Family Christmas vacation

We knew that we would have some issues with something there so we were prepared. Power outage once for only 4 hours, internet was spotty, air conditioning broke the second last day so they switched our room. Other than those issues the trip was great. The weather was perfect, the ocean was beautiful, pool was great and even the food was decent. All in all a great affordable family vacation

Three star

A good 3 star resort value. The food was good the first two days, but it was the same menu for 14 days. Staff was good. Pools and bars were good. Some guests/cultures are not familiar with buffet conduct... and parenting isn't what it used to be. A good value for a 7 day experience... maybe not 14 days of the same menu.

The Weekend Invasion

Just got back from here last night. Honestly, very mixed feelings.A long review for people considering coming here, make your own choice if this is the resort for you! Would we return? To Cuba? YES, 100%. To this resort, no. (Been to Cuba 8 or 9 times, well aware of the issues the country and its people face. We're not picky people and can go with the flow on almost anything) Yes, 99% of the the staff and beach are amazing and the pool is pretty good except when it's filled with garbage [... read more] from guests. Grounds are beautiful until the guests litter them with garbage and cigarette butts (despite their being ashtrays about every 10 feet). The staff should be commended for all of their hard work attempting to keep up with the pace of destruction from the guests. This was only an issue on the weekend Beach: Beautiful. Clean in the morning and during the week. Water entry is gradual and mostly sandy, but there are a few bigger rocks. The sand is HOT during the afternoon so if you've got tender tootsies, bring beach shoes. The pathway to the beach gets SUPER hot so don't let your kids go on it barefoot. The vendors along the water are persistent but okay with a "no thank you". The "beach security" at this resort doesn't really move them along and without any exaggeration at all... The braid lady and the crochet lady stood in one spot for at least an hour on Friday right in front of the never updated "beach flag". The chants of "Hey lady you want braids" and "Crochet Crochet" are now etched in my brain. Sure, do your thing and earn some money... but an hour at a time with no bites is a bit much. Rooms: We upgraded to "Superior Rooms" (started in building 22, moved to 20 to be closer to our kids that they foolishly placed two buildings away... more to come on that). Definitely dated, and yes, there are open vents in the patio door frames that let mosquitos and midges into your room. Our patio door didn't close all the way anyways and it didn't lock so it really made no difference. Just slept with bug spray on... shouldn't have to, but we did. Mattresses were like rocks, not enough bathroom towels (1 for 3 people), one safe didn't work and it was never addressed even though we asked, no place for the shower head to hang so it was handheld only... but the staff kept it clean! Beach towels in room on arrival, but never changed out. Small issues never seem to get addressed whether you report them to reception or go see the maintenance guys in the room to the left of reception unless you make yourself a pain in the butt repeatedly. You have to keep asking and keep asking. Our maid was AWESOME. Every time we passed her in the hallways, she handed us a bottle of water and reminded us it was hot so stay hydrated, She did a great job on our rooms and was very sweet. Room assignments: Despite it being noted on our reservation from the agent we used and me emailing ahead of time, they still placed our room and our kids room in separate buildings. Two groups in front of us (unknown to each other) got rooms side by side in building 22, so this just affirms they're not thinking or planning for groups to arrive. When we asked to change it, it was "come back tomorrow morning" and when we came back, it was "come back at 4". At 4:00, I had to be quite assertive to get it fixed. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a lot of organization or planning... which shouldn't be hard during low season. Had to hang around and make the walk to the lobby far more times than we should have to get this addressed and it could have been prevented entirely. Buffet: Doors are always open and the flys and birds are annoying. Yes, there are bugs and birds in Cuba... but when the doors are propped open for 12 hours a day, turns out the food attracts bugs and birds. Who knew? I feel like the person standing at the door greeting patrons could have opened and closed the doors as guests arrived... especially when it wasn't overly busy. Food: Two scenarios... breakfast and Lunch/Dinner. Lunch and Dinner were virtually identical every single day with the exception of sometimes the pork would be cubed, sometimes it would be sliced. Sides were almost identical every meal. No shortages that we noticed though other than bacon (2 days only). You definitely won't starve. Ala Cartes/ Snack bar: We only did the Italian and it was decent. They had Pizza ( the buffet didn't) but the pasta was exactly the same as the buffet, just very nicely plated. Snackbar was good, variety of sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, fries a couple times... Sometimes it was order at the table, sometimes order at the bar...depended who was working. Lobby: quite nice, could definitely use more seating... can't imagine how congested it would be in high season. It's completely open so hot and full of mosquitoes in the evening. Even though you're dressed up, remember your bug spray. Bars: No problem getting what we wanted although the mix and formulation varied widely from bar to bar. No shortages we noticed, and "top shelf brand name" booze was Diamond club only. Not worth it for us, but so you're aware. Service was good, but be prepared to kick the "budgers in line" to the back, especially on weekend. Biggest Issue: Yes, I saw someone already posted this... and yes I see the post got taken down (either by the poster or group, who knows) and the poster got inappropriately roasted... But they were right and the weekend was a bit much. From Friday to Sunday, the resort was jumping! Lots of people and many locals, which was cool to see. So great to see them actually enjoying a vacation and cutting loose a bit on their time off. The issues come when the locals do things like empty entire steamer trays of chicken legs or hotdogs onto their plates, then into a plastic bag and then into their purse and then go get their food for the actual meal... it causes issues for everyone. When they push their way into the line ahead of people who are afraid to call them out on it and then all of the sudden there's no chicken, thats an issue. When they toss their plastic or paper drink cups into the pool when their done, that's an issue (that the staff have to clean up). At one point on Saturday, I bet there were 100 paper cups in the pool, soaked and deteriorating into little pieces. When the "Cheese General" as we named her is there to distribute cold cuts and cheese to prevent people taking it all at once, and the locals push their way between the people waiting, use their bare hand to clean ALL of the ham and salami off the plate and plop it on their plate... that's an issue. When the staff SEE IT and don't say or do anything because they're Cuban... That's a BIG issue. I've seen other resorts actually deal with these kind of issues, but even after speaking with the buffet manager about it, he just shook his head apologetically. How do we know they were locals you ask? Well, other than Friday afternoon-Sunday evening... there were maybe 6 cars in the parking lot. On the weekend it was jam packed with cars double parked... pretty sure the Canadians, Russians or Europeans didn't drive there... Again, yes... they have every right to be there the same as anyone else. Yes, they're paying guests and deserve to have a good time. Yes, they may not have much in their day to day lives (which is hard to rationalize when the lady putting 30 hotdogs into her purse was wearing designer clothes, 300 dollar sunglasses and more jewellery than most New York socialites). BUT... their behaviour was awful. Tourists also pay to be there and without tourists, what happens then? Either the resort needs to start enforcing some sense of order, or the locals need to learn how to vacation respectfully. Yes, some tourists are like this too... but none of the "bad guets" we saw were speaking english, french, russian, german, italian, dutch or anything other than spanish.

Amazing Beach

The Hotel rooms are totally outdated and need repair. When we arrived the lights weren’t working in the washroom, one of the light bulb was missing in the lamp by the bed. It was like walking in to a cheap motel room. My wife looked at me like why this? I was so embarrassed. But, next day the lighting issue was fixed and we started getting used to the place. Thank God for the Beach which was amazing! Grand Memories would have been a great place at some point. It is quite evident when I see the a [... read more]rchitecture but totally outdated. The workers there were vey helpful and respectful. Our maid was super nice! The food of course wasn’t great but that that is to be expected. Overall it was an enjoyable vacation but the experience could have been better. It is certainly not a 4 star Resort. I would place it somewhere between 2 and 3 stars. Look for places that are renovated and more modern. That’s what I am planning to do next time.

A bit disappointing

We found the resort old and not so well maintained. Some of the Food at the buffet was distributed by restaurant personnel following long line ups - not free to serve ourselves. Food was repetitive (Day after day). The 2 “a la carte” restaurants served the same food as in the buffet but no variety. Overall quite disappointing except for the special night dinner we were given ( diamond club). It was a lobster night with champagne. Very satisfying.

Outdated. Needs an upgrade

Been to Cuba many times. Extremely outdated. Needs a fresh coat of paint e where and updated bedding, curtains and mirrors. The hotel room was very musty. Clearly the AC wasn’t on in the room for quite some time and only turned on the day of. It rained the day we got there it rained and there were puddles of water all in the hallways and stairs. Dont bother calling the front lobby…. Nobody picks up. Food: you don’t go to Cuba for the food. I paid a bit extra for Diamond Club. We ended up wit [... read more]h a bottle of rum in the room. Separate beach area (better lounge chairs), separate area for food at the buffer with cushioned seating. Invited to a restaurant but didn’t go. (Kids didn’t want to go but a nice gesture). Wouldn’t go back to this resort. As for the beach, waves were pretty big but kids actually enjoyed it as did I.

Great value

This was my second time coming to this resort. Overall great experience , rooms are nice and spacious. Pools are clean and big. Ocean is just a walk away. Staff are awesome, lots of activities to do even if you want to stay on the resort. Only thing was the food, not many fish options or even vegetarian options.

Not impressed

This will be our 5th trip to Cuba. We have travelled many different times and in different months. Being slow season I would expect it would be bad but this was extreme. Only one buffet open and only one al cart open per night. We have travelled at the same time before. And the full resort was open. For a highly rated resort and a top pick not impressed. Will probably be our last trip to Cuba.

Nice Resort!!

This was a nice resort. It was bigger than we were used to. There’s two pools, one quiet and one filled with more excitement. Both of them have swim up, which was nice to choose where you wanted to go during the day. The food was ok. Cuba is going through a hard time right now, so I took that in consideration. Always something to eat just might not have been as fancy as we like. Everything was clean. We always saw maids cleaning the hallways in the bathrooms. On that note public bathrooms somet [... read more]imes had no toilet paper or no toilet seats. You learn to deal with it. The one downfall was that they were tons of mosquitoes in the lobby in the Cuban bar and on the beach. So bring bug spray, we upgraded to the diamond club and thought it was worth it. We had our own little breakfast and lunch restaurant that they served you and it was fast no lineups. Got a nice ocean view room, but it is furthest from everything we had one specialty dinner that serve lobster, chicken And smoked salmon salad.

Great time

I was very pleased with my trip overall. It was difficult as the main pool was closed down for a full+ day. But we enjoyed the quiet pool and the beach during those times. Staff were amazingly friendly and helpful. We had cold water in the shower, but hey!.

Loved it!

Grand Memories exceeded my expectations. The food was decent. We always had fresh eggs in the morning and grilled chicken at night. The staff were so kind and even permitted me a late checkout due to my evening flight. The quiet pool is gorgeous. It’s decorated with faux rock, very beautiful. The activity pool wasn’t for me although many people seemed to enjoy it. The beach was great. I always managed to get a spot in the shade. Varadero beaches do not disappoint. The drinks were a little small. [... read more] You definitely need to bring your own cup which I did. Otherwise you’d be back at the bar 4-5 times to get the equivalent of 2 beer in the tiny cups they provide. Room was as expected, very basic and the tv was broken which I also saw on one video review so I think that’s common. The room phone didn’t work but the air conditioning was great and we had a fridge, overall after the short adjustment and lowering my expectations on the room I was very pleased. The magic show in the theatre was great and so were the Michael Jackson dancers. Norge (Nor-Hay) the bartender was extremely kind to both myself and my son. Alfredo at the front desk too. There was a young server in the dining hall who told me she had a 5 year old son, she was so sweet and I regret not getting her name. I would absolutely return to this resort for the gorgeous beach, serene quiet pool and wonderful staff. Many other tourists on the resort had been to it multiple times so that says a lot! See you again soon Grand Memories!

The worst hotel I 've ever seen on vacation. ( Feb 27 - March 5 - 2024)

The check- in was late, definitely past 4 pm. We were booking our trip together with our friends and we paid the same price, 1035$ per adult. Nevertheless, the reception guy gave us a room that was 1 km away from the ocean. At the same time our friends were given a place at the other side of the resort. The receptionist explained us, that we booked a standard room, when our friends ordered a premium one. ( for the same 1035 $ per adult). The receptionist recommended us to contact our agent what [... read more] we did. And what was the agent's response? She messaged -" Talk to receptionist". Good start. Finally, we gave a receptionist 140$ CAN cash under the table and got a "premium" room next door to our friends. There were no blankets on the beds, and only 2 pillows for 2 adults and 2 kids. The bar fridge had only 2 bottles of plain water in it. The balcony door lock was broken, and when I attempted to open a wardrobe sliding door - it just fell on the floor. They had troubles with supplies all the week - no sugar for tea and coffee, one or two days they didn't supply disposable cups. Towel service doesn't exist there - we used the same towels all the week, same for pool towels. The floor in the room was so dirty - they don't clean it properly. If you leave the balcony door open - the room is full of biting mosquitoes. A/C was working the first day ok, but when we tried to shut it off - it didn't start again. After fixing the thermostat on/off button never worked again - so we stayed with working a/c till the end. All the room equipment was old and devastated, but there was a shower with hot and cold water and the pressure was good. There was no pressure in the toilet flush - so we borrowed a kid's toy bucket to flush the toilet. Our friend's safe and entrance door locks were broken every other day, they couldn't open the door with the card. Food was OK, no one had any stomach problems, guava and papaya were good. No shrimps, no potatoes, no eggs. Egg powder compound is not a good replacement for the omelet. The menu was the same all days, no varieties - but it is normal for Cuba. The pool was OK, the entrance to the ocean beach is not fit for a baby stroller. Overall it is not worth 1035$. Varadero is a good place to stay for those who want to visit Havana. The hotel is not 4 stars , even not 3. If you find a deal there for 700 - 750$ - book it. I hope the agent will refund me my 140$, spent for "premium" upgrade.

GILLIGANS ISLAND

what I remembered most was the lactation wasat one end of beach(which I knew). Took a $29 USD taxi ride to go to VARADERO. The double decker bus option($5USD) was okay,but took bout 45 minutes to arrive downtownafter all hotel stops. Grounds were in great shape, big resort, lots of action, butreally missed the option of walking out door of resort and downtown across the street. Room...minor complaint, TV didn,t work all week, and phone to call front desk out of service for months what I was told [... read more].

The Sanctuary was the best!!!

Grand Memories Sanctuary! It was wonderful. We were very fortunate to receive an upgrade to the Sanctuary! A few people who made our time wonderful!!! Hilda, the manager of the Sanctuary, she Checkin on us and always made sure we were happy and well looked after. Juan, manager of the restaurant/food, excellent service & good food! Ronald our butler, very attentive! Yeny, our room maid, super kind and does a great job! The Italian restaurant’s manager Yurialis, she was over the top! Hospitality,  [... read more]food, service and just a very special lady

Great resort .

I enjoyed my stay at Grand Memories resort. It was very clean and the staff are very friendly and eager to please. The pool is great as is the beach . The grounds are well maintained and look great. I'll return.

Very nice resort

Very clean cleaning people everywhere,room was very nice and clean,beach was beautiful and water was warm. If your looking for a brand new resort this is not it. Its a bit dated but like I say kept very clean.Well as for the food it was as good as could be expected considering the circumstances.Overall its a very nice resort.

4 star hotel — 5 star experience

We stayed at Grand Memories Veradero Dec 31 to Jan 7 2024 and overall our experience was great. We read many negative reviews so had low expectations upon arrival and packed absolutely anything we would need. Arrival was bad and Check in was horrible and so slow. We arrived at midnight and everything was chaos and when we finally got to our room it was bad! We immediately went back to reception and was told we can change in the morning. We moved to a new room the next day and it was perfect. We  [... read more]were 4 travellers and had 1 king and 1 double bed, fresh towels, stocked waters in the fridge, tv and clean. From there everything else was great. Beautiful beach, large pools, friendly staff and family friendly activities. Food was not the best but we were able to find something plus we packed a lot of snacks from home. Overall great experience especially for the price. We will be going back to Veradero and open to going to Grand Memories again although we typically like to try new places.

Good staff, poor management.

The grounds, pools and restaurants were all well maintained. The buffets were your typical random Cuban food (think hot dogs in tomato sauce), but there was always something you could find to fill your belly. Most of the food and soup in the buffet was cold which was strange. Interestingly it was brought out cold (cold, not room temp) and didn't get cold at the buffet. Do people really want to eat cold fish from the buffet? Plates and bowls were always dirty (old food, dirt, grease) so be carefu [... read more]l when selecting your vessels. Breakfast was the toughest meal of the day to find good food (unless you can sustain off fruit and bread). 3 out of our 7 days, there were omelets available at the grill, and everyday there were pancakes. Given the struggles at the buffet, the lines for omelets and pancakes were ungodly as people just wanted some warm tasty food. To make matters worse, the person making the pancakes was essentially incompetent, and she was on that station everyday. You'd figure any one of the other people on the resort could have done a better job if given an opportunity, but it didn't happen. Do NOT order coffee at the buffet. Trust me. The coffee at the bars is better, but not great. The rooms are a mixed bag. Everything worked in our room except for the hair dryer, tv and phone. Our travel mate's first room did not have a toilet seat or working A/C and was full of mold. Her second room had working AC and toilet seat, but the door lock was finnicky and the safe did not work. The water in either room was not hot, but at least slightly warmer than room temperature so you could have a quick shower. The drinks are very hit and miss. There's about 5 different bars on the resort, and if you order a rum punch at all of them, you would get 5 vastly different tasting and coloured drinks. The juices are watered down probably to extend them and save some costs. The only thing you can count on being consistent is a glass of rum or beer. The beer is always cold and refreshing. The snack bar and lobby bar have coffee machines there, but the coffee is still not GREAT. I think it's a problem with the milk being too watery. We went to Santa Marta one day and had AMAZING coffee, so it's certainly an issue with the resort specifically. The pool is great and the beach is wonderful. The pool bar is good too and always has slushy drinks. Lots of shallow areas in the pool for younger kids to play in. Note: the kids club is NOT supervised so you cannot drop your kids off and leave them. Tipping in Pesos or CAD is okay. A number of times we exchanged canadian coins for canadian bills from bartenders since Cubans cannot bring them to the bank. You can buy cuban pesos to tip which is what we did. The resort gives you about 88 Pesos for CAD, but in Santa Marta we were able to get 155 Pesos for CAD so we stocked up there. If you are bringing rum home, buy it in Pesos. We bought a 1L 7 year Havana club for 2000 pesos (about $14.50 CAD). At the store the same bottle was $28 USD. In Varadero we saw the same bottle for 2500 pesos which is still much cheaper (not at the stores, you need to go to the small stands selling food/drinks). Overall the trip was great, despite the deficiencies of the resort. We are not fancy or complaining type of people and have been to Cuba about 10 times, staying at resorts between 3 and 4 stars. Unfortunately, this was the worst resort experience we have had in Cuba and we will not return to Grand Memories in the future.

Would definitely go back!

The grounds are very well kept. Hotel could use some updating in the rooms. They need more lounge chairs around the party pool, but everything is great! There were lots of food options and a variety so you won’t starve. Entertainment team needs work and there should be music at the party pool to eliminate people playing speakers around the pool with varying music. Staff are amazing and kind. They go out of their way to ensure you have everything you need.

Worst Vacation!

We did not receive what we asked/paid for. No hot water for 3 days. Food is the same everyday. awful!! Would NEVER RETURN here again!!!! Service is awful! Always lies!! The resort should be torn down.