Brisas Guardalavaca: Very good resort

I think is good with room for improvment. The beach is beautiful as well as the natural place. The staff is educated and friendly, well dressed and helpful all the time. The cleaners do a very good job.

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Nice resort, excellent beach.

Designed for 5 stars resort, the gardens are beautiful, with tall imperial palms and plenty of flowering bushes. It is easy to move around with the electric carts. Rooms are clean, with no bugs, but may need some TLC. We had a pool view room with two beds, quite large. The CORALAND Music Festival happened during our stay. Nicely organized, in the evenings on the beach, with food and drinks, and also pool parties during the day. We had the Diamond Club bracelets with free access to the festiv [... read more]al. No one talks about Covid 19, pool is clean, and we drank water only from the bars or restaurants. We did not get sick or anything. On the weekend the resort was full of people, probably locals.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Great Resort

The staff was very friendly and always helpful The food was amazing, lots of selection at the buffet There were daily activities we enjoyed as well as day and evening entertainment Clean grounds and pool

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing resort!

Beautiful and clean hotel. Amazing clean and hot sea. Clean beach and no stealing beach towels, on surveillance all the time. So many clean pools. Delicious buffet. Did not try 3 restaurants because the buffet was so good. Best wifi on the lobby. Slow in the room. Live music every evening and show at 9:30 p.m. Very nice staff.

Grand Aston Cayo Paredon Beach Resort: Lovely as it's new.

Beautiful rooms.food was OK,. Amenities, shops and everything seemed so far apart. I asked for bottled water and had a difficult time.gettimg drinking water. Beaches are gorgeous, bugs were really. Ad this time of year .

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Returning guest warning!

Fantastic property but in need of urgent improvement in areas of the management, coordination & renovation. We used to come to this hotel during Sandals & it was our 11th time this year. When we arrived we couldn't get a room that we wanted & indicated during our booking with Trip Central back in February. The first room that we've got had a broken safe, no balcony screen & sunken bed/mattress on one side. The second room that we've got had no balcony screen (but they managed to bring one to [... read more] us), without 3 towels per person as it is standard in all hotels (but only 2 during our entire stay), had broken roof & a flood happened during a heavy rain. The food was basic in comparison to the previous years, lack of variety. Sunwing who apparently has some shares in this hotel as well, obviously doesn't care too much about addressing & fixing the current issues. Too bad for this fantastic property with great location & landscaping.

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Good resort for relaxing 😎

The beach was amazing! Great service, and staff was friendly especially Elizabeth Barabara who made it more memorable stay. 😎☀️🌻🐠🏖️ Food is ok for me, I brought my own ketchup and chilli sauce so it was good for me. The grounds were beautiful. The 24 hour snack bar was actually open 24 for 24 hours with good food. My son enjoyed the pool very much and eat the hotdog and cheese there also grilled chicken sandwiches was good. I wouldn’t mind going back. I love the entertainmen [... read more]t! Michael Jackson show a must to see!

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Average resort

My wife and I are not the type of people that complain, in fact, we are the people that make fun of people that complain. I will start with the good. The beach is world class, fantastic out of this world. The hotel is in desperate need of renovations. At least the room we stayed at in Unit 1 does. I could not even open the balcony door because the door was not working properly. The power went out almost every night for an hour. As someone using a CPAP, this is a big problem. The shower [... read more] had zero pressure. We opted for Diamond Club in hopes of avoiding some of these issues. No such luck. The food was typical Cuban food. Nothing more, nothing less. For those of you that are thinking that you will just have a Hamburger, Hot Dog or Pizza in the event that you don't like the food, Forget it, they had none of those options. We had one of our waiters in the Diamond Club restaurant that brought sugar from his house for the guests because they ran out for the coffees in the morning. The shortages were more apparent with the alcohol. No vodka the entire week, No wine most days except in the dining room, Cristal on tap would often be missing forcing them to use canned beer, no ingredients for signature drinks like Mojitos most days. They have Rum and Whiskey. All of this to say that none of it is the employees fault. The staff was very apologetic and very nice. This would probably have been a pretty good vacation had the shortages not been so bad. We won't be returning to Cuba until they figure their economy out. Too bad because the beach and ocean at this resort was world class.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: My happy place

I am always amazed at how beautiful this resort it. The grounds are always so well kept. The service is second to none and the beaches are spectacular. Armando, Pablo, & Delvis are the absolute best at the pool bar. No shortages of anything that I could see.

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Great value

Beautiful hotel, lots of space, friendly staff and food was very good for Cuba. The beach was amazing and wasn’t very busy. Lots of activities onsite and excursions available offsite. You can also walk around the neighbourhood, the locals are friendly and the area is safe.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: A huge disappointment. Save your time and money; go elsewhere!

My family of four (two young adults, plus my husband and I) just returned from our 1-week vacation at the Iberostar Laguna Azul. While this was our first time staying at this resort, this trip marked our 2nd trip to Varadero and our 4th trip overall to Cuba (our first trip post-pandemic too!). We were all super excited to come back to Cuba because of the positive experiences we've had before on past vacations, but we would be lying if we said we didn't leave disappointed by the end of our trip.  [... read more] Admittedly, yes, the pandemic has caused an economic crisis in Cuba and life has gotten a lot harder for the locals there. This has also caused many food and supply shortages throughout the country, which affects the resorts as well. All of these factors are understandable and they’re out of the locals' hands. But at the same time, the purpose of a vacation is to relax and not worry about anything. If you want a vacation that's hassle-free with an ACTUAL 5-star resort that lives up to its expectations, don't stay at this resort and travel to other countries instead. 1. BEACH/POOLS: The beach is perhaps the only upside to this resort, unfortunately. It is very beautiful (think soft white sands and turquoise waters) and the water isn't rocky in the least. There's also a coral reef a bit further out, which is really interesting to explore! Watch out for sand fleas though; as long as you wash them off with soap and water, you should be golden. We didn't really go into the pools at all because there are some broken tiles that remain unfixed (lots of reviews online were commenting about this) and it could be a safety hazard. 2. FOOD: Yes, one doesn't go to Cuba for delicious food. However, my family have never been picky eaters and we've still thoroughly enjoyed our vacations to Cuba, regardless of the food. Despite this, the food at this resort was absolutely unbearable; always bland, undercooked, SALTY and/or oily. It was always the worst at the buffets because they would keep putting out the leftover meals from the day before (most likely due to the food shortage), which lead to a lot of food going bad that we would try to avoid. The a-la-cartes were a LOT better and our family enjoyed them (the romantic restaurant is the best, followed by the japanese one and then the italian). Those restaurants were also SO much cleaner in comparison to the buffet/snack bar, which always had flies swarming on your plates, cups, cutlery, napkins, etc, plus on the actual food at the buffet. Not to mention that there are always birds that sneak in and eat the food at the buffet selection and empty tables. The staff don't seem to really clean off the tables or chairs at the buffet/snack bar too, so we're not completely sure how sanitary the resort is. Staff also don't use any hairnets or gloves whenever they cook food, which was an interesting observation. The resort also doesn't provide bottled water and the only option is "purified water", which is served at restaurants, bars and in your rooms through reusable bottles. My entire family started getting stomach aches towards the end of our vacation and are still recovering right now back home here in Canada. We're not sure if this is due to food/water poisoning or the difference in the Cuban vs Canadian water system/food preparation process, but we would definitely say that this resort is not the most sanitary. There also isn’t much selection with regards to food wherever you go, whether that’s at the buffet or a-la-cartes. The 24 hour snack bar only serves basic sandwiches and half-baked pizzas most of the time, topped with a side of cockroaches (which you will find all-throughout the resort. I know it’s a tropical country, but not sure how sanitary it is to have insects in the kitchen and on countertops, which we saw). 3. ROOMS: Their rooms are pretty decent, but from what we heard from other guests, your room experience will be very hit or miss. Unfortunately, our family fell on the 'miss' side and we had a lot of problems with our adjoining rooms (same building as the main buffet and on the same floor as the lobby) right off the bat: - the toilet in one of the rooms wasn't working at all (couldn’t flush) - the lock for the balcony in one of the rooms completely dislodged from the door-frame, which is a safety concern - neither of the telephones work in both rooms - the sinks were semi-clogged - no soap/shampoo/body gel in any of the washrooms - both of the rooms were VERY dirty and we had to request for deep-cleaning We brought up these problems with customer service and to be honest, it took quite awhile for them to be resolved. They eventually called in a technician to fix the toilet/balcony and a maid to do deep cleaning, but they couldn't give us new rooms because this resort has limited adjoining rooms for families (families, take note of this!). You also have to kick to open one of the washroom doors because it was broken, which is hilarious. 4. SERVICE: This was between poor and fair (2-3 stars). There was a TripAdvisor review that I had previously read saying that the “spirit of the Cubans had changed”, which is an accurate way to describe it. Cuban people are usually known to be extremely hospitable and friendly individuals, but there seems to have been a shift after the pandemic due to their current economic crisis. While this is understandable, don’t expect to get outstanding service without giving a tip first. They will still tell you that tipping is optional, but most of the staff won’t acknowledge you or serve you efficiently or effectively without a tip first. It’s 100% not the same hospitable atmosphere that Cuba was known for. 5. LOCATION: The location is another upside, but just a minor one. The resort is pretty safe as a whole and it’s located about 2.5 hours away from Havana, which could be a really great excursion outside of the hotel (please note that you will absolutely be aggressively swarmed by locals trying to sell you services, products and excursions while in Havana. Don’t buy anything in the streets and stick to inside shops!! Don’t openly display that you bought anything too or else this will put a huge target on your back and you will be swarmed). 6. VALUE: This is most definitely NOT a 5-star resort and it fails to meet the expectations that are in place for hotels of this caliber. Our family was left feeling disappointed not even halfway through the vacation, despite trying to make the best of it. Their entertainment and nightly shows are sub-par as well, plus the disco is always DEAD (might be due to off-season, but the DJ didn’t really play great songs either). We read many reviews of this resort and saw quite a few bad ones, but we didn’t really believe them until we started experiencing it ourselves. Not quite sure how there are so many 5-star reviews of this resort online as of recent when we’ve talked to so many fellow guests during our vacation who also agree with us! "Don't sweat the small stuff," some reviews have said, but a lot of these factors WILL drastically impact your vacation! This has been a real disappointment and a wake-up call that Cuba is not the same travel destination as it once was. While this is of no fault to the Cuban people, this will 100% affect your vacation… and not in a good way.

Club Kawama: Great beach experience

The beach was a great location because it was easy and convenient to access. The food is not the reason for vacationing at this resort. The room while tidy was not equipped with towels and customer service was lacking .

Blau Arenal Habana Beach: Excellent resort

I stayed at Blau Arenal for a week. I was incredibly surprised and happy with the resort. The rooms were spacious and clean. The food was good. The beach was lovely and it was a short trip on the shuttle to Havana. The staff was kind and accessible. I have zero complaints and would recommend this resort to friends wishing to combine a beach vacation with accessibility to Havana.

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Royalton Hicacos is no longer a Gem or 5 star resort

The change in management of this hotel is hurting the historical reputation of this hotel. The Canadian management is inferior. It is all about the money .. in their pocket. They do not do anything for the traveler/guest. They have this ridiculous butler system that was incorporated a few years back. A butler is instructed to accommodate so many guest units. They hang around your unit in the morning, noon and night. They ask you if there is anything they can do for you, so you tell them, and the [... read more]y don't follow up with you. They don't get back to you .. because they don't care, but expect a tip at the end of your stay. A tip for doing what? We have been going to this resort for 11 years, but never again. It was better under the Sandals brand. Sandals was not broken, but Royalton is. Maybe when Sunwing completes its sale of aircraft to Westjet it may have a better influence on the management of this resort. What do Canadian companies know about managing resorts in Cuba. Absolutely nothing. They are like American companies, using the money model, and not the customer model. We requested a certain room in 2023 that we have preferred and obtained in the past. But not this year. We even had a second option that we did not get .. and we booked our trip 2 months ahead of time, like every other year. Look, this resort doesn't care about you and me. They care about the almighty dollar. We spoke with the so-called senior management and it's nothing more than lip service. As a loyal guest for many years we did not feel special in the least. Just another number. We have better things to do with our money than to give it to a management team that doesn't care. Sandals went beyond the call of duty for their guests, Royalton .. absolutely useless.

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Really Enjoyed Our Stay

The hotel itself was beautiful. The bathrooms near the lobby could use a little maintenance. We really like the staff especially the entertainment staff Angel and Jason were amazing throughout our stay. Luis at the lobby bar was of great service always had a smile on. We really enjoyed the turquoise water at the beach, we miss it already. The food at the buffet improved throughout our stay always something to eat but you can tell it does get repetitive with the same meals after a while. There ar [... read more]e lots of mosquitos so make sure to bring and apply it. Our ocean view room was the perfect fit and we couldn’t of asked for a better view.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Terrible resort and services

Locker dint work Balcony door was broken No wifi connectivity (I missed many work meetings ) Flush was broken in one of the room Receptionist didn’t action to our complain Our pickup from bus on day 1 was late by the bus driver which resulted in reaching hotel late at night and there was no dinner provided due to the delay Return flight was delayed for an hour which resulted in paying extra for the scheduled booked car at Toronto airport POS machine was not working in flight for  [... read more]any food purchase and the flight landed at 3 am. We were starving without food All 6 passengers in other itenary got 6 different seats despite of requesting them to provide same row seats as there were few senior and heart patient in family travelling together. Very limited option for vegetarians or who eats only chicken

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Beautiful resort with lunch gardens

Resort was beautiful. Gardens were lusch and well maintained supervised by Dennis and his team. Kudos to all of them. Food wise, there was variety. There was beef, pork, chicken, fish and side dishes plenty. Al la carts were excellent. Went to Indian, Japanese and international. All were excellent. The rooms were new, clean and well maintained. The only 2 concerns I had was the animation in the lobby. Every evening, lots of people but no entertainment. There were some music, but th [... read more]ey needed more. Also the bar in the lobby. They need to be more experienced in mixing drinks. I had 2 drinks there that were not made right unfortunately. The crowd vibe was older at this resort. If you're looking for a quiet resort, this would be the place.

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful resort and beach

We really like this resort, it’s not as big as others but it has one of the best beaches we have ever been and all the personal working there were so friendly and nice. The shows at night were great. The food wasn’t so good but a la carte was good

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Great stay.

Great hotel, beach is paradise, people are so wonderful, very helpful and friendly. On the down size food is so lacking in quality and the wifi is such a pain ! Anyway ,we had a great stay ! I hope one day I will go back !

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Nice but needs better safety measurements

It was a beautiful beach and hotel and people were nice. However, i fell on my second night due to lack of lightning and safety signs.Medical attention was there but all i got was advice to get to town clinic. Now i am facing a long rehabilitation for my foot.