Melia Cayo Santa Maria: LOVELY

IT WAS WELL KEPT. ENJOYED OUR ROOM WHICH WAS WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE. HIGH TOILET WAS GREAT AND WALK IN SHOWER WITH A PORTABLE SHOWER CHAIR. OUR CHAMBERMAID WAS EXCELLENT SO SHE WAS WELL REWARDED WITH GIFTS. FOOD WAS TOLERABLE. TWO GREAT RESTAURANTS WERE THE INTERNATIONAL AND JAPANESE. FELT IT WAS TOO WINDY FOR ME SO FELT CHILLY HOWEVER I DID HAVE A COUGH. SMALLER RESORT SO LESS WALKING..EASY TO GET AROUND. GREAT NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT. GEAT POOL SURROUNDINGS. LOVELY BEACH BUT WATER TOO CHOPPY. L [... read more]OVELY CUBANS.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Very Nice

The resort is Huge! But manageable. They also have 6 seated golf carts that tour the logging paths regularly! The ocean is in a cove so there's rarely any big waves if any even when it's crazy windy. Lots of sand bar that appear and disapear with the tide. Beautiful white sands Most staff spoke very good to decent english except maintenance and repair personal. Everyone was very polite and willing to help. Walkways and paths need more lighting at night very dark. There is lots of light [... read more]s installed they just don't fix them. If this bugs you bring a flashlight or your phone :) The a-la-carts were decent the international was the best for us beautiful environment. Pools are huge! the sunrise pools seam to be the spot for the younger or more energetic crowd and the sunset was definately 45+ and children. Both have swim up bars 24hr snack bar just feet away from the sunrise pool and the ice cream bar. Food is order on demand (burgers hotdogs sandwiches fries and poutine etc) also has a small breakfast lunch and dinner buffet. The 2 full buffets are standard staff speaks ok english and very attentive. Nightly entertainment was actually choreographed nicely the dancing and shows were awesome! Highly recommend the cave party excursion. Bus leaves resort at 10pm and brings you back at 2am.. included drinks underground in an actual cave with a dance and fire show. Theres a dance floor in the center and a decent DJ. Overall a really nice place

Melia Jardines del Rey: A Big Resort

If you like a resort with many people and many amenities, this is the place for you. There are swimming pools that are large and children's pools that are large. The beach is a vast white sand space and there are shaded beach palm structures to accommodate all who wish to be there. I never saw a lack of chairs and shade huts. The rooms are large and well equipped. It is a good place to go with family members and is at times too full of people. Good shows at night, the best a la carte restaurant  [... read more]is the Bistro. Avoid the spa adjacent to the hotel - unqualified persons give massages that are not worth the money.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Resort was disappointing

Hotel grounds were beautiful! Hotel washrooms were disgusting. Hotel room was acceptable but not the daily cleaning. One clean bath towel for 2 people every 3rd day. Not refilling the pop or beer like we were told. Hotel entertainment was good at the lobby. Food was terrible.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Nice small Resort

The people that work here are super nice ! Beach lovely! Friendly Travelers . On the flip side no hot or warm water in the suite . Left to travel home to Canada to sleep in a very cold airport for 15 hours with no Sun Wing reps for 6 hours children were sleeping on the floor it was awful they gave no blankets or pillows ,molded bread to everyone nice perk ! So we have a chance to win $500 bux i would think Sun Wing would just give out all the passenger's $500 just for total confusion . We could  [... read more]not get to our luggage walking zombies 24 hours later we got home .

Melia Jardines del Rey: One of our favourite vaction resorts

The pool and areas are perfect...exactly what anybody could want or ask for. The food, while not spectacular, was still more then anybody could expect or want. Abundant and tasty. Healthy options and indulgent options too. 99% of staff are friendly and helpful and do the best they can with sometimes limited resources. Rarely had to wait for more then a minute to get a drink, alcoholic or otherwise, at any of the bars or restaurants we frequented. The beach bar and accompanying grill restaurant w [... read more]as our favourite location to eat and drink. And of course the beach was superb. The beach lounging chairs and the large straw umbrellas and other covering features were great and always available. More then enough for every vacationer. The beach was long, broad and spectacular. The serving staff ( guys who who'd come up and down the beach all day bringing you drinks ) we're incredible. Can't say enough about them. All in all, an absolute great place to visit. Our second visit and won't be out last. Not even close.

Melia Jardines del Rey: This should be a 5 star hotel!!

We had an amazing time!! We will be going back again! People, food, entertainment, cleanliness as far as I am concerned, I think this should be a 5 star!! I have been to other resorts in Cuba and I think this is one of the best of all time!! So good that we didn't want to go back home!!

Sol Varadero Beach: Bring Patience above all

Pros: -Natural foods, no additives, not too many issues in the "bloated" area -Medium sized resort, small enough to know everyone but big enough to explore -Good sized private beach for resort only, no persistent vendors trying to sell you -All in one shop, resort had majority of needs on hand, no need to leave if desired -Nice staff -Clean Hotel, -Multiple Pools -Entertainment nightly -Snackbar 24 hours (alcohol until 2am) -***Cuban Dancing lady at the lobby bar needs a raise. she w [... read more]as amazing the whole trip!!!*** Cons: -Hurry up and wait, wait, wait for everything

Sol Cayo Coco: Happy Holiday

Great staff, good weather, amazing beach. Food and drinks, activities and facilities all very good at this resort. Rooms were clean and no trouble with anything. Traveled with my adult daughter & we both had a wonderful time and enjoyed every moment of this happy holiday.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Perfect....Almost...

Stunning site, layout of grounds with generous views of the ocean, excellent landscaping and planting, lovely rooms and fabulous lobby with the lush water garden theme. Lovely staff throughout. But...the food and bar quality didn't match. We've stayed in other 3-to-5 star resorts, and I'd put this food and bar quality in the lower of that range. We tried the Royal Service one night and it hit the mark as promised. The spa was great, a gorgeous oasis in a really lovely setting. All in all, I woul [... read more]d definitely recommend Paradisus De Rio Oro, despite the weak food and bar.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Never again!

This is our second visit to this resort and it will definitely be our last. We don't expect GREAT food when we come to Cuba, but we do expect EDIBLE food. The food was terrible! The fruit was barely ripe, most of the tomatoes were green, where there were any available. Salad fixings were always hit or miss. The meat was overcooked and tasteless. We went to 4 of the a la carte restaurants thinking that the food there might be better than the buffet. It was actually worse - only someone served it  [... read more]to you at a nice table. Ordering drinks from the wandering wait staff was an exercise in patience. It could be 15-20 minutes to get a drink, if they even came back at all. After tired of waiting at one point I went to the bar myself only to find that the guy that had taken my order was now behind the bar making drinks and not serving at all. When you did get a drink, it was questionable if there was any alcohol in it. We found out after a few days that if you wanted rum in your pina colada you had to ask specifically for rum. The same drink served 3 times would be completely different each time. Very bizarre! After a couple of days at this resort we were trying to find a way home early.So long Cuba! Never again.

Melia Cayo Coco: Nice relaxing choice

Well thought out resort with good service. Rooms quite basic. Avoid smoking rooms as very smelly. Tennis courts in need of repair and are currently not lit in the evening as advertised. Pool area very relaxing with lots of chairs but cabanas effectively reserved and unused throughout day as staff does not enforce rules. Overall a very nice experience.

Sol Varadero Beach: SHIT

large hotel, friendly enough staff, maids stole clothes out of our bags, my pandora bracelet was taken out of the safe as well as my friends phone was taken when she put it down at the bar one night at the resort

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Wonderful staff!!

The resort was wonderful in itself. However, whether it was from Hurricane Irma or aging, the rooms had quite a bit of damage. In fact, we requested a change of room because of the moldy smell in our original room. The bathroom door was rotten halfway down the door to the bottom and would not close. The second room was much better but we had to call maintenance several times as the toilet wouldn't flush. By the 3rd day, it was "somewhat" fixed. The grounds were beautiful and very well main [... read more]tained. The food was not very good and we ended losing quite a bit of weight from not eating much. But we did go to the A la Carte Japanese restaurant and it was excellent!! In fact, we re-booked it for another night. The weather was not very nice but clearly, nobody had any control over this. But the beach was not accessible for most of the time due to weather and the pool was very very cold. Again, nobody's fault. The staff was beyond friendly and helpful and we will miss many of the staff we met. On an end note, not all the excursions were available as there was not enough people signed up. However, our experience at the Dolphinarium was amazing. I would recommend this excursion to anyone!!

Hotel Camino del Mar: Fabulous Resort

We had an amazing vacation. It is incredible to see how much Melia has accomplished in such a short time since a hurricane completely devastated their location. Staff are wonderful, attentive, polite and very kind and speak English and Spanish. Night life and shows were great. Ballet, saxophone were breath taking. Internet was better than most resorts. There is a sketch artist Miguel who does life like drawings from photos..WOW! The food was delicious and visitors from other hotels kept visiting [... read more] because of it! The pool was amazing tho the waterfall at the bar is now a roof top seating area. You can treat yourself to a massage, a hair cut or design etc.There were little flaws like running out of beer and a few brands but they were replenished quickly. Some tourists complained that the Behind hotel areas were not landscaped but, they failed to see how they repurposed broken tiles and made mozaic benches and borders. The views were lovely and the beach was to die for, even with the high tide! The walk out over the ocean with lounge chairs made you feel like you were in a hidden island getaway! Hammocks every where. Tons of beach cabanas for shade. Sports bar and beach bbqs were appetizing. Shoot a game of pool in the lobby while you drink and listen to the band. If you are looking for relaxation this is the resort for you, not party central but don't be afraid to book excursions to the disco bar cave, swim with the Dolphins or travel to the town of Moron! The suites have fabulous beds and the decor is all fresh, new and updated. I look forward to visiting again!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Good resort

The food food for us. The beach is nice. Beautiful Varadero peninsula if taking double deck tour around . But there are too many mosquitos in the lobby and flies in cafeteria . The facilities are lack of maintenance. A la carte is not as good as we thought.

Tryp Cayo Coco: Phenomenal resort !

The resort was great. The beaches are white and the water is crystal clear , most beautiful beaches. The food was delicious and the people were amazing. This was our first time here, and definitely not our last. We had an amazing time ! Definitely recommend the cave party and the Jeep excursions. Amazing experiences

Melia Jardines del Rey: Amazing time at Melia

I just got back from Melia Jardine del Rey a week ago , this was my forth time to this resort. This time I went with my best friend and we had amazing time. The resort is 3 years old , very clean and lively. Live music and cuban bands at night will keep u dancing all night long and if u want more u can go to the disco that located next to the resort. On Sunday we have enjoyed our self to Bueno Vista Social club Cuban musicians from Havana live show , still have goose bumps from that night. One  [... read more]word spectacular. During the day u can chillax on the most beautiful beach or get hot and sweaty with Zumba and many activities they have to offer. We also visited the sister resorts on the double decker bus just to change up the scenery. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming. Food was good , got invited to a special dinner as a returning guess at the Japanese restaurant and food was on point. It’s a short drive from the airport as well which makes it more convenient for everyone. I can’t not wait until we go back and would definitely recommend this resort for the right price.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Decent

The resort is generally clean and well maintained (especially compared to the neighboring Sol), but the trees evidently suffered from the recent hurricane(s) (lost a lot of foliage so not much tree shade). People are courteous. Hot water pressure is very good compared to a few years ago. The beach is nice and clean, as well, with plenty of space and shade. So overall OK, with some notes: one day the bed sheets smelled musty and stinky (noticed that during the night after going to bed, so we c [... read more]ould not change them), and another one pillow case was smudged with something pretty gross looking (only noticed the next day... yeah). The food is alright but you will get so bored of it after a few days (essentially the same few items everyday). The beach restaurant makes a difference by offering some fresh daily bbq and a few things not on the main cafeteria list. I advise to avoid wasting your time waiting in line to register for the a la carte dinners as they do not even by far resemble what they are supposed to be (we tried Japanese, Mediterranean and "international"). Wifi is spotty: you need to buy a 1 CUC card with sign in information, which gives you 1h of internet access; it only works in the lobby and around the beach towel kiosk areas, that we could figure (not in room). Last thing, the AC in the room blows right in your face when lying in bed and there is no way to change that.

Melia Cayo Coco: Awesome Vacation!

We stayed from Feb 4th-11th and had a great time. The food was great, the beach was breathtaking and the staff were very friendly and made you feel welcome. The standard rooms could use a facelift but they are very spacious and I enjoyed that they are villas instead of complexes. The a-la-carte restaurants are not to be missed. I suggest booking online before you leave as they are popular. There was always something fun to do with the entertainment staff and the night shows were very well done. [... read more] The aqua ballet was awesome. I do wish they had karaoke but that is just a personal preference. The beach restaurant was under repair from the hurricane but should be open soon. We did the two city excursion and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see the real Cuba. We enjoyed it very much. We would definitely go back!