Great Memories in Holguin

I have to say that I was very hesitant to go to Cuba for our family vacation this year. We had heard many things about the food shortages and hotel conditions. We were flabbergasted by the fantastic resort! Beautifully spread out...your choice of 3 pools, plenty of bars, food / snack bars and great music entertainers! The room was in immaculate condition. The room service was excellent, our room maid was so particular to ensuring our room was clean with a lovely flower and towel animal surpri [... read more]se on the bed or counter daily! We were on the ground floor right near the pool, so I was afraid it would be noisy. Not at all! The loudspeaker only goes on at 10am with soft meditation music. The loud party time is from 3-6pm and by 8pm, it is a ghost town. No rocking disco to keep you awake all night. The entertainment was fun and clean. Good dancing lessons. Beach was immaculately cleaned every morning. Great yoga on the beach. Massage was good and the Spa was so serene! Gym was very modern and new equipment. Thank you Beth for suggesting this place. We were very pleased!

Great Memories in Holguin

I have to say that I was very hesitant to go to Cuba for our family vacation this year. We had heard many things about the food shortages and hotel conditions. We were flabbergasted by the fantastic resort! Beautifully spread out...your choice of 3 pools, plenty of bars, food / snack bars and great music entertainers! The room was in immaculate condition. The room service was excellent, our room maid was so particular to ensuring our room was clean with a lovely flower and towel animal surpri [... read more]se on the bed or counter daily! We were on the ground floor right near the pool, so I was afraid it would be noisy. Not at all! The loudspeaker only goes on at 10am with soft meditation music. The loud party time is from 3-6pm and by 8pm, it is a ghost town. No rocking disco to keep you awake all night. The entertainment was fun and clean. Good dancing lessons. Beach was immaculately cleaned every morning. Great yoga on the beach. Massage was good and the Spa was so serene! Gym was very modern and new equipment. Thank you Beth for suggesting this place. We were very pleased!

Did Not Live Up to Expectation!

SUMMARY – we were there Apr. 10 - 21, 2024 and are unlikely to return. When considering this review, we are mustard people, not Grey Poupon. Cuba offers exceptional value for the price. We have been to 5 Cuban resorts in the past 2 years. 3 of the 5 we would go back to. SANCTUARY – did not live up to expectation and some of the advertised claims were not provided or available. Principally, we were told to go early Sunday morning to book a la carte reservations for the next week which we did [... read more]. All times around 7:00 p.m. were already gone. Our butler never approached us to book reservations as others seemed to get. CHECK-IN – very easy and our room was ready. RESORT – very well taken care of. I saw staff cleaning railings three times. ROOM – quite roomy and a nice layout. Air conditioning would stop / start erratically. STAFF – unlike previous resorts, we really did not connect with staff, but the service was very good. BEACH – important to us, this beach was disappointing for us considering the coral starts about 50 feet from the shore. Bring lake shoes if you go. All other aspects were fine. This beach ranks last out of the 5 we’ve been to. By example, Grand Aston Cayo Paredon Cayo Coco where most of the beach is powdery sand which extends way out into the ocean including sandbars. You can walk for miles along the beach. POOLS – all fine other than the lounge chairs are horrendous. FOOD – for the most part, typical Cuban spread. We were pleased with the a la carte restaurants. Buffet had eggs 2/3 breakfasts, bacon rarely, bottled water rarely, wine always. Shortages are a Cuba issue, not the resort. WI-FI – excellent! 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. 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. – mosquitoes were a non-issue. FACEBOOK GROUP – it was apparent that there are some people who are passionate about this resort, and Cuba. At one point, it was over-the-top when one FB member criticized another’s FB post. The FB post wrote that the resort did not deliver as promised, twice, for a 6-year-old birthday cake. The FB member told them they should go to the Dominican Republic. Please consider that one person’s experience / expectation may not be the same as yours. Never discourage people from going to Cuba! Think about the amount of your all-inclusive cost, and tips, that one person going to Cuba puts into the Cuban economy. I struggle with Cuba, and Sunwing nonsense, but still want to go with our next trip scheduled for the Fall.

Great place

Beautiful hotel , great workers , good beach , but a bit too windy there, I guess it’s season . Food was good, always something to find. At the bar was no vodka and often run out of rum, but had beer, vine and good brand name whisky

Rather Mediocre

Nice lobby, rooms, and pools. Overall, unreached potential though. The buffet is a series of 3 to 5 smaller buffets. Lack of choice in the pre-cooked items, long lines at the stations. No vodka all week

Nice resort

The shortages in this hotel were unbelievable.No toilet paper,no butter,no eggs etc.Terrible mix for drinks,all artificial . Beach not very attractive for Cuba,seen alot better.I am not a picky eater but this was the worse for choices to pick. Wifi IFFI

Nice resort

The shortages in this hotel were unbelievable.No toilet paper,no butter,no eggs etc.Terrible mix for drinks,all artificial . Beach not very attractive for Cuba,seen alot better.I am not a picky eater but this was the worse for choices to pick. Wifi IFFI

Grand Memories

What a great hotel. It was an excellent experience from the very beginning. The instructions given by trip Central made things so much easier to prepare, and to take this trip. The rooms are so clean. Everything works and every day the rooms are made up perfect. The entire hotel is so clean And the pool areas are well kept it was a great experience. I hope that they will be able to get a little more variety in their food, but the service was excellent.

Grand Memories

Clean beautiful hotel. Staff very friendly. Excellent service the room was excellent. Lots of hot water ? Need better evening entertainment Will go back pools are beautiful. Kitchen staff excellent-

Very Surprised

The grounds and hotel are new and in a great shape. The hotel and rooms were really clean and up to a standard. Normally, I don't write reviews, but I'm compelled to write this one. Having been to Cuba more than a dozen times, I was surprised by the shortage of food. We all don't go to Cuba for their gourmet meals, but beautiful beaches, facilities and people. This time, the shortage of food in this hotel was beyond tolerance. I went with my friend and two 5 yr olds. There was no milk, eg [... read more]gs, real juice, fruit...just stuff made of powder. The only fruit all week was unripened pineapple. The rice and pasta were stale and I struggled to get the meals for kids. There were no condiments like vinegar, oil, olives, ketchup, hot sauce, etc. that one would find at a buffet. All that was available was salt and sugar, all week. We had eggs for breakfast only one day and when fries arrived, mid-week, one afternoon at the 24 hr. snack bar, people swarmed like bees to get them. Line ups for food/meals at any time at the buffet were huge, with chefs/cooks using only one cooking surface making food for one person at a time (manager told them so). The wait was at least 20 min per person. It was bad. I wasn't expecting the world, this is Cuba after all; but this was beyond tolerance. The only dinner that was good was at the Japanese a la carte restaurant. Beach bar bartenders, Julian and Mirena were amazing and made do with little drinks that were available. Once we arrived, we discovered the 'Sanctuary Section' of the hotel for adults. Ridiculous! They were able to eat at the 'common buffet' and those who purchased regular packages were not allowed to 'their section' (couldn't even get that package with two little ones). For the rooms; get ready to get a 1L of water for 4 people and that's it. Nothing else gets filled in the mini fridge...unless you track down the water/juice boy and pay him at least $5USD/day to give you 2 little juice boxes. It was bad...and I didn't expect much. Who would, knowing how poor the Cubans are. Perhaps, the reason is that the resort is called Grand Memories Holguin, leading one to believe that's it's in Holguin the city. It's not, it's 120km away from the Holguin airport and very isolated, with rare supply/deliveries to the hotel. The name is because of the reference to the province of Holguin. I give this hotel 2* because of the nice grounds/clean rooms, that's all. As far as the beach goes, you can swim in about 3 meters into the water, hoping not to scrape, brake or injure your feet on large shells/stones/sea grass that are countless. If you dare to go to Cuba post covid, make sure you go to a resort hub like Guardavalaca, or a big city full of resorts where they get easier and regular supply of food. Do not go far from the very populated/resort area like I did ( I didn't do my research) long long bus ride at $4-6 CDN for 1L of gas....no supply, you'll be hungry and come back home at least 5 lbs lighter. This is so sad to write about a country I used to visit so often and enjoyed every time before. I think I'm done with Cuba for the next long while. I forgot to add that most waiters/bartenders at the lobby bar and pools won't even notice you unless you have money on you or you're waiving USDs before you order; not after.

Lovely Hotel

Holguin was experiencing some shortages when we first got there but things did get better. Bring your own toilet paper. Staff is wonderful. Beach is beautiful. However our stay was effected negatively by a drunken man who the admin. staff failed to stop from getting on our return bus. As far as they were concerned he had checked out and they no longer needed to be involved. Putting everyone at risk.

Beautiful Resort

This resort was beautiful. The grounds and gardens were nicely kept. Our room was spacious and very clean. Towels were changed every other day. The bed was very comfortable. Overall layout of the resort was good. Staff was very friendly. Pools were kept very clean. If it wasn't for the food shortages, I would rate this resort a 4 star.

Sunwing deficient touristic operation Holguin destination

The resort is beautiful, clean, staff is nice, polite, they do as much as they could, to make you comfortable. Everything starts with the first impression, and that was not a good one. After wandering through the isolated security zone, we finally arrived to the third Gate # provided to everyone travelling to Holguín, on flight WG 6342. Then we were taken, by bus, to what people called a ghost terminal around 7-10 min drive, from the gate at Pearson. There we waited and waited, Finally were al [... read more]lowed to board. The whole process took more than an hour and a half. The crew apologized for the delay, although we made it on time to Holguín. The Sunwing's reps are bolted to their desks at the lobby, that's good for the Company, more income for optional sales, but not for the guest, because they are detached from the day-to-day reality at the resort. Only once, I saw them, at the buffet restaurant during the launch time. Believe me. The rep that doesn't walk, every area of his resort, can not fight for his clients. During my stay, I contacted the Sunwing reps, about the time of the returning transfer to the airport, After the first week, they consistently confirmed, to everyone asking, that the time was 15:50, then on the 27/12, suddenly they said 18:30, when we tried, to find answers, the 3 reps disappeared. There were people out of their rooms since 12:00, off course, you were able to use the resorts, services. For me, it was not a big deal, but people travelling with kids, had a hard time, during that long waiting period. And for the grand finale, we left Holguín, one hr + behind schedule, made it to Pearson, around 30 min earlier, but then, waited the Marshall, for a significant time, and after that expended 2hrs at the luggage department. Even if everything else, was nice and beautiful, during the trip, this part of the operation dropped the ball, and another Sunwing's, lost game. Maybe, because they operated so poorly, were transferred to the court, outside of Pearson, close to the Cargo terminal. Hope they, are working on improving their performance. But in the future I will avoid them

Still Under Reno

I visited on December 20, 2023. Only 1 buffet was open, there were only about 3-4 bars open, and no BBQ/Grill. The only food options at the snack bar were cheese sandwich, hot dog, and tune sandwich. Would like more food variety if the buffet is unavailable.

Nice resorts but out of no where.

Hi I would like to say good things first Hotel compere to others Hotels in Houlgun it is 3 star I liked my unit suit which was roomy and everything was working well The bad things which the manager of Hotel that can do for better on paths of improvement I would say To improve the foods that it wasn't tasty at all unfortunately there was no green like salads or fouroth just water melon and for first the papaya It was self-service and we have to wait so long to achieve the food I would gi [... read more]ve 3 from 10 The Japanese restaurant it was trebles no onions no garlic no shireeps no Tisted at all In total food was haribel my stomach got sick 3 internment it was so poor music was jus 2 hrs a night and the didn't open the salons for musicians so disappointed It was no transportation for even far city no shopping I didn't rely like it Hope the do some improvement for those services.

Amazing hotel, staff, needs more fruits and vegetables

People were amazing, lacking in fruits, vegetables and entertainment. No stores or other small shops. Nothing to do in the resort besides resting! Needs more attraction area like dance and good music. The last day trip was late after 1:30 due to our flight and we missed shopping, stores in the city were closed. The hotel is great but needs entertaining evening not only blasting old music till 9:00 pm. Is good for retired people pm.

Relaxing vacation

Stunning large resort great layout easy to access. Hotel includes restaurants.lounge. Swimming pools, game room, theatre. gym and beach. There is also tennis courts and the basketball courts are almost complete. The beach is beautiful. The a la carte restaurants are very good. The buffet restaurant always had fresh grilled fish chicken or pork. Our family had a great time. I do recommend the excursions. The snorkelling and dolphin trip was a lot of fun!

Amazing resort

We thank all the hotel workers for the good services that were provided to us, the speed of service and the quality. This is the second time we visit this beautiful hotel. We especially thank Loudres, who is responsible for all services in the hotel. We wish her and them success and progress for the better. *****

Amazing resort

Spectacular beach. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. However as is the same at all these resorts it will be nice to have the servers speak some English; which is an universal language. It is hard to communicate with all staff. There was not much variety at meals. Pretty much the same food was served. Missed fruits like bananas papaya gauva etc. Additionally I am a vegetarian and there were some others who were vegetarians. All dishes were mixed with some kind of m [... read more]eat or fish so it will be nice to have a separate section at the buffet restaurant exclusively with vegetarian food with separate spoons for serving.

Another Sunwing disaster!!

it was new ,clean but staff were mostly just out of high school very poorly trained with little initiative,very little engish spoken ,so called butler service was little more than a customer service rep,adult side was very noisy at night and there were still many kids in rooms , beach was a 3 at best very windy in the afternoon, so called sanctuary pool was no sanctuary, ignorant people blast there own personal "ghetto blasters" all afternoon there is no peace,food buffet was small and other on [... read more]e was closed very little choice , this is a sunwing managed property and is run as poorly as their company is we were all stranded at the airport for our return trip, got home a day late never again will I use sunwing!!