Melia Cayo Coco: Great all-round resort!

This resort gives you great value. The food is good for Cuban standards, and the standard restaurant provides a variety of choices both for people who want to eat healthy and those who don't! We particularly enjoyed the salad bar, delicious Cuban ice creams, and variety of meats (especially fish) available at the grill. My husband and I also enjoyed the fare, ambiance and service at the International restaurant - great appetizers too! The staff at Melia Cayo Coco is very friendly, from the [... read more] gardeners to servers to the entertainment staff. The beach is a lovely long beach at this the resort, but it was unfortunately very windy during the week we were there and the 'red flag' was up, so we didn't swim in the ocean. Because everyone congregated around the pool, there were insufficient umbrellas to provide shade and sadly, it's common for people to monopolize chairs when they're not even at the pool, so there was not enough seating. I enjoyed the dance lessons and aquafit, and my husband always partook in volleyball; but we would have enjoyed participating in more daytime activities if they were offered, as they were 3 years ago when I last visited the resort. The night-time shows were generally good, particularly the live rock concert, the dancers, and jazz band (with the amazing saxophonist)!

Hotel Playa Paraiso: Busy & noisy...

Great beach. Good food. Best pizza but a long wait for it. Good pork on a pita by the pool. Hard to find a spot anywhere on the beach, or by the pool, or in the hotel that wasn't loud and noisy with music, or games or the entertainment people on the microphone. Busy so many times a line up for drinks or food.

Hotel Playa Paraiso: Busy and noisy....

Nice resort, great beach, but it was very difficult to find a spot anywhere on the beach or by the pool or in the hotel that was quiet and didn't have loud music, or games or the entertainment people on the loudspeakers. Excellent pizza - a long wait, but worth it! Excellent pork on a pita by the pool. A busy hotel so times with line-ups.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Lovely New Resort

We enjoyed the lovely amenities of this resort. Nice buffet meals with tasty selection of fruits and veggies, rice and beans, fish, meat and cheeses. My one critique is that meat and fishes were somewhat overcooked and therefore dry and lacking taste. However there were lots of other options like cold meats. Yummy omelettes were available each morning made to order and superb. There were a la carte eateries where one can reserve for a particular evening. There was also a hamburger and fries eate [... read more]ry a few steps up from the boardwalk. Great hamburgers. Alcohol and non alcohol beveridges were available in abundance. Cuban people are LOVELY well groomed, pleasant people who always seemed to be smiling with their eyes. Conversation with them revealed positive, grateful ambitious people. Most travel daily two hours by bus each way from the nearest town, but do not complain. There seems to be an "Attitude of Gratitude" among staff. The grounds are well kept with several pools, lounge areas, gym and spa. A board walk borders the water front. The water is a magnificent aquamarine which depending on the wind/breeze can show at least three shades of that color. My only disappointment was that there is no beach between the waters edge and the resort. I enjoy being able to walk the beach. Pillar Beach is nearby but requires a hike or bus ride up the highway, neither of which I enjoy. The resort has several guest hotel units spread through the resort. Access to theses is by well maintained walkways bordered by well managed garden beds. We had a very pleasant stay

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Great family vacation

The beach was nice, food and drinks were good and service was amazing. The hotel is a good size, no bungalow is too far away from anything but it isn't too small. The staff work very hard to keep the rooms and grounds clean, and keep you happy. Great place to stay for families.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Exceeded Expectations

I had lowered my expectations beforehand and the hotel exceeded them, especially with the food and room. Overall, good bang for buck. The Good Beach - great clear water when not windy; soft sand; some good snorkeling close to shore; lots of starfish, sand dollars, etc. Great for long walks on either side of the resort. Food - I had lowered my expectations considering that it's Cuba, but the food was really good, surprisingly. Ropa vieja, jamon serrano, manchego - tonnes of good st [... read more]uff like this. Was never hungry. Lots of imported food from Spain. Kids loved the ice cream bar (when it was open...) Rooms - Rooms were large and clean; good water pressure Bad Grounds - poorly maintained, ugly landscaping, lots of tripping hazards. Not up to the standards of a 4 or 5 star in the rest of the Caribbean. Service - long lines at times, a la carte waits were unnecessarily long; service at the buffet by the beach was sub-par - the wait staff had a lot of attitude.. Overall, most of the staff didn't have a good service mentality. Wait times could easily be remedied by adding more staff... they were severely understaffed for a resort of this size. Hours - stupid schedules for certain services e.g. one beach bar would close at 3pm, resulting in huge lines at the other beach bar. Not enough palapas - had to wake up at 6am to reserve beach chair, otherwise you'd have no shade or be in a palapa way down the beach. This could easily be remedied by having another beach bar, as they have the space... Beds - cheap and uncomfortable. Flight - I wouldn't go Air Cubana again - plane was dirty and on takeoff one of the 3 bathrooms already didn't work. By the end of the flight, none of them worked. Pool - was absolutely disgusting. There were no chemicals in the pool for most of our time there and there was lots of material floating in the water.. For 2 of the days, you couldn't even see the bottom of the pool, which isn't very deep...

Melia Jardines del Rey: Great Staff

This resort was well maintained for the size of it but unfortunately there was limited food at the buffet and lines ups for everything . The staff were amazing on the resort which made the vacation . Wifi cards were available but many times you could not log out so your card would run out even if you only used it for 10 mins. The beach was beautiful with plenty of chairs for lounging the staff would bring the lounger to your spot , dust it off for you . The pool area was well mainta [... read more]ined and the staff very friendly.

Hotel Mojito: Wonderful first time experience!

After 25+ years, this was our first stay at an all-inclusive resort. We enjoyed the experience, from the staff & service, to our room, our view and our accessibility to the beach and adult pool. Wonderful!

Hotel Playa Paraiso: Excellent !!!!

I have to admit we were a little worried about the Pestana in Cayo Coco. The Reviews we not good, which made me really confused. The resort is amazing! It wasn't too big, everything close by. Rooms were very clean and cleaned everyday. We had plenty of beach towels and bath towels not a problem at all. Food was very tasty, hats off to the cooks!!!! The buffet meals were always served hot and plenty of food...I really don't understand the negative reviews. Beach is beautiful!!! Can't go wron [... read more]g!!! My favourite thing about this resort is seeing that the "owners" themselves were constantly walking around and mingling with people. Entertainment was awesome!!! I really have nothing negative to say..... we had a great time in a amazing resort!!!! Luv it!!! Xo

Melia Costa Rey: Great Time !!!

Everything about this hotel is wonderful. This was my second time there. I have been to Cuba many times and have never understood what a lot of people fuss about anyway ?!?! Cuba is amazing and this hotel in particular is a real treat. Not your regular Cuban style resort. Modern and lots of room to grow. The foliage is young and in a few years will be beautiful. Staff were all lovely! Although I like to try different hotels and destinations if I plan to go back to Cayo Coco I will definately [... read more] stay at The Pullman!

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Great Family Resort--Amazing Service

The resort was a perfect place for a family vacation. Great value for the money spent. The resort is small which means the pool, beach and restaurants are never over crowded. Everything is close by as well. The lobby is nice to sit and relax. Great entertainment team, star friends and live bands were fun. They always had fun activities throughout the day to participate in. Food and drinks were good. The staff are what make this resort so wonderful!! They treat you well and are very kind [... read more] and appreciative.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Awesome resort for all!

Grounds well maintained, friendly staff, rooms need some upgrading. Pool active place, beach is awesome!!!! Lots to do and participate in on resort! Food good ! Cuban people love Canadians and the reverse is true! Many clients return every year and enjoy the resort as the staff remember them! Felt very safe walking around the resort! Great for kids! Had a very enjoyable time!

Melia Jardines del Rey: Great experience!

Great experience. Staff were friendly. Beaches were great. Nightlife was excellent. I have no complaints. I can't wait to return. Bombino (Animacion on the beach) was fantastic. Very helpful. We enjoyed spending time with him and learning about Cuba. Thank you.

Hotel Mojito: Been to Cuba 23 times. This was the best!!

I have to say, that I was not quite sure about this resort. I had stayed here many years ago when they had different owners. Well for number one. The staff are amazing! They really make you feel like family... I have to say that the clientelle that is attracted to this resort are just as friendly. The room that we had was very large clean and the bed and pillows were very comfortable. The food was the best that I have ever had in Cuba. There were stations that offered fresh hot food. The a [... read more]lacartes were really good as well. The bar service was excellent too. Never had to wait for a coffee or a drink. What I am saying, is if you treat our fellow Cubans like how you want to be treated there is never a problem. The beach was incredible! The only negatives that I have, and MANAGEMENT take note.... The boardwalk to the beach was very dangerous and we could see that someone could get hurt. We did complain and nothing was done.... Take a close look at it...as well, we are both swimmers and the pool was filthy. You need to take a look at that. Not once the whole week was it cleaned... But other than that it was a perfect holiday. We really like the gym and Jorge was a treat. He really knows his stuff and if you need any direction for fitness he is your man. We know, we compete hard core in triathlons. We plan to go back next year for 2 weeks and if there is an indication that people love this resort, most of the people we have met are repeat clients... I give it a 5 star all the way....

Melia Jardines del Rey: Enjoyable stay!

This was my second time to this fabulous resort Melia Jardines del Rey. I was impressed by the extended beach and care of the staff for all of its guests. This time the amount of guests had more than doubled leaving the staff overworked and some of the lineups quite long. The care of the ground and guests is exceptional. Unfortunately, customer service in the main lobby does need some attention. They were the only staff that were not pleasant or accommodating during our staff. Big call out of [... read more] many thanks to Yakira, Yuniel, Danni, Yandry, Joel, Alberto, some of our favourite staff! Hoping to return to Melia but my husband would hope to either have more staff available or less guests at one time to limit lines. Excellent resort- so appreciate the staff.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Amazing beach!

This was our first trip to Cuba. We are a family of 5- kids are 12,10,8. We did a lot of research as we were nervous about the food and some of the inconsistencies we had heard when visiting Cuba. Flying into Cayo Coco was good. The best part was 20 mins to the hotel. Check in was good and my requests ahead of time via Facebook were accommodated. The grounds were nice it was dry so it took its toll on the grass but that's the weather! Some observations was that there was occasional debris aroun [... read more]d the back of building or fence lines but not a major issue just casual observance. The pool area was great lots of chairs coming early (by 9:00) helps to secure spots. Most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Lots of cabanas and chairs. Apparently more are being added- for additional shade. The walk to the point is well worth it! Beautiful view and secluded. Night entertainment was very good! Michal Jackson show a must but I thought they were all good. We are mostly at the buffet. If you like something eat it that day! It's not always available as is the way for an island. Smoothies and omelets in the am, steak chicken or pizza for lunch. Have some made to order pasta for supper. Want to add more to the grill? Get it from the buffet and they'll add it! Very humble grateful people. Lobby bar made excellent espresso, lattes and capucinos add some baileys or Cuban equivalent for a kick! Live music, prelude to the show in the afternoon to raise excitement. Ate at the Cuban restaurant but preferred the variety of the buffet. The snack bar made some pizza almost daily and offered sit down options and some take away items from the chaffing dishes. Great if you want a quick bite. They had ketchup but not at every meal. We brought toilet paper, peanuts butter and our own ketchup. Lots of ice cream. Room was clean, service was good. There's not abundant amount of extra beer and pop for fridge but adequate. We brought our own inexpensive towels and just left behind. You can use hotel room towels but we didn't want to misplace them. We did horseback riding along the beach for 45 minutes for 10 CUCs about $13.00. A great time spent. I think if you can go with the flow, be flexible and understand everything isn't always shiny but it is clean, you'll be well suited for Cuba. It's a family resort so if you want some day time swimming and a little night entertainment this is a great spot. The people were kind and very hospitable. Such a beautiful place!

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Fantastic Resort

Last year, we had a group of 12 go to Varadero for our vacation. We chose the resort due to cost. This is normally a huge mistake, as was the case last year. This year however, we had to be weary of cost as we decided to take the couples, but also a family vacation. We had 6 couples and kids… all told, 25 people came on this trip. This year, we decided on Cayo Coco at the Iberostar Daiquiri. From the moment we got off the bus, we were confident we had made a fine choice. We could tel [... read more]l instantly we had found a friendly resort. Pleasant front counter staff, nice porters, and lobby bar staff greeted us. Although we were a large group, front counter processing to get us our rooms was efficient and relatively painless. On to the rooms… My spouse had asked to be in the renovated Holguin building. We were delighted to have a room that faced the water, which was an unpaid for delightful upgrade. Due to our large sized group, we had made some specific requests to accommodate the children being close to parental figures… all of which were completed with no pressing or issue from the resort. The rooms are designed nice, with lovely balconies and tastefully decorated.. A pullout couch was available in the room for additional guests (children). The bathrooms appear to be modern. Each renovated room had a walk in tiled shower. The rooms were cleaned daily with towel art greeting us when we arrived back to our rooms. The mini fridge was restocked everyday with pop and beers, along with a large bottle of water to be used for drinking or teeth brushing…. Overall, the rooms were very nice. My only negative comment for the room I had, and I also appreciate that this is an individual preference… the beds were something to be desired. For my taste, there was very little support and not overly comfortable. When you consider that you are going on a vacation, and spending about 8 hours a day plus perhaps a siesta, one hopes the bed to be a comfortable getaway. The resort amenities… This would be considered a relatively small resort. There is a very nice resort entrance with a lobby bar that makes pretty fantastic cappuccinos. Seating is ample, but fills up quickly in the evening, but this may have been more our issue as we often were trying to accommodate 10 to 15 people for our nightly time together. The main pool area is large with 2 main areas and 1 area for the little ones. The largest section of the pool did have a swim up bar. Only comment here would be, if you are looking to have conversation at the swim up bar, it does include a trickle down waterfall, which causes quite a bit of noise that was noticeably distracting. I realize that is a bit trivial, but still was a thing. The poolside chairs are similar to an episode of survivor.. Get there early if you want a coveted spot. The resort has 4 restaurant areas. Of course the main buffet, a Mexican, Italian and finally a Cuban. I will go into detail about the main buffet, but will quickly review 2 of the three a la carte restaurants. The Mexican eatery was a nice distraction after a few days. It is quant, has a small staff, but big on taste. I had the chicken fajita, which I found to be most delicious. I had a potato based starter soup which was nice, but nothing extraordinary. The drink of the night was a margarita which let me tell you went down better than any tequila drink ive ever enjoyed, evidenced by the 8 consumed before dinner ended. Take the opportunity to enjoy this restaurant. The Cuban restaurant was served from La Marina, which is the wooden structure just off the beach. This kitchen is used during the afternoon for an ad hoc lunch buffet which when we were there had fish, chicken and the standard round meat burgers from the post war era. For dinner, I had a Cuban Beef dish served with veg and potato. It was very tasty. Others commented the fish was under cooked, so be weary. The Italian restaurant is an outdoor facility adjacent to the pools. Also used for lunch to feed the masses and those not wanting to venture to far from the pool. I cannot comment too much on this dinner option as a few members of our party told us that this option was a kin to Pasta Murder and to avoid. May have been a bad night, but I will let you be the judge of this. Buffet This is the main source of your sustenance for the time you’ll be here so a look at the three meals will be more warranted. Breakfast… if you like eggs and either French toast or pancakes, you will be in heaven. There is very limited choice. The side items such as pastries and such are limited or not very tasty. The bread is good, but who can really mess bread up. Fresh fruit is available such as bananas and pineapple, or other fruit to which I was not familiar. Lunch Again, a routine of pasta station and hamburgers.. bread, fried options… There were a few days chicken was available along with beef, freshly made on the grill. Dinner A lot like lunch, a few additional items. My delight is a very nice gentleman who was there every evening making alcohol soaked bananas. These were flamed to caramelize the whipped cream and flambé the fruit. This was a daily sin for me. To gain favor, this artist of the tree fruit does enjoy a nice glass of red wine brought to him. Food Synopsis. I have been to Cuba three times. This is the second best food Ive had while on vacation. That’s to say, it was good, not great. I don’t believe anyone goes to Cuba with thoughts of culinary greatness. I am happy to say, no one in our group had any health related issues as it pertained to the food, so to me this is a win. Drinks While I am not a large drinker, I was able to breach the tipsy threshold a few times on this trip. The bartenders are not shy about their skill of the free pour. Being drunk is an easy achievement here if one desires. There is a large selection of liquors, Buckanaro on tap, powdered Peña Colada, and a couple other frozen slushy type bases to accompany the plethora of Rum to be had at this resort. A strong recommendation would be Amaretto and the Red Slushy. Taste exactly like the red freezies we all had as children, with a delightful after glow. The Beach. What can you say…. It’s beautiful. Given how big the resort is, they have minimal cabanas. Bring your own source of shade if this is an issue for you or be up early and stake your claim to one of the coveted spaced. There are plenty of fish to enjoy right off this beach, just bring some bread down, your snorkel gear and you’ll be in fish mania. Excursions This will be some first and second hand accounts in this section. In our introduction session, we were outlined the few options we had for leaving the resort to enjoy the island of Cayo Coco. Mine and two other families chose a relatively new option, which for a price that sounded reasonable, turned out to be not. We went on something called the Ultimate Adventure. This included a swim with the dolphins, a catamaran ride out to an island close to Pillar Beach, Snorkeling, lunch and of course return. The dolphin swim was a best value of the overall day. That being said, I have a moral objection to this practice, but the other members of my crew and other two families engaged and quite enjoyed. From there we went to the marina to be greeted by a diesel smelling boat that was not was expected. The captain and first mate that did not speak English transported us. We got to our snorkeling destination and due to poor water conditions only allowed us less than 15 min in the water. On top of that, in their first attempt to land us in a good spot to snorkel, dropped the anchor and did not secure the rope to the boat. This lead to about 20 min of moving about to find the rope/anchor to reattach. The challenge here was that due to not moving too much, the diesel fuel cause more than half of us to not feel well prior to going into the water, which made our attempt at snorkeling that much more challenging. Finally lunch simply didn’t meet any level of expectation. Overall.. this excursion was a very VERY expensive bust. Another group of 5 guys chartered a boat for a day of fishing and came back regaling us of a fantastic time and they highly recommended. Some of the parents of the young teens took the open air public bus ($5 CUC per trip) to the new climbing attraction at Cayo Coco. Although it was quite a distance from the resort, it was a fun time and very cost effective for the time spent. This was also recommended for the younger kids. The final excursion was one that in retrospect, I am upset I didn’t participate. This was the Jeep/Powerboat/Alligator Farm/Lunch trip. There were 8 from our group that went on this and came back absolutely raving about it. The main takeaway I got was that the jeeps could be driven “Like they were stolen”. It was a high energy, thrill based adventure that was quite enjoyed. If im ever on this island again.. this will be number one on my to do list. Recommendations Overall it was a fantastic week for Cuba standards. If you go here with the expectations of a first world resort, it will fall short. If you are thinking a cost effective resort, with free flowing drinks, salt of the earth people who truly do enjoy being around nice people. I was able to have a relatively quiet, low key experience in a nice, well kept environment with edible food and fantastic company. If you want a place that if calm, not a party atmosphere, child welcoming resort, you cant go wrong with the Iberostar Daquiri.

Melia Cayo Coco: Nice place, greate staff

Very nice place perfectly suited at the Cayo Coco beach and split between ocean and lagoon. Good for all ages, couples and group of friends. The management keeps the resort and its staff is perfect in each and every way (mainly thanks to the general manager). However, some improvements might better to do now before it will be too late (I will talk about it later). We stayed from March 30 through April 13 at the beautiful lagoon Grand Suite #1411 close to all amenities, yet totally quite. We lik [... read more]ed it as perfectly fit to all our needs and generally exceeded our expectations. The lagoon bungalows were clean and we used each sqf of its layout wisely planed. We enjoyed from private built-in fully screened gazebo with very comfortable loungers. We had even a private railed walk way along the bungalow to observe the lagoon (and where we had a place even to dry our swimming stuff). The waters in the lagoon are salted and there are no mosquitoes or any other “nice pets”. The GS has two powerful and quite AC units and we barely run one that made the bungalow comfortable even at the most hat days. Women will definitely enjoy from the new updated shower set and bidet. Fridge was re-filled twice a day with beer, soft drinks and water. Lagoon Grand Suite is good for family vacation and party time of group of friends. Resort is small but it was never crowded at the public areas. However, if you want to reserve a good place around the pool, you better will be there earlier (well before 7 am). Guests of the bungalows also will enjoy from an extended check-out time (which was very convenient and we appreciated it very much – special thanks for sales manager Gyppsi!). The lagoon homes also have 2 TV, DVD and home theater set and better internet signal. Grounds are simple and well kept. Shows were absolutely stunning, well organized and generally lasted for ~1.5 hr up to 11 pm. After this time the resort was mainly quite (large portion of all gusts are 40+). However, civilized night life of the resort continued through the night at bars and lobby with great selection of local and imported drinks. Different fruit juices were prepared from fresh fruits at the buffet right in front of you. You could make any mix you want! Food was very good with large choice of vegetarians and meat-fish eaters. The big guy at the egg-stay did amazing job appreciated by everyone who tried his omelets! The guy at the fish grill also did a great job satisfying individual test of each guest! Many thanks to all staff! We enjoyed from swimming with dolphins and snorkeling at the reef and ride on the boat with glass bottom. Beach, sand and waters are marvelous (if you lucky with the weather!). Well, we were not that lucky and at 8 days from 15 we had windy weather with rough-to-very rough waters. Some improvements maybe required to keep environmentally sensitive waters of the lagoon at better shape. It seems to be some problems with sewage-septic system at the lagoon homes. Also the pool is rather small and especially at colder days when the majority of people trying to gather around the pool. Otherwise, everything is just great. Cube is getting better and becoming more expensive (which was expectable as more and more Americans started to come over), but we definitely will be back.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Lovely Resort

The resort is only 15 minutes from the airport, which is very nice particularly when flights are often very early or very late. Food at the buffet and a la carte restaurants was wonderfull, no complaints here. Other than your personal check in a late check out and a special poolside dinner, diamond club does not really add anything special to your trip. The resort staff are friendly and always willing to help. The beach is amazing, secluded and you can walk for miles! Poolside is is lively an [... read more]d fun. The evenings were relaxing in the lobby bar or courtyard with a wandering 3 person Cuban band playing. While most resorts have rather cheesy evening shows, the shows at Memories Flamenco were worth the watch. The rooms were clean and tidy, not what we Canadians would call 5 star but quite nice and adequate for our stay. Lots of water pressure in the shower, the toilet was a bit of a mystery at times worked perfectly other times would take for ever for the tank to fill and be ready for use, but always worked at some point. Upgrade to VIP on the way home for 25 pesos, it is worth it! No long cues at the airport, private lounge, with snacks and beverages as well as pre seating on the plane, a nice touch ending a totally relaxing vacation. This resort is definitely a family resort or for those looking to relax in a casual fun atmosphere. The only thing missing was a dance club, but after evening shows there was a shuttle to one near by. Overall this is a lovely resort, not overly priced.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Very nice!

The hotel is large with many services, lots of pools, great food. The only downside was the water contamination. Would have been great to know this in advance but the hotel did everything to ensure that we had enough bottled water on hand.