Memories Cayo Largo: Disappointing resort

Just got back from 2 weeks. Oceanview room was great. Lots of water and pressure. Resort ran out of wine and beer more than half of stay. No vegetables. Butter for four days. A lot of variety of food was missing. Pool was filthy and dangerous with broken and missing side panels covering overflow. Not much beach because of high tide. Thank goodness weather was perfect and staff was as well. a train ride to nicer beach was rough. Strongly recommend to take a taxi

Hotel Playa Coco: 3 rd time

Quiet resort. Just the way I like it. No shortages, plenty of hot water. The rooms were clean, although a little musty smelling. Kept the door open when I could to help with that. Staff super super friendly. Beach beautiful. A few rocks upon entering water. Definitely going back

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Great resort - Supply chain issues in Cuba

Things to note - Vapes are illegal in Cuba - prepare to have them seized at the Airport when your arrive. Resort was great - staff were friendly - supply chain issues make every day a new adventure - some days they have things some days not. Internet is not available in the room - lobby bar and bistro cafe have repeaters - anywhere else is a blessing for line of site - something the resort needs to fix.

Grand Aston Cayo Paredon Beach Resort: Yuri is the Best!

SUMMARY – we were there Oct. 26 – Nov. 9, 2023 and would readily return! Low season operating at 10 – 30% occupancy yet they kept almost everything open. When considering this review, we are mustard people, not Grey Poupon. Cuba, for us, offers exceptional value for the price. We have been to 4 Cuban resorts in the past 2 years. CHECK-IN – around noon which was super easy, and our room was ready! RESORT – new resort that celebrated their one-year anniversary while we there. Wel [... read more]l staffed and we were taken care of. ROOM – quite roomy and a nice layout. No issues to speak of. Lots of TV channels in English and other languages. STAFF – exceptional staff at this resort. Shoutouts to Yuri, Carla, Claudia, Yardier, and so many more throughout the resort. BEACH – one of the best we have been to which is something especially important when we research resorts. Most of the beach is powdery sand which extends way out into the ocean including sandbars. You can walk for miles along the beach. Beach chairs are new and in great shape. Tons of palapas. Seaweed is a non-issue and if there is any, it is raked and taken away. One issue – too much Celine Dion being played! More Spanish / Cuban music por favor. FOOD – for the most part, typical Cuban spread. We were impressed with the a la carte restaurants. Buffet had eggs 9/13 breakfasts, bacon 12/13, wine 12/13. Other resorts were also missing eggs – perhaps stockpiling for the upcoming holiday season? Pizza, french fries, poutine, hamburgers, churrios… CELIAC DISEASE – I have so no gluten for me. Yuri took care of me at one of the a la carte restaurants. We came across him at two other restaurants – he instantly remembered me and made sure I was taken care of. Best service I have ever had at a resort! WI-FI – excellent! We downloaded two movies from Netflix in a reasonable time. Login details were good for the duration of our stay! TIPPING – we live by the belief that Cuban people need some help and that if you take care of people, they take care of you. We bring lots of stuff to hand out and tip as well. We gave some deserving staff some old mobile phones we had. Do not bring coins. Buy coins from the staff, tip with the coins, and then buy the coins at the end of the stay. MISC. – negligible issues with mosquitoes and flies, inside and outside. We went for massages at the lighthouse - $55 USD CC or $65 CAD cash. Well worth it - we went twice!

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Not what we were excepting, but we had a great vacation

We spent a week at the Iberostar Coral Esmeralda, Oct31 to Nov7. This being our 6th trip to Cuba and first post Covid, we thought we had a pretty good idea of what to except, ….wonderful people, amazing beaches, so so food and accommodations that may have a deficiency or two. Things have changed. Cuban economy and infrastructure was hurting before Covid, it has now reached a crisis level. Shortages of most everything, there simply are not enough resources to go around. The Cubans needs  [... read more]tourism dollars to improve their living standards, .. tourists expect toilet paper and butter , so the Cuban residents do without. Catch 22 However the shortages have become so acute now the tourism product is suffering and the price for vacations reflects this with incredibly low prices for all inclusive stays that after the Canadian air carrier takes its cut there can’t possible be enough revenue to cover resort operators costs. It’s a downward spiral .. Now. The resort is beautiful, small , just two years old, very clean. Our roof top suite was spectacular, a huge wrap around balcony with ocean views all three sides , The room advertised as 1400 sq ft. had two bathrooms, jacuzzi tub, huge two person shower and a very comfortable king size bed. We had water issues the first 3 days, first no water, then cold water only , then hot water only , then a broken toilet hose while we out of the room resulting in a significant flood and finally no water pressure. So we moved on the third day to another roof top suite that had even a better ocean view. The maids kept our absolutely spotless . The food at the Al a Carte restaurants was very very good you are allowed to book 3 meals per stay and all 3 were excellent. During our week the buffet had severe shortages , no eggs, no fresh fruits or vegetables, no orange juice , excellent tasting breads but usually no butter and never and jam or jellies spreads. The thing I found most odd that was missing was there were no labels telling what the food on trays and tables was. Not 5 star by Canadian standards but we didn’t leave hungry. Cuba is know for amazing beaches and blue waters, that is primarily what we go for, the beach here was a disappointment. Actually there are two beaches here, a very nice low tide beach and a basically nonexistent high tide beach. Not sure if recent storms or wave action has pulled away a lot the beautiful soft white sand recently, as most of reviews were very good, but at the afternoon high tide the water comes right up the shade palapas and many of the chairs are actually in the water . I have never seen a Cuban beach or any resort beach like this before. Mother Nature may have been removing the sand from the beach but she has been very busy bringing sea grass and floating garbage on to the beach. The resort daily cleans SOME of the beach area but not all it . We don’t play the before breakfast towel game and don’t normally mind getting stuck out on the far ends of the resort beaches when we arrive at 9:30 looking for shade spot, unfortunately the ends of the beaches get little or no maintenance and sea grass and garbage it horrific . We spent a half hour or so a cleaned up a couple shade palapas as the one we cleaned the day before was often taken the next day so would clean another, I thought we did a pretty good job picking up the sea grass and garbage and piling it up in the vegetation zone behind our palapa . I know that keeping a beach clean is an endless job and resort staff try to do a good job in the centre part beach but they had to do the job with a broken rake and without even a wheelbarrow to put the collected material in , they put it in a tub and dragged it away, such is the shortages of tools and materials in Cuba. However the one thing that the resort can control is investing time and effort to keep the beach clean. Toilet paper , bring lots , although toilet in the rooms is supplied daily do not count it in any other public bathrooms anywhere, airports, restaurants, beach bars, anywhere. There are no hand sanitizing stations anywhere , bring your own. I could go on but it comes down you get what you pay for. Talking to other people at the airport all the resorts were more or less the same although ours seemed to the only one without eggs all week , perhaps the Cayo Cruz area, being small and somewhat isolated is a lower priority for supplies? All and all we had a good vacation, meet some great people but we wouldn’t go back.

Memories Paraiso: The Perfect Getaway

This hotel was just right for our vacation. We stayed at the Grand Memories --the grounds were clean and well kept. The rooms were serviced daily as well as bottled waters to keep you hydrated while at the beach or at the pool. The staff were just amazing,warm and always accommodating with your various request. They treated everyone like royalty. I would highly recommend as after a 7 night stay we felt like we were family.

Playa Costa Verde: Vacation at Playa Costa Verde Holguin Cuba

My wife and I spent a week at Playa Costa Verde. It was an hour’s drive to the hotel from the airport but it was nice to see the scenery. The resort was beautiful especially the reception area with the long Pothos plants hanging from ceiling about 50 feet in length. The room was great, close to the pool and the beach. The food was okay but could use some variety. I guess it could be because of the current shortages. The staff were super friendly and bilingual if you are not fluent in Spanish [... read more]. There were excursions available if you wanted to venture off the resort or do your own thing. It was a great week.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: A Disappointment

My sister whom I travelled with had been here and raved about this resort. We arrived to find that the place is in disrepair and the services to be lacking. Although the staff works hard and try to please they have little to work with. They don’t even have the basics to work with. A 5 star this is not the place is falling apart and has not been maintained and they donot provide the services they advertise. Times are tough for the staff and the repeat guests are now disappearing. Please p [... read more]ick it up because soon you will have no one.

Barcelo Solymar: Great resort second time here!

I have been to this resort before. This time there were alot of steady shortages. Sometimes no eggs in the morning or ham. Rarely had coffee, cappuccino machine broken. 4 out of 11 days they ran out of beer at the bars. Usually they had more by afternoon. I was aware of the shortages so it didn’t bother me. There was always something to eat, but don’t expect a Mexico all inclusive breakfast lunch and dinner. The benefit is, you will lose weight! Pool is always great, beach is paradise. The r [... read more]oom was good enough for someone who doesn’t spend much time in there. The AC worked great! Am going back in March!

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Excellent Resort

First time to Cuba, overall it was better then I had ever expected. Food was very good, lots to choice from. Rooms where large and always cleaned. Staff was extremely friendly. I did notice that there was no hand soap for the washrooms. (would advise travelers to bring their own) Lots of mosquitos (I brought Skin so Soft bug spray by Avon, which really helped) (would also advise travelers to bring bug spray). Beautiful Beach

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Great Resort

My husband and I decided to go to Grand Sirenis Hotel in Cayo Santa Maria for our wedding anniversary. We had an amazing time. The overall aesthetic of the facility is amazing. Very clean, wonderful colour scheme, and very appealing to the eye. The dining experience was better than I expected, but not the best I've ever had. There is definitely room for improvement when it comes to the food. More flavour, more variety. The one thing my husband did not like at all was the infestation of mosquitoe [... read more]s, which I'm not sure can be completely controlled, however, a little fumigation wouldn't hurt. Everyone on the resort was eaten alive to the point where it was difficult to enjoy the nightlife, despite all our efforts with repellents and destroyers. I also think that we went during a slower season and the entertainment was lacking effort. Overall, it is a nice hotel, the beach was clean and just beautiful! The greatest part of our stay...THE STAFF! Wow, the staff is just wonderful. They are so gracious, so kind, always positive. (Minus management, they seemed to always look upset.) We made sure to tip every chance we got because the staff deserved it. Special shoutout to Jabao, Hector, Vincent, Cindy, and Enrique. Thank you so much to each and every one of them.

Playa Pesquero: One of my favourite resorts

I enjoyed the friendly and helpful staff. I enjoyed the beautiful surroundings and of course the beach— amazing. There was some lack in the buffet but there was still fresh fish and meat and more food than l could eat. Since Covid things have changed all over the world. Imagine what it would be like if countries could adopt the second greatest commandment and apply it in their dealings with one another….” You must love your neighbour as yourself”

Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: Well managed resort

In the past, we had stayed at the Hotel Paradisus, but due to hurricanes that hotel’s beach is almost nonexistent, it is full of coral; but since we love Playa Esmeralda we decided to try out Sol Luna Mares since the latter had been renovated. We were pleasantly surprised. The grounds were beautiful, the beach was stunning as expected. We had reserved a room with ocean-view and to our great surprise, our room had cathedral ceilings! Service was impeccable, entertainment was amusing, although  [... read more]it does become very noisy if you want to sit in your balcony We are coffee drinkers and were very pleased to see a coffee counter in the lobby which was open 24 hours a day. I had cappuccino’s to my heart’s content. I have to mention how clean all the public bathrooms were. At the beach, the lady whose name I believe was Ymilce, cleaned the bathroom after each person who entered. Amazing! The only thing we were disappointed with was the food. Yes, yes, this is Cuba and the situation is really bad, but I think if they just offered a little more vegetables instead of canned mushrooms, canned beets and canned carrots, it would be an amazing improvement. The only fresh vegetables they had were cucumbers, oh also pumpkin. If you like, french fries, hamburger, hot dogs, sweet potatoes, pizza, pasta, pancakes, cakes, doughnuts, then you will be happy with the selection. They also had a very good selection of fresh fish, chicken, porc, and even steak and delicious pineapple and papaya. I hope that in future, the hotel will be able to add fresh vegetables, real eggs for omelettes instead of powdered eggs, cold cuts and maybe a better variety of cheese. If they make these changes, this hotel will easily become a 5 star hotel. In the meantime, we definitely intend to return to this hotel, since it is beautiful and well managed. Not to mention, the amazing employees which make this place even more special. In the meantime, gracias to the management, a job well done.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: The good and bad.

First I want to start by saying that I rarely leave bad reviews based on a one week stay at any resort but this must be said. If you want to go on a vacation and drink good beer and good rum, vodka. This place is for you. The adult only side is quiet and beautiful. Unfortunately there are more negative things to say than positive. The level side of the resort(kid friendly) is much larger and has more staff to attend to your needs. The buffet is larger and has more options, although those opt [... read more]ions are sad at best. The entertainment was good but inconsistent. Some nights they did not have any sort of entertainment. And when they did sometimes they started way later than planned. Now I will talk about the food. If you can survive off of toast and canned fruit then great, unfortunately not everyone can. The meat was extremely inconsistent and some nights you could tell it was old or from the day before. There was rarely no fresh fruit and NO fresh vegetables. My girlfriend and myself got some sort of food poisoning from the buffet, in fact I may even have a parasite. Travel to and from the airport was fairly long and boring. There were some pink flamingos on the way but nothing noteworthy. All in all I do not recommend this resort. Pros: Large modern rooms, comfy beds, amazing beach and beautiful water. Cons: Absolutely terrible food(food poisoning possible), lack of toilet paper, lack of fruity beverages.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great resort !!

For my first time ever going on a plane and resort this was perfect. No complaints except for the food wasn’t to its best. The staff amazing. We had an issue with booking of the room but it was solved the next day. Couldn’t ask for better service. If you get to go to this place. Try out Mikes cafe near the lobby. The staff there are amazing. Frozen cappuccino are the best. I so recommend this place.

Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: Beautiful Resort

Very spacious and clean. Pool looks clean and neat. Beach area looks nice and tidy. Snack bar opens 24/7 with tasty burgers and hotdogs. Lots of drinks. Wi-Fi available throughout the resort. Cleaning ladies are always on time

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: not worth the money

3 fairly good restaurants, evening and lunch buffet awful. Breakfast was okay thanks to the wait staff, no bacon or fruit all week constantly run out of plates. The pool area was dull no entertainment. Grounds and buildings need maintenance and repairs. Check in was a major issue - never before seen anything like it - assigned butler what a joke.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Beautiful Resort

Well maintained resort, beautiful pools. Staff were very friendly and accommodating. The staff went above and beyond to make our experience a great one! Would recommend this resort if you are in need of a relaxing vacation.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Amazing Time

Was our 3rd time at this resort love it that’s why we keep coming back staff is amazing Abel at the swim up bar and his family has become our friends made our stay amazing anything we wanted he made sure he had it for us overall an amazing trip and resort

Blau Varadero: Amazing resort!

We had a great vacation experience. - Rooms are big, clean, and comfortable with all necessities provided, daily well cleaned. Daily furnished with water, coffee, and beer. - On the bars, Caribbean endless cocktail list. Wines (white and red). - Daily entertainments with a top on weekly Cuba day (each Thursday). - The staffs are professional, friendly, smiling, and open to any customer requests. - Animation team is spectacular!