Barcelo Solymar: Amazing!

I loved the hotel the only thing is that the food was so bad the people are beautiful and sweet and I can't wait to go back.. the clubs were fun too but leaving the hotel is better to get good food as well

Paradisus Varadero: Beautiful!!

Beautiful Beach! Beautiful Room! Beautiful Pool! Beautiful People! Absolutely loved our trip to ParadisusvVaradaro. The people were friendly, the accommodations were clean and very pretty. The food was average but everything else was A+

Barcelo Solymar: Satisfactory

Mixed between families, couple retreats, and college aged party seekers. Staff were okay, cleanliness was nothing impressive. Food was terrible and made me and my friends very sick. The nicest staff members were the maids. Bars arent open late, big downside. Beware of getting ripped off by locals! Dont pay more than 2 pesos for a beer or a pack of cigarettes.

Hotel Villa Cuba: Awesome experience!!!

Firstly I'd like to thank Janet Merrill at Tripcentral for hooking us up with a great deal for our first time in Cuba :-) . I highly recommend the Be Live Varadero Experience for a stay in Varadero . The staff wen't above and beyond to make our stay memorable and enjoyable . The food was absolutely delicious and the music was uplifting . The beach is a dream !!! I'm already planning to take my wife and kids there for Christmas 2017 and so is my friend who went with me on this last trip. Than [... read more]ks again Janet , we'll be chatting soon.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Not bad

Was great but the food was bad.. but the beach and pool was awosome. Serves there is good.. room was clean... but its not for singles.. its for family and couples.. .

Roc Arenas Doradas: Great beach fun time

Just returned from the roc. Stayed Aug 12 to 19 in two rooms building 8 lower floor,. Pretty nice place with an amazing beach. No, real fighting for beach chairs but, get a blue one. The water is crazy warm could sit in it all day. This place has never heard of a shot glass, they pour until they see the whites of your eyes. Do yourself a favour and bring your own bubby cups. Pool bar has the best drinks Towels seem to be at a perium, so bring your own just in case mid doesn't leave an [... read more]y. That happened twice to us The food is slightly disappointing,, beef is a little tough, but ever chicken dish was excellent. You will always find something. The oddest thing is that their is no air conditioning in main buffet ....breakfast was real good They people who work there try really hard and are very nice. So all in all, I would give the roc a sold 3.7...I would just watch what you should pay 900 off season maybe 1400 high season.....we would go back

Melia Varadero: Great resort in Varadero

We just returned from Melia Varadero, after staying a week from August 12th to the 19th. Firstly, the hotel as you enter is very pretty, marble tiled floors and pillars. The hotel is very clean so no worries. We booked two rooms, one for my husband and I, and one for our two sons. We asked for adjoining rooms but we couldn't get that upon arrival. It was ok though, we were only a couple of rooms apart on the same floor. My husband and I were in room 4109 and our sons in 4111. They had the bette [... read more]r view. Both rooms overlooked the tennis courts and ocean in the distance but the boys' room was on a corner and had an unobstructed view. Our room was a bit over the front of the property so the only drawback was buses and cars ran underneath our room and at times woke us up. We were going to change but in the end we decided to just stay as the view was pretty and the room very clean. Only negative was the king size bed was extremely hard. Water pressure was great and lots of hot water. Mini fridge stocked with sodas and beer. Always fresh bottled water. The grounds of the hotel were very pretty. The pool closes at 6:00 p.m. which was disappointing, but there was always the ocean, which is gorgeous! We were blown away at the turquoise crystal clear water. The beach has been affected by the storm last winter and it is quite rocky, however, once you are in the water the sand on the bottom is fantastic, nice and firm. No seaweed at all. The first day we went to the beach on the left which was disappointing. Full of locals and lots of garbage thrown in the ocean, such as beer cans and bottles. We quickly discovered a path in front of the property by the sea that lead to the other side where the beach is rocky but the ocean is not crowded at all, in fact we were often the only ones there, and the water is so clean. No garbage at all! We went there everyday. There is a lot to do at the hotel. They have music always playing at the pool as well as Zumba in the pool and volleyball and salsa lessons. The entertainment at night was amazing. We couldn't get over the musicians and their talent. After the evening show it is always followed with a "disco" where many younger people attend. Our sons were in their late teens/early 20's and they met tons of kids their own ages. They had a blast. The only negative I can really say is that the pool wasn't deep and not very clean. It appeared as though they had a problem with their filtering system. It was beautiful though with a bar in the centre (not swim up though). The food was fine, no one in our family was sick, and there are two of us with delicate stomachs. We ate what we wanted and were fine. Many drinks had ice and we were just fine. The breakfast buffet has a lot of choice, different than what we are used to, but always something to eat. Our lunch was always at the restaurant by the ocean and it was great, loved the fish. Lots of fish and rice...beef not so good though. The a la carte restaurant, Fuerventura (sp?) was great. The lobster was delicious. All in all a fabulous trip. Make sure you go to Havana on a day tour, well worth it. On the down side, the plane was delayed 3 hours and it didn't take off until 12:45 a.m. so that was a drag to end our trip with. Weather was fantastic! Had a great time. A special thank you to Tanya from Trip Central, she was great! Make sure you budget money for tips...this was something that got a bit overwhelming at times. Where ever you go people want tips so be prepared.

Hotel Bella Costa: DO NOT STAY HERE

This resort is not a 4 star resort, maybe a 2. we did not know that this place was run by the Cubans, the locals take over this place, they are rude and ignorant, they bud in front of you, pile their plates with food leaving crumbs, and they don't replenish the food. They don't change the linen on the tables, never any clean plates or cutlery. There is hardly any air conditioning, resort is littered with plastic cups. The pool is a joke, the locals take over, plastic cups floating in the pool,  [... read more]lining is lifting and you can see mould. Lobby is not air conditioned,its so hot, it smells musty. the only nice thing about this place is the beach, thats it. The people that own this place should be ashamed of themselves, they take no pride in this place. Don't waste you hard earned money on this dump.

Palma Real: Staff very cold who doesn't like foreign customers.

Malheureusement, les temps changent et ne se ressemblent pas... Il y a trois ans passés, j'y suis allée et ai vécu une belle expérience. Maintenant, le personnel n'est plus à la hauteur pour servir les clients. Il y a un manque de professionnalisme évident. De plus, il semble que le raz-le-bol de servir les étrangers est généralisé. Ils ont tous la même attitude envers nous : on nous ignore ou on refuse carrément de nous servir! Par contre, le personnel est très avenants auprès de  [... read more]la clientèle cubaine. C'est la première fois que je voyage sur cette île sans avoir eu de contacts humains avec les Cubains, autant du côté du personnel que de la clientèle qui était à très grande majorité cubaine au Palma Real. En plus, c'était malpropre. C'est dommage!

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Definitely not a 5 star resort !!!!!!!

This is a very dated hotel . Actually I haven't seen a more dated hotel than this in Cuba, Get this , there is no closet for your clothes...., The food is really bad. No Ac in the buffet . There were flies and birds all over the food. I had to bring these issues to the attention of the general manager, but he definitely does not care . This is a resort Without Spirit... I would never come back to this place neither recommend it to my friends. No one speaks English ... very hard to communica [... read more]te ....

Playa Vista Azul: GREAT EXPERIENCE OVERALL

I have been to Cuba 6 times and this was the second best I have been to. The Pullman in Cayo Coco was probably the best. The Melia resorts are usually a good bet as well. LOCATION This hotel is half way up the Varadero strip which was a good location for taking the tourist bus into Varadero, getting to the airport, Dolphin tour, the Bellmar caves, day trip to Havana, Matanzas :) BEACHES The beaches left something to be desired. The small beach was closer to the washroom, food and rooms but was [... read more] a rocky ledge leading into the water, so we had to walk down the beach 100 yards to go swimming. It was picturesque though so that was nice and there was a sandy bottom once you are in the water. The other beach is more traditional, but the palapas were up near the bushes and quite a walk to the water's edge and there was no washroom or food near there, you had to walk back to the main resort. That was the beach for games so we went there a few times and couldn't find anywhere to sit as there weren't enough chairs. The smaller beach was better overall and you could walk to the next resorts on the left and a nice shopping plaza in about 15 minutes. HOTEL The hotel is less than 2 years old and was modern and clean. There were lots of areas to sit and relax with friends. The rooms were nice and our maid was great. There was no bathroom door really - it was a large sliding door only ours didn't close and the shower had a glass wall so people in the room could see the person showering so not the best rooms for 2 friends sharing. They only gave 2 bath towels per room, no hand towels or bath mats which I found strange. The bar fridge was always stocked and the safe was free. The beds were very hard, but I always bring my own foam topper! The pillows were really long and flat (I had to double mine up for a proper pillow) maybe bring your own! PREMIUM I would recommend upgrading to the premium club if you can afford it as there was an infinity pool, bar, 2 restaurants all exclusive use for premium guests. ENTERTAINMENT The lobby bar had quiet entertainment each evening (piano guy, saxophones, violin etc) while the main stage had much louder entertainment each night at 9:30 pm. We went in August, so can't say whether that was the regular entertainment, but it was just ok, mostly dancing and a bit of singing. You could see the dancers were very fit and tried to make a good show for you. I have been to other Cuban resorts where there was more variety in the types of shows and level of quality. There was no pool ballet show, no Michael Jackson show lol, there was one magic show which was good, but one night was just an audience participation show and was terrible. There is no disco on site so the shows are important in my mind. They did have a beach dance party one night from 11-12:30 and blew foam on everyone, that was pretty fun. FOOD This was probably the best food I have ever had in Cuba. The a la carte restaurants were just ok, very slow service, food was pretty much the same as buffet and you couldn't reserve, it was just walk in. We ended up eating at the buffet most of the time and that was actually pretty good. It was indoors and air conditioned which was nice. My only issue with the buffet was the service. If you arrived at the start times for breakfast, lunch, dinner, you had a very good experience. If you arrived towards the end of the buffet, there was hardly a clean table to find even though the restaurant was empty. I rarely had a waiter ask me what I wanted to drink, almost always had to find someone myself. Had to find my own cutlery a few times from other tables. PEOPLE The staff at this resort were hit and miss. I found if you made an effort to smile and say hello, they were very nice, otherwise they just walked past you. When we tipped for service, we found our experience vastly better. The maid Leysi was great and always smiling, the bartenders Victor, Adonai and Henry were quick servers and fun, the pool staff especially Norvi and Yonyi were very friendly and helpful, the front desk girls were very nice as well. OTHER We went with Cubana airlines and Hola Sun. The airplane was so basic it made me laugh, never mind no TV or movie, there was no plug in for music, no air sickness bags, no magazines, no pillow or blanket, cloth seats with no hygenic cover and and miserable staff. I guess you get what you pay for there. The Hola Sun reps were all nice and knowledgeable and had no issues with them. With Hola Sun you get a free excursion usually and our was to Matanzas and Caves and that was great! We also booked a mini-van tour to Havana and I would highly recommend that! The more private tour, the better. OVERALL I would definitely go back to this resort as the experience overall was great. I go to Cuba for the people, the weather, the cost (got a deal at $1067 as this place is usually much higher) and would recommend this hotel for sure :)

Paradisus Varadero: Frustrating Vacation

This place is a disappointment in many levels. I will never book with a MELIA again. List of complaints: 1-Service. No such thing. Asked to speak with manager, never heard back. Called 3 times for golf cart ride..never came. Called 4 times for one missing bed sheet at 9...got it at midnight, after asserting myself. Tipping was not the issue, tipped well throughout the week. I think if I had I walked through the lobby throwing pesos in the air everyday I might have gotten more attention, bu [... read more]t be prepared to give 5 dollar tips every hour. At which point, you ask yourself is it worth what you're getting? 2-Food.... in Family Concierge...Raw hamburger meat, chicken, pork sausage. Cut into your food before you bite, especially check your child's food. Bland food. No labels most of the time. Pasta lady was like Seinfeld's Soup Nazi. Felt like prison food lineup. Serving utensils, a mess, forks instead of tongs. Shortage of food, etc... Ugh. 3-Rooms - Sour smelling pillows, probably from humidity. Lack of bath towels. Face cloths don't exist (not kidding). 4-Front desk, way understaffed, no queues. People just cut in. 5-Beach - At times when I was looking for peace and tranquility there instead was loud club thumping music on the beach. Yes, that's right, when you fly thousands of miles to get away from the urban noise to listen to the ocean waves, light Cuban background music, and ambience, instead they bury it with noise. Beach was frequently littered with plastic and cigarette butts. Which brings us back to lack of staff to keep the beach cleaner, even if tourists are slobs. 6-Kidzone. Anyone could come get your kid. They're clueless. No sign-in and sign-out sheet. They've never heard of one. All you do is fill out a permission waiver. I asked lady as I was picking up my kid what his name was...no idea. There were only 2 kids there. Clueless. This place is a potential gem. It's too bad. Prepare yourself for a rough time, especially as far as service goes. Been to 2 Iberostars. Never a Melia. Both Iberostars were better. Family Concierge is at best, a 3 star. I'm done. Good Luck.

Blau Varadero: The best hotel in Varadero

This was our 4 visit to Blau Varadero. Last week was our last visit . Huge improvements all over , the food for sure is the biggest improvement. The only down fall is the coffee in the main restaurant, doesn't match the Europeans and Canadians the hotel hosted last week . The air Condation in the restaurant is too weak for the number of guests , but you can tolirate . The rooms renovations perfect , elevators are in good working Condation . International restaurant service is excellent , fo [... read more]od is good , room for improvement , but the service is totally professional, wine is great . The new fruits bar near the beach is perfect idea . Foot shower at the beach another added great idea. In general out of 18 visits to Cuba for sure Blau is the best so far . The internet coverage need to cover the rooms too not just the hotel lobby . We would like to add that tripcentral agent Heather Felice , made huge difference when we're booking our vacation . We thank her for going the extra mile to get us what we wanted .

Los Delfines: Great for the price!

Hotel grounds kept very nice, room extremely clean, small resort everything very accessible! The rooms to book are the poolside rooms! Food was ok at resort however lots of great places to eat within walking distance if you don't like the buffet choices! Ocean.......beautiful!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Beautiful resort

Over all Resort is very beautiful well maintained. Al cart buffet is good no complaint .my family enjoyed more then japanish tappniyaki. In 5 days of stay only get to go once to gourmet because all other days were booked so we didn't have chance to try Itelian . Didn't like main pool side washroom .looks dirty every time during I was at poolside bar. Rooms r ok . Judy the room cleaner is very good and very helpful . Amazing blue water beach and white send made my trip memorable .this was our fi [... read more]rst trip ever I was worried reading other reviews but we all had amazing time 😊

Muthu Playa Varadero: Kind of dissapo

When we got there the rep showed us to the bus but once we got to hotel nobody greeted us. Then we went to room and we had only 2 single bed. We were three. We taught we were getting king beds. We had to wait the next day for the other bed. The rep. She was kind but only want to sell us excursion. The room staff was great but the staff at front desk, buffet room and bar by the pool was very rude. They wouldn't serve us at the pool bar. They were pushing us to buy rum and got mad because we wa [... read more]nted beer. We had enough by Thursday. Our trip was from Monday to Monday. There was a lot of sand fleas and I had a allergic reaction which spoil the rest of my vacation. The food was OK. We had a few nice waiter at the bar upstairs. Beside being anxious to leave our flight was delayed by 2 and a half hours. Found the server rude on the trip back. Very tiresome vacation. Did not like resort.

Melia Las Americas: Wonderful Resort

I had a great time. It's a beautiful resort, with wonderful staff. Very helpful, very energetic and amazing for couples and families! I would definitely recommend trying out the specialty restaurants!

Gran Caribe Sun Beach: Good

Very good costumer service, the restaurant was booked over its capacity, the only one elevator for 9 floors was not working properly. The building needs maintenance too humid, does not have proper ventilacion

Barcelo Solymar: Air Conditioning Nightmare

My wife and I have been to Cuba 5 times and stayed at Barcelo Solymar/Arenas Blancas 3 times. The Resort Staff, Beach and food were great considering that it's Cuba. The Solymar Buffet is very crowded but there seems to be enough food. The only problem that we had was that the Bungalow we reserved had no Air Conditioning and it was leaking from it. After 2 days they moved us to another that had A/C at first for about three hours, then it quit around 4 pm and quickly the temp went to 34c. That [... read more] evening one of the Technical staff went onto the roof, came to the Lobby and said that it was fixed at about 11:30 pm. We went back but it still was not on at all. We missed the alacarte the two times that we reserved due to A/C problems,standing in line at the front desk. We slept with the windows and doors open to survive and had to listen to people that were passing by screaming and some arguing throughout the night. A lot of people cannot handle their liquor and have no consideration for others. The 4th day we were moved to a room in the main hotel that kept it's A/C throughout our stay but had no hot water. We did not complain about that since A/C had become most important, especially during the Cuban summer weather. I actually contacted the Hotel two weeks prior to our trip to make sure that we would have A/C since my wife has COPD and were assured that it would be fine and a memorable vacation.They would not even tell us where the Hospital was located when my wife had problems with her breathing. Fortunately , with her puffer's and going off Resort to restaurants with A/C , she regained her breathing. I spent so much time and went back and forth to the office more times than we were moved about this problem that continued to re-occur . Not to mention that each time there was a line up of people. The experience is unforgivable and we will never stay there again, nor recommend this hotel. Our rep from Transat told us it was a common problem and that he will be informing the head office. Beware if you choose this hotel, hopefully it does not happen to others.

Starfish Jibacoa: Great beach and reef, just no food!

I'm well travelled to Cuba, 10 plus trips. The resort was nice, great grounds, beach and reef! The room was decent. The problem was there literally was no food. Hardly anything got replenished, barely any fresh fruit, and when there was food the locals who were in the resort ate it pretty fast. We ended up eating at a few small Cuban restaurants outside of the resort which was fab! The location is great to go see Havana.