Paradisus Varadero: Great Beach and entertainment at the Paradisus!

First timers to Cuba. Booked this resort because of the excellent reviews. My first impressions were not the greatest, but by the end of the week I learned to enjoy this resort. We arrived just after midnight on one of Sunwings ridiculous flight times. The resort lobby appears very dark, reception spotted toward the back, negotiate two steps down with my two heavy suitcases as there is no ramp. Clatter down the boardwalk surrounded by shallow seedy looking ponds. Check in was fine, given a  [... read more]sketch and told block 38 was around the corner. After some difficulty, we find the building we need because when a sign says left it means straight ahead apparently. I guess an arrow pointing straight up meaning straight ahead is foreign to Cubans seeing as we cannot fly. Finally get to room, looks very dated, kill a big cockroach I spot when turning on the bathroom light. Wife spots me throwing it out. I assure her everything will be fine in the morning and it was. The rest of our visit was pretty good. Next morning we find the jr Ste rooms are older but are spacious with lots of furniture. AC works great with thermostat and three fan settings, low works great. There is a 120V plug by the sink for your razor, phone charging etc. Balcony is great with nice chairs and a table. TV screen was severely damaged by a chemical cleaner but was promptly given a new one when calling the front desk. There is a standard coffee maker but they only give you hard little Italian coffee pucks that were designed for a Kuerig type machine that can puncture these robust disks. The only way to make coffee is to cut open disc and dig out the compressed coffee into the provided permanent filter. I suspect they have the new machines in the upgrade section. Our housekeeper Yurianna was top notch all week and we really enjoyed her humour and dedication to making our stay enjoyable. Let us talk about the good stuff. THE BEACH IS GREAT with plenty of sun or shade. You never have to fight for a lounger or a spot on the beach, what a refreshing change!! The water is clear and the waves are minimal. The little bars and the staff on the beach were great. Also nobody hounding you to buy trinkets. SWEET! The main lobby and bar are actually very nice when seen by the light of day. Plenty of seating, with staff coming by regularly to see if you need a top up. Truly rare at resorts I have been to before. ENTERTAINMENT WAS GREAT! Many times during the week there is life entertainment at the bar. Singers, violinists, cellos, acrobats and a in house Cuban band that roams the resort created an upbeat experience. Well done Paridsus! We are not too hard to please and found the food quite good after reading all the complaints about Cuban resorts. Booking the a la cartes was easy and seemed fair to all. Lining up at 830 helps to get the best choices. The service at the ala cartes was great. I also really liked the very drinkable red or White House wine. I have been to a Mexican Barcelo where both were very bad. The beer served was Cristal delivered nice and cold. Cristal beer is great and the best house beer I have had at a resort. There is much to like in this resort and I would return again. I would also like to thank our groundskeeper who never missed a chance to cut my wife a blossom from the hedge, the waitresses and many other staff who were always welcoming and friendly.

Melia Marina Varadero: 5 star? Not 5 star

Overall this resort while beautiful, was dissapointing. Sort of felt like a movie set where its a just a facade. From the service to the food and the functionality of the rooms, they just missed the mark.

Melia Marina Varadero: Great time

We had a great time at this hotel. We liked that everything was close by and that the staff were very helpful. I would recommend that you pay the extra and stay on the level. It is well worth the money. Very clean hotel. Buffet food was okay but the a la cartes were very good.

Melia Jardines del Rey: Great family resort, lots of walking

The Melia Jardines del Ray in Cayo Coco was a beautiful resort. The week we were there, I was informed that there were 2000 guests, adults and children. Because of the number of guests being served there were some lineups at the Buffett , also long line ups to book the alacartes and the resorts keep a strict restriction on the number of times you can go to ala cartes....Brian and I went to the seafood, Aquas, the food was amazing, lobster was included, we even went back for seconds...even thou [... read more]gh it is an alacartes most of the service was like buffet, but very good....we went to the Cuban restaurant the next night, food excellent Brian had the soup for an entree and I had the fish....a lightly breaded fish, delicious. Our meals were very good and service excellent. We also went to the French Bistro, they had lobster bisquet with Hennessy s cognac, but the Potatoes cream was a delicious soup of creamed potato. We both had the Beef tenderloin with grilled vegetables, it was delicious. Desserts at the alacartes were delicious but there were times there was a long wait because of the volumne of guests. The beach at this resort is beautiful and very wide....lots of room for guests, there is a beach bar and a terrific buffet restaurant that turns into the seafood restaurant in the evening. After the first day Brian and I discovered a 24 hour snack bar, that became our go to Place for breakfast. Service a little slow, but everyone is trying very hard to please. Just down from the snack bar is a nice little Ice Ceam bar.....always busy, but the wait is not long. They had coconut ice cream, very good. The wifi at the resort is not the best, slow and intermittent there is no wifi in the rooms. Even though our rooms were between the lobby and the pool snack bar....we still had no connection....the pool snack bar opens I think 12:30 and the burgers, pizza and fried chicken is very good. Depending on the time you get there they are not set up to serve huge crowds. The evening we arrived we were assigned a room in building 8, I knew from looking at a map of the resort that this would not be good for my husband, who has health problems, the staff did some re-arranging and we ended up in building 26, room 26205, if mobilty is an issue then buildings 26 and 25 are excellent choices. Except for the beach restaurant , and access to the beach everything else is with in reasonable walking distance.....the weather was not the Cuba weather we are used too, but it was still a nice relaxing holiday., I feel this resort is excellent for families with children, however not so great if your mobility challenged. If you have a problem with bites, sorry I should have asked what bit me, I'm thinking No-see-ums bites are worse than mosquitoes, immediately and get infected easily, do not hesitate to see Dr. Louis very nice guy, really cares.....

Sol Palmeras: Fantastic Time, but a few small flaws

First let me say this Resort has fantastic Food the food at this resort is amazing and if you disagree then I would suggest maybe stay home. There was so much to pick from to eat, we came home with extra pounds each, there was always a large choice of food to choose from, they are slowly getting more spices, so flavour is getting better, but if you really like a certain spice maybe take some down with you to use. the 3 a la cartes were very good. we choose the mexican, steakhouse and sea [... read more]food ones all very tasty. So we really have no complaints about the food at this resort. Beach Well the beaches in Cuba are beautiful and so was the one at this resort, so again no complaints. Resort The grounds are very beautiful and very well taken care of, very clean resort, they have now a designated smoking area at this resort and a no smoking policy inside the resort and rooms, which for us was fabulous as I have terrible allergies to smoke. so I didnt wheeze all week it was wonderful. The resort was over all very clean, we have only one real complaint about it and that is the rooms, although some what clean sort of just very dated and bathrooms could really use updating as well, also we found that our maid did not clean the floor as there was sand still on the floor from the previous day and we hadnt gone to the beach yet that day, so with that I didnt have the maid the rest of the week, I really only needed the floor cleaned as I made my own bed, we didnt spend much time in our room but still wasnt happy. dont like dragging sand in the bed that is stuck on the botom of your feet. Arrival and Rooms Upon arrival we were told our room was not ready, now there was only a half a dozen people checking in from our flight, so not sure why rooms werent ready till well after 5pm, we had asked for a oceanview room and took a package that upgraded us to get this but our first room faced the parking lot, although we should have kept that room as it was on the 3rd floor, well we should have just stayed put as we lost a second day trying to get another room, they said come at 9am and we can switch you, well we went at 9am and 12 noon and then 230pm then 3 pm and then 330 pm and finally at around 4pm they said we could have this room on ground floor facing kids pool. Originally we were told that we could have 1031 but then that person decided to stay so then they said we could have another room on the oppsite side of the pool ground floor number 1050 but then were told they decided to stay as well. Which we think is odd because our Sunwing rep. told us that you wouldnt be able to stay longer even if you wanted too, funny how these people both could! So finally getting this other room 1042 well let me tell you it was a nightmare, so noisey we were woken up several nights by people yelling in the hallway, then just outside our door were these silly little doors in the hallway that were not lined up with each other and banged and crashed and there was a floor divider that wasnt neccesary as it only caused everyones suitcases hitting them to make a loud banging noise going over it. So every night we wedged a piece of paper under the door to hold it open as to eleviate some of the crashing noises during the night time while we slept. So if you ever get room 1042 run, they really should remove thiose doors. So do to this we were not happy with the front desk, we found many people also complaided about there rooms and changed to another room. So much waisted time spent getting our rooms. The people of course working at the resort were very friendly as always. The resort had a lot of stuff going on everyday and night, so there was lots of entertainment going on. The resort also had some kitties keeping any rodents under control if there was any, we never saw any. Loved seeing the cats around the resort felt like home. We really love Cuba and have been 7 times in the past couple of years, we have stayed at different resorts each time as we like to see what they offer , so this is my honest opinion of this resort. Would we go back to this resort, more than likely but on a high floor and near the end of the hall, probably quieter for sleeping.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Third time to this resort!

We love this beautiful resort and will go back a 4th time! The food choices are excellent! The staff is always great! The rooms are nicely decorated, clean and comfortable. The grounds are always clean, well groomed and well lit! Entertainment is excellent and varied so there is always something going on to watch, with dancing if you choose. The drinks are good (we drink mostly wine, champagne, beer, and 12 year old scotch and rum). The beach is very large,clean and there are always chairs wit [... read more]h someone to help you position them. There is not anything I could say negative about this resort as you can tell that management works very hard on keeping this a 5 star resort with great customer service.

Paradisus Varadero: Great Resort

This was a last minute trip for us and we didn't even read the reviews just booked 3 nights to get away. When we arrived the upgraded us free of charge to the family concierge. It is absolutely gorgeous. Service is excellent. Food was good, beach was perfect, lots of chairs, didn't have to get up early to get them. Well laid out resort. \On the bad side, we heard a lot of complaining about the older section. Maybe the resort should put some money into those reservations as I am sure not ev [... read more]eryone can afford the family concierge or the royal service

Memories Cayo Largo: Good Resort.

Grounds and beach were beautiful! The food was simple but good.They have a barbque every day by the beach and the view from the restaurant is beautiful. Room was nice and comfortable. The pool was really nice. They also have a great Cuban house band.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Awesome adults only resort

Beautiful resort, second time staying at this resort and we loved it again. Mattress is very hard but its to be expected. Other than that no complaints! Recommend to anyone :) people here are so friendly. Lots of evening entertainment and great swim up pool bar

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Good Resort

The Good: Beautiful place, very clear,lush,gardens,trees,nice rooms, pool clean,beautiful beach excellent service at the pool bar, Good food and service at the French,Japanese,Bamboo a la cart. Great entertainment. The Bad: Reception is way to slow not enough staff, there is only one buffet for the resort you will encounter long line ups to go in need more staff. The buffet is just ok they seem to have the same menu everyday. Overall a 4 not a 5.

Sol Cayo Coco: Great resort ... Terrific staff.

We just returned from 1 week in Sol Cayo Coco and had a fantastic time. The staff at the resort was really polite, nice and very helpful. Always friendly and actually had bar service delivered by the pool and to our tables in most bar areas. The food was very good and the rooms clean and comfortable. The only drawback was the washrooms ran out of toilet paper quickly and it was not always replenished ...sometimes till the next day. The beaches were beautiful. Definitely a contender to go ba [... read more]ck.,

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Nice resort!

We recently spent a week in the Royal Service area. This is a lovely area of the resort however it is isolated at the top of a hill that is very quiet with little to no entertainment or music. If that is what you are looking for then it will be perfect for you. We did not like the long winding walk up the hill to the area and the stairs down to the beach. The stairs were uneven and made the trek a bit difficult. The liquor was all the same at every bar, we thought that by staying in the Ro [... read more]yal Service area that the liquor or food would be different, it was not. All the food was good. Lobster at every restaurant. Al la cartes were all nice. There is one restaurant in RS area the rest are all at the main resort. The rooms are nice and spacious. In the RS area you have an outdoor shower, very neat idea. The service staff are all kind and do what they can for you no matter where you stayed. If we returned we would probably stay in the main area of the resort as it was about $1000 per person more and felt we always needed to travel down the hill to do things. For us it was not worth the extra money.

Melia Las Dunas: Amazing Resort!

This hotel has lovely grounds, beautiful beach and great entertainment. Our stay was pleasant and although the sink overflowed and the toilet did not flush these discrepancies were corrected. Our bedsheets etc were changed without delay. Overall the stay was pleasant with the beach and the cappucinos being the highlight.

Melia Las Dunas: Amazing Beach!

This was our first time to The Melia Las Dunas. It is an hour and a half from the airport but the transfer went smoothly and learned some facts along the way. Our check in went smoothly and after travelling for a day and a half we were tired and hungry. We had a hard time finding somewhere to get something to eat at 4:30p.m. The buffets don't open until 7pm which I find late. We did find the beer garden where we could get a burger. I asked for a map of the resort with the restaurants and times t [... read more]hings are open but they don't have any. It is a large resort and that would've been nice to have to help find your way to things and find out what activities are being held each day and where. The rooms are very spacious. People in recent reviews had complained of no water and toilets not working. We had no issues with our toilet and had water everyday. It was never hot,hot but did the trick. They don't have face clothes so I suggest bringing your own if you use one. Our room was cleaned daily and the fridge was replenished daily as well. The beach is amazing!! White, flour like sand and beautiful turquoise water. It was quite windy by the water for 4 of our 7 days. The green flag was only up for 3 days we were there but we were still able to get in the ocean and it didn't stop us from relaxing by the ocean. Chairs were easy to get and you can easily get drinks. Unfortunately there isn't a bathroom close to the beach so you must trek a ways. Lots of the public washrooms are out of use. The last two days the ladies had to use the men's with the men by the theater. Food was pretty good for Cuban standards. Always had fresh grilled stations and plenty of food. The nightly entertainment was pretty much the same thing each night but it was good. We loved the live music and bands each night!! I would bring your own ketchup if you're picky with your ketchup as it is quite different from ours. A thermal travel mug is also good to keep your drinks cold and from having to refill as often. Wifi is 2 CUC for an hour but it tends to be down a lot. Very hit and miss. There's a bus that comes every hour that will take you to the shopping centre. It is 2 CUC return. Something different to do for part of a day. All in all it was a good trip! Missing the sunshine already....

Melia Las Antillas: This is all you need!

Sleeping Rooms: Tub was stained, grout was cracked and stained, some stains near the lights on the ceiling - could use some updating. No bugs. The room was clean and simple. Pool: Beautiful. Never had an issue getting a lounge chair near the pool. Beach: Amazing. You could walk along the beach for miles in either direction. Food: Best we've had in Cuba so far. Lots of choice at the buffet. A la cartes were nothing too special, but a nice change from the buffet. Grounds: Beautiful.  [... read more] Sharks, cats and birds made for entertaining exploring. If your expectations are reasonable (for Cuba), you will enjoy your stay here.

Hotel Vigia: A little gem!

Our week at Cayo Guillermo very enjoyable. The friendly staff in all areas of the resort were always willing to help. We always had a good selection of food. The beach restaurant was especially good! I loved setting at the pool and was able to enjoy a view of the ocean from poolside as well. The beach is awesome! This small friendly resort is calling me back again.

Melia Las Antillas: Great Resort!

For the price, great resort! Rooms were clean and had everything you needed. Beach was the best I've ever seen, always chairs available. Food was good, entertainment every night. Grounds very nice

Melia Jardines del Rey: Amazing beach!

This is a large resort with many options. There are 2 large pools, various places to eat. Quite a variety for Cuba, there's always something to choose from. The rooms are nice with a walk in shower. If you like a lively place, there's always something to do either dancing on the beach, pool activity, or nighttime entertainment and music. The a la carte restaurants are amazing. The beach was the best part for us... tons of polopas, bar, and waiter on the beach. There's a really nice sandbar out i [... read more]n the water that is exposed at low tide. All in all a great time.

Sol Cayo Coco: Terrific Holiday!

I just returned from Sol Cayo Coco on Thursday January 19, 2017. I was at the resort for a one-week stay. This was my third time to this resort and I will certainly go back! Food: People often complain about the food in Cuba - too bland, not enough American, always the same - I do not agree. The food at Sol Cayo Coco is excellent. There is always a good selection and the buffet is refreshed constantly. I only ate at the buffet restaurant and did not eat at either of the a la carte restaurants [... read more], so I cannot comment on the food there - however, people I met on the trip thought the a la carte restaurants were very good. I sat on the patio at the buffet for nearly every meal as I prefer to be outside rather than inside with the air conditioning. Room: I stayed in a third floor room overlooking the pool with a beautiful view of the ocean. I payed for a standard room and did not upgrade, so I was very pleased with the view. The room, although the decor is a bit tired, was clean and tidy. My towels were refreshed daily and I never once had to request amenities like toilet paper, soap, etc... Resort: I like Sol Cayo Coco for several reasons: 1) it is only a 30 minute drive to the airport, 2) the resort is small and not overwhelming to get around, 3) you can change money at the front desk, and 4) the staff are exceptional. Two staff members who deserve to be mentioned: Yanitza (wait staff on the patio of the buffet restaurant) is friendly, outgoing and extremely generous - she loves to sing and you will hear her going about her duties singing and dancing - entertaining and altogether lovely. Andy (waiter in the lobby bar lounge) is very kind and quick to grab you a drink when you need one. He made a point to introduce me to other staff members, making my trip more comfortable and enjoyable - I truly felt at home! Entertainment: The entertainment staff are very hard working. I attended several shows, some were mediocre, some were amazing. The stand-out for me was an evening they called "White Night". In addition to the expected dancing there were: amazing vocalists, a talented aerial performer on silks, and a fire artist. The best night I spent in Cuba!

Melia Las Dunas: Super disappointed

To begin when we first showed up we where notified that the hotel was over booked Go to eat at the buffet half the plates weren't even clean and half the food wouldn't get restocked you would have to hunt someone down to get things restocked Didn't have a toilet seat for 3 days in my ended up asked 4 times before something alway happened. There was no doctor or medical staff there when my brother slipped on the floor of the washroom with 3inch of water on the ground and the walls looking l [... read more]ike a waterfall and 4 toilets on the first night in the lobby burst. Terrible customer service. Got woken up at 3am by there employees doing renovations on one of the hotel room. I wouldn't suggest this place to anything it was terrible