Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Good resort !

This was our 2nd trip to this resort and it was nice to be back. The grounds were lovely and the pool areas great!! All daytime entertainment was great at the pool and beech areas. The most amazing beach !!! Service was excellent throughout !! Only negatives: One of the best areas, the lunch dining area which looks over three ocean, was under construction so that was disappointing. And the nightclub on the resort was closed so that was unfortunate. Overall, great trip !!

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Very Good Resort

The staff was amazing in all respects. The rooms comfortable and clean. The food was mostly good particularly the special treatment afforded to returning guests. The internet connection was lousy! Slow and unreliable. If you chose wrong server you could not log off and lost your hour of internet time.

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Hotel Cayo Santa Maria

Beach, ocean and pools were beautiful. Food was ok and entertainment was ok. Only real major disappointment was my niece having a number of item stolen from her suitcase by cleaning staff and another couple from Toronto had their $130 charger stolen from their room. Definitely put a damper on the vacation. 20 years of traveling and we have never had anything ever go missing or taken by cleaning staff. Even with items in suitcase we will now always buy anything we that might be tempting for s [... read more]omeone to take, in the safe moving forward. Didn't imagine someone would go through the suitcases. Disappointing.

Melia Las Dunas: Amazing resort

Resort was awesome. Our agent was awesome she was very helpful The people at resort where so friendly differently a beautiful place beach was so beautiful rooms where clean and maids where so friendly and rooms where clean

Valentin Perla Blanca: Wonderful resort and people!

I will start off with the ride from the airport , it is definitely an hour and a half at least , very informative and if you are not a beer drinker , a very dry ride. Upon arrival to the resort check in line was lengthy however it went quick. We travelled with friends and had written to the resort about having us close in proximity to each other, this did not happen. We were in Bungalow 21 while they were in 33. The grounds we colourful despite the dry grass. Flowers and shrubs in full bloom.  [... read more] The dining area was large and had an awesome variety of good something for everyone. The a la Cartes were awesome we did the Italian, Seafood and French. Loved them all! The pools were all wonderfully clean and warm. The quiet pool was where we spent more of our time . There is a snack bar there that has the best burgers and chicken fingers. Servers were all amazing. The lobby bar had live music often which entertained us almost every evening. The rooms were clean and comfortable no need for a converter as our appliances can fit. I would definitely recommend this resort to everyone!

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Excellent Resort

We loved our stay !! The hotel is lovely and the grounds are amazing, so well kept with wonderful flower gardens. The staff was great and it was nice to have a variety of places and times to eat and/or drink. Our room with the large shower was amazing. Only suggestion would be that the food in the main buffet was not always hot. I have already recommended the Warwick to friends.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Lovely vacation spot.

Resort: Lobby is very impressive with lovely view of the ocean. The white gauze curtains on the couches looked very bohemian and breezy. Loved them. Everything was very clean and new. I enjoyed walking between areas as there was some nice landscaping and although much was in infant stage I could see the potential as plants grow. There were adequate chairs on the beach and by the pool. Staff: Most were very friendly and very helpful. Most of the staff at front desk spoke English quite well but  [... read more]elsewhere it was occasionally difficult to communicate although everyone managed to figure things out. The service in the A La Carte restaurants we patronized was very good. In the buffet area we found quite a mix of level of service. At times it was excellent and others quite poor. We had to wait for a table a few times when many were available but dirty. When we were told to take a table and it would be cleaned, we returned with our food and the table was clean but no cutlery. Once we had to ask three times for cutlery as our food got cold. The staff were cleaning tables when no one was waiting instead of attending to us. Perhaps the area was somewhat understaffed? Our room cleaner was excellent and we enjoyed the different 'towel' animals! Food: Freshly cooked fish, meat and eggs were very good. Fruit and desserts, especially ice cream, were good. Found the vegetables to be lacking. Too many mushy, cooked vegetables. Avoided salads. Had a severe intestinal issue from unknown cause. Have travelled many times over 50 years and never been sick. Entertainment and Activities: Very good variety however found the live entertainment a little too loud.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Nice spot, but really needs competent management

Ok so I should preface this with the fact that this was my first trip to Cuba. This is a pretty new resort, from what I understand. It needs to grow into what it could be. The primary issues are related to lack of (or in the wrong position) people who are fluent in English, and lack of understanding vacationer's expectations. We went via HOLA and Cubana airlines, - Hola rep was very helpful on site, and our booking agent was similarly helpful before the trip. Cubana seems efficient (particu [... read more]larly compared to others at the totally crazy airport in Santa Clara) and you get a meal en route. The thick Spanish accent makes any English announcement on the aircraft very difficult to understand, so just read the flight safety instructions with your earbuds in and save yourself the hassle. The Resort... The Pros: Mike's Coffee Bar, which is open 24 hours, and has great drink options and great staff - especially Joel – the classiest guy in the resort - this guy should RUN the entire place, seriously. BE SURE to indulge in a few good coffee variations there. The beach is LONG, and has access to a small market area at the end, which is worth a look (notes on rocks later). Pools are superb with plenty of shady spots if you're not looking to burn. The 24 hour snack bar in the resort is good for those late night munchies. Daily maid service was super. The dinner buffet is open until 10pm, so you don't have to rush there (the lines are much easier to deal with later). The WEST pool is a little more sheltered from wind and was underused and has some fantastic seating spots, also has a swim-up bar. Bartenders were generally pleasant, with the exception of the 24 hour bar in the main building, where they were less attentive and lacked warmth (perhaps because they're overburdened and deal with the highest number of intoxicated people). Waiters/waitresses were generally good and polite. Best a la carte places to eat: Neptune, the Italian restaurant (I forget the name), and the privilege members restaurant next to Neptune. The Cuban cuisine a la carte wasn't in operation while we were there. Chicken and Fish/seafood entrees were pretty decent overall. Cleanliness in the resort was quite impressive. The consensus was that it’s best to get a room with a real shower, on the 2nd floor or above to avoid water/drainage issues and frustration with getting salt water off in a bathtub. Shows were pretty entertaining overall (see cons for entertainment caveats). The Cons: It's Cuba, as they say. Is it fair to compare to a vacation elsewhere, or should it be compared to other Cuban places? The food was NOT a culinary delight, but it's certainly tolerable. Beef is only decent in the Italian restaurant, and it's no wonder when you see the cattle during the bus trip. Salads are severely lacking (in late March) - no fresh lettuce, just cabbage. No actual ripe tomatoes. The bar-fridges are re-stocked at around 5pm which I found to be rather late in the day, particularly since that’s your source for bottled water, other than refilling a glass or trusty bubba-mug at the bar. We found the Internet to be spotty, frustrating and unreliable – not worth having if it’s a source of annoyance trying to get online. The beach, although really beautiful, IS significantly rocky in areas, including IN the water. You do NOT want to swim at any time when you can't see where the rocks are, you'd end up getting seriously injured. This isn’t so much a negative as it is just a “need to know” so you aren’t expecting something else. You CAN swim, you just need to be watchful. During all the shows, the announcers were doing 3 languages and seemed to love to hear the sound of their own voices (great for them, notsomuch for us) which got pretty annoying and detracted from the actual talent in the shows. "Mini-disco" (at 8:30 EVERY NIGHT) is the kids’ time to show their learned dance steps which frankly should be eliminated from the "entertainment" program because the ratio of families is so low and it's not entertaining for those without kids actually in it (we’re talking about 5 kids total on one evening, and I don’t think that was atypical). That should be a break-out performance elsewhere other than the main stage adjacent to the 24-hour bar. Customer service appears great, until it comes to delivery (all promises and smiles with little action), so if you're in a pinch, GO TO YOUR TRAVEL PACKAGE REP for resolution. The resort fumigates with who-knows-what kind of fogging machine, behind a truck, morning and evening - so if you're pregnant or have young kids, you may want to find out WHAT they're using and what the implications are for your kids' health/development. It was drawn into our room through the ventilation system and we had to shut it off on a couple of occasions due to the fumes. Yes it keeps the mosquitoes at bay, for the most part. It's true, the locks on the sliding glass doors are broken, but if you stick the ironing board in the slot and wedge a heavy chair against it, you're secure. Although it didn't bother me, there was no dance floor or dance music on site apart from poolside scheduled “dance lessons” schputz. My wife was a disappointed with that, as many ladies would be. Finally, the a la carte restaurants are infinitely S L O W to seat you. Totally annoyingly snail-paced slow between customers. It’s not because they’re busy, they just seem to take pride in having their little moment of control, and there can be a long line-up by 6:30pm when they open, so it’s really an unnecessary frustration. My single biggest complaint for this resort is lack of proper management and a problem resolution system and this is why I rated service as "poor" despite many individual non-management employees being superlative. Language barrier aside, there seems to be no accountability trail nor anyone “running the ship”. There’s a lot of head-nodding and smiling, and “we’ll get that fixed”, jotting down a note but at the end of the day, we were still left with many of the same issues and nobody at the management desk seemed to WANT to get things done to our satisfaction, leaving us feeling rather powerless. I have no doubt that this place could really shine if its management staff were action/solution oriented and were striving for kick-butt customer satisfaction as their M.O., which is generally expected by the North American tourist. However, I get the feeling that the “competition” in Cuba isn’t great, so perhaps they only need to be “at par” to get their respective piece of the business and hence that’s what you get. Let’s face it, the profits are not going into someone’s pocket any faster if the place is booked regardless. It’s a shame because many of the working staff are diligent and really seem to want to do a good job. Kudos to them, I hope they promote from within. Otherwise, they’re stuck with so much potential, and so little vision. Would I recommend to a friend? No - because although my experience was good overall, it was entirely because of the company I kept, and not the specific resort. In fact, our "privilege" package was not properly honoured, we had to hound them for "free massage" which were then booked improperly with the wrong date so we couldn't do it, and our "free bottle of rum" arrived the day before we left instead of being there in the room when we arrived. No free room service or "butler" service since (we were told) the privilege rooms were all booked up and we were assigned a room in a "non-privilege building". Granted, there may be some misunderstandings here with the language barrier, but still, it leaves a bad taste of poor management. I wouldn't recommend this to someone because I'd be afraid they would end up not getting what they paid for. There should be an allowance of unbooked rooms where people can be moved to if they have a maintenance or repair issue in their originally assigned room. And they should NOT book "privilege" in non-privilege buildings just because they ran out of space, as some people paid a significant price difference for that upgrade. I really expected a better customer service experience.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Trip of a lifetime!

Grounds were always maintained, food I give a 8-10; we never went hungry, rooms were always cleaned daily, no bugs, beautiful weather all week, lots of staff to attend to your needs, fun party pool and beach party, went off site to a market and a disco, received a free ride on a sailboat which was so fun, beaches were amazing. Honestly, this experience was so great all around. I'd definitely return to this resort. I went march 25-apr 1, 2017.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Great Getaway in the Sun

My daughter and I just spent a week there and we loved it. We were looking for a quiet, small resort with a great beach. That's what we got. Our spacious room was clean if not a little tired, on the second level as requested and close to the beach path where we spent most of our days. Fantastic beach, and water. Hobie cats were nearby for a quick sail. The staff were all friendly and helpful. We liked being able to walk everywhere, the gardens were pretty, with a variety of bird sounds, the 2  [... read more]pools were refreshingly cool and deep enough to swim, with plenty of chairs. We enjoyed the Beach Grill for lunch, BBQ chicken and salad or pizza at the snack bar. Breakfasts at the buffet restaurant were excellent, dinner was just ok. The specialty restaurants were disappointing , especially the Italian but I don't go to Cuba for the food. The bars were well serviced and nightly entertainment was lively. Night time was quiet and peaceful. If you want to get away and feel secluded, this resort is a good one.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: amazing resort

I love this place. we had some issues with the shower , when I've called the reception they sent somebody right away. you have 4 pools , you have a snack bar opens 24 hours, the beach is spectacular. I will have my vacation again at this resort next year

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great Place to Be..

The Resort was amazing, staff was good... the beach was great, nice sand, clear water. The pools where clean and welcoming. The food was actually pretty good for Cuba.. they had a variety to chose from, I would recommend this resort to everyone, and the ones that complain about this resort should not travel to Cuba!!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Best Ever...Two Thumbs Up

Thankyou tripcentral...to Colleen Droin.....last minute deal....We had a wonderful time....Newer resort....staff very friendly.....food better than my last trip....more variety....grounds kept clean.....Just had a great vacation...thankyou

Melia Las Dunas: Great resort

We have returned to this resort after 4 years. The only con was that the beach on the adult side had eroded away. The family side had a good beach but not enough shade available. People up at 530 for coveted spots. The Pros The food was great. Kept warm. Good variety. Salads and dressings kept on ice. Many choices on the buffet, only ate at the a la carts once. Best food so far as compared to the past 7 years of going to Cuba. The staff always friendly and helpful. Very acommodating with [... read more] tip or no tip! The rooms clean, bathrooms clean and the water pressure great. Very happy overall with this resort

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Would recommend for sure

We stayed at Ocean Casa del Mar the last week of march . The resort is a long ride from the airport but worth the time. Mikes coffee shop makes the best cappachinos ever and the staff was amazing. We lucked out and got oceanview rooms only a few feet away from the lobby and restaurants. Our concierge Lazario went over and above to make sure our stay was enjoyable with complimentary bottles of wine , messages and extra coffee , he even came and saw us off at 5am with a bottle of water for the lo [... read more]ng bus ride to the airport . Our breakfast was always served every morning with a huge smile and great service from Rachel and William , they are a great asset to this resort . A big thank you goes out to Cathy Milner from tripcentral for what i call as being top notch customer service. .

Memories Paraiso: Good time!

The people are very friendly, and try their best to help with any problems. Our room was clean, the building showed its age... It is a large resort ! not a lot of signs to find your way around... pools were awesome... great for kids and adults .. Food wasn't to bad!

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful Vacation!

The resort is really really nice, clean, updated, lots of water and everything, nothing bad to say about it. Peoples are very friendly, the staff is amaising and the cleaning peoples do an exceptional jobs. The down side of the resort is the 2 hours drive from the airport, and the beach....not sure if it's the time of year, but every mornings there was a high tide and could not use the beach with lounge chair til at least noon...but once the water went, we had 100 ft of beautiful beach. And for  [... read more]some reason there no stairs to decent on the beach..if you have an handicap or have a problem with walking ect...you won't be able to enjoy the water as there is a cliff to go down to reach the water and no stairs ..just a path between rock..that was strange to say the least and very dangerous. The food is very good, drinks are nicely presented and lots of wine and champaigne..lots of everything!!

Melia Las Dunas: Tired and very average resort

The grounds are extremely large and cart rides by hotel are scarce even though they say frequent. The rooms aren't well cleaned and the entire facility is very tired and in need of upgrades. Due to the immense size, the buffet line ups are rediculous. The food was below average but I understand that's not unusual for Cuba. Service all around was quite poor. If your on the beach or by the pool, be prepared to walk far for a drink or food. There aren't any take out containers and drinks are serv [... read more]ed in small 6ounce plastic cups.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Trying to love this resort!

The hotel looked inviting upon arrival at night. It was very lovely, looked new, clean, fresh, all white décor, staff were friendly. We were excited and lined up to check in at the front desk, (they didn't have enough staff working the front desk in my opinion) then were told we were privileged (wasn't sure what that meant at the time) and would have to go to another area for further instructions. It was by this time, approx. 11:30pm and there was another lineup to see someone in an enclosed [... read more] room. Was not told why we had to see this person before we could go into our room. After a very long wait, we were ushered in to be told we were getting some upgrades, free lobster dinner on a scheduled night so given a coupon, free massage (although we did not find out about that until a few days later) can't remember what else they felt was so important that we had to know at that late hour. The resort is approx. 2 hours from the airport, so we were tired by the time we got there. We eventually received our keys and went to our room. Very nice, however, there was very little water pressure and the toilet did not flush. We remained there that night then asked to be moved the next morning. The hotel staff were aware of the problem and were very accommodating and moved us to another lovely room. So were happy with the second room we received. Unfortunately, my friend and I both got sick while at the resort. Not sure if it was the food (which was not great) but there was certainly enough choices if you didn't like something, could have been the water, we thought we were drinking bottled water all the time. Don't know, but it hit both of us pretty hard. Of all the people we talked to at the resort, there was one other family that had a family member become sick. Too bad because the beach was fabulous, the resort very nice, the ocean unbelievable, the weather great, the activities provided with the all inclusive were fun, but they really need to bring the food up a notch. Maybe growing pains. Hopefully they can make it better. I also think some of the wait staff in the buffet restaurant needs better training. We had some very good service, and some so, so service. Same with the food.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Great trip!!!

We really liked this resort. The fact that it was spread out we had places to walk after our meals. The pools were amazing! I liked the dance classes, exercise classes and the music from morning til night was fantastic! The room was amazing. Nice and large and well set out. The staff at the resort were very friendly and accommodating. Except for the language barrier. The beaches were wonderful. The nightly entertainment was great. The food was a little boring being mostly the same every night.  [... read more]The only problem that I found was the bathrooms around the resort. They were not always taken care of (lack of toilet paper). All in all we really enjoyed the resort and would definitely recommend.