Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Paradise revisited

Hubby & I travelled to Royalton CSM Nov.28th to Dec.8,2014. This was our 2nd visit to Royalton our first visit was January 2014. The resort is officially 2 yrs. old as of December 1,2014. We really wanted to be there to celebrate the resorts 2nd anniversary on arrival at the resort we were greeted by the General manager Raul Garcia, Arturo, Mateusz & the resort butlers. We were ushered into in the Royalton Cafe (lobby bar) for a lovely glass of champagne & a cool towel which was very appreciated [... read more].. Royalton CSM is a small Boutique hotel for adults only. It is a place to come, relax be pampered You are assigned 2 butlers as they work from 7am to 11pm, one day on & 1 day off. The butler service is more like upgraded Conceirge service. Your butler will make all your dinner reservations, look after special requests, help you with dietary needs etc. if you are celebrating birthdays, anniversaries your butler is there to help you make those memories awesome. All you need do is ask they are there to make your holiday amazing. We had an ocean view room with king size bed. All rooms are lovely, all depends on Your needs & wants but how much time do you really spend in them. Love the large bathtub & rain shower. We arrived back to our room one day to find a lovely bubble bath had been drawn for us after a day of being out & about by our butler Ana. My pillow was a bit too soft for me & our butler Lester got me a firmer one. Our bar was restocked daily by Alain. Kept us in wine, beer & Champagne without us asking. Phenomenal service. The entertainment is low keyed but so beautiful. You have water ballet day & night, Flameno dancers, Jazz night, Cuban music night & a Michael Jackson Show that makes you feel you are watching Michael. During the day live musicians perform at breakfast, lunch & dinner. At 3:30pm (Cuban time) at the lower pool you have the Royalton dance to work off some of the calories you piled on during the day plus different entertainment & activities including dance lessons, drink making contests, flowering making, & the Cuban Evil Knevil. There are 2 pools, the Lobby pool (infinity pool) & the lower pool where all the activities take place. There are 5 bars. Cafe Royalton open 24 hrs., the Gintonic Bar open from 10-10:30pm(closes from. 5-6pm for change over) it is the upper pool bar, the Cuba Libra Bar the main pool bar, El Mojito Bar the beach Bar & the Sunset Cafe Bar. We personally loved the food. Eggellence is open for Breakfast, lunch & dinner. There is a mini buffet arvailable at all meals. Senses is a very romantic restaurant & one of my favourites. The Sunset Cafe is the 24 hour snack bar & ala carte restaurant in the evening. This is not your typical snack bar where all you can get is hot dogs, hamburgers or pizza. The menu is varied & I have not been able to eat my way thru it as yet. Absolutely love the soups that are offered at all restaurants. If you feel that quantity of food offered is not enough for you they will double or triple the order. We constantly were having triple orders of Shrimp in garlic sauce. There are sandwiches offered at the lower pool with fruit skewers in the afternoon plus the Pool Grill operates from 1:30pm (Cuban time) to 3pm. It offers, beef, chicken, pork, & lobster skewers, fish & rice. The beach bar offers quesadillas of chicken, beef & seafood. On hot days ice-cream bars magically appear at your palapa or Sunbed. The beach is truly amazing. White sand beach no shells, rocks or pebbles in the water to stub your toes on. It is always warm. At certain times of the year the red flag flags a lot because of the wind & undertow. Never had a stay where we did not get in the water once. Royalton has the best beach on the strip. I can not say enough about the staff & service of this resort. I have never felt so pampered or cared for at any other resort and with that being said I must say this is a small boutique adults only resort with just 122 rooms. It is a quiet peaceful spot perfect for being pampered & recharging your batteries. It is not geared for large boisterous groups. I am a fan of The Royalton CSM,it's staff & unbelievable service. Only holiday resort I have gained weight at. If anyone has any questions I can help with please let me.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Will be returning

Beautiful resort, friendly helpful butler service. Good nightly entertainment. Very clean resort and beach area. Marketplace close walking distance. Unfortunately I required medical attention while on vacation. Our butler arranged cab travel to the tourist clinic 3 miles away, cab driver waited for me, 6 pesos roundtrip, prompt service by doctor 25 pesos, prescriptions filled, returned to Royalton 30 minutes roundtrip. Butler waiting for me to see how I was doing. Medication worked, vacation was [... read more] saved.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Excellent Vacation

We went on family vacation Oct 31-Nov 14. We had an awesome time. The kids loved it. Entertainment in the evening and service were excellent. Everyone at the resort was friendly and nice. The beach and the pool were great. We had a magnificent time at the pool THANKS to Yordany Gonzalez Garcia. He provided for my whole family an outstanding service, extremely friendly, always smiling and one of the best bartenders in the whole resort.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful beaches

Always a great time in Cuba. Couldn't ask for better service at meals, bars and the beach. Even the garden staff great you with a smile. Only down fall was the main desk. The bottle of Rum that they said twice was going to be in our room wasn't. To me this isn't a biggie but some would be very upset. Plus the 2 nd time visit diner wasn't offered to me and it was my 2 nd time there. I will go back for the staff, beach and cleaness of the resort.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Really good value for your money resort

This hotel is a very clean and well-maintained facility. The gardeners and staff are always working in keeping up the standards, not to mention utterly friendly. The resort has an extensive buffet to suit your taste buds but could change their menu some days a bit more. They do also offer guests the opportunity to book a la carte restaurants for variety. You are only allowed 3 bookings in the week you are there. The rooms are quite modern and tidy, even the beds were comfortable. There is a main [... read more] pool where activities are held along with 3 other pools that are for the quieter environment. Beach was just a small walk from the main pool area. Nightlife is very active in the lobby area where people enjoy drinks, play cards and take in the performers. There are also shows in the theatre every evening and if you get a chance, take in the Michael Jackson show which is absolutely spectacular! In general, the dancers are incredible! The only negative aspect is they could turndown the volume at these performances because honestly, having earplugs in, you can still hear everything loud and clear. Overall, the atmosphere at the hotel was safe and enjoyable.

Melia Las Dunas: Everything was good except the food.

Very beautiful place, well managed and friendly staff. My only complaint is that the food has very little seasoning. Most food lacks flavor. Pasta is boring, and the means are barely seasoned. I did enjoy it however.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Fantastic

Beautiful clean and well maintained. Rooms are generous and housekeeping staff is accommodating. Evening shows are good, don't miss the Micheal Jackson show. It's amazing. Beach is narrow but the staff service makes up for that.

Melia Las Dunas: Pleasantly Surprised

I have been to Cuba before and enjoyed myself but didn't enjoy the food. I was told you don't go to cuba for food. This resort was amazing! I never went hungry. The food was always fresh and they had a variety of different things! The staff was amazing and very helpful. We went for a wedding which was a little unorganized but overall the trip was fun!

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: 4 star trying to become a 5

We had issues as are expected on every trip. The hotel resolved them in a timely manner. Like my son explained to me when he was 5, "Daddy if you have no expectations you can't be dissappointed." We expected the food to be average at best, but the food was good in general and very good by Cuban standards. If you have never been to Cuba i would suggest taking very small samples and then returning for your meal. I had a few very thin steaks prepared by the grill chef and they were to my surprise v [... read more]ery good. Staff is competent and generally kind and polite. Our children arrived for the second week and had a bunch of trendy clothing stolen. We were able to confidently identify the culprit as the resort made full disclosure by examining the key access of our rooms and the adjacent rooms and we believe he was fired as we did not see him after we were able to demonstrate that the maids did not steal our property and that the male employee had likely stolen the maids keys and then left them in our door to make it look like she had done it. We will repost when we get feedback from the resort as to his standing at the resort and any proposed compensation the resort proposes. Take benedryl and bug spray and/or avoid the bluffs (beach was okay) or sand flees will ruin a few good nights sleep. The beach is very narrow, however ample recliners were available through out the resort and we could always find a spot where we wanted to be. Food and drinks were good (for example fresh oj, mid grade champagne and some good quality liquor was available and included), however as expected some things were not available all the time and this is to be expected as the supply chain in Cuba has a few weak links. The 90 minute drive can take closer to 2 hours so be prepared. It was the best family resort we have stayed at. More than the normal number of recurring customers and when we will return it will be first time we attend a resort for the second time. The iberostar has a bit higher rating however we met a family that asked to be moved out of the iberostar to this resort as they were disappointed there and preferred this resort based on a previous trip. I forgot to bring ketchup this time but the cuban Catshup is getting better and almost red now. Infrastructure at this time does not exist for a true 5 star resort in Cuba, but if you realize this going in, you will find the resort does an excellent job trying to get there. (On a few days we had 50 grit toilet paper lol) The resort exceeded my expectations despite me trying not to have any. If you are expecting a typical 4 star Cuban vacation you will be satisfied here at minimum. Memories Azul a few resorts down is a bit prettier ( i would not recommend it though), but the service, customer service and food here more than makes up for the lack of hills and splash of marble. Cheers

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Good getaway experience

My friends and I stayed in this all-inclusive resort from January 26-Dec 3. The flight from Toronto to Santa Clara airport took 5 hours and the ride from the airport to the hotel is an hour and a half. When we arrive at the resort, we were greeted by the front desk staff and checked us in quickly. We had a bellman who brought us to our room in no time. The room is stacked with amenities as mentioned in the site. The resort is close to the beach and some of the buildings have a nice view of the o [... read more]cean. Almost everything on site is in close proximity with each other. The property has 4 pools with bars; one has a swim up bar! They lobby and snack bar available 24 hours. The resort offers nightly entertainment, pool and recreational activities, gym, basketball and tennis courts. They have a buffet restaurant that offers hot meals 3 times a day, and 4 ala carte restaurants: Romantic, Japanese, Italian and Seafood; and also offers guests to try their authentic Cuban ala carte restaurant. During our stay, the weather was cool and breezy, the beach was wavy yet breathtakingly beautiful. We noticed that most travellers staying there are couples, families and mature clientele, so for single and young travellers, beware! They do not have a disco/nightclub in the resort which is disappointing; most of our nights we spent hanging out at the lobby or cigar bar or watch the shows. I would recommend having a disco night at the cigar bar or a pool or a beach party once a week, which would provide more nightly activities for the guests. Kudos to the resort staff who work really hard every day; some are warm, welcoming and friendly, but it was not consistent throughout. The nightly shows were quite entertaining, mostly consists of dance acts every night. The bed was not comfortable to sleep in, but I had worse experiences. In terms of food, the buffet restaurant did not offer a lot of variety and had almost the same thing every day. The ala carte restaurants were something that the travellers could utilize to escape going to the buffets, but even those, my friends thought that the food weren't as great as they had expected or did not meet their standards of taste, but otherwise edible. However, I personally thought it was not too bad; I had worse experiences in the past when I was staying in a different resort before in Cuba. Overall, we had a great time and enjoyed our stay. We would probably not come back to the same resort, but would browse around other resorts if we ever decide to come back to Cayo Santa Maria. We hope that future travellers would have as much fun or more if they choose to stay in this resort. Definitely something to consider.

Melia Las Dunas: Awesome resort

When I have been to Cuba before, the food was not the greatest. However this time around the god was amazing! It was great in every restaurant and also amazing throughout the night I I the wee hours of the morning. However, the entertainment could have been better, however it was still entertaining!

Melia Las Dunas: Woderful Place to Stay!

Excellent Service from very friendly staff in all areas of the resort. The al a Carte restaurants were very good, and the Grill on the beach at Lunch was always a great place to eat with fresh Calamari, Lobster, Chicken and Pork everyday!

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Home away from home

The Playa Cayo Santa Maria is your home away from home. The grounds are absolutely beautiful with the long walkways trimmed with blooming flowers and green foliage. The Pools are very clean, the rooms are clean and spacious. The lobby bar with coffe bar have live entertainment for your morning coffee and before dinner drinks. Then, there is the amazing staff that make you feel at home from the moment you arrive. I would recommend this hotel to everyone.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Awesome resort!

We had a great time at Valentin Perla Blanca. The hotel looks amazing, rooms are very clean, there was a different live band playing in the lobby each night, the beach is really nice and long, good for walks.

Memories Paraiso: Relaxing Holiday

My wife and I were 1-8 Dec 2014, Overal the quality went down since the last time we were there (March 2014), especially the food. Hopefully the new manager can change that. Need more seating capacity at the lobby lounge.

Memories Azul Beach Resort: Decent

Nice place , bit to busy , good food,but don't expect to find chicket at the grill,only beef and catfish ,not good quality grill food , alacart is good not only 2 a week , a lot of French people go to this resort , great if you french , but they seem a bit rude if your not french , to far from airport , crazy departure times , leaving hotel at 4 am,overall a good resort , I would rate it at 3.5 star

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Surprisingly good!

First place in my experience where there were enough shady spots at the beach and at the pool, no fighting. The staff was polite and friendly, the staff eager to please the clients. The room was comfortable and clean. The food was plentiful and tasty. We will be back for sure!

Memories Paraiso: Beautiful resort

I really like this hotel the people were very nice , kind and very helpfull i will recomended to my family and friends everything was perfect and clean the service was amazing so many shows and activities ....

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: nice place

was well maintained , good service and some good music. shows were okay. ice cream bars were a nice touch . enjoyed the catamaran excursion. was satisfied with the a- la -cartes , have to watch where you walk they zip around the walkways in electric carts and you don't hear them coming.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Good but needs improvement

The hotel grounds was well kept. The beach is beautiful and different with rocks surrounding it which is the main reason why we chose the Valentin. However, there were a lit of minor things that requires improvement which is why this is not up to the standards of a 5 star resort yet.