Sanctuary Cayo Largo: Sanctuary Family

Well kept property and the staff are friendly and sincere in wanting to make your vacation the best possible. They work incredibly hard and long hours to tend to their clients and it shows in the numbers of repeat guests that come 2-3 times annually. Small resort but great variety in activities, food and beverage that is not necessarily available in the larger resorts on the island.

Memories Jibacoa: Memories Jibacoa

Overall good. We have been to Memories Jibacoa about 12 times. However, some problems: Missing pool tiles an ongoing problem for years, sharp edges hazardous to feet in pool. They are working on it. Needs to be repaired once & for all. Of 2 hot tubs only one working for years, cold water only, not heated. Hot tubs when used are often dominated by Cubans, who set up for the day, loudly play their own music, even eating in the hot tub. More & more Cubans present, that's not a problem, but a pr [... read more]oblem when, they play their own loud music at the pool or beach, they pile up food on their plates & tables, then don't eat it, they but into lines at bars & food stations, not waiting their turn. The resort MUST maintain its ambiance as a quieter, relaxing, adult place to stay, or it will lose its customer base. Workers & staff are generally warm & wonderful, with the exception of a man & a woman who work at the pool bar & tend to be quite surly, as though you're bothering them to get service. The drinks served vary widely in contents & quality depending who makes them. When classes, events were cancelled, there was no announcement to guests or a replacement staff made available. Get Nelson the omelet man new & more fry pans!! In the mornings the wait staff had to go too far for single cups of coffee. But, the coffee had improved in quality. The quality of wines offered could be improved. Especially in the buffet. Need to get the sail boats fixed, get more sail boats & peddle boats that are operating, extend their operating hours, they quit at 2 pm !! No scuba diving on Sundays, this shouldn't happen when there are days during the week there's no diving due to weather. Some of the best weather days, Sundays, there was NO diving available. Villa Tropical/Jibacoa next door dive 7 days a week. Sometimes there are not enough dive guides available. The dive regulators need better servicing, especially o-rings & mouthpieces. Leaks even from high pressure hoses. I know it's Cuba & parts are hard to get, but safety is paramount. More newer loungers needed around the beach. There was less variety of entertainment, no opera, no aqua ballet, no acrobats, etc. What they had was very good though & well done. Dancers work very hard & are very good. Flamenco dancers were a high light. Musicians very good. Missed the piano player in restaurants & piano bar. Grounds & rooms are well cleaned & maintained. Maids & gardeners work very hard & are very pleasant. We still love the resort & most of the workers. Just, don't let it slip! These are areas that need addressing & soon. Despite all, we will be back as we still enjoy it overall.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: NOT a 4-star hotel.

This hotel is about a 2.5 (star). The beach was beautiful...jelly fish, turtles, crabs, sea cucumbers, pelicans, ballyhoo, etc and beautiful, clear water with white sand! Garbage could be picked up more frequently from the bins, the bush, the sand, etc. The piano bar was also a very nice place to relax during the day and every evening there was live (very good), entertainment. The glass/windows were never cleaned anywhere, mold was present everywhere and often cheaply painted over to cover it [... read more] up. Many rooms (including premium), did not have hot water and a few even had cockroaches. Towels and bedding often had stains and some rooms never had their dirty towels changed. Food/buffet was often very repetitive or limited (serving wieners 3 different ways at once), and as expected, not much flavour. A la carte was better. Friendliness wasn't bad, but employees seemed to be mediocre (in all areas...groundskeepers, waitresses, bus drivers, etc).

Memories Trinidad Del Mar: Lovely holiday

Spent 11 days enjoying beautiful weather, good service, nice beach and decent food. The bus into town is more frequent, now hourly, which makes it easier to enjoy the cafes, markets and art galleries which make the trip more interesting.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Beautiful resort!!

Very friendly staff and great food !!! There was so much to do and the beaches were breathtaking!!! I will go back there not just again but exclusively when I travel to Cuba.i can’t see anywhere else in Cuba that would match this place ❤️

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Not impressed

Third time at this resort and yes the gounds and beach are beautiful but no hot water all week. Towels and sheets not changed and not a great selection of food. It isn't like it used to be. Both Sunwing and Trip Cenral are endorsing this resort as a 4+ star when it should be a 3 at best.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Very nice resort

For the price this resort is perfect. Pool was cooler than we'd have liked but did get in anyway. The grounds were very well kept although there were low spots here and there with water in them which looked mosquito infested.

Grand Memories Holguin: Worst trip EVER!

This resort was by far the worst travel experience for our family of 4 over the last 25 years. This was not what we expected for a week of relaxation and starting the new year strong! My son and I got stomach flu on the 2nd day, and I got elevated blood pressure due to absence of healthy food options. Considering health issues and lack of hotel food and accommodation quality, we decided to leave to resort on January 1 at 7:15 am resulting in rescheduling return flights with Sunwing representa [... read more]tive on December 31, 2025. We have had 3 prior visits to Cuba in the past with a pleasant experience and having a reasonable expectation for travelling to Cuba. Knowing that Cuba offered lower standard for food and accommodations while providing great hospitality, safe environment and trustworthy staff. This resort failed almost at every level as a 4.5 stars resort. I would rate this resort as a strong 2 stars! The dissatisfaction was a general sentiment among many of the guests staying at the resort at the same time. It was almost a chaos! Many repeat customers were shocked and displeased with the current resort conditions – stating it was not like this before. We were told by the resort staff that the resort was in middle of transition from one resort management company to another starting January first; and the current company had dropped the ball so to speak! They had stopped spending money to buy food and keep the right staff level. We witnessed people to get special treatment from resort staff by getting scrambled eggs in a covered plate or beef while these items were not offered to others at large. Food Quality The food variety was limited and unacceptable for a 4 star plus resort. Basically, the food options were hot dogs cooked in 3-4 ways (fried, boiled, and cut in tomato sauce), rice and bread. There was no vegetarian option – only green peas, shredded carrot, and cucumbers or tomatoes on some lucky days (never both at the same time). The resort did not offer a health-conscious option. There was no consideration for food allergy. Given that my son had a severe peanut allergy and my daughter was vegetarian, we were faced with a high risk of life-threatening allergic reaction for my son and no food options for my daughter. It was an effort to find something to your liking to eat. And we were not alone! You could watch people taking a couple of full circles around the food stations and leave with empty plates or a couple of items. You were basically forced to eat something so not to starve! In the buffet there were 3 hot food cooking stations in the evenings (pasta station, taco station and grill station) – all with the same 3 or 4 ingredients (-green peas, sausage, ham, cucumber). -To get food from these cooking stations we had to stand in the line for 50 mins to an hour (we timed it). Pasta and taco stations offered pasta and taco with the same ingredients of peas, cold cut hum and cucumbers, while the grill section offered chicken only. After standing in line for an hour, we would realise that it was not worth it because the food was blunt and unsafe to eat due to ignoring food handling safety procedures. Salad bar was canned sardines, one type of cold cut, shredded carrot, and green peas. There was no greens salad bar, tomato, cucumber, cheese. The New Years eve food selection did include 2 types of cheese; however, it was sprinkled with peanut and peanut butter on the same plate. Not an option for someone with peanut allergy. The soups were salty with fatty pork stock. The dessert included Jello in yellow and orange colour, and melted ice-cream pool. The only juice option was a mango juice, no other options. There were no fresh or dry fruits at all except for New Years Eve dinner at the buffet that offered grapes and apples. We realised that people were simply taking the fruits to their room so that they can have some fruits the following days. The breakfast did not include simple things like eggs, yogurt, fruits, etc. Eggs and yogurt were offered in the premium section only. Since when items such as eggs and yogurt are considered premium items? Food Handling and Service The concept of safe food handling was foreign to the resort staff. The service was extremely slow with long lines. It would take 40 to over 60 minutes to get food. There were no food labels. Important for people with allergy or certain food preferences. The first night, the lady, working at the fajita station, would add ingredients with her bare hand while touching everything else with the same hand through the cooking process. The second night, the guy, working at the fajita station, would use the same fork to add raw chicken pieces to the grill and later to add diced cucumber to the already cooked fajita and chicken. A serious risk of getting salmonella. The chicken breast pieces were not fully cooked. You could spot uncooked pink parts. This issue was shared by many others. Again, a great risk of getting salmonella. There was no serving spoon in the jello bar. Meaning, individuals had to use their own spoon to get jello from bowls. The other food stations shared a single tong among 4/5 types of salad or food. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the buffet was filthy (the floor and the food cooking stations). We saw cockroaches crawling on the food cooking station. Wait staff in the buffet were unfriendly, slow and nowhere to be found. There was no one to seat you or fill your glass with water or ask what kind of drink you want. If we would find a waiter and ask for water, it would take 30 mins to get it after numerous reminders. Room Initially, we were given 2 rooms both with king beds for us and our children. Later, they switched us to 2 rooms with double beds as they could not resolve the issues with the initial rooms. They were cockroaches and bed bugs in the rooms. The door latch was missing from inside. The balcony door lock was not working. The safe door was not closing. There was no working TV or working room phones. The room door was not easily opening with the card. We would get stock outside our room with frustration. The air conditioning controller was broken – not able to adjust the room temperature. There were coffee mugs in the room but no coffee machine. There were only two towels in the room, so we had to use the same towel for face and shower. Towels were not changed daily. There was no extra toilet paper, whatever was on the roll. The room fridge only offered one bottle of water. There was no internet in the rooms. Main lobby The water dispenser had no water only filled with ice for hours. The staff didn’t make the effort to refill with water. You could always spot dirty glasses, cups, and plates on the tables. There was no timely cleanup. Public Washrooms The washrooms were filled with unpleasant smell either due to aging facility or not timely cleaning. The washrooms did not have operational or refilled soap dispensers. Door locks were broken. WIFI / Phone System Weak and unreliable WIFI. WIFI only worked at certain areas – could not stay in touch with family members in the resort. The phone in the rooms didn’t work - no dial tone. Could not call the reception for a service request. Since most of the things were not operational in our room, we had to physically walk to reception to ask for it to be fixed. The resort didn’t have landline to make a collect call. Had to use own personal phone. Beech and Pool The beach and pool areas were not attained at all. We never saw a resort staff to clean or put chemicals in the pools. The beach and pool chairs were broken, dirty and misplaced, dirty paper cups all over, garbage and seaweed covered shoreline.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Memories caribe- Cayo Coco

Just got back from Memories Caribe and had an awesome trip overall. Great vibe, great people, and a beach that honestly steals the show. The good stuff • Shockingly comfy bed • Gorgeous lagoon view from our balcony (room 2016) — 10/10 would wake up to that again • Super central location near the beach, buffet, pool, and premium breakfast • Staff were AMAZING — friendly, warm, and genuinely cared • The beach ? Unreal. Stingrays, starfish, jellyfish, pelicans… basically a nature docum [... read more]entary The not-so-great • One king bed shared with my niece (bonding level: extreme) • Bathroom privacy = nonexistent (glass toilet, open shower… good luck) • No hot water for showers all week • Pool was very cold • Nightlife shut down early (piano bar at 11 pm, nightclub shortly after) • Concierge wasn’t much help on our delayed-flight chaos day Pro tip Bring ketchup, peanut butter, oatmeal, toilet paper, and bug spray. I survived the mosquitoes… my niece did not. Overall A charming resort with a fun vibe, amazing staff, and a stunning beach. A few hiccups, but the memories (pun intended) were worth it.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Hotel is lost its four star rating

This is just an awful place to take a vacation for one week other than the beach there's absolutely zero customer service during the week. the beach bar both of them completely out of ice for 2 days major problem is none of the telephones work in the Suites you can't get a hold of the front desk for any little thing unless you actually walk to the front desk and then half of them don't even know what you're talking about the food menus where there used to be four or five stars menus are complete [... read more]ly gone in all the à la carte restaurants here the menus are still posted but there's nothing available on them so you don't know ahead of time which restaurant to go to cuz they don't post what they're actually serving until you sit down and then you get the big disappointment you are left with practically nothing to choose from for dinner for appetizer or dessert. the newly renovated rooms are very nice. The breakfast and Buffet area food is okay it's the only real place to eat but the menu never changes there was no shrimp no Lobster there was not even any type of beef steak other than hamburger pork and chicken it's pretty well used in every dish The resort bars for a day and a half completely out of draft beer that was unbelievable, as well as some premium stock Liquors you could not get like vodka and a few others where sold out at times.Resort grounds are kept beautifully trimmed the beach of course is beautiful even though half of it is gone it's nothing like the pictures you see on the website .there's no such thing as premium or personal concierge you can't get a hold of one anyway because the room phones in the entire Resort are dead.the biggest disappointment is the premium Club office personnel after the very first day they disappeared most Personnel that was left to serve you practically don't have a clue of what's going on in this Resort .there was also only one show in the week 7 nights only one show all the rest of the shows were canceled. most bartenders and restaurants staff had poor communication skills like everyone else at this Resort especially the management at the front desk and the premium service office staff could barely understand anything you tried to ask them they just shook their head with no clue of what to do.not trained well about operations in the entire Resort

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Will return

Am a repeat visitor to this resort. The people are great. Very friendly and helpful. Had the pleasure of meeting Maria from public relations. I personally think the ala carte restaurants are very good. The resort is very clean and the beach is beautiful. My only criticism is the inconsistency of hot water and the lack of water pressure for showers.

Grand Memories Varadero: NO WAY!!!! RUNNNNNNNN......save yourself the trip and pay extra to go to another destination!

The hotel was horrible, had no hot water for the entire duration of our stay! The room smelled like mold and the outside smelled like the sewage was going to back up at any moment. The toilets didn't flush right and coming from a northern ontario county I know all about septic damage! This hotel was not a 4.5 Star like the rating gives it.....more like a 0.5 Star! We arrived and my husband and kids walked into their room on the first night to it looking like there was a massive orgy that just ha [... read more]ppened! The room was not clean, the beds were slept in , there was viagara on the counter and condoms between the beds!!! Like what kind of Smile Kids Resort is this!?????? If this isn't enough to read it gets better m the bathroom had piss in it and my teens shared a room that the lock and door pad was broken and falling off. Keys never work and you walk over a mile to the front desk to get another one (IF Someone is there you are lucky)! The pool was half empty and when they finally filled it on the 3rd day it was sub-zero temps! Don't forget to pack lots of snacks and make sure you bring condiments that you would enjoy! But its CUBA, the beach is a beauty and the water is clear! Mosquitoes are hungry so don't stay by the sand after 6 pm! I really feel like if Sunwing and TripCentral don't think my family deserve another holiday then thats a shame.....no hot water.....staff even complaining and agreeing with how we were all staying is not right. To think, we brought over 20 people to this resort at an average of $1300 per person!!! Great Memory for sure!

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Good Resort - Getting a little dated

Dec 22 - 29th!! Good Resort, Getting a little old. Beach's and Beach bar's & food shacks were good, clean and white sands!!. Lot's of Bar's - food options! Staff is very friendly and grateful to help! Lacked coke & soda water? No hot-water for showers. Pool was cold New staff change-over, slow on room access & set-up, supplies

Grand Memories Holguin: My Honest Review

Here's my honest review of our stay (December 27th - January 3rd) . We booked our trip to Grand Memories Holguin last minute (one week prior) and elected to go with the Premium rooms. Since we were traveling with our 2 teens we booked two separate rooms. Our rooms 3434 & 3435 were in building G and were ocean/pool view. They were modern and clean and no signs of any pests during our stay. Maids were great and replaced our towels and bed sheets daily and restocked our mini fridges with coke, s [... read more]prite, beer and water as needed. Our first 2 days the food was poor even for Cuba standards with very limited food selection and no vegetables or fruit at all at any of the restaurants. We even ventured to the nearby market to try and buy some but they too had nothing. From day 3 and onwards the food got a lot better and suddenly had tomatoes and cucumbers and even fries but no other greens. Their bread is made fresh daily and is really good. Buffet has good pizza but limited to cheese, tomatoes and ham only. They also have pasta with tomato and/or alfredo sauce although they lack parmasean to give it more genuine flavor. Their grilled wraps are quite good and have choice of chicken, pork or Tuna and have similar taste to a melt sandwich except I found these to be tastier than ones back home due to their freshly made/baked bread wraps. They do also have a wide variety of other meal stations but they do lack any greens -lettuce, spinach, broccoli, etc.. Their desserts were pretty good too - my personal favorite was their guava ice-cream. Since we had 2 Premium rooms, we had 2 butlers ( Orlando & Luiz) who were each helpful in getting us reservations to the 4 allacarte restaurants as well as dinner reservations at the Premium restaurant. Therefore we ate dinner at 5 different restaurants over our 7 days. Japanese was the best in terms of entertainment followed by Creole, Agea, Premium and Italian based on our likings of the food. Each allacarte had 3-4 course meals so we left full every time Drinks They DO NOT have any Vodka and unless your Premium, no coke either.. But they do have a decent selection of rum and whiskey and tequila. Pina-colodas were hit and miss based on availability of ingredients but they always had espresso martinis which were tasty. Mojitos were also hit and miss based on (mint) availability. The 3 pools all looked clean although we opted for the beach instead which was cleaned every morning of weeds/ rubbish. That said, there is some garbage which floats in from the ocean with waves. The water right in front of the hotel was clear but often stirred up by the waves however 5mins down from there the water was insanely clear mostly due to the reef which broke down the waves. Snorkeling was amazing and we saw every type of fish possible- just like visiting an aquarium, and found numerous shells and conch's. They also had pedal boats and kayaks which could be reserved for free. We also booked an excursion which incluuded sailing via catamaran, Snorkeling and visiting an island with a jeep tour of the wildlife including zebras, antelope, wild horses and iguanas. The beach was amazing and the Snorkeling was AMAZING. Had I'd been asked to rate my experience on our first 2 days, I would have been a lot more critical and advised people not to come. While they are still lacking green vegetables and most fruits, I would rank my stay as 3 out of 5 and would therefore return to Cuba but maybe try a different hotel closer to the bigger cities as I believe the issue with their lack of supplies has to do with this resorts isolation coupled with Cuba's fuel and other shortages.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Horrible Experience

This is our 10th to Cuba and our second time to this resort but has gone downhill since. The biggest issue was the shortage of toilet paper in the entire resort. There were times where every stall was out of toilet paper. There are no soap dispensers in the pool area bathroom. We paid for the premium package which we did not receive at all. We were to have the premium drinks and that bar was actually not even open. Customer service for the first time in our many trips was very disappointing. We  [... read more]know what to expect regarding food in Cuba but the food shortages was shocking. Ran out of food everyday half way through service. I am so disappointed with our entire trip. Although the snorkeling trip was amazing thanks to Daniel our guide. A big shout out Maria and Yanet as well.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Great resort!

The following is our review of our trip Dec 27/25 Sanctuary area: very good Pool: ok Rooms: dated but clean Beach bar/pool bar/24hr 'Cigar' bar: great Sanctuary restaurant: very good Staff: Amazing! Private Beach: Amazing! Memories buffet: lots of good options but too many annoying people Memories Specialty restaurants: great food but ridiculous wait times (over 1hr 3 times) Airport shuttle: fair (45 minutes) Overall a great week with no shortages and enjoyable time

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: It’s all about managing expectations!

Here are some of our observations BOOKING Our Trip Central travel agent met our expectations, she was efficient, responsive and timely. HOTEL TRANFER AND CHECK-IN We arrived late at night and dropped off at the other lobby. We had to find our way to the Sanctuary side on our own. Someone to greet us with golf cart would have been nice! Check-in was rather quick. Wish they had bracelets with built in door key. We booked Sanctuary premium and no regrets. Most people say paying premium  [... read more]does not give you extra and it did for us. We had a room with a view facing the walking path to the beach. Perfect! Our flight was delayed and we stayed an extra night, they put us up on the Memories side and this is when we truly saw the difference, There is no way I would have stayed in that room for a week. The furniture was falling apart, the drapes were hanging off the track, the beds hard as rock, the bath tub was a hazard, you had to step over a high wall to get in, definitely a safety issue. ROOMS The rooms are very dated, the furniture is old, some mood is visible in washroom as well as spots on bed skirts, the mirrors were all stained (looked like varnish splashes). The fridge was well stocked, the air conditioning worked at max only, otherwise it would drip. Not enough electrical outlets in the room. The phones don’t work. Tip: bring candle to change the smell and small flashlight in case of power outage. FOOD AND DRINKS Always something missing; they ran out of white wine on day 2, the blender drinks were not good, the beer was ok, the coffee was terrible, lots of unknown dishes at buffet, lots of wieners, no French fries, no pizza, no shrimps, disgusting hamburgers, omelettes made with Parmesan powder, no milk, no ham or other cheese at omelette station. The fried rice at lunch was good but after a few days, you had enough, The ham and cheese sandwiches were a good choice st the pool snack bar and they became our regular lunch with soup every day. The soups were ALL excellent. The a la carte restaurants were good and a nice chance, the oriental restaurant does not serve Asian food, it’s chicken, pork or fish like the other restaurants. The Cuban party by the pool offered great food, the best salmon I had all week. BUTLERS Efficient, easy to reach and quite responsive. BEACH Awesome, great attendant most days, they find you a spot on the beach and also serves you drinks. They alternate every other day, one of them was not as good, he was more interested in selling cigars and chatting with lifeguards or other workers. POOLS Although we did not spend much time there, we noticed they were super clean, we watched this man clean and he was very thorough. CIGAR BAR The best drinks, the best atmosphere, comfortable seating and great live entertainment. They also had great little canapés that were delicious. Overall 6/10 The price was right, we went on a budget and did not have high expectations, as such we were not disappointed.

Grand Memories Varadero: Should be a two star

Hi Natalie I just wanted to reach out and take a second to tell you about probably the worst trip of my life. My uncle and I landed in varadero December 26 arrived to the hotel and checked in got our room like every other time (everything was normal) got to the room and noticed it was very dated and dirty (room #21322) I went to get in the shower and was surprised by no hot water.my uncle pulled back the sheets and what looked like body fluids.so he paid the cleaner $50 American to clean the ro [... read more]om. I went to the customer desk and talked to the lady’s at the front desk and told them about no hot water and how the room was a mess. They told me to come back at 9:30am tomorrow morning and we will change your room. I got back to the room with new sheet on my uncles bed and we went to 24 hour snack bar for a snack(probably the worst excuse for a hotdog ever seen ). Work up at 3:00am freezing cold and couldn’t turn off the a/c the thermostat wasn’t working so I turned off the breaker. And the door key never worked and had to get the cleaning lady to let us in or get the keys programmed daily. Wake up in the morning go to the front desk and they said come back at 4:30 pm so we went to buffet. It was so dirty and smelled so bad I couldn’t eat. My uncle had some omelette and I went to get some toast but couldn’t find any butter. After a 4 days we finally got a new room with hot water which was amazing but the room was also dated and dirty and the door key actually worked but the a/c didn’t(no big deal ) after 4 days of trying to find something to eat and wishing for a little bit of butter they wheel into the buffet and sculpted crocodile and what I think could be a deer out of butter(I was like that’s where the butter has been?) cockroaches running around the buffet and smells terrible wasn’t in the mood for food anyway. Needless to say I been to varadero 36 times in the last 4 years I’m sure I have a file with you guys I normally stay at the occidental arenas Blanca’s for cheap $540-$900 or I stay at Melia internacional for $1400-$2400 per person. I payed $2250 per person for the worst Cuban experience I have ever had in my life and paid the most money for it. I’m incredibly disappointed to say the least hopefully something can be done about this. Thanks Rob

Memories Jibacoa: Memories Jibacoa

The hotel and grounds were well kept and everything worked well. The best part was the staff who were all friendly, enthusiastic, and high energy. The entertainers, dining staff, and housekeepers were all very nice and helpful.

Memories Jibacoa: Fantastic Resort! Staff second to none!

This hotel is somewhat outdated, but it is extremely clean and very well maintained. Considering it’s Cuba, the food was very good, and the staff were absolutely excellent—perhaps the best I’ve experienced at any resort. You can tell they are proud to work there; they are enthusiastic, genuine, and consistently welcoming every day. The staff truly make this hotel what it is. Another great feature is the location. The resort is about an hour from Havana, making it perfect for a worthwhile day  [... read more]trip, and the surrounding areas are absolutely stunning. The beach was also very beautiful and easy to walk, adding to the overall relaxing atmosphere. This is a very peaceful resort, and I would highly recommend it. Thank you to Trip Central for the help in finding this resort.