Nice resort

Room was clean and well kept, bar fridge as well. Grounds cleaned up well after hurricane season, trees hit hardest, but the beach is still littered with twigs, etc and not being attended to. The staff were very friendly with or without tipping most of the time. Entertainment was great once, average most nights, and limited for 5 stars. Food was sketchy at the buffet, timing is everything, and a la carte restaurants were ok. Toilette paper needed, bring your own out at night.

Amazing Resort

The resort was clean and well maintained. Staff were friendly. Reception was helpful although they were busy answering calls and you had to wait. We stayed in number 6 and had good service although the maid would forget to replenish our water. On one day she forgot to put towels. We stayed at resort 6 which I think is the higher end. We had a courtesy room in resort 2 and the curtains were missing hooks and the staff were not as friendly. The cleaning lady seemed agitated to see us there a [... read more]nd made us feel like we were a nuisance. However overall it was a great place and I would definitely recommend it. The pool area and beach were excellent. They had great shows everyday. The bar at the lobby area and Piano Bar made great drinks. There was a variety of food and it was excellent.

Beam me back Scotty

It was a wonderful resort beach was great , staff wonderful , Entertainment at night the best I have had in Cuba . The restaurants were good and very accommodating . the fellow at the reservation desk got us an old fashioned car ride and private interpretor for the same price as a bus ride into Havana .

Great resort

Beach was amazing. There is a very small section full of rocks in the water, but the rest is completely sand. Very clean beach as well. Avoid buffet at all costs. It's absolutely horrible food. I would feel bad feeding my dog with it. Cold pizza very crunchy under cooked rice, poor choices all around tried a little of everything and never wanted to go back. Had the same problem with restaraunts serving undercooked rice as well. Rock house is an amazing alternative it's open 24/7 and the food is  [... read more]great. Always ate there when we didn't have a reservation for dinner. The menu choices isn't as big as I would like but at least it tastes good. Sakura (Japanese restaraunt) is a must try there book it early as it's almost always full on reservations. Some bars may be too generous with alcohol in cocktails so if you don't like one bar try another. Good selection of tours offered I'm sure you can find something you'll like. Havana tour was amazing, a little pricey, but you get a personal driver and a tour guide. Hotel staff is mostly good if you tip well. Cleaning room didn't do anything for 3 Cuban pesos they just made the bed and nothing else so we stopped tipping them all together. Had 2 rooms. One of them had an ac that was too old. Didn't do anything at all. Broken dresser in that room too. The other room was fine, definitely didn't feel like a 5 star but I guess that's only royal service rooms, the room with functioning ac was more of a 3 star, leaving 1 star for the rooms because of the other room.

Great resort for the price

Very very friendly and accommodating staff. Room was clean. Had to unplug the fridge because it clunked through the night and woke us up. No big deal we just plugged it back in in the morning. Only one store to shop at for all your needs. Do it there because airport shopping is slim pickins. Food options are plentiful but quality not the same as other countries as most people comment in reviews for Cuba. Beach is amazing.

The devil is in the detail...

...and many details in my opinion were missed on this resort. Now I will begin by saying that the staff in the buffet and serving stations were very helpful, friendly and accommodating. The beachfront was incredible and chairs with shade could always be found. The food though limited in choice, was fresh and well prepared. What affected the enjoyment of the is resort were the many small and large details I believe were missed. I can say that there was value for what we paid and only bec [... read more]ause the buffet staff and bellman were so friendly and helpful. If you are not fussy about food and just want a hot place to spend time on the beach or at the pool and drink, then this is place for you. But I feel strongly about paying more to have the following details addressed and for me I would not return because of the following: 1.) Air conditioning did not work for our entire 4 night stay and the front desk told us that the entire resort did not have AC - poor poor form Melia!!! 2.) Uncover pitchers, containers and food trays in the buffet room - flies are very much part of the environment, but this could be minimized  3.) Front desk staff were not kind, friendly or helpful - some were down right rude and had little info or inclination to provide info about when the bus may arrive, assistance with Wi-Fi, providing change or responding to general inquiries. Front desk is the face of every business and those at this resort set a miserable first impression. 4.) Staff in general (expect for male servers) were not professional in appearance. Uniforms of staff throughout the resort in various roles - especially in the buffet were in poor condition, ill fitted, dirty, shirts untucked - the staff did not appear crisp and professional in attire or appearance and this left a poor impression in general. I noticed this of the front desk staff who in other resorts are very professional and well groomed. Front desk staff here looked slovenly.  5.) Grounds staff or contractors working on the resort looked like a ragtag mob of ex-cons  6.) Garbage was piled at certain points on the resort - in one case I saw bags of garbage piled in the same spot for 2 days  7.) Towels in rooms were tired and thread bare  8.) Mattress was uncomfortable and I could feel the springs, the pillows were laughable - why bother?  9.) Rooms and buildings on the resort in general were tired, dated and could do with a refresh or renovation Thank you Melia for 4 days in the sun. Good steady and diligent management and some funds for a refresh of buildings, uniforms, furnishing and customer service training could save this place.

Nice vacation

We had a great time in Varadero. This was about two weeks after the hurricane. Despite this, everyone was so nice, the food was good in the buffets, but the a la carte restaurants were excellent especially the Japanese. The facilities were nice too, except the smell in the bedrooms. It was a mold smell that never went away. I guess it was the humidity, but for me, it was really difficult to fall asleep because the smell was intense and sheets in the bed felt damp. Everything was very clean [... read more], mind you. I checked because I wanted to see if the place was dirty, but it wasn't. Everything was clean, so I blame the humidity and the room being closed the whole time without air circulation. To me, this is kind of a deal breaker, because it made it hard to rest at night. All of our clothes have that smell now so right after unpacking I had to do laundry here. Other than this, everything was good and we had a great time. The entertainment crew was amazing and very well prepared. Congratulations to them! The food, drinks, the customer service, the pool were very good. Marta, the Sunwing representative was great as well. She recommended us to take the tour to Habana and then go to the Tropicana show at night and it was totally worth it. We are happy, no complaints whatsoever in those areas. If someone tells me they're going there, I'd say it's fine, but I feel I must warn them about the room smell.

Very good resort

I just returned back from 1 week stay at Paradisus Varadero it was our first time after 10 years not going to Cuba. We were nicely suprised what we got for the money we paid.Food is good I would even say better than in Punta Cana,resort is older but kept in good shape,rooms are big and clean,grounds and beach also very nice.Staff very friendly.I would definitely go back over there

Amazing place!

Clean, professionally staffed, courteous, 24/7 availability of food... Smiling and engaging staff....................... good food with NO regrets at all! Nightly entertainment is a bonus! Additional trips can be booked at the resort itself. Staff of diff travel companies are dropping in every day...

Trip to Varadero

I must say that in general our trip was a pleasant one.the resort was nice,friendly people,considering the economical situations of the country the buffet and restaurants were good,not much choice of fruits.there were flies almost in all tables in buffet.the water tempertures in bathroom is 50 degrees and many people complaining.the beach and ocean is excellent. we took a tour to Havana and many times the tour guide mentioned to pay tip to him and drivers,I think it would be better to add some  [... read more]more to price of the tour and not mention about the tip,it made some people uncomfortable at the end. The thing that bother me the most was the last day,our flight was at 10 oclock pm and check out time is 12 noon.we had to pay more for every hour extra to keep our room,eventhough there was not any reservation for it. So basically our last day was wasted because couldn't enjoy the beach since we didn't have a room to shower after and for hours sitting in lobby waiting for bus. If an arragement can be made to check out later would be much better.

First Time Cuba

This is my first review of a property in Cuba. The Paradisus Princess Del Mar has its Pros and Cons. The Pros are the following: LAYOUT was open and gorgeous. The BEACH was amazing and the ROOMS were clean. NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT was excellent and the 24 HR SNACK BAR and the GRILL had food to hit the spot. The Cons are the following: BUFFET had no selection and food was scarce. A LA CARTE restaurants had no A.C. considering the men had to wear pants to eat there. A.C. in certain rooms not col [... read more]d at all. Had to switch rooms. POOL was not kept and seemed dirty especially around the pool bar. Overall: I would definitely go back but area different time when it's High Season.

Great - but....

The hotel itself does not maintain the same level of cleanliness as it did only a year ago. The beach is fantastic - no seaweed no rocks, just beautiful. The food - they closed the pizza snack bar and you are now having to eat with all others at the main snack bar. There were many flies in the buffet. The selection is OK - there should be more variety in the food. There is no parmesan cheese and no hot peppers or hot chillis. The pool was great - however the pool bar was murky and dirtly  [... read more]- first time I have seen this!!!!!!!!! BUT I still love the place and the people.

2 Star Downgrade

This was my third stay at this hotel. The first two times it was definitely a 5 star hotel. I raved about it to everybody that there is a good hotel in Cube with good food. Well, unfortunately, two years later that is not the case. Still not a bad hotel but far from 5 stars, I would say 3 stars. If you want a 5 star experience go somewhere else but if you are ok with 3 stars this is a viable option. Here is a list of problems: - Check in was slow process - Buffet food was below average,  [... read more]a la carte was average and sometimes a bit more than average - Property grounds not well maintained - Dead bird in front of my patio all week, never picked up - They ran out of fresh beach towels several times - At lunch pasta line with one person in front of me I waited 20 minutes! - At beach lunch restaurant only 2 girls serving, the poor ladies were running around trying to make everybody happy. We waited a long time but not their fault, management understaffs this restaurant - They took away the BBQ grill from the beach restaurant - Beach restaurant has a small menu to start with, the day I was there they had no hamburgers, no chicken and served me my hot dog on a hamburger bun!!!! - AC was very low - Had to call 3 times for bath towels - Had to wait for bath towels on 2 separate days out of 5 - I needed a late checkout, long story short we got 4 different prices from 4 different people at front desk. Price range was from free to $60CUC - The final disappointment was taking a taxi to the airport it cost me $25CUC to get to the hotel but the taxi that came to get me to bring me back wanted $50CUC!!! NOTE TO HOTEL MANAGEMENT DO NOT LET THESE DRIVERS ON HOTEL PROPERTY IF THEY ARE GOING TO RIP OFF YOUR GUESTS!!!! As the driver was leaving he passed the other driver (the drivers wait just outside the property line) and they shared a smile when he told his friend he got $50CUC out of me. Thank you Paradisus for letting these scammers onto your property. Thank you for not protecting your clients' best interest. Now the good! I do want to give a special shout out to the crew at the Piano Bar, Yaddi and Yusmilla. They are the piano player and the server just in case I am not spelling their names properly. These two are awesome and is one of the main reasons we returned to the hotel. Another shout out goes to the pool bar staff, they are 5 star quality. They are quick, friendly and remember your drinks. The three in particular are Barby, Diane and Mario! I hope this helps!

Relaxing vacation

the resort was good, service was good most of the times. the only bad experience that I had was on the last day, we had a day trip and when we came back to the resort, the person at the front gave us a room to use to take a shower as we already checked out. however, they didn't realize the book was booked by another person. so it ended up that person keep knocking the door while we were taking a shower. the resort needs to be more organized on that and make sure the room is not double booked.

Great Resort

The resort was great and I had a lot of fun. Food was good and the drinks kept flowing. Great weather every day but got a lot of bites at night. Staff was helpful and accommodating. Also went off resort a few nights to the clubs and staff was able to tell us where to go and got us taxi's to get us there and back again

Fabulous

We stayed in the Royal Suites area of the Paradisus Princesa Del Mar and it was amazing. Private pool area, private beach area, two restaurants just for Royal Suites guests + a dedicated butler. I thought the butler idea was a little far-fetched, but Arletys was incredibly helpful, from booking our private tour to Havana in an old car to repairing a broken pair of eye-glasses, I can't say enough about the service we received. The food at the Hilltop was fantastic as was the breakfast buffet and [... read more] suppers at Miramar. The best though was the private beach area.. Always a lounge chair under a Palapa and a bar within in easy reach. We were there in early July and practically had the place to ourselves. All in all it was a great vacation.

Not as good as Melia Marina Varadero

Personally I think the staff at this resort isn't as friendly as other hotel such as Melia Marina Varadero. The rooms were clean though which is always a plus. The beach on the other hand didn't have staff to serve us drinks which was a con when compared to Melia Marina Varadero.

This 5 star is not much better then a 3 star

I have been to Varadero several times over the last 20 years. When I was a student on a budget I stayed at 3 star hotels, then as a young professional I would stay at a 4 star resort. Now at middel age my wife took me away for a weekend over my birthday and she plurged on a 5 star. The beach is always great. The best I have seen in he Caribbean. But the food in Cuba is always bland. Not bad just bland. I was hoping with this 5 star the food would be better. Unfortunately, it was worse. M [... read more]aybe because it was summer and a rainy one at that, but this was the worst variety and quality of food ever. So was the quality of the drinks. The buffet was the smallest I have ever seen, and staples like Pizza and fries were not available. Of the 5 Ala Carte restaurants only 2 were open and they both had more or less the same menu. There was a premium part of the resort and as it was my birthday the person in charge of the reservations gave us a table at one of those restaurants. The decor was very nice but the food was the same, bland, flavorless and rubbery meat. As for the rooms they were modern with nice bathrooms and showers but it had a very strong mildew smell. I was going to ask to change the room? but as we walked by some other rooms that were being cleaned you could smell the same thing out into the hall. So in short, I come to Varadero for the beach, not the pools and since a 5 star does not have better food or much better rooms then a 4 star I would not recommend the difference.

Less than what we expected

... the common remark that my wife and I shared during our 5 days at Paradisus Del Mar was " thank goodness for royal service " otherwise the time spent would have been a disaster. Even with royal service, certainly things could be improved upon, but for what we needed the time for which was R&R, it was ok. The rooms need some upgrading, but thats minor, the explanation upon arrival needs to be thorough (my wife is fluent in Spanish). From what we could see the resort was at about 60% occupancy, [... read more] which kept it fairly quiet. I, on the other hand, can't say anything positive about the main part of the resort. The main lobby lacks feel and ambiance, with a feeling of a resort where nobody cares about how it looks. Tired and outdated grounds where grassy areas resemble picnics at the local park, lounges dragged by guests creates a vision of confusion and show a lack of order in this process. The pathways at night are poorly lit, and during the day its obvious that only half of the mismatched lights are working..its too bad because the resort is getting long in the tooth, and with newer facilities coming in, this one I believe will fall by the wayside unless Melia starts to spend some maintenance money. If you go, only consider Royal Service, but even still, we never had a WOW moment..

Beautiful grounds, Clean resort

This hotel was beautiful, grounds superb. Resort spotless, so clean. Amazing staff. Everyone did an amazing job at most levels. Cuban people are just lovely. First contact though, was bad, not a smile and no glass of welcome champagne, just a key. Female reception staff need sacked. Never smiled. Male reception staff were very polite and did smile. As a manager myself I noticed first contact was so incredibly poor and the same continued for 5 days Room: Block 6 Phone did not work,  [... read more]coffee maker broken, shower broke on 2nd last day, bed was damp, sheets felt wet. Slept on top of bed for 5 nights with a little blanket. Not what expected of a five star hotel :) Rather funny really. Just had to laugh. Cause no one in the hotel management cared!! Very noticeable that hotel management were absent, invisible, unlike other resorts I have been to. So disappointed. Melia management really need to get their act together. Its not the workers fault. This is my 9th visit to Cuba so I have been in many hotels in Varadero, Cayo Coco and Santa Maria.