Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Fantastic resort - keep coming back!

My wife and I just love this resort. We started going to the Hicacos resort in 2005 which at that time was owned and operated by Sandals as the Sandals Royal Hicacos Resort. We have attended this resort 9 separate times since 2005. One of the reasons we keep coming back are the people that operate and work at the resort. They always seem to remember you and are extremely friendly. The accommodations are very nice and are like little cottages with a lovely bathroom, bedroom and a separate si [... read more]tting room with a chair and couch. The grounds are very well looked after and maintained. Another reason we keep coming back is the food. We have heard so many complaints from tourists at other resorts that they don't like the food at their particular resort. They have a lovely buffet and approx.6 or 7 separate restaurants that you can book with a reservation. The beach at this resort is spell-bounding. One of the finest beaches that you will fine in Varadero, Cuba. There is a lovely beach grill restaurant literally right on the beach which serves, steaks, chicken and lobster while listening to live Cuban music while you are dining. You do have to remember that you are in Cuban and there could be little amenities missing that you would be used to in other countries or at home. At anytime we have requested something-we find that they try to fix things almost immediately. We have made so many friends over the years that some people almost feel like family. We have always said that if you cannot be happy at this resort you must be very spoiled and have no idea how good we have it in Canada. The pool area is right in the middle of the resort with the amphitheater and buffet restaurant beside it. There is lots of daily activity around the pool with fashion shows, music and games. The nightly entertainment is top-notch and firmly believe will not be matched at any other resort. One week is not enough - will be returning a.s.a.p.

Melia Las Antillas: First trip ever!!!!

The people are all so friendly, you just want to take them back home with you to keep them in your life forever. There was a large variety of buffet foods, sometimes not sure what they were but I found the food flavourful. Their bread and cappuccino are very good. We also liked the health bar. Pina colada drink was very good. Our room was clean. No bugs when we visited (March break) The nightly entertainment was very good. Never made it to the disco as we were so exhausted by 11pm. We didn't lik [... read more]e the smell of sewer, not sure if it was the shark pond or if it was their actual sewer system but sometimes we found it very bad.

Blau Varadero: Resort Review

The resort was nice, beautiful beach, very nice pool, adult only resort, most staff very friendly , food was good with lots of variety. Cleanliness of room a 7 out of 10 . Make sure patio door fully closed or air conditioning does not work and leave one room card engaged in the outlet to keep air conditioning on so rooms do not heat up so much.

Mar Del Sur: Good resort.

Mar Del Sur is a good resort and I would stay there again. However, the food was unimpressive but that's Cuba, not necessarily the resort. The staff were not the friendly people I met when I was going to Cuba in the nineties. They seem to be cut off from the guests in the hotel. Nonconversational. The room was great. Tons of space. Three rooms, Bathroom, bedroom and large livingroom-diningroom area with a fridge. Plus a balcony. The shower was nice and the A/C was great. A short five minute walk [... read more] to the beach across the road. Cuba has gotten a lot busier in twenty-five years so I wouldn't expect the same personalized service I got back then. But it's still Cuba, and I'd go back in a heartbeat. The Hotel is perfect for a short vacation.

Blau Varadero: Great Resort

The staff were friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean and comfortable. The food was excellent with lots of variety. The pool and the beach are beautiful. The entertainment was great always something going on.. A great place to stay.

Starfish Varadero: BEAUTIFUL RESORT AND WONDERFUL STAFF

The resort has been and still is undergoing renovations, they are almost complete. The beds and pillows are BRAND NEW as of Feb 2019. The heat pump in our room was also brand new. The food choices are great they even have a real BLT and Fries on the menu and it's delicious. The international has a surf and turf and the steak is so tender you can cut it with your butter knife. The food at the buffet was good too and you can believe it when I say that because for 10 years I have NEVER liked t [... read more]he food at any resort in Cuba until this resort. I would without a doubt go back to the Starfish Varadero again. The staff are friendly and so very helpful, if you go, tell ROCKY I said HI. The rooms in the hotel section are remodeled and have nice walk in showers in some. The bungalow where we stayed is quiet and private. They are clean, those maids work hard. We never seen ANY bugs, not one and we had a ground floor bungalow. We did see a cute frog in a plant near the lobby. Our room was always cleaned and we always had fresh clean towels. The girls at the lobby bar make a great coffee and if you eat or drink too much ask them for a stomach drink and you'll be ready to go do it all again. (Tell them I told you too lol) The pools are clean and they have daily activities at one and the other big pool is the quiet pool area with big comfy outside beds. We enjoyed mimosas and sunshine as often as possible. The beach is amazing, it's clean and has plenty of loungers and you can almost always find a sun hut to shade you. There is a beach bar and outdoor BBQ grill on the beach or you can go up the path and enjoy lunch at Sizzlers they have great lunch buffet and the soup everyday was so fresh and delicious. They have a 24 hour bar in the hotel section that serves food and has pool tables it's newly renovated with comfortable seating and a nice bar. If you get a craving for a taste of home food grab a cab head to Plaza Americana and have lunch at Pizza Pizzaza on the outside patio, order the bruschetta you won't be disappointed. While your out you can also go to the park and have a fresh pina colada on a paddle boat in the most beautiful scenery you've seen. If it's night life you crave check out the Beatles Bar at night, they have live outdoor band every night. It really is fun, they play rock a bit of Joan Jett too. Most importantly ENJOY your vacation and spend time with those your with.

Melia Las Antillas: Awesome trip at this resort

The food was pretty good. The entertainment was great. The grounds were clean. The rooms are basic but big. Only stayed in the room to sleep. Went snorkelling for the first time. The beach was the best!!!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: We made the best of it!

My eleventh time to Cuba, third to Veradero! When I first started travelling to the Caribbean 15 yrs ago, my first trip was to Holquin and I thought I was in paradise. Each year I went I generally came home sick, but overlooked it all because of the great things I enjoyed so much, most especially the wonderful beaches and azure water. I’m 15 yrs older and have visited 12 Caribbean Islands since. This was my last holiday to Veradero, and probably Cuba for some time to come. I visited L [... read more]uguna Azul six yrs ago while staying at an adjacent resort. It looked so regal and welcoming with the lovely pool with waterfall.. it is still lovely to look at but the waterfall is no longer there. This resort in six years has seen a lot of traffic, however it has not been maintained well. (At all!) Many folks who review may not have a lot of comparables, some are looking for a budget holiday, others allow for low expectatations etc. This year the prices remained high and were in close comparison to Mexico, yet there is no comparison to the standard and quality between a 4 star in Cuba to that in Mexico. This resort I would put no higher than 3.5 or less. Here is why I say this: Sunwing direct - Good flight, no issues. Check in - Easy and no issues We asked for an ocean view room which put us at the end of the 17 on the 4 th floor. The elevators in our wing were broken and unavailable all week, it looked as though they hadnt worked in some time. Room - Typical and dated room, fridge did not work, safe had to be repaired as we couldn’t open it after we programmed it, closet door fell off and it was not repaired, no hot water for three full days and towels were worn, hard and old. Bed was comfy however, and air conditioning worked well. Our fridge was restocked with water each day but not consistently with Soda and beer. Maid service was excellent and room was kept very clean. Two out of three resort hot tubs no longer work and are empty. Internet cards cost 1 convertible peso for one hour usage..internet is sketchy at best and available in only a couple of designated areas. Beach was lovely, however littered with cigarette butts..simple fix would be inexpensive pots under each cabana filled with sand as ashtrays. The chair game is played hard here, with many saving chairs the evening before. Beach bar serves good drinks. Pool, more shade areas would be nice, pool itself is well maintained but pity about losing the lovely focal point of the waterfall. Again, unless to the pool by eight, nothing at all left under any shade areas. The landscaping is sparse and after this amount of time one would expect mush more mature vegetation. Not a lot of attention has gone into creating gardening and flora. (I realize this is picky, however this is what you expect from a high rated resort on a tropical island) Food - this is the deal breaker for me.. I simply cannot do the food anymore. The resort was full, so with one Buffett it is every man for themselves with no queues ..it is bedlam. Very few items had a food label, and some things were completely unidentifiable. I ate scarecley and simply with no sauces..to avoid stomach problems. That said two in our party after an evening at the ala carts at the beachside buffet became violently ill with food poisoning. This kept them both down and out and in bedfor close to 2 days. I’m tired of defending and also hearing “ It’s Cuba, and we dont go for the food”..knowing it will most likely be bad! These resorts are for the most part owned and operated by large European brands sitting on Cuban land leases. We are pouring millions of dollars into their economy each year, which I believe is necessary for them to have as the everyday Cuban family have very little. That said, the majority of guests are Canadian, and we spend money..after so many years can we not expect more? Cuba has trade with several countries including Canada. They need to do better, they can do better. I’m all done excusing bad food that is making tourists ill. They need to bring in Canadian and European chefs to assist them with decent menu plans, food labelling and food handling techniques. The grills in this buffet were not cleaned, say what you will...the food is terrible, and this ruins many travellers experience. My other complaint was lack of service in the Buffett, understaffed and horribly slow in getting drinks, even water to guest tables. We made the best of our holiday however and enjoyed the weather, pool and beach.. I do not go to the shows, and only did one ala carte. Booking with Trip Central was easy and efficient, our agent helpful. Sunwing was good this time around with excellent flight service.. I love you Cuba..but it’s time to up the game!

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Amazing beach!

The resort was very easy to get around and the rooms were spacious and clean with great veranda/deck space. Staff was welcoming and accommodated our requests for dinner, despite not getting very many options at the reservation desk. Said that there were only a couple of slots left and not at all the restaurant options. However, when we spoke with the restaurants at the time, they were willing to seat us. All in all, a great trip!

Melia Las Americas: Not as good experience as last year

1. They have a Level Club now which you pay more to get a different coloured hotel bracelet that we did not know about. 2. We were only able to book 3 ala carts instead of 4 restaurants this year. 3. The buffet choices and quality did not change much and we noticed how it wasn't as good and examples like smoked salmon was not replenished once it was gone. 4. They didn't have real orange juice with pulp like last year, it was a powder orange drink. 5. The service was extremely slow a [... read more]nd most of the time different offer coffer until you were ready to leave. 6. The rooms looked tired and the bathtub needed to be redone. 7. It was a challenge to get loungers with pads as they ran out and the hotel was not filled. 8. The bar was using cheaper brands of alcohol and very little name brands. 9. The red house was terrible and not good at all compared to last years house red. 10. Some bars opened later and closed earlier than last year and same with the buffet.

Barcelo Solymar: Very eventful resort

The resort was very beautiful. The food was good, and there was lots of entertainment. Be prepared for a lot of people partying. Most definitely one of the best beaches in the world. Lots of things to do in the town of Varadero as well

Starfish Jibacoa: Very nice, quit resort

This was our 7th time visiting Cuba. I ❤️🇨🇺! I find the landscape and beaches beautiful. This resort is very authentic Cuba. A big hill to climb, a beautiful beach and great snorkelling. Thank you Joel for being so patient with my friend and I. It was her 1st time snorkelling and he literary held our hands & took us further into the reef then I would’ve went. AMAZING!! Daniel is the resort’s PR person. He is fantastic! I messaged him before our arrival and he arranged for a taxi  [... read more]to take 6 of us on a day trip to Havana. He also took the time to make sure we were happy and had everything we needed while we were there. On our day trip we had the extreme pleasure of having Judy❤️❤️ as our tour guide and Alex as our driver. 120 cuc’s for the whole day for 6 of us! I’m sure Judy will never forget that trip! Lol! Annabell in the snack bar/ À la cart was amazing! She always had a smile. Rudy at the lobby bar really stands out. Big smile, always friendly and really knows how to shake a drink! The resort and rooms are very clean. Modern toilets. The hottest water we have ever had. I chose this resort because of the reviews staying how friendly everyone was and the coral reef. I wasn’t disappointed. It was a bit to quite for us. When we go to a resort we really enjoy dancing at night but not nightly shows. There was no music or dancing. Very few people in the lobby after dinner and no one at the pool bar after dinner. My 1 major complaint was that you HAD to buy beer in the lobby unless it was after 1am. In a all inclusive I would expect domestic beer, or at least draft, in both bars.

Starfish Jibacoa: Great Staff nice resort

We went to Villa Tropico Jibacoa as we really enjoy the smaller resorts. The Staff are all extremely friendly and service was great. Saturday to Wednesday where definitely our most enjoyable at this resort. I say this as Wednesday arrived there where an extreme amount of locals as it seemed staying at the resort and it was next to impossible to get any seats around the pool. I love Cuba and its people, but I have never heard so much yelling?screaming being done which made it hard to relax around [... read more] the pool when we did get spot. Most of all the cups being left around and in the pool from the drinks was I found very dirty and disrespectful to the staff and the other travelers. Bless the heart of a lovely lady from Halifax who would often go around and clean them up. We are there on Vacation, but this doesn't mean we want to live like pigs. Again this is not on the staff as I said they all work very hard. You are Adults and should know how to clean up after yourself. That is my little rant on that. To the Staff all of you, thank you for your service and friendships as we truly did feel we made some new friends and family. Some musical entertainment (DJ) in the lobby bar or at the pool in the evening for dancing would also be a nice addition.

Grand Memories Varadero: Wonderful resort! March 2019

Great resort! Two adults, two kids - March 2019 Fantastic beach, lively professional nightly shows, very friendly and accommodating staff throughout the resort. This is a large resort. There is a lot of variety for meals ranging from the buffet to the smaller snack bar to the beach BBQ. All are good and offer lots of choices. Issues: Some venues had long lineups. Alcoholic drinks seemed diluted. We had requested in advance to have adjourning rooms which the resort graciously accommoda [... read more]ted which was much appreciated (facilitated by Manuela Romeiro from Trip central who was amazing and very helpful!)! Clean rooms, fun activities daily for kids. The washrooms were clean and well organized. We did two day activities: catamaran and jeep tour which we highly recommend. These were offered by SunWing tours. Weather was fabulous. Overall great trip!

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Our review

Good day, I am writing to you with feed back on our recent stay from March 9th-16th. We would like to start with the acknowledgement of the hard work your staff do to keeps the grounds as well as room clean. The pride of maintaining the resort is apparent. I especially enjoyed the ground keepers picking a flower & giving it with a warm smile & a "Have a nice day". Please acknowledge to them how appreciated this is. It is these little things that make your place special. We also enjoyed [... read more] your nightly entertainment. Your dancers are lovely to watch. May I suggest that at the end of the show, the host suggest that a box is located at the exit for any donation and/or pictures can be taken with a dancer of choice for a minimum fee. This would be a more gentle way than being greeted at the exit by a hat & asked for donation -(this left a bitter taste for me). Please acknowledge the tall young man with a pony tail. He was delightful to watch working the crowd. Always had a smile & was always poised and polite. He is a big asset to your resort. I did not interact directly with him but enjoyed seeing his enthusiasm for his work. We ate at 3 restaurants during our stay. We were pleased with the Mexican & Italian but the staff of the Bistro leaves much to desire. We thought they showed bad attitude, showing up at the table only for the necessary, with no regard for our requests. After asking several staff several times for bread we finally got it after they saw I was not eating my diner (about 10 minutes). It was not especially busy & one particular table seemed to be getting all the attention. Please remind them we are all customers. Also could you kindly have the staff who takes reservation to advise customers to be on time for their reservation & that they should leave when done since other people have made reservation after them. On both the Mexican & Italian nights we were told to wait outside until table freed up. From outside we could see people were done, just talking & laughing. We had 8:00pm reservation & on the one night waited 1/2 hr.......so why bother making reservation? As for the Currency Exchange person, it would be courteous to count the money being given instead of just sliding it under the glass. Also a quick explanation of the exchange & fee would be appreciated. They are used to the transaction, not so for us. I was surprise when I got back 13 cuban $ for $20.00 CDN. But the most annoying was the total disregard from the reception staff as well as the staff at the reception bar location. Many times during our 7 day stay did I wait 5 minutes or more as internal staff talked to each other about personal stuff. Waiters talking with reception staff, or two reception staff talking together, bar tenders talking with each other No acknowledgment that you are standing there waiting. And when they do decide to talk with you no apologies for making you wait. I am sure this is not what management is paying their staff for. Then again maybe this is the cuban way & is not an issue. We have been to Cuba before & stayed at other resorts. As much as you have many good qualities, at this time we would not return or recommend your resort to our friends. All your staff needs to be on the same page, that we are there to have a stress free few days. For me this means a welcoming reception & accomodating staff. In this case a few bad apples have spoilt the barrel. We also had issues with the Air Transat staff but this I will address with them. Thank you for your consideration, Peter & Georgette

Barcelo Solymar: Great resort

Resort was awesome, no shortage of entertainment throughout the day. Food was good even for a fussy eater like myself. The rooms were all you needed and were always clean. The grounds were in good shape and the drinks were nice and stiff!

Barcelo Solymar: 2 resorts in one how awesome! Ask may have changed recently.

Barceló Solymar/Occidental Arenas Blanca - lots of ground to cover which is nice if you like to walk. Our room was in the Barceló, first time didn't have to change rooms had pool view and great maid service! Nice lobby area with bar and lots of place to sit. Buffet had lots of food to choose from even if you're fussy. The beach at Arenas was more entertaining with music and activities though the bar opened at 11:00am, but have someone taking orders on the beach. Tried 2 al la carte restaura [... read more]nts Mexican and Spanish were very good! Being close to downtown Varadero is a plus as you can walk safely and see the popular spots. People at both resorts were very friendly and leaving a peso every once in a while is so rewarding. The beach was extraordinary, we all know you go to Cuba for the beach!

Iberostar Selection Varadero: Nice resort, great staff, quieter resort

Although this hotel is in an area with many resorts, it felt quiet private (there was a park across the street) and had a great beach. The resort itself is well laid out (as long as you didn't mind a bit of walking), with the restaurants. pools and entertainment in one area and rooms in another (allowing for quiet sleeps). It appears the hotel is doing some upgrades as we had 2 rooms, one with a recently renovated bathroom, one with older bathroom. The rooms are very spacious but would benefit [... read more] from more storage for clothes (ie there weren't any drawers). The beach and landscapes were beautifully maintained and all staff were very friendly. Food was as expected for Cuba, but well cooked (there was personalized pasta and meat stations for every dinner). We went in prime March break and enjoyed the fact that it was quiet and seemed to have primarily older couples and young families (ie less partiers). There are activities available for the energetic folks. Overall, a good option for people wanting relaxing vacation with nice beach and facilities.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Great resort for family and adults! 41/2 stars!

Hi, I just returned from the Melia Peninsula and have to say we were very pleased. It was my first time in Cuba but my sister has been three times. The grounds are beautiful with lush greenery everywhere that is very well maintained. The rooms are simple but clean and the maids are exceptionally helpful as is all the staff. The food was very, very good. Much better than I has expected. There is food available 24 hours a day. I was a little disappointed in the fruit selection as it was mo [... read more]stly local fruit although there was always pineapple and grapefruit. The rest of the food made up for the lack of fruit. There was food available everywhere from the adult pool to the kids pool it was always only a few steps away Bar was open 24 hours as was the cappucino bar (my favourite). The a la carte restaurants were very good comparable to restaurants at home (Montreal, Canada). The beach was spectacular! Hope I am not forgetting anything. Oh the kids area was amazing!!!!!. Would definitely highly recommend it.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing vacation

This resort was by far better than I remembered, the food was super great, the staff was very friendly, location of the resort is perfect, you are close to all the resort has to offer, restaurant, pool, beach and entertainment, Would recommend this to anyone that wants to try Cuba for the 1st time, you will not be disappointed.