Great Vaccation

Went in with lowered expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Food was ok. Room was good other than a flood due to clogged drain. Resort was well kept. Beach is beautiful. People were all friendly enough. Staff could have done a better job at bars and restaurants.

Cuba

Not a bad hotel as far as construction , rooms are clean and workable . The biggest complaint is the food its terrible , mostly canned veggies and fruit . The chicken and meat is always over cooked ,the rest is a guess at best . The drinks were all no name well type , with extremely few name brand bottles if any is some of the bars . Most staff were friendly . Grounds could use some work . Pools were nice and the beach is long with soft white sand soft . The hotel is a bit to remote , with an ho [... read more]ur and a half bus ride . Once there not many places to go , local market has nothing to show for it self .

Good quality for the money.

Clean, nicely laid out resort; easy to find your way around; decent quality of food; hotel employees very kind and eager to please; some of the nicest beaches in the Caribbean! Yes, it is a long drive from airport, but nice to see the countryside of villages of Cuba. Only problem is the rude people of Quebec, who are sadly representing Canadians!

Top end Resort and beach

My wife and I had an amazing trip. The a la carte dining was wonderful. This was our 4th trip to Cuba and this resort had the best a la carte's. The beach was very clean and crystal clear water without any sea grass . just fine sand.

Great Resort/Beach

Spent a week at Playa Cayo Santa Maria April 23-30. The beach and crystal clear water was amazing! The resort was great, clean rooms, well maintained grounds and pools. Good choice of a la carte restaurants, and lots of choice at buffet. Food was good!! Would certainly go back to this resort and recommend to others! Miss it already!

Very nice resort

The resort is very inviting and centrally located. The actual resort is medium sized and very easily walkable to most common areas such as the buffet, beaches, entertainment. The beaches itself are breathtaking.

Would not go back. Ever

The only thing I enjoyed about the resort was the beach and the pool. The rooms are by the best, dirty comforters. The food at the restaurant and buffet is gross. Stayed for 7 days and could not wait to leave. Do not waste your money on going to Cuba.

Not worth going to, even for the beach

Beach nice but too crowded and blaring music during day which is not relaxing. Pools nice but not all bar men or servers were friendly. Never approached to offer drink, always had to go to bar for food or drink. Difficult with baby to mind. Food OK but no covering over food which meant flies and blackbirds constantly flying on food and pecking at it, not appealing. At most this is 2 star hotel. Garden staff were the only genuine friendly people we met, everyone else expected tips in order to be  [... read more]friendly. Pestiside was smoked out all over resort in evening which had people running for cover indoors. We got caught with our young baby in middle of the smoke and nowhere to run. We had to breathe it in. We complained that this should not be done in daylight hours 7pm. But they didn't care. They continued to smoke the place every evening and never warned guests about this on arrival. Would never go there again. The beach is nice, but only in evening when less crowded and DJ has stopped shouting.

Great Resort!

The hotel was clean, the grounds were beautiful, the rooms were nice, the food was good and the staff were very friendly and helpful. We would definitely go back and we would definitely recommend this resort.

Best trip ever

Beautiful resort with great staff. There was always enough chairs at the pools and beach, guaranteeing a spot anytime. The rooms are modern and comfortable. The water went out for a few hours but it was not a problem for us. The beach is beautiful and has clear water and white sand. I would definitely return!

Good Value for the Money

Its Cuba - so the food isn't great but we always managed to find something on the buffet that would satisfy us...and the a la cartes are pretty good. The beach is very beautiful and there is a nice selection of large pools. If you are just looking for a relaxing time by a pool or the beach for a good price then this is a good choice. We would return to this resort.

Large but very good resor

The beach was excellent as was the quality of the food in the special restaurants. The quality and amount in the large restauraunt was also very good though its best to avoid the peak times when it can be crowded. The staff were all very helpful and we enjoyed our visit with two granchildren. The pools were excellent too. We went on 'a forest adventure tour' all day to a national park and ended swimming in a natural pool and an excellent meal. Initially looked expensive for us all but the coach, [... read more] the truck, the walk, the swim and the wildlife made it a memorable experience and we saw and heard the national bird of cuba as well seeing the natural forest. One nice thing about this resort is that they have suites so adults and children have separate rooms with a connecting door. If you have children join the Air Transat Kids club ahead of time and you get to check your bags and go on the aeroplane first. The 737 had very little leg room. At the resort, the rooms are spacious and ours was well kept and cleaned by the friendly staff.

Great vacation!!

My boyfriend and I went to Playa Cayo Santa Maria on April 12th-19th. It was both of our first times going to an all inclusive resort. We went with one other couple and had a great time!! TRANSPORTATION The bus ride from the airport to the resort was about 1 hour and 40 minutes. It was a very scenic drive and went through some of the cuban villages which was really neat to see. The man on the bus (Leo) was very nice and gave us all lots of information about the towns and what we were seeing. We [... read more] also were able to see lots of animals during this drive which was my favourite part! ROOMS We has requested a room in either building 15 or 7, and received a room in building 7 on the first floor, with a pool view. This location ended up being perfect for us, and we were only two doors down from our friends. The housekeepers cleaned our rooms daily, restocked the mini bar, and were very friendly. They gave us fresh bath towels every day, however, there were no face cloths in the room, and our beach towels were not replaced at all. This was not a problem for us as we hung our towels to dry each night. The only issue with our room was the shower head. It did not clip onto the wall properly, so we had to use it as a hand held shower head each time we showered/bathed, but it was not a big deal to us. GROUNDS The grounds were absolutely beautiful and well maintained. There were even some cats hanging around that we really enjoyed. The gardeners were all very friendly, and even chopped down some coconuts for us to drink. POOLS/BEACH This was the nicest beach I have ever seen. The sand is white and the water bright blue. There is no sea weed or rocks, and there are plenty of beach chairs. To get a spot in the shade however, it is recommended to get up early and save a spot or else you probably won't get one. Same goes for spots in the shade at the pool. The pools were also all very nice and clean- no complaints! ENTERTAINMENT We had a great time one day at the swim up bar as there was great music playing, and the entertainers were up on the deck teaching everyone the dance. It was a lot of fun! We only went to two of the night shows at the theatre. The Michael Jackson show is AMAZING! I would highly recommend seeing it! FOOD Before coming to Cuba I had been warned about the food quality in Cuba. However, this resort has soo many options to choose from that I never had a problem with the food. At the buffet for breakfast they make amazing omelettes, and fresh fruit smoothies. Their donuts are also very good, as well as their bacon. We went to 4 of the A la Carte Restaurants and enjoyed them all! STAFF The staff at Playa Cayo Santa Maria were probably what made this trip so memorable for me. Everyone I came into contact with was extremely nice and helpful. Everyone there was always smiling and would go out of their way to make sure you were enjoying yourself! EXCURSIONS We took a taxi to a market one day while we were there. The taxi costs 2 pesos each, and is about a 5-10 minute drive. The market has lots of cool souvenirs to buy which were pretty cheap. We also did the catamaran excursion and really enjoyed that! It was 99 pesos each and it is a full day excursion that takes you snorkelling and to the dolphinarium and sand bar. Overall we had an amazing time at this resort. As our first experience at an all inclusive resort, it definitely exceeded our expectations! I would recommend this resort to anyone looking to go to Cuba.

Very Nice property!!

The grounds, pools and beach front is very beautiful and well maintained. Always plenty of room even when the hotel is full. Rooms are clean and modern. Restaurants and buffet have good selection of food and decent service. Maybe could use additional staff preparing food during peak meal times as the lines would get long. Enjoyed the staff through-out the resort.

Beautiful resort

This was our eleventh time in Cuba and it is our favorite resort. Fantastic beach, beautiful grounds and many pools, clean and spacious rooms and as everywhere in Cuba, very friendly people, who do anything to make your stay as pleasant as possible. Food plentiful and pretty good if you're not very fussy. We're returning to this resort for sure and recommend it to our friends.

Enjoyable resort

The hotel and dining areas were newer with modern features and quality. All areas were clean and neat. Service from staff was friendly and attentive. Limited beef and seafood dishes. However, food was well prepared and tasty, especially chicken and pork, and there were many alternative different types of flavors and dishes available. Beach was beautiful, and many pools available to suit your level of activity.

Can't complain about anything.

Beautiful resort. Excellent food. The best service I ever experienced at a Cuban resort. It was worth every penny. Service is incomparable to any resort in Cuba. Beach is gorgeous and clean and would definitely recommend to everyone.

Amazing Resort! Wonderful, friendly staff

Travelled with a group of 12... amazing experience, beautiful rooms, grounds, friendly & helpful staff. Beach was amazing, loved the catamarans! Convenient snack bar on the beach and bars never too far from wherever you decide to spend the day. The entertainment was great, loved the cigar bar - especially that it turned into a late night dance club. I'm not as adventurous as my husband who ate everything and I did not go hungry, lots of choices. The Catamaran day trip is simply a must-do! Loved  [... read more]every minute of our trip. Shout out to the best bartenders Juan and Sandor - thank you for taking such good care of our sometimes rowdy group!

Very nice resort

Spaces room, good and lots of choices on different food, clean rooms and overall common areas, excellent beach, lots of activities, sailing boat and kayaks available. Lots of tour choices like Havanna, adventure etc.

A great trip, overall!

The rooms, grounds, pools, beach and ocean are all wonderful. The a la carte restaurants are also very good. The one thing that desperately needs to be changed is the way the buffet is run and set up. Everything is one long line and the cooking stations are included in that long line. So that means the people who are lining up are blocking all of the food and it felt like a fight to move between the people and get something from the buffet. Also, it took forever to get something from the cooking [... read more] stations. My husband and I didn't eat breakfast together once the whole time because he was standing in like forever for an omelette.