Great resort grounds and beach

The resort grounds and buildings were great. You could walk for a very long time on the beach, and there was lots of wildlife (starfish, crabs, birds, the donkey!). Some people complained about the coral, but if you just walk a minute to the right or left of the main entrance of the beach it is sandy to walk in. The pools were good for days when it was very windy at the beach. The room was clean and had a nice layout, I'd bring your own pillow though. There were mosquitos every evening between 5 [... read more]-7, seemed to be worse by the 24 hour snack bar. The staff was very friendly! Food was typical for Cuba, not amazing but we didn't go hungry. Service was friendly, however very slow in the buffet (to get a coffee for example). The only other issue was line ups in the buffet, it would get very busy, and if you wanted anything they were making on the spot (omelette, pancakes, meat) you would be waiting in line for about 10 minutes.

New resort which needs to work out many kinks

Nice complex but food areas not to par for 2,000 plus guests as follows: 1) long waits at breakfast, buffet rooms too small, raw bacon 2) nice people but they need more staff 3) 24 hour snack bar waits way too long & not always open 4) awful rocky/coral beach but nice clear water 5) quite a few mosquitos; they need to spray the area to get rid of them 6) bad odor going to beach bar 7) good water pressure shower with hot water

Beautiful resort

Beautiful resort but we found it to big. Gave to walk far to get to any area. There are golf carts driven by employees that will pick you up but good luck. The wait is long. Several areas / things we never found due to size. Pools are excellent lots of lounges and lots of room. Food needs improvement . Larger buffet area needed as two times we were there doors were closed as too many people

Be careful at this resort

Raw sewage smell at #20 building where we stayed. Also # 19 building. We could NOT sit outside of our room due to this terrible smell. Killed mosquitoes in our room every day during our stay for 11 days. We reported it to front desk but nothing was done to correct the problem. The food was OK but nothing exciting. Food was scarce if you did not get in the dining area early. I rate this resort at 3.5 star NOT a 4 or 5 star as reported

Nice Resort but Beware!!

This is a beautiful resort. The staff is amazing (especially the entertainment staff!) The grounds are going to be beautiful...( it's fairly new so it doesn't have a mature landscape). However.....the food is below the standards of even Cuba. There was lots of sick people at the resort. The buffet appears to be under staffed. We were always looking for a clean table, utensils, etc. I hope with time this gets straightened out because it really is a beautiful resort.

Very disappointed

Although the grounds, buildings, and beach are nice, there are a number of things wrong with this resort. The food at the a la carte restaurants was not very good. This is the first time that I had better food at the buffet than at the restaurants. Also, the restaurants don't have any liquor or coffee, so you can't enjoy a post dinner drink. All they have is wine and beer. In general, the attention to service was lacking. Many times we had asked for a drink and it never arrived. This was most no [... read more]table in the buffet. There is a huge lack of communication. There are no postings for the daily activities so you had to just be in the right place at the right time. The only thing that they advertised was the evening show, and even then, the front desk didn't know what time they started. We had an issue with an ant infestation in our room, but this was quickly resolved by maintenance. Lastly, the grounds are huge, so be prepared for a lot of walking.

Slow reponse time, Dangerous conditions

Over all the hotel was very warn for wear after only one year. Lights werent working. Staff was over all unimpressive. Rooms were clean but beds were rock hard. A la Carte Restaurants were horrible, the buffet was acceptable. Entertainment staff were good. Bar servers felt intitled... If you didnt show up with cash in hand for a tip they took forever to serve. Frontline staff did not speak enough english for a conversation and when attempting to speak spanish they could nor understand me. Our bu [... read more]ngalow was without hall lights the entire trip, we needed to have our cell phone lights on to find our rooms. After 5 straight days of reporting this the lights finally came one during the day but turned off at 11pm. The spa room was completely overpriced $35cuc for a 30 reflexology treatment although the treatment was excellent - all you could hear was the kareoke happening at the pool. It was not reflective of a spa environment. Overall extremly dissappointed with the service, accommodations and food, at the resort but as always Cuba sun and beach were netter than a week of winter.

Very Disappointing

Grumpy unhelpful staff Cold pools Okay beach Disgusting food - that is repetitive every night Restaurants are terrible Rooms are okay nothing special Grounds are nice Good coffee Terrible bland drinks Bad sewage smell throughout resort Daytime entertainment doesn't exist

Resort

The resort was beautiful, it is huge and spacious, clean and very friendly staff. Rooms was comfortable and i really enjoyed the food. However there was a smell of sewer back-up so we could not walk around the grounds. The smell was really bad, even at the restuarant near the beach. There was also mosquitoes and in the bathroom when you take a shower the water was running into the toilet. When these things are fixed the resort will be amazing. I would recomend if these fixes are worked out.

Good overall vacation with some issues

When we got to this resort our first impression was uncertainty, it felt a little 'disjointed' somehow. After a few days once we got the feel for it and figured out where everything was on this large resort it felt a little different but I am still on the fence as to whether or not we would return. This was our second visit to Cuba and our third all inclusive resort. CHECK-IN: Similar to what you likely read in other reviews, they did check in as a group and it was pretty organized. I liked the [... read more] idea, however when there is a big group sometimes I found it hard to hear what the staff were saying and had to clarify afterwards. We got there around 1130am so our rooms weren't ready, I was glad I brought a towel with me as you cannot get your towels without a room key! They told us our rooms wouldn't be ready until 3 or 4 but we were able to get into our room around 2pm. ROOM: This is a great feature of the hotel, I had high expectations based on the great reviews that I was reading before we came about the modern rooms and I was pleased. We requested a higher up room with a king bed and got building 2 , and happy our requests were met during this busy time. We had a shower only, which was too bad as I like my baths but no big deal. Our room faced the pool but we had some greenery for privacy which was nice. I would not recommend this building to anyone with small children or who is a light sleeper. One night I heard what must have been the disco at 2am, another night there was a party from 10pm - 1 am at the pool bar which felt like it was right outside our window! Other nights we could hear people partying but luckily still managed to sleep okay. The beds are a bit hard and by the last couple of nights my boyfriend and I were both complaining of sore backs when we woke up. We also lost water completely on 2 occasions, once at the beginning of our trip and our last morning before checkout - thank goodness we had showered the night before. Filling up the toilet with the dribbling hot water from the tap was not a fun time but we were left with no choice if we wanted to flush! The water pressure the first few days was awful more like a sprinkle, but seemed to get better as the week went on. Beware of sudden temperature changes in the shower! BEACH We didn't spend a lot of time on the beach. The first morning after we arrived I went down before 7am to reserve a chair, I hate doing this but our previous experience showed us that sometimes it is necessary if you want a place to sit! This is totally not necessary to do that early in the am at this hotel at the beach or the pool. Someone ended up stealing one of our towels and one of our friends towels, at a cost of 15 CUC this was not a great way to start our vacation. The beach has 3 rows of huts so LOTS of shade and no real reason to rush down super early for a chair, the sun comes up from the opposite direction so there isn't a lot of sun all morning to tan in. The one day we ended up going back up to the pool so we could tan better. The beach is also quite rocky so I highly recommend water shoes - however - our friends discovered an awesome spot where this isn't needed. If you don't need to be close to the beach bar, walk to the left side of the beach, past the boat launch and there is a little slice of heaven between resorts. 2CUC per chair for a day, but you get the good blue pool chairs instead of uncomfortable beach ones. The beach has no rocks we spent our last day there and it was amazing. Just beware there is no shade. I also highly recommend renting a paddle boat, such a fun time! POOL The pools are lovely, we stayed by the pool closest to our room which was also close to the big snack bar and supposedly the "quiet" pool. Great layout, very clean and we spent a lot of time here. There seemed to be a lot of big families or big groups who loved to party and be very loud at this hotel which was not our thing but throw in some earbuds and you are golden! The snack bar made the best drinks. FOOD I wasn't overly impressed with the main buffet food for dinner. It was good if you had patience to wait in a long line to get some fresh cooked meat or pasta. I would recommend more food stations or better managed food stations but this hotel definitely has a lot of potential. Breakfast was good, again, some line ups but the omelettes were delicious same with crepes/pancakes as well... lots of yummy pastries. The a la cartes were very very good as well. I got sick at one point with a stomach bug, not sure where it came from as no one else seemed to get it around me. As far as drinks, the lobby bar made great coffee and so did the snack bar. I had mixed experiences at the lobby bar with the alcoholic drinks, some were delicious others not so much. The snack bar had consistently delicious drinks, Papa Jr will set you up!! ATMOSPHERE/STAFF As usual in Cuba the staff were lovely and warm, we loved our server Yunier who always treated us wonderfully and we always made sure to sit in his section. Where the hotel has some room for growth the staff is amazing. The lobby bar was probably my favourite part of the hotel, big, open, relaxing and great entertainment every night. If I were to go back it would be for the lobby, the staff, and the little gem of a spot we found on the beach - these things were good enough to eclipse the other issues. BUGS This hotel is still being completed and there is a lot of standing water around - so there was a lot of mosquitoes (at least I think that's what they were..). I got bitten pretty much every day - some of the bites turned into big welts that would stay for a few days. Thank goodness I read reviews and brought after bite! We saw a lot of people with awful looking red bites all over their back or legs, thankfully this didn't happen to us but I wonder if it was sand fleas since we weren't at the beach a lot. All in all we had a good vacation with a few hiccups, I believe with a few adjustments that this hotel has a lot of potential. We are both pretty easy going people but for this review, the reason I gave 3 instead of 4 was just the number of little things that seemed to add up for us.

Beautiful resort. bad beach

I absolutely love this hotel and the people who work it. Everyone was so friendly towards us and service was spectacular. The beach is rocky so bring water shoes and you'll be fine.. without them you may want to stick to the pools. The Nats were really bad so bringing spray wouldn't hurt if that will get rid of them. Other than that everything was great including the food. We upgraded to elegance club and I don't recommend it.. I didn't find we had anything special other than our a la cartes wer [... read more]e pre booked that was about it.

Not the best choice...

I was expecting more from Melia (I've been to Melia Varadero, Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Guillermo before). Unfortunately I had an accident the very first day on my way to the beach, I slipped on a puddle of water (after a heavy rain the hotel did not clean the water) going down the stairs. Nobody seemed to care, I was called 2 days after(!!) to be asked if I was OK. I travelled alone and it was challenging to move around. The Cuban a la carte served me row fish (cooked from frozen), again no one [... read more] bothered to do anything. Because of my foot injury I had to eat lunch at the beach restaurant, the meat was not cooked properly and the other choices were overcooked pasta, rice and French fries...The first evening we were left on our own to find the bungalows...a good manager would've used the golf carts to drive the tourists to their rooms. There was a mini fridge in my room with beer and soft drinks but was not turned ON when I got there (11 pm) .First impression is important. The toilet in my washroom did not flush, I had to open the reservoir every time I was using it. Didn't bother to complain but I was wondering how the maid cleaned it??? I've been to Cuba 14 times, I will go again but never to Melia Jardines del Rey. The beach is full of rocks, so is the water. A few metres to the left there is a public beach, nice and clean....no rocks in the water.

Great Resort!!

This was our second time at this resort and we would definitely go back again. My wife and I and our 5 month old son went to this resort on December 11-19th. This is a very large resort that is one year old. The grounds are very well kept with gardeners working around the clock to keep everything looking beautiful! The staff at this resort are always trying their best to make your stay perfect. We really loves Any from the entertainment team, she was always making sure our stay was great and tha [... read more]t we had everything we needed for our 5 month old baby. The only thing we would recommend is insect repellent, we went in December and the mosquitos were terrible! Also, there were tiny ants in our room but nothing too bad. All in all we love this resort and most definitely will be going back!

Great resort!!

This hotel was a really nice hotel. It's very big which I like because it allows you to walk outside and enjoy the weather. There are so many different restaurants that you can make reservations at. I really think commend Aqua and the Asian food. At Aqua they have all u can eat crab 3 different types and lobster. And if you ask nicely they will give you two lobsters!! There are two main pools that are so huge and really great. One is shallow for kids and has a gradual walk in. The shows are nice [... read more] and are every night. The front lobby bar or the bar down by the beach make the best mojitos!!! If you walk down to the beach and walk all the way to the end it's very quiet and private and the water is very Sandy. The water is crystal clear!!!! I would totally recommend this resort to friends and family. Loved it!

Very nice resort, great pools, restaaurants

Very nice resort, great service, excellent food and selection, very clean, great tennis courts, landscaping being completed to new part of the resort, excellent restaurants for quality meals and menu selection, very nice ambience

A beautiful large resort

We arrived Melia Jardines late in the evening, cause Sunwing flight was delayed 2 hrs to fix the door switch of the plane. Check-in was like a breeze, and organized, that was a good start. The 24 hrs snack bar was still open and we had a good late dinner, even ice cream and caramel cake were served for dessert. :) with a nice music from the speakers. The foods at the hotel were pretty good and plenty, and we don't have any stomach problem. For me, I was satisfied and happy with the foods. The c [... read more]ook stations were good. We had stir- fried spawns one or two occasions, it was yummy. The beach was a disappointment dues to coral and rock, no sand or too small beach/ no beach . We had to walk far 100m to the left to the Pestana hotel beach in order to swim. At the border of two resorts Pestana and Melia Jardines, there are some beach chairs cost $2 / each for Melia customers. So for me, it is not right. The Melia should provide beach chairs for free to their guests, at least, to compensate their lacking of beach. We never tried the pools. They have a foam party every Friday or so around 4 PM, and it was fun, a lot of youngsters and dances...and it was fun to watch too. The employees are nice, friendly and helpful. They are well-trained in customer services, and we tipped a lot as we were happy to have their services. The mosquito was a killer. Despite of bringing insect repellent, we still had got bitten, my brother never had been bitten at other resorts, but got a lot at Melia. I think it is from the lagoons, I don't know what they were called, the shallow water around the resort that near to the beach...The resort has fumigate in the early evening, but still not prevent the hungry mosquitoes... The resort itself is beautiful and large, the good thing is they have the shuttles running around the resort so often. So the people with mobility issues will find it convenient. We stayed at building 12, it is good to walk to the beach and the lobby or restaurant, it took around 3,4 minutes. The entertainment were very good, a lot of music bands in the evening plus the main shows that start at 9:30 PM. They have a lot of talented dancers, the Michael Jackson show was excellent. However, we found that night shows a bit boring as they just have dance repeatedly night after night, they can alter with magic or funny magic...or singing. I know Cuban artist is very good. The white night show was good too. It was actually a fashion show and disco night. It was fun. we loved it as we could not find a disco at the resort, until the last couple days we found a little town which from the theater you can walk behind it to pass the gym and medical office to get to a little town that consist of a disco, a Japanese restaurant $, a spa $, souvenir shops...etc...the disco $5 CUC for entrance.. I found Melia Jardines has a lot of activities, they are so lively and full of energy. They have dance lesson, Spanish lesson...etc...the entertainment team at the pool is active. The room was good and clean. It is great to sit at the lobby,which is huge, a lot of chairs and tables and beds....and get some breezes...We enjoyed sitting there after lunch to chat and drink. We went to Pilar beach. It is so beautiful...we saw fish and jellyfish... We absolutely will return to Melia Jardines del Rey, and we recommend it to our friend and family.

Amazing will go back

the staff of this hotel are amazing right down to the grounds keepers.always heard bad things about food in cuba but here the food was excellent.first time in cuba will be back soon.went in off season so hotel was not quite full, but still a good time.

Great resort

Overall a beautiful resort. Beach isn't great but still lovely to look at. We were without water two nights in a row so couldn't shower. Mini fridge was never restocked even though we always left a very good tip. I would still go back.

Best Resort!! Cayo Coco

This resort was awesome!! New and clean!!! The staff were exceptional! Beach was fabulous!! Special shout out to Begona, thanks for making our stay memorable! And Victor at the beach bar always friendly and smile on your face!!!

Great resort

Resort was nice, food was good but could use more variety. We also would have liked to see more entertainment at the pool (music or more games) Overall experience was great staff was nice and helpful when we needed anything