Memories Paraiso: Amazing Resort

This place is fantastic for family vacations I went with my husband, daughter, son-in-law 3 yr old granddaughter and six month old grandson we had a great time loved the well kept grounds the food was good people friendly the only thing I can say is I found they were a little disorganized at the buffet it was a little long to get served at the stations they should add a few more staff members.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Very good destination

People were friendly,helpful,attentive. Room was spacious, grounds were tidy. Bathrooms clean . Food was ok.Beach has some empty plastic cup half buried in sand buy guests. Drinks were all good. Beach bbq chicken sandwiches were yummy.

Valentin Perla Blanca Paraiso: Enjoyable stay

ust a little feedback from our trip to Valentin in Cuba. Overall the trip was good. Flights were on time, which has never happened before. The resort was nice. The rooms were clean and housekeeping did a good job. The beach was nice but water was shallow. You could walk a hundred feet off shore and the water was only waist deep, at least in the part we were at. It was kind of a blessing though as it was very windy the first 5 days and the red flag was up for most of the time. If the water was d [... read more]eeper we would probably not have gone in. Bar staff as a whole was good and wait staff in buffet was excellent. All staff including front desk were great. If you do not like lineups and waiting this is not the resort for you. When arriving at around 2 PM we were hungry and went to the pool snack restaurant for something to eat. It took about an hour to get our food but that was the only time there was an issue there. They had chicken strips and fries that were excellent. Food was good and we had no issues which has only happened one or two times before. The first morning I waited in line for about 15 minutes for fried eggs and didn’t even bother to try to get toast as bread had to be run through three times in order to be toasted. There were 2 buffets but for the first 5 days only one was open and the lineups were long no matter what time you went. On the 6th day they opened the second buffet which was right next door and it made a great difference. The resort was at capacity, so we were told and I can’t understand why both weren’t opened right away. Also the way the buffet was set up was what contributed to the mob that was in that area. With a little better planning it could be laid out better. Lineups to covert money as well. Hard to get small pesos which was frustrating if you wanted money for tips. There were a lot of things going on that we were not aware of- a beach party, cuban sandwiches at the pool, sandwiches at the beach in an area far from where we were. Should have been made better aware of what was going on. Waiters on beach was a good thing. Went on one excursion, rum, sugar and cigar- good excursion and each got a bottle of rum and a cigar. Long drive to resort but was made better by the guide we had on bus, Ernesto. He was very informative and funny. Nice entertainment in lobby in evening. Overall a great vacation. Alan and Carolyn LeBlanc

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Great Resort, Wonderful People

Review of Dhawa resort The Dhawa Resort is actually located on Cayo Las Brujas. It is approximately 1 1/2 hours from the Santa Clara airport. There is a bathroom on the bus since it's a long ride. You get a real look at Cuba's countryside on this bus ride. On entry to the resort we were greeted by the lobby attendants. The lobby is open and spacious with many areas for groups of people to meet and relax together. It is tastefully decorated and the service is excellent. They have servers t [... read more]here that will come take your drink order all day and night. The people at the desk took our information and had us checked in quickly. They were courteous and kind. The attendants drove us and our bags on a golf like cart to our building. We were in building 9 on the main floor. Our building is right beside the beach. There are 11 buildings to stay in. Each had its own positive for where it is located. Some are close to the pool, some close to the lobby and some close to the buffet and recreation areas. Depending on what floor you're on, you can sometimes have a nice view of the ocean. Each building has 3 floors. After the attendant explained how to use the safe, he left us to unpack. The resort has everything you need. There is a bank which is open daily from 9-5, a lobby bar open 24 hours, a large pool with a swim up bar, 3 a la carte restaurants (Seafood, Italian and French), a pool restaurant and bar, and a recreation area with basketball, tennis and soccer courts. There is also a large theatre with a stage where there are shows most nights and there is a bar in there as well. The lobby has live music every evening from 6-9 and the lobby bar not only makes great drinks but they also serve cappuccino! Many people enjoy time with friends in this area while drinking their morning or after dinner coffee or cappuccino. We enjoyed the service of many hard working Dhawa staff. I feel like we are leaving friends behind. Lianna and Yalenia at the pool restaurant gave us great service. Everyday we ordered food and drinks from them. Their service was prompt, efficient and very friendly. The food is good there. We loved the pizza and chicken but also enjoyed the hamburgers. In one instance when I had a spill which caused a stain on my white shirt, Lianna told me what to use to take out the stain and helped me and it worked like a charm!! We just loved our time at the pool restaurant and bar because of these wonderful ladies!! We also had great service from Marlye. The beach is always one of my favourite places to go. The sand was deep and white. There are lots of shade sources along the beach. Some are for two chairs and others for 4-5 chairs. The beach there is right beside a coral reef on the left as you walk onto the beach. The beach is about a kilometer long and for now they don't share it with another hotel. They are building a sister resort at the end of the beach which will be adults only we have been told. Anyway the secluded beach means we didn't have people trying to sell us anything. It is a nice relaxed atmosphere. There are 4 paddle boats, 5 hobby cats, 2 single kayaks and 3 double kayaks that you can borrow to use while you're at the beach. Osvaldo and Raul Abreus are amazing at the Beach. Raul will personally find chairs for you in the shade. He will unstack the chairs, wash them and lay your towel so it doesn't blow away. Raul became a good friend. Osvaldo goes up and down the beach taking drink orders and then delivering right to our chairs. It is great service and he is one of the kindest people you will meet. The beach bar has a grill. The grill worker also walks down the beach taking orders and then delivering them to our chairs. He uses a sealed container to keep the food clean and warm. Boy are those hamburgers and hotdogs good!! One of our favourite things to do at the beach is to watch the pellicans dive for fish in the water. Sometimes they dive right beside you!!! Also snorkeling is wonderful at this beach. Further out there is vegetation and this is a great spot for the little fish to hide. If you snorkel around the rocks you'll see some beautiful coral and fish! It's not something to miss. I never did find out if they had snorkel equipment to lend out as I brought my own. We only hung out at the pool for one day. There are about 100 chairs around the pool. Most of them have shade provided. There is also a kiddie pool with chairs by it. The buffet eating area is spacious. The breakfast has many different choices such as omelets, breakfast meats, fruits, smoothies, eggs, and cheese and sliced meat. The omelets made by the talented Daniel were enjoyed by my husband who had one made for him every day. I personally loved having the crepes full of fresh bananas made by Rosy. They are to die for!! We mostly had pizza for lunch at the pool restaurant but made it to the buffet for lunch on the last day. One or two days we had lunch at the beach and pizza at the pool. They serve the same food for lunch as dinner at the buffet . Unfortunately the service in the buffet was not as good especially at lunch. Even though my husband and I tipped every day at dinner and tried to sit in the same area, we didn't get any kind of service worth anything. It wasn't hard. It's a buffet. They only needed to bring us drinks, keep our water filled and clear plates. Most of the time it was hard to get the server to bring us water. On more than one occasion, after asking the server to bring us drinks they never returned even with water. I believe they are understaffed there. But it is important to understand that they has just opened on March 1st, 2017 so I'm sure they were just working out the kinks. Annely at the dessert area cooks fried banana or pineapple every night. It is cooked with a little bit of butter and lots of orange juice. Annely is kind and polite and does a great job! I think I had this for dessert every day!! On our last night we had an amazing server, Yailen is amazing! She go go goes. She doesn't miss a beat or an order. We wish we sat in her area every night. Adrian Navarro was our room attendant for a 3 of the days. We missed him when he was moved to another building. He was very good at his job and very polite and kind to us. We wish we could have had him every day! All in all it was a great holiday at a fabulous resort. We look forward to going back there again.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: One taramaya

Star Fish is a great value for you Canadian dollar. You don't go to Cuba for the food, you go for all that Cuba has to offer ... The beach was stunning, The pools fantastic The staff unbalivably awesome Just go and forget about all your troubles ....thank you trip central for being so attentive ..

Melia Las Dunas: Best vacation ever!!!

This was my 5th trip to Cuba, first time in Santa Maria and at Melia resort, and I must say, was my best vacation to date!! I loved the hotel, so much to do, the food was really good, the entertainment, the staff. I will definitely be back. The beach was amazing, everything was perfect!! ☺

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Nice resort

Dhawa Santa Maria is a nice new resort. The color finishes are creamy/beige very stylish and modern. Rooms are big and clean. Everything is working properly. The lobby /reception / theatre and the bar area is where most of the evening activities take place. The crowd is mostly middle age. The service is very good. The food is good and if you are willing to wait in line at the different food stations for the occasional personalized meats, seafood, eggs , deserts etc. is even better. I rarely w [... read more]aited because I have no patience for lines but I could always find something to my taste. Restaurants are a hit and miss depending on your choice on the menu ; the best food I tasted was at the grill. I would skip the French and Italian. You are better off at the buffet unless you care for sitting down and being served. Pool area is nice. The beach is large enough and you could find space under the palapas even if you come to beach late in the morning. The beach needs to be cleaned because still a lot of roots in it. One member of our group hurt himself on one of those roots so do pay attention when you walk. Also the beach area was extremely windy which I believe is because of it being located in a cove. The entry into water in some places is rocky and full of seaweed. The beach is private to the hotel; it is not very long like in other places where you can walk for an hour or so . From left to right the walk takes about 10-15 minutes. I would rate the resort a strong 8/10 and the beach and ocean only a 5/10. If you do not care for the water part I would recommend but if you care for the whole beach water experience there are better places to go.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: It was an ok resort. Seen worst and seen much better.

Our room was quite spacious. Though we tried to upgrade...impossible. Didn't appreciate it. Most of the food was pretty good except the steak was like rubber. One of the 3 restaurants we went to I took Pasta dish with lobster which was impossible to chew. Entertainment was acceptable. the grounds were nice and clean. Room services was awful. Didn't clean our room every day, ran out of toilet paper, no tissue.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: A nice resort

It is a nice resort We enjoyed our stay there. The service was very good, the staff tried thier best to make is a pleasant stay for us. The resort is an old one the building is old , didn't like the public washrooms the doors were broken, they are in fixing mode all the time and they are doing the best to make you comfortable. Room service is good they it could be better. Food is very good but there are not much for those who are vegetarian. Beautiful beech and more beautiful pool area overall I [... read more] give it 3.5 to 4 stars.

Memories Paraiso: Good enough for us

The resort was lovely. We had a wonderful time. There were some water issues while we were there but overall during our stay we experienced water out at 3am then for 1 day until 4pm. Other than that it was not an issue for us. Tge staff was amazing and the hotel grounds are great to explore. This was our first vacation with kids and it was a great pick. Our flight was delayed on the way back and did create some problems but overall it was a lovely vacation and an excellent location. Honestly th [... read more]e best food we have seen in Cuba with this being our third trip. Thank you for lovely memories!

Melia Buenavista: Beautiful Resort

Love this resort been there 3 times already planning our next visit. The staff are amazing and the resort is beautiful. The food is really good my favorite is the lunch bbq. Best Mojitoes you will ever have made by the best bartenders Lester/Orestes and Osmany. I would very highly recommend this resort.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Third time in a row and NO complaints

This is my third time visiting the resort.The staff is awesome,very clean and the gardens are beautiful.Food selection is very good and the A La Carte was delicious.I am already looking forward to next year.Gracias!

Melia Buenavista: One of the best Cuban resort

They say that the best things come in small packages. It's true. A little jewel wonderful and attentive staff waiting for the guests to arrive and pamper them. Thank you for a great experience , will be back.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Ok resort

The hotel lobby was kept clean but the grounds were not taken care of. Hotel staff was not very accommodating. Restaurant staff were very friendly. Do not forget any toiletries as there is no store to buy these, very small souvenir shop at resort. Entertainment was very limited shows lasted only an hour a night. Food was ok you wouldn't starve but same thing every day and night and everything is cold.

Melia Las Dunas: Great vacation :)

The Meila Las Dunas is a beautiful hotel with well kept grounds and lots of options for meals. The beach was gorgeous - although very windy while we were there. The beach chairs also fill up very quickly in the morning and although the resort says you are not allowed to save chairs - this isn't monitored. It was much easier to find chairs in the adult only section of the resort. Our room was very clean when we first arrived, but as the week went on we found that house keeping wasn't doing as [... read more] good of a job. Even after we left little presents for them. We had a balcony which was nice to just sit and enjoy a drink before heading down for dinner or reading. We were glad to find that we didn't need an adaptor at this resort to charge our phones. WIFI is not great in the lobby and certain sites are blocked once you are connecting on their servers. I was not able to make a call out of the country with my cell phone, I was able to send a couple texts but that is about it. One negative, the toilets... the plumbing isn't the best so you are not supposed to flush the toilet paper - gross yes but worse if the toilet gets clogged over it. We went to the disco that isn't on the resort but in the market next to it and the washrooms didn't provided toilet paper and a few times the water wasn't running so you couldn't flush the toilet or wash your hands. We brought our on toilet paper and hand sanitizer. The restaurants have better food than I was expecting for all the negative reviews you read about the food. The pizza and sandwiches from the snack bars are great, fries are always good and they had these crispy shrimps at the beer garden which became a daily snack. We went to 4 a la cart restaurants: The Seafood Restaurant was surprisingly delisious, the only place you didn't have to pay for lobster. The Romantico was amazing, the beef tenderloin was cooked to perfection. The Italian was a little disappointing, bland pasta to sum it up. The Oriental was also really good. The staff everywhere you went was amazing, very friendly and accommodating - language was sometimes a bit of an issues but to be expected. The entertainment was different here than where I've been before, they didn't have a nightly show in the theatre but always provided some kind of entertainment in the evening, they had a rock band playing one night which I thought was pretty cool of them, a magic show, a typical dance show and then a theatrical show that they performed in different locations of the lobby. Another negative was that we could not find pharmacy type items to buy, they do not sell Tylenol, Advil, Pepto, Bandaids, Aloe or Sunscreen - be sure to stock up on these items. This is definitely a 4.5 star in Cuban standards and I would stay there again.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Great resort!

We stayed at this hotel during the week of March 19th and thoroughly enjoyed it. The rooms are outdated and are not fancy but they are very clean and all the staff are fabulous. A huge thank you to Daniel at the buffet who went out of his way to make us happy and made our last day at the resort a memorable one. The beach is so amazing. It is the best beach in Cuba that we have been to. We have been highly recommending this resort to all our family and friends. Ifor you want a clean and [... read more] casual hotel this is the place!

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Great resort and amazing service!

This was a great and pleasant surprise. Being a new resort (opened in January) we were very skeptical and nervous about going. We had the "hope for the best and expect the worse" attitude. At the end we wished we had booked 10 days or more vacation. The hotel is beautiful and boutique like, very modern. Super clean and the service is 5 star quality. The food was unlike any other hotel I've ever been in Cuba. Amazing quality and variety. From jumbo shrimp to unlimited bottles of shampagne! We tra [... read more]velled as a couple and developed friendships there, everyone we spoke to had the same feedback as us. I would definitely recommend!

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Awesome Resort!

The hotel itself is very nice. One of the better resorts I've stayed in in Cuba! The rooms were great, the grounds were very nice. The people there were amazing! Couldn't ask for better service. The beach was the best part, so beautiful. As well as the pools!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: New resort

My thoughts ~fresh resort/ in that, recently built so it feels clean and modern. Food - Great. Following a vegan gluten free diet I found the fruit/smoothie/veggie/bean/salad options amazing.. along with the fries (might want to bring your own ketchup, there were shortages..). Beach - clean and beautiful, believe it is cleaned as there was limited plastic pollution that could be seen, minus the beach bar plastic cups and straws that popped up here and there (tip: bring your own mug/ mason ja [... read more]r, say no to the straws I swear drinks taste the exact same w/o) Money - bank gives rather big bills and no small ones for tips, you can ask the bartenders and servers for smaller change The Grounds - rather barren, missed feeling the greenery/ garden aspect, baby palm trees. Entertainment - didn't check it out, from the sounds of it though, fellow vacationers enjoyed it Room - really liked, like mentioned - new/clean/modern/sweet bathroom with waterfall shower head wooo. The crowd - my friend and I went together (in our later 20s), felt there was no one our age during our trip (really) otherwise it was babies (16-20), couples, families and retirees SO, our trip was quiet restful and calm, caught up on reading, sleep and vitaminsea

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Worst vacation I ever had

For the first time I try Cuba. Wanted to compare with other trips I took elsewhere. It was to say the least the worst vacation and dirtiest place I've ever been to. I could not put it in words the smell of the bathrooms especially the pool and the beach bathrooms. The beach bathroom has a septic tank right beside it that has been overflowing for a very long time because the ditch beside it was Full of sewer water. At the pool where you wash your feet Sewer Water was coming out of the drain. Sa [... read more]nd flees all over the resort and I got stung so bad I had to go to the doctors when I got back home. I really don't have anything good tho say about this run down resort except the food was not to bad considering this is Cuba. The beach is nice but has nothing to do with the resort. Actually the resort make the beach less appealing with that sewer smell. I could keep on going with this but I won't. Don't waist your money there and I will never go back to a memories or Cuba.