Great stay

The resort is kept nice and clean, the beach is spacious. The staff are super courteous and polite, always helpful. Great cappuccinos and spanish coffee are served at the lobby bar. We always had large bottles of water in our rooms. Our rooms/beds were very comfortable and clean, bathrooms with hot water and a well running mini fridge. The buffet was good and great detail was put into the presentation of their food, even the fresh bun/bread section was elevated in nice wicker baskets. For desse [... read more]rts they had assorted squares cut in fancy design, small cream filled puff pastry, tarts, ice cream and rice pudding.

Relaxed resort

Overall this resort offers a quiet and basic vacation spot. Rooms are well maintained. Beds are clean. As you enter the lobby you can look straight out to the beach and ocean. There is seating throughout the lobby area which could use some updating. The Cafe offers basic drinks and coffee with donuts and cake in the morning. The rooms are spread out and some are located a bit far from the resorts lobby, buffet and pools. If you book a Tropical Room you will get either a bungalow or a standard  [... read more]room in a row if 4 rooms. These rooms are located mainly in the back of the property, with one set of four close to everything. The beach is graded and clean. Plenty of seats to lay in the sun. They offer boat rides, snorkeling from the dive center on the beach. There is a wooden hut down the beach about 5 minutes walking from the lounge past the pools where you can get a message done on the beach. The pool area has 2 fairly large pools which are clean and do need some maintainace but overall they are good for swimming. The bar area by the pools serves local basic drinks, sometimes coffee. The eating area is open between buffet times. The offer sandwiches only. Plain white bread cheese and ham or what seems like boiled tasteless chicken. The buffet is located off the main parking lot in a separate building from the lobby. Food is good. There is limited variance in the menu however. There are no other food services between buffet times except as mentioned previously. They do have a small food truck that opens at 10 pm by the lobby Cafe it serves the same dull tasteless cold meat " grilled sandwiches" that are definitely not grilled to brown the bread melt the cheese or warm the meat. Bring snacks with you from home. The coffee can be a delightful experience unless you get a glob or two or three of powdered milk that didn't mix. I believe they only have powdered milk. You get one napkin to use while eating at the buffet. You also get a soup spoon upon request if you eat soup. The entertainment was lacking. In 7 days there was only one night of a show of dancers. There were families elderly, and young adults on the resort. A nice mix. A lot of local Cubans also go to this resort. Bring mosquitoe spray! They can not exchange Canadian $ so bring US $. They do offer paid outings such as catamaran, jeep drives, trip to Havana. There are horses on the resort that you can go on as well. The grounds are clean, the walkways are mostly even. It is lite well at night. It was a pretty relaxed a resort. So if your looking for a more laid back sun seeking place this works. Staff were all pleasant, smiling, and helpful. They work very hard and long hours. They depend on tips to support their families.

Awesome stay at wonderful Resort

The staff at Starfish Jibacoa are so helpful; they were ready with any and all answers to questions. I visited in Nov 2019 and everything is improved: A/C in the rooms are new and quiet, food is much improved and very tasty!! I would recommend Starfish Jibacoa to everyone! Bring your snorkel gear to enjoy the reef only 100 meters from shore! Loved it 😉😎💕

Good resort

I love the resort but the pools need new liners plus the cement is very dirty and never washed like it was before a lot of garbage and plastic glasses laying on the ground at pool. The locals on the wee yard very inconsiderate butting in line and just throwing their garbage wherever it landed. The people on the resort are amazing work hard and very friendly and sweet.

Amazing

Love this resort,been there 26 times,staff is wonderful.people are friendly.love the bungalows.lots to eat and drink,its like our own little village.but need to do some upgrades on the rooms inside.my only complaint is that there is a lot of garbage in areas.

Peaceful and quiet resort

Before my trip I have red some reviews and was a bit skeptical, but this resort has exceeded my expectations. also I learned that there were some recent changes in the resort and things improved. The trips between airport and resort is already planed, one less thing to worry about. The beach is big and beautiful. Great place for snorkeling (just wear extra clothes so you do not burn while snorkeling). There is plenty of room on the beach if you want privacy, sun loungers always available.  [... read more] The whole resort is a few min walk between bungalows, lobby area, eating restaurant and pool area with another restaurant and mini bar. There is always plenty and good quality food to choose from. Vegetables and fruits available for every meal, eggs, salami, breads, rice, potato, fish, chicken, beef, pork...you can have some food already prepared or you can choose the piece of meat and have it bbq right there in front of you. Meal times are scheduled and there is enough time to have every meal if you want. As in breakfast is from 7am to 10am. Good enough for early risers and late sleepers. It's buffet food, but at every station there is resort employee that will put on your plate what you choose. I liked that, especially now after covid; Lots of drinks available at all times. There was shortage of draft beer for a few hours, but people survived. Weather you want early morning coffee and watch sunrise or stay late and have drinks with your friends, bar in the lobby is always open. The hiking trail is good thing to explore, there is organized guide, If you want trip to Havana (one hour drive) or some neighborhood place you may arrange it in the lobby. My room was very decent, cleaned every day, The washrooms in the lobby or pool area may be out of toilet paper or soap at times. But there is a person at each cleaning constantly and replenishing. The thing I liked the most in this resort is that I as solo traveler was never alone or lonely. Stuff is very friendly, and the other guests as well. Most of them are repeaters and have become a little family which I was proud to be a part of. Please tip stuff.

Amazing resort

Beautiful resort but needs a lot of work, special the rooms.The snorkeling was excellent and close to shore. The grounds were very well kept .. Over all very relaxing and low key vacation, this place may not be a good fit for those that want to be on the go all the time but this is the perfect place for relaxing.

Amazing resort.

We love this resort. We had not been for 3 years due to Covid. On our recent return we noticed a lot of positive changes. The grounds were beautifully maintained. We enjoyed reconnecting with staff and were happy to see them and meet new staff. We found our room was excellent. The resort staff were helpful and attentive and willing to help with any issues. They made the stay comfortable. The food was very good even with shortages. I cannot say enough about how well we were treated by all the  [... read more]staff. We are hoping to return next year.

11th Trip Did Not Disappoint

Our first return visit since Covid and we noticed some improvements with the buildings, the grounds and the beach. The staff were amazing as usual - very friendly and helpful! The food was of better quality but was repetitious, and after 2 weeks with the same choices for lunch and dinner every day, it was not as appetizing by the end of our stay. We noticed a shortage of butter, milk and white wine. Breakfast choices were very limited - no bacon, no jam, however, we were pleased with the cof [... read more]fee served at the buffet in the morning. The bus to the airport was 45 minutes late picking us up, and although we were promised a boxed lunch for breakfast because we were leaving before the buffet opened, we did not receive one. On arrival, we had to wait for approximately 4 hours before our room was ready since check-in is not until 4 p.m.

Wonderful place friendly people

I have been to Cuba numerous occasions. This was my first visit to villa tropico in jibacoa. Staff if friendly and very helpful. By the end of trip it felt like family. Beach and surrounding grounds are well maintained and very safe. Waters and Cora reef is definitely something to see. If anyone is considering booking a trip; don’t forget to bring your snorkeling gear. It would be a shame to miss out on such a beauty

Better Every Visit

The grounds of the resort are well kept. Gardening staff work very hard. The rooms are sparse and kept clean every day. The hotel staff are very friendly and accommodating, doing their best to fulfill any requests made. The food was very good which was a big change from previous visits. We went through about a week of no milk which made the signature Spanish Coffees impossible to make for a while. Of course this was a far reaching shortage, and beyond the control of the resort, or its staff. The [... read more] biggest asset of this resort is the staff, from gardeners, receptionists, waiters/waitresses and bartenders. It was a great 2 weeks that we will not soon forget. Also a special thank you to Eddy Garcia for a wonderful day in Havana

Nice resort

Clean resort beach wasn't good lots of sea weed and rocks pool was nice food was ok been to cuba lots of times so it is what it is I enjoyed my time and I will return staff are amazing everything was good

Wonderful Vacation!

We just got back from a wonderful week at Villas Jibacoa. The hotel was great in so many ways and suited our plans perfectly. We enjoyed the spaciousness and small scale of the resort. The guided mountain hike and pool, lounge, beach access. Our room was very clean and comfortable, the hotel staff were so friendly and hard working and we felt very cared for our entire stay. From the buffets, we especially loved the fresh fried fish, the pastries and ice cream. We had a wonderful day-trip seeing  [... read more]Havana with our amazing guide Pedro from Eddy Garcia's Classic Car Tours! Pedro spoke perfect English and took us to so many incredible sights. Our day was fully enjoyed! We also enjoyed a tour to Mantanzas and the nearby caves with a regular taxi and our wonderful guide named Raymundo! Thanks to everyone who made our trip so special!

Nice resort (but no covid mesures!)

We stayed for 7 days and it was amazing. However, if covid19 worries you, there are basically no mesures over there. FOOD: The food was the same everyday, and they have salt and pepper and sometimes ketchup & mayo! There was a milk shortage on day 4-5 out of 7 so no pina colada or Spanish coffee! There is always enough food and they recharge the buffet. Deserts are ok, some are nicer! DRINKS: Next time, I will bring lime juice. They have 2 bars (lobby bar 24h, beach bar from 10 to 10). T [... read more]hey have all kinds of alcohol at the lobby and a blander at the pool/beach. RESTAURANTS: They have 1 buffet and 1 à la carte. We got fried fish n chips and chocolate cake which is served at the buffet. The fish was salty, crispy and fresh! ROOMS: We got room #7 which was a nice bungalow in front of the beach. The rooms are cleaned everyday, and the bed is changed almost daily or every 2-3rd day! The floors are wiped, and mopped and the toilet is cleaned everyday! On the last day, I found a bunch of mini ants in the bathroom - that may be the reason why I’m full of bites on the feet’s. Or I may had it from the sand. Beware that there is no bus for the tourists to go to Varadero or Havana, and a cab will be around 100$ USD. We decided to do a 1 day excursion in Havana for 120$ CAD about the same price. *No gift and rhum bottles were included with the room as the contract stated. Overall, we got a fair price around 1100$-1200$ each for 8 days and we would go again.

Nice Resort

We really liked the place, For a 3 star in Cuba, it was great. AC worked fine, lots of hot water. Beautiful beach, great snorkeling. Fantastic Spanish coffee. Food was better then we expected. Most of the personnel were extremely friendly and helpful. We will go back

Mediocre

The staff was friendly and accommodating. Half the hotel was closed for renovations. It is an old hotel and does need work. The pool and outdoor areas were very nice. They were not able to give us a bungalow like we booked saying that the rooms were too small to accommodate anything other than a 3/4 bed so gave us a room on the ground floor of the hotel. The next morning the bathroom floor was all wet from a leak above so we were given another room which was ok. I had fresh bites on me ever [... read more]y morning but my husband who was in the same bed did not. Though the food was pretty much the same every day, there was plenty.

Jabacoa ,a hidden jewel, half way between Varadero and Havana.

The clean comfortable rooms housex in 4 plex cement cottages give solid privacy surrounded by open lawns sprinkled with an amazing selection of trees, probably some are at least 70 years old. The staff, from front deck, bartenders, wait staff, entertainers, and ground keepers are there to help you enjoy your worry free holiday.

Paradise

For my first time in Cuba it was awesome, no complaints at all. One just needs to adjust to Cuba being poor. I do want to return maybe next year . Have talked to friends about it and next year 3 want to join me and my husband.

Lovely Relaxing Resort

The grounds were lovely with trees, green grass scattered between the bungalows. The bungalows are spaced out in a way that does not make you feel like you are beside neighbours. We found it to be very quiet. The rooms are clean and comfortable. Just beware, if you need two 3/4 beds, it is helpful to request this when you make your reservation. It seems most rooms have one queen bed. We had lots of hot water and a working little fridge in the room. The dining area is clean and sp [... read more]acious., There were lots of choices on the buffet. If you can't find something you like, you are extremely fussy. There was lots of fruit, vegetable choices, rice, meat choices, fresh fish grilled, eggs for breakfast and of course, lots of fresh bread. The lobby bar makes the best spanish coffee ever!! The paddle boats were available and fun to take out. All in all, the staff are very friendly and helpful in every part of the resort. I think the only place we were cuban music was at the pool. They had TV videos on in the lobby bar area, but they were modern videos. It would have been nice to have authentic cuban music playing in the lobby bar area. Lots of areas to hike outside of the resort. All in all, we had a great week.

Relaxing Vacation

Quiet resort with everything we wanted. Small buffet but plenty of food. Far improved from last year where there was no wine, no dairy, no blender! This year it's back on track and the weather was beautiful.