Beautiful resort

The resort and staff were superb but once it is fully open there will not be enough room on the beach or in the lobby for everyone. The buffet restaurants had enough variety for everyone. Service was a little slow but staff are still new.

New resort with great potential

The resort was new and it is going to be huge! The half resort was open during our stay and the second half is scheduled to be completed in May. I know there were a lot of reviews wondering what would happened to the public areas when the resort is fully operational. From what I've seen, they're building another lobby, as well as the second pool. I would imagine there would be a second buffet built as a part of the second Phase. But I do anticipate a problem with the beach. The beach was at near [... read more] capacity when we were staying there and only half resort was open. Where the other 1000 people would go on the beach remains a mystery. The food was good, there was lots of it, certainly not the same selection as in Mexiso or Dominican but noone was starving. They definitely need to label their dishes in Buffet, otherwise it becomes a guessing game. I was disappointed with a layout of Beach Restaurant. It is setup as a makeshift buffet and during busy times there is a huge line up of people circling the table with chafing dishes! The service was hit or miss. Englist is definitely a challenge for some servers, especially at the main Buffet. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would go again.

Be prepared to be amazed

This new resort is beautiful. The lobby is spectacular. The grounds are still in development stage but not in any way detracting. The pool area is expansive. Rooms are well decorated and comfortable. The stretch of beach in front of the resort amazing. We walked along the shoreline and in the ocean every day and saw all kinds of sea life (star fish, conches,sand dollars). The food was pretty good. The resort is very large and will double in size soon, so be prepared to do a lot of walking. There [... read more] are club cars on the paths you can get a ride if you need/ want to. I think this resort is a do again for me.

New resort

Our room was excellent- no bugs, plumbing worked. Buffet food was good;had an excellent lobster dinner at the Bistro restaurant Pool area is excellent, lots of chairs, but water is cold Beach is narrow, a bit rocky in places, but ocean is spectacular. Nightly entertainment is above average; they have a great house band. Bar drinks can be greatly improved; mixes are imitation and too sugary. Resort is not complete; no landscaping, grass, construction on phase 2 ongoing. Large resort but walkable. [... read more] Inexperienced staff, marginal service. No shops or disco in the resort. Change your money at airport for better exchange rate. Extra charges for using a credit card. Highly recommend the catamaran excursion for snorkelling, lunch, pilar beach.

Great destination

Huge resort. Well laid out. New resort so vegetation was just getting started. Rooms immaculate. More washrooms required near the pool and beach areas. Beach had a lot of coral so bring water shoes. Great spot for snorkelling on a calm day. Sandbar when the tide was out was a highlight.

Cuban resort, what you should expect

The al la carte restaurant entres where excellent, however they seemed to be working on reduced sittings, making it difficult to get into the restaurants at a reasonable hour.. The buffet lacked choices and quantity often, but is a new resort, the bugs haven't been worked out yet. The rooms were fresh and clean.

Beautiful Resort

This was a beautiful new resort with a lot of smiling faces to serve us and make our stay enjoyable but it did have some flaws. The rooms were beautiful but we had fumes/gas coming up through our shower drain the entire time so we had to keep it blocked with a wet face cloth. Our travel companions said their shower wouldn't drain properly and they had a flood every time they used theirs. They requested maintenance to come and look at it but nobody every came. The rooms were nice and clean but th [... read more]e beds were very, very hard and uncomfortable and the pillows were also very hard. There is not a lot to do at this resort and the gift shop is ridiculously small. It's not even worth having one if that's all they have to offer. The food was disappointing as well but we certainly didn't starve. For the most part, it was lukewarm to cold unless you stood in line and had them cook something especially for you. Booking the "A La Carte Restaurants" is a joke. You stand in line forever or they offer you an appoint for later but they book up so fast that you end up losing out in the end. This certainly needs to be improved. All this aside, the resort is beautiful and the people are friendly and always serve you with a smile. We enjoyed some aspects of this resort and disliked some others as with any place. I would not go back myself but I certainly would not discourage anybody else from giving it a try. Different strokes for different folks as they say.

A three stars hotel-not more !

This hotel is still under construction-expect hammer noises,dust and landscaping in early stages of development.Very inconvenient layout of the grounds,swimming pools are not connected by bridges,so you have to go around a lot.Spa is not open yet ,even if it is already advertised on website,which was a huge disappointment for me.Front desk service unhelpful and indifferent,not informing about flight cancellations,not willing to accommodate to room changes etc.Food is decent,but if you wait you c [... read more]an get excellent barbecue done by chef.The waitresses at the lobby bar are nice and fast with orders.The front desk staff should be trained in hospitality or fired.

Great resort!

We enjoyed our stay; it is a beautiful resort and when it is open to full capacity, with the accommodation complete, it will be a busy spot. The pool is fabulous, beautiful area, the beach is great, we loved to walk the beach everyday. Suggestion, take "water shoes", there are rocks as you enter the water (I kept my flip flops on). I love Cayo Coco area, returned after 17 years; it's very busy spot now with the new hotels but that didn't bother me at all. The drive from the airport is great, qui [... read more]ck & close (20 minutes). The service at the hotel was great, the buffet restaurant was great, good food, no complaints at all, plenty of food for all .. suggestion, bring pepper/salt, ketchup & seasoning salts LOL .. it's was a personal taste thing .. they provided HP & A1 sauce, which was great for me. The al-a-carte restaurants were great, no complaints, food very tasty and service was excellent!! Our room was comfortable, new design, lots of room for 2 people, king size bed, loved that we had a coffee maker .. suggestion, take coffee mate or similar as they don't provide any type of coffee cream/creamer with the coffee maker. I would think you could get milk from the restaurant if you need it as there is a fridge in the room. Also, take adapters/converters for small electronics e.g., cell phone charging, curling irons/flat irons .. it is 220 volt people!! I have an "European curling iron" and it worked great, no convertor required! There is a hairdryer and it worked great! Take face cloths if you use them .. I didn't ask housekeeping for one; I'm assuming they would provide you with them if they are available. Cuba has come along way over the years .. I worked with the 1st travel operator to take Canadians to Cuba (mid 70's), only to Varadero at that time, so with that said, "you've come along way Cuba", offering great spots for vacationing Canadians! The "people" are very friendly, accommodating & hard working! I would definitely return to this resort, great relaxing, stress free spot! I would return to Cuba, all areas!! Ciao!!!!

Will be an amazing resort

Service This resort had fantastic service. On the beach they would bring you beach chairs (you never had to reserve early or search for your own), the same goes for chairs around the pool. Service in all restaurants and bars were excellent with the exception of the Lobby Bar (where it was extremely slow at nights). The resort is large (even with only half complete) and they would offer you golf cart rides to your room if you wanted. Beach The beach was beautiful, it was long and had fine, white [... read more] sand so excellent for walking, collecting seashells or just building sandcastles. BUT bring water shoes, they really need to excavate the rock in the water just off shore. The rock is very sharp and will cut feet. In order to find a clear place to enter the ocean you will need to go the far right of the beach by the last of the shade structures. (It is a bit of a hike). Also the snorkelling was great - there was a reef just off shore and it was not too deep and you could see many, many different types of colourful fish. Pools There were only 1 main pool open at this point and it was really 2 pools (not including the baby pool for toddlers). The pools were like a giant square with a part in the middle for sitting on beach chairs. The one being shallower (great for kids) and the other deeper. There were lots of beds around the pool and always seemed to be one available, we never had to scramble out in the morning to reserve one. The only downside is the pool had some sort of edge that cut the children's feet. Almost every child had small cuts from something on the bottom of their feet. Oddly the adults did not. Food The food was good especially for Cuba. The buffet was large and while the selection did not change a lot, they had a fresh meat cooking station, fish cooking station, pasta station and flambé banana station nightly, the food overall at the buffet was quite good. The 2 a la cartes were okay but the menus were quite limited. The snack bar was only okay as well. It also had an extremely limited menu. Drinks The drinks were okay at best. Most tropical drinks were made from those slushy machines and they never had any fresh fruit for drinks. This is an area this hotel could improve upon. With the exception of the coffee and the coffee drinks, those were spectacular especially the latte macchiato. I was told the Spanish coffees were good too. Rooms The room was brand new and in superb condition. The safe was free and the TV's were flat screen and had a variety of channels from around the world. Landscape/Resort I am sure when this resort is complete it will be beautiful but I was there in Feb 2015 and it was no where near that point. Most of the grounds were mud. They were desperately watering and trying to get grass to grow but there was not a lot of grass. The bigger concern is there is a large section of cleared land between the buildings and the beach that will not be built on for 2 to 3 years - as they will eventually build a luxury section there(or so I was told) and it is an eyesore, it was one very large mud pit. The resort was only half complete - which I was completely aware of when I booked and I got a good price for a Melia resort. The other half was no where near done and I will be surprised if it is complete in May as they state. So many things that are listed just aren't ready. The current gift shop was the size of a closet and sold rum, cigars, and a couple Tshirts/towels so bring what you need. Overall though I would recommend this hotel and expect it will be fantastic when it is done.

Good resort but has issues

Resort facilities are nice and well layed out but it took 3 days to get water issue resolved and just as long to get bath towels for our room. Beach is nice but not really swimable due to rocky shoreline and low tides....good snorkelling though.

Awesome Resort

We loved this resort the rooms were very nicely done. The staff were wonderful and very kind. The food was awesome and the pool was beautiful. We enjoyed the Snack Bar and loved the drinks from there and the Lobby Bar. The Oriental Al la Carte was really good. We would love to go back to this resort again next year. When this resort is finished it will be huge hopefully they can keep up with the demand of the people who will be staying there.

Good Deal

The price was right. We knew the resort wasn't complete but were willing to go and check it out. The staff was great. The drinks were hit or miss. Beach was beautiful with great snorkeling. Buffet was crowded but food was good.

Good food!

Resort is still under construction. You have to expect work during the day time. However, the food is very good, entertainment is ok for now and Victor, bartender at the beach bar, does the BEST mojitos! Disco is under construction as well. A must see after all the construction will be done!!

Melia does not have it quite right yet

Location is great, close to airport, beach is nice, love the long walks. Food is good, al a cartes are good, the rooms are just ok, beds and pillows are terrible. The shower was either scalding hot or freezing cold. The pathways were not well planned out and you have to share them with golf carts constantly speeding by. You have to walk through the unlit pool area at night to get to the 24 hr restaurant and bar. My building backed onto the pool yet not a direct pathway to get there. But the pool [... read more] is one of the nicest ones I have ever seen anywhere. The staff is amazing and very hard working especially the bar tenders and wait staff in the lobby bars. I am sure it will become better as the hotel is completed. Not quite a 5 star yet. The money exchange to Pesos is a rip off. The hotel keeps a 3 % commission and does not give you a receipt, so one wonders if this is going into the staffs pocket.

Will grow to be a five star with time

Presently a 4-4.5 star resort. The grounds are new and need maturing, the beach has some rocky areas but opens to sand and beautiful waters, the food is very good for Cuban standards, entertainment was impressive and the activities crew encourage visitors to join in. The buildings are quite nice with a few hiccups to iron out...our showers cycled between hot-warm-cool. Some buildings had leaking from rain falls, others had a few temporary electrical outages. Staff was always kind, cheerful and e [... read more]ager to make your stay better though. All in all, a nice stay and would consider this resort to be 4-4.5 star.

Amazing resort and simply wonderful staff!!

This resort is very new and is still going through some discomfort associated with the birthing process. However they have outstanding operational staff in all departments. They take pride in what they do and how they do it. Their entertainment is outstanding! Their entertainment staff are truly talented, fun and freindly.5***** Their Customer service is superb! 5***** Facilities amazing,please note their Ocean view rooms are still under construction! 4****. A la carte restaurants very varied. P [... read more]ersonal favourites were "Fuego", "Bistro" and "Bana". 5***** Front desk staff, very freindly and helpful! 5*****. Overall we want to return to Melia Jardines Del Rey !!!! Gracias to all you wonderful people at Jardines Del Rey :) You truly made our 25th wedding anniversary very special and memorable! The Williams from Toronto, Canada.