Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: What a nightmare experience!

The fact that travel companies and airlines are sending people here right now is criminal. We are long time guests of this resort and we spent a week here, 3 of the days with no water for toilets, handwashing, dish washing, showers or any kind of sanitation - an absolutely heath hazard. This resort has become full of black mold and cockroaches, it needs to be shut down and a conplete overhaul. Heartbreaking!

Grand Memories Varadero: NOT SO GRAND MEMORIES.

We arrived at the resort around 10PM on September 6, 2023. Having read previous reviews before we arrived, we were hopeful that we could get a room in building 10 as it had been recommended by previous guests at the resort. We spoke politely to the lady at the hotel reception desk but noticed that this woman, Nauta, was neither friendly nor welcoming. She coldly told us that there were no rooms available in building 10, and our third-floor room had been prepared for us in building 23. We asked i [... read more]f this room was close to most hotel amenities like restaurants, pools, and the beach, and she said yes. We mentioned that both of my wife and I had problems walking long distances and climbing stairs, and Nauta claimed that there was nothing else available at the time. She even mentioned that there were resort vehicles that could pick us up from our room and take us where we wanted to go (this turned out to be false, as we later discovered). Let me mention here that I had paid extra to have a Diamond Club Superior Room for myself, my wife, and our son. While making our bookings, we were informed that we would have a personalized check in/check out, and that turned out to be false too because we had to stand in line with everyone else to wait for our turn to be served. We were looking forward to our “Superior” room but what we got was a horror show. The king-size bed had springs coming through the mattress and the spare bed meant for our son sank to the floor when you sat on it; the fridge was rusted and its door was broken; the television was one of those outdated tube ones with a remote control that did not work; the washroom had ants crawling about; the shower area looked mouldy, and there was moisture coming through the ceiling and walls of the whole washroom. On top of that, the cupboard and balcony doors were badly jammed and hard to move. The whole room was run down, dirty, and smelt really stale. We could not imagine spending even a single night in this place. Since the phone in the room (or in any of the other rooms we later occupied) was not operational, it meant us having to walk the terribly long distance to the hotel lobby to ask for a better room. We were already exhausted from our journey, but Nauta was not very sympathetic or even helpful. She first gave us a key card to look at an even worse potential room in building 20. We noticed how there were neither any lights in the stairs, nor in the corridors of the buildings we had been in (the lights are either kept switched off, or the light bulbs just don’t work). All the extra walking and climbing of stairs was really taking a toll on us. The service of two bell boys who had initially driven us to building 23 in a resort golf cart was not offered to us while we wore ourselves out trying to find an acceptable room to sleep in for the night. The third time that we had to go back to the lobby, we humbly requested for any decent second-floor room (because climbing the stairs repeatedly, especially to the third floor, was brutal on our knees). Nauta finally gave us a key card for a second-floor room in the same building 23 where our original room was. It was marginally less dilapidated than the first room that we had gotten. We were told that there may be a room free in Building 10 the next day, and we could try to come and see the concierge people after 4PM. We made our way back to our first room so that we could collect our son who was waiting there with our luggage, only to discover that its key card no longer worked (we had issues with the room key cards every single day of our stay and sometimes had to go to the hotel reception as many as three to four times a day to get the key cards reactivated and/or replaced). Luckily, because our son was already inside the room and still awake, we managed to get into our original room, gather our belongings, and bring everything down one floor into the room that was now assigned to us. After more than two hours of running back and forth, we were finally in a position to go and eat something from the 24-hour snack bar. The next day, we kept our luggage packed and ready in case we were fortunate enough to be able to move out of the shabby room that we were being forced to stay in. We had breakfast and decided to go to the lobby to make sure that the concierge staff was informed about our possible room change. Fortunately, there was another woman at the reception desk (she had a much better personality than Nauta), and she kindly asked us to talk to the customer service people. We met Bleysis who introduced herself as our butler! She was new at the job, but she took the time to listen to the issues we had faced the night before. She ensured that we got a room on the second floor of building 10 after 4PM that same day. We were much more satisfied with the next room that was assigned to us (Room 10201). At this point, I wish we could say that our stay was great after the room change but our problems were far from over. The maid in charge of our room’s upkeep (Maria was her name) was rude and had a hostile manner whenever we encountered her. My wife gave her money and gifts every single day (which she took and kept as if she was owed these), but even those things did not sweeten her temperament at all. The extra bed that our son was sleeping on was already made up with a single blanket and sheet. However, there were two blankets that were kept in the cupboard for the king-size bed that my wife and I had to share. The first night in the new room, my wife was setting up these two blankets for our bed when she discovered that they stunk of concentrated urine. Both blankets smelled like someone had repeatedly urinated on them, allowed them to dry, and then just folded them and placed them in the cupboard. To say that we were disgusted is an understatement. Not even in the cheapest hotel that we have ever stayed at have we experienced such filth and unsanitary conditions. We discarded the soiled blankets immediately and tried to keep warm by using the three beach towels that were provided in our room. We spoke to Bleysis about this experience the next day and requested that she get the two foul blankets changed for us. We also asked for another spare blanket for our son because the room got really cold at night. Maria reluctantly took the disgusting blankets but claimed that she had only a thin white king-size duvet and a thick bedsheet that she could give us. She was clever enough to make my wife smell this duvet for unpleasant odours while it was still folded. My wife really should have taken the time to open the whole thing up and look at the whole duvet properly because there were several urine stains and odours hidden inside (which we later discovered)! Maria said that she had no other blankets to give us, so we had to manage somehow with the duvet and thick bedsheet instead. Then she told us that we should be okay to clean our room ourselves that day. We were taken aback that a maid can talk to you like that after just receiving yet another tip for not even delivering what was requested of her. My wife told her that she only needed to take care of the washroom for that day, and we would tidy up our room ourselves. My wife was making our bed later that evening when all the awful, filthy patches of stinking urine inside the duvet were revealed to us. We needed to be warm at night so my wife emptied a whole bottle of fragrance spraying the duvet and used the thick bedsheet that Maria had provided to form an extra layer of protection for us (away from all the soiled areas). Maria did not change this dirty duvet for us even after we hesitatingly told Bleysis about it and she asked her to do so. Besides having Bleysis as our “butler”, there were not many other benefits that we gained by paying extra for our Diamond Club Superior Room. According to the website and our tickets, we were supposed to get a single bottle of rum, a bottle of water, two cans of beers, and two colas – everything besides the bottle of rum was supposed to be replenished daily! Needless to say, we got none of these when we arrived, and upon enquiring, were told that they would get the maid to bring us the bottle of rum, but they would only be providing one bottle of water and a single can of beer daily. It was naturally Maria’s job to put the water and can of beer in our fridge, and she had to be asked to do so most of the time - she only provided the single can of beer on some days. Three nights in our second room, and we were woken up by a continuous loud, banging noise around 7AM in the morning. We reported the problem immediately, and someone came two and a half hours later to check and see where the noise was coming from. We were told that our air conditioning unit was broken, but their very competent resort mechanic would be able to fix it. We waited all day for the hotel mechanic, but he did not make it to our room until after 5PM. It was a lucky chance that my wife heard some noises of people talking in the room next door to ours and saw someone was working on the AC unit there – she asked the repairman if that AC unit was also broken. It turned out that the hotel mechanic had gone to the wrong room! The handyman advised us that due to recession, he did not have the parts to repair our AC unit. That meant another room change! Quick communication with Bleysis through WhatsApp helped us secure another room four doors down from our current one. Unfortunately, because it was on the same floor, Maria would still be our maid. We had to pack up our belongings yet again and set ourselves up in a new room but at least we did not have to move to another building. Bleysis actually came to make sure that the room change went smoothly. The same extra bed that my son was sleeping on had to be moved to the other room (the maid, Maria, was not happy about having to do this). Maria told us that we would have to use the same old soiled duvet in the new room because the bed there did not have a duvet, and she had the nerve to take our three beach towels away, claiming that we had already had three of them in the new room (we did not, and my wife had to ask her to return them). She had previously removed two out of the three glasses that we had in our other room. We were not allowed to have the clean bath towels in the new room and had to bring our used towels from our former room. After behaving so terribly, Maria still had the guts to tell my wife to leave our beach bag for her when we left! We continued to give Maria tips just for providing the bottle of water for our room, but every day after this room change, we told her not to clean our room – we just did not want her negative presence around us anymore. Besides the one time she tidied our washroom, this woman only cleaned our room once the whole time we stayed at the resort. She got much more than she deserved from us, but I made sure we did not reward her further by also giving her the beach bag she wanted. We found that building 10 was a little too far from the beach but closer to the quiet swimming pool, hotel lobby, and restaurants. Besides Nauta and Maria, the rest of the hotel staff was more pleasant. We had come prepared so we would not run out of any essential toiletries and toilet paper during our seven days stay. We even had spices, lemon juice, hot sauces, and ketchup to season the mostly flavourless food at the resort. Everything that people write about certain food shortages in Cuba is true, and that is true about the resort too. You just have to keep your expectations low and make the most of things that the resort is actually be able to provide for you. Something that they really need to work on is the filthy state of most of the public washrooms in the resort. My wife and I are going to miss Ernesto and Niurys from the 24 hours snack bar for their positive and ready to serve attitudes. We were not always impressed with what was being offered at the 24 hours snack bar, but their happy and welcoming smiles made us glad to be there. The entertainment shows and discos were not bad. The staff in the Diamond Club section of the buffet restaurant was much nicer than in other areas. Even though the Diamond Club daily lunch a la carte restaurant had repetitive menus, the servers were really friendly. The food at the Japanese and Italian dinner a la carte restaurants was pretty decent. We understand that Cuba is going through tough times, but so is the rest of the world. We are not rich and have had to struggle to save up the money to even be able to afford a vacation after all this time. We expected better standards and some level of comfort and care when we picked a resort that claims to be among the top ones in Varadero. They did not deliver on this front. We cannot recommend a place that we have no intention of ever going back to. Date of stay: September 2023 Trip type: Travelled with family Room Tip: Carry toiletries and condiments. Also, towels and blankets if you can.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: THE WORST STAY AWAY.

Don't know where to start, there is so much i need to say. THIS WILL BE LONG AND DETAILED. THIS IS FROM MINE AND MY HOUSBANDS EXPERIENCE AND THERE ARE 3 OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR GROUP WHO ALSO HAVE REVIEWS TO WRITE ABOUT. I'll start with the beach, It was amazing, Romand at the cocktail bar is an artist- i didn't experience the drinks being i only drink beer but my group loved him. The grounds were beautiful. THAT'S it for the GOOD. I have been to this resort many years ago and it was fantasti [... read more]c, these last 2 weeks were a nightmare it was so bad and disgusting that it shouldn't even be allowed to operate. the first 2 days were good. #1-ON the DAY 3 it went down hill from there there was no RUNNING WATER for 7 days. No flushing toilets, no washing hands and hundreds of people touching everything it was gross, made myself and many others wonder how the staff were doing dishes, washing food or cooking etc. In building 1 there was never any hot water when there was water. The phones in ALL the rooms did not work so could not call the reception desk for any assistance. On the first day of having no water on the resort there was a delivery truck that brought some bottled water but if you were not at the right spot at the right time that night then you were out of luck for any drinking water, people were grabbing more then 1 bottle and so the rest were s**t out of luck. THIS WAS INHUMANE. 2- NO SOAP IN ANY OF THE PUBLIC WASHROOMS for when there was running water a total of 3 days. (GROSS). 3-Witnessed the pool bar staff take water from the pool to make ice for drinks NASTY i also want to mention someone had defecated in the pool 2 days before and i am a people watcher and many did not leave the pool for hours, HMMMM. there is other witnesses to this statement. 4-Power outages often for hours (Not complaining just a fact and i understand the gas shortages and the tool the maintenance people have to work with in Cuba). 5-No mix for drinks, again i only drink light beer so not a big deal for me but for my group its a big deal. NO CRISTAL BEER FOR 4 DAYS. I spoke to a Sunwing Rep his first response was well just drink the other beer i explained i don't like dark beer and its not nice tasting he then called the hotel manager over and i was was told that he would have 10 cans brought to my room because it was my birthday and would like to celebrate it that evening with some friends Sept 24th 4 days into our trip i had already been with out since the day before so they promised me i would get to enjoy my day. I NEVER DID SEE THAT BEER. THANKFULLY other guests shared some cans of Cristal from there hotel rooms so i could enjoy my birthday with them. 6-The phones in the rooms did not work in Building 1, 2 and 4 not sure about the other buildings. 7- Our key cards NEVER worked i have pictures of the key cards i owned for the 10 days. 12 cards in total. Had to wait for maintenance twice to come fix my door card swiper and i waited so long that both times i ended up putting my towel on the floor and falling asleep while waiting (i have pictures of that along with maintenance men working on the swiper) i watch them take apart the machine from my door and take batteries out and blow on the batteries, Next day had to get new card, the 2nd time i had maintenance wake me up off the floor he did the same thing and from that moment of my door didn't even need a key i complained to the reception and nothing was done, so anyone could just walk in, I was not impressed. 8-DIAMOND CLUB that was a joke, no different then any other guest spent extra $80 CAD for nothing. was not told i had to make a reservation to eat dinner and was turned away, no special drinks, or brands of beer no waiter service at beach. Very disappointing. waste of $$$. 9-The Chandelier in the 24 hour snack bar called bites Fell from the ceiling missing my son and another person who is a youtuber by a couple feet. The youtuber i won't say his name will probably be posting on YouTube. The staff there came out trying to brush it off like it was a joke. YA momma not laughing. 10-Outside my sisters building facing the Ocean there were 3 pairs of men's underwear on the ground for the whole 10 days. No yard clean up. 11-The store on resort had hours posted, Never opened when they were supposed to be, when they were opened this is where i purchased drinking water, So much for ALL-INCLUSIVE. 12-Exchange office also were not opened when they said it would be. 13-Beach Towel exchange also not opened when said they would be. 14-Staff complained when given Canadian money for tips, they stated it was just as useless as there own Peso. Some staff seemed very rude when given Pesos and Canadian money, I ran out of US so had no choice but to give what i had, Wish i had not given anything at some points. some were Rude and seemed Greedy. Very disappointing. I brought many gifts with me and after this experience i wish i hadn't. 15- THE LAST STRAW FOR ME WAS ASKING FOR AN EXTRA 2 HOURS AT CHECKOUT we had 5 rooms among my group, i asked the sunwing rep if i can have 1 room until 4 pm instead of 2 pm because i was very ill and could not sit in the lobby waiting for my taxi pick up at 5 pm due to having massive bowel issues was told to speak to reception desk they then said i needed to speak to Diamond Club VIP and i went there while wearing a hotel towel as a diaper YES i said that, I am so horrified embarrassed having to admit to this but it needs to be said. Anyways the reception guy walked with me to the VIP lounge and the VIP Rep and this guy handed me a form to fill out for an extra 2 hours i asked why and they kept saying oh its to have the room longer, i was so weak but i read the form and WOW this had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE EXTRA TIME, THIS WAS A WAIVER OF ANY COMPLAINTS MADE ABOUT THE RESORT, THE STAFF, ANY COMPLAINTS WHAT SO EVER TO THE RESORT AND SUNWING. NO WAY WAS I SIGNING THIS FORM. I HAVE PICTURES OF THE FORM I WILL ADD TO THIS REVIEW. NEVER AGAIN WILL ANY OF MY GOURP VISIT THIS RESORT. UNFORTUNATLY THIS REVIEW WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO POST PICTURES. I WILL KEEP TRYING I ALSO WANT TO MENTION THAT I AM HOME NOW AND HAVE MISSED 2 DAYS OF WORK BECAUSE OF ILLNESS DUE TO HAVING SOME KIND OF STOMACH ISSUES THAT I AM NOW ON ANTIBIOTICS AND AM HAVING A STOOL CULTURE DONE. YAY VACATION.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Beautiful Beaches But Not Perfect

We, like most others, go to Cuba for the beaches…and Memories Caribe does NOT disappoint in that department. This resort has the most beautiful beach with the crystal clear water and soft white sand of your dreams. We did experience lots of jellyfish in the time we were there, as well as an unbelievable amount of mosquitoes and flies. Those too things put a little damper on the trip. The beach has lots of palapas in the diamond club area and Fidel took excellent care of us, however we did  [... read more]find it to get quite crowded. The “regular” beach had a bit more room and only two rows of palapas instead of 3. At high tide, we were all sort of on top of each other. The resort was full while we were there and obviously diamond club was purchased by many. Our room (mini suite) was fantastic and we woke every morning to the sun rises through our gorgeous sliding glass doors. The balcony and the east facing views were spectacular. Our room had hot water everyday when we needed it but the toilet definitely didn’t flush well. The bed was comfy and the AC kept us nice and cool. The maid was wonderful and our room was always in tip top shape. No complaints there! The food was a bit of a roller coaster for us until we got it figured out. I was happy eating French fries or veggie pizza “sin queso” for lunch everyday because they were delicious and filling and met my requirements. I am plant based and my husband is pescatarian. I am very aware these are self inflicted restrictions however I have never had issues in Cuba before. I’m typically happy with fried cabbage, beans and rice (which is what I live off in Varadero usually). Apparently these are not staples in Cayo Coco, or at least not in September. Some days I struggled to find veggies, raw or cooked, that didn’t have dead flies or hot dogs cut up in them. Who puts hots dogs in okra?!? I wont go on…I’ll just admit that my restrictions made this trip tougher from the beginning than it should have been. The diamond club breakfast area is beautiful and the chef was happy to figure out how to feed us after a brief chat with him on our 3rd day there. Those meals ended up being the best food we have ever eaten in Cuba! I sadly didn’t get his name but he is a true chef through and through. The buffet left a lot to be desired. To sum it all up, amazing beach, great rooms (mini suite!!), food was meh until I spoke with the diamond club chef, diamond club beach service was A++. Overall it was a great resort for what we paid. We haven’t decided if this is an area of Cuba we’d go back to honestly. Although some parts were really great, the bugs really got to me in the week and the jellyfish made the water less than desirable at times. As time passes I think I’ll be more likely to choose this resort again if Cayo Coco is our desired destknation.

Grand Memories Varadero: Good resort

This resort is older with aged furniture, it’s a mixed bag of quality for beds, tvs, AC’s. You won’t know until you get your room. I stayed in the Diamond section and my room was good but I was with a group of 5 and there were several different issues with the room. Although there were issues, I praise the hotel staff for dealing with these issues quickly and correctly. The hotel staff were tremendous, their priority was our comfort. I have nothing but praise for the hotel staff. Many of  [... read more]the tourists Canadian and Russian had high expectations and weren’t always very friendly, through it all the staff continue to do what they could with what they had. I’m sorry to say that I will not be returning to Cuba any time soon. The system can not recuperate from COVID, from loosing their trading partners. There was always something to eat but it wasn’t great, we had eggs two mornings, local beer was non existing, there were 2 mornings with no coffee and other days when the coffee would run out, I went 2 days without bottled water and had to call for it even though it was part of my Diamond package.including soft drinks and beer which we didn’t get. There is very little gas for the vehicles outside of the tourist industries, classic cars, taxis, tour bud and airport shuttles will always be available but very little left over for the Cuban population (15 litres per month). Overall I have to say that Cuba has lost so much over the last few years and is in no way able to accommodate tourism and is not worth the rate the airlines are charging. I have been travelling to Cuba for 20 years but the situation is no longer tolerable and the effects on the infrastructure is to great, until this situation is resolved it pains me to say that I will not be returning to this beautiful island.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Unfortunately the room had bed bugs

My second time here. Incredible beach and great staff. Everyone on vacation had a great time- met lots of nice people. Room 2017 had bed bugs. I received bites a couple nights later but wasn’t sure what they were. I travelled back and confirmed they are bed bugs. I’m now paranoid to think if I have brought any back.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Going down hill fast!!

I have been to this resort three times the first time was 10 years ago. The second time was last year and this will be my third final time. They had no towel exchange so you had to use your same towel your whole visit. The only juice that they seem to have was guava juice for mixing beverages no pop or anything else. Often times the water was turned off so we couldn’t shower or flush the toilet or even get a coffee. The Wi-Fi was terrible. The staff from what I heard are working 16 hour shifts [... read more] so they looked tired and not the usual happy selves . The cleaning staff only came in one time during my trip and only brought me one bottle throughout the whole trip for my water. The power went out a couple times, and the air conditioner worked once in a while.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Amazing Vacation!

This is my 3rd time staying at Memories Caribe! It is a beautiful small, older resort with a traditional Cuban feel. The beach is by far one of the most beautiful in Cuba! It is simply stunning with soft sand and turquoise, clear water! The rooms are comfortable with good air conditioning and updated bathrooms. Shower pressure was good although water was on the "warmish" side. This was fixed towards the end of my stay and I finally had hot water! Food was fine.They make wonderful omelettes for [... read more] breakfast as well as pancakes, bacon, cold cuts, fresh fruits, breads, cereals and yoguort. The Italian and Mediterranean restaurants were my favorites for dinner but the buffet also has a great selection! There is a wonderful coffee/ ice-cream cafe called Beans that makes great spanish coffees and others and has a good selection of ice cream right behind the pool. The pool is also sparkling clean and there is a swim-up bar with lots of activities and games in the afternoons. For the evenings, there is an enclosed bar near the lobby called Bellinis that has a nightly Cuban band! Lots of fun! There is also a disco/sports bar called Route 66 which stays open until 1am and serves great specialty drinks. This time there were lots of mosquitos so bring bug spray. It's Cuba so keep an open mind. They don't always have everything like butter, ketchup or even Coke or Sprite some days. Relax and enjoy the beautiful people, ocean and beach! I had an amazing vacation and am already looking forward to my next trip! Muchas gracias! 🤗

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Can't wait to go back !

The resort is a short 20 minute ride from the airport. The shore is safe and ocean amazing turquoise. The hotel is well laid out and the landscaping gorgeous. Live entertainment is excellent. The staff are doing everything they can to offer an enjoyable stay under very challenging circumstances. Children can use the kids pool and the kids club area. ( Not Disney glitzy tho') Food is basic, but let's be honest, we don't go to Cuba for the food ! There can be shortages of food and alcohol,  [... read more]but when you understand this, you can adjust . And sometimes there is a water supply problem to the showers, but the ocean is just down the boardwalk..... I felt very safe there. Pack your bathing suit, ketchup and patience, and you will have a fabulous stay.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Changes not for the better

After spending many years at Memories (15) we found that things had changed for the worse. We know you don’t go to Cuba for the food but the food at the buffet was not up to its usual and always cold. The steam tables were not turned on. It appeared short on staff. They run out of alcohol, they had no coke cola very poor. We did a day trip and stopped at a highway bar for a rest stop that had better food and selection of drinks that the all inclusive hotel did not have. I know things are [... read more] not good at the moment but since the main source of income is tourism you have to wonder why things are so poor at the resorts. I don’t see a positive future. For the first time the resort was overrun with Russian tourists

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Great time. Again!

We were here end of June this year as a party of 6. We had a blast. When we saw the deals$ we checked the Hurricane forecast and took our chances. This time 4 of us went and were not disappointed. Some improvements were noticed, so new GM Iago, is working his plans. The weather had approx 1.5 hours of heavy rain and thunder. The rest of our time was.perfect. Repeating my previous review, I can say the staff are amazing and will go out of their way if you treat them with respect. The food really  [... read more]was excellent in the alla cartes, and the buffet was as expected. Don't get down on this, remember you are on vacation and can swim in warm waters (good snorkeling) and walk a stunning beach. Some periodic shortages of spirits but we adjusted. Tip everyone include gardeners and lifeguards as they get forgotten, but they're there when you need them. Thanks to Iago and his team at Memories Caribe Resort.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Amazing resort!

This was our second time vacationing at Sanctuary at Grand Memories! We loved it just the same. We realized our timing was a bit out of season and some adjustments were made (lunch and dinner buffet were served at the main hotel). The staff was friendly and helpful as usual. We had our butlers from last year remember us and conversations were pleasant and it was like talking to old friends. Accommodations were welcoming and we didn't have any problems worth mentioning (minor inconveniences).  [... read more]We vacation in Cuba for the beaches, not the food. The food is repetitive, sure, but New Year's stay in the Bahamas was just the same for almost triple the price... There is always something that calls to us and we do not go hungry. The staff is friendly and willing to help or get someone who could help. Overall, the experience has been awesome this time around too and we are planning to return!

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Gorgeous Beach!

Beautiful location, spectacular beach - very clean, gorgeous weather, delicious cappuccinos at the Bites Bar, excellent rum choices, bright and clean rooms, tasty pizza at the beach, friendly and attentive staff, hood variety of food choices at the buffet, fast and organized service at the reception

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Amazing resort

The food in the Sanctuary was always good !! We had beef many times the week we were there was always fabulous! There was no bacon 3 mornings out of the week they said was very frozen. The beach was amazing .

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Beautiful beach and nice staff

It was my first time in Cuba after 6 years. I was surprised that there was no noticeable difference in food in spite of food shortages in the country. I had to change the room x3 because the AC kept breaking and they couldn't fix it. But the reception staff were extremely helpful and nice. Building 55 was quiet and close to the beach. Room service staff helpful and professional. Because it's on the island away from the town I didn't see Canadian sex tourists which was great. Beach and ocean  [... read more]amazing. Lots of pelicans and other birds if you like nature. Low season so it was quiet away from the pool and bar. I would recommend to people who know and like Cuba. Nature lovers in low season would like it too. BTW I think that nobody needs our old clothes. Looks that there is a supply of some goods since the boarders have been open . But tips in US dollars and Canadian bills are appreciated. Loonies and toonies are useless. Pesos less valued because of high inflation.

Grand Memories Holguin: Nice resorts but out of no where.

Hi I would like to say good things first Hotel compere to others Hotels in Houlgun it is 3 star I liked my unit suit which was roomy and everything was working well The bad things which the manager of Hotel that can do for better on paths of improvement I would say To improve the foods that it wasn't tasty at all unfortunately there was no green like salads or fouroth just water melon and for first the papaya It was self-service and we have to wait so long to achieve the food I would gi [... read more]ve 3 from 10 The Japanese restaurant it was trebles no onions no garlic no shireeps no Tisted at all In total food was haribel my stomach got sick 3 internment it was so poor music was jus 2 hrs a night and the didn't open the salons for musicians so disappointed It was no transportation for even far city no shopping I didn't rely like it Hope the do some improvement for those services.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Not what we aspected

Full of flies in the close buffet section No sprite no ginger ail no soft drinks Coke is just auger water. No gas in it Fruit. Not good quality. Bed sheets were not replaced everyday No spoon served for ice cream. We have to ask on counter for spoon. They were asking where you sitting if you are sitting on left Right section counter won’t give you spoon. Terrible service

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Average

Hotel rooms need updating starting to show their age. The water was always hot for showering but there isn’t any door on the bathroom so no privacy. TV connection was very week so hard to watch. Food shortages so don’t expect a lot but pork, fresh fish, pasta, buns, fruit etc were always available but we’re always covered with flys. Shortages on many selections of alcohol but rum, wine and beer were available. Couldn’t get pop on most days. Entertainment was enjoyable and th [... read more]e beach was amazing. Bring bug spray as they are everywhere.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Best resort for the Cayo Coco beach!

The resort grounds are kept very clean and the groundskeepers work very hard to maintain the beauty and pleasure of the resort. The nightly entertainment is very good (better than resorts I've stayed at in Mexico and the D.R.) and Carlos does a great job as Entertainment Coordinator. The food in the buffet is of good quality and there was no problem to have omelettes with real eggs, meals with vegetables, salads, chicken, pork, several types of tasty fish, and even beef. The service staff both  [... read more]at the buffet and bars were very friendly and helpful. The beach is phenominal and such a pleasure to enjoy! Again staff that maintain the beach are very helpful to make sure you have a clean beach and lounge chair ready for you.

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Excellent service!

The service we received at Grand Memories was excellent! All of the staff were kind and helpful. The beach is spectacular and the real showstopper! The resort is somewhat run down and many areas need updating and repairs. I heard they’re planning on having this done by the next high season. We requested to move out of building 52 due to black mould throughout the room. Thankfully they accommodated our request right away. The food was not so great, as I imagine resources are limited. Mostl [... read more]y the same foods (ingredients), at every buffet and the a la carts. The fresh fruit, breads and cheeses were delicious though. The resort is located almost 2 hrs from the airport, which means a lot of time is spent in transit during the trip. Just something worth considering if you’re anxious to get there quickly. Overall, a great trip! The company we keep makes the trip worthwhile! The beach, the Cuban people (staff), the coffee, the drinks, the market, were all amazing and we’re grateful that we were able to experience all these things.