This could be an excellent resort.

The grounds and the general lay out of this resort is better then most. The staff try their best to provide excellent service and if you like a piano bar this the resort for you. The food is average and the bar service good to very good-the bar in the lobby is the best. The resort is older and has some problems. In our first room the toilet leaked resulting in a wet floor which was not fixed so we were given another room which did not have hot water. The staff tried to fix the problem but were  [... read more]not successful. Our daughter in a room near by experienced no problems with her room. The rooms were always clean as was the resort but most of the public toilets had problems like no seats or locks on the doors. This resort needs upgrading and if this is accomplished we would consider returning. We do not recommend this resort at this time.

Good value for the money

i liked it better when it first opened,i was there in 2002 and the animation team they had then got people up and doing things and the place wasn't run down.there wasn't many people at the resort so easy getting things you wanted,the staff was friendly and helpful.it seemed like the staff was mostly young people just learning how things were to be done.i didn't get the rooms i asked for so that started my time there on a bad note but the rooms i got were good and joined together and they explain [... read more]ed to me that one of the rooms i wanted i could have but the joined room was under construction at the moment.i did meet up with a couple of the staff i knew from before so that made the trip worth while.maybe next time i might try one of the other newer resorts in that same area.

Sol Cayo Santa Maria

Booked this resort in May and on July 9th arrived at the resort only to find out we were not booked at this resort. Got moved to Melia Cayo Santa Maria. Don't like paying out lots of money to have our vacation plans changed because the resort booked the S-Trip Graduate experience group there. The hotel was still under construction for the pipes to the bungalows and safety was definitely an issue there. Many of the students were complaining they had no water, the toilets would not  [... read more]flush and the showers did not work. We have friends that work at the resort and were so looking forward to spending time with them and couldn't as a result of not being booked at this resort.

DID NOT GET THE VACATION WE HAD BOOKED

BOOKED THIS RESORT ON MAY 13TH FOR JULY 9 TO JULY 16 AND ON ARRIVAL DAY GOT TO RESORT ONLY TO FIND OUT WE WERE NOT EVEN BOOKED AT RESORT. RESORT WAS OVER TAKEN BY THE S-TRIP GRADUATE EXPERIENCE WITH 583 STUDENTS BETWEEN THE AGE OF 16 TO 18. AS A RESULT WE WERE MOVED TO THE RESORT NEXT TO SOL.

Excellent Vacation

Unfortunately there was an issue at Sol so the Melia group of hotels upgraded us to Las Dunas. The service was friendly, the resort was well maintained. We would definitely return to Las Dunas again!!

Reasonable Price

Relatively old resort! The water facility was broken when we signed in. Lucky we got upgraded to Melia Las Dunas which is 2 km from this resort. Air conditioning was broken in my last visit and I had to moved to another room. Some of my friends had been moved more than one time.

I have low standards, too close to unacceptable

It took some time for me to write a review because i was so disgruntled. Went to Sol Cayo April 30th/16 Travelling alone tends to make a person more tolerable of a bad situation. I made the best of a very poor quality resort. Very poor to no lighting at all for the exterior of the building and no lighting to find my room at 12:30am upon arrival made for an interesting first night. There is condemned out of order bathrooms at the pool area and pool bridge railings that were rotted off completely, [... read more] path ways to the beach roped off because the wood is so rotten there are full sections missing, the path ways that are open have rotten boards that are loose with nail heads sticking up lord help anyone with kids that are excited to get to the beach it is trouble waiting to happen, these are just a few indications of how in dire need of repair all of this resort is. The "night life" is non-existent except for the wild life lol. They advertise the Sol Melia and Sol Cayo as being adjoining properties but if you try and go through the open arch way to the sister property you will probably be met by a guard telling you that your not allowed, go around in behind the buildings or out the road way to the front entrance and through the lobby. Running out of ice at the pool bar for more than half a day not just a few minutes or an hour when the place is at maybe 25% capacity, really! Food was good for the most part, but when you change an a la carte dining location the signage should be changed also or you end up in the middle of another "out of order" area where there used to be a restaurant, easy enough to ask just an added proverbial thorn. Beach was enjoyable and good food there. You get what you pay for, a place to sleep which was actually a very good room, sun was bright water was wet and beach was sandy ;-)

The best staff

We have travelled to Cuba many times and the beach and staff are always amazing but this resort topped the list in these areas. The food was typical Cuban resort for the buffet but their al la carted were amazing and also offered the beach bar and a pizzeria which were amazing. Entertainment and entertainment staff were well organized and put on an amazing show ever night with something different each night of the week. Would travel again to this resort. Probably the cleanest of any older resort [... read more] we've been to. I felt comfortable in bare feet

Nice but dated

Personnel is very friendly, ground is nice. Food is decent. There was problem with hot water. We had it 3 days of 7. Room was clean. Cleaning lady was nice and did a good job. But room amenities are old. We had problem with bath.

Sol Cayo Santa Maria

Hotel needs a bit of TLC...a little run down. The staff was very good. Food was quite good... but not a huge selection. Very little variation from night to night in the buffet. Both a la carte dining was quite good. Beach was great...beautiful water... my main reason to go to Cuba.

The resort is beautiful

The resort is beautiful the grounds are well cared for the food is excellent the servers could have some English lessons The maintenance people are the only problem there they don't fix anything that needs to be fixed The beach is beautiful I was very impressed with this resort I will come again and I will recommend it to all my friends

Needs a refresh, but still good

My first thought was "this place needs a coat a paint and some new fixtures", but it grew on me. Overall, this is a good place for the price. If you have not stayed on Cayo Santa Maria, you should know: it is 90 minutes from the airport. Just getting to the mainland is a 50km drive on the causeway. That means if you want to do something off resort other than the dolphin show or the shopping "village", you are going to have a long drive. If you're looking for action, go elsewhere; if you want to [... read more] relax on the beach or at the pool, this is the place! Rooms: The rooms are decent-sized, with a big balcony (a plus when the kids go to bed early!). If you are a family of four, I recommend asking for two extra cots/beds. The "double" size bed is not really double. Our kids are still small, so we managed fine with just one extra cot. The beds are hard and the pillows, well, not very pillow-y. But after playing in the sun all day, we hardly noticed. Resort: As stated above, the resort needs a bit of a refresh. Nothing is horrible, just a little dated. It seems like some of that is in progress - there was a crew painting the beach restaurant; and another group going around with clipboards taking notes of things that were obviously in need of repair. In another year, my comments may not hold true anymore! The pool and pool area is huge with a decent amount of lounge chairs around. I wish they cleaned the pool a little more often since the palm trees around tend to shed leaves into the water, but it's not a big deal. Staff: The staff was amazing, especially with the kids! Entertainment: We didn't really partake in most since the kids were in bed early. Food: At the buffet, the food was plentiful, with a good amount of selection; and at least part of the menu was rotated. At every meal, there was an option for something prepared fresh - omelettes/crepes, fresh pasta, fried rice, and a selection of meats and fish cooked right in front of you. Lunch and dinner usually had a roast of some kind - turkey, pork, beef, etc.. There was usually pizza and pasta available for picky kids. The pizza/pasta restaurant (Los Flamencos? - on the West side of the resort) is open for lunch and makes a good pizza! My only complaint about food is a lot of it tends to be overcooked. I assume this is a food safety thing. On the bright side, with the fresh grilled meat/fish option, you can tell the staff when to take it off the grill.

Beautiful beach, medium resort.

Grounds, rooms, public area needs TLC. From replacing and adding lights to cleaning beautiful tiles around pools. Food is OK. Resort staff is amazing! Missing a lot Cuban music! Missing also Creole and la Picua restaurants.

Not there for the facility, the staff tried hard

The weather, Ocean and beach were wonderful. We don't go to Sol Cayo Santa Maria for the facility and it's comfort. The food was OK and the staff were great. The entertainment was good. The facility is not well maintained with many obvious weaknesses. Repairs are being done poorly. They made an attempt to deal with the "no see ums" (biting fly's) but with little success. Those almost ruined our trip. There were very few supplies or practical items at the gift shop.. mostly gift items and drinks.

Great Resort to Relax

Good buffet with lots of choices, but I was not impressed with the food in both a la carte restaurants. Club Cubano Los Flamencos near the beach had great pizzas and pasta. Very friendly service.Good evening entertainment.

Great agents at trip central!

Been 4 times now using trip central, amazing agents and quality service. They were dedicated to my planning and spent the required time to make my experience enjoyable. Dedinitely would recommend using them

Friendly clean resort

Staffs are helpful and friendly. Overall the Resort and room are kept clean and have a beautiful beach. The buffet food could be better. My main reason for Santa Maria is for fishing.....it was amazing, worth the trip!

Amazing resort with Friendly staff!

Sol Cayo Santa Maria was our second time stay. Our first trip was ocean view this time we also got ocean view for free! We been to Cuba 6 times!! It is definitely our hot spot! We spent most our time at the beach. Water is amazing! Only flaw was both of us getting stung by a jellyfish. Ouch! Varadero is my greatest liking! Overall this is a great place to see!!

Overall ok, Great value

Beautiful beach, clean room. 1st few days resort was packed with Cuban government guests and food was disappointing, plus staff didn't seem too happy. When they left 2 days in, food and staff morale improved dramatically. Overall great value, and snorkeling was good on the rock shoals accessible right off the beach once you walked past nudist section. Great value.

Good small quiet resort

This hotel was a nice small size, good for family with younger children. It needs some updating, but the rooms were clean. The buffet restaurant needs updating very dark and gloomy feel. Add some nice colour to it and table clothes would help. Plus a good cleaning. Its was not appetiting to see dirt on the Handel's of the juice containers. This tells me the lids never get a good scrubbing. The food was ok for Cuban standards, we could always find something to eat. More English speaking waiters a [... read more]nd staff would be helpful, it was hard when no one could ask questions to any of the staff as they could not understand you. Main pool could be deeper. No night life, shows were very lame. They did have a beach party one night that was fun. Beach is amazing and does have snorkeling just past nude beach. All and all its an ok resort. I would go back if they update the place some.