Good resort

This is a huge resort Very clean and nice gardens dispite irma hurrican Buffet i would rate a 3 out of five Restaurants a la carte Italian and espagnol i rate as a 5 out of 5 Good evening entertainment at the lobby bar ebery night Would definately recommend the bar and beach grill at the beachzt Adrien tbe cook and Jose the bar manager are the best, profesionals all the way.

Beautiful resort

The hotel in whole was great. The à la carte restaurants were the best we have ever had in Cuba. The snack bar also had great food and we had lunch there every day. The showers had no pressure and didn’t have hot water but that was the only downfall of the hotel.

Perfect getaway

We went back to the VPB for the 2nd year in a row and we had a great time.From the time we landed until the time we left,we couldn't have asked for more.THe staff is the best we have ever had in all our travels,food from breakfast to lunch and dinners at the buffet were all good.Snackbar was good and the a la carte were all amazing. We are already talking about going back next year,would recommend to anyone .

Disappointing resort

- Shortages of food at the buffet and 24 hour snack bar. - Poor quality food at the seafood a la carte restaurant. - Food served at the buffet were generally cold. - Staff were unfriendly for the most part and appeared to not want to work or provide any guest services. There was at least 3 incidents where hotel staff were actually rude. - No interaction between the animation teams and the guests with few activities being offered at the “busy/party pool”. - Hard beds and thin pillows [... read more]. - No taxi service outside resort in evenings. Only things that made the vacation bearable were the beach, weather and a handful of warm hearted staff members that made me smile.

Enjoyable, relaxing environment

Hotel was clean, in very good condition, grounds were nice (All a few months after hurricane). Only a few very remote areas where there were any signs of damage. Staff were nice and helpful. I travelled alone and felt very safe-except for walkways at night. Still felt pretty safe but poorly lighted and no security in sight. Food was typical Cuba-no complaints. Some things not available because of hurricane damage to chips. No fault of resort. Definitely a 4.5 in my opinion. Would recommend.

Great time!!!

First time to Cayo Santa Maria, though we lost one of luggage pieces, AC was very accommodating and it was returned the following night! Valentin Perla Blanca was a definite upgrade to us, as we normally stay in Varadero. Our room was in Bungalow 38, perfect location in every sense, close to the beach, next to one of the main pools/gym/pool café and right next to the main lobby bars, buffet and theatre. The beach is quite long but our end was the best with music, great bbq and bar. Would cons [... read more]ider to go back with no hesitation.

Nice place to go....

We visited Feb 27 - mar. 9 2018. The resort was nice with some small things to mention. The food nice , a change to the buffet 2-3 times a week would be good. The spraying of insecticide during the dinner hour all around the eating area and in the morning just before breakfast was a big turn-off for us. It flowed through the lobby resort like a gas , choking some of us bad , followed by headaches. Our room was well kept by our maid , Maria. Our beach was a perfect silky sandy beach with lots of  [... read more]sunshades , and drinks. The yoga was good , and the Katamaran rides nice. The food at the quite pool restarant was excellent. The people are nice and and the waitress in the lobby bar special. Bartenders work hard as do all there. I think the ladies work harder than the men . That's a given almost everywhere in this world today . Was a great trip. Had a great time with friends we met there. We hope to return again one day . Thank you for the memory .

Not the best.

In short the food was okay although always cold from the buffet. The room was tidied daily although not adequate supplies and when we called guest services there was little to no response to get towels or toilet paper. The east side had a nasty sewer leak which they worked on but it was not till the end of the stay it was addressed. The beach and west "Relax" pool was awesome. The landscape and views were great considering there was a lot of damage from the hurricane. Paid for a 4 star got mayb [... read more]e a 2star quality.

Basic Resort

The grounds, pools and snackbar were OK. The hotel is too large and too many kids there, biggest complaint is the bar, way too busy at night too much going on in one place and poor service. I slipped on a wet floor in the disco and broke my wrist, this obviously ruined my vacation, but cuban doctors were very good even though the time after the accident was a complete ordeal.

Resort

I was not impressed. Clogged drains, no tv, no phones although there was 2 phones in the room, they didn't work. The food was not great. The service was good. Our rooms were kept clean.. Although our agent requested rooms on the first floor because of disabilities, the rooms they had for us were on the 3rd floor. I explained about our request and why and they finally gave us 2 rooms on the first floor that belonged to someone else. But, they forgot to clear the room cards for these people, all o [... read more]f a sudden the door opened and a few guys were there wondering why we were in their room. It also happened to Nella and Josephine's room, ab inch of guys walked in with their key. These 2 ladies are 79 & 84. They were quite scared with this intrusion.

Amazing Resort! Great staff!!

The hotel was very nice and clean. Staff were so welcoming and friendly. The beach is the best I’ve ever seen. Entertaining was great in the lobby and in the theatre. Lots of great excursions. Recommend The catamaram with dolphin and trip to Trinidad. Lots of nice pools to have fun or relax. Would go back tomorrow if I could.

Large but nice

Hotel was larger than i was thinking. We had over 2 miles of beach to walk. Service was pretty good, food! well it's Cuba so no complaints. Rooms were clean, fridge did not get stocked as it should have but no biggy. I was told that it is not worth the money to upgrade to Privilage. I would go back.

Awesome property

Beach was beautiful and so was the resort. Only complaint I would have is that the food wasn't the greatest, but going to Cuba you don't expect it to be amazing so it was manageable. All in all would go back.

Large resort

Hotel was larger than I expected, it's only 3yrs old so it was in good condition, you can walk ror miles on the beach as it is the last hotel on the strip. From what I was told upgrading to the privilege is not worth the extra money. Staff friendly, food, well it's cuba. Overall I would give it 7/10

Good but with issues

We finally got to this little piece of heaven and weren’t disappointed. The resort is spectacular and met most of our expectations. Of course there were some hiccups and all was not perfect as some expect but for us the imperfections weren’t serious issues. The drive was 1-1/2 hours and as others state, it’s interesting and informative. A few cold ones to set the mood & all was good. Check-in was a bit of a wait. We grabbed a drink and just took in the beauty of the lobby and waited our [... read more] turn. What’s the rush. We didn’t have a long wait at the money exchange (go around 7 pm) – never a problem getting peso coins. Booking a la cartes wasn’t a long wait either. We went around 9 the next morning and booked all of them. Very little wait. After reading some negatives about the long line-ups I wonder if we were at the same resort. Our room was in building 29. Great location as it was close to the pool and in our opinion, the better part of the beach. Our room was quite large in size and extremely clean…..everyday. We didn’t lack towels, the bar fridge stocked and yes, two beds but no biggie. The down side was that the room did have a strong musty odour. We opened the patio door and the smell did go away temporarily. The maid must have noticed it was getting worse as she disinfected and you could smell the Clorox then. The other downside was the room was quite damp. Now, we played around with the AC which worked beautifully but couldn’t change the temperature. Could have complained, but didn’t. Plenty of hot water. Note that you can charge your phone on the side of the t.v. but it has to be on. Beds were just fine but the pillows were quite hard for our liking and the sheets at times were quite damp. Buffet was your standard buffet and we grew tired of it. Can’t imagine how difficult it is making food for so many people and keep it interesting. The complaint that the food wasn’t hot is indeed true and they lack in this area. Otherwise, plenty of variety. The grilling stations (pork chops, beef, chicken ) were fantastic and worth the long line-ups – the line-up for the fresh shrimp is worth the wait in itself. They had everything you would need to fix a great salad and many dressing options. Various fruits and lots of it. As far as replenishing food can’t comment as we didn’t wait & stand around to see if they would come out with more. Desserts were plentiful and something for everyone. Large selection of buns and bread although one day the bread was quite stale. Snack bars were the best. The food was hot, well cooked and delicious. Chicken fingers, calamari and the sandwiches were excellent. We took most of our breakfasts here which also was hot and delicious. They did run out of chicken fingers one day and then no ketchup or mustard. After that, they served ketchup on a little plate – strange. Not buffet style but everything was freshly cooked. Wine at both the snack bar and buffet was ok. Not bad and we must have liked it as we drank enough of both red and white. Staff. If there was an 10 star rating we would rate staff as 10. To service so many guests in such short times was astounding. Didn’t have to wait long for a drink or replenish our coffee. Not in the buffet, the snack bar or lobby bar. The staff were so professional and wonderful to speak with. At times, we would go up to the bar to get our own drinks but waitress always came & took our order and told us to sit down. We got lazy quickly. They all are second to none. How on earth can they remember names – it’s astounding. Every evening there was music in the main lobby. What a nice touch to enjoy some entertainment before dinner. We enjoyed the beach but a little disappointed that they do not clean up the seaweed that washes up on shore. It really gives it a dirty look and unappealing. Otherwise very nice beaches for walking and the water was spectacular. Beach service again, fantastic. From finding chairs to getting drinks, those people work hard ! Pools were great also. From the quiet side to the party side, both were fun to be at. A lot of chair hoarding and chairs that sat empty for hours which was too bad for many who needed chairs. Walk around and eventually some become available. Sad to see those that reserved the bali beds at 6 am also took two chairs as well - should be either or. All in all there are probably a dozen more comments I could make but as you can tell, we enjoyed this place. We met amazing wonderful people from all over Canada and a few from Britain. Unfortunately some college kids arrived on the 17th and “took over” the place. Wouldn’t paint all college kids with one brush as quite a few younger people left the pool area themselves for a quieter area. We really hope there weren’t many head injuries as the way they were jumping up on the bar made me think it was inevitable. We were thankful to be leaving the next day. Disgusting is the only word that comes to my mind as to how they behaved. I think the resort failed here in that they really should have stepped in and ended the craziness (maybe they did, we left the next day). Not sure if we would return - just so many other resorts to check out.

We will never go back

I will begin with our room. The hair dryer was falling off the wall...mechanic had to be called to fix it. The toilet seat cover was not secure. The mini bar was not filled everyday like promised. The room was very musty smelling and not properly cleaned. We could smell sewer in parts of the resort going to the lobby. As privileged guests we were told there was privileged canopy’s on the beach and there was but no lounge chairs. We complained three times but nothing was done. The extra mone [... read more]y was not worth it. When asked a question we kept getting the wrong information. Very disorganized.

Was a nice resort

My wife and I arrived on Feb. 14th to what seemed like a very beautiful resort and for the most part it was until the partying continued by all the collagage students for the next 6 days. Our room was clean and everything worked but was by the party pool that went on till the early hours of the morning. Other then the one fight by the pool that went on for over one hour with no security getting involved it was a nice resort but just don’t go during reading weeks or spring break if you want to  [... read more]relax. Overall we enjoyed our vacation. The staff were the best and the beach was wonderful. Food was okay too.

Great resort, amazing vacation

The drive from the airport is almost 2 hours but it was a fun drive with beer being sold before we boarded the bus, a bathroom onboard and passing through many towns along the way, basically being a tour on its own before the real fun began with mimosas in the lobby upon arrival. This resort is large and offers multiple areas to enjoy. From the large ‘party pool’ with entertainment, to the ‘relax’ pool which does have a lively crowd around the swim up bar, to the awesome lobby bar for ev [... read more]ening drinks, beautiful gazebo lookouts, and many paths to wander, it’s truly a wonderful resort. The rooms aren’t anything special, but are clean, large enough, and are stocked daily with beer, pop, bottled water and fresh towels. The staff are friendly, happy to help and speak English very well. The beach goes on forever and connects to the Nature Reserve. It’s a great walk with many little sand bars along the way. Our tour operator set us up with a day adventure doing the Havana by Air tour and we had no issues, just an amazing experience. The buffet for picky eaters could be a bit tricky, but there’s lots of pasta options, and fresh grilled in front of you meats. Service at the lunch snack bar is a little slow, but while sitting outside on a patio, overlooking the pool with cold drinks non stop and an entertaining, friendly server, no real complaints there! The evening entertainment was great, the performers friendly and happy to take pictures after their performances. This is my 6th time at a Caribbean resort, and the first time I’ve truly meant when I said I would definitely go back, while the others I had a great time at, this place has the atmosphere, service and location to be a memorable trip.

Good Value

Overall, had a good holiday, a large part due to the fabulous weather. Always a warm dry breeze, little humidity. The beach and ocean excellent. The grounds of this resort are very well kept and look great in spite of the devastation from the hurricane. The one evening show we attended was excellent. The staff are, with few exceptions, very good at their jobs. Most went above and beyond to please. The food was much better than what I expected - no complaints there. The buffet could have [... read more] used extra staff to help with the items being freshly cooked, a long wait for this. Things that we and many other guests found troublesome were lack of cleanliness and toilet paper, soap, working hand dryers/paper towel in all public washrooms. Almost always, none to be found. There was very, very loud music for approximately 3 hours coming from the area of the main pool every afternoon. This area was crowded with mostly the younger set and it was no doubt great for them. Only mentioning this to make anyone not wanting this atmosphere to be aware. It is unavoidable in all of the main resort area and not conducive to an afternoon siesta! Our room was spacious and the bed and pillows comfortable. The air conditioner worked great. The room was acceptably clean, but the floors of the building, in general, were not. The balcony was large and had a good view, but the lock on the balcony door was broken. There were many small items everywhere that could use the attention of handymen to keep everything in better repair and I was concerned to see new buildings going up when resources might be better spent on bringing everything 100% up to par in the existing.

Valentin Perla Blanca: DO NOT RECOMMEND

This review is in addition to a detailed letter I have written to both the hotel management as well as Tripcentral. Holistically, the whole experience was very disappointing. We spent the majority of our time waiting and lost many days we could have enjoyed the beach (the only thing that was good) in line whether it was at reception waiting for our room, reserving restaurants, waiting for clean towels which totalled at least 3 days of waiting. We paid extra for 'silver status' and none of the up [... read more]grades were even included when we arrived at the resort. We were very disappointed by the unsanitary nature of presentation whether it was in the buffet where there were no utensils and people were using their hands to pick up food or the tables were being cleaned outside with the same mop they were using for the floors. The walls were stained by oil and dead flies and windows and doors were cracked making it dangerous for the patrons. We found rusty nails along the periphery of the resort and three of us almost fell twice due to holes in plastic drains and unacceptable surroundings. These are only a few issues to name a few. We found cockroaches in the room and the resort itself was not maintained per the standard of a "4.5 rated hotel." When we shared our concerns with both the management and Air Transat personnel, management told us they would comp a lobster dinner with the stipulation that we HAD to sign a document saying we would not bring up any additional complaints and to stay quiet. We refused to sign this document stating that in order for any business or company to improve, feedback is essential to the improvement of any business. With all of this, we then decided to move to another hotel for the remainder of our stay (2 days) in Cuba and switched to a real 5 star hotel Iberostar where customer service was evident in everything that they did. This would be our first trip together as a group with 2 guests visiting Cuba 6 times and they were very disappointed as were we. If we could do it again, we would NOT stay at this resort and would suggest that the star rating be lowered to 2.5 for all of the above reasons.