Beautiful resort!!!

Amazing grounds and food, not too impressed with the beach though. Outstanding customer service, able to accommodate any request including late check out with no fee. Friendly staff and really good nigh shows.

Great resort not so great food

almost everything was great down to the room the resort the grounds .the pools 5 star the beach also great a little narrow but enough room for everyone .the check in is just ok and the front desk people are not near as friendly .The people working at the resort except the front dest are 5 plus stars .the entertainment is ok but considering the price wasn t expecting much .the food was not good breakfast was good but most everything else not so good and again considering the price my expectations [... read more] were low .the swim up bar great and the drinks were great and came as fast as needed

Beautiful resort

Hotel is newer, well maintained, ground is nice,food is good,and beaches,well,just amazing.White,fine sand stretch for kilometers,and shallow worm water for hours to stay in. Staff is nicest, we had so far, in Cuba and this was our 6th trip to the island.

MEMORABLE JELLYFISH

We stayed from September 26th - October 3rd. The beach and water was very clean. However, 3 out of the 5 days we were at the beach, there were jellyfish every 30 metres! Of course, I was stung by jellyfish on my entire right side of the body when the waves came in. Went to customer service, they said nothing can be done. Offered NO HELP OR ADVICE. They did say I could go to the hospital but I would need to take a taxi...however when I asked for the Taxi, the front desk said there is no taxi avai [... read more]lable. So I went back to my hotel room and suffered. On top of that, the same night, I saw a HUGE COCKROACH that's the length of my palm inside my hotel room! Horrible stay with poor customer service!

Amazing

We just want to give our feedback regarding our stay at the Hotel Playa Cayo Santa Maria in room 1433and our children in room 1431 during our stay from September 6 to September 13, 2014 as this was our second time coming back to the resort. When we arrived at the hotel, we already felt the warm welcome by the staff (front desk and the bell men). We were given bracelets and taken to our room very quickly. The hotel is very clean and very spacious. We never have any problems with the staff at the [... read more] front desk as mentioned in other reviews. At the main buffet, Yacdelys the hostess that took our order and served drinks, greeted us. She was very friendly, approachable, have a sense of humour and attentive. We were surprised that when she asked our names that she actually remembered them thru our stay. Her memory of what we liked to drink was great and never had to ask. Our room was fantastic and very impressed with the partial ocean view, near to the beach. We booked the ala cartes right away and ate at the Asian and Seafood, all the meals were delicious. The food in the buffets both at the beach and the hotel were great. It was nice they had a section serving Cuban food. The fruits were the best, Mango, Papaya. During the night buffet we asked our server Yacdelys for mango and were informed that there was none available but she then went out of her way to find a mango for my wife from the fruit bar and we had the mango at the end of our meal. And another memorable time is that day going to the beach we stopped for Panini’s and spoke with a server named Rodney who talked to us and was very kind, every day we would stop by and he would remember what kind of Panini’s we liked. At lunch we remembered familiar faces. We spoke with Ricardo who was very friendly and promised to sing at the gala dinner next time. We had a great time at the gala dinner and loved the live singing by the hotel management staff. We did see the shows in the evenings and they were very entertaining. We have noticed that the staff including the animation staff truly makes the difference to ensure that everyone had a great time including the small children. And we could tell that the staff are very friendly, caring, dedicated and very hard working people. At the 24 hour snack bar Jordant and Yoan always had a friendly smile and was talkative to all people at the resort. We even meet an old friend from the Las Dunas now working at the hotel ( Freddie) also working at the snack bar. The beach is stunning and there are plenty of space for loungers without playing the towel game During our stay, it finally dawned on us that the most important thing about a vacation is not just the location or the facilities or the quality of the food and drinks or the level of entertainment or many other factors. (All of which the resort excelled at.) The most important thing is the people. The staff at Hotel Playa Cayo Santa Maria was exceptional. They went above and beyond in every aspect of our vacation and made us feel at home. (Just to mention a few, Yacdelys, Jordant, Yoan, Rodney). We also stayed at the resort from Sept 20 to Oct 4 and were upgraded to an ocean suite room 1451 as return clients. There were so many servers that we should mention David (lobby bar) Luis Mario, Osmany(captain) Oscar, Alain (pizza) Manuel, nuirkis, Jenny, Ernesto (24 hrs snack bar) arias, Elizabeth and jarwarsky (chambermaids). And there were plenty of more but we could not remember their names. L Thanks once again for providing us a great vacation and will tell others to stay at your resort.

Nice Resort

Lets start with Cuba Air.. LOL... Old plane, such tight seats that you knees touch the seat in front of you, I'm only 5.1". Food was atrocious, non edible, worse on the way back. You get small tray with kids meal on it, glass of water and instant coffee if you wish . No T.V on plane, movies to watch, no music no magazines on the plane. No complimentary wine or any alcohol to buy, nothing ! 90% of passengers were Cubans. Flight attendants catered to them first, then rest of us and were not very f [... read more]riendly.. I said thank you and please, but they just handed me my water without even looking at me, bit rude. Our Pilot spoke more in Spanish, then translated only part of the speech in English. Hotel, Playa CSM is a nice well laid out resort. Lobby is very nice, large with lot of seating. Theatre is right off the Lobby, good nightly shows, best one for us was CABARET.. wow ! Cigar bar was also off the Lobby, large, but most of the times empty. No Nightclub at the Resort, they should convert the Cigar Bar to a Night Club. Resort is clean, very nice gardens, 4 pools were always clean and loungers available. Each pool seems to designed in between few buildings, this made it feel as if it's your private pools area. They had kids pool, but kids were never in it, they were always in adult pools bar area. I don't understand why kids need to be at the bar? There was no security there at all the week of Sept 7 to 14th. It was bit annoying having kids in the adult pools. ( There were 4 large pools ! ) We were in building 6, third floor, kind of far from Lobby but close to the beach. Room was Ok size, we had to switch rooms, due to many broken things in the first room. Second room, was on the second floor same building, ocean view, our room attendant Ernesto was great in cleaning it and always leaving fun towel art. Our building needed a good paint job, walls were very dirty, scuffed. Not sure, what type of rooms other guests get but, our was basic and not updated, we had small flat TV, coffee maker, bed was comfy though. Shower heads are bit awkward. It was fine for us, other than it needed a paint job. We only showered, changed and slept in it. Beach of course, its Santa Clara.. amazing. !! we had great weather every day. Food as OK.. same as any other 4.5 - 5 star Hotel in Cuba. repetitive and food was not replenished once the trays were almost empty, if you come for breakfast, lunch or dinner bit later, you get stuck with leftovers if anything good. If not, you go hungry or you can go to 24 hrs. bar by the pool for burgers and finger foods. Variety of foods were OK.. pizza was great, fresh prosciutto everyday was great to have. Of course egg station always fresh. Staff was friendly and accommodating. Ala Carte, best one was Romantico and Italian. Lobsters were very, very small, you don't get any side dish when you order Lobster, you might want to go Buffet to finish you dinner. Over all, we were happy with selection of food. Beach area restaurant didn't have much of a food selection. Ice cream Bar by the pool was great to have and ice cream was very good. This was my 14 times in Cuba at various locations and Resorts in past 3 years. I know what to expect from Resorts.. this resort is equal to others that I stayed in. Aside from Mexico and Bahamas. WOULD NOT FLY WITH CUBAN AIR ANYMORE . I would go back to Playa Cayo Santa Maria, but in better cleaner ,BUILDING/room. Lot of updated building were empty, we were told they had no rooms available, not sure why? whatever its done. Beach alone will get me back to CSM.

Greatest secret in Cuba SHHHHHHHHH!

First off let me make a special thank-you to your fantastic trip advisor in Jenn Black! Thank-you so much Jenn for having the guts to really stick your neck out there and help me book this hotel as I was not comfortable at first but after your glowing recommendation and guarantee that I would not be disappointed you were right. The hotel itself is impeccably kept and has an easy to get around layout no more than a few minute walk in any direction gets you to everywhere you need to be. The ground [... read more]s are so well maintained by such wonderful men. We met such a beautiful old fella named Cobo who stole our heart every day stopping to exchange with him was a highlight. The buildings 15 or 7 you recommended were exactly where we wanted to be. The room itself is simplistic and well designed we had a partial oceanview third floor with the sunrise every morning gorgeous!!!! The only complaints about the room is that the bed was a hard as a rock and the the bed sheets seemed to be either too small or not fitted properly not a good night sleep the whole time but I was up every morning watching the most gorgeous sunrise on the beach good saw off I guess. Exactly 30 to 45 seconds to the beach depending on how fast you walked and an immaculate pool tucked in between and the 24hr. cafe tucked in there right beside our building with incredible coffee selections for eye openers. Now the beach itself is beyond compare with limited places to compare I still feel how could a beach be any better. The sand was so white and fluffy and so soft on the feet a dream no seaweed anywhere. You could walk for miles on either side of your resort before hitting another resort. The water was a clear a blue ocean water as you could imagine and no higher than your hips for a good kilomtere out and warm but still very refreshing no jellies or anything just blue water and sand sorry snorklers. Only complaint and a small one at best is that the palappas and chairs sit up on a ledge sometimes the walk down to waters edge is a bit dicey but a careful sure foot will manage fine. Attendants walk up and down for refreshments but the bar is only a couple min. in the middle of any direction right beside the pannini sandwich guy who makes a wicked grilled cheese. There is also a beach restaurant for lunch for those who want to keep to the beach all day. The whole beach and set-up is worth every dollar best part of this resort far and away. The food well its Cuba, if you are a picky eater you might go hungry. I found enough to eat and depending on the time if you go early all of the fresh to made stations are not lined up and do a wonderful job, from grilled seafood and meat selections, to fresh stir-fry rice, to cooked to order pasta you can find something. Lunch was a bit of an adventure at first not sure about where and when on or off the beach we stumbled upon "El Crillo" grill where the lovely team of Sady and Yosavides served spectacular hamburgers and hot dogs from the grill with all of the garnishments such as bacon, cheese, and all the fixings a true godsend this place was ate there every day. Made a special friendship with both of these two beautiful and professional people thanks to both of them. Breakfast for us was the trickiest as it was difficult to find our comfort food in the morning but no fault of the resort we managed to get enough to make it to lunch either from fresh made omellettes or fresh made smoothies and fruit mainly fresh cut papaya. We sure our spoiled with canadian bacon at home. One thing I will mention don't waste your time on the a la cartes unless you want to just get away and have a more intimate dinner. They are less than spectacular and served tiny portions ended up back at the buffet afterwards. The entertainment in the evenings is top notch and extremely professional with some incredible dancers who also work on the resort a must see every night don't miss out on the Michael Jackson off the charts good. For young people there is a disco off resort about 5 min by a bus costs a dollar return from 10 to 1am. Overall the resort has more than enough to offer for anyone coming here the big difference at this resort is the service by the staff. The very best people serving with a smile and dignity. Thank-you to the people of Playa Cayo Santa Maria for making our vacation truly a memorable one.

Best All Inclusive in Cuba!

This was our first trip to Cuba but we spoke with many who have visited different resorts there and said that this one was the best! Beautiful white sandy beaches, remote (tourists only), luxurious pools and great service! Cubans are friendly everywhere and although food is mediocre to good, they try really hard to please. Pina coladas were fantastic and there are 4 restaurants to choose from excluding the daily buffet option. Food was available 24/7 which was helpful with our early morning/late [... read more] night flights. We will definitely be returning with the family.

Mixed

The Ocean amazing one of the best ever especially for children. The food was ok no one got sick so that is a good thing. Weather was perfect. The only BIGGY the entrance halls were dirty and the rooms we had 2 with dbles & a cot all were disappointing especially the linen they were dirty and smelled sweaty. They were quick to change them but still smelled. We ended up putting towels over them. We were there during March break so I am sure they were run off there feet and could not keep up with t [... read more]he demands. The showers were great lots of pressure & hot water. No bugs. Staff looked bored not overly friendly like you see in Mexico or Dominican. The 1hr 1/2 drive to resort was long about 8 servasas. :) Would I go back in a heart beat for the ocean alone but would hope they would purchase new bedding.

Beautiful resort

The resort was awesome, food was excellent, beach beautiful, front desk service could be better, had all our rooms screwed up then took forever to fix it, didn't care that we waited two hours to check in, were not interested in serving us. After we settled everything, the rest of the resort was fantastic.

Wonderful holiday

Stayed at the Playa Cayo Santa Marie for a full week of fun in the sun. Loved the beach, especially the early morning exercises and thoroughly enjoyed the pool in the afternoon. Going again soon, yeah

Nice Resort and wonderful people

This was a very nice resort. The staff were amazing and very helpful. My elderly mother and her friend were very well taken care of while on the beach. The resort is geared to families, great for people with children and mature adults. Lots of variety of places to eat and place to walk as it is a large resort. The water is the clearest I have ever seen. This is my 10th time to Cuba but the first to Cayo Santa Maria and I would definitely recommend to those that want rest and relaxation.

Very nice resort

I am writing this review as a solo traveller. I did alot of reading reviews and have to say that I was not disappointed with this resort. My room was clean thanks to Cesar and Yeny. They not only cleaned my room, but left me notes each day. Made me smile :). The grounds were beatiful and well kept. The pools were very clean and the food was delicious. The lobby bar was very relaxing each night as they had music and some entertainment before the "big show". This is a very large resort and may not [... read more] be good for travellers that have a hard time getting around, even the beach had a drop. I on the other hand, appreciated the size considering that I wanted some quiet time and felt there was always somewhere to go to get away from the small children. The staff were pretty nice, however, felt that I was troubling the beach bartenders. Not the friendliest, but overall, the buffet staff, lobby bar and snack bar staff were very kind. I shed a tear when leaving! lol! as the beach was heaven on earth. I would definately recommend this hotel to others.

Great Vacation had here - highly recommended

Staff were great and friendly always available to meet our every need and request. The resort was clean and neat. So many choices for dining, we didn't get to eat at all of them, however the food was very good. Room was large, bright and clean. ours was on the 3rd for and got the sun in the afternoon, so we could sit on our balcony after the beach and before dinner enjoying the evening sun and a drink. Lots of pools, so it was easy to find one to meet you any mood, quiet or party, and lots of lo [... read more]ungers at each. The beach was great, catamarans available everyday, beach activities for those who want them and quiet spots for those who don't. The gym/fitness centre was well equipped and never over crowed, on site staff to help if required. Overall a great resort with everything we wanted for our week away, I highly recommend this one.

Loved the resort! Hated the bus ride to get there!

Did NOT want to come home!! Loved the whole experience. The staff is fantastic, and friendly as well the food was amazing. My daughter and I were treated VERY well and I would recommend this trip to anyone. As a matter of fact, I WILL be returning next year.

Beautiful property, amazing beach

A beautiful well maintained full service resort. Clean and modern amenities. Great for couples, but also families. Staff is friendly and helpful. Food options are plenty at the buffet and made to order food is excellent. The beach is stunning: sand like powder, turquoise blue waters, free Hobie Cat and kayak rides daily, can walk for miles - plenty of shaded chairs. West Jet flight was comfortable and representative at the resort was always available and very helpful whenever we had questions. I [... read more] highly recommend this vacation spot!

Great value for a very good stay

It's a long ride from the airpot. We did really enjoy the resort. It was clean, the grounds are very pretty and the beach was beautiful. Service in the bars and restaurants was outstanding and we thought highly of most of the food served. Our lower score would go to the a la cartes; the Japanese restaurant was good but too long for service ; we did not enjoy the Seafood restaurant..... Lobster was on the menu but it was overcooked..... Ruining our dinner.... Again, service in this a la carte was [... read more] slow. My maintenance request was not taken care of during our stay; on the first day, I put in a request to replace a burned out bulb in the bathroom. It was not done during our week-long stay. I suppose this request was low priority to maintenance staff but I did not enjoy my daily grooming in a poorly lit room. Also, I left my beach dress on the beach chair one day..... Every day I asked to check the lost and found; staff just said not found without even checking (unless I pushed them).

Great resort

The resort itself was very well mapped out. Everything was easy to find. Clean and comfortable rooms. Very polite staff. Food was what you can expect for Cuba. Great resort and will be back soon. Made great friends with locals.

Lots of pools, landscaped grounds, great beach

...but the entrance to the buffet dining room is a plain double-door, down a long walkway and well camoflagued. Lots of food selection, several chef stations, but sit close to a service station for drinks, clearing plates, etc. because it's usually understaffed. Garibaldi (Italian) is the best a-la-carte restaurant of the three available; excellent service, good meals, great presentation. Red Panda (Oriental) food is poor, service is slow, presentation is mediocre.

Great ressort beautiful beach

The ressort is beautiful the rions are big and clean large choice of siwimingpools and the beach is beautiful a paradise i récomend This hôtel and people are very Nice always smiling We spend a super vacation