Valentin Perla Blanca: Valentin perla blanca

We stayed at this resort the week of October 29th to November 5, 2016 The service was excellent, especially Maylin at the buffet, she made of feel like family. I had a massage from Yagen and she managed to remove all the knots in my back, it was an amazing experience. The food was good, just a bit repetitive but we could always find something tasty. The pool was spectacular, we even took a nap on one of the 4 beds on the island...paradise!!! To make this an even better experience, I'd s [... read more]uggest doing the check in on the 2 hour transfer bus ride?

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Beautiful resort

We stayed at this resort in October and it was amazing, beautiful beach , good food, great staff, entertainment such a professional staff! ! ! I would go back in a hearth beat! !! Thank you Ocean del Mar Cayo Santa Maria for our amazing vacation! !!

Memories Paraiso: Amazing resort!

I loved the place!. (except the plastic cups and plastic straws i saw polluting the beautiful beach and resort paths). The accommodations were great, grounds were great, food was great! The ocean and beach were beautiful. Staff very friendly and helpful. Weather was great! I loved that the beach bar man does not offer straws at his bar. I think the rest of the hotel should follow his lead. I like to leave a place better than i find it so i got a bag from the life guard an [... read more]d spent some time filling up a big bag of beach trash. Lots of plastic cups and straws, cigarette butts. On the paths at the resort because it is my nature, i was constantly picking up plastic straws and plastic cups. When you have a resort near the ocean there should be no plastic available for the selfish tourists can pollute such a beautiful place. I like to explore a country too so I booked 3 trips through the hotel travel rep.for Air Canada, who was an exceptional travel rep!!! 1. I did the all day trip to Havana. 2. The jeep safari trip. 3. The catamaran trip. I had two major concerns: (One involved the hotel, and one the airport in Santa Maria). 1. HAVANA: On the bus our English speaking tour guide did not say what to do if we got separated from the group, well, I did not get separated, THEY LEFT ME BEHIND after the first of many tours in Havana.! Luckily i am not a person who suffers from panic attacks. After sitting and talking to a few locals for 30 minutes or more about my dilemma, we were about to go to a tour place to see what to do, that is when FINALLY i heard my tour guide calling my name. I said 'where is everyone? He told me they took the bus to the lunch place. What?! They left without me? I thought under no circumstance does a tour guide LEAVE A MAN BEHIND. I asked him "didn't anyone ask where is Brenda?". He said "no". (I found out later they were looking for me and did ask about me, so he lied about that). I went with him and waited for the bus driver to come and get us, while the rest of the group were having their free lunch. They took me to a bank, which was pre-arranged before we left our hotel, then we went to the restaurant to pick up the rest of the group. After parking the guide asked me "Aren't you going to have lunch"? I could see my group lined up to board the bus, so I said no, I did not want to make them wait for me. This should have never happened. We did the rest of the Havana tour and got back to our hotel around 3 AM! It was supposed to be from 4:30 AM to 11 PM. The second incident was at the airport. After booking another flight to fly home on West Jet on Saturday (because i adopted a kitten in Cuba and Air Canada does not allow pets). I left my cat and luggage with the West Jet rep in his office and went next door to use the washroom. I saw sign "Toilets" so went in. I went in a stall and locked the door. When I was ready to leave, the door lock was stuck/jammed, and there was no way to get it unlocked. I thought okay scream for help, which I did, and no one came. I tried to break the door down to get out but it was too strong, so i continued to scream at the top of my lungs "help me, i am stuck in the washroom", HELP, HELP! Nothing, no one came to help me. The outside bathroom door was open so i could not figure out why no one was coming to help a woman screaming for help. Fortunately, there was an opening under the door of the stall and I wondered if i could squeeze my body through it? So, i pushed the one small bag i had with me under the door then got on my belly and crawled like a lizard out of the stall. When I stood up i immediately saw a guy in a work uniform standing in front of me. I said 'did you hear me screaming?" He said no, this is the men's toilet and I had to pee. I just saw toilet sign, did not know it was men's room. I told this guy about my dilemma and he was very sympathetic with me, and said he would make sure someone comes to correct this jammed lock. What if a person was having a heart attack in there or being assaulted, no one can hear you outside when you scream, or if you are too large to squeeze under? I think they need to change the concrete wall for future safety of people in that bathroom. I asked my west jet rep, "did you not hear me screaming for help?" (as his office was adjacent to the men's room), and he said 'no'. My pastor preached to us "Don't freak out", well, I did freak out, screaming, swearing, trying to bust the door down. It was a very frightening experience. The other issue was my hotel rep told me that Air Transat takes animals so i booked a flight with them. Rep told me 'be in hotel lobby at 7 AM on Saturday morning" for airport bus coming to get you, so I was there. I waited and waited and asked a young man working at our hotel front desk where is the airport bus? He said don't worry, sometimes they are late, it will be here. So i waited and waited. (This young man should not give out false information, if he does not know the situation, do not get involved, or, look into the matter!) Turns out there was no airport bus coming for me because I did not confirm I was flying with them, so i had to pay to take a private taxi to the airport. 70 pesos. When I got to the airport, the Air Transat guy said i could not take my cat on the plane and had to go buy a hard carrier and put her in cargo. No way was i going to put a 2 month old, 2 pound kitten in cargo. So, what to do now? That is when I went to talk to West Jet as I heard they take animals too. When he saw my carrier i bought at the vet's office he said that is fine, it is a carry on. My new flight to Toronto flies out of Vera dera so another paid private taxi ride to that airport. I was pretty flustered by now so the Transat girl who knew of my dilemma was on the phone with my hotel rep, because of all mix up and hassle he reimbursed me the 70 pesos for the taxi ride from hotel, now i just had to add 60 pesos for the cab to vera dero. That was very nice of him. In future, if someone is adopting a pet make sure all people involved know which airlines allow them on the plane, i.e. WEST JET! Yeah West Jet! You saved the day! My kitten Ariel is loving her new life in Canada. Another thing, on the tours advertised, there was a cock fight listed, but it was crossed out and my travel rep said they dont do that anymore, but on the tour bus, the guide said we would be visiting a demo cock fight. This shocked many on the bus as we all are against such cruel sport to animals. It was a demo and no one was hurt, but this was a shock, again, miscommunication. The catamaran was great. I had my ocean cleanup recycled plastic water bottle with me so took the opportunity to share with some people about this project. I met a wonderful young boy from Argentina who is going to look it up OCEAN CLEANUP and see how it all started because of a young man from Denmark, Boyan Slat. Apparently Argentina beaches are full of plastic garbage so I am excited to see what this young boy does. I am sending his photo to Boyan to tell him of this young man's interest and enthusiasm about getting involved. I only went on it to see how the dolphins were being treated. I am against whales and dolphins in captivity. I think the hotel tours should not support this kind of "pseudo-entertainment". The announcer sounded Russian and it was just like a circus act, what they made the dolphins do. Please do not offer anything that involves cruelty to animals. The jeep safari was fantastic, very animal friendly, seeing a farm and fantastic lunch with local Cuban couple. I highly recommend people take the tours offered at resort. I met so many wonderful people this way! p.s. i only gave a fair final rating because of the plastic cups and straws i saw discarded. If you don't supply them, people cannot toss them as trash! I would love to come back and work with them on educating people about trash in the ocean. Put signs on the beach, "clean beach, dirty beach", some people have no brains or respect for beautiful nature.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Great Resort

This resort is beautiful and well kept. Rooms are clean, staff is friendly, the shower was great with really good water pressure. The buffet can get a little redundant especially for breakfast. The a la cart restaurants are definitely better than the buffet but you only get to make 2 reservations for a week stay. The beach is beautiful you can literally walk for hours, once you get down to it since it is a 2 level beach. Went to the Spa for a facial which was really great and relaxing and o [... read more]nce you get a treatment you have access to the thermal baths and spa all week, which is a really nice quiet place to go. There are several pools for whichever mood you are in, party, relax, sun, shade. All around great trip I would go back!

Valentin Perla Blanca Paraiso: Wonderful all around!!!

This was by far the best resort I have been to in Cuba...The resort was beautiful and modern, the grounds were well maintained and the food was surprisingly plentiful, flavorful, and great overall. The a la cart restaurants were so good, we did French, Spanish and Italian and the serving staff was great There was no shortage of anything during our stay. Coffee is soooo good! Lobby bar makes some super fancy coffee drinks. Upon arrival, we were greeted with drinks and our check in was very qui [... read more]ck and efficient; our arrival group was not very large, so I would say they do the best they can with larger groups. Our room was very clean and nice. The beds were a little firm, but we had no trouble sleeping. We had no issues with any of our accommodations. The pool was great,..Daniel at the pool bar makes the best Mojitos! The staff was wonderful. The entertainment was good, however we didn't make it to many of the shows. The disco was so much fun, but very hot and smokey at times. My advice would be...make sure to bring a flashlight as some of the lighting was inconsistent. It was very dark in some areas and a flashlight would have been really handy. Most can use their phones, however I would much prefer to lose a flashlight than my phone. Make sure to visit the beach and go on the catamaran sails...bring tip money! The beach was nice but not a lot of space. Some areas were mostly rock, but we never had any trouble finding a spot. The ocean water is just to die for! I am sure there are things people could find reason to complain about, but all in all, for the money we spent, it was so worth every penny!

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Nice place

The hotel overall was very nice to stay at. Would we go again? Yes we would. But, here are some thoughts. Last year we stayed at the Melia Buena Vista and in comparison the Royalton food was much better and so was the grounds and the entertainment. At the Melia Buena Vista it was quieter, the beach huts were nicer, and the water was nicer because you could do snorkelling and we love snorkeling, the rooms are much nicer, and the butler service seem to be better. If I had to pick between the two [... read more] I would pick the Royalton because of the food.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Very nice place . Heaven

The hotel was great the food was very good ,clean ,the rooms are very big and the ground are bouthful .nice beach.the people are friendly .the bar very nice and the bar in the lobby the small one was the best bartender name was Adyslen and Yunier.where the best .you don't have to get up to get a drink ,only to stretch .very helpful. Can't wait to go back ,and there the first one to go see .the room was always clean.we got 4 restaurant a week ,we were there for 2 weeks .I say go go go.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Very exclusive

Yes, it does show a bit of its age here and there but also many signs of repairs and improvements (like all new boardwalks) and very active maintenance, including the extensive grounds and gardens. The property's location and layout is next to none, providing one does not mind a bit (or a lot) of walking. The food was excellent in our opinion. Service very good as it has been every time we have been at this resort.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Loved Royalton Resort

The grounds are beautiful and there were grounds keepers out every day keeping it that way. Also liked the size of the resort (never got lost even once lol ). The food was fine except for the beef. Why do they always over-cook the beef? Do they not know that the longer you cook beef, the tougher it gets. I found this at all the other resorts as well. A little lesson for the chefs is in order. Will be back again! Ed

Memories Paraiso: What a wonderful Resort

This resort was amazing!! We went down as a family of 6, even know the weather was not great for the first few days we made the best of it. The food was good, always something to eat, the beach was amazing and the staff went above and beyond. It's a very well maintained, clean resort. We cant wait to return in the near future.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Amazing Beach

Hotel is grand and impressive from a distance, however close up it shows a multitude of flaws that will ensure we never return again to this resort. The selection of food in buffet is very limited. We experienced rude front desk staff when requesting assistance repeatedly for maintenance to fix lights in bathroom. We did not receive bottled water 3 days out of 7 days.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: A nice place to relax.

The staff do an excellent job of making the resort comfortable and paying attention to the guests. From the gardeners through the cooks and the wait staff, we were always cared for and greeted with smiles. While the weather wasn't ideal the beach was still beautiful and great for a stroll. The room was well kept and the food was better than average. Gracias por unas grandes vacaciones.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Resort only 50% open

Although the grounds are well kept and groomed the resort facilities were under refurbishment, the large pool with the snack bar was totally closed and needless to say, that was the pool closest to our accommodation. We have visited Cuba four times and understood the food was a bit repetitious however the main offering was pork, my wife and I can live with that but the grandchildren (9 & 5 ) just don't like pork, don't know what happened to the chicken. The serving staff in the main buffet area  [... read more]were great, always attentive and cleared tables very promptly. The chamber maids were very cheerful and the rooms were large ad clean. The beach, because of Mathew, was small, the area was still suffering from high tides we had to abandon the beach at 4pm. My grand children had a great time, Not so much us older people.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Mediocre 3 star at best,

The Hotel was well maintained, fairly clean for the most part. The rooms were too cold and no chairs on the balcony, though my friends said they were removed from the recent hurricane before we arrived. The food is not a 5 star even in Cuba. Same things every night and they frequently ran out of basics like potatoes and chicken. This is not the resort if you enjoy entertainment. There was no entertainment during the day except late afternoon by the pool with the swim up bar which was a weird set [... read more] up as the pool was sectioned off so we spent time at the snack bar pool. The beach was closed the majority of the 11 days due to extreame undertoe but that is mother nature and not the resort. It wasn't the nicest beach in Cuba. Most of the staff were good. A few would do things like take your drink order and instead of asking you to repete just never came back with your drinks. Then that staff would ignore you and refused eye contact. This was in the lobby. The ala carts were decent but not 5 star quality. I have been to Cuba multiple times and the Melia in Varadero is so far the only one who truly meets 5 star status. I would at most give this resport a 3 star rating. They did not clean the pool by the snack bar at all, it was starting to fill with sand from the beach. This is the perfect resort if you like plain basic food, or fish and quiet with a lot of children. I was under the impression the one pool was an adults only pool but all the pools were overcrowded and full of families. This is not the resort to go to if you like to socialize with new people as everyone stuck to there groups. I didn't buy internet so I cannot comment on that service. Most of the staff barley understand english, but the guests were heavily from Montreal. The cleaning staff did great towel art and were very nice. The shows were mediocre at best and not 5 star level entertainment. The lighting at night was non existent and to see walking through the grounds you need a flashlight or to take a cart. The magician in the lobby was good. I didn't access the spa but my friends loved it. If you go do the catamaran it was the best part of the trip and it included snorkling and swimming with dolphins and a dolphin show. Good for families who stick to themselves and do not have picky eaters for children. Not good for singles or adults looking for some energy or kids who are picky. Line ups for food were intense and people just walked right in front of others and took everything. The donuts were very good at breakfast. Not a resort if you expect entertinment, good food choice or an adults section. Geared for families who want basics with little entertainment. 3 stars at most even for Cuba. Next time I am going to the Melia.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Good resort!

I was most impressed by hotel's swimming pools. They were very large & clean. At times when sea is stormy it's the only solution for those who like swimming. Rooms were nice too. Food could be better, however. I wanted to point out on some areas of improvement: Grand Piano in lobby was out of tune and needed repairs as well; pity that music lovers who wanted to play or enjoy live music could not do so. Wifi was not working very often not to mention that when it did work it's expensive. To [... read more]urs that are offered at the hotel cost extremely expensive even for non-Cuban standards. 3 or 4 such half day tours can cost the same amount as weekly stay in the hotel including flight from Toronto...

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: First time to Cuba

The rooms are good, only get a true Oceanview from the 3rd floor of buildings. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Went in the off season so not too many activities and pools/pool bars closed before supper started at 6PM. They definitely need to turn the lights on sooner, at least where the lights worked. Prepare to use cellphone flashlight in the evenings. Prepare to eat canned vegetables. The food is not great but I didn't find it as bad as others described. We tended to stay in the same  [... read more]server area for our meals throughout the week so we could leave one bigger tip to one person instead of tipping each meal to different people. No powered water activities at this hotel.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Great Resort

The hotel is nice, filled with great staff and food is pretty good considering it's Cuba. Our family enjoyed our stay and our rooms were pleasantly comfortable and always kept clean by maid service. The beach was nice but since we had young children the ability to get to the ocean water and tides at this time of year were not safe for them. This was a little disappointing since we prefer to spend our time at the beach. However, the resort offers many pools to choose from which was a nice alt [... read more]ernative. I would definitely recommend this hotel to couples and families who prefer the pool areas.

Melia Las Dunas: melila las dunas

excellent location nice staff nice excursions good food and nice rooms I loved it and would like to come back soon..................................................................................................................................................................

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Great Time Again

Once again we had another great time visiting this resort. There are numerous renovation projects underway. Opening of the lobby bar area with an additional patio area and removal of walls makes for more room and a much more open space with air movement. The beach grill is to be reconstructed making it larger, the gazebos around the pools have been rebuilt as well. Rooms in some buildings have or are being freshened. Renovations should be completed for the high season. The food was as always goo [... read more]d and my wife being quite picky always found plenty of choices. Staff are wonderful although some have moved on to other positions and we will miss them but others are taking their place and are just as friendly and eager to assist.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Nice resort for Cuba

The staff were excellent. The hotel needs a little update. The food had a lot of variety, but the same variety every night. I had asked to have my hairdryer checked because it did not work. Customer Service said they would look after it. No one did. The night before we left I asked for a wakeup call and that didn't happen either. Lucky for me I woke up earlier on my own. The pools were well kept. For a reasonable vacation I would recommend it.