Grand Aston Cayo Paredon Beach Resort: New resort, almost there!

Being a new simplistic resort, it doesn't have a wow factor. Its small and easy to get around. Most staff are great and they do a lot of things right, and some they are greatly lacking. The beach was very nice with coral and fish, they kept the seaweed picked up. Only had bugs our last morning, and they were horrific. Hot water ran out between 4 and 7 every day, so shower accordingly. Had to fight for water bottles, then began delivering them in the evening. No coffee pods in rooms, but m [... read more]ade great expresso at bars. Excellent a'la cartes, wonderful service. No booze selection at all, just mostly hard crap alcohol and only had wine at dinner half the time. Very clean reaort. Cold pools and very windy most of the time. Felt very safe and alot of nice people with families with no drunkenness, as everytbing was watered down and the pool bar was empty because the pool was freezing. We had a great time despite shortages in Cuba still...they were pretty minor compared to other resorts. We will not be returning to Cuba when it is just as expensive as other places with constant lack of basic supplies. Great small resort!

Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Amazing place and people

This was not my first time at Aston Costa Verde. The staff are amazing! I travel with my son and sometimes with friends. My son and I have major food allergies and the staff are amazing at helping us eat what is safe. I can’t wait to go back! Rooms are always clean and if something isn’t working they are fast to fix it!

Starfish Jibacoa: Nice resort to go

The staff are friendly, the foods are good: not many choices but the bakery and ice cream are delicious. Great landscape. The location is one hour away from Varadero airport, and one hour away from capital city Havana which is a must to go for people visiting Cuba.

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Wonderful resort

Very easy to navigate, staff were all so friendly, food was good and very clean and well cared for grounds. White wine shortage but beer and red wine sangrias sweet delicious. Bar staff at the pool were friendly and entertaining and the rooms were spotless every day.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Fun n Friendly but lacked toilet paper lol

The staff are very friendly in the dining places and the bars. Lounge bar was great. Snacks at the pool perfect 24hrs. Beautiful beach. The one downside - reception manager / resort liaison. Not very helpful at all. Sounds petty but zero of the public washrooms had toilet paper. Guess some kind of shortage. And the rooms only had one roll. You had to ensure even if a few sheets left for the maids to replace or they would leave it like that. The public washrooms never did get any toilet pap [... read more]er. Several frantic husbands trying to find some for their wives. Due to the time of the year only half of the resort was open - approx 200 guests only in a 1000 plus room resort. So the entertainment instead of the theatre was just in the lounge. Still good though. Christmas dinner was very good.

Roc Barlovento: Beautiful resort

I liked everything about the resort buildings and looks. Staff was very nice. The resort lacked in wine, alcohol mixes, butter, bananas, Varieties of meat and beach towels. This is just naming a few items. The requirement of American dollars is also a real letdown.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Fantastic Resort at an amazing location!

We had the fortune to spend 9 days at the Iberostar Coral Esmeralda. The rooms were clean, spacious, and comfy. The food was fantastic (especially the buffets). The staff was extraordinary, friendly, and thoughtful. We were lucky to enjoy the Christmas dinner and it was the best food we have ever had. The surf and turf were cooked to perfection. It was quiet which we needed. There are not many rooms and you can relax at the pool without blasting music! The beach was cleaned every morning. We lov [... read more]e it there!

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Pretty Good !

This is my hubbys first time in Cuba and my 3rd, but 1st time going to Santa Maria. With Cuba, you just can’t expect A LOT. And that’s exactly what we did and we were not disappointed. The only thing that kind of disappointed me was waiting for our room to be ready. A bunch of us had to sit and wait almost 5 hours in order to get keys to our rooms. I think that was a little ridiculous. But , the rooms were spacious and clean and I never had issues. You’re in there to sleep, of course it’s not go [... read more]ing to be a 5 star luxury experience. The pool was small and cold but if you walked down the path to memories, they have a much bigger pool there. The beach, beautiful. Cubas beaches are always beautiful. Food; now I am a VERY picky eater and I ALWAYS found something to eat and I was full every night . Sure ya, we didn’t have eggs the entire time and hardly any desserts, but it is what it is. My life wasn’t going to end because of it. I was full and content daily and I’m ok with that. We had one good show where they brought them in from outside the resort, other than that, the shows kinda sucked and we ended up skipping most of them. We didn’t find out till the last day that about 5 min walk down past memories, there was a big plaza with restaurants ($) and tons of vendors for souvenirs. Thank goodness we ended up finding it ! Lastly, the hour and a half bus ride sounds gruelling, especially after just coming off a flight, but it was well worth it. Sit back and take in the scenery. Only the hotel workers are allowed through into Santa Maria and it was nice not being bugged on the beach or asked to buy something every now and than. All in all, I would for sure go back! The Cuban people are always the absolute best and the hotel was just a bonus !

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: Not great :(

We have been travelling to Cuba for 17 years and this was the worst experience we ever had in Cuba.Just want to mention that we never travel to Cuba with any high expectations and we are very aware of the shortage of food, drinks etc but in this case I believe most of it was bad management. The reason I say this, is because we walked on the beach to the next door resorts and let me tell you it was not the same. The check in was a mess..our rooms were barely ready at 4 pm and once we got the 2 r [... read more]ooms, one of them was already occupied by someone else so we had to sort that out. The buffet barely had any good choices of food, the first day we got there they didn't even have a toaster at the bread station until we complained and they brought one out. Absolutely ridiculous! They only had eggs at breakfast for 3 days we were there and on our last 2 days they barely had bread and NO butter. They started running out of the main supplies really quickly once the resort started to fill up as of Dec 25th. Entertainment was ok..nothing special, the beach was beautiful but they could replace their beach chairs as they are awful, broken and very used up. And to top it off, the morning we left there was no water in the entire resort. I would never return to this resort.

Sol Caribe Beach: Really Nice Experience

We visited Sol Caribe the week before Christmas as a family of 5. The beach is stunning and there were plenty of chairs available with a nearby beach bar. The weather was better later in the week but overall sunny and warm. The rooms are clean, updated and fairly big. The resort had two nice pools, and a few bars around. There are several a la cart restaurants (Salt and Pepper was best). The buffet was fine - not a ton of selection but the food was fresh and decent. Grilled meat and fish was goo [... read more]d. We did a day trip through Nexus to Havana which was fun. The best part - the staff at the resort. So friendly, great with kids, just awesome. Overall, this resort is great for an easy vacation and delivers on all the basics without a ton of bells and whistles.

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Disappointing this time

We were there from Dec10 to 24 We have been in Cuba 25 times and four times at this resort. This latest trip was one of the worse. There are not enough bartenders to deal with the resort being full. There should be a separate location for just pizzas. Average of 45 minutes to get a pizza at the Sea Sky. Only one oven worked. It has been this way for a long time. Only one bartender at beach bar. Last times we were here there was always two plus servers on beach. Bar in main plaza was only open f [... read more]or short periods of times. NO lifeguards on beach for the first twelve out of fourteen days we were there. Food is typical of what you get in Cuba. There are four Ala carte. Indian is our favourite, Pizza is good at Italian. Chicken is good at International. Soups are great in all. We had many issues that I will not discuss. This resort like all others in Cuba star ratings are not accurate. I would rate this one 3.5 stars. We keep coming back to this one because we know what to expect and the other resorts could be worse.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Shocking

We were shocked to see so many things wrong with this hotel. Where do i start? I will write in point format: - Was surprised that food was good. Especially ice cream. - Beach is amazing - Staff are friendly - No animation for kids (Animation team is siting and smoking next to the pool) When i asked why they are not playing sports with guests, they told me that they have no ball. ;( - Rooms are very old and not renovated. - Safe in room broken - Cleaning was fast and efficient, bu [... read more]t bed sheets unchanged all week - Door lock on room door was broken - The Gym has some good equipment, but sauna is in bad shape. - A la carte restaurant puts tap water into water bottles they serve. We all got sick on our last day. I later saw how they fill water into the water bottles. - Front desk employees look surprised and seem like they are there as a favor. Generally speaking, this hotel is far from 5 stars even by Cuban measurements. 3 Cuban stars at most.

Memories Paraiso: Great staff unless you wanted something done with your room or upgraded to Diamond club and expected anything to be different

I’ll keep this short. I’ve been to this hotel 4 times now. That was the last. The friendly bar and wait staff don’t make up for the lack of service from the hotel. Put it this way, I was supposed to be pool view… I ended up finally after 3 room changes being able to stare a row of trees 10 feet from the balcony.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Mexico is great this time of year!

The food was not good (some meat had jagged pieces of bone hidden inside), I cut my foot when I stepped on a piece of broken glass next to the pool, which was only half open (the swim-up bar half was closed for maintenance. On top that, one of the employees at the currency exchange lied to my friend about the exchange rate, costing her over $200 dollars Canadian more she she was told. Many places on the resort seemed to open only when they felt like opening and not the advertised times and the e [... read more]mployee in charge of taking reservations for dinner was annoyed by having to book reservations and mixed up every reservation we made. Do yourself a favour and go somewhere else

Muthu Playa Varadero: Will not return everagain

My whole experience was great but not because of the hotel...the only good part is it wasn't expensive...poor people that pay full price for that hotel...having very noisy construction work done starting 20.00h(8pm) and continuing till 03-04.00h AM that's not cool..unfortunately I'm not joking... would not recommend only if you really don't have any other choices

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Nice Family Resort

Well, this is a nice family resort: 5 pools. Unfortunately the part of the main pool with a bar was closed during our stay. But We were able to use other pools. Due to strong wind and waves the beach was deformed to unveil the rocks and some metal structures, as such it was not safety to go to the sea. We had to step aside from the resort to swim. The room service was good: water each day, towels are not changed for the stay, cleaning was excellent. The food: as we are seafood lovers we found  [... read more]it super good, as we had calamari, fish, octopus, mussels, scallops... Options for veggies and fruits. Entertainment team did their best and it was always funny and great. In general: even though this resort needs some repair done, It's a nice one.

Muthu Playa Varadero: Muthu Playa Varadero

Beach: It's Varadero so of course it is amazing. Food: plentiful but repetitive. How many ways can you serve rice? There was a roast beef night. Pork a lot of it. Ground beef was served but the globules of cartilage was huge turn off. There were a lot of Russian tourists, more than we have ever encountered. They shoulder you out of the way and take ALL of the best food for themselves. Cheese was rare to be seen and when it was it would all disappear quickly onto their plates. Room: two larger  [... read more]than single beds, tv, bathroom, everything you'd expect. The water was actually warm, most times. We revisited the "bat cave" to see the pre historic ancient drawings on the cave walls. The tour several years ago was much more informative than it is now. This year a different tour guide didn't do much in the way of being informative, as he did not even point out the ancient drawings on the walls nor did he tell the tour of how ancient peoples used to live in these cave dwellings. Took the tourist bus into Varadero twice. $5 cost each for a day pass. Cuba has a new peso - again. (New government) The Cubans do not want to take their own peso! Not even in the poorly stocked grocery store so don't bother getting money exchanged. Goods are priced in the peso. Exchanged to Canadian and then again to American which is the currency they want to deal with. We found it insulting. This was our 12th trip to Cuba along with many Canadians supporting the tourist economy and our dollar is not wanted! This was probably our last trip to Cuba, it has changed too much for the worse. The people are still lovely and kind but their circumstances make it difficult to see. We get food, they have little. How long can this be sustainable? We always pack clothing and buy socks etc. to give away at our own considerable expense. You can only do so much but it is never enough. The resort has a very large pool and plenty of chairs and loungers to accommodate a large clientele. Access to coffee was difficult. There is a wonderful coffee bar BUT you had to wait until 7:00 a.m. to maybe get some. There is no coffee available in the restaurant, as they have to go to the coffee bar to get it. We found it very inconvenient. Is it rationed I wonder? The servers never smiled; tipping did not help! We have always bought our limit of vodka and rum while in Cuba but vodka was not available and the price has more than doubled. The money exchange taking the lion's share of savings to our Canadian equivalent. So even this perk on a trip to Cuba is no longer as "perky". There is still a savings but not nearly what we've become accustomed to. To requote my husband. "the bloom has fallen off the rose when it comes to vacationing in Cuba." ...unfortunately.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: a good banging 7 day trip for the buck

I would give this resort 4 stars. I loved the common areas because of the Cuban design and deckor. The swimming pool was very cold. The ocean was a bit warmer but big waves with a red flag beach for many days. The room was nice but the safe wasn't even attached to the wall and moved around, lol. No stocked fridge with drinks. If you want a cola it will cost you $4.25 us. There is no orange juice nor oranges. No bananas ! All in all a good banging 7 day trip for the buck, especially out of Hamil [... read more]ton.

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Liked the resort but antertainment was too late. 8:30 would have been perfect

The workers were Awsome room clean…waiters very nice…food was good…waiters Carlos and his friend were Awsome…although the weather was awful I would not go back….not your fault. Nice when your waiters come to see you for breakfast…

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: A disappointment place!

The place is not ready for welcoming guests. The lack of basic sanitation is unacceptable. Hotel Lobby toilets hardly have toilet paper, soaps for hand washing… 8 out of 10 times we found no toilet paper and no soap. Staff appeared showing less concern. The “run- down” conditions were seen everywhere, particularly in our room with dirty hallway ( spilling foods…), broken toilet cover, uncleaned floor, desk, door…, several hours with no running water, sewage smells….