Starfish Jibacoa: Beautiful, quiet resort, directly on the beach

The grounds of this resort are beautiful with lots of Bougainville and hibiscus. The resort itself is somewhat dated but very charming and cosy. Check in was fast. The bungalows are small but very private and nicely decorated, the beds are good, the rooms and patio are thoroughly cleaned every day, the service is fantastic. The water was always very hot and available. The second last day we had an ant problem in the bathroom (tiny minuscule ants) but they were dealt with immediately. The food is [... read more] basic but good and with some imagination you can create a delicious meal. Breakfast was very good, the breads are delicious, smoothies made to order. Ice creams are delicious. The coffee was great, easpecially the Spanish ones! The beach is gorgeous and wide with natural mangrove trees and Palm trees of course and Palapas haphazardly placed not like other resorts where you are all lined up in a row beside one another, towels were always available ($20 deposit) and just steps away from the bungalows (there are 4 in a block) all with a little patio. On arrival there was a bottle of rum and 2 Cokes and sandwiches in the fridge as well as a cigar! The water is fine to drink, plus we got 2 litres on arrival in our fridge. The swimming is safe. The pool is fine, no slides,. There were hardly any children. A day trip to Havana is recommended for $51 US. My sister (81) fell at the resort grounds and was attended to immediately by the staff doctor and nurse, we were impressed with the care. We didn't want to go home and will absolutely return next year for a longer stay. Many thanks to Wendy van Zandwyk from trip central for recommending this resort as well as Anne Marie (Air Transat rep) who was available for assistance every day at the resort

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Great resort!

We had a fabulous time at this resort. Room, grounds, restaurants and public areas were very clean and well maintained. Food was excellent on the Sanctuary side, both in the restaurant and pool side. Also enjoyed the beach grill for lunch. Staff were excellent and friendly. Shout out to Natalie in the beach bar and Roxanna at the pool bar. Our butlers were great and helped coordinate a surprise poolside lobster dinner one evening. We will be back!

Sol Varadero Beach: Expected More; received Less...But Amazing Beach

Just returned after spending a relaxing week (January 17, 2019) at this resort. It was amazing stay. We went with family and friends. We enjoy a lot. We were very satisfied with the food at the buffet. It was good but repetitive day to day. Everything was close, the beach, the buffet, the lobby, the tea corner, in the lobby bar.The recreation team was very friendly and upbeat. We will never understand why someone would work reception when they cannot speak a word of English. The rooms are sub [... read more] par at best. Clean is a word of many levels of description - definitely not up to par on our standards. Drinking water is another challenge. Only bottle water is preferred. Overall I will give 3.5 star out of 5.

Hotel Los Cactus: Old folks home

I have been to this resort many times before when it was Superclubs Breezes Varadaro. It has completely changed demographic.Its now an old age home when before it was good for single guys and meeting girls.Now the club is dead ..no animation guys / girls keeping the club lively...unless your into 3pm bingo.

Iberostar Selection Varadero: Best Resort we've been to in Cuba!

We've been to several resorts in Cuba at various locations and this one is the best we have been to in all aspects: food (great selection, lots of fresh fish, veg & fruit), warm and friendly service, and a beautiful well-kept property. We had been here a few years ago it it was fine but they did a sprucing up and now it is even better. The staff are all excellent and attentive. We would go back for sure - it would be great for a group gathering, there is something for everyone One reco - De [... read more]finitely go to Havana but don't do a day trip on a big bus - hire a car, stay overnight and see it properly. Too few people take a break form the beach to see the real Cuba. It's fine to vacate you hotel room for one or more nights to do a side trip, Just let staff know and they will keep an eye on your room. Cuba is very safe!

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: What an amazing trip!!

Words cannot explain the amazing time we had at the Iberostar Playa Alameda Resort in Veradero. The staff was amazing, the rooms and service were great and there was lots of variety of food and activities.

Barcelo Solymar: Rooms need updates

We had 2 phones in our room- neither one worked. We had maintenance in our room 3 days in a row to fix the toilet as it would not flush. The patio door on to the balcony was so hard to close you had to push with both hands

Iberostar Origin Tainos: Great vacation

Very nice resort, impeccable grounds,very friendly staff. And very nice rooms. Always chairs available around pool and beach. Food was good. Could use a 3rd "a la carte" restaurant. But the two existing were good. No complaints from us.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Beautiful atmosphere

The grounds were amazing-palm trees, green grass, superb beach. The rooms were spacious and clean. The food was OK. Plenty of food, but not much of the kind of food I'm used to as a Canadian. The stuff were attentive and kind, and I enjoyed interacting with them.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: About average for Cuba

We were there in late January 2019. The hotel was only about half open (some of the blocks were still under renovation). The half that was open was not at full capacity. We stayed in block 12. It was freshly painted, with new beds and bath fixtures. A/C was very cold. We liked the sliding glass doors open and A/C off, unfortunately that allowed the moldy smell to be noticed. Under the fresh paint we could see where there had been mold on the walls. The maintenance and food service staff were l [... read more]ovely. The entertainment staff were a bit too busy hanging out with themselves, played music really loud and played music with swear words (mother-f’er!!!) at the pool in the middle of the day. The mini club was supposed to be available from 10-12 and 2-5 but the door was always locked with a sign saying they were at the beach. Not great for kids who wanted some indoor playtime as a break from the beach, or for parents who couldn’t find the kids club on the beach. The food was on or slightly below par for Cuba. No surprise there :) The pools were great, the water slide was a hit with the kids and grown ups. The beach was gorgeous and the kayaks and catamarans were fun, frequently available. The guests were from all over the world, not just Canada, which was nice.

Barcelo Solymar: needs upgrades

Grounds were well looked after. Buffet waitress and cooks were great Food good But the resort needs alot of general maintainance.But for $1055 i guess it was worth the money.I would say it should be a 3 star.

Starfish Jibacoa: Love This Resort

This is an extremely fun resort. The food this year was even better than last year. Our bungalow was centrally located with a beautiful view of the ocean. The staff at this resort are just fabulous. They really try to make you feel at home. We will definitely go back next year. We met many great people there that we now view as friends.

Melia Las Americas: Better than we remembered

10 years ago we went to Melia las Americas. After that we went to several other resorts and always remembered how good we had it at Melia. So..we spend the extra money and said: “we know what we get”. It was great to be back. Better than we remembered. Lots upgraded. The room was beautiful and clean (standard no ocean view, but we had view over the bay). Food was excellent. The a la cart dinner at the Cascade was superb. Incl live music. The beaches look less deep as we remembered and I thin [... read more]k global warming also shows in Cuba. One disappointment we had and it was the quality of the entertainment. Not great. Didn’t make a difference to our stay. We will be back and sticking to what we know. Our goal is a break from winter with good food, friendly service and a clean room. We got it! Melia las Americas...we will be back. It’s a beautiful resort.

Starfish Jibacoa: Spacious beach areas, very peaceful resort

The "bungalows" are set in a spacious parklike landscape, some of them close to the beach and others closer to the road. Not true bungalows (grouped as 4 or 5 units) but each has a porch facing north or south. Interiors are very clean and well decorated. Bathrooms have very good features, although the shower head can be very loose and hot water isn't always available. Air conditioning is quiet and high up. Dining room is spacious and bright and the food serving areas are well thought out. Fruit  [... read more]and juice bar, 2 grills staffed and many choices (fishes, pork, liver, etc) along with great fried chicken, etc. And lots of different salad items. PLUS many breads and desserts, including ice cream! Food never really ran out and the staff are VERY helpful! There are only 2 bars (lobby and pool) and they are on each side of the grounds but we never felt without. Oh there is a small really friendly beach bar! The swimming pool is terrific and very clean. Beach is huge but if you want to go into the water the coral is not far away, sometimes large coral rocks right in water's edge. We found that the weather can be very changeable in January plus Man O' War jellyfish can appear anytime. But you can easily go for a walk to local farms and restaurants. Havana is only 1 hour by taxi and really easy to see! Or go to Matanzas for a change! They don't have bicycles which is too bad, but you can get a horse for a scenic ride!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Great!

Very clean, staff were friendly, we upgraded to a suite and it was well worth the money. The layout of the hotel was great and everyone was very helpful. Shows were funny and the bars were easy to get a drink from.

Melia Marina Varadero: Not quite up to the 5 stars

This was a nice enough Melia but certainly not up to 5 stars. The location was great and the beach beautiful but there was some updated needed in the rooms. The furniture in our room felt like it belonged to a grade 3 student, battered and needed repainting. The food was about a 5 out of 10 but this is not unusual for Cuba. We had food at the buffet that very undercooked, as in unedible as well as overcooked. Even some pork pieces with the hair on it still. Things that didn't need to be disapp [... read more]ointing. The staff were very good, but as usual if you were willing to pay alot of extra pesos, you received better service. The entertainment was quite good. It was varied and some of it quite amazing. Not so much for the daytime activities. The weather was quite cool a few days so there wasn't too much to do at that time. We went into Varadero twice just for something to do.

Paradisus Varadero: Don’t go here!!!!!!!

We arrived at night. We immediately noticed much stagnant water around the entire entrance of the resort. Prime!!! Mosquito breeding grounds!!! We were concerned by lack of simple identification bracelets. Nothing distinguished me from anyone else— potentially dangerous actors. We checked into our room. It is clearly a run-down hotel trying little fixes to update it. It’s not working. Upon walking into our room, we were blown away by mosquitoes!!! We immediately began swat [... read more]ting them with bath towels. The room looked like s slaughter house! But filled with unknown blood!!! We had a ten day trip booked for this resort. We HAD TO MOVE out of this disgusting hotel. Food was horrible- except for the beach lunch bbq which was great. Don’t go here!

Gran Caribe Sun Beach: So disappointed in the resort

The hotel is old, and in need of repair. Our room was clean but the toilet seat was covered in urine so we had to clean that up, the beds were so uncomfortable you could feel every spring in the mattress. The door to the room one had to kick to open as it was stuck all the time. On the 3rd the alarm for the elevator went on and off every 1/2 hour this went on for three days. I told them at the desk and all I got was we know. The fire alarm went off and the fire alarm on our floor was broken loo [... read more]ked like it had been nearly pulled off the wall. I went to close the window in the bathroom and nearly pulled the window frame totally out of the wall. I went down stairs and some one rushed up stairs and fixed the window. Finally after 3 days of the alarm going on and off that got fixed. The second elevator didn't work most of the time so we only had one elevator. Food unbelievable awful. Either it was over cooked or under cooked, the chef would cook on a big burner and fill the room full of smoke. Fish which is one of my favorite foods was so over cooked I couldn't cut it with a knife. No butter for bread, no salt, no milk or cream for coffee and tea. The juices orange if we got it and grapefruit was watered down. The food was the same most of the time. No real variety the rice was under cooked the potatoes were cold most of the food was just warm. The scrambled eggs were terrible. At the bar the last few days no water, I had to buy water meaning I had to go to the counter where on registered to ask for a chit and pay for the water then take the chit to the bar and be given water. The bar ran out of coke which I didn't care but many did. I would never go back to the hotel and I definitely would not recommend the hotel. The staff in the dinning room were very nice and so were the staff who cleaned the room. At the bar some were fab others were not so nice. the furniture in the "lounge" most of the seats were broken or you sunk do far down that it was difficult to get out of the chairs. We had only on small towel in the room and had to go to the pool staff for a towel. At the end of the stay we gave the towel back and got our chit to show we returned the towel. If we didn't we would have to pay 10 dollars.

Hotel Los Cactus: We love Pedro!

We spent a week at Los Cactus Jan 5 to 12. Loved the resort, enjoyed the International/Italian restaurant and the superior service provided by Pedro! Thanks to Debbie M. for assisting me with yet another fabulous vacation to Varadero!

Grand Memories Varadero: Great experience

The resort was absolutely beautiful, although if you are not a fan of big resorts, this is not the one for you. Food was great, especially the fresh omelettes every morning. My biggest complaint is the room was a bit out dated and there were blood stains on my sheets. Staff was very friendly though.