Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Rest & Relaxation at its Finest

The Playa Cayo Santa Maria was just what we needed for a week of rest and relaxation. We visited the resort (3 women) during the Canadian March Break. There was plenty to do all day and the evenings were filled with traditional music and spectacular shows. This resort allows you to move at whatever pace you choose. There are plenty of pools so whether you want a party good time pool experience or to just relax and soak in the sun, the choice is yours! The resort employees were very friendly and  [... read more]took care of our every need. The rooms were very well appointed, clean and modern. There were plenty of food options all day long with seat service snack bars and an ice cream shop! The 24/hr lobby bar was the place to be during the evening hours and the cigar lounge turned into a night club. The beach while breathtaking and turquoise with plenty of seating and activity was hard to access for my mother who is a senior. There was a very rocky entrance to the beach which sat below the resort. Once on the beach however it was well worth it! Trips into the local towns were very enjoyable and gave us a bit of the fascinating Cuban history. The open air bus ran to the market and back every hour so buying souvenirs was easy. There is a bank onsite in the hotel as well as a gift and snack store. The Wi-Fi was a bit spotty but we were able to text and call a couple of times. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this resort and would highly recommend it to others who are considering the white sand beaches and beautiful culture of Cuba!

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful modern resort

Lovely resort, however much needed work in customer service and broken taps through out the resort . This resort rated zero in cleanness, both of our rooms were not swept the whole entire 7days of our trip. On our stairway was a hug ball of human hair and there it stay for 7 days even after I complained. We could not get clean beach towels nor clean bath towels for our room. Three days into our holiday we asked for clean bath towels for both of the rooms and received nothing. The next day after  [... read more]requesting fresh towel (which we never got) we found one of the dirty towels that I had cleaned up a spill from the floor placed on the bathroom floor and decorated to look like a fan! THE TOWEL WAS BLAK FROM CLEANING THE FOOR BUT YET THEY STILL LEFT IT FOR US TO USE !!! We arrived on the Saturday and by the Monday there was absolutely no toilet paper to be found in the entire resort for over 24hrs, thank God we brought Kleenex and personal body wipes. We constantly had to ask for napkins and silver wear at breakfast and lunch or you were left to eat with your finger. Forget about getting a spoon to stir your coffee or eat the yogurt!!! SPOONS WERE IN HIGH DEMAND !! The gounds keepers worked really hard and it looked great. The pools were beautiful however it's should of been vacuumed on a regular basis, there was always a tone of sand in it and that was because the showers at the beach did not work so you could rinse the sand off. This resort definitely caters to French speaking people, I would say that 75% of the vacationers were French and for that reason I felt that the English speaking people were ignored. The food was mediocre compared to other parts of Cuba that we have visited, even the food preparation wasn't as meticulous and clean....I will not go into details.! Beautiful beach and beautiful modern resort but needs a lot of work!

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Big "-" vs "+"

Stayed in Eurostar from March 13 to March 23, 2015. "+" - Everything works in a hotel's room (building â„–17 out of 18). An ocean and a weather were nice. Entertainment (animacion) was super. Their costumes were awesome. "-" - A very bad organization in a kitchen. Definitely not enough staffs for so many tourists. Very rare to see a spoon. Sometimes people come and asked if we finish to eat to take our forks. Anti-sanitary: every two plates out of three had some crumbs from a previous eating. Fo [... read more]ur times in 10 days I took a plate which had a 1-cm-layer of previous food under. YAAAK! One times it was a acidified ice cream and once my daughter brought a rotten smelly pasta... Never had a chance to exchange beach towels! Tried it few times. First of all tried to find where to do it. There were a few beach exchange houses on a territory but never worked. So we asked our maid and she made a mention about a reception. Answers about beach towels in reception: "Sorry, not today". People who came before us said they have the same answer during 4 days already. Sometimes we had problem with exchanging room's towels. And a territory of that hotel is huge. So be prepare to walk. Love Cuba! Came to Cuba for 13 years. And it was first time when we had problems like this at all especially in a 5*-hotel.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Getting better

Mosquitoes are a problem, went home with 20 or so bites on legs and arms. Food is also a bit under par, but better then other resorts in Cuba, it looks like they are working on improving this. Beach is great, pools are great, rooms are good. Entertainment is .... Cuban (lots of dancing to a bad sound system).

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Beautiful beach but very bad food

We came back from Starfish March 26th and overall we had a good week there! The good No question about it, the beach is beautiful! The hotel staff are friendly. We were there with our 9-month old baby and everyone was always smiling at her and talking to her. At the Mexican Restaurant, the waiter held her for our entire meal so we could eat. He was so nice and made her stop crying. That is what I call awesome customer service! The pools are nice! We were happy that the hotel had 2 different pool [... read more]s to choose from. One pool is a bit calmer than the other. We enjoyed spending time at both of them depending on our mood. Coffee! The coffee at the lobby bar was very tasty! The bad The food. I just could not imagine how bad the food could be. I really just thought that everyone who complained about it probably are just overreacting. But no, they are right, the food is very bad! To find the better options, go for the omelettes and fried rice that the chef prepares in front of you! The rooms could use some work. Our toilet wasn't working properly and the shower didn't drain fast enough. The fan and fridge was pretty noisy! This was our first time in Cuba and we enjoyed it! We will be more prepared to have a lousy food week next time we go and maybe bring some ketchup with us!

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Tired Resort

My first time to Cuba and went with an open mind, this particular resort was recommended to us and we went for it. Our 1st day was eventful when after unpacking we found out the patio door did not lock. We packed up and changed rooms, very similar problems as others low water pressure and yes, no water for several hours one day. The food in the buffet was acceptable, no food issues for us . . . use your head when making your selections we did not choose food that was obviously sitting in warming [... read more] trays for long periods of time. The staff was more than willing to try a please but maybe some training should be given for regularly cleaning the inside of the windows in the buffet room and wiping tables down between settings. I am surprised there is not more mentioned of the roaming cats at this resort. I am not a cat lover and was totally disturbed by the amount of cats that are roaming around this resort. We were in the Elegance group and had an invite to a BBQ dinner at the Beach BBQ restaurant one evening, sitting there having a very nice dinner and a cat is walking around in the restaurant startling guests as it showed up at different tables. Walking through the pool area meowing startling people relaxing in their chairs, not to mention the cats mating which was going on outside our patio. I have travelled to the Dominican and Mexico and there always seems to be issues with the lounge chairs and having to go out early in the morning to reserve chairs. But, there seemed to be a real problem with chairs around the pools and one thing I did notice was people were being very inconsiderate. Going to the pool placing a towel on the lounge chair and flipping the back of the chair down, then disappearing for the rest of the day because they have gone to the beach. Coming back to the pool around 4 in the afternoon and low and behold their chairs are waiting for them. It only takes a few to ruin it for everyone. This resort has a staff that will bend over backwards to accommodate you but they can only do so much, the resort is getting tired and must be maintained. It certainly is not a write off but they have to start paying attention to all the little details that require attention now. Good luck

Melia Buenavista: Best Trip Ever

Beautiful resort! Soooo much choice (especially for such an intimate resort) with 3 beaches and 2 pools to choose from. Three great restaurants and a wonderful poolside bbq and pizza oven. Best food I've had in Cuba. VERY service oriented staff from our wonderful butler (yay Jorge!), the bartenders (Lester, Osmany and Laily), the grounds crew and the maids. The most wonderful snorkelling right at the resort. Nice to have the option of the free shuttle to the two other Melia properties. The room  [... read more]was spacious, well appointed with the BEST outdoor shower!

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing Beach and Pool!

The resort has some very nice qualities and some very poor ones as well. THE GOOD: - Awesome beach! Seriously probably the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in real life. Clean and debris free. You do have to get there and put your towel down by 5:30am (for real) if you want some loungers. I tried at 7am our first day and was told by the gentlemen working down there that I was too late... -There are 2 large pools side by side. Clean and a really nice temperature. We would go down around 9am [... read more] and always found some loungers no problems. - Smaller resort - quick and easy to get around to everything. -The beach grill for lunch ( get there around 12:30 and line up with your plate), it is totally worth it- the best food we ate all week). -The waiter around the pool (didn't get his name) but he was fantastic. He would walk around the entire pool area and take everyone's drink order about once an hour. He would even take your bubba mugs up and have it refilled. - There's a nice little market, about a 2 minute walk, between Melia Cayo Santa Maria and Melia Las Dunas resort. It is different everyday and has all the little Cuban knick knack souvenirs you may want to buy. Just an FYI - the prices of the rum and cigars are the same price there as they are in the resort gift shop and the airport. There is another, larger market close by. It gets extremely hot there so I would suggest going around 9am when it opens. The prices were about the same as the little market by our hotel . It was nice to get out and do some exploring. You can either take the double decker bus that stops by all the hotels or take a cab. Both cost $2 pesos each person each way. Just remember that the bus runs on "Cuban Time". THE BAD: -Had trouble finding anything that was really good on the buffet. It was the same selection at every meal. It got picked over fast and wasn't refilled. The breakfast was decent, but you had to wait in line for an omelette/fried egg/pancakes. You definitely have to do this if you wanted to enjoy your breakfast. Even the a la cartes we just so-so, but the Japanese was probably the best of the bunch. -This resort also has no night life. Some nights had a show, others did not. And the nights that did, the show was lame. -Service at the lobby bar was a hit or a miss. Some nights we had not a problem getting a drink or nights we would stand at the bar waiting and waiting. The bartenders totally ignoring us. - The room was average. We were warned by the Air Transat rep. at our orientation, that there was an issue with the water temp and pressure but it was getting fixed as we spoke. We did not have too much of an issue with that. We did have an issue with the shower head though, first shower taken- the shower head fell off and smashed into pieces in the tub. Completely broken. We were told if we had an issues like that to call 700. We did and within 1/2 hr a maintenance man came and replaced it. We were shocked to say the least. We had also been warned that everything was on "Cuban Time" and not to get too upset when things were delayed so to say the least, we were very impressed. The patio door was also broken. It locked but had a gap at the bottom, about 1/2" wide that let bugs and spiders in. We found a tarantula size spider in our room. Twice. Overall the resort is decent. The main downfall is the food, which is a pretty big problem unfortunately, but because of the amazing beach and pool I would probably return. Just remember to call 700 in your room if you had any issues, this is how they get resolved. Another tip, if you want certain pops or beers in your mini fridge, leave them a note saying what you want and how many of each ( and leave a peso or two) and they will gladly fill your request everyday. This not done by the maid, it a separate department that come later in the day.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: A wonderful week at Star Fish!

The beach is so amazing!! The resort is huge, lots of walking, and it took us almost all week to get the hang of the layout...traveled with family, our rooms were far apart, and many of us got lost on the paths. Not good signage, and poorly lit paths at night in spots. But other than that we loved it! The buffet was hit and miss, typical for Cuba, but all our meals at the a la carte restaurants were very good!! Italian was our favorite! The pools ('busy' side and 'quiet' side) were great for coo [... read more]ling off, and both have fun swim up bars! We brought extra towels, and usually would walk down the beach to get a palapa in the morning, there was always staff there to help. There are great burgers & hotdogs at two beach grills, perfect for a quick lunch! And yummy!! Bank at the resort was a bit of a problem, long line-ups in the morning, no internet connection some days to allow cash from credit cards, or simply no cash left if you went later in the day. There was always. I sic in the lobby, and we particularly enjoyed the gazebos with bar service after dinner! The BEST was the beach though, by far, have been to quite a few different spots, and this is a very close second only to Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda. Crystal clear blue water, you can see all the way to the bottom all the time, very little seaweed, and no rocks at all, the whole ocean literally feels like silk under your feet, don't bother packing water shoes, you won't need them here!!

Memories Paraiso: Awesome resort

The resort is big but beautiful. The most amazing beach ever with the clearest water. The sand is like powder. If visiting Cayo Santa Maria it is a must to take the day trip on the Catamaran. Great lobster dinner.

Melia Las Dunas: Another Great Stay!

This was our 3rd trip to the Melia Las Dunas. They treated us so well the first time we had to go back again. We emailed ahead to let them know that we were returning with our family as well. They went above and beyond to make sure that our families were well looked after and showed us all a great time. The food is very good (especially for what you would typically get in Cuba). The grounds are kept up meticulously and everyone who is working to keep them beautiful are very friendly and greet yo [... read more]u with a smile every morning. They always seem to have a fun gift for the ladies as they head for breakfast (a flower, a little grasshopper made from a leaf, etc). The housekeeping staff were excellent as well! The entire experience was absolutely wonderful! We're looking forward to coming back to this resort again very soon!

Memories Paraiso: Beautiful resort on a beautiful beach!

Memories is a lovely clean resort. Amazing white sandy beach! Overall this was a great place to stay. It is a large resort but they handle the number of people well. Our room was clean and service excellent. We did have trouble with water pressure a couple of days so we adjusted our shower time to a different time and all was well. The food was repetitive each day but we did not go hungry. Lobster in the buffet! - never seen this before. Overall a great vacation ! The beach that I was hoping for [... read more] !

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Great Holiday

The Resort was very clean, Staff very friendly, The Beach was Amazing - Pools and bartenders were awesome! Had lots of food, met alot of other Canadians from all over - had a very good holiday - Weather was perfect - no rain and lots of sunshine and blue skies.

Sol Cayo Santa Maria: Great Price

For a last minute trip it was a great price and everything was great, as long as you remember it is not a 5 star resort. Food was decent, beach was amazing, but very windy. If you want a 5 star experience go to a 5 star resort. You get what you pay for.

Melia Buenavista: beautiful, peaceful and quiet resort

exactly what we were wanting at this point in our lives. Beautiful location with 3 beaches of varying character bordering a mangrove estuary with lots of birds and coral outcrops right off one of the beaches that offered great snorkelling. The EAST beach was often windy with high waves but safe which gave you fun waves to play in and the NORTH beach had coral outcrops and shallow waters that were teaming with curious fish and the WEST beach offering shallow waters to wade through rimmed by mangr [... read more]ove trees. You were never left without a beach chair no matter what beach you were at! The suites were beautiful with their exterior BALINESE shower that allowed us to open front and rear doors to let the cool March wind move through the suit. The grounds were impeccably kept, pool areas quiet and sparsely occupied. The bars were staffed by wonderful, courteous and attentive people who were eager to serve you and make sure everything was to your liking. The butler service was good but we never seemed to get the butler who was originally assigned to us as we were never sure what days he was on or off but the service was not diminished. We always got what we wanted when we needed. The restaurants I would rate as average in food quality, much better than most buffets but this was only the quality and variety of the food, beef being not very high quality but well prepared however the service was excellent. There should be a full time salad bar as salads seemed to be very limited with supper meals. LOS MARINOS offered great lunch salads but that was it and it was the buffet restaurant for breakfast which was excellent and had a toaster that was rarely occupied! The LOS CARIEBES and NAVIGANTES repeated their menus which on a stay of 10 days or more would be an issue. MELIA has the right idea with this and certainly there is a niche for these types of exclusive hotels that would cater more to people looking for a more peaceful experience. We're not butler people and there might be a choice for that as room service seem to be quite efficient. Cuba can do 5 star very well and Melia Buenavista attests to that. Touché MELIA BUENAVISTA and HASTA LA PROXIMA! Adios

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Felt so welcome!

Such a great place to go and just relax and have a holiday. Trip Central representative was very helpful and answered all questions regarding pesos, room request etc. The resort was very clean and the staff could not do enough to help. I am not a picky eater but honestly there was always something on the buffets and a la cartes that was very good. Seriously folks - a very enjoyable holiday and a very good price. Would I go back - YES!

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Beautiful Beach!!

We travelled to Starfish Cayo Santa Maria from March 11th to 18th, 2015. At the time of booking, we asked for a king-sized bed and a room on the top floor. That's exactly what we got! The rooms are spacious and well laid out. From our balcony, we could see the beautiful ocean emerald waters to our slight right and straight ahead was one of the pools with the 24 hour grill next to it. And of course. lots of green foliage, palm trees waving in the breeze. Food The food in the buffet was quite ad [... read more]equate with plenty of variety. Usually always fresh fish, chicken, pork, smoked salmon, prosciutto for meats. Although we did get treated to lobsters on a Friday lunch. I had more than one. Yummy!! We were also treated to a roasted pig one afternoon as well. Man, that was good! They get roasted just outside the Grill restaurant. Also lots of fruits at every meal and plenty of bread choices. Breakfast was always good with the breakfast cook at your disposal to cook your eggs and omelettes and warm your bacon for you. Beach If you want a good spot on the beach, make sure you secure your beach chairs early as they fill up fast. We would go right after breakfast near 8:00 a.m. and just barely get a reasonable spot under one of the many palapas located at beachfront. The beach has plenty of white sand for kids or adults to frolick in. This is one the nicest beaches I have ever seen. Even nicer than Punta Cana or the Mayan Riviera. I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true! Check the beach photos Entertainment They have a good variety of live evening shows. We went to see the Michael Jackson tribute show. It was pretty good! They also have the cuban dancers and other shows. I didn't attend them all as they start at 9:00 p.m. Usually, right after the supper buffet, they have some kind of live music band playing in front of the theatre entranceway. Tip: I can't recommend all the a la carte restaurants. We went for the seafood restaurant one night. I ordered surf and turf and got a small piece of fish and a small piece of chicken that was tough and chewy. I was kind of hoping for steak and lobster? However, the seafood soup was good.

Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Relaxing resortThe

There were 2 large pools. Very well maintained. Beach was so nice. Beach chairs were kept clean and there were staff always attending to guests providing necessaries. The garden and paths were very pleasant. The rooms were well looked after. There was live relaxing music in the lobby every evening. The night shows were fairly OK. But the music was too loud for us. But noticed others were enjoying it very much. Food was fairly OK. But get bored after few days. There was a variety of sea food like [... read more] crabs, lobsters and shrimps. There were long line ups for pasta, pizza and omelettes and crabs..

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: really liked the size..beautiful grounds

very good nightly entertainment..specality restaurants good...buffet food ok ... spa services excellent but the 20% off was only for massages..I booked a facial and it wasn't included..on arrival at 4am there was no drinking water or pop..we called but didn't get any..and there was hot water for showering or washing only ONE day..the day before we left..very grateful for the beautiful weather ,water and people

Melia Las Dunas: Great Family Resort

Very clean, well managed property. Cant think of one thing to complain about. The staff were friendly and accommodating, the food & beverage service and quality were very good, lots of options and the entertainment team did did a nice job. I was travelling alone with my teenage daughter and the resort was very safe. Landscaping is lovely on the property and the beach is spectacular. Was a fantastic week and I would highly recommend this property. The only note to mention is that internet service [... read more] is non-existent most of the time.