Hotel Playa Coco: Great resort

Wonderful staff, clean and very well maintained property. Best resort I've been to in Cuba. Pool is huge and lots of room for everyone to have a great time playing or floating. Thank you to all the staff that work so hard to ensure we had a great week, especially to Adriana, Jorge, Raul and Taimy - you're the best !

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Great beach

Most of the staff are very courteous and go and above beyond. Room maintenance can definitely be paid attention to - towels, toilet paper, toiletries etc Some bedding do have a bit of stench Vegetarians pl pack extra additions to make your meal. Not much of choices and even rice needs to be cooked better. Non vegetarians have ample choices but may need some flavoring Amazing beach and grounds Entertainment is good too

Paradisus Varadero: Not worth the money

While I loved dealing with Louise this resort was way less satisfying than we expected. Starting with our room…curtains falling off, shower head spraying all over, cold water for showering , had to slam door to shut it, smell of sewer for two days, bedding was horrible and no heat. The hall…. Half the lighting was out and doors all broken off and sewer pipes all exposed. Cleanliness was satisfactory in room. Resort itself….hot tubes didn’t work, some pubs were closed, entertainment was  [... read more]same dancers every night accept one night there was a horrible magic show. Pools closed at like 7 when I’m on vacation if I want to swim after supper I should be able to. They did have a few great singers. Food….could get into dinners we wanted, couldn’t get food if we had an early excursion, my husband is an early riser and had a hard time getting coffee due to broken machines, plates were absolutely disgustingly dirty all the time, toaster didn’t toast unless pressed 5 times. Food was Cuban and expected but breaking fillings because rice not cooked properly was not! Staff were polite and curious and did their best. Loved visiting a different culture but won’t ever go back to this resort ever!

Memories Cayo Largo: Highly recommended

Wonderful service with great staff. Would go back tomorrow. Not impressed with Sunwing flight delays and cancellations. They could at least provided more information on website and saved us much hassle at the airport.

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Awful resort

The resort was lacking in the basic services. Poor hygiene, poor room cleaning with no towel/soap/shampoo change and 1 towel available in a 2 people's room. Lack of general basic supplies (No toilet paper in public washrooms, toilet paper used as restaurant tissues, no hand sanitizer available in the corresponding containers). Poor choice of food, same food from breakfast to dinner (scarse basic food resources such as oil, butter, no sweet breakfast options like cereals or jam), overall tastel [... read more]ess food or poor quality food. The only positive notes were the overall friendly staff, the entertainment and a nice beach. However, there was a totally deceiving hotel advertisement. The resort is barely a 2/3stars!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Assuming it’s beautiful

I had no opportunity to check out your resort as the East Coast was in a turmoil due to the weather conditions. It would have been up to trip central travel agent to contact you about me not able to take my vacation as there were days with flight cancellations .

Hotel Atlantico: Depressive feel

The resort had basic necessities but an overall depressive feel to it. It might have something to do with the attitude of the staff as it felt like no one liked working there. Asking for anything was a challenge because the staff would give us attitude for doing so. It almost felt like we were made to feel bad to ask for necessary things, like water and toilet paper. I booked it knowing it wasn't a 5 star hotel but figured we'll just be using the beach and going to Havana, so it wouldn't matter. [... read more] I've stayed in plenty of hostels before so the runned down facilities didn't bother me, but even hostels have better customer service. If you've come all the way to Cuba then I'd suggest going somewhere with better energy - it's so important. Somehow we felt unwelcomed every day and my family was happy to have gotten out of there on the last day.

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Pleasant stay at Gran Muthu in December

We stayed in Gran Muthu in mid December 2022. Overall it was a very pleasant vacation. Hotel is relatively new and well maintained. Modern design with lots of open spaces in lobby, nice ocean view from the bar balcony, comfortable rooms. Grounds are also well maintained, however feels a luck of greenery because the hotel is new and there is not so many mature trees. Check in at the hotel was quick, but before that we had to wait about an hour and a half in the airport until our tour rep acco [... read more]unts to all passengers they had on their list. Also, some passengers including us, had to go thru unpleasant procedure of taking random COVID test. Rooms are very comfortable with nice beds, amenities, furniture, flat screen TV, balconies and patios. A/C works well and there is also ceiling fan. Few minor issues here and there: one shower head was broken, bath robe hook felt down. One annoying issue: TV would loose a signal for 10-15 min, then would start working again. Complained to the guest service, but TV never been fixed, even though technician came once or twice. Wi-Fi is free but you need to book it by 2 HR slots in person at the front desk. Once your 2 HR is over, go back to front desk again. You may turn you Wi-Fi off to prevent its bleeding, and turn it on when you are using it, but it didn't work well for us. There are always few people in the lobby complaining about their Wi-Fi. Food is good by Cuban standards, but definitely not 5 star. Yes, you have lobster once a week in the buffet, tasty fresh ham, prosciutto once in a while, but some basic items are missing: no bacon, no potato of any kind, no butter, only plain yogurt, no seafood except tiny shrimps. Ala cart restaurants are good and seats are limited, so book them as soon as you can. Strange arrangement at 24 HR snack bar by the beach - you have to sit and wait until server comes and takes your order. Being in a snack bar I would prefer to see the food first, and then quickly pick what I like, rather than waiting and then be unpleasantly surprised. You can order a lobster dinner for $22 per person in buffet or Ala cart restaurant. It's worth a price, and it's so huge that you can feed a whole family with just one lobster. Barmen and servers work very well, very friendly and serve fast. Nobody ever ask for tips, but always appreciate when you give. There is plenty of good drinks in the bar, including some premium brands. However, to my surprise there was no tequila at all. So, had to survive on rum and scotch. Actually, there is good selection of premium rum, so recommend for rum lovers. There is also a bar and lounge at the roof for extra price, but we didn't come there. There are also few local restaurants farther at the beach where you can get seafood and lobster dinner for the same price as in the hotel, or maybe less. If you want to experience local food and Cuban ambience, try it. Beach is excellent, clean, with white sand and turquoise water. Chairs and palapas are taken early, so you may have to find a shade under the trees. There is no vendors at the beach, but instead barmen walk and offer drinks. There is night entertainment in the theater, piano players and solo singers in the lobby, lots of loud music beside the pool and sometimes at the beach, so you will not be bored by silence. There is a souvenir market near by at the neighboring hotel, 10 min walk. There is adult only section with their own pool, restaurant and beach section. Nobody at the front desk could give us a definite answer how to move there. Guess there is some price tag to it, but not sure how much and if it really worth. The hotel is worth visit, at least once, with decent food and service, friendly staff and excellent beach.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Christmas vacation

Was pleasantly surprised with the food, but 24 snack bar was dirty and had obvious roaches everywhere. Rooms were dated but clean, common areas clean, but furniture in rough shape. Limited entertainment.

Playa Vista Azul: Best staff ever

From the minute we got off the bus we were instantly greeted warmly by the lobby staff. The staff over at the mini hotel are absolutely wonderful. Rite and Carlos always had our drinks ready, Diane and Yuriel took care of our reservations for dinner everyday without asking. The ladies in the restaurant are kind and always smiling. Our room was beautiful and the food was good

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Just ok

The people of the resort were great, friendly and welcoming. The food was pretty much the same all the time and without flavours. The beds are uncomfortable and the sandflies are terrible. I wouldn't go back here. But not a terrible place by far just not worth the money.

Memories Cayo Largo: Not worth more than $750, 20+ trips to Cuba...seasoned advice:

As always, let me start of by saying I am a seasoned Cuba traveler, and with that I have a lot to compare to...over 20, 3 and 4+ star hotels within the last few years. Since November of 2021 (pandemic times), 6 hotels in Cuba. I am comparing Cuba to Cuba. I’ve never been to Mexico or Dominican. I find that sometimes people will go there, then come to Cuba and “be shocked”. Cuba is different, and even more so worse than before the pandemic. If you’ve been to one of these, that’s wha [... read more]t my comparison is based upon: Hotel Parasio (Pestana), Colonial in Cayo Coco, Memories Flamenco, Tryp Cayo Coco, Melia Jardines Del Ray, Occidental Varadero, Roc Arenas, Grand Memories, Melia Varadero, Be Live Collection CSM, Play Cayo Santa Maria, Memories Parasio, Sol Varadero, Playa Costa Verde Holguin and Grand Sirenas CSM. Top faves would be Playa Cayo Santa Maria, Melia Jardines Del Ray, Grand Sirenas and Sol Varadero. These range from 3 to 4.5 stars. Some 30 years old, some 4. Tips about reviews: If at the top of the review you see “1 contribution”, that’s a red flag, perhaps management. Also, be ware that on social media, some admins will delete anything negative, so you won’t see the true story. Rooms: Sunwing pics are 100% not accurate, they are what the prototype for the new rooms are GOING to be like. The resort is 20 years old, so are the rooms. While NO, I don’t go to Cuba for the rooms, it’s not a pleasant vacation when the sheet/blankets smell and you can’t sleep, can’t shower cause the water is only cold, or like us, burned us cause out of no where went super hot! Same as with the super loud AC, can’t sleep. No fan in the room, and super dark. Rusty old lamps that are enough light of a candle, hard to find stuff in the dark. The electric sockets also came out of the wall when you tried to take a plug out. TV didn’t work (fuzzy screen), not a big deal but one night we just wanted to chill in the room. One lady had the sliding door fall on her, one lady claims she was electrocuted in the shower. I don’t care about the layers of paint, or stains in the tub, but safety stuff like that is pretty important. This was the biggest “Con” of the resort. Lack of sleep due to AC noise and smells. Entertainment: I wish they had an on site disco. The shows were great. Some of the staff were great, some bothered us (chasing us down the beach) about leaving “gifts” even though I hadn’t interacted with them all week. Buffet: Note that we went 1st opening week. Management puts out the best of the best so that word gets around how great it is, and more people book. I spoke with them about this, it won’t always be the same food. It was a good variety, good pastas, but again…I don’t want people booking in say Feb, and being disappointed that “They said the food was good!”. The 1st and 2nd day staff were pretty good, on it if we needed water/coffee/wine. We tipped. Then 3rd day on, we noticed service getting worse and worse…maybe because we weren’t dropping $20 per meal (which is what we saw some people were doing, that’s a months salary, no wonder now $5 bills get laughed at, what did some people create?!) they started ignoring us. Meat grill guy was nice the first day, then day 4 told us we need to pay for lobster $20 per piece or give him our clothes lol. Management said everything in the buffet was free. We got the lobster, and it was surprise….raw. Lobby: The 3 gentleman that work there are amazing, such hard workers! They made fabulous drinks, always quick. I wish there was more seating around the lobby bar as it got packed in there fast in the evening. Only about 10 tables with 2 chairs each inside, so when it rains, you can’t even move around. I would suggest adding more tables to the night show area, at the back, kind of extend the lobby area. Beach: Ah, the big question you read on the forums/fb pages: “Is there a beach?!” Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Day 1 the water was up to the rocks, no sand visible. By day 6, 20 ft of sand. It changes according to the moon/winds/tides. If there is no beach, you can take the train (it’s basically a tractor, painted to look like a train, there’s no railing) to Playa Sirena or Paraiso, however…we were told it won’t always be free. Same as with drinks, food and shade spots at Playa Sirena, won’t always be free! Just note, it’s about 20 minutes and goes over very bumpy sand roads. If you have back issues, are senior or what not, it’s not very comfortable. Taxi one way for 2 people was $8USD on credit card, and goes much faster. Pools: Great layout, I like a good pool vibe after the beach in the PM. Not a whole lot of shade, spots get taken. Somewhat clean, although some people mentioned the pool bar pool was a bit smelly. Snack Bar: Amazing service, had a few things on the menu each day (Burgers, fries sometimes, shrimp sandwich, cabbage/cucumber/avocado salad) I appreciate a good old ham and cheese after too much vino blanco during the night haha. Note: I don’t go to Cuba to make friends with staff. I don’t go with rose colored glasses and ignore the bad because of the friendly people. I will still review the “negative”, people have a right to know before they spend their hard earned $ on vacation. I don’t bother reading reviews that state “I’ve been coming here since 1941, it’s the best! I never go any where else”, why? Because they don’t have anything to compare to. How do you know it’s the best when you’ve never been anywhere else?! Lol. Then you get comments like “If you want 5 star go to a 5 star!” Well, I went to Sol Varadero, 30 year old hotel that’s 3 star, and almost everything was much better, service, rooms, etc. I went to Cayo Largo to try it out. I had a great vacation either way! Would I go back? Sure, if the price is under $750 out of Toronto for a week, it’s worth it 😊

Playa Costa Verde: Terrible resort!

The rooms are so dated it's unreal. Had 2 move twice. Third time a have a room and it's has ants everywhere in our toothbrushes. The front desk Staff are rude and obnoxious. The wait staff at the bars just stand around whilst you wait to get a coffee ect. The front desk staff demand a tip when you go there there's one man inaparticular. He wears designer clothes and is as rude as they come. Still have 4 days to go and not a good place. Only decent thing surprisingly is the food. The manageme [... read more]nt need to take a look at there best practices. This has put a bad taste in my mouth on Cuba as a hole. Will not be coming back to Cuba.

Muthu Colonial Hotel: Great resort!!

Hotel colonial was a great stay in my opinion. Very relaxing and serene in atmosphere. Building and rooms are quite old and need some updates and improvement. The staff were great. They all worked really hard to make our stay more comforting fun. Especially their entertainment crew. Thank you Elvis, Dayanny, Balma Jr. and the rest of team Colonial cayo coco for the great vacation.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Christmas trip

The gardens were beautiful. The bartenders and wait staff were amazing. Pool was huge and clean. Food was decent. French seems to be just as fluent as Spanish there. Excursions were as expected with no surprises. I wish we would have known that they now accept Canadian money.

Hotel Playa Paraiso: Great vacation!

Everything was great on this trip. Our Transat Rep Jorge was very well informed and his initial talk very clear. We purchased the Sunset Cruise, ‘Now Cuba’ trip into Moron & the VIP lounge for the return trip. We used the Hop on Hop Off bus also. The buffet and all the a-La-carte restaurants were very good the nightly entertainment with the dancers was excellent , Xmas Eve show was spectacular! The ‘band’ on our last night was not enjoyed by us. We see lots of live music at home and pre [... read more]fer performers who are pleased when the audience enjoys a show and appreciates us. This show felt like the performers thought the audience was not enough for them & instead of entertaining us they wanted us to cheer more, clap more, dance more , stand more, catch a God forsaken T shirt thrown at us! LOL ! I felt ‘safe’ & did not worry about COVID & thank God Covid protocols weren’t’ in our face all the time!

Paradisus Varadero: Disappointing trip

The hotel has a stunning view of the ocean and a welcoming staff, however the facilities are old and often broken. There was no hot water shower at the beginning, we couldn't use the coffee machine, toilet was not flushing, the door key card was not working etc. Food is not good as well, people simply didn't know how to cook and also there were not much varieties, we were fed up towards the end and had to go out to dine. All in all, we would have expected more from a 5-star hotel, but it's reall [... read more]y disappointing!

Club Amigo Atlantico Guardalavaca: I would go back!

I liked this resort. The resort seemed to go forever. As it was off season the resort wasn't that busy. There was a wide expansive beach. Food was ok, better than other places we've been in Cuba but could still use improvement. They do what they can with what they have to provide. I did not mind the coffee, I did not find it "weak" at all. We ordered from the quiet pool bar, sometimes cappuccino, sometimes espresso, sometimes just coffee, any which way was a treat to be enjoyed. This bar was th [... read more]e all night bar and was a nice place to sit when I couldn't sleep. Servers were friendly and enjoyed the act of serving you. Tipping isn't mandatory but it is so very appreciated. They cannot give coin to the banks so were very happy to be able to exchange coin for paper at face value, sometimes we were sought out to do so. We brought extra $5 bills when we came since I'd read that it would be appreciated. I was quite perturbed over a pair of shoes gone missing from our closet. Other items went missing as well from the room. But once I placed the do not disturb sign on the door, everything was fine. I'm especially annoyed since we paid $240 extra for checked baggage so that we could bring many needed items to Cuba. (underwear, feminine hygiene products, socks, clothing, soap etc.) (85% brand new) The gratitude from recipients is so effusive and genuine, you know that anything you bring is needed. Many haven't had a job for the Covid years! Many items are unavailable as well. The word got out our first day! Maybe the person who "ferried" us to our room in the electric buggy. Maybe the lady at reception. Their need is great so I understood. I found it both gratifying to be able to give and sad to know that the need was so great. Their gratitude is so immense. I bought pillowcases from thrift stores and used those as bags as I didn't want to add plastic to the Cuban waste stream, lol. I returned to our room the first day after breakfast to see our room door open and a maid in front, waiting. I'd already had some "bags" ready and handed her one. Third day, fourth maid and discovered she was our actual maid; the others came from, I don't know where. lol. I enjoyed this trip. It was quiet at the quiet pool. Much work was being done to bring the resort to clean, shiny and new status. No TP issues, my beach bag stash wasn't needed; public bathrooms were always clean. Guards are posted at intervals along the walkways leading to the beach. There were plenty of chairs around the pool and on the beach. We had our own towels (given away at the end) so we did not have towel issues, although that is other tourists not the Cuban peoples. When we first arrived I thought this was the nicest place we stayed at while in Cuba but then we were bussed to another resort by Sunwing due to very late flights, at their expense and the breakfast served there was amazing, but didn't like the room much. A seven day trip turned to four days waiting at airports and hotels. Sunwing has a problem, many excuses were given but the most often was flight crew rest needed. Sunwing gave us a horrendous travelling experience. We needed a vacation from our vacation!

Melia Jardines del Rey: Won’t return to this resort

Room was in a good location but not enough towels we booked 3 people and usually got one towel had to keep asking. Toilet leaks they finally sent maintenance on 5th day. Never had beach towels till 3 rd day . No water in our room for one day then no hot water at all . Beach was good not enough lounges but entertainment was great . Buffett had plenty of food very clean. Line up to get in was way too long and it didn’t open till 7:00 pm so not good for people with young children. Evening enter [... read more]tainment wasn’t great but you can mingle meet people! In my opinion they way over booked it and left the staff to deal with to much . Management was absolutely awful and not helpful at all .

Muthu Colonial Hotel: Resort review

The resort is quite nice, although very rundown, they try their best to maintain it but simply do not have enough man power to do so. The food is not good at all. The bartenders and servers are very nice, the event staff are amazing super friendly and are the main reason why we had fun on our trip. The room itself was very bad as we got bedbug bites and the sheets were always dirty even when getting “clean ones” with constant brown stains. With more help and materials this could be a 5 star  [... read more]resort. And there needs to be a grocery store or something where we can choose our food we want and get snacks. Burger and fries is simply not a “snack”.