Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing Resort!

The ocean and beach were beautiful and the hotel was very nice. There are a lot of flowers there. The food is the best that we've ever encountered from all our trips to Cuba! Also they have been provided the special treats for my mom birthday!

Melia Las Dunas: Most Amazing Beach!!!

Resort was beautiful. (Although it takes about 90 minutes from the airport) Rooms were nice, clean and spacious. The grounds were very well kept, as well as the pool, restaurants and bars. Speaking of bars, the lobby bar was fabulous!! Drinks were awesome! Ask for almost anything and they will make it for you! :). Great friendly staff! We tried the French, Italian, seafood and oriental, they were all very good but if I had to pick one I would say French was my favourite (good steak) and second w [... read more]ould be oriental. I would definitely go back in a heartbeat.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Really pleased!

Had a phenomenal trip. Went from April 4-11 2015. Not too sure what's up with the negative reviews for this hotel but I had a great time. Entertainment was great, beach was all I needed and was the best part of the resort. If you want to do the chicken or fish or seafood at dinner/lunch just go a bit later and you'll have no issues getting served. If you go peak times you're obviously going to wait. The pueblo near the resort is cool. There's another one near Melia Cayo Santa Maria and Melia a [... read more]rena doradas that they don't talk about but it's just as good. If not better. Spent the week in block 30 on the third floor. Had a partial ocean view. Was a good surprise. Good to be away from the noise of the colonial side of the resort. Didn't realize there was another bar open near our block until Thursday haha. Big resort. But awesome. Beds are really uncomfortable lol. My only qualm. Anyway. Enjoy!

Melia Las Dunas: Great time

Weather, Beach, resort all amazing ! Beer garden had amazing morning breakfast. A lot of different food options which was a great option. Would highly recommend. The staff was very friendly and made sure we had everything we asked for. Make sure to catch the staff that fills ur fridge u can always request extra water beer or rum

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: amazing resort

Hotel was great verry clean food was great they had variable offers of food no complaints at all staff was verry friendly they were there to help you out even when you do not tip them them at all beaches were clean and beautifull same as pools.great resort for families with kids no matter of age verry friendly for all ages. Mini disco every night for kids all ages

Melia Las Dunas: Best Holiday Ever

Grounds are immaculate. Food was delicious. Bar staff quick to acknowledge you and remember what your favorite drinks are. Pool towels were readily available. Rooms are clean and have plenty of towels. Everyone was happy to help you.

Sol Cayo Santa Maria: very satisfied

If you are born to royals you might have some issues. For everybody else with minimum amount of common sense it is a great place. Personnel working there so nice and helpful that I never seen enywhere else. Most likely will go back in the future. Beautiful beach and the water color You would wish your wife's or girlfriend's eyes could be.

Memories Paraiso: Great Beach and Pools!

Overall great resort. Beach and pool are fantastic. Food is good if you know what your looking for. Resort itself is quite big and since there are 2 lobbies the night entertainment is split up. Would go back.

Memories Paraiso: Great vacation at Memories

Just returned from a great stay at Memories, wish I was still there!! This was my 1st time travelling solo and was very glad that Memories Paraiso Azul is where I decided to stay. This is a nice large resort so even when it is full to capacity (which it was during my stay - approx. 3000 people) it does not feel over crowded at all. I had read many reviews of people complaining about how much walking they had to do….realistically, unless you walk at a snails pace you can easily get from one si [... read more]de of the resort to the other in under 10 minutes (and if you don’t want to walk, there are many trolley’s to take you to wherever you want to go). I was in building 55, room 5511 (on the Azul side) and even though I was on the ground floor, I still had a little peak of an ocean view over to the right. This building was in a great spot!! Less than a minute from the 24hr grill, a few of the pools & the beach and maybe 1 & ½ minutes from the lobby, buffet and theater. Sure there where a few minor things that could have been fixed in the room (ie. Phone did not work, the light bulb on the terrace burnt out and yes, the beds are a bit hard) but really, how much time do you plan on spending in your room? My only real complaint regarding the room would be the lighting over the sink and the need of a new shower head. The beach is absolutely beautiful but make sure to get there early if you want a spot in the shade. There are numerous pools to choose from (party pools, quite pools, kids pools) and tons of loungers around. Again, if you want a spot under one of the palapas, you will need to get there fairly early. There was a wonderful pool worker there by the name of Lidsey who would greet me every morning with a great big smile, a flower and a cushion for my lounge chair. The entertainment team that included Eduardo(?) and Yandy was also great!! They got everyone (young and old) involved and having a great time with the pool side games, dancing, beer pong etc. As for the food….well, anyone that has been to Cuba before would know not to expect too much from the regular buffet food that is made in mass quantities and it was no different here. However, anything made for you fresh off the grill was absolutely AMAZING!! I had fresh fish, calamari and muscles every night & 1 night there was also fresh grilled lobster in the buffet (and note that the longest I ever waited was maybe 3 minutes in line to put my order in). The staff here was amazing & almost all spoke great English (as well as numerous other languages). From what I saw and experienced 95% of the staff were willing to jump through hoops for you (with or without a tip and when tips where given, you could tell they were genuinely grateful for it). The only staff members that I found that seemed to think they were entitled to a tip prior to providing any service was from the bartenders (even if all you were asking for was water). Overall I had an awesome time and can’t wait to go back. Thanks Memories for a great vacation!!

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Nice Resort, but won't be returning

Very nice, staff are very helpful and pleasant. The food was not great, very little seafood and beef, people that we spoke to that were at other resorts had lobster shrimp etc, but this was not available at this hotel. The downside was very little shelter on the beach, and no toilets at the pool or beach. The shelter was one large communal cover on the beach, with a few individual ones, and in one area only. The beach was very beautiful and quite long, so if you want a quiet place to spend time  [... read more]at the beach which includes shelter and no loud music all day long, this is not for you. This would be the main reason for not returning......if the shade was available all along the beach, and toilets available then that would improve this resort considerably. We spent most of our time at the kiddie pool, (our kids are grown), simply because of the shade issue, and the large communal shelter and noise at the beach. (and our room was close by for bathroom availability). People had to line up for drinks at the beach bar, no servers on beach.....so take a bubba mug, the cups they use are very tiny. The main pool had very loud music blaring all day long, and was very rowdy, so that could be an issue if you mainly want to relax. The buffet servers are very friendly, as are all Cubans, and there was no peddling of services on the beach or pool, which is nice. Rooms are nice and kept clean, but for a resort that is only two years old, it was quite run down....holes in screens, shower heads that do not work.....and you will not get clean towels....they just hang them outside to dry then hang them back up. If you don't eat pork, then you will be very hungry in Cuba.....and go to the buffet early...whatever fresh meat for custom griling is available goes fast, they do not have enough for everyone, and beef was available sporadically.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Great Resort

The resort was great. We were there for 7 days and enjoyed every moment. The people were amazing. The food was good. There is a lot of walking so you need to expect to walk to go to places on the resort. We were in bungalow 10 with an ocean view.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: A great time, but a few areas could be improved

I've been to Cuba about 20 times now for work and play. It's my third time at Ensenachos, mostly because of their incredible tennis pro, Reno, and the amazing musicians, who perform in the lobby and at the sports bar by the beach. The gardeners are also to be commended and the staff are all very nice. The food this time was not up to previous standards, especially in the buffet. And for the first time, we had problems with bugs (he-hens ?), which are very irritating but tend to be seasonal and o [... read more]nly out early morning and early evening. I'd recommend bringing a repellent with high DEET content for this time of year (April). I don't know if the hotel can deal with this problem. There were trucks spraying pesticides on a couple of occasions.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Nice, clean, people worked hard.

Pretty beach. Nice rooms. Clean. Not enough staff so the poor people who worked there worked very very hard. The food was terrible and services were very unorganized.. We purchased the priveleged package and had to fight to get what we were entitled to. The location is also a 2 hours bus ride from the airport. It would be nice to know that ahead of time and it is very secluded. Beautiful spot but not much to do in terms of excursions.. We would recommend it but would give a heads up on all of th [... read more]e above prior to..

Melia Las Dunas: Greate resort

nice place the lobby was nice the service great pool great food very good beach excellent lots of activities restaurant very clean overall nice resort good service at front desk waiter in the restaurant very good and bar tender at the beach very good room were clean and the service was good no problem with this resort no problem at all I will probable go again and bring some friends

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: 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!

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Excellent beach vacation

One of the best beaches in Cuba - cool sand and beautiful water even when there are waves. Overall quite place with "Cuban" food and long lines for freshly made omelets or grilled stuff. Good Spanish champagne, good beer and good 7 years Havana club rum (you might have to tip some extra for it). It is an "tourist island" with little interaction with regular Cuban life style. Enjoy the sun, the sand and the ocean.

Memories Paraiso: Great Place and Beach!

The hotel was well layed out, even though we were residing in a place behind the pool area-we found beach access and access to the buffet/theater to be close, I really liked the rooms-clean, spacious and quiet, the staff were friendly and helpful. The buffet was excellent, we ate there all the time except one a la carte dinner at the asian restaurant-it was nice but generally the food at the main buffet was better in my opinion. The beach was perfect, no rocks, perfect white sand, nothing living [... read more] in the ocean. You have to get there early to get a lounge chair but that happens during peak times anywhere. The entertainment was good, the theater is right across the buffet so it was convenient to watch a show after dinner, the Michael Jackson show was amazing and the international show was great. Overall we enjoyed our stay. One note: it was a bit windy on the beach but I think it is due to the time of year (April) when we came. And it is a long transfer from the airport, the flight times could be better..you spend 12 hours in transit just to get back...crazy (1.5 hour bus transfer from the airport and they get you there more then 3 hours ahead of your flight...so you check out at 5 am and by the time we flew back to Toronto it was 4 pm).

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Fantastic place to stay

This was a beautiful resort. It was perfect whether you wanted peace and quiet or a party atmosphere. One side of the resort was the quiet side and the other was the lively side. There were two lobbies, two pools and three access points to the beach. The room I stayed in was very spacious with a king size bed, couch, desk and baalcony with patio furniture. Also provided were an ironing board, iron, umbrella and safe. There was a lot of beach front and the sand was very soft but heavy, when the w [... read more]ind picked up you were not sand blasted. The resort itself was very well maintained - gardeners were out in force ensuring everything was healthy, water features were cleared of debris daily, boardwalks were swept clean of sand. The entertainment was varied and took place throughout the day in the lobbies, on the beach (party side), and at the theatre. There were also activities for children. I had heard that the food in Cuban resorts was so so; however, I had no complaints about the food quality or variety. The fish was always superb and in the main buffet for breakfast the banana crepes were divine ( you had to line up for these but it was worth the wait). For the a la carte restaurants my favourite was the Italian - beef carpacio that melted in your mouth and roast pork that was flavourful and tender. The buffets and grill restaurants did have set hours for breakfast lunch and dinner but you could always grab a snack of whatever was being served at the 24 hour grill on the party side of the resort. There was also The Estrella open air market next to the resort that had many souvenir items at very reasonable prices. It was a quick walk -5-10 minutes (depending on your speed) or you could wait for the little tram to take you there. When you first arrive, they give you a map to find your bungalow; however, if you arrive at night I'd recommend waiting for one of the golf carts to take you to your bungalow and then explore in the daylight for how to quickly get around. If you want the quiet side, ask for bungalows on the left (20-30) and for the party side bungalows on the right (1-10). All of the staff that I had dealings with were very friendly and helpful. The few issues that I had with my room: no plug for the sink, lighting wasn't the brightest in the bathroom, couldn't figure out how to work the stopper for the bathtub, water would take a long time to heat up when using the sink tap but the water in the bathroom for the shower heated up pretty much right away. The internet is extremely slow and you have to pay $4.50 CUC per hour to use it; this will hopefully change now that the US embargo has been lifted.

Memories Paraiso: Amazing resort, the best I have stayed in, in Cuba

This is an amazing resort. The beach is about a half mile long of white sand. There are enough palapas for everyone, there are enough beach lounge chairs, the good ones, in good shape, there are extra 2 inch thick pads to put on top if one wishes however I did not find it necessary. Plentiful beach and room towels, always had one each day, nice thick towels. As much beach activity as one wants to join, volleyball, beach games, dancing in the sand, paddle boats, canoes, catamarans, beach bar, bea [... read more]ch lunch spot. Pleasant staff communicate well in several languages. There are two lobbies the Paraiso and the Azul, each with a group of buildings to house guests, the lobby to the North the Paraiso has building that run from 3101 to 4101 each building 11 in all has 3 floors with 66 rooms in it. The Azul Lobby Also has 11 building that have 22 rooms per. Rooms were basic Cuba, very very quiet in the rooms could hear very little outside noise or noise from inside. the room had an iron, ironing board, fridge restocked each day and coffee pot and very quiet air conditioner that worked well. There was always hot water and a lot of it, the rooms were clean and well looked after. The food was very very good, always fresh and cooked right in front of one if one so choose, I had to Q up but the wait was well worth it. There was chicken, "Cuban beef very tough", fish, pork, sea food and eggs lots of eggs any way one would like them cooked. The coffee was very good, hot chocolate, milk, juice or tea. The bread was beyond good I ate to much of it. There are 3 huge pools one sports pool per each Lobby and a children's pool with activities for the children right in the middle of the resort with a children's club house, there are lots of very nice lounge chairs at each pool. The sports pools are located at the ends of the resort, one on the North one on the South. Each pool has a bar. There are four separate routs down to the ocean and gulf cars available for those who need. There is no one trying to sell one anything, there is a market at the far north end of the resort where we were able to buy what we wanted. To many nice things to mention we were well pleased, the best place we have stayed, this was our 10th time to visit Cuba but the first time to Kayo Maria, we will return. The not so good there are no elevators, the gulf carts are very quiet I kept thinking I would get run over so walked in the middle of the route, same route for walkers as for carts. They go very fast. They have an absolutely beautiful theater with amazing entertainment however it was very loud. Every where is very loud, we took along ear plugs and used them a lot.

Melia Buenavista: Beautiful beaches

I recently stayed 7 days at the Melia Buenavista, in Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. The 3 beaches at this resort are beautiful, and also very quiet, so it's perfect to unwind and relax. The 2 pools are also great. What I loved most was the small number of guests (100 rooms), therefore the grounds/beach/pools were never crowded. The room was amazing, we had a view on the sunset beach. The restaurants were good, but it's Cuba, so definitely not the best food in the Carribean! In conclusion I would recomm [... read more]end this resort.