Very Spacious well maintained Resort.

The Hotel itself has many large sitting Areas with Entertainment and Or relaxing Music playing. Many Large Clean Pools. Very Close to the Ocean. The Theatre is very Large and was full every evening. The Entertainment like always in Cuba was Awesome. Staff in all areas were friendly and very Grateful to receive even just a Smile. If you don't mind a Tour across the Cosway that took Ten Years to build and 90 minute Bus Ride to the Resort. And a little longer going back to the Airport. Then this Re [... read more]sort is Worth the Visit. I just wish I would have booked 10 days with the first and last day of Travelling.

Problematic stay

The main thing I would complain about the resort is the accessibility. My partner and I had accessed the clinic on site after a medical emergency and they would Only take cash. I bought medical insurance before the trip so that I wouldn't have to worry about this. Finding a way to get the cash took up a lot of energy and half of our trip since they do not take credit cards or debit and the customer service people at the hotel did not empathize with this situation. We were also told, we wouldn't  [... read more]be able to leave the country if we could not find the cash to pay the clinic. This of course was very scary to hear. Although this is a 5 star hotel, Im not sure about how clean the sheets were since I ended up bringing back fleas to Canada. The activities that were listed was outdated which was dissapointing. The aesthetic of the resort is very nice at least. There are many pools and the ocean is very close by.

Great

I would of liked to see entertainment every night. The location of the room was great, sea view. My favourite was a la carts. I likes the snack bars. The pools were nice. I would go back. The beach was clean and nice to go for walks.

Wonderful Vacation

The food was excellent especially in the Alacartes . Entertainment was good with an on site theater. Staff was very polite and extremely accommodating. This was my fourth time to Santa Maria but my best accomodations!

Great for families!!

Just returned from an extended 10 day trip. Before I begin, the overall experience was fantastic and I'd definitely go back. BEACH : I had mixed feelings entire trip. That was probably the only somewhat disappointing part of the resort. Plenty of seating and shading from canopies but it's separated from the water and up on a higher cliff. You have to take about 10-12 steep steps down to get to the Sandy beach, and then it's a short stretch of 10-15' of sand. No shade whatsoever if you want to b [... read more]e close to your kids as they play with the water. There was a couple who brought their own umbrellas from Canada. That was the only way. Lots of jellyfish. LOTS. All the time. Some days worse than others. First few days we got there no one could get in the watdays everyone stuck to the pool. The unfortunate part is the water is flipping crystal clear and beautiful!! Best water I've yet seen in Cuba. But... Jelly fish made the beauty pointless. Lifeguard there keeps vinegar for those who get stung. POOLS: amazing pools, I counted at least 4 large ones. One central party pool that only goes about waste deep. Good for kidsThe other pools are quieter, deeper, and nicKi, good for adults. ROOMS: We had 2 rooms in building 3. our favourite location. Right next to (a deep) and quiet pool for kids to sleep at night. Short straight walk to all restaurants and lobby and stage. Ask for room 310. It is fully renovated and has a rain shower. Room 312 was nice except the toilet tank keep running and it's a bathtub with a very very weak shower head. We always went next door to use their shower lol STAFF: SUPER friendly folks. They don't treat you differently whether you tip or not. They are just nice all the time! Service there is overall quick, even when we called for something in our room to get fixed. ENTERTAINMENT: mainly at the Central square pool. Animation team run activities all day. There is a kids clubhouse from 9 to 5 (lunch closed 12-2) they are super nice. We took our 3 year old there twice for us to go to the gym. They have a mini pool slides swings indoor play areas and staff is sweet. It's free service, we tipped them when we picked up my daughter :) Night shows are awesome. Michael Jackson show is a must see they did a fantastic job. They had mini pre show for kids at 8. My daughter LOVED IT!! Very nice of them to think of something for kids to do at night. ICE CREAM BAR: really nice ice cream pavilion with all sorts of flavours. Open all day and unlimited. Ice cream heaven :)))) FOOD : I did the Canadian thing and took salt and hot sauces with us. We didn't need a thing. There was always plenty to eat :) and it was good. Our favourites were breakfasts. Fresh eggs and all sorts of breads and desserts amogg other things. We were 4 adults and a kid and everyone was always happy. Hope this review helps :)

Great Resort!

We stayed at Playo Cayo Santa Maria from Dec 19-26th. The staff at the resort were very friendly and accommodating. The hotel was clean and well maintained. Beach was beautiful, the only problem we encountered was a few days of jelly fish in the water. No fault of the resort just nature doing its thing! The buffet offered a good selection our only complaint was the long lines waiting for fresh made to order items like omelettes, pastas and pizza. overall we had a great time!

Best Resort in Cuba

This resort is located in a perfect spot. I travelled in December 2015 with one other person. We were looking for a relaxing week with a beautiful beach, and that is exactly what we got. The rooms were nice - we had a room with 2 beds, which is exactly what we asked for when we booked. We paid for a standard room but were given an oceanview room close to the beach, which was a nice bonus. The washroom was clean and we always got fresh towels each day. The maids did a good job making up the room [... read more] and filling up our mini fridge. If you are planning on bringing items like hair straighteners or curling wands - make sure they will work with 220v or bring a voltage converter. The grounds were well kept, with gardeners and maintenance people working around the clock to keep the place tidy. At night the walkways can be a little bit dark as the lamps don't emit a lot of light, but not really a big deal. The washrooms in the lobby do get a bit stinky by the end of the day, but they do still look clean - wasn't a deal breaker for us. The beach was absolutely fantastic. One of the nicest beaches I've seen - and I've been all over the caribbean. The sand was pure powder with barely any weeds coming up in the waves. The water was crystal clear and warm for swimming. Some days when there was no wind the ocean was so calm it looked like you could walk on the water. There were other days when it was windy and the waves got big enough for some fun jumping and surfing on them. If you like staying active there's always a beach volleyball game at the beach around lunchtime, and the beach is so long you can walk for over an hour in each direction along the shore. The food was better than I thought it was going to be. I had been worried about the food going to Cuba so I had my expectations low, and I turned out to be pleasantly surprised. Breakfast was consistently good - omelets made to order, as well as a variety of breads and pastries. I was a little bit disappointed in the fruit selection, but otherwise no issues. Lunch there were a few options - main buffet (which I never tried as I stayed near the beach), beach buffet which had fresh to order pizzas, and the snack bar by the pool which had pizzas, calamari, chicken fingers, fish sticks, sandwiches, homemade potato chips, salad, etc. There's also a little hut on the beach that has ham and cheese and tuna sandwich paninis if you're super lazy and don't want to get off the beach. Dinner options included the buffet (got a bit repetitive, but always found something to eat), and the a la carte restaurants. The Asian and the Italitan were by far the best. The seafood restaurant wasn't so great, but we just went to the buffet after. Late night snacks are at the snack bar near the pool. The quality is not like it is at home, but we didn't starve and didn't get sick at all. Drinks were always good. Good pina colada slush throuhgout the resort. The strawberry daquiri slush seemed a bit off, but not bad. Many bars around to serve you. The lobby bar is open 24 hours and is where all of the night time action is. The bartenders there are great - they remember your name and your drink and sometimes make you something special. They had a small selection of premium brands in addition to Cuban brands (i.e. Absolute vodka, Johnny Walker, etc.). All in all a very good trip. I don't usually go back to the same resort twice, but I'm already thinking of going back again in early 2016. You can't beat all that you get here for the price.

Excellent resort

Very nice resort with excellent beach. The airport to hotel transfer is long (almost two hours)but worth the time to reach a great beach. Never a shortage of beach chairs when we were there in mid Dec. The food services could be better organized. Resort staff were great.

Great place for a relaxing holiday.

The resort is OK. I don't want to tell the truth because everyone will want to go. Staff and property is one of the best anywhere. This was our third trip to this resort, and we are looking forward to going back next year.

Great value

Resort was amazing . Pools were plentiful and clean. Beach was amazing . The food was ok and enough variety to keep you satisfied . Great value . The staff were very friendly and accommodating . The entertainment at night was very good. We had an amazing time and would recommend this resort to anyone that wants a great holiday that gives them a little of everything .

Great week in Cuba!

This was my third trip to Cuba, first time in Santa Maria! Everything about this resort was great.... The service, the beach, the variety of drinks, the variety of restaurants. The number of pools was also nice.

Incredible value!!

This hotel exceeded my expectations!! The hotel was very clean, especially my room and the pools! The staff went above and beyond to make you happy and comfortable. The beach was very clean with lovely warm water. We always had a chaise lounge whether it was in sun or shade. Food was actually good I always found something to eat and dined at the a la cartes. The Asian and Italian were my favourites. The evening shows were actually not that tacky, the dancers were highly trained and professional. [... read more] The Michael Jackson show is a MUST SEE!! For what I paid the value was incredible! Always entertained and never hungry everything was perfection!

Super Nice Resort!!

The staff ,the grounds, pools, food, beach, room and service is second to none in Cuba. Bldg 15 provides an amazing, central location to all activities. .. al a carte restaurants are great, Public Relations rep, Marta Maria Diaz was most helpful to us. Can't wait until we can visit again.

Excellent Service

It is a great place to stay at, service was excellent, food was excellent, staff were very professional, there is nothing to complain about and for sure if i go back to Cuba it will be the place that i will go back.

A week between 2 different resorts

I recently spent a week at Cayo Santa Maria, booked through Sunwing, my favourite airline for all inclusive vacations. Firstly would like to say thanks to the Sunwing staff, they always make me feel like I am on vacation! Bright, friendly cheerful flight attendants. Initially I had booked Playa CSM for the week. Lovely clean, modern hotel, no complaints at all, staff were wonderful. After 4 nights, i moved to Melia Las Dunas next door. Some friends were staying there and seemed to be having more [... read more] fun than me, so I decided it wouldn't hurt to try it, so I moved. I found Las Dunas to be more vibrant, preferred the food there and it had more of a Cuban vibe. It's an older hotel so not as pristine as Playa, but I'm not a fussy person. I went solo and as a 51 year old married woman, felt safe always at both resorts. I'm looking at trip central as I write this review, may go back to CSM as early as next week. I may go back to Playa a second time, I know I can easily switch to the Melia very easily. The Sunwing rep was excellent at the Resort and arranged my move quickly and easily with very little cost to me. To summarize, I would say, for mature couples, Playa is perfect but for the young at heart, Melia Las Dunas was more upbeat and fun. Thanks again Sunwing!

Great resort

Just returned from two weeks at Playa Cayo Santa Maria. The hotel was great value for money. The staff couldn't have been better. Our room was clean and well looked after. Food was very good, no complaints. All the restaurants were excellent. Good selection of drinks and coffees at the bar. If you have a walking disability the beach is a little tricky to get down to. Once you get there its beautiful.

ANOTHER AMAZING HOLIDAY AT MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME!

This was our 3rd time to this amazing resort and each time it gets better and better with one exception. I want to comment on the positives first. The staff, as always was incredibly warm, kind and accomodating. Seeing my friend David (lobby bartender) was like time had not passed since we were there 1 1/2 years ago! He's the main reason we keep going back to this resort! I would have loved to be able to spend some one on one time with David but being at the busiest bar in the resort does not le [... read more]nd itself to socializing! Be sure to look for him when you are there! He's the one who is ALWAYS smiling! We took along our 23 year old son, Nicholas, this time and my Husband and he rented motor scooters and off they went to do some fishing. Well, as luck may have it they caught 3 big red snappers (one was 8 lbs!!!). We had the VERY BEST fish dinner that evening when Lazaro (the chef at the seafood BBQ pit) prepared a delectable feast for the three of us! How incredible is this to have this made especially for us?! This chef knows how to cook his fish!!! Mucho Grazias Lazaro! Now to address the only negative experience. Unfortunaley we had very heavy rain for 2 1/2 days (we were actually very lucky as it was suposed to be raining for 5 days!!) and although my husband and I took advantage to get some much needed R&R, our son was bored out of his mind! There was an "entertainment Team" but they did NOTHING to engage this age group! Even if they just hung out with them it would have been nice. Thank goodness Nicholas is an outgoing and confident individual as he quickly made friends but they were still bored! For myself, it would have been nice to have some KARAOKE or something to get us engaged. When the rain stopped the Entertainment Team had a fashion show around the pool and they did some dancing for us but that did not help engage the 20+ age group of guests. It was my son, Nicholas, who took the bull by the horns and asked each and every person at the pool to participte in a game of water volleyball! He had two teams going in no time and we ALL (young and old) had a BLAST! We got to know people from various places, laughed, drank and just had a great time! Personally, I feel the Entertainment Team needs to improve significantly! A guest should not have had to initiate this! Even when there was a Karaoke evening it seems it was more for the staff to enjoy than the guests. Although the Entertainment Team left much to be desired, it was just a small thing in what was a TERRIFIC AND MEMORABLE vacation! How nice is it that Lazaro (the chef) the chef came to the lobby to say good bye? Why would anyone stay anywhere else in Cuba? We are already planning our 4th trip hopefully in January 2016!

Best Food in Cuba!

Ive traveled to Cuba several times. I must say HPCSM had the best food and selection in all my travels. Resort clean and well kept. Rooms were decent size. Mini fridge stocked daily. Beach is beautiful but may be tricky if you have mobility issues due to rock ledge. Id return to this resort.

No problems with the problems

Overall a nice relaxing vacation. No bells and whistles at this resort but no complaints either. Rooms were clean and they do the best with what they have. Water issues for one day were immediately acknowledged and worked on by the resort. Guests were given a bottle of rum for any inconvenience. No issues at all with food. Plenty of fresh food stations at the buffet. Think twice before booking air canada rouge; customer service is not their strong suit.

Beautiful beach and pools

Resort overall nice. Beach beautiful. Pools nice/clean. Bungalow 7 is a perfect spot. Close to beach and pools. Nice walk to food area and main lobby. Food great in restaurants. Buffet okay but the same every day. Staff very nice. Tours for fishing/ scuba/ dolphin all were excellent. Would recommend going but know that it is a Cuba resort. Bring bug spray for early AM and PM.