Melia Marina Varadero: Gorgeous Resort with a few issues.

“The Good” - Checkin/Checkout were simple and fast. Front desk staff very helpful. - The hotel and grounds are gorgeous. - Beach is stunning. - Rooms are clean and comfortable. - With a bit of experimentation, you can find food that is good. We preferred the buffet to the ala carte restaurants. - Restaurant staff was all very helpful and pleasant. - Night time entertainment was good. - Evening lobby entertainment was very good. Don't miss Friday nights, as they have two world-class  [... read more]vocalists. “The Issues” - Night time entertainment was sometime hard to find. - They have a very good animation team, but they are hampered by lack of location to perform. They seemed to be stuck in random corners of the resort, with little or no seating making it hard to see, if you could find them. - Restaurant staff were "not happy". Some were even heard telling guests that they had to tip them because they were paid so little. - Beach is a bit of a walk (8 minutes), but electric shuttles seemed to be always available if you did not want to walk. We focused on the amazing beach and lived with the shortcomings and had a nice vacation.

Be Live Turquesa: Needs a renovation

I stayed at this hotel 18 yrs ago when it was first built. Unfortunately the rooms and bathrooms have not been kept up to the same high standard that they had then. There are many bathroom repairs that needed doing, plus locks on the balcony door and the bathroom window were broken. The railing on the stair case was wobbly, and part of it missing at the bottom, a safety issue for some people. But on the opposite side, the buffet meals and the snack bar lunches were very good quality compared [... read more] with some 5 star hotels we have stayed in in Varadero and the entertainment every night was very good and varied There was plenty of live music in the bars, dining rooms and theater. Would I recommend this hotel, yes if you don't pay top price and you know what to expect with the bathrooms (missing tiles, wonky tap, wobbly toilet seat).

Paradisus Varadero: Amazing place!

Having visited probably over 20 hotels in varadero, Paradisus left me with a wonderful overall impression. The hotel was CLEAN. No bugs! No trash anywhere, toilet paper all the time in the bathrooms, and toilet seats which can be an issue in Cuba! The food was the best of all the all inclusives i have stayed at. The a la carte were superb, small portions however so if you are a big eater then grab something before hand at the buffet. Our favourites were the Mexican and Japanese! The service was  [... read more]great! I never waited long for a drink BUT a smile and remembering to tip goes a long way! I heard people complaining about the service, but it was the same people not tipping and rudely demanding drinks. They are hard working people making drinks 24/7, be kind! I was appalled by some of our fellow Canadians the way they treated some of the bar staff. We had a horrible week weather wise, didn't get to swimming once because it was just too cold and windy, but the pools and beach looked beautiful. The room: we had a king size bed and the only problem was they didn't have king sheets so they mismatched some queen ones. Mini bar was restocked daily. plenty of hot water for showering. Air conditioning worked well and we didn't have any bugs at all. Entertainment was great too! We had a great time, so much in fact we are returning with the whole family in a few weeks!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: It’s a very nice resort to visit

I give everything a 100% it was an amazing place that visited we would definitely go there again. Overall very satisfied with this resort!! I definitely recommend this place to anybody. Also I should say that trip central is best site to book it from.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Smokers paradise.

The rooms need some love especially the rock hard mattresses that you can feel the springs on. The grounds are beautiful and so is the beach. Even if there are cigarette butts everywhere. Which brings me to my biggest problem. You can smoke EVERYWHERE both cigarettes and cigars. The lobby was always smoke filled. Very disappointing. With a place of this size it should be easy to have smoking and non smoking areas. Food was not great but if your a fish eater you should be fine. Bring your o [... read more]wn ketchup. The gym was filthy!! We mention 3x and they did give it a sweep but that place needs a deep clean. The pools were freezing so no one could go in and in "winter" all three hot tubs are closed?!?! People were beyond friendly. And the show every night was worth going to see.

Club Karey: Love Club Karey!!!

Been to this resort 3 times now and we absolutely love this place the staff are a true pleasure to be around, they truly make it feel welcoming, a home away from home. It only gets better every time we go, we plan on returning again in the near future.

Club Karey: Outstanding!!!

I have no complaints at Club Karey as this was our third time going and it just gets better and better every time we go. The staff are amazing!!! You couldn't ask for more, beautiful views, great rooms, and some of the nicest people you can meet. A true diamond in the rough.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Resort Lacking

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar ; Resort was lacking in service. Lineups at buffet dining area were excessive due to slow moving staff & not utilizing 2nd grill. Food was OK. The grounds & public areas were generally well kept although the odor from washroom urinals was unpleasant to say the least. Obtaining a drink from any of the bars took an excessive amount of time which often resulted in not being able to get a second drink because they were now "out" of that beverage. The room w [... read more]as OK . Beach was covered with Portuguese Man O War. Pool was large & clean. Bus was 45 mins late picking us up at the resort for our departure flight.(As well as others from other resorts) No SunWing agents available. We made the flight but it was concerning at the time.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: A Disappointment

This was our fifth trip to Cuba (our third to Varadero), and the worst one. The resort was advertised as a five-star, but it was not even a four-star one. The grounds are beautiful, and well maintained. But it was difficult to find an empty chair by the pool. The staff were mostly friendly, but the wait at the front desk (to even ask a simple question) was long. Cafeteria was always very busy and the food quality was poor. And the serving dishes were small so that they were empty a few m [... read more]inutes after they were brought out.

Hotel Los Cactus: Los Cactus: Good enough for me!

The room was fantastic. It had a south facing balcony that trapped in the heat from the sun on the cooler days. I could still build up a sweat and run to the pool for swim. They let some of the food sit for up to two hours before opening the evening buffet. But, the buffet is still not too bad. Staff are great. Just remember to tip a CUC or two once in a while. Coffees are excellent at the coffee bar. The gym is dismally minimalist. I wish it had an elliptical strider. With no Yankees,  [... read more]the people that I met made this place special. What a pleasure to meet so many fine Canadians and Europeans. Vive la Quebec! Westerners rock! Kerri, lunch with you on our last day was a real pleasure.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Nice Resort but needs attention

Hotel nice. Standards are not great but it's a cheaper vacation package in Cuba so to be expected really. Most staff friendly. We had adjoining rooms with our 2 teen daughters but found it very noisy (near disco). We reported to West Jet Rep and he and hotel staff moved us to a quieter area same day and were great. Food OK but very basic. Rooms were nice / basic but needed repairs / upgrades.

Sol Palmeras: Good family resort

We stayed at this resort with our two children. A fair rating of this place would be about 3.5 stars, almost 4 stars. The main lobby with all the bars and seating is very nice and had a wonderful service. The food was pretty good - the main buffer restaurant had enough food choices/options. We also tried the Chinese and Mexican restaurants and both were great. The pool area was nice and relaxing. You can sit near the pool and be able to see your kids swim, run around, get ice cream, drinks,  [... read more]snacks and rent rackets or balls on their own. Everything is close by and laid out conveniently. The beach was pretty nice but no comparison to the beautiful white sand beaches at the Cayo Santa Maria area resorts. We stayed at a bungalow about 5 minutes away from the main lobby and pool area. We enjoyed our walks everyday to and from the bungalow. The bungalow was adequate in size for a family of 4. A bit dated, but clean and came with a great room service. The sofa sleeper is no good if you’re over 90 lbs as the springs in the thin mattress are horrible. Best to put one kid on the sofa sleeper and order in an extra bed for the second kid - that worked well for us. The separate bedroom was comfortable. The grounds were nice and clean but you could tell that many of the trees lost branches and foliage around the beach and throughout the resort due to the hurricane. The tops of the palm trees were damaged. The evening shows were spectacular! Our kids loved them and managed to stay up to watch them almost every night. Overall, a great family resort and a pretty good value for your money. I don’t think anyone coming to this resort with a family would be disappointed. Just don’t ever come to Cuba when it’s -20 in Canada. That means it’s only 15 to 18 degrees in Cuba.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great resort!

We just returned from our 3rd trip to Oceon El Patriarca Varadero in the privileged area. We travelled the week of January 13-20, 2018. Great trip! The hotel is very nice and the privileged accommodations are well worth the extra money. Brand new mattresses made it for a very comfortable sleep. Privileged dining room is so accommodating, very friendly staff and good food. There is always something good to eat at this resort. I couldn’t write a review without mentioning the band that usual [... read more]ly plays in the piano bar. They are so much fun and entertaining!! Dance and sing along. Love it!! Thanks to all at Oceon El Patriarca Varadero !

Club Kawama: Basic but friendly

I stayed at Club Kawama for a week this January and for the most part really enjoyed it. The pluses: a beautiful pool area, gorgeous beach, friendly staff, great location - easy access to Varadero town.The negatives: table cloths at the main restaurant often dirty, food basic and often overcooked, although plentiful. No outside telephone lines, bedroom floors not always swept, always noisy - music playing all the time, not my thing. Everything in my room worked, but according to complaints I hea [... read more]rd from other customers, this was not always the case. Overall, pretty much what you'd expect from a 3-star hotel in Cuba.

Hotel Los Cactus: Good times

It’s a nice friendly resort, not too much to do but the beach is awesome and you are only a short ride into town, stayed for 10 days and would deffenantly do it again. The Italian restaurant is really good the Cuban is good and the buffet works if you missed your a la carte.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Needs improvement! a lot of improvement...

We had a 14 day stay at this resort. The beach was beautiful. The water was crystal clear to the point you going go neck deep and still see whether your toe nails needed a trim. The water was consistently warm throughout our stay even after stormy weather and high winds. When we arrived the weather was very bad. We were cold and needed heat. There are no heaters in any of the rooms. The thermostats have a "heat" switch but the HVAC systems have been installed with no heat capability. We were  [... read more]miserable to the extent that I went to the nearby shopping centre to look for a space heater. None are sold at that shopping centre. I was told none are sold in Varadero. TIP: Bring a small velcro strap with you. I used one to keep the blow dryer on for a couple of hours and it did heat our room a bit. The stormy weather also washed up a lot of Portuguese man o' war jelly fish on the beach. Luckily we know what they are and know to stay away from them. But the resort had no signs anywhere to warn their guests about these venomous jelly fish. This is from Wikipedia: "Its venomous tentacles deliver a painful sting, which on extremely rare occasions has been fatal to humans." No warnings, anywhere. Kids are curious, grab them and drag them around. We heard a story about a one-year-old who was stung and need an injection from a doctor. When we asked why there were no warnings the hotel staff said it was rare to see them washed up on the beach. Funny, a week later we saw them again. Must just be our bad luck. Our room was well laid out, a good size, great view, comfortable bed. They set up a second bed for our daughter. It was not a single mattress cot but it was comfortable enough for her. Shower pressure in our room was good. I think all the rooms have balconies. Wind noise was not too bad, though we heard other guests complain that could not get their balcony doors shut properly. This resort is not even a year old but it looks like it never felt new. Our room still showed signs of construction dust, and trim was poorly finished. The ceramic tiles in the hallway on our floor had not been laid properly. Many many MANY were broken, chipped, cracked with shards ready to cut your feet if you didn't avoid them or have proper footwear. Some chips were big enough to trip on! The second night we were there the was no hot water. I assumed the hot water system was overloaded because everybody was showering before dinner. Wrong. It was a cool, windy day so few had been to the pool or beach and the hotel was at about 50-70% capacity. At the end of our stay there was another cold water day.... a full 24 hour cold water day. Food was bland unless it was overly salted to the point you could not eat it. Buffet food was not labeled, so you had to ask what was being served. Food safety was not even on the radar. Pre-cooked pasta was reheated in a warm bacteria infested bath. I never saw the pasta bath boil. At the meat grill the raw chicken tongs would be used to serve up cooked beef to your plate. That's just the stuff you could see. The morning buffet coffee didn't even taste like coffee. There's no excuse for bad coffee in Cuba. They produce excellent coffee. But Iberostar certainly wasn't serving it. TIP: go to the lobby bar and get yourself a cappuccino or a latte before you head down for breakfast.... or a Spanish coffee ;) Stick to the omelette station. Their breads were good. The sliced bread, not so much. Follow this advice and breakfast will be the best meal of every day! Guaranteed. We tried all three a-la-carte restaurants. The Japanese was best and fun for kids. The snack bar restaurant is also a-la-cart and is always open. The chicken nuggets were our daughter's favourite. The staff at the hotel were friendly, polite, and for the most part, tried hard. My worst experience with staff was at the buffet. My 4 year old daughter had spent a full night throwing up the "bacteria pasta". For days she was ill and feeling nauseous. When she finally started eating very few foods on offer, she had a bit of Jello and wanted more. When I went back to get her more, it was all gone. I ask staff if there was more coming out. One employee went into the kitchen and never came back. After a few minutes of waiting I asked the manager. He sent another employee into the kitchen. Finally he came back empty handed and said it was coming out. I was irritated. If there was more why didn't he just bring it? So I said "listen, if there is no Jello just tell me so I can go have lunch". He assured me it was coming. I waited and waited. When I saw the same employee again I asked him a second time, "where is this Jello for my daughter?" He went into the kitchen again and came back a few minutes later. "Sorry, there is no more Jello." More than 10 minutes it took to get clearance from Raul Castro to admit that there was no more Jello. I lost it! The "life guards" are a piece of work. They are very eager to get you cigars and rum if you want any, at good prices. But saving a man that almost died in the water, not really up their ally. Most of the time they are hanging out behind the "hut umbrellas" chatting or trying to sell cigars and rum. The umbrellas block their view of the water. Of course they might be able to hear any screams for help, but for the DJ on the beach every day. When the drowning man was dragged out of the water by hotel guests, who was there to administer first air and resuscitate the man? Seems the life guards aren't trained for that. More guests came to the rescue. A nurse, a doctor. They got the man breathing again. Seems he may have had a heart attack in the water. He left the beach alive, in spite of the "life guards". That's all I know. And that DJ on the beach... if you are looking for peace and quiet... well you're not going to find it at this resort. The DJ sets up on the beach by 10:30am - 12 and then again from 2 - 5. And it's not just music. You're expected to participate in stretching activities, dance lessons, and games all day long! So you try to avoid the beach and go to the pool. They have another DJ!!! and on bad weather days, you head to the lobby and guess who's there? The friggin' DJ! They have a fun program for kids at 8pm every night called the mini disco. But you have to hear about it from another guest because this hotel does not communicate. There is no schedule of activities posted anywhere. One night the mini disco got moved from the theater to the lobby. Many kids missed it because this change of venue was not communicated. Overall, this resort was better than I expected. But not much better. I had been to Varadero 30 years ago and had sworn to never go back. The Varadero of 2018 didn't do anything to convince me I should come back any sooner than the gap since my last visit. Hasta la Vista.

Hotel Los Cactus: Hotel Los Cactus

It was a fabulous, amazing resort! The people were amazing, super nice and absolutely super helpful!!! Food was great!!!!! Just bring your own hot sauce or anything you like to spice it up if that's what you like!!!!! Would go back again!!!! Would recommend to family and friends!!!!

Starfish Jibacoa: Small and quiet

Hotel is older food isn’t great.. but the quietness was a nice change and the ppl are friendly!! If you go Havana is a must!! The old cars and scenery is beautiful. The beach looks like it’s full of coral. I didn’t get a chance to swim:( bad weather! All in all good time!

Muthu Playa Varadero: Nice resort.

The rooms were nice. The food was, well it was Cuba. But we didn’t starve. The staff were very friendly and courteous. The grounds are nice. Not too big but not what I would consider a small resort.

Villa Tortuga: Okay

This is a 3* hotel but huge difference from my usual 3.5* in Holguin. The good: good location walking distance to downtown Varadero nice beach but red-flagged all week superior room lots of loungers always room towels and toilet paper resort grounds and rooms were clean The resort cats and dogs - very friendly and well taken care of bacon at breakfast The not so good: standard rooms - heard many complaints 24 hr. lobby bar but no beer after 11:00 pm snacks almost non-existent  [... read more]no beach towels for days (send them out for cleaning) constantly out of Wifi cards, mint for mojitos, no tonic water vodka tasting like rubbing alcohol buffet food constantly cold, no glasses, mugs in buffet patchy hot water You get what you pay for at this resort. We paid $629 for the superior room Jan. 13-20. Some tips: Omelette station for eggs in am - buffet scrambled eggs are awful Grill in buffet at lunch and dinner Try the Cuban staples at the buffet - rice and beans, yucca, plaintain, sweet potatoes as these are the best foods microwave in buffet to heat buffet items, coffee machine in buffet but coffee was okay bring insulated mug for drinks buy Wifi cards at bar next door if they run out but $2 CUCS rather than $1 CUC Ala carte was okay - but ask waitress for recommendation - we had the pork which was good Go out for dinner in Varadero - it is cheap Have dinner cooked by a local - we had lobster twice $15 CUC Bring your own beach towel Staff were overall okay - some friendlier than others. Bartenders were good. The staff really appreciate a little spanish - hola, como esta? Beatles Bar at Calle 57 is fun - bands practice in afternoon around 4:00 - mojitos and snacks there are great and cheap - around $3 CUC each only wine at dinner/lunch - it was okay. Wine can be purchased in store at resort for $6 CUC. Frontera merlot and Sauvingon Blanc are okay. No pepper in buffet, salt is scarce. Generally expect the basics but not the frills.