Not a four star😕

Where do I start. First getting to the hotel was alright. However, when arriving to Cuba, make sure to bring your own toilet paper because the coach bathroom does not work and airport bathrooms do not have toilet paper in the stalls. The distance from the airport to the resrort is a solid 35 minute drive including drop offs at other resorts. Check in was delayed by an hour because laundry was not working and rooms were not ready. If arriving to the hotel before 4:00PM (check-in time), make sur [... read more]e to bring a swimsuit and a change of clothes appropriate for the weather on hand because the wait is brutal. The snack bars, buffets and bars are open and served the quality food you’d expect from Cuba. The restaurants are the exact same foods just plated up “nicely”, so don’t waste time waiting for a spot there. The beach is beautiful, clean and clear! The natives of Varadero said the best time to visit is November-December😉. The pool is very live and full early in the morning until 8PM. The staff who work primarily for pool activities and beach activities are so dedicated and great at their job. They do a great job at being interactive with the guests and make it an enjoyable time to all. The rooms were definitely not the greatest during the first two days. We had to walk to the lobby multiple times requesting for assistance that never came until the next day to fix the TV, AC and toilet in BOTH rooms. The heat was horrible to sleep in, in both rooms that my family had booked. The next day when we woke up the technician came to fix the AC and toilet in the rooms and it worked in one but the compressor or something in the other room was broken so we were moved two rooms down. After that day the rooms issue was resolved expect for the fact that neither rooms had shower towels for the whole stay though we requested for it multiple times from housekeeping. They provided us with water everyday which was great and made our beds/cleaned up without out fail! *Keep in mind that in order to get anything done for you anywhere in the resort you would need to tip.* For currency make sure that you DO NOT bring pesos as some Cubans or workers will not accept it or appreciate it. They prefer USD or CAD and essentially every other currency. However, if you are Canadian, I suggest that you convert whatever you have to USD back home before coming to Cuba because they WILL UPCHARGE EVERYTHING you buy 5-10 dollars more. If you are buying souvenirs or going outside your resort keep this in mind. Most of the staff is genuinely nice and helpful but some will be extra amazing if you give them good tips and speak Spanish. Lastly, during the nights there is entertainment that goes on from 9:30-10:30PM! It is AMAZING, if you go have nothing to do at night, go to the lobby at the front to meet people or go to the bar and theatre downstairs. They work so hard and the work pays off with the amazing performance given by the dancers and magicians. Very interactive and fun! Check was a mess and the front was not entirely helpful until the last minute. They deactivated our cards countless times before checkout at 12PM and made it so difficult to fix the issue. All in all, the resort itself was enjoyable and a nice getaway after everything was sorted. The beach was amazing, food was typical but occasionally above average for Cuba, and the staff and entertainment is amazing! Check in and check out is not structured properly and needs help. The resort was not completely a four star and would only come back for beach and entertainment. We were stressed at the beginning of the trip when we should have been relaxed. 3/5 rating.

Outstanding!

This was an extraordinary property and great value for the price. Awesome staff and great food selection. A site map would have been beneficial to make full benefit of the many amenities. Looking forward to returning next season.

Great Resort

The lobby was stunning with the infinity pool overlooking the ocean as a view when your checking in, staff at the front was very helpful and always willing to assist you as soon as you approached the lobby. The room was very clean/huge and the AC worked great, everything was updated. The location of the pool and the beaches were easily accessible and access to the paddle boats/snorkeling was no problem. The entertainment staff was always in a great mood and provided great interactive entertainm [... read more]ent for kids/adults alike. The food was very good both in the restaurants and in the buffet. I would definitely stay there again, I would only hope that the staff would understand English a little more as communicating was a slight issue in making sure they knew exactly what you were trying to say, with that being said I just used my hands more to express myself

Great resort

Every single person we have encountered was beyond nice and helpful. From beach staff to lobby staff to room staff. Beach is beautiful. Food wasn’t bad compared to during covid. The grounds are kept clean. The infinity pool is really cool and an added bonus to the lobby.

Amazing

So i went with zero expectations and I was very much surprised. The resort is huge. The pool is huge. There are two of them and both are amazing pools. There is more than enough chairs to sit at. The beach although is small and shares with another resort, its still beautiful and lots of seats. There is a snack bar at the beach area as well as the pool area. Both areas serve drinks. There was activities in the afternoon for the kids. I wish there was a schedule of what activities there are and wh [... read more]at shows would be ok at night so people can plan accordingly. There are 4 a la carte restaurants but one was closed to due maintenance. We got to try all three and the Romantico was my fav as the food was good. The other two were ok. Food was similar to whats served at the buffet. So all in all the rooms, staff, resort itself etc was amazing and now on to food. Ive read about people saying food is bland and so on but think of what they have available. We always found food to eat and tried everything. Took small portions almost teaspoon amount so as not to waste if we didnt like it. Some dishes were not to my taste which is ok but others were delicious. Their fish was amazing. They had a variety of salads, vegetables to make your own salad, fruits, breads etc. They even had themed nights so that was good too. The servers are friendly and after two days they even know what u would have to drink for breakfast. The only setback i had was the language barrier as the chefs behind the stir fry etc were not well versed in english so it was hard to get my selection across but after a few days that too was solved. I honestly have nothing bad to say. It was amazing. The spa was good too. I enjoyed a foot massage twice. We even took a tour to Havana which was amazing. The drinks were slightly watered down but honestly it was so hot that id rather have water than drinks anyway. Basically, go with zero expectations and that way anything above and beyond that will amaze you.

Great resort with friendly staff

Good dining options however if you like things a bit more spicy bring some pepper sauce with you. The staff is accommodating however not very fluent in English so brush up on your Spanish. Extremely clean environment and kid friendly. Do not forget your swim ware.

The worst resort

The resort's lobby looked nice, and the beach was fine, but otherwise everything else was as bad as it gets. The food options are limited, and most of the options tasted bad or old. I got food poisoning, which caused me to stay in the room for 3 days. There were insects in the room and in the food area as well. Overall, it was a really bad experience I would not recommend to anyone.

One of the best EVER that we ever stayed at.

It was a very beautiful resort,we loved it very much,have been going to cuba especially varadero for 20 some years and found our gem,workers from inside to the outside were so so friendly,we will be going back to this one hopefully for many more times,you have to go for yourself to see,I did and no regrets.

They tried very hard

All the employees were working hard..but you can see they are still feeling the effects of covid, one day there was no gas and people were told not till Thursday they were saving for buses so no boat trips. We were on the premium side and really had no faults, but we did see cockroaches in the lobby and people were talking about them. I saw a huge snake and a few other people also saw snakes. which I have never seen before in Cuba, as gardeners kept pretty under control. didn't seem very many gr [... read more]oundkeepers. We heard shipments aren't coming as often to Cuba and the people are struggling and even their supermarkets are pretty bare. We did find the money thing strange they prefer Canadian money now, but if you take big bills really hard to change we waited till the end of the day to change with the bar staff. My husband's vape was confiscated when he arrived but online says now the Cuban government allows it as long as the battery is removed and juice in a bag which he did all well but was still taken didn't tell him anything..but our representative the next day told us how to get back..the only other thing is the amount of Russians and the attitude they carried to the island they were rude to not only to Cuban people but to everyone, one even beat up his wife on the beach and another hotel didn't call the police because they said nothing would be done..our friends said they never return they were pretty shaken,.. wasn't just one group either, many vacationing and they were all pretty much, we are better than the rest of the world and Russia will take over the world..one was saying and then they all laugh..they would be very rude to the waiters ..the lady asked them to take no glass around the pool and he was so rude I thought he was going to hit her.. and they still took glass around the pool.. we just left that pool and went to another pool. The hotel itself is very run down and I would say a 3-star no more.. we paid the premium, but it didn't matter anyone could do the restaurants every night, they just had to wait in line, as not many people at the resort anyways. The hotel was tidy but not clean clean, in our hall the first night we were there someone put a big plate of spaghetti outside the door, and it was still there when we left 7 days later, but animals of some sort ate most of it..disturbing..I would not go back to this hotel. the rooms do not look like the picture.

BEWARE!! COCKROACHES..... ARE EVERYWHER!!!

To start, we booked the premium ocean view room. I'd say it was more of a partial ocean view, as we were on the bend and it was not really a direct view as one would think it would be. Next, it says we get a butler who we can call until a certain hour... how? There was no phone in the room. So in order to book any a la carts, we had to walk across the resort to the premium office and request to get a table for that night. You cannot book a la carts in advance; however, depending who you speak to [... read more], they will tell you different. Therefore... certain people were allowed to book in advance which made restaurants fill up prior to the rest of us peasants being able to book. The room... It was decent and maintained over all. The AC/Fan was not working and maintenance had to come and fix it when we first checked it. Within 2 days, our room FLOODED from the AC. By the time we walked across the resort to inform them of the flood, it took 2-hours for maintenance to come. Who then opened the unit and made the so much worse. he then LEFT it!!! and told us to use our towels to clean it up --- which with 2 towels (we actually used 1 to block the water from moving throughout the room) was not nearly enough... we had to wait another 2 hours for housekeeping to come and clean the water out.... More on the towel situation: they say you can get a new beach towel every day. EVERY day we tried, and failed. As the resort did not have any. We tried at 9am, we tried at 9pm. No towels available. Housekeeping was a joke... The first day we left gifts, and it was fine. The next day we only left a $5 Canadian bill, and it was half-assed. The 3rd day, I left nothing - and we got no towels but they took our old towels! When we went to the desk to ask for towels (again, walking across the resort) we were told there are no towels... How do you take our towels and not replace them?! The food... its Cuba so I had really low expectations, being my first visit and all... It was worse than I anticipated. Many a la carts were out of stuff - and all the menus were the same, if not similar. The difference between the Caribbean restaurant vs. the Italian vs. Seafood? None. The bars... This was a disappointment. I'm very picky with what I drink - strawberry daiquiri's or Pina Colada's. The one guy at the premium bar was the only one in the entire resort to actually make them properly. Forget bringing your own mugs, because it tasted awful. No measuring, did not use the blender that was there... literally rum and they mix poured over ice. The premium bar, had young children sitting at the bar - so, anyone can go to this lounge apparently. Don't believe when they tell you that you need your room key to enter because that's not a thing. Overall, we tried several drinks and they were all disgusting because no one measures... or knows what they're doing. And the cockroaches... save your money and go elsewhere. I expect to see bugs and whatnot, being that the doors and windows are open... I am not into seeing roaches crawling on the walls and tables. How people were sitting in the wicker chairs on the patio off the infinity pool is beyond me... as you move them, and the roaches come out. I could not stand to eat at the buffet after seeing the roaches crawling on the floors, by the food counters, across the tables... It still sends me shivers. What do you eat after knowing the place is infested like that?! The coffee shop was decent. Ladies were friendly, iced frapps were good. I always said I would only go to Cuba when I was too broke to go anywhere else... my advice: don't go - not to this place at least.

BEWARE!! COCKROACHES..... ARE EVERYWHER!!!

To start, we booked the premium ocean view room. I'd say it was more of a partial ocean view, as we were on the bend and it was not really a direct view as one would think it would be. Next, it says we get a butler who we can call until a certain hour... how? There was no phone in the room. So in order to book any a la carts, we had to walk across the resort to the premium office and request to get a table for that night. You cannot book a la carts in advance; however, depending who you speak to [... read more], they will tell you different. Therefore... certain people were allowed to book in advance which made restaurants fill up prior to the rest of us peasants being able to book. The room... It was decent and maintained over all. The AC/Fan was not working and maintenance had to come and fix it when we first checked it. Within 2 days, our room FLOODED from the AC. By the time we walked across the resort to inform them of the flood, it took 2-hours for maintenance to come. Who then opened the unit and made the so much worse. he then LEFT it!!! and told us to use our towels to clean it up --- which with 2 towels (we actually used 1 to block the water from moving throughout the room) was not nearly enough... we had to wait another 2 hours for housekeeping to come and clean the water out.... More on the towel situation: they say you can get a new beach towel every day. EVERY day we tried, and failed. As the resort did not have any. We tried at 9am, we tried at 9pm. No towels available. Housekeeping was a joke... The first day we left gifts, and it was fine. The next day we only left a $5 Canadian bill, and it was half-assed. The 3rd day, I left nothing - and we got no towels but they took our old towels! When we went to the desk to ask for towels (again, walking across the resort) we were told there are no towels... How do you take our towels and not replace them?! The food... its Cuba so I had really low expectations, being my first visit and all... It was worse than I anticipated. Many a la carts were out of stuff - and all the menus were the same, if not similar. The difference between the Caribbean restaurant vs. the Italian vs. Seafood? None. The bars... This was a disappointment. I'm very picky with what I drink - strawberry daiquiri's or Pina Colada's. The one guy at the premium bar was the only one in the entire resort to actually make them properly. Forget bringing your own mugs, because it tasted awful. No measuring, did not use the blender that was there... literally rum and they mix poured over ice. The premium bar, had young children sitting at the bar - so, anyone can go to this lounge apparently. Don't believe when they tell you that you need your room key to enter because that's not a thing. Overall, we tried several drinks and they were all disgusting because no one measures... or knows what they're doing. And the cockroaches... save your money and go elsewhere. I expect to see bugs and whatnot, being that the doors and windows are open... I am not into seeing roaches crawling on the walls and tables. How people were sitting in the wicker chairs on the patio off the infinity pool is beyond me... as you move them, and the roaches come out. I could not stand to eat at the buffet after seeing the roaches crawling on the floors, by the food counters, across the tables... It still sends me shivers. What do you eat after knowing the place is infested like that?! The coffee shop was decent. Ladies were friendly, iced frapps were good. I always said I would only go to Cuba when I was too broke to go anywhere else... my advice: don't go - not to this place at least.

Great resort

Nice resort. Wasn’t too busy. Buffet is reasonable. A la cartes we delish. Staff are very kind. Great place for some actual R&R. 2x beaches, pristine water. Infiniti pool for sunset is truly the most gorgeous view you could ask for. Lots of water bottles given at the resort. Big main pool, plenty of seating. Resort is not that full right now which means minimal crowding (or none at all) and some peace and quiet. You can also play blue tooth speaker if you want to. People like to hear the music [... read more]. Ice cold AC. Building 7 room 7307 was great. Balcony covered by tree for shade. DONT BRING CANADIAN COINS. They are not accepted at their banks and they cannot use them. Bring $1usd and $5 cad for tips. Cat treats for the animals. Cleaning ladies need clothes, shoes, candies, toiletries, kids stuff. Bring clothes you can leave, they are struggling for basic clothing and shoes.

Amazing Resort!!

We loved our stay at the Play Vista Azul. We will definitely be back!! We read a bunch of reviews before arriving and they mentioned to upgrade to Premium so we did that upon arrival. We were not sure if it was worth it at first but it definitely is worth it. Our room was amazing ocean view overlooking the inifinity pool. We had the best time so much enterainment everyday and we never went hungry. The food was awesome in Premium and you can eat Lobster every night if you want. Just amazing.

Nice resort

Fairly clean. Decent food. Friendly personnel and helpful. Very nice infinity pool to take sunset pics and sip away your drinks. There is a long walk to get to the beach, plus it has stairs which is a bit inconvenient. No one comes on the beach to ask you for drinks, even water. So you have to get your own. Also there are no washrooms within proximity, so there is a walk to the main lobby. There were no shows, just some entertainment in the main lobby in the evenings, which was decent but noth [... read more]ing great. It is an okay hotel, but nothing luxurious so I would not give it 5 stars. 4 stars is acceptable.

Playa Vista Azul

Good. Service was very good in Caribero Cuban Restaurant . Servers were.Yuima - Molesy - Amalia and Doralys. Bell man Abel. Room service very creative with bed set up. view from the lobby to Ocean fantastic.

Absolutely Amazing

This was my first trip to Cuba and from start to finish it was absolutely amazing. I was in the premium area and Yuri always made sure to check in and help us with anything we needed. He even got us a spare bed for our room so my cousin and I didn't have to share one bed. Yusi was also so unbelievably sweet. She always made our room look so bright and fun! Carlos was awesome too! He was very friendly and made the best drinks!

Needs improvements

Great beaches, except no service on them. Beach towels were an issue. Booked Premium and feel it helped make our stay (extra restaurants and the ability to make reservations at all the others too). Outstanding service from Jose at the Premium concierge. Others to make mention: Ernesto, Yuri and the lady at the infinity pool bar. Otherwise, the service was hit-and-miss. Most staff work one day on and then one day off, making it difficult to have consistency. Beach bar was staffed with rud [... read more]e people, so much so that we did not eat there once.

Very nice resort!! Beautiful view from our room!!

The hotel was very nice! We went with the premium upgrade! Our friend Jose took good care of us, as well as Diana and Yuri! They tried very hard to make our trip the most enjoyable! Well worth it! Food was good! We went to the Coral restaurant every morning for breakfast. It was delicious food! Cappuccino’s were so good!! Our bartenders, Raymel & Carlton, at the pool took very good care of us! The people were amazing! So friendly! The manager, Arasay was the nicest lady! She couldnâ [... read more]€™t do enough for us! We were celebrating an anniversary and a birthday and Arasay & Jose made reservations at the international restaurant were we enjoyed a delicious dinner and a big cake for both celebrations! We will most definitely be returning as the people made it a very special and memorable holiday!

Mix of good and bad

The people in Cuba are wonderful--friendly, relaxed, open. The beaches at the resort are fantastic! There's free opportunities to go on a catamaran, to use a kayak or pedal boat, or to participate in a class or activity--yoga, stretching, Cuban dancing, or beach volleyball. In the buffet hall there is often a musician playing. The BBQ lunch between the large beach and the hotel was great! Good food! The gym was horrible!! None of the electrical power machines worked--not the treadmills, the  [... read more]elliptical, or the bikes! They took up a lot of room, looked good, and were all broken!! There were no stretching mats and the floors were dirty. The rooms were nice enough. The cleaning lady did a great job and each day made a design (flowers, geese) out of towels or bedding to make your smile. The drawers weren't in great shape. The outsides were filthy and some were difficult to open. A towel rack was hanging from the screws and wasn't fixed the two weeks I stayed. The infinity pool was gorgeous overlooking the ocean. There were some tiles that needed to be replaced but only a few. The bar service in this and all area of the resort was excellent. I didn't participate in the pool activities near the restaurants but people seemed to be having fun. This seemed more for a hardcore party crowd. The food in the buffet was generally awful, even for teenagers! The fruit was often tasteless, the salads generally weren't good--either no dressing at all or only oil with no other seasoning. Unripened tomatoes, stews with tough meat. Eggs for breakfast were good as was the bread, but butter availability was inconsistent. We ate a lot of pasta, pizza, and bread with few veggies! Ice cream was good. I had heard food was bland in Cuba but this was just generally bad! We learned to take a tablespoon of something new so as not to waste, especially after hearing locals suffer a lot of food shortages!! I kept thinking of the movie, the Hunger Games, as I watched fellow tourists leave tons of food on their plates!! The food in the restaurants was a lot better. The service in the restaurants was really, really slow. This resort is outside of Varadero and NOT within walking distance. A local bus costs $5 and taxi's $15. Both have to be taken from outside the resort. I heard tourism is still really suffering in Cuba as the numbers of people that came pre-COVID haven't returned yet so that could be why some things physically haven't been fixed!

Amazing resort

This resort was very clean, well taken care of Food was great , wide variety of different foods ( Italian, Caribbean etc) Both pools were very clean ( although there could of been more pool activities at the main pool, instead of just on the premium side) Rooms were clean Staff were very friendly, helpful and appreciative Beaches were very clean , small beach had a bbq and entertainment at lunch time ( food was amazing ) Lots of different places to get food to eat well into  [... read more]the early morning hours Infinity pool off the lobby definitely had the best view of the ocean Shows every night ( Michael Jackson, Grease, comedy etc) Lots of bars around the resort , coffee shop Overall I would definitely go back to this resort I would rate this hotel a 9.5/10