Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Amazing staff!

My family just returned from this resort and we had a wonderful time. The staff was friendly and very welcoming. The rooms are clean, the beds are comfortable and the star rating is accurate. This hotel and area has come a long way after recovering from the hurricane. If you are looking for a smaller resort with a beautiful view and are not fussy with perfection, this is the place. We met so many nice people from so many different countries. The staff are what truly made thus vacation extr [... read more]a special.

Club Karey: quiet and comfortable

needs toilet paper and more food selection. a la carte needs to be open everyday with more selection. shuttle into town like others. and money at front desk. pina coladas made fresh. no charge for beach towels. food to be hot.

Roc Barlovento: Great Resort.

This was my second year at the ROC Barlovento, and it is still the well run, well maintained Resort it was last year. It has added a third pool, closer to the Beach, which is a much quieter area for those who prefer that to the large and small pools in the center Courtyard area, which have music and activities. The staff are very friendly and helpful. I liked the food, even tho I am a vegetarian, which greatly limited my options. Meat eaters had choices between various casseroles, stews and the [... read more] grills where they could get their meat or fish cooked fresh to order. This is not a Party Resort (in case that is what you are looking for) but it is in town and not that far from restaurants, bars, and dancing at Casa de la Musica, Beatles Bar, or Calle 62. Don't forget to visit the Beach bar too, and meet Yusett, bartender extraordinaire :)

Nacional de Cuba: i would use it again

The National was fine ... this is Cuba remember..and it is very hit and miss, the place is well located, but it a bit needs new beds and furniture... the pool was great. The terrace was perfect for drinks over looking the ocean...

Roc Barlovento: Lovely Resort

Roc Barlovento is a lovely resort, extremely well situated at the entrance of Varadero which makes it easy to discover the village whether it be to shop, browse or simply get acquainted with the Cuban people. The resort itself is simple and quaint but well organized, clean and well maintained. The beach is well kept with sufficient chairs, the towel service is efficient The food is good to excellent with numerous choices, good variety and quality. With its two restaurants, you can have someth [... read more]ing different every day of the week. The highlight however is the staff. They are great! Attentive and polite, they always welcome you with a smile and will go out of their way to get you what you need or want. The only downside are the rooms. They really need to be refreshed. Worn out and stained towels and sheets, leaking toilets, broken doors and poor deco. The cleaning staff is good, they do their best, but it is impossible to give luster to run down material. Luckily, our mattress and air conditioning were good so we slept well. Overall, we enjoyed our stay. We give it a 4, except for the rooms which are a 2.

Club Kawama: Good intro

I thought the hotel was fine. My son and I wanted a quick 4 day trip and had never been to Cuba. The staff were friendly and very helpful. The hotel was over all clean and lived up to my expectations. We did not buy a 5 star so I did not expect one. The beach was very nice, white sands and lots of chairs. The food was what I expected however I would recommend you bri g your own spices and such as my son found the food bland. I would recommend this place to anyone looking to kick around Cuba, sp [... read more]end time on the beach and doing excursions. We had a great time.

Starfish Cayo Largo: Amazing Beach

This is my third time to the Pelicano I will not return unless some changes are made.It would be so simple for them to fix it up .Examples ; put some fresh paint on the room blocks with room numbers on them , take the palayas/ man made umbrellas that are laying on the left side as you walk to the beach and burn them they are all broken and laying there .It would be so simple while the staff that are supposed to entertain for them to weave or build some umbrellas to sit under that would certainl [... read more]y freshen things up.Get rid of the blue umbrellas they have it spoils the beauty and look of this amazing beach. Could they please bring the real tomatoes and the real tomato sauce back they had at pasta bar.Pizza is awesome . No juice only lemon aid there use to be fresh real juice it was amazing.Tourists should not be allowed to smoke on the beach there should be a smoking section so many french people women smoke it's horrible to come to a beach and smell smoke.No bananas and the butter was bad maybe it sat out too long but it was horrible. Only one dam toaster BUY ANOTHER toaster! They use to have pickles and more variety it's went down hill.Sad ! The coffer is horrible I even brought in stand and asked for hot water it was actually salty tasting they are definitely using there water a boiling it o coukdnt even have a coffee ask for a hot water and taste it. Luke warm water in the shower hardly warm enough to shower so fir what I paid which was high not fair !!!

Club Kawama: Fantastic Experience

My friend and I stayed at the resort for a week and I personally thought it was fantastic. Depending on which part of the resort you stay at, it is either 30 seconds from the beach or 2 minutes. I am more of a beach person, but we did stick our feet in the pool a couple times and it was a nice temperature and decent size. There are a lot of bars, which all provide you with fresh drinking water. At the first night of your stay you get a bottle of water, which you can then fill up whenever you [... read more] like...or just bring a 1L cup like we did which you can fill with either alcohol or water...or have both at the same time. There is always someone at the front desk, and the staff was extremely friendly during our stay. The only thing that was not as great, contrary to all the other people we heard ravaging about it, were the restaurants. We both preferred the buffet over the two that were available during our stay. Though, the staff was considerably more friendly and efficient by the buffet. The location is also perfect, not too far away from the airport so you don't have to leave 6 hours earlier. Speaking of location there is also a double decker bus, which will take you to the next little village where you can buy little merchandise and things to bring home. All in all, I absolutely loved my experience at Club Kawama and it was heartbreaking for me to leave. This is definitely a resort that I would recommend and would come back to every time if possible.

Hotel Villa Cuba: below average

Dining was good, snack bar was bad, room & balcony were spacious, mattress was terrible, air conditioning fell directly on the bed which was quite miserable with a continual draft hitting me. Changed rooms the next day as I wanted a room on upper floor and the room was in bad shape, the next room had been renovated but still time lost on my vacation to meet with reception several times to get a new room. The pool was small and shallow, didnot use it. The bar had a good selection of drinks but th [... read more]ere were not softdrinks or water in refrigerator. The first day received a bottle of water which we had to go to restaurant or bar to have refilled for the 7 days or buy bottled water at store, same thing for coke or juice, we always had to go out to get something to drink which was bothersome. Beach was great but I would not go back as it is inconvenient to lose time for room changes as reception was not very helpful. I also like to have drinks in the room, why put a fridge in the room without any service.

Hotel Villa Cuba: CUC- aroo!

I will make this review as detailed as possible for potential guests. First off, the entrance is really nice. Very impressive, staff smiled and was friendly right away. Front desk ladies were full of smiles and spoke all languages. Unfortunately, the first thing they said was that our room wasnt ready :( we spent our first night in a community villa that had many small rooms with 2 double beds. Not happy. Good for a family but not a couple (although not all villas are bad) entire first day w [... read more]as spent in and out of lobby waiting for a room that was not ready until after 4. We met many others upset at the lobby fighting with front desk reception that didnt deserve to get the ear full. Again, not happy. My bf and I ended up getting a gorgeous room looking out to the stage and wonderful pool. The problem was that we had to jam 5 days into 4 as our beautiful room was handed to us late. The room was clean and well maintained although all toilets in resort and around Cuba required paper to be thrown into garbage which was rather disgusting and outside of the resort women would stand outside of washroom asking for money in exchange for toilet paper. I recommend bringing napkins and wet wipes to be safe. Grounds were always clean, excursions were a blast, and we met great people. We got there just in time for a cold front and beach was too dangerous to swim in due to high winds so 3 days of our 5 were also very cold. We had no choice but to stay in to drink and eat. The food in my opinion was grosse. I expected bad food but it was not edible in my opinion. My bf is less picky and ate the food anyways but I ended up getting sick on the first night after eating at the restaurant across the street for $25 CUCS each. Needless to say i ate fries and salad the rest of the trip **I recomend ketchup that you like** i brought mine and it saved my trip. The service in the cafe and restaurants were not very good either. No smiles, rude, and no manners. However, as mentioned, front desk and bar staff were very nice and polite. There were some cool amenities such as pool, table tennis, volleyball (although we didnt get to play as the beach was too windy to play). Very sad. In terms of the currency, for Canadians, please do not exchange your US cash. Bring Canadian cash. No one wanted to exchange our american money as they de valued the US bills less than $50 or $100. We were left without money some days as the only people who exchanged our cash were front desk and banks. That was also a shocker as they gave us less CUCs for the american dollar. Big waste of cash!! Big waste of time!! Now for the worst part, Be Live Resort is not organized well with sunwing. We had a flight that landed us in our hotel at 930p. There were no rooms because check out was at 4pm. So, we didnt have a room as a result. Jumping forward, our excursion the last day was from 8a- 430p but we had no place to shower or stay as we had to check out at 11am. It was a mess waiting for a room to shower before we took off. There must be a better way. We left very dissapointed with a very bad taste in our mouths (and i dont just mean the food). I would never return to Cuba after this trip and I hope to be compensated as I spent $900 for 5 days and lost one due to the disorganization that was definitely not my fault. Im yet to know who has the fault. Now Overall, the hotel is clean and very well put together looks and structure wise. Pool is beautiful. Beach looked beautiful. The staff and service was below par and the food was a 1 out of 5 in my books. And the overall experience was not worth the money we paid. Its worth it if you go for 1 week + and are willing to sacrifice a day or 2. If you go, I recommend the safari and catamaran excursions. I recommend walking to city 20 min away for a nice night out and cool local bars like Beatles and Calle 62 where there is dancing. I also recommend you bring spices, ketchup and pills for nausea or diarrhea. Hope this helps.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: When improved does not mean nicer or better

It was our second time in this hotel. On our first trip I found the beach small, but beautiful, charming, picture perfect. Now the beach is expanded, well, there is much more space for kite surfers, but overall look somehow is not as mesmerizing as before. The hotel was repainted and the colors are not so cheerful. The other areas of the hotel are the same. This is "good value for your money" hotel, not luxury resort. The pleasant surprise came when some of the staff remembered us (after 3 years [... read more]) and we got treated to special dinner: very good menu and live music. It is a pity that the pink flamingos are gone after hurricane Irma. They were beautiful. There is only a few pelicans and white herons left. Vegetation also suffered a lot. Not so many palm trees left, other trees were almost naked, new growth is starting slowly.

Club Kawama: Good and Affordable resort

Our room was very hot regardless of the air conditioner being on all day. In this regard, if you don't stay so much at the resort, you will be completely be fine. I am not a picky person. Just need a bed to sleep on. Nice resort overall.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Thank God the views were amazing

I'll be kind and blame most of my issues with this hotel on the fall Hurricanes. The trees and landscapes were awful. The lawn was knee high. Flowers and leaves were coming back ! We booked the privilege + section with wooden bungalows. The Club section was closed. The room was the worse I've ever seen. The drawers wouldn't close. The gaps above and below the doors let the rain come in flooding the room. The toilet paper holder was all rusted. We showered with our flip flops on because  [... read more]the bath floor was filthy. Since the hurricanes, the agriculture in all Cuba suffered. The buffet had very little fruit and vegetables. We would have to wait about 15 minutes to get a fork. Spoons are non-existant so why bother putting out yogurt and cereals ?? There's a smell in the buffet that was sometimes unbearable. On the bright side, the views of the ocean are amazing throughout the resort. It's a kite surfer paradise. This means it's windy and water is very shallow. Don't expect to swim at this beach. You can only roll in the sand. There's maybe 1'-2' of water. I met a couple that was on their 15th visit to this resort and they swore they would never go back. I won't for sure...ever !

Starfish Cayo Largo: Respect the waves

This was our first trip to Cayo Largo and we would be happy to return again next year. The hotel is dated (25 yrs old) , but the grounds and the rooms are kept clean. We found all of the staff to be pleasant and helpful. The gentleman at reception and the two waiters in the main part of the dining hall were exceptional. The rooms are average size, with enough storage space for your belongings in case you stay for two weeks. Our bathroom had no tub, but was the shower was updated. We found that w [... read more]ater pressure was good during the day, but weak very early evening. The lobby washrooms were always clean and (usually had t.p.) Fresh beach towels were not always available (not the hotels fault, they are at the mercy of delivery times). We did not eat at the a la carte restaurants , but we can say that lunch at the pool bar/barbeque was always excellent. The buffet at breakfast and dinner always had a wide selection .. for example, our last dinner there had pizza to order, fish on the grill, roast pork, chicken and pasta station. The entertainment at night was okay . The beach is beautiful!!!!! You can walk for miles, but people need to respect how strong the waves/undertow can be. The main pool was kept clean, but I never saw the childrens' pool being cleaned. Two issues which I wish the hotel would look at: 1. the lobby bar has long line ups ..... perhaps open up the bar which is beside the pizza ovens and 2. guests who play the "towel game" .. leaving your towel on the beach chairs overnight and then not showing up until noon hour is just plain rude and inconsiderate of others. This resort/beach is fabulous for relaxing and taking a mental break.

Hotel Inglaterra: Great spot

We really enjoyed the hotel. The prices were reasonable and it was right in the middle of everything. The rooms were simple, and clean. I recommend getting a room with a balcony though. The buffet breakfast was pretty decent with lots of choices.

Club Kawama: Kawama Hotel

We have been to this hotel many times. This time however the food was absolutely terrible. The staff with the exception of the guy that was cooking at the grill in the buffet, were great as usual. I had the misfortune of cutting my foot on a broken tile in the pool. I went to the medical office and the staff had no experience in treating my cut. My wife had to take over and bandage my foot. However I would return because the staff and other guests were very nice to be around.

Club Kawama: Club Kawama

My husband and I just got back from Cuba last week. We had a great time. The food was decent. It had some flavour!! The room had some mold due to the hurricane but they moved us as soon as we brought it to their attention. There was entertainment every afternoon and evenings. The pools were clean and the drinks were yummy!! I would definitely go back. It's a 3 plus star and you get what you expect. Worth noting is go to Kiki's bar and grill. I had the best lobster pizza.there! Brenda - L [... read more]ondon ON

Roc Barlovento: Great place to stay

Really happy with our experience at the hotel Roc Barlovento. Everyone there was great to deal with, so friendly and eager to please. The location was perfect for us as we love walking and being in the busier end of Varadero there was always something to do and see. The nightly entertainment was enjoyable, very talented young people! We enjoyed all our meals at the buffet and tried the Mexican a la carte restaurant which we REALLY enjoyed.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: Great time

I thought this place was pretty fantastic for the price I paid. I did not expect 5 star, but I certainly wasn’t disappointed st all. I had an amazing room, great maid service, always something really good to eat... and lady but not least? Sand, surf, and sunshine.... how much more do you need.

Starfish Cayo Largo: Great staff!

Hotel Pelicano has a spectacular beach that is a joy to see at any time of day. While the resort is showing its age, it is very clean and well kept. The best part of this resort however, is the staff. Every person we dealt with made the effort to be sure we were having a good time. The Pelicano staff could give customer service lessons to lots of service people in North America. The food was pretty much as one would expect at a 3 1/2 star resort. The a la carte restaurants were good, as we [... read more]re the "made to order" food stations (e.g. omelettes, stir frys, pasta, grills, pizza). Definitely a good place to kick back and enjoy the beach and sea.