Playa Vista Azul: Great Hotel

We had a great stay at this hotel, we were traveling with babies and family. Room was clean, AC powerful, great water pressure in the shower. Pool was very clean, many chairs and umbrellas. Entertainment for all and pool bar. Small resort, perfect for us, quick access to lobby, beach, pool and restaurants. Beautiful pool at the lobby. Great service, staff was very kind and helpful. Beautiful beach, as expected when in Cuba. Food was OK, they are very creative and have limited access to fresh fru [... read more]it and veggies. Very similar food all week. Coffee is terrible.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Nice resort but food issues

Beach, pool and staff a 10! Food really lacked in variety. It appears there are food shortages as menu same all 7 days and even fries non existence after day 1 of 7. Very little variety ever. Would not recommend at moment to others but if food improved I would recommend resort.

Vila Gale Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing resort

Excellent resort, friendly staff, very clean. Beach was amazing. Lots of activities, nightly shows. Excursions were reasonably priced. Rooms are large, clean and welcoming. Always lots of hot water. Food was plentiful and good.

Hotel Playa Paraiso: All Good - But Rooms are outdated

Rooms needs updating - very old outlook and design. Tons of bugs at night. Otherwise, it is 3.5 star resort. Trust me. Would I go back? No way. Staff were nice. Beach is ok - sand weed. Food was good.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Restful Holiday

We started off with a Junior Luxury Oceanview suite, however it was very tired and had an odor from being closed up for so long. We were lucky to be able to upgrade to the Royal Service and this did not disappoint! The beach is nice, but nicer beach if you walk down further. Strangely the adult only Royal Service beach is also a public beach that was frequented by local families. Food was ok, we did not starve. You need to go with an open mind and accept pretty much what is presented to you.  [... read more] A La Carte's require men to wear long pants, however it was acceptable to wear track pants, pajamas, acid wash ripped jeans, but linen shorts is a strict NO NO! No COVID concerns. We enjoyed our time there. Would not likely go return...so many other options out there.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Overall, fine.

The water in room didn't work for a few days. When we tipped the staff they were kind and when we did not, not so much. The food at the buffet was the exact same everyday and none of it good enough to write home about. The restaurants, while appearing quite fancy, had much to be desired. The beach was incredible, the weather was incredible, the rest?.... barely adequate. For the money spent it was okay but I expected more.

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Amazing resort

Second visit to this resort.A lot off sand flies now. They said that is the season. At the first visit wasn't. Over all beautiful pools , beach . And now they are ASKING for tips for $ only. They don't accept their currency!!!

Memories Jibacoa: Great Resort

We had an amazing time at the Memories Jibacoa! Staff are friendly and provide great service! The grounds and pool are beautiful and very clean and well maintained. We had a beautiful Ocean View room. Rooms are clean and spacious and have all amenities! There was a good selection of food and beverages at the buffet, a la cartes and bars. We enjoyed the entertainment - lots of daily fun and games as well as a variety of great evening shows, The piano bar is a great place to relax and enjoy [... read more] some entertainment! We would highly recommend this resort!

Tryp Cayo Coco: Resort had its ups and downs

The resort is old and needs alot of repairs but it's Cuba they do what they can. However the pool was quite dirty not sure how they clean it but the bottom had white film on it. The beach was gorgeous.The rooms were ok. Clean and comfortable.the food tasted good but not much variety. Seemed to be very little on that end and when u pay for vacation you expect good food. Snacks anytime a nice pool and a good beach. The bartenders did not really know much about making drinks except their standard s [... read more]trawberry daquiri and Pina colada. But the staff were very friendly and worked very hard to make sure you were taken care of. Overall experience for a first time visitor 5 out of 10.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Iberostar Selection Playa Pilar NOT worth to be given 4+ star

The hotel itself was not as pictured. To begin with, the swimming pools were close to green dirty colour. The food selection was not enough and when they salt the food - they put tons of it. The a-la carte restaurants were not great as well - it’s the food they serve in the daily buffet but just placed it in a nicer portion and plating. The workers maid, servers and gardeners were amazing people. Would I come back to this Hotel? No I would not and would not recommend it to anyone.

Club Kawama: Poor

We had been to this resort before and knew it was the oldest resort in Varadero and have enjoyed staying there in the past however this year we had many complaints. Had to move to 3 different rooms due to lack of water. Food was much poorer than usual. No milk, cheese or butter. Frequently ran out of coffee, beer and wine. Ongoing issues with sewage gas. Bad odours throughout the resort. The only positive was its fabulous beach and warm friendly people.

Starfish Varadero: Lock up your chocolate but don't worry about other valuables.

The story: We usually bring down treats (chocolates, candy and trail mix) to eat at night while watching a movie. One night we go into our suitcase and can't fine the chocolates. It was in a closed suitcase in the zippered up side with out other treats. Someone looked through our suitcases until they found the chocolates and took them. The same day, I had failed to lock the safe and the person in our room could have taken any sort of money and valuables. None of these were touched. Chocolate is [... read more] obviously more valuable than money. The following morning we trashed the room to make sure they were definitely not there and then went to customer service. They said they would investigate and to come back later. We did and they said that there where only two times we went into the room that day and the maid once. We know this is not true because we could account for three separate ones. We knew we were going to get nowhere so we settled for late check out in exchange for a non solution to the missing chocolates. So my conclusion is to lock up your chocolates but leave your money out. We do not believe it was the maid either.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: beautiful resort but i wouldnt go back

First time going to Cuba so i am not sure if my expectations were too high. The resort itself is absolutely beautiful. The beach is stunning, the landscape is great and the pools are wonderful. However we had several things that we felt could be improved upon. While there it was extremely hot and humid and the air conditioning worked sometimes and other times it didn't, it was extremely frustrating to have no where to go cool down and to try to sleep through the night without it. We had trou [... read more]ble with the power going out as well as the plumbing not working in our room. Every time i called the front desk they didn't seem concerned enough to resolve the situation, but maybe it was out of their control? Also, it stated that our fridge would be fully stocked and no one ever restocked it while we were there. We were provided one 1500ml bottle of water the first two days and then nothing after that. When i called the front desk they said it was after 5pm and i would have to wait until the next day (not the thing you want to hear when you cant drink the tap water, it is 35 degrees out and you are dying of thirst). My husband and i ended up taking a taxi into town and purchasing our own bottled water for the rest of our vacation. Not all restaurants were operating and the ones that were, were challenging to book so we ate at the buffet for most of our stay. The food was awful and it was the same thing served every single day (i understand they are limited in what they receive in supplies) I do have to say that the staff that worked at the restaurants and buffet were so kind and attentive and did the best they could. Overall, i will not be going back to Cuba anytime soon. This was considered a 5 star resort and i would only rate it as a 3 star maximum.

Club Kawama: Hotel Club Kawama (Yucky) via Sunwing Vacations.

I went to this resort after being coaxed by a couple of hometown friends. My friends have been to Hotel Kawama multiple times. I have been to Cuba 5 times, 3 times to Varadero so I knew (in part) what to expect. Upon check, I received my room and my two buddies received theirs. To my buddies amaze they were each issued a private room. One room was Beachfront. Alas it wasn’t long before Hotel management came looking for one of my friends, the one with the beach front, directing him to vacat [... read more]e the room as there was an error at check-in. Cuban management confused his name with another customer. Alas he had to move into the room with my other buddy. Management only gave them one key to share amongst the two of them. This did cause some additional inconvenience, but the management was unsympathetic. As I settled into my room, I quickly realized that the air conditioning did not work. The issue - it was programmed to 26 degrees Celsius and from what I was able to determine the AC remote did not work and there was no way to program the AC at source. I made it known to management and the cleaning staff for four days until there was final resolve. Alas I too had to relocate to another room, one that was not as nice as the one I left. The new room had no hot water, no toilet lid, and the toilet would not flush, the bathtub was disgusting…but hey! The AC worked extremely well. During the four days and sleepless nights that I fought to get my faulty AC situation resolved, my friends were having issue with ants. They cam home to their room and found a massive ant infestation. They threw their ant ridden bedding out of their room. They promptly stormed to hotel reception and demanded another room. They were far less diplomatic than I had been in addressing their ant situation than I had been with my AC. Oddly, the Hotel Management seem to infer that the ants came from Canada...say what? As my friends changed rooms, they had to deal with additional frustrations such as no hot water and room key and keys to the safe. After multiple trips back and forth to reception (which was quite a walk) the key situation was resolved. Upon check out, room keys were promptly shut down at 10 am. This created an additional frustration because the safe was non-accessible. I failed to vacate the room by 10 am so my wallet and passport remained locked down in the safe. I cannot begin to tell you the frustrations I had to get Management to re-open the safe for me. Moreso, management wanted to voice their displeasure with me having checked out of my room late. It became obvious for me that they didn’t mind inconvenience me further. There were other frustrations but to wrap up, I need to say something about visiting a Communist Country, one should expect substandard commodities or sparsity of such things as food, alcohol, cups, ice and mix. Oh, I can’t forget toilet paper, if there was some! To sum up...Shame on me, I should have never gone, and I never will again!

Brisas Guardalavaca: Still our favorite hotel

Well.. I have zero complaints about the hotel. I've been there over a dozen times, as well as many other resorts. Brisas Guardalavaca has amazing staff, an excellent public relations staff, very good entertainment department,.. they do a very good job considering what the current conditions of Cuba are. That being said, there are several disappointing things. The lack of availability for things, (food, beverage, water) They try hard to make tourists happy. But it is not what it used to be. The r [... read more]esort, in my opinion, is overpriced for what you get. They ran out of bottled water, and I had to buy it off the resort. There was zero soft drinks available, only fruity sweet syrup blends. Not good for a diabetic. Of course there's no shortage of beer. There are a lot of Cubans at the resort, which for me is not a problem, this is why I go there. However, because if the lack of things available to the Cuban public, they rape the hotel of everything. Take entire trays of meats, cheeses, bread, etc.. back to their tables, and stuff it in their purses/backpacks. Very disheartening behavior. Still.. this will not put me off going there.. I'm going back in December. I will bring another two suitcases of things to give away. Anything helps. Sunwing, Air Transat, and Trip Central need to know how horrible the conditions are, and severely readjust their travel prices accordingly!

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Amazing, amazing, amazing

This may definitely sound like a fake review, but it really isn't. We traveled with zero expectations of what we will find there. We wanted a clean room, not to starve, and a good swimming spot! the experience blew us out of the water! Grand Memories hotel was closed for renos and we got upgraded to Sanctuary, adults-only side. The room was clean and the shower had great pressure and scolding hot water if you needed it. The cleaning ladies were super nice! You get assigned a butler to help with  [... read more]the a la carte restaurants, questions about the resort, or room service. The staff is super friendly and always willing to help and make your stay memorable! The food was great too -- you do have to realize it is Cuba and if you're a picky eater, maybe that is not for you. They had a vast variety of items to satisfy everyone, both hot and cold, and made to order. They had lots of fruits, salads and cold drinks. There were also 2 spots on the beach to get lunch "off the grill" if you wanted to (burgers, hot dogs, seafood and rice dish). I've been told Cuba has good coffee and I totally agree!! they even had ice coffee from the slushy machine. The lattes, ice caps and guava juice were our go-to drinks... The bartenders could spin some very delicious alcoholic drinks as well! You feel appreciated and taken care of on a personal level, even though they cater to so many other guests as well.

Melia Internacional: Very good

Malia international varadero Cuba is a very nice hotel clean well organized,stuff is welcoming and helpful. Food is good ,beach is clean,no mosquitoes a lot of flies though. What I liked most is the lead supervisor who went around asking if there is a problem or an issue to be resolved. We are a family of seven,all enjoyed The stay so much.

Club Kawama: Worse ever

Very little food to pick from. Eggs in the morning and pork for both dinner and supper. no milk in the coffee house. If you wanted a beer or drink you must supply your own cup. Pool was disgusting zero chorine when tested. No ice most of time. Many of the return people that were there said they will not return there again. The place was that bad it makes Palma Real look like a 10.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Very nice resort!

The facilities were super clean, beach was amazing, staff super friendly, access to doctors, spa, gym, tennis, etc…couldn’t ask for more. Weather in CUBA has always been super nice every time I’ve been. This was my 11th time.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Expectations met

A civilized, beautiful and well-maintained place with friendly stuff, a comfortable room, tasty food. A nearby beach will not disappoint even a picky guy. Pool water was clear, but I didn't swim in the pool. I came to Cuba to swim in "real water" of the Atlantic Ocean.