Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Good resort

Great service with check in, nice lobby area with bar, rooms are nice, some updated and on one of 3 floors which is a nice height. Great beach, pool is really nice with lots of lounge chairs and shade

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: What makes a 4 star resort??

We had not gone south for a number of reasons since 2012 so our week of sun was long overdue. Starfish was suggested to us so we booked in. First of all, Cayo Santa Maria is MINIMUM 2 hours from the airport. Not 'just over and hour' or 'about an hour and a half'. A light rain when we arrived extended our trip to 2 hours 45 min. Check in was a mess. What would it hurt to have some lanes set up and a structured service arrangement. Oh well, Cuba. The question of what makes a 4 star resort  [... read more]is so subjective it's almost impossible to believe the online resort ratings. Starfish Cayo Santa Maria is listed as a 4 star and 9 years ago when it opened it probably was. But the struggle for all Cuban resorts is availability of stuff. And quality of maintenance. Both suffer greatly when trying to operate under a corrupt and ignorant government. The pools were great. The grounds were very well kept- lots of flowers, no trash, butts, etc. And of course the beach. Truly amazing. This is why a country would take 10 years to build a causeway to it. Well, that and they pay slave wages but that's another story... The buffet food made me very ill. I finally figured out that I had to eat the fresh cooked meat from the grill and only have rice and a vegetable from the steam tables. Which was fine except I ate chicken and tilapia every night thereafter. We paid for a lobster dinner twice. Worth the 15 pesos (19.00 Can) And the seafood ala carte was ok but we could only have it once. We skipped the Cuban ala carte after talking to others on the resort. Beds were ok. Housekeeping pretty good- towels a minor issue. Beach towels- same ones all week. Never had replacements available at the sports center. Never offered to launder our beach towels. So, this causeway / island thing is a non starter for me in such a poorly run country. 3 times during our stay there was no water in our room, no water in the lobby area or no water on the resort. So, no toilet, no shower, no laundry, no water for the kitchens. This was a huge 'I'm never coming back here' for me. On our check out day, we were out of our room at 11:30. Now we're relying on the lobby washrooms. Locked. No water. Get the picture? Then we got on our bus. No washroom. See? Anyway, like I said we were 4 years overdue so it would take more than this to ruin this trip. I would never go back to or suggest to anyone to go to Cayo Santa Maria though. This country cannot handle the infrastructure necessary to make it sustainable.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Amazing Experience

The hotel was amazing and the staff was very helpful. The beach was awesome and the hotel was very clean and had everything you needed and if things were missing they got them to you right away. I can't wait to go back

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great time at Ocean Casa del mar !!!

The hotel was new and very well kept. Grounds were clean and staff friendly. Food was amazing and had a large choice of sea food which is hard to find in Cuba. The beach had two parts. One with rocks and the other one without rocks. We did not mind the rocks as it provided for a great snorkeling experience with TON of fish.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Excellent Holiday!

My family traveled to the Warkwick in February 2017. We were extremely pleased with the resort. The beach was beautiful. Long stretches of sandy beach on one side, with interesting rocks to explore on the other. There was something for everyone at the beach. The water was warm, and you could see clear through to the bottom, even if you were in the water to your chest. The food was pretty good - better than any other resort in Cuba we have tried. The pool was clean and clear. The staff w [... read more]ere excellent. When we were there, the staff were always cleaning the washrooms. We didn't see any plumbing issues. We really don't understand what all the complaints are about.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Amazing Beach and Beautiful Suite

We spent 10 days at the Warwick Feb/March 2017. We are frequent travelers, with our last trip to Cuba being over 5 years ago. Most recently, we have stayed at 5 stars in the Mayan/Dominican, so we were not sure what to expect after recent reviews. We were thrilled with the one bedroom Suite. Our room was always spotless when we returned at the end of the day, with extra touches and towel animals/flowers. The staff throughout the resort were all wonderful and helpful. The groundskeep [... read more]ers clearly work very hard. The grounds are beautiful and well kept. The food was much better than we expected - my son actually ate! [When we traveled to Cuba previously, the food was not great, so we had similar expectations.] The 24 hour snack bar always has a standard option if you can't find something you like at the buffet. [Fries and hot dogs were always available.] The beach and pool exceeded expectations. While one side of the beach was rocky (due to recent storms), the other side was beautiful, with long stretches of soft sand. The pool was cleaned frequently while we were there, and the water was always clear. The one potential downside: The afternoon party at the pool was a bit too noisy for us. However, others clearly enjoyed it. So, if you are looking for a quieter area, you will need to spend afternoons at the beach instead of the pool. [Not really a hardship!!] All in all, we had a wonderful holiday at the Warwick.

Memories Paraiso: Not so amazing

First, we are not fussy eaters and only wanted decent meals and peace and quiet. After a 2 hour bus ride from the airport, arriving hot and tired and hungry, we had to wait 5 hours for our room to be ready. While waiting, our luggage sat outside by the main front door. After 5 hours the room still was not ready so we demanded another room. Too bad. It was right behind the theatre which we didn't want as we go to bed early and it was quite noisy. We had NO HOT WATER for 3 full days. Finally p [... read more]ut us in another building. Grounds not bad, but too long of a walk from our building to the main lobby and dining room. Dining room (buffet) was sooooo noisy we couldn't have a quiet conversation with each other. The servers would collect the dishes and throw them into a box.Lots of food but repetition every day. Stay away from what they call beef. It's like no cow I ever tasted. Beach was nice, could walk for an hour and still more. The canapys were so close together on the beach that you could see the white of your neighbors eyes. The maid was nice and the room clean. Other than that I would rate this a 3 star at mostand that's pushing it. I would definitly not refer it to my friends, as most of them like peace and quiet also.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Awesome Resort

The food was fantastic for Cuba, lots of variety everyday (pasta bar, pizza bar, fresh shrimp and fish grilled in front of you, chicken and beef grilled to your liking). Pool is phenomenal, largest pool I have ever seen, and cleaned daily by the staff. The ocean was beautiful, and the grounds were kept neat and tidy. The staff was unbelievable, Elizabeth in the kids club was amazing, Servers were fabulous, friendly and efficient. This is by far my favourite Cuba vacation. The only downfall is th [... read more]e 1 1/2 bus ride from the airport..but if it is during the day you get to see lots of stuff.

Melia Las Dunas: Very disappointed

It started from the word go! when we arrived after a lengthy 2 hour bus ride, the front desk advised us that our rooms would not be ready till 3-4 o’clock so when arriving at 1100 am and having to wait around in the lobby with your luggage until your room is ready is not a good start to a "5star resort" with no compensation or any kind of "We are so sorry" instead wait!, we finally get to our room(ocean view)...300 feet of forest outside your window and stand on your toes to get a glimpse of t [... read more]he ocean. So not to fuss over it we figured let’s try and make the best of the rest of our trip, we decided lets freshen up. you can’t flush toilet paper down, you have to put your dirty toilet paper in the garbage can since it doesn't flush, the bathroom facility is very dated and the fixtures are rusted, we found out during our stay that they don't like to replace our towels instead they like to hang them either in the garden on main floor or over the handrail to dry off. One night we had some drink on the balcony for a night cap to find out in the morning we had spilt some baileys on our desk, to find a swarm of ants eating the sugar, and actually you would see ants all over the room every day. One day we had no water so we went without showers and cleaning and another day we had no hydro. When we arrived back home we noticed that both my wife and I our bodies are covered in bug bites On a happy note we went to Isabel and Fernando Romantico restaurant for dinner and the beef tenderloin was to die for. A La Carte dinners all start at 7pm and the breakfast and lunch hours are odd, only one place to be able to eat all day, most places ran out of fries, no bread or toast in the mornings because they ran out Pizza place was very nice, pizzas were excellent, the pasta place as well was great excellent service there thank you Nilla Buffet, one of our relatives from our party went to get shrimp out of the shrimp display to find cockroaches... Beach front, when we got to the beach we had always heard that Cuban beaches are the cat’s meow but this beach was far from being the cat’s meow, the beach frontage was about 30' once you walk down the board walk and climb down a short embankment, sea weeds the entire length of the beach, at the last 5 start resort we went to (Royalton in DR) you would never see this, they would get up early and rake it all up. One morning we decided to go for a walk on the beach and since the tide was up so high there was no beach left for a long section. Adult pool was great nice and quiet good service Grounds area, very bad shape, no up keep, gardening to a very minimal They have a shuttle service that runs thru the entire resort since it is a very large resort, you would think that when they drive by and they are empty that they would ask if you require a ride somewhere instead they zip right by, just no courtesy And then the shuttle begging, every time they bring you something whether be food or drink and stand and give you a look, like I need my tip…like really do I really need to tip you after every single drink? Now on the last day of the trip...remember we lost almost a whole on day1 sitting around, so now on the last day we had to be checked out of our room by 5am so I called a shuttle service to come get us and all our luggage...guess what they never came, we had to drag our luggage from the opposite side of the resort then when we got to the lobby in a sweat from walking that far, I decided to remove my shirt since I was sweating in it and I did not want to be wet for my trip back home, a security guard comes out of nowhere and tells me to put my shirt back on, I looked around to an empty lobby and shook my head, like really I was happy to get home to 30cm of snow...

Melia Las Dunas: Not the greatest

The grounds, bars, pool areas are beautiful and staff are great. The hotel rooms are a little run down and dated. The shower head was split. We were told not to flush the toilet paper as the pipes were too small. The buffet food was mediocre.

Valentin Perla Blanca Paraiso: Great resort

Great resort, good food for Cuba, nice room, clean....very little hot water and water pressure but only late afternoon (was ok in the morning). Beautiful beach, great service. Never a problem getting chairs and always someone there to help. Food on the beach was good. Evening entertainment in the lobby was great.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Beautiful beaches

Grounds and rooms were well maintained but public washrooms near bar and buffet were inadequate Food was good quality but choice of spices were strange Long line ups for Money exchange - unacceptable Reception not available by phone unless number on brochure was wrong

Valentin Perla Blanca: Beautiful Cuban resort

This is a beautiful Resort the outside grounds we're nicely kept. The beach is beautiful very long so lots of places to enjoy it. The food was alright, there was always something that you could find to eat it, was pretty good considering it's Cuban. The room service was very good the rooms were cleaned nicely. The bar wasn't always replenished with the two beers and the two pops but the water was always there. We didn't run out of towels for the beach they changed then in our room. The Wi-Fi [... read more] is terrible you have to buy your cards so it's two cucs for one hour or three cucs for 2 hours, you don't have too many times during the day that you can actually use it because if there's too many people it just doesn't work. The public bathrooms that is something to talk about, most of the time no toilet paper many of the seats on the toilets were broken off or just not there, we were told that it's cuz some people like to do their business by standing on the seats and being as they're not the best quality seats break and they have to remove them so it was always a game to find out if you were going to get a seat or any toilet paper when you went to the public bathrooms or we just simply want back to our room. It is a very large resort so if you want to travel from one end to the other, you can always set up with the golf carts and they'll drop you off and you can ask them to pick you up at a certain time and they would be there to pick you up so of course if you needed to leave earlier well then you have a lot of walking to do because it is quite far from one end to the other. the bathrooms on the beach are non-existent so you would usually have to go to pool areas or further for a washroom. The staff is very good and helpful. We were in building 27 and we're close enough to to most activities. Shows were good. The evening music entertainment was good. No dancing, lights to bright. Went on speedboat and snorkelling excursion, it was fun, good deal for price.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Good getaway fort the price

Overall we had a good vacation. The grounds are beautiful and the pool and beach are very nice. The day time entertainment is not great but the nightly shows are better than average. The food is typical for Cuba.. we don't go for the food. We always found something to eat, however we came home with tummies a little upset - just a little. The staff was very nice for the most part except at the snack bar - it was hit or miss. The rooms were nice and clean, great shower. The beds were doubles and v [... read more]ery firm - too firm for my liking. The cot was absolutely terrible - my 8 year old wouldn't even sleep on it. We got a good price on this resort for our family vacation. Remember it's Cuba and you get what you pay for. Relax and enjoy the beach and sunshine.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Good quality resort

Good meal 🥘. Nice facilities. Kind personal. Drinks 🍹 and ice cream 🍦 everywhere. Not far from Delphinium 🐬 and Scuba diving. Very comfortable and clean. Relaxing music 🎶 every corner and beautiful lawns 🌴

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Awesome Vacation!!

We loved the size and layout of this resort. Everything was convenient and close. The food was awesome and the staff as well!! We especially loved the variety if specialty coffees and the restsurant by the pool for lunch!! We will return!! Chad & Jan

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Wonderful trip

Accomodations were great. Quiet building close to everything, but far enough away for quiet time if needed. Pool area, and grounds were beautiful, beach was gorgeous. Staff were all awesome. Helpful to a fault, and very friendly.Supplies for "activities" very limited ie bring your own tennis raquets and balls etc. Overall great

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing place to stay!!!!

I stayed 7 days at this beautiful resort!!! The people there were amazing and able to pretty much answer all of your questions about Cuba! I enjoyed most of the food there, the grounds were beautiful, the pools were nice, entertainment was amazing! The beach was breathtaking and the water was warm! They had a few dances at the cigar bar which were my favourite thing! Learned how to do some dancing and just overall had fun! Also I went to a wedding well I was there and it was beautiful! I really  [... read more]enjoyed it! All the tour guides we had to and from the resort were wonderful people and they were able to tell you a lot of things! May stay was an amazing time and I would go back in a minute!

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Great resort

The Warwick hotel was a great experience. I would highly recommend visiting this hotel. The staff was fantastic. They were happy polite fun and entertaining. For the first time in Cuba I couldn't have asked for a better time. The maids kept our room fully stocked and clean. The resort provided entertainment all day and night. The bartenders and serving staff were the best.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Not greatgrounds

Grounds beautiful,pool a d beach gorgeous,food is disgusting in buffet and restaurants,rooms very dated,not cleaned well,no hot water all week,no water pressure,would not go back,waiters at bars and pool awesome