Terrible food but nice beach

I recently stayed at the Paradisus Varadero resort with an amazing view and a nice beach, but unfortunately, my overall experience was marred by several significant issues. The food at the resort was terrible and I ended up getting sick from it. Not only was the food the same every day, but it was also left out in the open air, with birds picking at it. The rooms were not clean, with pillows that smelled of sweat and pests such as cockroaches and lizards present. Some rooms had broken thermo [... read more]stats and stained bedding. In addition, my body is covered in mosquito bites, adding to my discomfort during the stay. Despite returning from my trip two days ago, I am still suffering from diarrhea, cramps, nausea, and the itching from numerous mosquito bites, which I believe are a result of the conditions at the resort. I would strongly advise against staying at this resort until they address these serious issues. The management needs to improve the cleanliness of the rooms, address the food quality and safety concerns, and ensure that guests are not exposed to health risks during their stay. Overall, my experience at this resort was extremely disappointing and I would not recommend it to others.

Paradise!!

A beautiful beach surrounded by palm trees that ensure shady spots for anyone that wants them, there are plenty of lounge chairs as well. Grounds are a bit large, about a 5min walk from reserve to main beach, but there is always a cart with a friendly staff member willing to take you anywhere. Decent food and a good variety, and always something to drink. Wonderful friendly staff that help make your trip perfect

Wonderful (if you come prepared)

We stayed on the regular side (NOT the reserve) and glad that we did as the main area had a good vibe going on while the reserve side was far too quiet and remote. The overall feel of the resort is lovely although it need of repair and maintenance. The beach is INCREDIBLE and the pool area is enormous and plenty of space for all ages. The resort staff are nice and do what they can to make your stay enjoyable considering the limitations Cuba has on food and drinks. Our hotel room was OK (a l [... read more]ittle tired and in need of repair (broken lamp, no hot water the entire week, not REALLY enough space for 4 people, not enough blankets) BUT we spent most of our time outdoors poolside or at the beach. Although the food was limited to about 50 ingredients total the staff did their best to make it interesting. There was always enough and we always had clean water to drink. What I don't recommend is the a la carte restaurants...the food is better at the resorts...and you have to get in line early to get a place setting. I would just stick to the buffets and you'll find something you like. Cuba is experiencing a tough time at the moment with resource and food shortages so the resort did a good job accomodating guests considering all of this. We came prepared with condiments, salad dressing and some snacks and had a great time. I would come back but would be cautious in which friends to recommend the same to as you really have to be prepared for less comforts than you would get in Mexico. If you're easy going Cuba will be fine.

Cuba 2024 Trip

We had issues with our rooms the first night we arrived. There was confusion as to where we were supposed to be , which area, (even the driver did not know). Our first room(s) was not cleaned, with beds not made, no towels, broken safes etc. After several attempts with hotel staff to get our rooms changed,the following day we finally were able to settle in a different room(s). These were more up to standard. The staff were excellent, doing the best they could . Our maid service in the s [... read more]econd rooms was tops (#10 of 10) . Drinking water was left every day and fresh towels, clean beds, etc. There are no complaints - we even had a concierge in the second area. The beach was excellent. I would recommend this area.

Paradise Vacation at Paradisus Varadero

This was our very first vacation in Varadero, Cuba- and it was splendid. We have been to other resorts in different parts of Cuba and Varadero has been a memorable one. From the very clean hotel rooms with hot water to the hotel well kept lush grounds to the beautiful beach and unbelievable hot and cold fresh food variety!!!!!! Yes you are reading this correctly. The food was awesome!!!! we did NOT get sick. We were able to brush our teeth with tap water too. Staff was friendly entertainment wa [... read more]s sufficient, but would’ve like to see a bit more interaction. They work hard and they deserve every tip you can offer. The locals would really appreciate medication, clothing, and toiletries over money so I left behind what I could. Souvenirs, rum, coffee and cigars are best bought in the town- better value. This trip has not only provided history knowledge, but also has enlightened our perspective-and mind set. “Be happy with what you have - stop complaining and appreciate the beauty that surrounds this island”!!

Beautiful beach!

This resort is easily on one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever visited. White sand and warm crystal clear water. The staff were kind and helpful and overall, we truly enjoyed our vacation. That being said, we would not return to this resort. For 10 days we didn’t have hot water in our rooms for showers. This is a widespread issue in this resort that has been ongoing for weeks. There are no top sheets on the beds. Just a thin cover that felt more like a tablecloth and a flee [... read more]ce blanket that didn’t look like it was easily washed. The sheets and pillows had an unpleasant odor to them like dirty laundry and towels were in short supply. The grounds were beautiful but maintenance of the buildings and rooms was not great. I assume this is due to the lack of supplies being available to actually maintain the property properly. We didn’t have a bathroom door which seemed to be a fairly common issue. The food choices were minimal and clearly staff did the best they could with what they had. The biggest issue is the main buffet being open air dining. Besides being hot all the time, there were a large number of bugs and birds in and around the food which was very off putting. Hot foods were kept warm but rarely hot, and we were served undercooked pork and chicken more than once. There was no cola, no piña colada’s or daiquiri’s. Sprite, gin and vodka availability varied day to day. We had no eggs for 6 days, no bread/pastries for 3-4 days. The food choices were extremely limited. We are not fussy eaters but it did get difficult to find something to eat. This was common across many different resorts while we were there. Even with all of these issues, we had a great vacation. The beach and water were exceptional but factoring in the cost of this vacation, I think we’ll pick somewhere other than Cuba to visit next.

Paradisus Varadero

Beach was beautiful. Staff did the best they could with what they had. Some food shortages however not the staffs fault. Hotel rooms were hit n miss. Lots with no hot water, broken safes, unclean. We were lucky to have an amazing room with amazing maids. We went for the beach and were not disappointed.

Lots of unforced errors and shortages made trip not that enjoyable

Had problems with some staff not getting some problems fixed with our room. We spoke to our porter multiple times about no working TV and it never did get fixed. We also had a leaking toilet that caused issues most of the week. Lots of food and drink shortages were also a massive problem and spoiled the trip. For breakfast there was no bacon at all all week. There was also no maple syrup for pancakes and half the week there was no butter either. For Omelettes, early in the week th [... read more]ere was green peppers, onions, cheese, ham etc as ingredients. For the last few days there was nothing but eggs. There was no orange juice all week either. Bring your own Ketchup and Mustard, as their version of it is awful. I ordered a steak one night and it was supposed to be beef, but came out as pork. There was no beef except one specialty restaurant had it one night and we thought it was poor tasting. There was also no french fries all week, no potatoes of any kind actually, no regular hamburgers, although they did make a pork burger that they passed off as a hamburger and my wife liked it. There was also no Cristal Beer, which is the Cuban beer people usually drink and like. We like Strawberry and Banana Dacquiri's. They did not have them, with no supply on the mix for them. In your room fridge, at other resorts you would almost certainly get beer, pop and water in your fridge to drink. We had two kids drinking boxes and were told they didn't have enough beer or pop to supply the rooms. To me that is the most very basic things that you should be supplied with. At one point, pop on the resort was only down to Fanta orange and no cola or anything else. They do have some excellent staff, from the bartenders at the bars, to the restaurant staff and the golf cart drivers are all helpful and very attentive to your needs. We just felt at the end of the day, we did not get anywhere close to the value that we should have had for the price we paid. We feel for the staff having to deal with these issues constantly. If you are thinking of this resort, make sure others are saying these issues have been dealt with before booking. We cannot recommend.

A Good Escape with inviting scenery

Resort is located on a beautiful stretch of land, with multiple pools geared for all ages and a gorgeous beach. Most of the staff are very compassionate and understanding; and will do their utmost to aid in making one's stay worthwhile. The caring staff is an asset to the resort. For example: Niuris - My room attendant at #45 did her best to find someone to patch my damaged luggage so it can be used to return home. She's so attentive. Dennys - concierge disregard his time off to allow me [... read more] to contact his phone so that he can relay my concerns to front desk when needed. (phone in my room was not in service) Carla - CSR gave a listening ear to my problems re: No working phone in room; Inability to call front desk for a ride to get around at nights with a 5 year old twins in the darkness. Room key malfunction and being locked out. CSR willingly provided her number as well and aided with relaying my situation to front desk and help was provided. She is very considerate. Maya and the entire kids club team are amazing. They are genuinely caring, protective, talented and truly professional. My 5 year old grand twins enjoyed to the fullest.

Disappointed

I have travelled to many countries (Europe, China, Mexico,DR, Jamaica and Cuba several times) so my expectations were realistic. This was the first time that I treated myself to a 5 star resort. Our trip organiser should have advised us to pay more for "Royal Service" accomodations which I presumed to be worthy of the 5 star rating. The upkeep/maintenance of the "Jr Suite" assigned to us was more like that of a cheap motel. When we arrived at around 8 pm, the air conditioning was not in wo [... read more]rking order...condensation from the unit dripped from the ceiling and pooled on the bathroom floor...the blower fan made a loud clanging noise when I got it to work. (I recorded this on my iPhone) The heat and humidity in the room throughout the night was unbearable. Guest services said that a mechanic would be right over to repair it... this didn't happen. I tried to reach our tour organiser (Sunwing) but their offices were closed and the WiFi at the resort was not working (no Internet for the duration of our stay) so unable to access their website. The following morning, attendants at "Reception" said no other rooms were available... When our SunWing rep arrived, I was told that there was nothing they could do and they were busy booking excursions. At around noon, the air conditioner blower was repaired but this made the dripping from the ceiling even worse. Finally, Guest Services arranged to move us to another suite. In this suite, the toilet did not flush properly (the tank did not refill unless the cover was removed and the float manually repositioned). Furthermore, the handle on the outside of the patio door was missing and there were no small towels, facecloths or shower mats. As we were wanting to enjoy our vacation, we did not pursue the matter further. Most of the pathway lights leading to both suites assigned to us were either broken or missing. This created a hazard because a large hole (3 ft deep) was left uncovered in the lawn and I narrowly missed stepping into it. So, accommodation was substandard but the beach was beautiful, the workers friendly and the buffet food was good. Only one of the 3 onsite restaurants which we visited served tasty food. In one of them, the grilled fish was so salty as to be inedible.

Just Don't

Please go anywhere else but Cuba. The resort was decent as far as structure and pools and beach. Not everyone knows how to make a drink. So good drinks were few and far between. Four of us went and we all came home with stomach issues. There are alot of shortages in Cuba so food is being highly affected and reused day over day in the buffets. Resturants were no better. Excursions cancelled due to fuel shortages as well. No potatoes not even a french fry was avaliable to try and stay on the safe  [... read more]side. A complete waste of money. Our rooms curtians were broken bathroom mirror rotting. We offered to pay for an upgrade to royal service and were declined. Just dont do it. Sunwing vacations were no help. I will NEVER book a sunwing vacation again in my lifetime. No business class on flights. Looked into paying $50 per person for elite but dont do that either elite is the exact same as everyother seat on the plane. $50 per person each way if you want to sit at the emerg exit row. Just Crazy. $25 per person each way for a carry on? Sunwing nor Cuba ever again. I could go on. Oh wait should i mention that we couldn't exchange our towels for clean ones because of laundry service shortage. Employees seemed to really be trying but alot was out of thier control. Spa didn't have steam room or sauna working and mini bar had only water and two beers a day. We were told it was due to shortages. There's more but quite frankly its too much to list.

My observations

Very nice, beach and resort, too bad they do not maintain it properly. None of the beach showers worked, some toilets were closed, some had no papers, etc... If something breaks down, they don't fix it.

Ruin in need of serious reno or demolition.

Beautiful beach with old dirty lounge chairs. Two beautiful pools with 6 showers, one working. Most pool umbrellas broken. Pool ladies washroom closed. Lobby mans washroom stinks. Broken stalls. Most rooms not available, used for storage and full of mattresses and furniture. Poorly lit walkways or no lights at all (Reserva side) Garbage all around and on the beach. Nobody cares to pick it up. Overgrown grass all around. Main pool hummock dirty with hole in the middle. Looks like its bee [... read more]n there since opening 23 years ago. Air Canada rep nowhere to be found. Lobby's staff denies to call the rep. Cigar store is a disgrace to Cuban tobacco industry with rip off prices. Most of the brands 30% cheaper in Canada. Same at the airport. Food below even for Cuban standards except pasta, meat, fish stations and roast pork. The rest is mostly cold and distasteful. Creative food recycling (left overs served next day in new dishes) raised to art form. Very unpleasant. Best food at 24/7 pool bar. Chicken, Cuban and hamburger sandwiches. Ketchup and some days mustard. Broken bathroom fixture and ripped windows curtains. Upon arrival relocated from main area to Reserva section far away. Four hours wait for room. Instant coffee at restaurants. Good coffee at lobby's bars. Good tonic and watery drinks. Tip well. They need it. Ask Reserva lobby staff for money exchange guy. 1CDN=200 peso. Do not use Cadeca. Robbery rate. Would i go again...no. Go to newly build resorts like Grand Aston Varadero and Melia International.

Good resort

Paradisus Varadero is good resort very nice beach 🏝️I love palm trees and lots of sun beds at all time. Restaurant was very clean it was always 4 different types of meats but I was surprised to see nothing from veggies or even oranges which is tropical fruit. Room was ok I was on ground floor it was my first time that I had a ground floor so I am not sure if it’s normal to find huge bugs like it was 10 cm long and lizards visiting my room. Also there was lingering smell of sewage on and o [... read more]ff from nearby sewage drainage system. Few times I had to spray perfumes to be able to breathe. I think hotel was ok but because of this issue and older limited air conditioning system I would give this hotel 4 stars not 5 like it’s on the site . Oh yeah I forgot my very first trip on the beach my flip flops got stolen. So I had to buy another one over there which caused so uncomfortable they made many wounds on my feet I was in a lot of pain walking. So bring your ugly flip flops.Internet was frustrating because auto log in doesn’t work and even you are not active for 2 minutes it logs you off so you have to keep logging in every time you intent to use your phone. They give you like 10 h a day so you have to go back to reception for more hours. I didn’t like that. It was also very hard to log in to I pad.

It is truly paradise

I was at Paradisus hotel the first week of August with my teenage daughters in Varadero beach, Cuba. It is truly paradise, the sand was white, and the sea was crystal clear. The workers were very sweet at the restaurants, the buffets and at all the bars in the hotel. The rooms were very good and the restaurants served many foods like traditional Cuban food. The bars had many cocktails with and without alcohol. The hotel is very clean and well kept. The best things about this trip were the beach  [... read more]and the people I met. Thank you Paradisus, Varadero. This vacation was truly unforgettable.

4 night stay at Paradisus Varadero

Pros: Paradisus Varadero has scenic beauty, with bright white sands and aqua blue water. The beach was top notch. There was a decent amount of food available in the main buffet. Staff were courteous. Cons: The biggest issue with this resort is a continuous problem with the airconditioner, where only the lowest setting was operational. It was very low, not enough to cool the room, and with 42°C outside, it was very uncomfortable, especially for my toddler. I had made several complaints, even [... read more] offered hefty tips, but nothing was done to fix the problem. There were no fans anywhere on the property.The quality of food was also very poor, not tasty, lacked flavour. Some of the food items were mislabeled (e.g., label said "white rice" but it contained pork). There weren't adequate safety railings next to walkways by pools, nor were there ramps for strollers or disabled people. Many of the staff did not speak a word of English. The phone in the room was not working, and nothing was done to fix or replace it after multiple complaints. Rooms were outdated.

Absolutely stunning property and beach

The resort is located on a fantastic portion of Varadero’s beach and the grounds themselves are absolutely wonderful. We had a beachfront room, which is literally 10 feet from the beach making for very easy access and gorgeous views. The kids club team are an absolute treasure. Our kids loved spending the mornings with them and had very enjoyable experiences. This is unfortunately where things take a turn. On our second night, we visited the Japanese restaurant where we (and the tab [... read more]le adjacent) encountered cockroaches emerging from the hibachi table while the meal was being prepared. Literally crawling out of the table an onto the eating surface! This is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever experienced in a food service setting – People were rushing for the exit as if there was a fire. After abandoning the Japanese a la carte for the main buffet, we reported the issues to a gentleman who was a food service manager. He assured us this unheard of and must be an isolated incident……regrettably no less than 10 minutes later we found yet more roaches crawling on the wall beside the pizza station!! The staff seemed oblivious to the problem this posed and took no steps to close the area for cleaning, shoo them away and get back to serving was the order of operations. I approached the gest services manager about these issues and advised that we would not be eating on resort for the remainder of our stay. To the credit of this manager, she immediately made arrangements for us to access The Reserve for all meals and pre-booked our evening meals at the Reserve a la carte offerings. The difference in cleanliness and overall upkeep is literally night and day. The Reserve is spotless, all food service areas are immaculate and we had no worries or sight of further infestation. In closing – It is a beautiful location and grounds. Unfortunately, at the main buffet and a la carte areas, there is a serious lack of sanitary standards combined with a staff attitude that allows the issue to continue.

Overall 4*

Staff are super friendly! The rooms are large! The pools and beach are amazing. I wish there was more food selection but I understand with the food shortage in the country I can’t complain, food tasted good. I wish there were more different activities everyday instead of the same thing everyday basically. Also I was disappointed all the water activity facility was closed? Also I was hoping nightly entertainment was going to be big shows, but maybe because it was off season they were smaller sh [... read more]ows. Overall 4*

Nice resort aging now.

Resort was nice but it’s getting older and needs plumbing work on it’s ocean view rooms. They booked us into a flooded room for our first night which was a bit scary as we arrived at midnight. We had to move a second time due to our toilet flooding. Many Miskitos here as well. The staff are all nice.

Loved it. I will be back.

The resort itself is fantastically laid out. The beach is beautiful. The main pool was fantastic. The staff... all were friendly, helpful and outstanding. I won't say there weren't little issues now and again but they did what they could to fix the issues. If you go to them with problems and are rude right away thats probably why you arent happy with the service. Remember, they have a different climate that wears things down quickly. Yes, there were days the food at the buffet was limit [... read more]ed but we didn't go hungry. The lunch BBQ was always good. Felix..you are awesome. Our room was always well cleaned daily. Add to all the the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, great music and happy staff... that's enough to send me back again and again. By far my favorite stay in Varadero yet.