Melia Buenavista: My favour place

2nd time in this resort and it is definitely my favour place. Small nice resort, beautiful beach all 3 of them. Nice rooms. Amazing stuff. Everyone from reception , Buttler, maid, to all bar and restaurants stuff. Looks like everyone there just want to make your stay the most wonderful experience.

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Great resort. People were so friendly.

The hotel was great very clean the food was good. Our room was beautiful. We were in building 7. The view from our room was directly on the ocean. Just fabulous. Our maid was spectacular. I can’t say anything bad at all about the hotel. We loved it. Definitely going back!!!

Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Overall Good - But a Few Serious Management Fails

Everything was generally good with my trip last week, but here's a few management fails that need immediate attention: 1) Smashed out buttons: in the elevators is just a weak presentation of the hotel, and most elevators had broken buttons. Some of the smashed buttons didn't work at all, so good luck getting around. If your fingers were wet you'd likely get a shock attempting them. 2) Closed pools - not acceptable: The swim-up bar pool was closed for 2 days when I arrived due to grunge wat [... read more]er quality - at times they were scooping it out with buckets. One day every one was kicked out of all pools in the late afternoon, and it was sunny out - which leaves you wondering about water quality. In all pools you will see things floating around that a functioning filtration system should be handling. The pool management needs significant improvement. 3) The snack bar: During the day when they have the outdoor grill going, you can get food in reasonable time, and with all the condiments you'd want. At night it reverts to an indoor "restaurant style" scenario where you have to go inside and sit down in a large round rotunda, wait for a waitress, wait for a cook to come back up to the front and cook something, and just wait - and then no condiments. For some reason I can't fathom, all condiments are removed in the evening. I had dry burgers and hot dogs every time...it just makes no sense. The condiments exist, I saw them there during the day, but at night it's a strict no-condiment policy. You should not have to go in and sit and wait when there is a beautiful patio outside. Snack-bars should be quick and relatively fast - the nighttime setup is all wrong. Keep the outdoor grill going and manned at least until midnight, and keep a full supply of condiments at all times. 4) Loud and boisterous Cuban guests. The Russians were laying low, and not many around at the current time, but half the hotel is Cuban guests who need a bit of work on their manners. This one young muscle bound blinged-out guy almost took a swing at me because I was complaining about his large cocktail *glass* in the pool with him, on a concrete shelf beside him, while he was playing pool volleyball. It was seconds away from smashing into the water, requiring the pool to be drained and cleaned. I tried asking the lifeguard to step in but he laughed at me, and then shared a laugh with the Cuban guy. Management needs to better educate and monitor the "lifeguards" (who are often huddled together talking and laughing amongst themselves rather than having any interest in doing their jobs). They may as well not be there really...it'll be guests in the pool who will be saving kids from drowning. 5) On Sundays thousands of local Cubans head to the beach. They bring all their gear, food, booze, and noise. It's absolutely packed and they leave all their garbage behind. I've been to Cuba many times and I've never seen the same scenario elsewhere - but you will see it at this hotels beach location. There's a "locals patio bar" next door to the hotel too - you won't be welcome, and they make a lot of noise on Sundays with the thousands of them around. The end result is you can forget about the beach on that day. Air Canada also lost all my luggage, and wouldn't get it to me (they only fly there once a week). They offered to reimburse me but you can't even get a tube of toothpaste at the resort, so forget about it. I got it back a couple of days after my return. (My week was severely impacted by that, but it's no fault of the resort). All that said, the rest of the experience was good, the buffet was the best I've seen in Cuba, and I left with a smile. I feel though that management needs to step up around the above serious issues, and if the reviews steadily improve I would go back.

Melia Las Antillas: Amazing People + Beautiful Beach!!

My first time visiting Cuba and absolutely loved it!! The people are friendly and the beach is BEAUTIFUL. We decided to upgrade to the Junior Suite and were very happy we did!! It allowed us the privilege to meet and be greeted by Elizabeth (Concierge) who was absolutely amazing! We also had the opportunity to meet Naedelys (sp?) who was equally amazing! They take a lot of pride in their hotel :). They are always making sure your needs are being met, and that you are enjoying your vacation.  [... read more] The beach is incredible :) and the staff (Colon, Jorge, Luis and Yuniesky) are wonderful!! I met a few people who were vacationing that had left and came back within months!! Says a lot about their experience P.S. We had some yummy lobster at a little restaurant across the road from the hotel :).

Playa Costa Verde: Great Resort, Wonderful Staff

Due to Covid, my experience at Playa Costa Verde wasn't as perfect a vacation as I am accustomed to. But I was pleased that some of the regulars that I have not seen in 2 yrs greeted us with open arms and made us feel right at home. I did find that there was lack of some of my favorite foods ( bacon, fruit) but I can only blame COVID for that. The A La Carte dinners were exceptional. It was very hot (34C) for 9 days and found that our air conditioning was not fuctioning at full strength. I appre [... read more]ciated the fact that the locals were visiting the resort, but did not appreciate the fact they pretty much took over the resort. Some of them were pretty rude. All in all it was a great time and look forward to going back again

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Absolute waste of time and money!

Memories flamenco Cuba was an absolute waste of our time and money. They rate this resort as a 4 1/2 *, the resort isn't worth 2 stars. Beach is beautiful, that's the only positive to this resort. Food or lack there of was atrocious, inedible most of the time. Resort was filthy. Lost water for a day and a half. Service was horrendous. Resort was fine taking our credit for Cuban money only to tell us afterwards that Cuban money is only good for tipping, and then refusing to give us Canadian money [... read more] back so we could buy our kids souvenirs. Why theyre stock piling Canadian money is beyond me!! Paid extra for a ocean view room only to show up to a swamp/dumping land view room. Beds may as well have been box springs probably would have been more comfortable. And last but not least both my Girlfriend and I are now off work because we both contracted Covid!! Never again!! Will never recommend Cuban resorts or Sunwing to anyone ever again.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Huge Disappointment

It is very sad to see how run down this resort is considering it is only a few years old. Several of the public washrooms on the resort were closed the entire time we were there due to lack of maintenance. The lack of cleanliness in the pools was unacceptable and the lack of soap to wash hands in the restrooms during Covid is unacceptable. If you are looking for a long white Sandy beach to walk this is not the resort for you. The bedding in our room on arrival was not fresh bedding and it was a [... read more]lmost impossible to get fresh towels. The staff did their best but the resort itself needs a lot of work.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Great Hol8day

I really enjoyed the Grand Muthu. The beach and R and R were just what the Dr. ordered for restoration of soul. Staff were very friendly and appreciative. Wish I had been told that you need Cdn or US currency everywhere. They don't take their own money!! The irritations of overflowing showers and other inconveniences were vastly outweighed by the location, weather and Cuban people. Viva Cuba!

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Ok resort

Melia Peninsula had a nice enough beachfront with lots to do in the water. A little deceiving though because you would think that all the water stuff would be free but it isn’t. The pools were really nice and big and the waterslide was a hit with the kids, but they were not clean they were very dirty especially the adult pool. There was a lot of algae all over the walls, you know exactly why and it’s disgusting. The rooms were nice, the cleaners did a good job, lovely view from every ba [... read more]lcony. Lots and lots of walking to go to meals, to pools, and to the beach. Shows were good mostly quite good some a bit silly. Most staff were very accommodating, but at times neglectful. The food was quite bad in the fact that it was redundant every single day there was hardly any changes in the menu at the Buffet. they are very stingy with food at the pool bar, and they didn’t serve wine there which made me sad lol. I would say the front desk staff were not the greatest. Espresso‘s were amazing at the espresso bar and the staff are really good there tooo. The kitchen manager is what made my trip better! He was always checking in on us. Dinner didn’t start till 7 PM! That’s outrageous knowing this is a family resort! I am not sure if I’d go back there but I wouldn’t suggest not going there but it wasn’t my most favourite spot.

Melia Cayo Coco: Melia Cayo coco

Stunning resort, landscaping, beach. Food was delicious. Fifteen minutes from the airport. Staff were awesome. And really good Covid protocols. Was really sunny, hot, hot. Rooms are very well done, modern. Maid service is so good. A dream vacation was the best. Can’t wait to go back. It’s so awesome.

Melia Las Americas: Great Place to Golf

This was my 6th time to the resort. Come for one specific reason, to golf. Golf facilities and staff are great, usually play up to 2 rounds per day. Food services are very good, given the circumstances. Hotel has great processes in place to ensure that guest are protected as they can be against COVID-19. Never felt at risk at any point in time while at the facilities. Hotel rooms a little bit dated but always clean, staff keeps them in immaculate condition. Beach is very nice, always ha [... read more]d chairs and umbrella coverings available. Sports and entertainment always on the go, you can participate or not. Although I come for golfing, would also recommend for those non-golfers. Lots to do or not depending on your own agenda. Looking forward to coming back in November.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Awesome time

We had an incredible time at the Royalton. The resort is small, clean, and beautiful. It never felt crowded, and was always relaxing. We spent most of our time at the quiet pool, which was usually almost empty and had lots of shaded space (which was important since my husband and I are both incredibly pale). The beach is also stunning—even on “rough” days it was totally swimmable, and the sand was super soft. Our room was great too. It was large, with a peek of the ocean from the balcony,  [... read more]a bathtub, and standup shower. The food was surprisingly good. We never had a bad meal, and the lunchtime grill was a standout with excellent pork, seafood, and local specialities. We had the best calamari we’d ever had from the grill. For drinks, all the bars were good, but our pre- and post-dinner hangout was always the lobby bar, which was by far the best. We also felt super safe in regards to covid. I’m recovering from cancer treatment so was slightly paranoid, but the staff was consistently masked, all meals were a-la-carte so never over crowded, almost everyone wore masks on the buses, and we were outside for pretty much everything else. I felt totally comfortable the whole time. But what really makes the Royalton so awesome were the people. Absolutely everyone was so friendly, saying hello and stopping to chat if they could, from the GM and AGM to the gardeners (special shoutout to Luis). Our butlers were Michel and Omar. Both were excellent, surprising us with chilled champagne and a drawn bath, or helping us out with any questions we had. Omar especially stood out as absolutely top-notch—just a super nice, funny guy and always there if we needed him. He almost instantly made us feel right at home, and it felt like we’d known him for years. Andy, the community manager, was also great, stopping to chat with us poolside. Our servers and bartenders were fantastic too, remembering us and any special requests we had made previously. Really great service all around. We’ll definitely return to the Royalton and recommend it to all our friends. It was a wonderful time! The only (relatively) negative experiences we had (and like, how bad can it be when you’re sitting on a beach for a week in Cuba, right?) were: the catamaran sea tour, where we were inexplicably left on an abandoned, garbage-covered beach for an hour (it was weird), and Sunwing delays and confusion (which seems par for the course with Sunwing). These had nothing to do with the Royalton though, so we’ll be back!

Grand Memories Varadero: Very Nice

The hotel was nice. A little out dated but within the week we did see maintenance, painting and upgrades being done. The staff was very friendly. As far as Covid procedures the staff did Their beat to remind people to stay six feet apart and to wear their masks. They did a fantastic job

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Nice resort . . . But

This is a nice resort as buildings and grounds go. The beach is fantastic. Like all beaches, you must be a very early riser in order to get shade. Don’t be fooled into spending extra money to go to Pillar Beach because it has nothing that this beach doesn’t. There is no snorkeling at this beach though. We did manage on one very calm day to snorkel over by the rocks and it was lovely, but very limited. The pools are lovely but lack sufficient shade opportunities. The children’s pool l [... read more]ooked fantastic but was definitely underused when we were there. We didn’t follow the entertainment mostly because of the mosquitoes at night so we can’t really comment. Covid rules were very low. Masks were worn by the staff which was good but sanitizing of surfaces was not apparent and there was a definite lack of sanitizer. Carry your own! You had to wear your mask in the restaurants but of course only until you were seated. There was someone on the door with a spray on sanitizer on the way in to the buffet which was good. Staff was great. No issues there at all. General cleanliness was fair. Our rooms were cute. Fridge was not stocked. Safe was broken. Our toilet broke mid-week and it took two calls to have someone show up to fix it. Unfortunately the fix did not last through the day. We had to tie up the lift in the back of the toilet tank so that we would not have to listen to running water all night. It would not flush. Bathrooms were generally clean but it was always iffy as to whether or not you would find soap or hand towels. The chairs and sofas in the main lobby were very dirty and need to be replaced. The walls in our building were dirty. There were animal prints in the walls below one of the windows the whole week we were there. The stairwells were very under-lit! There was a little market about 100 feet away from the entrance to the resort but we happened upon it. It was not advertised. Food. Well let’s just say that there was some. The snack bar was understaffed and the food was under par. No bread due to shortages. The buffet was adequate. There are three a-la-crates. Cuban, Italian and Indian. Of the three the Cuban was the best but the others were mediocre. Would we recommend this hotel to others? We would but we would make them aware of the shortcomings because the price we paid was good. The shortcomings may have been a result of covid shortages following shutdowns. A revisit during better times would tell. Hey folks. It’s Cuba! You go for the sun and water and the price!

Iberostar Origin Tainos: Great Resort

Staff was extremely friendly at all levels. That friendliness and politeness made our vacation extremely enjoyable. Although COVID, blockade and years without tourists affected the ability to have the same level of food offerings as previous years, the kitchen staff did great work, using effective creativity prepared tasty and great food. They had more and much nicer salads than ever before (this was our 10th visit to Varadero but first time to this hotel). Rooms were clean, bed sheets were rep [... read more]laced regularly, water supplied every day. Everything in the hotel was above expectation knowing the current situation in Cuba. The ground was well maintained, the beach is the best in Varadero, and we were staying in 7 different hotels, but this portion of the beach is the best. They could make small improvements in fixing caulking and sealing in bathroom – that can significantly improve impression that we have. Evening Entertainment program was great, in 2 weeks they did not repeat the same program once. Artists were exceptionally good – we enjoyed their performance both weeks. All staff was wearing masks, hand sanitizers were available and functional in multiple locations. They also requested tourists to wear masks in closed areas, in the restaurants, bars all the time except when eating or drinking. You had to wear masks when ordering food or ordering the drinks. We really felt very safe from COVID there.

Melia Las Americas: Wonderful week away!

We were very impressed as to how the hotel handled covid. Masks were mandatory when being served at the buffet. They have added extra staff to accommodate this new process. Everything ran smoothly and wait time was minimal. We did not experience any shortages as we had heard about at other resorts. The hotel management has done an excellent job to keep things running smoothly. The evening entertainment of various different musicians was a nice break from the regular entertainment that you find  [... read more]in other resorts. The beach is very well groomed with many palapas for shade. There was no need to rush down early in the morning to secure a spot as is the case in many other resorts. Golf was very good, renting clubs and a cart is 63 US.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Fantastic time Girls week

I know things are hard with covid. Trying to restart everything. They are doing a great job. Place is clean / staff great /drinks cold/beach great/ pool warm/. Was nice to get away. Resort at 25 % capacity so shortages but lots to drink and eat. They are doing great job was more then pleased with my trip

Starfish Jibacoa: Sad days at Jibacoa

I feel nothing but sorrow regarding Villa Jibacoa. This will be our last visit there. The beach and reef were spectacular as always and the workers are dear and overwhelmed with the difficulty of the situation. What is the situation? Not enough food and no credible explanation for its lack. I’m not talking about grand feasts. We don’t expect that and don’t go to Cuba for the food. But a bit of butter would be nice. Some milk. Less turkey necks and shrimp heads. We know there are shortages  [... read more]but believe that is not the real issue. Hot coffee served in thin plastic cups , no dinner dishes causing huge waits. A lack of civility with the lineups by nationals that one could argue is cultural but we’ve all been to other resorts and not experienced it. No managerial presence whatsoever. The staff pleasant but unable to do anything. Understaffed. A feeling that we were not wanted, which is not a feeling I’d be willing to pay for. Many bewildered guests - most who’d been coming for years. Stories whispered. Very unpleasant. So…not a happy place.

Hotel Bella Costa: Great resort

All employees were required to wear a mask. Although we ate at the buffet, they would put the food in our plate instead of self serve. Our room was always kept clean. The beach was amazing as usual one thing to remember is to bring bug spray as the mosquitoes were very bad. Future tourist should bring more Canadian or us cash as the Cuban peso is almost worthless.

Starfish Jibacoa: Very disappointed

I'm more tolerant than some and generally don't like to complain in writing, particularly about a resort in a country that has suffered as much as Cuba, but since you asked.... The reviews on Trip Advisor of Villa Jibacoa pretty much sum up our experience. It was our third time at this resort and it was great to be back on the fabulous beach and reunite with the marvellous staff, but there seems to be a remarkable lack of leadership. I heard reports of so many people making official complaints t [... read more]o the manager that I didn't bother. My complaints are legion, but the most important is lack of any kind of intelligent design in feeding the hoards. If there are 20 people in a queue (I use the term loosely) who want 5-7 servings of ice cream, why not add another server to speed things up? Would be great if Canadian tourists and Cuban tourists could meet half-way to bridge the culture gap. Many people of both nationalities behaved poorly, showing either aggression, or lack of consideration or patience. I feel so sorry for the staff who do their absolute best. Also would be great to clean the pool more often and designate a couple of daily "quiet music" hours at the pool for those who can't adapt to the Cuban beat. Please read the Trip Advisor reports. None of our party of 9 (one of whom has been to this resort 25 times) is planning to return, oh so sadly. Brought down tons of medical supplies and other goodies which I fear will be missed by the locals if enough Canadians stay away. Delighted we made an overnight trip to Havana for great food and some quiet away time. Love the people and the country. This resorts needs some serious leadership/management training and cultural sensitivity training should be required for ALL guests before arrival.