Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Not a 5 - Star as advertised - Disappointed and would not recommend this resort

We have travelled to Cuba 10 times over a number of years, staying at various resorts mostly 4+ & 5-star and have never felt the need to write a review until now. We stayed at the Coral Level Iberostar in Holguin in spring of 2022 and based on a wonderful experience with the staff and the food we decided to book another Iberostar resort. We booked the Coral Level Iberostar Esmeralda in Cayo Cruz in January for 14 days. The resort in Cayo Cruz was very disappointing, nothing like the one in H [... read more]olquin. It’s hard to believe they are part of the same hotel chain. The resort in Cayo Cruz is not a 5-star, we would rate it as a 3.5 star at best. Be very careful reading the reviews for this resort on trip advisor, fake reviews much like fake news. Positives; Very clean resort, excellent staff and well-maintained grounds with lush vegetation. Check-in was quick and our room was cleaned daily. There were plenty of lounge seating at the pool and beach. Negatives; The resort is run on a very tight management budget, if any thing runs out – “sorry, not available at this time” and “supply chain issues”. We do not travel to Cuba for the food however this experience was like no other. Food I would normally rely on were not available for example; chicken, pasta, bread. A la cartes – Not only was the food terrible but 3 of our a la cartes were served in the same restaurant with a broken air conditioner. 24-hour Snack bar - 75% of the items listed on the menu were not available during our 2 weeks stay. At times there was only be one item available, for example a hamburger. When I tried to order French fries, I was told they did not have any even though the fellow beside me had them on their plate. I was then told I would have to order the grilled fish to get the French fries. Seafood - no seafood, shrimp or lobster. The only item from the sea was a fish similar to a grilled mackerel. It was plentiful but strong tasting. In our opinion again management cutting corners for budgetary reasons. Mini fridge - no pop, no beers, no wine only water. When asked if they could stock our fridge we were told to use room service. Room service takes about a half hour to get to your room. Twice we had to show our water bottle was empty to get another one. In Holquin our fridge was stocked daily with pop, beer and wine. Buffet restaurants - The majority of days they were out of chicken, pasta, eggs, bacon, butter, and soft drinks. The hot items offered at the buffet were not hot. In the past there would be a pasta bar at the buffet where you can customize your pasta, this resort only had premade pasta at the buffet. They even ran out of red wine several days. Again, in our opinion management is cutting corners for budgetary reasons. In Holquin the Coral Level had a restaurant that served a la carte for breakfast, lunch and dinner no reservations required. Conclusion –After speaking with the Coral Level Manager (Eugenio) and raising our concerns we were told “we understand and we are sorry”. Management tells everyone it’s a “supply chain issue”. When we asked why the restaurant next door was offering lobster, all he could do is say was “we are very sorry”. We also approached the Air Transit Representative (Maykel) who told us he was well aware of the issues at the resort and that he has raised these issues with Air Transit Management. Needless to say, we will no longer be booking at the Iberostar. The service and food were night and day between the two Iberostar resorts. We feel that we over paid for the services and food at this resort and will no longer trust the Iberostar chain.

Melia Las Antillas: Snakes crawl at night!

Grounds-well kept by Gardeners in the early morning. Public areas well kept and clean especially washrooms.ypu may find some plastic cups on the beach. Rooms well kept by maids but they lack upgraded and maintenance.example One evening we found a snake in our room which we believe came in patio door as maid may have left open.our room was ground floor next to woods. Also same evening we heard a crash and Ceiling let go above tub with large amounts of water coming down. Tried to call front  [... read more]desk but phone did not work. Food-we managed to find food to eat but remember they are going through a food shortage. So no oj,no bacon,no cola lite,no jams, Very little beef but good hamburgers but no condiments.no cheese.same desserts done in different shapes. Staff are incredible.sunwing rep not as good as last year's.ala cartes excellent. You do not need buffet after. Would we go back.yes if the price was right.

Melia Cayo Coco: Great resort

This is a smaller resort which has advantages and it is also a little bit older resort but they keep it in terrific shape. It is an adult only resort and is a great place to go if you want to have a peaceful getaway where you can just relax and unwind meet interesting people and make new friends. Like the rest of the world and here at home they are suffering cutbacks and limitations at the bar and the restaurant but what they do have to offer is still plenty and still tastes very good. After sev [... read more]en trips to Cuba over the years I would say this resort has the second best food I tasted. The rooms were clean and well maintained, the pool and the beach were awesome and the staff very friendly. For those who may be more actively inclined they have a nice workout center and a sports building with tennis courts ping pong and archery. I want to give a special shout out to Pedro who runs the sports building. He is trained and very knowledgeable in multiple sports, makes a great opponent on the tennis court and on the ping pong table and for myself I enjoyed the boxing and Krav Maga lessons I got from him. Super big thank you to Pedro. We also would like to thank the management staff and all the support staff maintenance people who made us feel welcome and kept the resort running smoothly and kept the grounds clean. One last thank you to Kevin Dupuis from trip Central for helping put this trip together for us always answering our questions helping us with all these new government forms and just basically making this thing run seamlessly I hope to deal with you soon for next year's vacation which will be back to this beautiful resort.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Great Resort

Well i was sceptical of going to Cuba this is my 3rd time and it was the best by far! Hotel grounds and landscaping has lots of character mature trees and very cozy , Very well laid out resort Beach was Beautiful but had rocky sections hard to get in and out of water But there is a section were it is just sand to enter Rooms are large and very clean excellent showers and bathroom Cant really complain about anything at all other than a bit dated but very nice Food was decent for Cuba l [... read more]ots of choices ala cart restaurants were good 4 choices Japanese was the Best !! I would recomend to anyone

Playa Costa Verde: Great staff

This is a good hotel if you are on a budget. The hotel grounds are very nice and clean. The private rooms could really use an update! As they have not been touched in over 20 years! The housecleaning staff was great and even though they keep it very clean you can’t overlook wear and tear! Excellent entertainment staff! They make you feel welcome! Serving staff was great! Overall good value!! Unfortunately there were lots of mosquitoes and got too many bites making my stay uncomfortable! Also m [... read more]edical staff is very limited in medication available to them!

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Amazing place!

We had an excellent time at this property. Like anywhere in Cuba at the moment, there are shortages, but that being said, the staff in this location go above and beyond to make you happy. If they didn't have our fav drink available, they would make you something comparable. The hotel is slightly dated, but was clean and well taken care of with what they have available. The food at the Sanctuary restaurant was fantastic and definitely the best food I have had while in Cuba! The beach and people w [... read more]ere amazing, as always with Cuba!!! We are already planning our return :)

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Great staff, Beautiful beach

The staff here are amazing ! especially Oscar at the sports bar, not to mention the boys down at the pool, Miguel & Yasmani ! The beach here is beautiful, and if you take a 5 min ride on the bus, you can visit another spectacular beach called Pilar beach.

Playa Costa Verde: Great Value for Resort

My room was clean, air conditioned, comfortable large bed. Plenty of food. Tastiest chicken was outstanding both, freshly sauteed in front of me, and chicken also in the hot trays. Only white wine. No red wine. Spirits were rum only. Plenty of eggs for omelettes, sunnyside up. We had fresh papya and domestic fruits, coissants/fresh baked bread. Ala-cart, Japan was the BEST - four meats, chicken, pork, beef and basa fish; Italian, also great and Cuban. Beach water was too many coral rocks.  [... read more]You need watershoes. Next time I will bring watershoes. Plenty of chairs to lie under shade or sun. Cubans always there to provide chairs. We had an amazing great time every day. Night shows were entertaining and enjoyable.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Cuba is hurting! And so are the resorts

Our total honest opinion. Cuba is hurting and so are the resorts. I think they are doing the best at what they can do with what they have! We booked Royal service as well. We just feel for what we paid. We could have had much more elsewhere and we do travel a lot Food was very repetitive with pork chick rice cabbage buns salami and cheese! No pasta that we seen when we were there even at the Italian el la carte! No French fries only seen the once! We found fruits and vegetables were n [... read more]ot ripe and I think it’s because it’s all they get and they have to use it or nothing! Drinks are very limited. When you find something you like it seemed with in a day they would be out. Not pina coladas on the last day we were there. Basically rum, scotch wine champagne and beer! No vodka gin or whiskey Coffee was not avail all the time and no coffee in the rooms. They will bring it to you every morning which is great but if that particular morning you wanna sleep in it’s not so convenient! Service was great they couldn’t do enough for you the people were incredible Wifi you get 10 hrs at a time I found we didn’t get what we spent and it’s because they are limited! I think at 1 time this was a high end resort but it’s getting tired looking. If they can’t afford food and drinks for theirs guests. Mail tan r isn’t going to be a high priority

Playa Pesquero: Great beautiful resort

The resort is very beautiful with all amenities you may need, pool area is great, beach is very nice but right now there are lots of shortages for food and drinks. Rooms are a bit outdated. We will definately come back when things are back to normal.

Club Kawama: Great location!

Friendly atmosphere. Leida is always there to help when needed. It's a perfect spot close to the market and a short taxi ride into Santa Marta. Rooms were clean, well stocked with toilet paper. Food was fine but bring your own condiments.

Roc Barlovento: Great resort

After seeing this resort for some time now, I finally had the opportunity to stay here. It was not a disappointment!! They had very clean rooms, good food, friendly staff, grounds were very well kept, beautiful beach. It was a great location, walking distance to the downtown area. Can’t wait to go back there next year.

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Grand Sirenis Cayo Santa Maria

It was a lovely modern hotel..comparable to Dhawa but inexperienced staff, limited quantity of food selection, quality, supply (some days there was no sliced bread or eggs for breakfast), very little fish at the buffet or at the restaurants. Everyday every we had to deal with swatting flies off our plates and table during our meals everywhere in restaurants. We only got to see 4 great shows out of the 7 nights we were there. The Michael Jackson tribute show being the best.

Hotel Playa Paraiso: Ok resort but lack of food

Let’s start with the good the pool is great it’s very large and lots of chairs and shade. The beach is very nice but the first few feet going into the water has broken sea shell which is hard on the feet, recommend water shoes but water is very clear and nice blue and white sand. The à la carte restaurant are good Italien and Portugais was the best ones For the bad there is a lack of food and portions are very small. They ran out of hot dogs at the 24 hrs restaurant and only had ham and  [... read more]cheese and fries but again small portions and bring your salt they ran out Now for the room I booked a ocean view but got a tree view, after complaining at the lobby I showed them a picture of my view and asked them if it was an ocean view they laughed I told her it’s not funny I paid an extra $80 for ocean view, they offered me a different room but had 2 single beds, tv not working so I decided to keep my room. They had a nice tassimo coffee machine but they do not have coffee do I dont know why they do not remove the coffee machines in the room. They also do not supply any beer, pop in the rooms only 1 bottle of water Might want to bring some toilet paper they are also in shortage we needed to hunt down our cleaning lady to get additional toilet paper. The cleaning of the room is minimum, they do a nice job creating animals with towels. Overall good resort except for the shortage of food and housekeeping could fo a better cleaning like sweeping and moping the room and cleaning the toilet bowl

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: What was expected!

This is a cute place to go for a quick getaway! If you upgrade to a suit! But still don’t expect the best! This maybe a 3.5 star ⭐️ at best and even if that, your still going to be disappointed. The shortages are still apparent everywhere, not just this resort. The great part of this resort are the people (Staff) and the distance of the marina from the hotel. The shortages are not the staff’s fault. It’s the government and post Covid. Invent your own meals, create your own stay on  [... read more]your terms. We took a 10$ taxi ride to the marina and bought what we thought would make our vacation rewarding. We had everything we needed for a great week. Thanks to the great taxi driver Omar with the most spectacular blue eyes and very accommodating, he took us anywhere we wanted to go. Varadaro 60 is a great place for great food and drinks. Thanks to Javier our dear friend for coming out with us to dinner. We can’t wait to go back. Maybe not this resort but somewhere new.

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Great vacation

The hotel is big and very clean. The beach was beautiful and you could always get a lounge chair as the staff don’t allow people to reserve them all day which was great. We were very lucky that there were no shortages of food while we were there. The only thing that they didn’t have was mix for the fancy cocktails which was too bad. The staff for the most part were great especially the ladies at the kids club. I found the lobby bar staff to be extremely inattentive though and I’m not sure  [... read more]why. We we’re always friendly, patient and tipped. It’s very quiet in the evenings as it’s mostly families. The resort is very large at first but once you get to know your way around it doesn’t seem quite so big. I probably will return

Hotel Camino del Mar: Not an amazing resort.

Hotel is nice. Not great. However, it has been freshly painted and cleaned. However, some of the front desk are clueless. There was no water for two days. I mean no water. The front desk said it was not their problem as some water main was broken in Moron (a city where water comes from). They fixed the problem two days later and the hot water was luke warm. Ashamed to say that I soaped myself at the side pool and jumped in. I was Ok with that as it is in Cuba and not cold. The phones i [... read more]n the room were not working. No dial tone. My friends and I are seniors. If one of us were in medical distress, there was nowhere to call. It would have been a cold body to find the next day when the maid came in. What is the matter with these cubans ? They depend on Canadians to pay their bills and cannot fix something basic like a phone line (no internet in the rooms). The tourists that were there were mostly cubans and a few canadians. The cubans were overloading their plates with food and tipping into their bags at their table. Unfortunately, the environment was not a concern to the cubans as cigarette butts were strewn on the floor BTW). On the good side, the weather was great and the staff was not too aggressive looking for tips (like in Varadero). Ask for a non-smoking room and if you are older, ask for a ground floor room. The food is good with a variety of salads and the wait staff is polite and friendly. I did not find any shortages. There was plenty of beer, rum and vodka. The food is good with a variety of salads and the wait staff is polite and friendly. I did not find any shortages. If you are going to Pilar beack (a popular attraction site), take a small fold-able light 3 or 4 legged chair. They are available in some dollar stores and they are enough to support your behind. I say this as they have plastic beach chairs and are asking $5 US on credit card on the deck where they sell $10 drinks. They will also take cash but you have to give it to a negro who pockets it. No local money is accepted. Go figure !. (Cuban stores will not take their own national currency)

Melia Jardines del Rey: Lovely resort

This resort was well kept. Considering the damage after a hurricane and the economy going for a dive from Covid the place was really fixed up good. Our room was clean, but towels and face clothes not plentiful. If you use faceclothes bring your own. We also brought our own beach towels. They run out quickly. Water and beer was restocked in the room each day. We asked for two water bottles daily and we got it. The people are very friendly and eager to help with everything you may need. (Reme [... read more]mber to tip) The food wasn’t the best but they try hard. Supplies are hard to come by for them. The pools were awesome! The beach just fabulous. In spite of shortages etc we had a great time. If your priority is sun and beach this place is wonderful.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: good resort

Good value considering the inflated costs this year. Food is good and plentiful, buffet is very repetitive as in most resorts. Staff are very friendly. Grounds are clean and easy to get around. Pool cleanliness needs a bit of work, a good scrub would help it a lot. Most of the beach is rocky and not swimmeable but there is a small section which is sand bottoom. Rooms are cleaned daily, fresh bedding and towels every day. Rooms do smell a bit musty due to high humidity, same as all the caribean r [... read more]esorts we have visited. Our package said 4 a la cartes per week but that has changed to 3. Website also says coffee machines in rooms but that is wrong also. Over all we would give this resort a 4 at best although they think it's 4.5 Had a really good time. No regrets as long as you are not expecting luxury. We picked this resort quickly as plan B after Sunwing bailed on us with under 2 weeks notice. Having taken more time selecting we probably would not have been here but that OK.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Fabulous Resort. Wonderful Staff

This hotel is the nicest I have ever stayed at in Cuba. The food was excellent despite a few shortages here & there which is always expected in Cuba so not an issue for me. The staff are caring & friendly & always make you feel welcome.