Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Run down

This is the first time I have written a bad review. No water for part of two days. Water had to run 20-25 min before hot water came and then only as a trickle. Ants in the room. Towel bar falling off. No clean beach towels for three days. Cold food at the buffet. Resort signs faded and not readable. Many things in desperate need of repair. Staff, although friendly, remained unmoved by our concerns.

Hotel Camino del Mar: Best dock!

if you are a seafood lover the food at this resort will impress you. Very fresh and tons of variety. There is a dock which is to die for. Mature resort which we enjoyed. Beach was wonderful, overall great.

Melia Las Dunas: Good value

Good value for cost. Gardens and grounds are beautiful. Some buildings need updating. Room showing age but clean. Restaurant had good variety of food. I always have the fresh eggs and omelettes in the morning. Fresh pasta station at night. Worth waiting in line when it's busy. Beer garden for lunch with grilled chicken and pork and fish and shrimp. Beach is beautiful, can be calm or rough depending on the day. Adult pool and swim up bar also very nice.

Melia Las Americas: Great resort for golf and fun

Had a great time. It was our first time there and was quite surprised with all. It is older resort but gave us all we wanted. While we were there minor touch ups we're happening . Staff very nice,room clean. We plan to return to play some more golf. .

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Old, tired resort

3/10 Needed more upgrades. We had no hot water at all week. Public washrooms didn't flush right or else they over ran or kept on runnning. Our beach towels only got changed once. Always said 'No towels left'. Food was so/so. Not a lot of salads. The a la carte's were not that great. Service was very slow at the French Restaurant. 3/10. The entertainment was 10/10. Very good!!! The pools were good 10/10...The ocean swimming & beach were 10/10. The excursions outside the resort were good. 10/10 [... read more]. We had a good time ourselves because it takes a lot to pull us down. Also great weather all week. Friendly staff everywhere.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Solid performer.

Location is very good. Beach front is great for relaxing, good for water activities, good for swimming and fair for snorkeling. The ground of the hotel were excellent. Tennis courts were good. Food was God for Cuba, good selection of resteraunt and snack bars were convenient.

Tryp Cayo Coco: So So

This resort is in need of repairs. The rooms are outdated. The grounds itself are nice and well maintained but lot's of things to be done to give this resort the WOW factor and pictures to do it justice not ones from 20 years ago. The food I have to say for Cuba was very good, repetitive but always something to eat. The oriental ala carte was no do good but the steak house was fantastic. A massive paint job on every building is needed. When you want to change rooms don't bother one is no differe [... read more]nt from the other. The beach is amazing the best part of the hotel. For the price it was suitable

Melia Marina Varadero: Good, but happy to go home after a week.

Having been my first visit to Cuba, I had only second hand information from numerous friends and colleagues to rely on when dreaming about what our vacation may bring. Some negative, some positive....but one thing was clear; it would be a mistake to compare the experience side by side with what a trip to say, Mexico, may be. As such, I decided not to have my experiences in other Carribean countries rub off my expectations. In order to ensure I mitigate any chance of the negative things I'd hea [... read more]rd from happening, I looked only at the top rated resorts in the area, and ultimately booked Melia Marina (Marina View). Positives and Negatives - Positives - The rooms were phenomenal. No question, the best I'd ever seen on a resort. Incredibly clean, equipped, and they looked stunning. The view from the balcony was something you'd see in a brochure, two wonderful bathrooms (including one in the bedroom) , a full kitchen, two televisions with several international television stations. Pools were very nice. Clean, plenty of room, plenty of available seating, large. No real complaints regarding the beach. Plenty of seating, well spaced so that you're never too close to other groups. The beach is somewhat close to the water, but that is not something the resort can control. Staff was helpful and friendly, but generally not as enthusiastic as I'd seen in other places. No real complaints, I had no issues. Negatives - As expected, the food was the big disappointment. I knew all too well prior to arriving that Cuban resorts are not known for their abundant buffets. The food variety was limited, but plentiful. There was no changes to the menu (other than deserts) at anytime. It was low quality deep fried foods, questionable vegetables, and some reasonably good plain meat. I generally resorted to chicken legs and rice most days, which got old quite fast. The snack food available at the 24h restaurant were not so good. Questionable boiled hot dogs, terrible hamburgers, and adequate ham and cheese sandwiches. The A la Cartes were decent, with the Italian one coming up on top as the best without question. Location. Due to the resorts location at the tip of the peninsula, you become very limited to a lot of off resort trips, as getting to town takes almost an hour each way on the bus due to all the stops. Overall, a good experience, but with the astronomical exchange rate we hadn't expected (approx. 30% for USD and CAD), we were only able to do 1 real excursion, instead of the two we had hoped to do. Because of this, we ran out of things to do after 4-5 days, and we were looking forward to going home. You really need to make your own fun, because other than sitting on the beach, you'll run out of things to do real quick if you stay on the resort most of your visit.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Enjoyable Trip!...... Resort needs major upgrades though

The bus ride from Santa Clara takes about 1 hr and 45 mins. Upon arrival, check in was quick and service was great. The lobby area has been newly renovated and is very nice. Pool area is wonderful with lots of loungers covered with shade or open areas if you like the sun. One pool has the swim up bar that has a shallow section that you can wade in or a deeper section that takes you to the bar. The 2nd pool has a shallow and deep section as well and seems to be the area for water aerobics an [... read more]d child play for the most part. The 24 hr snack bar is located at one of the pool by the pool bar. They have great food and service drinks too. Staff are very friendly. Luzy treated us very well. The other side of the pool is close to the lobby bar. The beach is amazing! There was no need to reserve a lounger in the morning. Never had an issue finding a shaded and non-shaded area. Waves were a little strong while we were there. Service from staff was fantastic. Did not have to worry about being too far from the bar as the staff walked around taking orders if you don't like to walk back and forth. The sand in front of this resort is a bit soft. Just a minute to the right the sand is harder and makes the walk pass all the other resorts easy and enjoyable. There is a snack section at the beach bar that serves small sandwiches. If you prefer something more, a short walk up the boardwalk will take you to the larger snack bar where you can sit in the shade and order lunch from menu or get food from the barbeque just outside. The squid is very good! The Italian and Japanese a la cartes were very good. However, it took two mornings and about 1/2+ each time to make the reservations. I would recommend having two staff members helping with the reservations. Perhaps one making bookings for two restaurants; the other making the reservations for the other two. No one wants to spend part of their morning standing inside in a line up waiting to book and then have to go back because they weren't successful at getting the two bookings they are permitted for a 7 day stay. The buffet is good. We always find something to eat. Daniel cooks a mean omelet and he knows just how you like it after a day or two. (He is over in the right corner of the buffet). Anavitis goes out of her way to make you feel at home in the buffet during dinner. She serves on the right side of the resort too. We originally sat to the left side of the buffet and did not receive the same service. It can get very busy in there, but Anavitis and the girls to the right have it under control. The public washrooms are decrepit and needs major upgrades. They are missing locks, toilet seats and has low-pressure water. The rooms need major upgrades and repairs. They smell musky and feel damp. The bathroom is something to be desired! It needs new bath tub facilities and to be upgraded too. The handle on the tub wall isn't safe enough to hold when getting out or in the shower. The bedding, patio curtains and towels were stained. There are no face cloths. We had an issue with ants in our bathroom but I sprayed bug spray. That took care of the issue. We had two different rooms and had the same issues. Water was an issue most days. The first day there was no hot water throughout the whole resort. We had water issues off and on through the week. When we weren't having issues, we heard other guests complaining. A couple days in we did not have enough hot water pressure to run the shower. There was no hot water for a second time which the resort had posted signs explaining there was an issue. And one day we did not have enough hot or cold water to take a shower. There was not enough in the bathroom sink to run over a toothbrush. Managed to get enough from the tub faucet. Overall, we met some great people and had wonderful service. YoElvis gave us great service at the lobby bar. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. The beach is wonderful. However, we will be trying other resorts in the future. We are going to a different Melia in April and hope the beach is as amazing; the service is as good; the rooms are more upgrades and there are no water issues.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Amazing

The resort was beautiful clean and friendly staff !! Not one bad thing to say and would love to go again!! Food was also very very delicious!! Excursion were timely and fun aswell !! Just a great place and warm feeling all around !!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Fantastic resort

We arrived in Cuba to huge lines at the airport and actually spent three long hours in a line to get through only one open scanning machine! There were four or five and what seemed like enough staff to open even a couple more of the scanners but didn't happen and there was absolutely no apologies for the wait. We had a good drive to the airport and were greeted upon arrival with a nice drink and thankfully no line at our check in. The two women at the desk were very sweet and told us we were g [... read more]oing to love our rooms! They had upgraded us to the "Royal Service" which was, as it turned out, a huge turn around to our thinking about Cuba thus far! We were very impressed with our rooms and having a separate area without lines and crowding at the restaurant, the bars, and even around the pool was an added bonus for sure! We were very happy with the hotel and its amenities and the cleanliness is definitely appreciated. I wish the food was more flavourful however! There isn't any real flavour to anything. Garlic and some simple spices would go a long way in their food prep! We weren't fans of Cuba and although this hotel exceeded any hotel expectations, we likely won't hurry back as we are huge fans of Mexico and will make that destination our next one!

Melia Cayo Coco: Great Service GREAT FOOD !

Great service and great food ! The staff are just soooo nice here beach close and pool great! music amazing too! beds are a little bit hard, but whole experience wonderful. Staff treat you so kindly, we went to visit another resort to look around and realized how good our own was.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Highly Recommended!

My husband and I travelled from Feb 8-15, 2017 and we were both very impressed for the entire trip. The resort was about 30 minutes from the airport and consisted of 2 and 3 story buildings, I believe they were 9 units per building. Big units, clean, extra large shower, (great pressure for the hot and cold water) and seemed extra wide balcony. The grounds were always clean. The food is always a concern when you go to Cuba but again, we were quite impressed. Lots of variety and always hot. I [... read more]f there was one complaint, this resort did not include theme nights at the buffet so unfortunately it was usually the same food every night, but still, quite a variety. Only a few times, they were not able to keep up with the demand. (Long line ups for scrambled eggs in the morning, and it took a while or them to fill up the orange juice.) We definitely didn't starve. Of course the beach was amazing! Crystal clear and you can walk for miles which Cuba is known for. Always chairs available and someone there to assist you setting them wherever you want. And the never were pushy for tips. The pool is quite large and usually a full crowd but the times we went to the pool was later in the afternoon so chairs were a little bit more difficult to find. Just to note, they actually have a totally different area for kids and families including their own shallow pool and play ground. We had fantastic weather the week we were there. We did the hop-on/hop-off double decker bus a couple times into Varadero for $5 (for the day) and always feeling safe. Absolutely no issues there. We would definitely recommend this resort to anyone and we would give this resort a 4 to 4.5 star rating. We were very happy with our vacation.

Sol Varadero Beach: Not a great resort..

Won't go back to this resort...always out of toilet tissue...no diet cola for diebetics...they have a menu at the coffee bar, however don't have half of the flavours you ask for..I know the food in Cuba is different but the food at this hotel was worse than any we've had at other hotels ( this was our fourth time in Varadero)... we ate a lot in town...not much of any activities during the day...the room was clean and the maid was excellent..most of the bartenders were very pleasant....some of th [... read more]e wait staff need to smile more and be more attentive...the best part of our vacation was the weather..sunny every day...

Melia Las Antillas: Great Resort

It is an absolutely beautiful resort. More than we expected. They were great if something was needed or tended to. The staff was great, and were super friendly. Nightly entertainment was not what we expected. It was far superior to a lot of the nightly entertainment we had seen at other resorts. There was always something to do. The specialty dinners were great, we just loved the Italian one. The rooms were spotless. Fridge was stocked everyday, with water and refreshments. Every morning we wo [... read more]uld check in at the shark pool first. They have 2 plus a lot of stock fish. We would definitely return to this hotel

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Fantabulous

Lovely hotel .lots of choices in hotel and enjoyed experiencing various restaurants to book for dinner in evening . We visited the Japanese themed restaurant twice . We loved it . Food fantastic . All the staff at the hotel were very friendly and helpful . Night entertainment 5 star and a wonderful experience . The hotel grounds very colourful and well kept . Rooms immaculate .

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Great resort

Excellent service,very clean.Everyone friendly.Food & drinks great!The rooms were clean.The only problem we encountered was with wifi.It would be nice to have printed instructions as how to access it instead of having to bother the staff at reception.(logging on & off)

Paradisus Varadero: You'll want to stay longer!

The people were friendly, very helpful, shared happy stories when asked , but most of all everyone remembers your name when you interact with them. The new section was just as beautiful as the original section of the hotel and having access to all parts of the resort made daily choices fun and exciting. No matter what section you visited the employees new where you were staying and remembers your favourite things!! Hope to return to Paradisus once again - soon. Linda Samek and Eugen Dietr [... read more]ich - Burlington, ON L7T 0A6

Sol Cayo Santa Maria: Great resort for the price

We enjoyed many aspects of this resort. Other than the lack of water from 12 am to 5 am, we enjoyed the resort. They have excellent service and food at the buffet morning noon and night. The staff in general were very friendly. The beach is exceptionally beautiful. They had great shows at night, especially the aquatic show. The rooms were clean, nothing too fancy but clean. Place is very laid back and you can have an enjoyable time.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Good resort for the price

I am submitting this review as a 4th time guest at this resort so I am comparing to my previous visits. The hotel is clean and the staff does what it can to maintain it with the limited equipment available to them. (our screen door did not slide very well so it was hard to open. We reported it to the staff and their solution was to simply remove it) Our maid did a very good job in our room. All the staff made us feel welcome. As a returning guest, I must say that I was disappointed with the qu [... read more]ality and variety of the food. As the resort is getting older, it seems that the variety of food has changed. The replenishing of the dishes on the buffet line was extremely slow, sometimes non-existent. The buffet staff did not seem to care when food was spilt. (We advised them on 2 different occasions about spilled food that was making the floor slippery and nothing was done). We always found something to eat but if one is a picky eater, this may not be the place for you. I would advise anyone booking this resort not to have their expectation set too high. The sun was shining everyday and the drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) were flowing. Our entire party had a wonderful time and we just took everything in stride. I would recommend this resort because the beach is spectacular and the price is reasonable.