Nice resort great people maybe a 3star at best

beautiful grounds all the staff were great to deal with, the cleaning staff did a good job on cleaning the rooms ,the food never changes typical Cuba fish and pork I would rate this 2 or at best a 3 small resort inexpensive therefore many Cubas use it for there holidays for 3 days we had 40 use the place for a conference ?there are much better places to stay in Santa Maria

Beautiful beach, food was even worst than expected...

Cubans are amazing people, and this is one of the reasons I go back to Cuba. I must have been to Cuba at least a dozen times in the last 20 years. I never put any expectations on food, but this time it was really bad. Cuba's hurting... If you are going for the beach, one week of relaxation, they it is still a good place to go for the price you pay. Just make sure there are many of you, as a group you will always have a good time!

Excellent Vacation

Great first trip after the Covid shutdown. Starting from the airport, YYZ and plane still wearing masks but no lines or issues. Plane was only 3/4 full so we had empty seat beside us. Cuba and SNU, masks not required. Bus ride to the hotel was about 1.25 hours with great commentary and lots to see. Check-in at hotel Dhawa was fast as only 8 people got off the bus. Lobby was large and very clean, and they brought us a welcoming cocktail, everyone was friendly and courteous. Being low season and r [... read more]ecovering from the covid lull, the hotel only using 2 of the 11 buildings on the property. So, I figured 20% capacity, we were taken to our room in building 3, beautiful, large, bright and very clean on 2nd floor with a perfect balcony view of the ocean. The hotel was maintained, and everything was close by. The pool was beautiful, large, 2 levels, crystal clear and warm with a swim up bar. The beach was spectacular, about a 1/2 kilometer long to the Angsana hotel. The water was clear calm and warm, and the beach was clean. never issues with lounge chairs or palapas. Now being low occupancy, it was a wonderful time to get to know the staff as they were not overly busy. This is where this hotel really excels, all of the staff are wonderful, helpful and make a real effort to chat and get to know you. They are all very good at what they do, and they made this vacation very special for us. There are no covid restrictions at the hotel, but the remanence of covid still remains. They still have had issues getting certain items, lending to shortages in food, alcohol/wine and mix, each day would be different. What they did have was decent, as you could always find something to eat or drink as they made the best of what was available. All in all, we had a wonderful time and would go back to this hotel. the area is spectacular (also if you like to walk there is an adjacent Salinas beach which extends about 3 kl to the Villa Los Brujas and marina)

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria

We enjoyed our stay in Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria very much; white sand beach with crystal clear water, ocean view rooms and good foods and service. The night entertainments were mostly a very loud disco in the lobby which was annoying to us most of the time.

Fell in love with Cuba, fell in love with Dhawa!

I am so glad we decided to go with Dhawa for our first trip to Cuba. The entire package was incredibly cost effective with absolutely everything planned and taken care of for us from our flights to our hotel transfer. We felt like celebrities being welcomed at the airport by our transport, and almost the entire way to the hotel on the bus our advisor provided useful information and some history of Cuba - it was like a free tour! The resort is absolutely beautiful and the staff in all the restau [... read more]rants and bars and for all the amenities and activities were like family members welcoming us home; they couldn't have been nicer. The lobby staff seemed a bit more stressed and scattered, which is understandable as they get very busy sometimes. It is a newer resort so everything is absolutely gorgeous, but it does mean that they are still figuring out some of the amenities and activities - so take the entertainment with a pinch of salt, and be prepared for a whole lot of dancing! The gym is also a bit smaller, but there is a nice balance of cardio and strength based equipment and the staff are so friendly in there. The trip advisor was so very helpful with all of the tours that we wanted to do, and we saw some incredible things for such reasonable prices - I would recommend literally ever tour, and would suggest doing more than 1. The only minor inconvenience we had is that the wifi is done in units of hours, and is only available to "top-up" between 9am and 5pm. Sometimes after not using my phone for the day, I was still unable to connect to the wifi, making it a little difficult to contact friends at the resort to figure out when we were meeting for dinner and where. We just got good at having a schedule and sticking to it, and took it as a welcome break from our phones. The views really are stunning here, but I think the staff really made Dhawa the ultimate experience for us and would absolutely go again.

Fabulous resort

This resort was very clean, grounds were well taken care of. Handy at the 24 hr bar made me a special drink that was great, Richar at the Buffet always made sure I was always happy, very attentive. Thank you for a great week!

Good resort for money paid, amazing beach and pool

We liked the beach and beach activities, also the beach bar : Armando is excellent and speaks fluent English. Julio at catamarans is very good too. Pool area is big and beautiful. However, the beach is so perfect, we never went to the pool :) The rooms are spacious and mosquito net is very well protecting. The ocean view is amazing from 3 floor, 5 building. The food is ok. Could be boring for gourmands, but we were ok. Beautiful garden. Less entertaining than we expected, pity.

Very nice vacation at Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria

We’ve just returned from this hotel. We stayed there in June-July 2022. Beautiful place, really nice clean and wide beach. Clean turquoise water. Beautiful gardens. Clean well kept rooms. Great buffet with a decent choice of food. Very nice staff. People there don’t really show that they only want a tip from you. But of course, accept it with a gratitude. Surprisingly one of the best vacations I’ve ever had. Thank you!

Beautiful resort

The grounds are beautiful, mostly all staff was amazing except the ones at 24/hours snack bar was very rude and didn’t want to serve us. No entertainment! Food got better the last 2 days we were there. No entertainment at night if they was only fashion show. The resort was very clean. Rooms were very well cleaned and bed was comfortable. If you just want to have the beach and quiet this is very quiet resort not much to do. The resort was not busy so they closed most of the event’s beach part [... read more]y was canceled we had no idea where to eat, they keep changing where to open and not enough to choose from the menu either.

Amazing Resort

Most importantly the staff at Dhawa are amazing which made our trip memorable. The cleaners do an amazing job each day to ensure our rooms are spotless clean. I would definitely come back next year...

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We have been travelling to Cuba for over 25 years and absolutely it. We knew with Covid we would experience some shortages, issues etc. and we did. However, having said that, it did not impact our vacation one little bit! The Good (1) The Staff. The staff here are amazing, from reception, to the restaurants, the maids, the gardeners and the beach. A shout out goes to Lissandra and Carlos in the Buffet restaurant, and Francisco and associates at the beach. (2) The beach. The beach is ama [... read more]zing – warm, crystal blue waters, white sand, lots of palapas and chairs. We walked it every morning. A shout out to Francisco for always setting us up on the beach. (3) The food. The majority of the food was delicious. We stayed with freshly grilled meats at the buffets and, although they have limited resources, they do an incredible job with preparations. There was always fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh breads and desserts – always something to eat. In terms of Covid, everyone wore masks and surfaces were constantly disinfected. All staff wore PPE and sprayed your hands as you walk into any restaurant (4) The resort was on the smaller side which was a huge pro. It was not a long walk to get anywhere (5) By far, the absolute best bar was the Havana Club Bar. Cocktails, service and atmosphere was always a treat. Huge kudos to the staff who work there, especially Zehnia. The Bad (1) While waiting at the bars, buffet lines etc., we were often overlooked and locals would just walk up and get served over us. Not looking for priority, but just for everyone to wait their turn. (2) There is NO bathroom at the beach. Not sure how they haven't done something about this yet. (3) There is NO snack bar at the beach either (Just a shack offering tacos) (4) The snack bar is by the main pool and the food was hit and miss. No food or drink menus at the pool snack bar. We had to just guess what they may or may not have. (5) The only thing cash is good for is .. tips! Everything else must be paid for by credit card. The Ugly (1) The resort sprays for mosquitos during busy hours, mostly right before dinner! Everyone has to run to get away from the fumes. I understand the need to spray, but how about when everyone is asleep!? (2) We were in Building #4 right across from the Lobby. I thought this would be a great location but … NOOOO! The disco was right in the lobby so music was blaring until 1am most nights! Who, in their right minds, would put the disco in the lobby?? (3) Always carry toilet paper with you as more often than not, there is no bathroom tissue. (4) The bathrooms in the lobby area had a horrible smell – avoid them if you can! (5) Very little concern for the Non-Smoking Signs or Sections. Everyone seemed to light-up wherever they felt like it. Thank goodness for the Havana Club as it was air-conditioned and no smoking allowed.

Our home in Cuba!

This was our 7th time at Dhawa. We tried many resorts in Cuba but now that we found this gem, we don't go anywhere else. Best service from all employees and great rooms, great beach with lots of chairs and shade and beautiful water. All employees make us feel like we are part of the big Dhawa family. The food this time was the best so far. No shortage here. Lots of drinks except no cans of beer available but tons on draught. The new rhum bar is a great addition with amazing drinks and s [... read more]ervice when you prefer a little quiet time away from the music in the lobby. The snack bar provides great snacks anytime of day or night but the best is Pizza served in the afternoon. Overall we had an amazing time once more. Looking forward to our next visit.

Dhawa resort in cayo Santa Maria good

The hotel good layout ,clean ,great rooms . Food pretty good ,no bacon, drinks well done but no tonic water for my favourite drink gin and tonic.rooms well cleaned,supposed to have in your fridge each day water, 2colas and a beer,there wasn’t any beer during our 11day stay said no cans available! The beach and water was great lots of loungers,great service at beach bar and food there pretty good .all the staff in the hotel were the best I have seen in all my 20years in travelling around Cuba a [... read more]lways willing to help with everything.things have changed with the currency new with one Canadian to 1.20 Cuba. Changing at the hotel better with doing it with the staff ,better deal getting a1.40 for exchange. They are now taking Canadian tips Loonies & toonies .Really like U. S. Dollars bring lots of ones for tipping ,they really need the tips to live. All the stores in area only take credit cards with all prices in U.S. !,most travellers didn’t want to use there card with what happens back in Canada when you get your statement!there was a lot of Cubas at the resort due to the cancellation of Russians not able to go ,so had deals for locals to come . The manager this was done so that the hotel stayed open so that the workers could get paid. Overal a good trip ,might go back when all of todays problem settle down.

Cuba is awesome!

We are very happy with our trip, the service was excellent and the workers were very friendly. The food was very good. The beach was excellent, beautiful water and sand. Be prepared to use a credit card for excursions and pay American exchange rate.

Superlative resort!

Modern, immaculate, wonderful food and beverage selections, especially in the gourmet French restaurant, Maison Gourmet, and the Italian restaurant, Portofino, friendly staff, beautiful grounds, crystal clear water, creative maids who left towels in the shape of a swan or a heart, gardeners who gave flowers to guests or bamboo birds, bilingual customer service personnel, as well as guides. My excursion to Remedios and Santa Clara was a treat as we rode a steam powered train, toured a former sug [... read more]arcane factory and cigar factory, Che Guevara’s mausoleum and museum and dined where a pianist played songs by Edith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, the Beatles etc. Stay inside at dusk, however, to avoid mosquito bites. You will not feel them biting but will be scratching for days! The telephones did not work, but a faulty fire alarm did go off intermittently. Great selection of news channels from across the world in English, French, German, Italian etc.! You can walk to resorts on either side or straight ahead too. Bring bundles of $1. American notes for tips as staff cannot use Canadian coins and a $5. tip for every service such as a washroom at the airport is too much. I left big tips at the end of the week as I had no small notes.

Amazing beach

The most that I liked about this resort is their beach. The sand is soft and clean, the sea water is of amazing emerald color and super welcoming, waves are very tender. The least that I liked is their food. At the same time, I would like to say that no one will remain hungry, the food selection is sufficient. There are different types of cheeses for example. However fresh veggies are totally tasteless and bread is stale. Deserts are practically nonexistent, there were some kind of white sq [... read more]uirmishes with blue and pink decorations. I have not dared to try…. Ala carte restaurants have the same food as in the buffet, just individually served. However, I absolutely loved Havana Club Bar. Cocktails, service and atmosphere was always a treat. Big kudos to people who work there. In terms of Covid, everyone wore masks and surfaces were constantly disinfected. Many people were in this particular resort a few times. Overall, I enjoyed my trip. and consider returning next year.

Rooms where good food needs to be updated same thing every day.

Room was good staff amazing food not so good need to change the menu same stuff every day tough beef . The pools where very clean. One of the washrooms had a horrible smell. Other than that overall i would rate it a 3 an a half star.

Amazing 2 weeks

Hotel was very clean workers were excellent. Food could have been a bit better considering it is covid not to many people there. Didn't like being bombarded with local cubins coming in but overall okay.

Great stay

The grounds were beautiful and gardens work all day keeping it so. Attendants are at all bathrooms and they are kept clean. All staff wear PPE and spray your hands as you walk into a restaurant.it’s clean, inexpensive and the beach is beautiful. It’s probably a 3.5 star but the beach and staff make it worth it.

Amazing Service and food!

We recently stayed (6 Jan to 13 Jan) and it was the best trip we have been on. The grounds were clean and the beach was very nice. This was our second trip to Cuba. Randy and mariesly that work at the snack bar are simply the most amazing people we have met. Not only the service they provided but the attention to detail was outstanding. They went over and beyond for our group of four and provided us with true gourmet Cuban meals at the snack bar! The cook that was working there was also one of t [... read more]he best! He would create different items and bring them out to us for testing. We could not have asked for better service or food. We will definitely be going back to visit our new friends soon!