Grand Memories Varadero: Amazing Vacation!

The resort is great! People should not believe any negative reviews they see. Of course, the food is standard for Cuba BUT if you book the Al a Carts (Gourmet Restaurant especially) then you can have steak and lobster etc. The entertainment staff was phenomenal and the shows were all great!! beach is stunning, and grounds are SO well kept. Overall, was a fantastic experience.

Muthu Playa Varadero: Great Resort!!

This resort was great! We really enjoyed our week, staff were very friendly, clean. We heard a lot of negative talk regarding the food in Cuba.. however, the food and service at this resort was absolutely better than what I was expecting. The only downside to our vacation was that we were unaware that there was a Cuban holiday during the time of our stay. Aside from that for our 1st trip south we were very happy and would return again! The coffee shop at the hotel is amazing as well. :) A must  [... read more]try!!

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Very bad experience

The hotel was very dirty. The room very dirty food not good at all . The restaurant was not clean and full of insects. The hotel was 90%with Cuban people and they drinked a lot and vomiting inside the elevator. Please don't send Canadians anymore there.i had to switch hotel.

Melia Las Americas: Very relaxing!

Our room was a little dated needs new curtains and the bathtub needs to be replaced. It was stained had a piece of the finish missing which is rusted. That was all that I can fault. The food was good, staff was good and the ocean was perfect. I would stay here again with an upgraded room.

Starfish Jibacoa: Cuba Hot!

A perfect week! We had a delay in leaving, mechanical issues with plane. Not fixable! Air Transat gave us food vouchers and a $200.00 future travel voucher for our delay. We ended up leaving 12 hours late! (Going back in October for my birthday). This will be trip number 20?? to this beautiful little resort. I can't say enough about the staff, always friendly and welcoming. We stayed in an ocean facing bungalow near the pool. Room was clean. Food was better than in the past. A good varie [... read more]ty, even at dinner. Amazing for travelling in the low season! The pool area was cleaned mid day of garbage by the maintenance staff. Many quests do not pick up after themselves which I find disgusting.... all in all... a great week.

Barcelo Solymar: good experiemce

myself and my girlfriend stay in barcelo solymar for a week in mid july. overall experience was great!! here are few concerns i had -almost all front desk staffs were very unfriendly in lack of terms, almost came across as rude. this is from about 10 times i had experience with them. so i avoided all i could do to avoid them. -bed is rock soild, we both could feel each springs in the mattress -pool water is somewhat dirty other than that everything else was great!!! -cleaning staffs, k [... read more]itchen staffs, bartenders are all very very friendly and approachable -food was very delicious!!! lots of flavor and spice -location is great, very close to downtown, its about 10 min walk -close to the beach and its beautiful/clean water and sand -room was clean and tidy

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Overall good experience

Overall good , grounds beautiful , Beach wonderful. Food ok for Cuba . Rooms clean , little outdated , BUT bathrooms are brand new , great showers! Place clean , stuff friendly,and evening entertainment very good .

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great experience

The À la cart Dinners were amazing buffet was ok Rooms are kind of small and ac is a pain in the butt but work ok for the most part our phone didn’t work Dinner shower were great fun and entertaining Lots todo on the resourt piano bar And mikes coffee shop were great as this is my first time to Cuba I probably won’t go back the this resort anytime soon but after travel to different countries I would return

Memories Jibacoa: Jibacoa Cuba Property Pretty

Our first time to this hotel. The grounds at the Jibacoa very pretty, the hills, trees, flowers, beach. Some, maybe many, of the rooms need work done; the bathroom bathtub, mirror, ceiling, the room was fine some of the furniture well used, bed comfortable. Entertainment during dinner and evening shows AWESOME. Staff friendly, maintenance helpful. Our Sunwing Rep Mirlena (I think correct spelling) she was AWESOME; informative, helpful, always a smile, a pleasure to meet her. Food at a la  [... read more]carte restaurant (International) the best. Breakfast & lunch at Italian restaurant good. Buffet was fine. Sand fleas wow, they sure liked me! Pool too warm and shallow, did not use after first day. Beach pretty, Diamond Club service at beach great. Swimming difficult in ocean if water not clear must be careful as coral patches close to shore. Security great. Overall Good in some areas and Fair in others. Thank you.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Fantastic Resort

We had an amazing trip. We were in building 17, a perfect location to both the pool and beach. The service and entertainment was excellent. Shouts out to Charli, Peke and Jaqueline. We will definately be returning to this resort. Great beach, great food, service and entertainment

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Outstanding Resort

The resort facilities are beautiful. The beach is amazing with the beautiful ocean at its doorstep. The buffet restaurant has a good variety of food types but the a la carte restaurants on site are so much better quality of food and surroundings. Be sure to reserve for the a la carte restaurants well ahead of time though!! Overall I would recommend this resort to my friends and hope to return!!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Relaxing in the summer

This is Cuba, so come with expectations based on it being a country cut off from its closest geographic logical trading partner, the US. That said, most of the time everything was in pretty good supply, aside from one time they ran out of fries. But not their fault, that's just circumstances. The buffet food was just okay with a few hidden gems and a few stinkers. I really enjoyed the stewed rabbit, my wife enjoyed the burgers. Any fried food that isn't really fresh will get soggy from the hum [... read more]idity. We went to the Hilltop, French and Oriental restaurants which were absolutely fabulous. Make sure you book your restaurants for the week as soon as you get in, as they will fill up and they are fantastic. Drinks at the bars are strong and delicious. I wish I could review them more in depth but the number I had made it harder to remember them individually. Excellent Pina Coladas and Lime Daiquiris. Service was okay, wearing a smile on our faces tended to show people we were easy going and they were kinder with us. Tipping is also important. Tip with your first drink when you arrive at a bar. Tip consistently for your room cleaners. Cushioned beds around the pool were claimed at around 6:45 am. So if you're not up at that point you're not really getting one. The pool doesn't get deeper than an adult can stand up in. That might be a safety standard for the swim up bar. But don't expect to be doing laps. My wife had a massage and absolutely loved it. The beach was absolutely fantastic, and the bartenders there were the friendliest we saw. There were drop in shows and activities scheduled throughout the week, and we were there in the slow time so it was lovely to see that was still being done. There was a bit of wear and tear around, but this is an older resort, and Cuba has a harder time with replacements for things like floor tiles. Made for a very pleasant honeymoon.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: A few hiccups but a good time

This was my 4 th time to Cuba , recently 8 of us stayed at this hotel july6-13,2018. When we arrived we were able to have one room ready since rooms are not available until 4 pm . By 2 pm the second room was available and the bell boy was very helpful moving us into our rooms. The rooms were clean and the maid service was awesome ( we tipped very well and left gifts daily) . My room had the air conditioner that was mounted to the wall ( long rectangle vent) leak out water which was hard to see o [... read more]n the white tile floor and yep my friend slipped on it and fractured her arm 4 days into the trip!! The Maintence guy came and fixed it but the damage was done already. The main problem with this hotel was that we had NO hot water for 5 days!!!! Try taking showers in cold water , not fun lol the entire hotel was affected. The problem was the entire tanks needed to be replaced through out the hotel. So it took time to order parts and install we get it and understand things happen out of our control...its Cuba ! The grounds were well maintained and since this is a smaller resort things were easy to access too. The beach is absoutley beautiful but, entering the water there is rocks here and there for the first 30 feet . I found if u enter the water further down the beach u get no rocks . I had cut my foot open and was close to getting stitches. So overall we had a couple hiccups but the hotel was quick to fix anything and were awesome staff. Sometimes situations occur and its out of our control but I bet you now they have one awesome hot water system put in. The trip was good dispite a fractured arm, cut foot and cold showers . Some Off he items we bright for gifts were nail polish, make - up, hair accessories , crayons, toothpaste and toothbrushes, hats, and what they all wanted was our bubba mugs . The staff loved the water bottles so next time I will bring more. One thing that people travelling here should bring is bug spray . the mosquitos can bite and they honestly itch for days and swell , so pack the bug spray , after bite and Benadryl they loved me , but didn't touch anyone else in our group. Let's talk about food. Cuba is not known to have great tasting food so I recommend pack your ketchup and spices . This resort has hot dogs, pizza, pasta , chicken hamburgers ( which were gross) daily . We found the food to be very repitive . The la cartel restaurants were good . They have one restaurant that they use for la carte dinners and rotate the restaurant nightly ie) Monday Cubain, Tuesday Italian etc.. We had fun and made the best out every situation and enjoyed our stay even with broken bones!

Palma Real: Disappointed!

Every year we always go to Palma Real and this time we were there from July 6 to the 13. What a disappointment!!! We arrived there at 10:30am and our room was not ready until 5pm. We were on the 5th floor and the elevator was broken. There was no running water for 3 days out of 7 we were there. The food was alright, used to be much better!!! Since the new management took over, a lot has changed and not for good. Definately not worth my money.

Paradisus Varadero: Family Concierge: Good hotel, fantastic beach!

We stayed at the Paradisus Family Concierge. Paradisus has 3 hotels (Main, Family Concierge and Royal -adult only). Highly recommend that you upgrade to Family Concierge bc of the room conditions. Also, dont wait to upgrade when you get there bc itll be more expensive. They charged another couple (who were very unhappy w their room at the main -no AC, smelly, etc- about $800 and that would have been for only 4 days). We heard a lot of pple complaining about their room condition at the main. Al [... read more]though its not beach front, our hotel was newly built and the rooms were beautiful (clean, AC -self controlled), restaurants were air conditioned as well, so food was not sitting out. Each villa has its own swimup pool which all who live in it are welcome to use (so dont waste your money on the swim-up upgrade). Its a 3-4 min walk to the main hotel and beach. They have carts that can take you there (we preferred walking, its super close). The grounds at the main hotel are BEAUTIFUL (just like the photos) and in my opinion way better than the Family Concierge. Bc Family Concierge is newer, its lacking the mature palmtrees. We spent most of our time at the main hotel/beach (if you upgrade to Family concierge, you are allowed to use all their facilities and restaurants, they cant use yours). Food was good, lots of options (pasta bar, omelette bar, etc) our favorite was the grill on the beach (main hotel) which we didnt discover til a few days into our stay. A la carte restaurants were ok.. men dont have to wear pants and closed toe shoes. Dressy shorts, dressy sandals and golf shirt is fine. (May help when you pack). Its hot but not unbearable. I didnt have to use my sweater at night. Ladies, dresses are fine. Entertainment was great. They have stuff for kids and adults (dif shows every night) Bars were great. Lots of choices. We stuck to beer, mojitos, pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris....but they have a wide range. You have unlimited internet. They have 1 hr wifi cards that you grab from the lobby. Connection was fine from our room. Negatives for us: our concierge was non-existent (and we tipped him very well on the first day), he rarely followed through when we asked for things (and we didnt ask for much). For example, we asked him to ensure that we would get bfast delivered to our room for our departure day (we left at 6 am and restaurants dont open til 7 ish). The bfast never arrived. Very disappointing especially for our kids. We heard that some pple had fantastic concierge, unfortunately, we were just very unlucky. Room service is also non-existent (its either busy or they dont bring it to you) so make sure you eat and drink well outside your room. Also, drinks (you get choice of 4 bottles) dont arrive until the next day so dont expect to have alcohol in your room the first night. Dont expect to get checked in as soon as you get there. Good idea to bring your bathing suit and change and start your vacation b4 your check-in. There were couples who arrived at 2 and didnt get checked in til 7 ish. Expect to see some bugs (even cockroaches-its not that its dirty, they come from outside so make sure you put a towel at the main door to block). But overall, mosquitoes weren't bad on the resort (they have trucks that smoke/fume the perimeter of the resort). We didnt need to use our bug spray. Speaking of sprays, bring cream not spray for sunblock..itll work better. And bring sunblock!!! Its about 30-40 bucks to buy it there. Also, if you like chips, bring them. Again, very expensive to purchase there. We did two excursions: dolphins and safari/farm/horses. Both were great. May be cheaper if you pre purchase at home. Bring lots of tip money. Especially if you choose to do excursions. I also brought a full suitcase full of gifts (toiletries, toys for kids etc) for the maid. I would leave her things daily and she was extremely grateful. If you do the safari tour excursion, you will drive through town so make sure to bring little things for the locals (ie. bubble gum for the kids, flip flops, tshirts, toiletries, etc). Kids will be outside their homes waving at you. They dont have much, so anything you can leave they will be so happy. Overall, great vacation! If we go back to Varadero (for the beach) I would only stay at Paradisus (fam concierge or royal) or Iberostar Varadero. In my opinion and from what i heard and seen, best resorts in Varadero. If you're reading this, hope it helps :)

Melia Las Americas: Beautiful clear beach!

This was our first time going to Cuba, I was amazed of the service and staff being so friendly. The hotel is kept very clean. The food was great, and I had a lovely time in Cuba. The beach was phenomenal only steps going there from the hotel. The scenery was so beautiful and the grounds was well kept with beautiful flowers. The General Manager of the hotel was welcoming especially when our flight was delayed, he was always there to greet us with a smile and check how we are. Definitely will visi [... read more]t Melia Las Americas again soon, my husband and I loved it.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Exquisite beach, nice resort but poor service

We were surprised that the employees at this resort were not at all friendly compared to what we usually see in Cuba. Room supplies (shampoo, water, etc.) were not restocked unless you asked multiple times, same thing with fixing a small mechanical issue in our room. Bartenders were a bit slow and inefficient. That being said, the beach and resort itself were beautiful and it was in a great location for daytrips to downtown Varadero and Havana.

Roc Barlovento: amazing hotel

food was very good rooms very good would recomend the beach was great they played lots of games staff was warm and welcomen entertainment was great swimming pool was very clean specalty resterants were great

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: WONDERFUL VACATION GREAT STAFF

Hola Reviewers My wife and I traveled to Iberostar Bella Vista with WestJet Vacations from July 7th to July 12th from Moncton via Toronto with out a hitch. Thanks WestJet. We booked our Elite Oceanview Room through Trip Central using Air Miles. We sent our certificates to Trip Central on June 9th, they were received June 12th. As of today July 15th we have still have not received our refund check. The air miles site says we should receive our refund within 1 week from Trip Central. They say i [... read more]t takes time, Air Miles should review this so customers don't feel something is wrong. Trip Central did tell me yesterday the check is in the mail. When we arrived at the resort we were greeted by the smiling Lazard who took us for our private check In, then waited for us and took us directly to our room. Great job-best check in ever. Thanks to Yoanna Garcia and Lianet Abrew for our bookings. Our room 20920 on the 9th floor was very nice. Roomy, nice bathroom and a great view of the resort and ocean. During our stay Annenys kept our room spotless and always left us apiece of Towel art on the bed each day. She would always greet us if we saw her in the hall with a "good morning" and a smile. Very nice hard working gal. The resort is only 1year plus a few months old. Very nice, modern and has the best views ever. It is 11 stories tall, towering over the rest of the resorts. You can see forever from the roof top bar patio. Resturants---We used the Miramar rooftop resturant every morning. Great spot--best breakfast in all our travels, they only cook as ordered and to order. We ate here 2 nights for dinner also, if you go have the fish and chips for a starter, it is the best I have had, note if you don't like tatar sauce ask them to leave it off. Thanks to Yusnery, Hany, Juan M., Darten, Yailzn, Lisandra, Dairis, Laura, Adrian and Andyaw from the Panoramico resturant and bar for the wonderful talks and laughs. We did also eat at the Japanese, Cuban and Italian resturants. They were also good. We didn't eat at the buffet or the snack bar. Entertainment was great, it was in the lobby during our stay, the July 11 circus show was the best. Possibly the best show in all our travels. Good job by this group. There was a beach party one night which was worth attending, had some laughs. Bars---Lobby bar was very busy, thanks to Anelys, Jimaqua, Pedio and Andres they worked very hard and kept the guests in drinks and always were happy to serve. The beach bar was great also- extra thenks to Alex and Juan for service on the beach. Great job. Special mention to Alex, he litterly ran to serve his customers. Nice guy, always happy. THE BEACH-- The real reason for traveling was great. You could walk and see for miles. The sand was usual for Varadero. Shade was plentyful, you do need to reseve early though. The Sun Staff were great also. They greated everyone with smiles and high fives and were always trying to get some of us lazy people up for the events. Pools--- we didn't use the pools but there seemed to be lots going on and lots to do. They also had a great kids area. We noticed the children having fun and seemed to be very busy. They had 1 gal who worked with the kids all day and into the evening. They seemed to Love her, sorry no name. We met some wonderful guests from all around the world. If you talk to them they will talk too and the conversations can be very interesting. We are sorry we couldn't name everyone that we met and served us, all the Staff deserve to be noticed, hard working happy people. This is why we Love Cuba In a nut shell Iberostar Belle Vista was a great choice for us, the upgrade to Elite was well wortht the extra. Would we return--YES Would we recommend it-YES Did we enjoy our stay-YES Thanks so much to all the Staff for making our quick Cuba Trip 2018 a wonderful vacation.

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Perfect Wedding Resort

Great hotel. Staff friendliness and always excellent service was the best part for us. Pavel and his team at the Italian restaurant were fantastic. The grounds here are incredibly well kept. Osmande is a very dedicated and talented gardener. We were at the resort attending a destination wedding. Part of a group of 65 people. We were very well cared for and the event was a success. I still maintain though, that I felt it was a better offering when operated by Sandals. We found it odd that t [... read more]he Diamond Club beach area had no toilets. We had to walk the length of the property to the washrooms at the main beach area. Also to book air and land (all inclusive) to this Royalton property from Canada you have to book SunWing. Based on our experience a SunWing flight is poorly run. We are tired of delays and they have the worst gate times out of Toronto for our liking. After this last trip being ruined by a delayed return flight of 13 hours we will never fly SunWing again. (Still no reason why from SunWing) So sadly as much as we loved our return trip to Hicacos in Varadero, we will not go back to that property as long as it is a SunWing exclusive. Still if you have patience enough to fly as such, then this property is a must.