restaurants: great food but ridiculous wait times (over 1hr 3 times) Airport shuttle: fair (45 minutes) Overall a great week with no shortages and enjoyable time

Grand Aston Cayo Paredon Beach Resort: Mixed reviews

- Property itself was beautiful. Great beach…pools, etc. - rooms were fine typical hotel rooms, although ours didn’t have hot water all week - lineups were out of control…although we were there over Christmas break so I’m sure that factored in - food was plentiful but not always good - I would recommend but not without explaining some of the issues - best way I’d recommend it…it’s a really good resort for a 4-5 day trip…not as good if you’re there 7 days

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Relaxing Vacation

We had a wonderful stay at the hotel and thoroughly enjoyed our vacation. The hotel rooms are somewhat dated but very adequate. We were not able to use the coffee make in our room as it required a specific pod that they were unable to obtain, however they supplied us with a kettle for our tea and coffee was readily available in many areas of the resort and room service is available if you wish. We have been to Cuba before and were aware that the Cuban people experience challenges obtaining good [... read more]s, food, parts etc., what they lack in supplies they more than make up for with their cheerful, helpful attitudes. The food was good, rather bland in some cases, but we had expected that and brought some spices and condiments that we knew we would want. We had hot water and electricity throughout our stay. The WIFI was excellent at the beginning of our stay however as the hotel filled up after Christmas we were not able to connect regularly in our room - but not a problem as we went to Cuba to relax. We stayed on the lower royal side near the beach entrance, the resort grounds are large so we did a lot of walking but again it was not a problem and was nice to take a stroll after dinner. The resort is clean, there are many washrooms around the resort. The marina across the street has a few nice shops and a coffee shop that makes fantastic cappuccinos! All in all it was a very good vacation and I would definitely return in the future.

Melia Las Americas: Great Resort

Just got back from my vacation. It was my first time back in Cuba for over 10 years. I like others have felt the food in Cuba was not very good and for that reason went to other destinations. Well I am glad I gave it another chance ! Not only was the food good bit the service was fantastic. Great location with golf and beach, wonderful staff that were very friendly. I will definitely be going back

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: It’s all about managing expectations!

Here are some of our observations BOOKING Our Trip Central travel agent met our expectations, she was efficient, responsive and timely. HOTEL TRANFER AND CHECK-IN We arrived late at night and dropped off at the other lobby. We had to find our way to the Sanctuary side on our own. Someone to greet us with golf cart would have been nice! Check-in was rather quick. Wish they had bracelets with built in door key. We booked Sanctuary premium and no regrets. Most people say paying premium  [... read more]does not give you extra and it did for us. We had a room with a view facing the walking path to the beach. Perfect! Our flight was delayed and we stayed an extra night, they put us up on the Memories side and this is when we truly saw the difference, There is no way I would have stayed in that room for a week. The furniture was falling apart, the drapes were hanging off the track, the beds hard as rock, the bath tub was a hazard, you had to step over a high wall to get in, definitely a safety issue. ROOMS The rooms are very dated, the furniture is old, some mood is visible in washroom as well as spots on bed skirts, the mirrors were all stained (looked like varnish splashes). The fridge was well stocked, the air conditioning worked at max only, otherwise it would drip. Not enough electrical outlets in the room. The phones don’t work. Tip: bring candle to change the smell and small flashlight in case of power outage. FOOD AND DRINKS Always something missing; they ran out of white wine on day 2, the blender drinks were not good, the beer was ok, the coffee was terrible, lots of unknown dishes at buffet, lots of wieners, no French fries, no pizza, no shrimps, disgusting hamburgers, omelettes made with Parmesan powder, no milk, no ham or other cheese at omelette station. The fried rice at lunch was good but after a few days, you had enough, The ham and cheese sandwiches were a good choice st the pool snack bar and they became our regular lunch with soup every day. The soups were ALL excellent. The a la carte restaurants were good and a nice chance, the oriental restaurant does not serve Asian food, it’s chicken, pork or fish like the other restaurants. The Cuban party by the pool offered great food, the best salmon I had all week. BUTLERS Efficient, easy to reach and quite responsive. BEACH Awesome, great attendant most days, they find you a spot on the beach and also serves you drinks. They alternate every other day, one of them was not as good, he was more interested in selling cigars and chatting with lifeguards or other workers. POOLS Although we did not spend much time there, we noticed they were super clean, we watched this man clean and he was very thorough. CIGAR BAR The best drinks, the best atmosphere, comfortable seating and great live entertainment. They also had great little canapés that were delicious. Overall 6/10 The price was right, we went on a budget and did not have high expectations, as such we were not disappointed.

Grand Memories Varadero: Should be a two star

Hi Natalie I just wanted to reach out and take a second to tell you about probably the worst trip of my life. My uncle and I landed in varadero December 26 arrived to the hotel and checked in got our room like every other time (everything was normal) got to the room and noticed it was very dated and dirty (room #21322) I went to get in the shower and was surprised by no hot water.my uncle pulled back the sheets and what looked like body fluids.so he paid the cleaner $50 American to clean the ro [... read more]om. I went to the customer desk and talked to the lady’s at the front desk and told them about no hot water and how the room was a mess. They told me to come back at 9:30am tomorrow morning and we will change your room. I got back to the room with new sheet on my uncles bed and we went to 24 hour snack bar for a snack(probably the worst excuse for a hotdog ever seen ). Work up at 3:00am freezing cold and couldn’t turn off the a/c the thermostat wasn’t working so I turned off the breaker. And the door key never worked and had to get the cleaning lady to let us in or get the keys programmed daily. Wake up in the morning go to the front desk and they said come back at 4:30 pm so we went to buffet. It was so dirty and smelled so bad I couldn’t eat. My uncle had some omelette and I went to get some toast but couldn’t find any butter. After a 4 days we finally got a new room with hot water which was amazing but the room was also dated and dirty and the door key actually worked but the a/c didn’t(no big deal ) after 4 days of trying to find something to eat and wishing for a little bit of butter they wheel into the buffet and sculpted crocodile and what I think could be a deer out of butter(I was like that’s where the butter has been?) cockroaches running around the buffet and smells terrible wasn’t in the mood for food anyway. Needless to say I been to varadero 36 times in the last 4 years I’m sure I have a file with you guys I normally stay at the occidental arenas Blanca’s for cheap $540-$900 or I stay at Melia internacional for $1400-$2400 per person. I payed $2250 per person for the worst Cuban experience I have ever had in my life and paid the most money for it. I’m incredibly disappointed to say the least hopefully something can be done about this. Thanks Rob

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Won’t be back

The staff is lovely but unfortunately the management doesn’t have a system in place to provide an adequate guest experience. Came here for our honeymoon and it was underwhelming. We know the country is going through a very difficult time and has limited resources so we didn’t come with high expectations but we were shocked when meat would run out so quickly at dinner and there was no phone in our room to contact concierge and no way of knowing if someone was coming to fix anything we request [... read more]ed. Everything was a guessing game. We had to ask for water bottles many times since there would not be one in our room like was promised some days, our screen door to the balcony was ripped so we couldn’t enjoy the fresh air unless we wanted mosquitoes in our room. I tripped on the misaligned floor many times going to the lobby (you could put a bright colored tape on the elevated portion so it’s more visible). Our bath towels were never changed for our entire 7 day stay even when we put them on the ground, they were just put back up on the hook and I knew it wasn’t a new towel because some of my make up from earlier would still be on it. If you tipped the staff well every time for everything you could get great service but if you didn’t it was 50/50 on the quality of the service. Now for the good - The beach was beautiful and the pool was relaxing and had lots of activities to do (tennis, ping pong, massages, gym, dancing). The shows they put on were lots of fun and the grounds are great to go for a walk, felt very safe. I hope the new management takes these criticisms to heart and changes things so the next visitors can get a better all inclusive 5 start experience like it claims to be because this felt more like a 2 start experience. Had to do a lot of asking for things to be fixed, had to book a la carte so far in advance that we never got a chance to enjoy it. The people were kind but I wouldn’t come back to stay at this resort. Wishing this establishment the best.

Villa Lindamar: Belated review for Lindamar

After numerous trips to Cayo Largo and mainly to the StarFish resort, this time we opted and had a great time at Villa Lindamar for 2 weeks with beautiful weather. nice comfortable cabin with TV, modern shower and hot water. the staff were the greatest and helpful group everyday, greetings with smiles and laughter doing as much as possible to make our stay unforgettable. Had an episode needing the service of Cayo Largo's hospital and were treated very professionally and respectfully by the clin [... read more]ical staff. The variety of food and deserts was always plentiful. Had a great time with the buggy for numerous days going into town and to the beaches whenever we felt like it. Again the friendly and hard working staff made all of our stay worth it and will go back anytime. Would recommend this resort to anyone.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Bofff

Hôtel désuet, bouffe très ordinaire, des charriots plein de vaisselles qui se promènes au buffet et qui font un vacarme fou. Pas de grille pain nul part, petite plage, on ne peu pas marcher vers la gauche car un gardien nous empêche de marcher, vers la droite il y a des rochers. Setieusement c’est vraiment pas fort, je ne recommande pas.

Memories Jibacoa: Memories Jibacoa

The hotel and grounds were well kept and everything worked well. The best part was the staff who were all friendly, enthusiastic, and high energy. The entertainers, dining staff, and housekeepers were all very nice and helpful.

Nacional de Cuba: Expected better

My experience at the National Hotel Havana was deeply disappointing. The room was dusty, and the floor had not been properly cleaned. There was no hot water, which made basic comfort impossible. I found a cockroach in the bathroom, which is unacceptable for any hotel, let alone one with this reputation. The issues continued at breakfast: The buffet was of poor quality, with limited fresh options. I even found a fly in my coffee, raising serious concerns about hygiene. Becaus [... read more]e of these conditions, I left the hotel after the first night and stayed at a relative’s house instead. Unfortunately, the hotel did not meet even the most basic standards of cleanliness or comfort.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Amazing resort and people

From the food to the beach, the staff are amazing, always smiling. Loved this resort will go back again definitely. Met some new friends and had an absolutely fabulous time here. Did a few excursions, the glass bottom boat was awesome, went fishing on the Hobi cat with the life guard Sammy, was a great day

Barcelo Solymar: “ The New Cuba”

Or at least that’s what the Sunwing agent tried to explain to me at the resort because there were no toilet seats in the main building washrooms ( in the men’s washrooms) I booked my trip through trip Central as always I looked at the pictures and trusted their 4 Star rating. I’ve been to Cuba well over 10 times so I know what to expect or what can be expected while I’m there. I go for the beaches, the weather and for the Cuban people. That said, I have never experienced such a. disappointing ho [... read more]liday in all of my travels to Cuba. We could not get my door to the room to close properly and the safe in my room wasn’t working. I lost the whole first late afternoon and evening., having to stay in my room while they worked on the safe which they were unable to fix . I lost numerous hours over the next two days having to wait in my room while they worked on my safe we’re having to travel to the lobby and wait on staff to come to my room with a key that would open my safe.. There was no water, hot or cold in my room on the first day or night, which happens in Cuba. However, they sent me to a hospitality room to have a shower and it was disgusting. There was no soap or shampoo, no towel and the room and shower hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. I asked my Sunwing rep for assistance i.e. moving to another room or another resort preferably. She told me that this was the new Cuba. That they can’t get toilet seats and things have changed a lot since Covid. I don’t think that she knew that I’d mean to Cuba five or six times post Covid and every resort had toilet seats, and had staffed that would clean rooms and provide towels, etc. She told me that if I was switching resorts, it would be my responsibility to cover the cost of transportation and differences in resource pricing. She was constantly looking over and agreeing with the hotel relations officer, and not supporting me at all. I’m travelling to Cayo Coco at the end of the month with a group of friends … it will be interesting to see what the conditions of the resort are there. The Solymar should be rated as a 3 - 3.5 at best. If you are recommending this trip, your client should be made aware of the conditions there