Okay resort..

The hotel was not good at all. But that was expected for a low star hotel. I didn't really care for the facilities. More so the beach, the people and the exploring. It was fine to sleep. Not to eat or stay hydrated. Our fridge never had any water. You couldn't find water bottles anywhere. Drinks and snacks were few and far between. The cleaning wasn't really cleaning with our dirty towels being folded up to reuse. It wasn't comfortable for necessities but ok to sleep.

You get your money's worth

This was our 6th visit to Kawama. We know that this is a 3 ⭐️ and know what to expect. The rooms are outdated. The buffet is so so. The A la carte dinners are much better and offer a higher quality of food. There are days when some food and drinks are not available but this happens all over cuba. On the up side, the beach is truly amazing. There are 2 pools. The staff go above and beyond to make your experience at their hotel a pleasant one. There are many repeater customers. August was not [... read more] a good time to go. The temperature was extremely hot and most of the customers were locals on vacation . This hotel is close to many restaurants on the main street and a few steps from the double decker bus. The currency rate appears to change every other day. Best to exchange money on the ride to your hotel and at the market. Avoid the bank. Better to bring loonies and twoonies and $5's. Tipping a$5 bill is a lot right now. The staff may ask you to change the coins into dollar bills. Remember to bring new bills without folds or rips. All in all we really enjoy this hotel and have made many friends over the year. Best time to go is between November and April. Enjoy!

Great beach experience

The beach was a great location because it was easy and convenient to access. The food is not the reason for vacationing at this resort. The room while tidy was not equipped with towels and customer service was lacking .

Good g

Good service nice people nice entertainment Good location I will go back there.The hotel is very nice and clean ,the food is ok for this difficult time for everyone, but for myself the food isn't really important, the atmosphere around the weather the people

Great Getaway.

Club Kawama is beautiful and has much to offer eg.right on the ocean, large swimming pool,plentiful food and refreshments.Every evening we had some of the best entertainment I’ve ever seen.People here are friendly,and I felt safe.The downside is our private toilet did not flush when we arrived, the lid was resting against the wall, and the seat was unattached but resting on top of the toilet.After we complained,water was hooked up and the rest was rectified by removal and we sat on the porcela [... read more]in of the toilet. In spite of this, I would return.Club Kawama has a special charm.

Terrible

Sadly we have to say that this trip was terrible. Simply we love the antiquity of this resort but there was nothing but problems . No hot water for 13 days!! No beach towel exchange for 6 days. Only room towels available were 2 small 12 x 24 inch towels for 2 people. Safe did not work. Lack of food items is not a major issue.as we understand the lack of commodity in this country....but broken toaster in main dining room took 7 days to fix. The staff workers were lovely and so very friendl [... read more]y but upper management were rude and not interested in hearing about issues. Also this resort allows locals constantly to visit and we found them very difficult.. We will Never return to this resort.

The friendliest resort

I very much enjoyed my time at Kawama. I have been to this resort over ten times and will keep returning. I have made so many friends and we continue to talk after the vacation is over. The staff are always amazing just like family. The food is average but they still has shortages like butter, condiments and cheese and certain items.Cuba has and is in difficult times but always greets you pleasantly with s smile. Leida always goes above and beyond with makng sure everything is perfect for your  [... read more]stay. The airline was horrible and disappointing, I would never fly Swoop again. I am a very loyal guest and I will continue to return to this resort. It was such a pleasure and the only changes I would make would be to entertainment. Changes would be to bring back the Rock bands, Karaoke and better entertainment in the day like games and events.Renovatios are in progress and I can't wait to see the completion. Thank you Kawama, I am a content and happy to enjoy the resort again. I am looking at the first two weeks of April 2024.

Love this resort

This was trip 4 to Club Kawama. I love the resort! Friendly people and very gracious. We had plenty to eat and rooms were very clean. Beaches were clean snd lounge chars available. Pool was awesome and poolside was well kept. We felt safe and found they take security very seriously. Thank you for another wonderful stay!

Amazing Resort

Dear Leida and staff, It ahs been 2 months since we left your lovely resort. Our weather in Calgary has been snow, cold and a few warm spells, not nearly as warm as your place, so we find ourselves looking at all our pictures that we took and missing Cuba already. we love the beautiful grounds, buildings and ocean views. All your staff work so hard to keep up your grounds to make them look so amazing for all of us to enjoy. we made some new friends, enjoyed sitting in your new lobby bar looking  [... read more]at your beautiful pool. Our stay was January 23rd to Feb. 7th. Our room was 305, great room with nice view and balcony. There were 2 upper units right on the beach 602 and 702 that would have been great to stay in but they were in need of repairs and not available. We think if you fixed them they would be used all the time. Also the ladies bathroom by the lobby bar had 2 toilets but only 1 was working most of the time. The repeater dinner was great and we want to thank you again for this. Thanks again for making our trip back to Kawama so enjoyable, see you again next year.

Beautiful beach!

The staff are so friendly and welcoming at Kawama! The beach, pool and drinks were awesome! I loved my vacation and look forward to my next visit :) Within walking distance to markets and restaurants.

Like family!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Kawama! The staff were incredible, friendly, helpful and welcoming. The hotel is undergoing major renovations and they do their very best to make patrons comfortable. The food was excellent and plentiful and we were all able to eat well. The amenities were good, the beach was fabulous, the entertainment was fun, and we would definitely go back.

Amazing resort!

The staff were so friendly and kind as well as efficient in their job. The resort was also clean and safe which is everything you want on vacation! Planning on going back to this hotel soon! The food was also great! :)

We love Kawama

This was our 5th visit to this resort. The beach is spectacular! Great for swimming, lots of shells on the beach and great for long walks. The rooms are a little tired but beds are comfortable and there is hot water and air conditioning. The staff are amazing and we always meet lots of other friendly Canadians who are also repeaters to the resort. We enjoyed two tours set up by the Sunwing rep and felt the service was excellent. Keep in mind when traveling to Cuba that this is a 3rd world coun [... read more]try!

Great beach

When we arrived our "room was ready" according to the lady at check in. When we got to our room there were no beach towels, the ac wasnt working, the garbage wasnt emptied. Told the reception about our room and lack of "stuff" and she told us there wasnt another room available. A staff member came by to try to get the ac working which they did get to turn on and off but there was no functioning thermostat. This meant I had to turn it on when hot and off when too cold including the middle of the  [... read more]night. The beach towels and fresh towels finally arrived day 2 afternoon. The beds were comfortable but only 1 pillow on each and no extras were given. The beach was amazingly beautiful and weather was awesome. The pool was nice to look at but we went for the beach and the pool bar was under construction with the smell of diesel fuel coming from there, day and night. The food was ok but not much selection as food isnt exactly easy to get in cuba right now, apparently. Only had chicken for 2 meals all week, always had pork, no beef, no burgers, hot dogs, or fries. We brought our own seasoning salt for flavour. Did the catamaran excursion which was fun and the best food we had all week. Current was strong so people were only in the water for about 10 minutes. The beach on the island was also beautiful. I wouldn't take my kids there due to a lack of activities and food options. Staff was nice enough but everyone wanted your tips and didn't have a problem looking for one. Stayed there 4 days and that was long enough for us.

Beautiful Varadero

The grounds, dining areas, gym pool areas were fine and I enjoyed the beach and friendly and helpful workers. In the downside there was no toilet paper one day, and the decision to cut trees very early in the morning requires examination from management. I hope to be back again one day

Great location!

Friendly atmosphere. Leida is always there to help when needed. It's a perfect spot close to the market and a short taxi ride into Santa Marta. Rooms were clean, well stocked with toilet paper. Food was fine but bring your own condiments.

Not the Best...

***There were people in our group that have been to Kawama before and we went knowing that it isn't the best, but the entertainment, people and beach made it worthwhile...a lot has changed. I will disclaim by saying that we were in Cuba during a time when the whole island had VERRRY limited resources, which is going on still. This is not a reflection on the Cubans, they do what they can with what they have, and have been doing so for decades, it has never been this bad. BEACH: If you are goi [... read more]ng for the beach, than this resort may be for you. White sand, shallow warm water...beautiful. There isn't much shade on the beach and what shade there is, is taken first thing in the morning. Considering we were there with barely 100 people on the resort, those are not good odds. There were beach towels in our room when we arrived. FOOD: Again, there were shortages, and it is Cuba. It was the same food everyday, no toaster, no butter, and barely any veg, plenty of fruit though. We always bring our own condiments, and that is recommended for any Cuban resort, but there was not much to put them on. The snack bar had only fried egg sandwiches and "grilled" cheese, had sporadic hours, wasn't open daily, and/or closed early. Most servers were nice, and attentive but it really depended on who was working and when. DRINKS: The keg lines for beer were unclean, and there was a horrible smell from them and from behind the pool bar. There was rum and liqueurs everyday, and eventually they did have some vodka and gin, but there wasn't much to mix it with. NO bottled water, NO juice, NO white wine, NO whiskey, definitely NO mint for mojitos )eventually they did have red wine in the buffet). ROOMS: If you are going, splurge for the beachfront rooms, at least the beds are comfy, the views from the upper beachfront properties were quite nice and we had three sitting areas, which was also really nice. BUT....broken (sketchy, dirty) lamps, some doors and windows that didn't open or close, horrible slow sinks that smelled, showers that dribbled (happily there was hot water), drawers and side tables still had garbage in them from the last people, stains, and ripped fabrics, unclean floors, spotty A/C...I could go on, and keep in mind that this is in the updated, beachfront rooms. The maid we had for everyday except one didn't change the sheets more than twice in 10 days. There was an "accident" in one of the beds one of the nights (probably because of the food) and it wasn't changed for three days (finally changed when we had a different maid on our regular maids day off). Towels were hung back up and not changed for days (again, possibly due to shortages, but you could feel the sand on them as they had been on the floor previously). Also, only one key card per room, and horrible front office hours. SERVICE (and MANAGEMENT): This was also touch and go...some staff were FANTASTIC, some...not so much. The management is new and a lot of the good staff have since moved on. The return guests have told us that the new management is...not so great, and it shows. ****Watch out for the "Bar" at the front of the property, at the time it was essentially the lobby bar *I believe it is normally the sports bar/clubhouse and is part of the hotel, it is on the canal side road CAUTION: They will not accept cash here, but will take your credit/debit card and tell you it was declined. They got us three times for one order of 5 cans of beer. If you are going to drink there, **PLEASE NOTE that ACCEPTED on the debit machine is "reconocido" in Spanish, or a similar word that looks a lot like declined in English.** The bartender stole away the receipts so we couldn't see that it went through the first time. Very sketchy. "ENTERTAINMENT": LMAO. *** if you value entertainment…this is not your hotel.*** Same music every night and we saw the same magic show four times while we were there. (The hired entertainers do try, and are very nice, it is not their fault). No disco, no daily activities, other than one bingo game by the pool. One of the "activities" staff is overbearing toward not only the visiting entertaining staff, but the guests as well.The "DJ" wouldn't change the music that was played daily and was REALLLY loud, it was happily turned off by promptly 11pm nightly. There were nights when the guests took things into our own hands and everyone was dancing and having fun, with our own music and all of the lights were turned off on us. GROUNDS: This resort is very OLD, one of the first in Varadero, it is also Cuban owned so they are last to receive any and all goods distributed to hotels in the area which explains a lot of the shortages. They are doing updates to a big chunk of the hotel, and while we were there the lobby was closed (Please see note about the temporary "lobby" bar). The pool bathroom was kept very clean, and most of the bartenders try really hard with what little they have. The only bar and meeting area was by the pool, with picnic style tables and uneven wood floors (be sure to wear bug repellent while in this area as it is plagued by little annoying biting bugs). At night the lighting around many areas is spotty (also please by careful of the "moat" around the pool bar area, it is verrryy dangerous, we saw two people fall into it, and happily didn't hurt themselves, but they really could have). There are broken paths and horrible lighting almost everywhere that is not directly by main areas and I would recommend bringing a flashlight. Our experience with Tripcentral (Heather Felice) was excellent. The flight was good and ontime, the transfers were good. Hotel, not so good. Just one family's humble opinion, best of luck.

Home away from home!

Beautiful beach, catamaran, drinks, cappuccinos, bingo, excursions, variety of food and lots of it! Totally enjoyed the always welcoming staff and all the new friends i made at this resort! Will definitely be returning to Club Kawama

Beautiful grounds

Hotel has beautiful grounds with old trees.is at walking distance from shops and restaurants. Proximity to the beach is great. Bed comfortàble. However the STAFF AT RECEPTION WERE UNWELCOMING : reluctant to change your room if you have no lights or hot water. They were also unwilling/incapable to give you basic information about where things are, when will the airport bus come, etc. Other staff (maids, servers at restaurant, gardeners) were great, much much friendlier and helpful.

Home away from home!

This was our 6th visit to Kawama. A bit different this time as the reception is under construction. The food was good and always plentiful. Enjoyed our daily Americana and Cappuccino at the café. We arrived late at night at the hotel and we’re not happy with our room. The situation was rectified the next day and we were moved to a better room. The A LA CARTE dinners we went to were fair. Nothing extraordinary but different than the buffet. We love the beach at Kawama. One of the main reas [... read more]ons we keep going there. We once again met amazing people and were happy to see staff members we had met on previous trips. The repeaters dinner was amazing. One way for the hotel to recognize those who have come back to visit Kawama. I think it’s important to remember that this is not a 5 star hotel. It’s one of the oldest hotels in Varadero. You get what you pay for. If you are looking for a 5 star hotel this place is not for you. But we know what to expect and it works for us. Another lovely trip in the books. Can’t wait to plan our next one!