Iberostar Selection Paraiso Lindo: NOT VALUE FOR THE MONEY

For the money that this resorts cost the value is not there specialty restaurants all of them are not worth the effort to get a reservation food just as good as buffet nothing special lack of restaurants opened for lunch buffets do not open till 1 PM

Iberostar Waves Rose Hall Beach: Fabulous Resort!

Very well kept hotel and grounds, fabulous food but most of all friendly, very accommodating staff. Lots of activities for people of all ages. I highly recommend Iberostar Rose Hall Beach and plan to go back again.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Very nice resort

We stayed in the spa section which was nice and quiet (adult only). The rooms are spacious and very clean with a separate tub and shower. The grounds are well maintained with lots of beautiful flowering plants. The Ensenachos beach is the better of the two beaches, and you can snorkle along the side by the rocks. The food is fairly good, with only one day where the buffet food was not up to par (not sure what happened that day) but there is lots to choose from, including delicious desserts an [... read more]d many types of cheese. We didn't swim in the pools as it was a bit cool and the ocean was much warmer.

JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar: Top resort

Vast, superb and well taken care-of grounds (seen some wildlife, too!), low density, clean, very relaxed environment and really attentive service staff. No stampede-feeling to eating areas, beach, pools, etc., you get in most resorts - low density in guest numbers: large grounds, plenty of eating space, a wide beach with good sand. Pools are great: an 80m salt-water pool, a heated 20m sauna pool, a 40m regular pool, etc.. Large room, well appointed, well-stocked bar and snacks (...if you car [... read more]e for it). A show every night, etc..

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Disappointed

We went into this trip expecting the best. New resort, ”5 star”, close to pilar, great reviews... But it didn't measure up. The best way I can describe it is over hyped. We had issues with the service because they seemed under staffed. The staff in most locations rotated on shifts and they were very hit and miss, we made some great friends but during some shifts it was just better to go to the beach and wait for the other shift to start. Furthermore the entertainment staff was seriously bad. [... read more].. And the shows disappointing. Choreography was off, the show managers didn't choose great themes, and we're selectively friendly with only more attractive female visitors. The beach here, as most have discussed, is more of a dock area imported sand poured behind. There is a small section of white sand beach at the boat launch, and if you swim out a little you'll find a lovely area to bask in or swim around. Playa Pilar is 800m away, you have to walk in the water or across the rocky cliff side, is beautiful there. We took paddle boats out and this was the best way to get to a nice area for swimming, then you could jump out and swim for an hour before returning. Food at this resort was great. They offered a great selection of fresh fish and seafood daily cooked on the grill, along with their signature fresh milk and fruits which were always good. A la carte restaurants served fancied up versions of the good buffet food, and the lobster was the best I've had in Cuba yet. The stand out food for us was the beef ribs, sushi, lobster, and the fresh dairy. Unfortunately my wife and I both got seriously ill. We sustained incomparable stomach pain and we don't know what it was from, our best guess is water/ice... But it could have been food related. They tell you it's OK to use the tap water at this resort for drinking... And I think they make their ice with it. Lastly the accommodations were marvelous! We had a great view of the beach and the blocks are built in such a way that almost every apartment has a nice view.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Definately recommend this resort

The best part about this resort is the hotel location - so private and the beaches are like no other- sand like flour - such many shades of turquoise blue is the ocean- I ran on the beach every morning - so shallow- you could walk forever. All of the staff at the hotel were very accommodating. What is not to like meals prepared for you - the hotel was immaculate, drink, sleep , lie in the sun - repeat . If you go to Cuba - Embrace what they are good at - seafood. Kudos to exceptional se [... read more]rver - Damarys Gonzenlez and Osneil in the main dining room and Ubaldo who made my omelette every day and Chinos the lifeguard - all very professional - Very great staff

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Not bad

Hotel was beautiful. Pool was setup very nicely with pool beds which were very comfy. Staff was very pleasant. Always willing to help with anything you needed. Only thing I have to say that disappointed me was the beach. Beautiful lookout on the pier but the pier if the length of the beach. Only one small area of beach to access the water. Definitely disappointing since I'm a beach girl. Everyone was packed in that one access spot on beach n the rest of the long beach was vacant.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Fantastic resort

The hotel was beautiful, the property was well taken care of . The staff was very helpful if needed anything. They had great choices of food ..the waiters were amazing very hospitable. The nightly entertainment had a great variety. Always keeping you entertained. The beach party cookout was a nice surprise. The rooms were kept cleaned and well stocked. We would definately return..also recommend this 5*resort.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Everything was AMAZING!

The Iberostar resort with all its features and services (buildings, swimming pools, Spa, rooms, tennis court, surroundings, food, entertainment and the politeness and correctitude of the personnel (forgot my belongings twice and found them in good standing) are remarkable. The Ensenachos beach and ocean are surreal! Excellent value for money!

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Don't believe the write up

Food is same all day every day. Found 3 pieces of glass in my salad. Special meals poor. Both of us got travel trots for a day. Rooms not cleaned well. Asked 3 times for deadbolt to be fixed- never was. Asked for new lightbulb in bathroom- not done. Safe didn't work halfway through week- fixed next day. We were told to leave our valuables in open safe... Beach is nice, 3 pools in same area joined by kiddie pool. Ask to book free catamaran or paddle boats on beach. $20 CUC gets snorkelling on nea [... read more]rby reef equipment included. Lots of activities. Friendly staff. Lots of bug bites. We paid extra for ocean view and were put on first floor looking at a sand pile. They moved us to second floor where we could see the ocean. There is no non-smoking area - continuously breathing in cigar and cigarette fumes. Glad I didn't have children exposed to it. Definitely not 4.5 stars.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Excellent Resort - Fabulous Beaches

Positives: This hotel was excellent. Staff very friendly and the lobby was a fun place to be in the evenings. Entertainment every night in mini theatre was a nice touch with loads of local talent. Tennis courts were brand new and a pleasure to play on. Catamaran outing was very good value and they actually raised the sails! Food was very good - no complaints! The beaches are the best in Cuba - better than Varadero! Negatives: Check in was a chore and could easily be improved. VIP package ($3 [... read more]5 CDN each) for departure was a disaster. (Air Transat needs to investigate... Refreshments were a joke. Seating in lounge was limited. Non VIP people got much better treatment and much better seats on the plane.)

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Great value for money

We just got back on Friday. Overall it was a nice resort. Clean rooms and friendly staff. Paid for the upgraded spa package. Buyer beware. Not worth the extra money. Everyone has access to the spa. The jacuzzi had ice cold water and the one sauna that was working smelled of feaces! The gift and champagne that came with the spa was not worth a mention. The food was quite acceptable for Cuba. Overall a nice week. Thanks to Laura mulvihill for her assistance once again!!! Love her service and would [... read more] recommend her to everyone!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: very nice time

the room was perfect, right across from the pool, service in the lobby was great, always a waitress asking if I needed anything, still not crazy about the food in the cafeteria but found a snack shack at the pool for fish and chips and hamburgers, real good, wish there was a way I could leave Windsor early and have the day in Cuba and come back later in the last day to get more sun, actually only have 5 days vacation, I have bad knees so the ground floor room was great, the ocean is only a few  [... read more]minutes walk, my only complaint is the cafeteria food, I am not a picky eater but I couldn't eat it, maybe a trade deal for food from Canada is in order, oh ya, one more complaint, the exchange rate is way too high, for $100 Canadian I got $68 pesos, this is not fair to Canadian tourists, I will be going back because of the great Cuban people I met

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Still Decent resort

The week of Jan 26, 2017 was our second time at the Iberostar Ensenachos. Our party of 2 adults, 2 seniors, and 2 kids stayed in two communal rooms by the kids friendly pool. We were very happy with our first stay at the hotel because there is always a lot to do for everyone...the white powdered sand, chystal clear waters, the complementary tennis, non motorized boats, archery, and air gun, evening shows, kids club activities keep you very busy and entertained. Also, food and selection is dec [... read more]ent. We are puzzled with the discrepancys at the hotel this stay...the tap in one of one room was running and will not return off. Requests for repair at the front desk and with our Air Canada rep were ignored. Room service never delivered our food on one occassion with no follow up. They "ran out" of ones at the bank for 6 out of our 7 day stay so we could not convert our money to tip the staff. Finally, on our previous stay guest were not allowed to save beach chairs just by placing towels on them but not actually being at the beach for hours. As a result, the beach was mostly empty but there was no place to sit for those actually at the beach! Although these things were annoying and disappointing...The Iberostar at Santa Marie would be the only resort we would go to when travelling to Cuba and we have been to Cayo Coco, Varadero, and Havana

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Awesome beach, so-so hotel

I wouldn't give this hotel more than 3 stars. There was a bunch of annoyances that added up. Rooms were ok, but service was inconsistent. I had to remind the maid to empty trash and change towels on a couple of occasions. The floor wasn't always properly cleaned. I'd complain less if I wasn't tipping, but i was, leaving 2.5 pesos per room (we had 2) every day. We had rooms side by side and there was a playpen for our toddler just as we requested. However, one of our rooms (#4023) was next to cen [... read more]tral ac unit for the building. The ac unit was right behind the wall and was extremely irritatingly noisy. We could even hear it in the other room. We should have requested a different room right away. Our bad that we didn't. 3 days later my mom who stayed in that room could no longer sleep at night. At that point we did request a room change and got a different room a day later. I suspect the management knows about ac noise but is unable or unwilling to resolve the issue. They said they'll send someone to check the ac but we didn't see any change. Again, this was central ac, not the in room ac. The ac kept loudly whirring in the next 3 days, we just didn't care anymore as we were further away from it at that point. On one occasion the room fridges weren't refilled. We did completely empty them on that day, but that shouldn't matter. After a complaint at the from desk the fridges were refilled on that night while we were away for supper. Buffet restaurant wasn't bad. We were able to find food to our liking and were mostly satisfied with it. A la carte restaurants are overrated by some reviewers. Don't go. I'd take buffer any day over a la carte. Mediterranean was comparable to buffet. Italian - food was nothing special, i expected more out of Italian. Service was good, the guys tried. They don't seem to be toddler friendly though, no chairs for little children. We felt hungry after Italian and went to buffet. Asian - absolutely horrible!! Or perhaps i'm spoiled by Vancouver's fine Asian restaurants. Don't go there if you never tried Asian cuisine or you may decide that all Asian cuisine is just like that and hate it for the rest of your life. Sushi - what a joke, 3 tiny pieces (not 3 rolls) with rice in them tasting very wrong and having wrong texture. That probably wasn't even sushi rice. Tempura - bad. Fried rice and shrimp were kind of ok. Dessert - we didn't stay long enough to try it. We saw 2 cockroaches in front of us on the table and left. The cockroaches were the last straw. Headed to the buffet of course. There are so many smokers everywhere. The restaurants seem to be the only non-smoking areas. Family pool is surrounded by smokers. It's unpleasant to go there with kids. Some old smoking jerks are very inconsiderate to families with children. Well, that's not a hotel's problem, but having 2 very long beaches the hotel could probably allocate some portion of them as a non-smoking area. So one day 2 couples in their sixties moved into a spot on the beach next to us. They started smoking in turns making seemingly very intentional puffs of smoke in our direction. What jerks. 4 of them were going one after the other in turns non-stop. I understand we are not the most nicest neighbors ourselves with 3 sometimes noisy kids. Well, we at least don't make the noise intentionally and we try to calm children down if they go too far. Anyways, we lasted about an hour and then just moved further on the beach. Another family with children nearby stayed but they were a few meters further from the smoke, perhaps it didn't bother them that much. Now comes the best part - the beach. We stayed on Ensenachos beach all the time and we loved it. It's awesome. We were lucky to have very good waves on the first day (due to the storm on the day before). The rest of the time the ocean was calm and crystal clear. You can snorkel on the east side of the beach so bring your snorkeling gear. Beware of the jelly fish. They are tiny and there aren't many of them but they do sting if you happen to touch them. We saw a crab hiding in the sand, a couple of pelicans over the beach, 2 iguanas and a hermit crab in the bushes near the bar at Ensenachos. Make sure to bring enough sunscreen as the hotel store doesn't have any. Fortunately we brought enough. We spend most of our time on the beach and overall we liked our vacation much (because of the beach). The hotel doesn't really meet its 4.5-5 star rating though.

Hotel Mojito: Another great time!!

8th or 9th time here. Lost count. Fantastic, attentive and personable staff, from the bar tenders to the bell boys. Always aim to please and ensure your holiday is great. The food is decent for Cuban hotel food, though there are options to break the cycle if you need something a little different.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: The resort was better than expected

We liked meeting the staff they were very friendly and helpful. They treated us like family. The grounds were well kept with manicured gardens and a jungle like feel backdrop. The food was ok lots to choose in the buffet, the El Colonial a la carte was a 5 star restaurant. The beach is everything and more then what is described on their website. 2 weeks was not long enough... can't wait to return.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Not a 4 star resort.

Registered with Sunwing vacations as a 4 star resort is a misrepresentation. The resort is old and in need of a facelift. Originally in a main floor room which was to have an ocean view but we had a sand pile to look at. Moved to a second floor room and we got a beautiful view. Complained that the door dead bolt didn't work but it never was repaired during our stay. The food was good but we both got stomach bugs on different occasions which wasn't good. Entertainment was just okay. Snorkelin [... read more]g available from the hotel for 20 CUC. We had high winds that day and probably shouldn't have gone out. Life jackets optional according to the guide. Bad idea! I would not recommend this resort to my friends. Beach was outstanding. Lots of comfortable beach chairs but beach towels not always available every day.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Wonderful family stay at Iberostar Ensenachos!

This was my 6th visit to Cuba and first time on the Cayo Santa Maria coast. We travelled with a 4 year old and my parents for my mom's 50th birthday. I will start with the outstanding features that were an immediate hit with my family - ensenachos beach, which was much better than the closer Megano. A picturesque walk through the hotel grounds can be conveniently replaced with a golf cart ride from the lobby. You can even dial for a cart from the hotel room. As everytime and everywhere in Cuba t [... read more]he crystal clear waters were the best part. This beach boasts beautiful fish for those who like some snorkeling. The hotel itself was spacious with a balcony that can easily fit 10 people, a dressing room separate from the main sleeping room and a spacious bathroom with a stand alone shower. The grounds of the resort were massive. I won't lie we were lost the first night, and tired of walking some days. But again, a golf cart as at your service. My parents love the chance to walk through spectacularly kept landscapes of this resort. The food had variety every day and plenty of options. The people friendly and welcoming as always and, even though we didn't visit the pool area often, my daughter loved the water park and the kids club. The hotel also features a full indoor theatre for evening entertaining which helps avoid mosquitoes at night. My only complaint was the Cuban a la carte restaurant and the service we got there waa terrible. I've never experienced anything so bad in Cyba before where we had to leave half way through the dinner because the server wouldn't even refill our drinks. Overall, a wonderful stay and can't wait to go back!

Iberostar Selection Rose Hall Suites: Rose Hall Suites can't be beat!!!

Iberostar Rose Hall Suites met and exceeded our expectations for an all inclusive family-friendly resort. The staff were amazing as advertised, always smiling and offering assistance where needed. Our kids loved the Children's Waterpark and Kids Club. Having the main pool so close to the beach and ocean allowed us to easily transition from one to the other, which was important for us with young children. The restaurants were fantastic, including the main buffet. All in all, a great family  [... read more]vacation, one that I would recommend to others!