Paradisus Varadero: My last trip to Cuba.

We visited this hotel August 12-19, 2025. We have been given the reserve section of the hotel. The next morning we asked to move to the Junior suite side of the resort because the reserve side is a good walk away from the main lobby, pools, the beach and the main buffet. Junior rooms were much better decorated and located. We loved our room. Although the unit 2828 the AC is not working properly. Here is what we thought about the entire resort. 1) GROUNDS: Palm trees, tropical plants and beauti [... read more]ful colors of the ocean. Looks like paradise. My score for landscape is 10. 2) BEACH: The sand is never cleaned and full of garbage. Still nice but was dirty. Many beach chairs and many tiki umbrellas. Never needed to fight to get one because the hotel was at 20% capacity. My score is 8. 3) OCEAN: No sargasum here. The ocean is clean and swimmable. However the entry to the ocean is with sharp stones. Look for areas that are cleared. Many fish circles around you and rocky areas can be nice for snorkeling. Ocean score is 9. 4) FOOD: Breakfast is good. However lunch and dinner is a repeat every single day. You will find yourself only eating pasta. Many other choices which no one touches. Fruits are tasteless or dry at the main buffet. The meat is dry and not much choice. The food is not only bad, it makes you upset after a few days seeing the same food served day after day even though no one clearly eats them. This is one of the reasons I finally decided not to go to CUBA again for a long time. My score for the food is 4. 5) DRINKS: They were struggling finding ice from other hotels. Many times we could not get what we wanted because of not having any ice. Without the ice they are not drinkable at that high temperatures. They make the fruit cocktails like pinacollada from powder. Tropical island with no fruits. Drinks were ok. Nothing fancy. My score for drinks is 7. 6) SAFETY: Many serious grounds safety issues. In main lobby areas the decorative pools were emptied and when you walk you can not tell if there is a pool you can fall in. No markings and same color as the floor. A child or an elderly person or even any person after few drinks can fall in these traps everywhere. Many trip hazards everywhere without marking. Around the entire lobby and pool area the tiles are super slippery when wet. Obviously a clear wrong choice of tile. Many open holes where you can fall in dark on the grass area. Your child can easily fall in a hole in the dark. The darkness is an other thing. Some areas are pitch black dark. The lawn lights are not working and if you don’t have a flashlight you walk completely blind for a while. Many light fixtures are removed and the open wires are on the ground waiting for you to step on. Maybe they have no power on them at the moment but who knows maybe they have power. If you are older or have a young child these are serious problems, I am not exaggerating. Unbelievably unsafe grounds. SAFETY score is 3. I am sure someone gets hurt everyday there. 7) STAFF: Generally all Cuban people are lovely. Staff were always working hard and almost everyone is friendly and respectful. My score for staff is 7.5. 8) POOLS: At 25% capacity you are barely finding a chair under a shade to sit. I can not imagine if there were more people. In winter months you will have to wake up at 5 am to secure a good spot for sure. Pools were great. Yes we knew you don’t go to Cuba for its food. However after a few days when everything becomes a routine the lack of choice for the food is very upsetting. I can never understand why they can’t solve that problem but they can’t. We tried many resorts and they are all the same. That is why we will stop going to Cuba.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Awful ressort

Hotel is in bad shape .Advertises air conditioning in eating areas and main buffet,but none of them are functioning. No flat sheets on bed, only contour sheets. We could not get flat sheets and had to cover ourselves with musty bed covers.No bath towels available so they provided beach towels that did not smell fresh.There was no toaster in buffet area. Really awful service. I would not recommend. I dont understand how this ressort is advertised as a Top seller on your web site. Only nice  [... read more]thing is the beach.

Roc Arenas Doradas: Horrendece

This was the worst hotel I ever seen in my whole life I been travelling that’s like over 35 years this hotel needs to be shut down for tourist 2 days after we booked Paradiso varedero resort and spa was incredible stunning everything about it was beautiful I will go back 10000 times over , but this garbage hotel roc arenas was brutal

Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort: Grand Aston Varadero

My stay at the Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort was very disappointing. From the moment I entered the room, the poor ventilation was apparent. The moisture was trapped inside, making the towels and bed feel damp, and even the floor was slick with water. The room itself had a musty smell, which made it difficult to relax. The bathroom was in need of serious attention. The floor was dirty, with visible mildew on the shower tiles. To make matters worse, the bathroom floor had a strong , unplea [... read more]sant smell of urine that lingered throughout our stay. The food was a major letdown. It lacked flavour and everything had a rubbery texture , making meals feel more like a chore than an enjoyable part of the day. Even the gazebo bed covering was not spared, as it had visible mildew stains on it. I decided to go for a dip in the ocean and discovered rocks beneath my feet that was not pleasant to walk on. This was a huge letdown for a beachside resort. On the plus side, the pool was quite nice and provided a decent spot to relax. Overall, the experience was far from what I expected, and I would not recommend this hotel to others.

Melia Marina Varadero: Great Family Vacation

The beaches, the service from the concierges and others, and the views are amazing. The Cuban people are awesome! When you get a chance to meet the locals, take it. They are incredibly friendly, resilient and resourceful. Be prepared to travel off the resort for incredible dining opportunities!

Resonance Blu Varadero: Good Resort

Food was better than expected Slight flooding of common areas Hotel was relatively clean All staff were friendly and helpful Hotel grounds are beautiful and well maintained Bus ride into town was fun and exciting

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Highly Recommended, Beautiful Resort and even more Beautiful People!

Great rooms, excellent food, amazing service. Beautiful beach with lots of available cabanas and chairs. Sand is immaculate, service is truly spectacular. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting a romantic getaway as this is an adults only resort.

Sol Palmeras: Very good and friendly resort

I loved my stay at this resort, my children lilked it a lot. The picky eater in the family didn't think there was much to eat, but I ate to my satisfaction every meal. BEach is beatiful, bungalows were very clean. Some bungalows are in the far back and you will HAVE to walk to go eat. They don't provide shuttle transportation except for the suitcases on the first and last days. We were in the number 535 and 534 bungalows and we asked to be moved closer which we were the last two days. I  [... read more]recommand you feel at ease with the travel agent you are assigned. At first, I wasn't feeling comfortable with mine and I didn't listen to my gut reaction and regret it. I lost time and energy undoing some mistakes that were made by her and communication was not good. I should have changed when it was time, I should have insisted that I wanted a different travel agent. And please, be aware that if you travel to Cuba, you won't be able to do check-in on the app for the flight back to Canada. I was never told and lost time and energy trying to figure out why the app didn't work... Thinking it was my fault.

Resonance Musique Varadero: So Much Fun! Some Electricity Issues

3rd time to this resort! Went in August / off season this time so a bit quieter and some activities didn't happen (foam pool party) but still had a fantastic time! For food, it's still Cuba but getting better since the past few years. Some power outages on the resort as expected BUT do NOT let them put you on the 3rd floor of building 33...the one half apparently is known to have power outages several time a day (which means no AC!). The power was out in my room more than it was on. My siste [... read more]r's room was much better!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Definately not a 4.5 star. More like a 3 star!

This hotel has seen its hay day back 25 years ago. Chexk in: Check-in was unorganized and they gave us the wrong room and bracelets. (We paid for the VIP adults-only section and they did not give us that). We had to bring it up to them and that's when they looked us up on the computer again and noted we had the wrong room and bracelets. Staff and meals: The stay itself wasn't that bad. The staff was amazing Enrique, Dyron were the best (apart from the front reception staff) The a [... read more] la carte restaurants were pretty yummy. The buffet was boring and the food was very repetitive (to be expected in cuba). On the weekend when the locals checked in, the buffet was definately over capacity. they ran out of alot of things so if u dont eat at regular dinner time 6-7 (busiest time at the buffet) you may not get much to eat. Snack bar was non existent. We went looking for it ine one night and we were told it was the buffet after it closed, then when we went looking for it on the weekend it was the beach bar. Not sure why it changed. Maybe more people allowed them to open the actual snack bar? Biggest Minus: The main problem is that there is no security in sight. So ADULT ONLY SECTION WAS NOT ADULT ONLY. Almost every day we had kids in the VIP area swimming in our pools (sans diaper) or in our dedicated adults only restaurant. The employees tried to get then to leave but without security to enforce it, it was a lost cause. Our rooms Our rooms were pretty spacious, but completely outdated. The room was very clean when we checked in. looked like noone had slept in that room for a while. Our pillow had mold on it when we checked in, asked for a new one right away (got it next day) The resort its self had an abandoned hotel feel to it. Like they are just waiting for everything to crumble around them. Our room keys had issues all week, I literally spent more time at the reception fixing my keys than enjoying too much else. Pools: Main pool was pretty nasty (dirty) but I spent more time at the adult only pool so it didn't bother me. It was cleaner but not sure for how much longer. Unfortunately many parents had the same idea, which was very disappointing given i paid extra for adults only section. Beach: nothing like the beaches in Cuba. Very pretty an a++. Entertainment was primarily on this beach throughout the day. They are renovating so the sitting area is a bit small which wasn't a problem until the weekend when Cubans checked in. The hotel seemed very full to above capacity. Overall: Hotel is i would say in my opinion a 3 star not a 4.5. Not sure how long ago Trip central reviewed it but maybe they should go back and look again. I will never go back to this hotel again except to say hello to all the great friends we made there. I have been to.cuba many, many times and this one was the worst I have ever experienced.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Great Resort!

Great entertainment, food and drink selections. Just no beach towels available for the whole week. Other than that, it was a great experience overall. Staff were very friendly and always greeted us wth a smile.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Ummmmmm

Food was a no go Ac doesn't work at times but I think they lie about it not working to save cost . No water at times . Royal service is a waste of money nothing really royal about it vs the cost ,go and get a normal room. Some of the staff are great however

Starfish Varadero: Great place

All was good for the price Nothing can beat it Staff very friendly Amazing beach For those on a diet best place to loose weight Just basic food like the rest of the people in world Will go back.anytime soon .

Melia Las Antillas: Pictures are very deceiving

First of all I have to acknowledge how beautiful the beach was. That was certainly the highlight of the trip for sure. Clear water white sands; it was just beautiful. We spent hours down at the beach. Ok now the hotel itself. It’s very old and probably should be torn down and a new one built. The paint was peeling and everywhere you looked it was very dirty. The rooms were very basic which was fine but the bed was very uncomfortable and I could feel the springs in my back The bathroom was very [... read more] run down. The door didn’t shut as the frame isn’t aligned properly anymore. The bathtub is stained and dirty looking. Anytime the person above would shower you could hear the dripping on the metal ceiling above. Eventually it would drip down into our tub. It wasn’t just our tub it was all the rooms our friends stayed in as well. They were all the same. Multiple times the hotel was without water. Sometimes in the middle of a shower. The walk to our hotel room faced the back where they must have kept all the garbage so it smelled horrible and there was constant sounds of trucks pulling in and out. It made the walk to and from the room nauseating. The pool was in need of desperate repair as all the tiles are coming off the bottom. When you would walk they would come off and float to the surface. The other half of the pool was closed and empty for multiple days so the only option was the shallow pool. It was warm as bath water and not refreshing, with no shade at all. The chairs around the pool were set up in a place where they had the sewer vents so there was a constant smell of sewer most likely when toilets were flushed. The food available was bare minimum and very little selection. I found myself eating the same things everyday. We were so excited to see chicken nuggets the day before we left. Not very good ones but excited to see something different for once. I know the food in Cuba isn’t the greatest but this was terrible. Although, the restaurants we had to reserve were lovely and the service was great. We enjoyed the Romantica and the Peperone. There were a lot of locals at the hotel on the weekend and staff seemed to cater to them. We were all identified by the colour of our bracelets so they knew where we were from. Canadians were orange, Russians were turquoise, Cubans were blue. We were constantly left waiting or ignored when trying to order drinks at the bar or coffee in the morning. The beach bar was completely different. The bartenders were always nice and accommodating. I was disappointed in the drink selection. Very minimal. The beer was really good though. The smoothy bar that was on the website with this amazing menu was nothing other than a lady in hut with some guava and if you were lucky maybe a mango or a pineapple depending on the day. They were served warm. So was not refreshing at all. The evening snack bar available at night was nothing other than bread with very thin cheese which we waited over 30 minutes for 1 night. I do have a few photos of conditions and a video of the shower. The photos online definitely paint a different picture and are very misleading as to the actual experience itself. It definitely makes me appreciate Canada so much more and I couldn’t wait to come home. We also did our homework and looked at the ratings and read the reviews. But I think all the locals must review the hotel. There was one person who did stand out and went above and beyond. He was the little waiter who was also a magician. He was a delight to be around and we always tried to sit in his section.

Memories Jibacoa: ....

my recent stay at Memories Jibacoa, which unfortunately fell far below expectations due to serious service failures. As a returning guest, I was confident in booking the premium package, paying extra for the benefits and conveniences that were clearly advertised. Unfortunately, these were never provided during my stay. From check-in, the process went wrong. The front desk did not forward our information to the premium team, leaving us to “check in” with them the next morning — only to find no [... read more] one there. Throughout the day, no premium staff were available, and we were even denied dinner service because our names were missing from the list, despite wearing our yellow premium passes. We were told that if our names had been correctly listed, we would have been seated, even without a reservation. This was not only embarrassing, but also a clear breakdown in communication between departments. It was not until the final day that a premium representative explained the front desk error and detailed the perks we should have had all along. While I appreciate the acknowledgment, the explanation came too late to salvage the experience. The $50 credit offered is insufficient for the complete loss of the premium services I paid for. Additionally, the departure process was needlessly stressful. The package was meant to include late checkout, yet we had to request a spare room to prepare for our flight. Within 10 minutes of entering the room, we were called and told to vacate — an unnecessary and unprofessional disruption. As a paying customer and loyal guest, I am entitled to receive the services promised at the time of booking. This did not happen, and the inconvenience, loss of value, and impact on my overall experience were significant. I am therefore requesting a fairer form of compensation that reflects the full cost of the premium package and the disruption caused. I trust that Memories Jibacoa values its returning guests and will address this matter promptly. I look forward to your proposed resolution Sincerely,

Sol Caribe Beach: Disappointing experience

From start to finish, our experience at this hotel was deeply disappointing. Upon arrival, we had to wait 3 hours and 30 minutes just to get our room. When we finally checked in, the room was infested with tiny ants. The food was another major letdown. The buffet selection was extremely limited and lacked taste. On two separate occasions, the dinner food was actually off. As a result, my husband, my 6-year-old son, and I all suffered upset stomachs — my son even vomited three times. We did [... read more]n’t bother complaining during our stay because the reception staff never appeared helpful; they seemed disinterested in their jobs and in assisting guests. On our last day, with our flight at 10:10 pm, we requested a late check-out. Since regular check-out was at noon, we were told we’d have to pay 20 Canadian dollars per hour to keep the room. We reluctantly paid for an extra 5 hours. Later, at the airport, we spoke to other guests from the same hotel who told us they were allowed to keep their rooms for free during their late check-outs. So why were we charged? This inconsistency, combined with the poor service, unclean room, and unsafe food, left us with a very bad impression. We will not be returning and cannot recommend this hotel.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Lovely, would definitely return

Sanctuary was just what we were looking for: clean spacious room, friendly service, beautiful landscaping, a very well kept pool with just the right amount of activities for those interested. My room had a view of the ocean, no buildings in the way. Beach was clean and perfect. All staff were top notch!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: No water to drink for 1 day

We had worst experience for our first 48 hours of our trip. The water pipe was broken . There wasn’t any water to get bath or washroom for first day . In the second day, there wasn’t any water to drink . Yes, they just have soda water and no ice.the washroom was discussing and all the resort was smelled. My kids had a rough time. I understand that couple of resort had this problem but sunwing doesn’t want to clearly explain the situation and they kept saying the water will fixed. After a lot of  [... read more]complaints , they moved us to another resort

Playa Vista Azul: A great vacation

We went as a family of 4 in July 2025. Originally booked regular rooms and were very disappointed upon arrival. The rooms looked very run down. The buffet also looked very "sad", although in fairness, we arrived there at 8 pm. Anyway, we didn't want to spend our vacation that way and paid for a premium room the next day. Premium comes with an additional restaurant and priority booking at a la cart. Premium rooms are great! In fairness, we later discovered that the food in the main buffet is [... read more] not actually bad, especially if you come at the beginning. The beach is a bit far but it wasn't a problem for us. It is beautiful. The grounds are well-maintained. Staff are really hardworking and very friendly. There was some sort of entertainment but none of us are into that so I can't really say much. We spent most of our times at the beach or in the pool. All in all, great experience. Food in restaurants was actually much better than I expected.

Blau Varadero: Great experience

If you know Cuba and it’s political situation you would understand to why people from Canada choose this Country! I love thiese natural, virgin amazing beaches that this Country offers! It’s People is the second reason I visited this place! In varadero - Blau Varadero resort considering the low season and light issues that Country suffers, i really was surprised that we couldn’t tell a thing! The food was as per Cuban standards- not bad, and not great! As per rooms- yes could be outdated but con [... read more]sidering the years that this hotel has, to us was great! What i was impressed with was the towels that we forgot and lost. Sarah, one of the managers at the checkout lobby was more than professional the way she handle it! We didn’t pay the fee of 15$ each towel if lost by the guests! I know that i will go back and if you are considering at this day and age travelling to varadero, Blau Varadero its in the low budget and fun to go. However Top three resorts depending on your budget staring from most expensive if you could afford are #1- Melia International #2- Sol Palmeras #3- Blau Varadero