Muthu Playa Varadero: VACATION = SUCCESS

Before heading out on our vacation, i did look up reviews of Playa De Oro and was a bit leary on what to expect. We arrived there in the early hours of the morning and got checked in at a fast pace, had our baggage brought up to the room for us. We at first experienced our door key lock not working and the safe was not working. With in ten minutes after calling front desk this was fixed and dealt with almost immediately. From there on our trip was fantastic. There was always someone tending to t [... read more]he gardens, cleaning the floors, picking up garbage, ect. They pay so much attention to their guests. We always had someone seat us for supper and little to no wait for drinks at the bar. The resort is small enough that after a day or two of being there the staff got familiar with us and made us feel so at home. There is tons of options for food even for the picky eaters. We had a group of four of us and everyone was completely satisfied with everything at our hotel. Keep in mind it is Cuba and sometimes things just are not the same as home, so if thats what your expecting.... Stay home. We found this place to be personal, clean, friendly, and accommodating. The pool was clean and the beach was AMAZING. They have security at the beach so we always felt safe leaving our stuff to take a dip. They offer free paddle boating and kayaking on the beach as well. We would go back here in a heartbeat for how well we were treated during our stay. The maids always had clean towels and bedding in our rooms. Our room was perfect as well as clean. We all left there missing the place before we boarded our plane. Cant wait to go back and see the great staff that helped make our trip great. Trip Central was also amazing to book with and helped make booking so easy and answered all questions we had before we headed out on our trip. all around we were all VERY SATISFIED with everything from the booking of the trip, to the trip its self.

Starfish Varadero: Fun times in the sand!

Our time at the Starfish Varadero was very good. The hotel was well maintained, the grounds were very well kept, there were many staff on duty which was great! The beach was wonderful and the food good!

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: santurary at grand memeries varadero

this was our best stay in cuba so far the service was top notch going to the alacarte resteraunts where great better then stuffing yourself at the buffet rooms we had the suite was roomy and very clean housekeeping there every day fridge filled everyday if you wanted more they would give it to you butler service top notch always there if you needed them very quiet resort we loved it no loud music or drunk people all around if you want quiet excellent resort if you want to party go somewhe [... read more]re else said that they had music in the bar til 11 that was great I guess the only bad thing they did not no how to cook bacon there 2 weeks burn every time no big deal I would go back tomorrow also bar staff and waitress they work very hard if your by the pool they come around serve your drinks and also take the food to you I forgot the most important thing the beach beautiful you can walk either way for miles water excellent no rocks nothing just jump in yes waiter at the beach

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Awesome time.)

Hotel was nice and very clean. Beds were comfortable and sheets were completely changed daily. Bathroom towels were available but beach towels were limited. Grounds were well kept and most staff were awesome. Beaches absolutely beautiful with lots of activities and chairs on the beach. Only negative would be the food. A la carts were good but supper buffets not so great.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Beautiful holiday!

This was my second time at this resort. The resort is friendly and clean. Great staff. And the best portion of beach on the strip. Lots of space for all ages with multiple pools and restaurants. Al la carte meals were excellent. And being a returning customer we were surprised with an amazing lobster and steak meal in a beautiful patio by the beach. Would definitely return.

Roc Arenas Doradas: Cute home away from home

This small resort gives you all the amenities of a larger resort. The resort was clean, staff were friendly and the food was better than expected. The towrls in the rooms could be a little bigger.A 3.5 star that feels more like a 4.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Not what we hoped for.

Booked an Iberostar resort expecting better quality. Sadly this was not the case. The outside looks very grand, grounds are well kept. My first room had no air conditioning, ceiling fan didn't work, smell of mold was awful and there were cockroaches. No sleep that night. Moved to a better room next day...AC was loud enough to drown out the show from the theater each night, toilet leaked out into the hallway (never fixed during 6 day stay), pillows are chip foam and old. Towels never comple [... read more]tely replenished, no beach towels 2 days of 6. Beach chairs are hard plastic with very few foam pads. What pads there were seemed to be kept for the pool users. So uncomfortable. There were attendants on the beach to help you find a chair and a spot, which was nice.. Beach was gorgeous. Majority of people were lovely. Service is very much tied to how you tip. Cockroaches seen on the bar in the lobby...so disgusting. Check in was brutal...took an hour at 1am. Food was not too bad for Cuba but by day 5 I was tired of the same things every day.

Playa Vista Azul: First class

For anyone who has had a bad experience in Cuba I would highly highly highly recommend the Ocean Vista Azul. We spent a week from April 15 to 22 2017 and had an awesome time. There was not one thing that I could complain about. Staff was awesome, accomodations were unreal and food was delicious. Beach and pool were also amazing. This is our 6th time to Cuba each at a different resort. Each time we have come back feeling very good about our trip but this one was an axception...it was amazing!!!!  [... read more]We will be back next year and thanks to all the staff at Ocean Vista Azul.

Starfish Jibacoa: Great Little Gem!

The size and location was what drew me to this resort. It was small and cozy, and close to Havana. The grounds were imaculate and the staff were very accommodating. The food was not great, but there are a number of restaurants close by that served great food, and staff made reservations for us. The beach was amazing. I saw many people snorkling and finding shells. We booked a bungalow, and were so impressed with our rooms. We spent many evenings on our patio enjoying our surroundings. Spoke to m [... read more]any people who have continued to return to the resort many times, always a great selling feature! A bonus for us was meeting many Cubans who were also vacationing at the resort.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: Blau Marina Review

Generally a good beach resort but the food was awful. Meat undercooked, chewy and bland; vegetables not fresh; deserts dried out; wine poor quality; the only good thing was the beer and espressos. Room was ok but no elevators to carry luggage up floors. No tissue paper in room. Beach is beautiful. Staff friendly.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Will not disappoint!

Apr. 26-May 6th, 2017 Distance from airport is only a 45 min. drive..the rep on our bus could have maximized his effort and drivers tip potential by using our drive time educating us on the area / country. In my opinion , the rep on our return did little to engage or educate as well. While it wasn't deterring , it was a missed opportunity to make a great first impression and earn tips ! This resort is small and its size is definetly welcoming!! No waiting for shuttles or trams, just as vac [... read more]ation should be - walk at your leisure to the ocean ...or wherever you wish to simply Be. Don't let 'small' fool you, its footprint is the only aspect of small. This resort has an entertainment Team with a passion for building relashionships and entertaining. Of all my resort experience this Team by far, has been the most professional and talented, dedicated to the client experience. We actually went to the nightly shows and enjoyed them! The buffet has a wide variety and their presentation appealing. Unlike other experiences I have had, the food actually has destinctible flavours rather than bland or all the same. Buffet was extremely clean and orderly at all times ! The Team in the buffet were very professional and also committed to building relashionships. Three al a carts are offered, the Italian, in my opinion failed to deliver. They missed the mark on flavour..there were 5 at our table, all agreed the pizza was the only item worthy of mention. Our waitress was excellent. Beach side lunch restaurant is a smaller version of the buffet, boasting a daily bbq feature, which was excellent . I spent the majority of my days at the beach, and ate mostly at the buffet as I welcomed the air conditioned break from the 30c + tempetures during our 10 day stay. Our room was among the newly renovated, we were close to a building reno in progress and despite reading other reviews about reno noise, we were not bothered by it. The property is well maintained. A friend travelling with us asked for a different room than assigned due to bed size and found the reception staff to be committed to please. My experiences with reception were same. Our rooms were very clean, fresh towels provided daily , clean sheets every 2-3 days. Our maid was excellent, although her task is not easy she never swayed from pleasant ..very admirable. The pool area is extremely clean, offers shade and entertainment as well quiet time. Their children/ family area is well designed and equipped for safety & fun. The pool is not deep, although always active! The beach is well equipped with beds & shade, as well, clean with lifeguards and 1st aid always visible. As with everywhere the entertainment Team is actively engaging anyone who wishes to participate - their mantra,' be crazy not lazy.' I certainly hope the resort management are treating this wonderful , dedicated, hard working group of Team members well in Spirit, as well, financial compensation as their efforts individually and collectively are exemplary. Without this dedication I and others would not have experienced the high level of care as we did and therefore the resort not benifiting their maximum return on investment . I truly wish that more tipping was offered than what I witnessed. Consider budgeting tips into your vacation daily. This property is Great Value all around - The Little Resort that Could !

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Trip to Cuba-Barcelo Arenas Blancas

We had a good trip to Cuba. It was very clean, pool was great and it definitely is situated on a very nice part of the Varadero beach. I found that the resort front desk staff had a bit of an attitude and the Nexus representative was not on-site when we arrived. We had arrived at 10:30am in the morning and had to wait until 4:00pm to check in which was difficult for my parents who are seniors. We did not find out until the next day that we could have used a courtesy room to get showered et [... read more]c. Overall I would recommend this resort to others. The food was generally good as well.

Hotel Villa Cuba: Never going back to this resort again!

I will never book to go to this resort ever again. I travel to Cuba yearly in different resorts over the past 7 years, this place had us very disappointed in the lack of entertainment and staff friendliness. When we landed in Cuba and went to get on the shuttle bus to take us to the resort, the driver had no room for us because our names were not even on the list, they did accommodate us only because we put up a fuss and didnt want to get left behind. so 3 seats (which belonged to the staff [... read more]) where given up to us. Our air Transat rep didn’t even show up the next day (as the given times, and we waited 3 hrs) so we could book our excursions. and we could not book one as I didn’t even see Air Transat rep all week, we were very upset over this because apparently other reps can not help..so we have been informed.. The staff (except the waitresses in the restaurant) were very unpleasant. Almost like we are a bother to them! At one point the chef that was making our pancakes in the morning, made me feel so very uncomfortable, like I did something wrong by asking him where the maple syrup was; he gave back a very aggressive and ignorant answer " I said we look!!" myself and another traveler that was standing beside me both walked away and said we would wait for lunch. That was so rude!! The other chefs (all but one happy lady) seemed like they really didn’t want to be there, and they made it quite obvious they were unhappy. The Bar staff was the same. Our first 2 nights we asked for mojitos at the “Mojito Bar” and the response we got was just this “ No, No Mojito’s” finally we seen others have them so we got some. But every time we went to the bar we got served, but not without being made feeling like we owed them something. The entertainment was far to almost none. So Disappointing we got so bored that most nights we went back to the room and called it a night. It was honestly like staying at a retirement home for the week. The Grounds I will say were very well kept up, very beautiful. Snack bar open all day, and was better than the buffet. The beach was beautiful as always on Veradero beach. Our room was always kept clean, with clean towels daily. new AC so it was always a nice temp in the room. no complaints there. the beds were brand new mattresses, we watched them come in with new mattresses almost daily. Food Well lets face it.. we don't go to Cuba for the food, so I cant complain there; but what I can complain about is the fact it was just about the same things every day! like changing it up a bit wouldn't hurt..or even add a thing or two new daily. you get tired of seeing the same things day after day. Front desk staff were helpful and very kind. seemed to be willing to make their guests happy I will say that was pleasant. And at the end of our trip..we had no idea our flight was delayed so we sat in the lobby for hours waiting for a shuttle bus to take us to the airport, getting worried maybe we missed it by miss communication or something. but nope!! we were not getting picked up until late that night due to a flight delay in which not one person informed us of.. I had to call to find out myself. The front security person says to me " oh it right here on paper" NICE!!!! you see us sitting there for hours with our luggage and decide to then tell us WTH?? Overall Cuba is a beautiful place to vacation, I have always loved it and always enjoyed my resorts" all but this one!" we made the best of it and I will keep going back yearly, but will not be going back to this resort ever again. I will go where I know the staff is friendly, and they have things to do for us for entertainment.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Meh... 3* at best

Lets keep it simple. Pros: -Beach is great..busy, but great. Lots of palapas to lay under! -Maid service was amazing friendly and clean -Rooms were ok minus one thing (see cons) -Skydive.. OMG amazing best thing I have ever done! DO IT! ...... that's all Cons -Bar service the worst! Especially at the lobby bar.. all they do is text on their cell phones and ignore you -loads of ignorant people... from a communist country I wont name. -Food was so bad I was sick almost every da [... read more]y until I stopped eating the meat and lived on pizza and pasta for 4 days. -my shower head was 3 feet off the tub floor so I had to go down on my knees to wash my hair, front desk wrote it down several times but still did nothing about it, I thought she just couldn't understand my English so I asked in Spanish and still...nothing -We had a Spa room, no bottle of rum in our room complained 3 times got it as we were getting on the bus to come home so ya... good luck same happened for our $50 spa coupon I had to really dig in to get that, I don't mind if they forget but going to the front desk every day kinda feels like a waste of your vacation time. Last trip to Cuba EVER! I'll eat dog food and put a tent in an ally downtown Toronto and get better service. (just so people know, I have been to Cuba many times and I know food is not great and service is lacking...I expect it there, honestly.... but this was just bad... bad bad...like make me never want to go back bad...) and the CUC is getting out of control so save your Peso's people!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Beautiful Resort

The hotel was extremely clean. Rooms were big and spacious. The beach was long and beautiful to walk on. It seemed they may have been a little understaffed because there season was coming to an end but not sure on that. We were there from April 29-May 6th/2017. The food was good. The first few days we were skeptical about the buffet but it turned out fine. When it came to restocking the fridge they only did it once for the seven days we were there. Not a big deal but annoying when they  [... read more]say the fridge is stocked everyday. We did call three times but didn't make a difference. We always had plenty of towels except for one day when they only supplied us with one The sand fleas were out in droves so make sure you bring lots of repellent. My husband had a bad reaction to them which required a needle at the medics. That all being said we would definitely go back to this resort.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Nice place to vacation

The hotel overall was very nice. The buildings and layout of the property is beautiful and it is very clean, well maintained and organized. The rooms are beautiful, with large beds and nice bathroom. We preferred the a la carte options for dining over the buffet, especially the Asian one. The food is "okay", lives up to the stereotype of the bland, unseasoned food that is typical of Cuban all-inclusives. The beach and pool areas were both great, also very clean. Get up early if you want to find  [... read more]your own patch of shade for the day. Entertainment was good but to me, a bit redundant. They would be down on the beach in the mornings (about 9/10am for a few hours) and then would move up to the pool in the afternoons. Personally, I go down to the beach to relax in peace and quiet, read a book, listen to the waves and enjoy the water. 1 or 2 days of daily entertainment like that would be okay, but it was the same things every day. I was very impressed with the medical centre, they let me in after-hours on a Saturday afternoon because I was covered in heat rash and having an allergic reaction to something. Apparently this (heat rash-allergic rxn combo) is relatively common in Varadero, and the cause is still unknown (and esp unknown to me because I am not allergic to anything and have been to the tropics before), but be prepared with your $$ though. Overall, it was a good vacation to get away and relax and enjoy the warm weather.

Roc Barlovento: Would definitely go back

The food and service were superb at the ROC Barlovento resort. The beautiful gardens were always immaculate and staff very very friendly. Rooms were comfortable and always clean. Would definitely return!

Muthu Playa Varadero: Beautiful beach

Hotel was perfect size, everything you would need was onsite. Staff did not hide that they could help themselves to the products that were intended for guest. We did not receive any water in our room that was to be included daily, a full new roll of toilet tissue would have been really nice, instead of half rolls from today's checkouts..and bedclothes that fit the bed,,king bed had queen bottom sheet and single top sheet, filthy bedspread. Food was same as every resort I have been to in Cuba. Wi [... read more]-fi so so but on holiday so not really necessary. Travel was the usual..flight delayed bad weather in Halifax.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great Holiday !!! I want back!

I spent the greatest time at Ocean El Patriarca with my friends , everything was just perfect. I saw the nicest beach & the cleanest water in my life. The Animation team was amazing, organizing all kind of dancing and games on the beach during the day and shows and concerts during the night. Cesar and Jadira were the best animators! The rooms were clean and towels were changed each day. The staff was always friendly and smiley. The food was varied, you always can have fresh fish or meat  [... read more]prepared in front of you. Their fruits are something, I ate the best mango in my life there. The only thing that needs to be improved is more life music & dancing during the night. With all said, I definitely will go back to this hotel!

Memories Jibacoa: Memories Jibacoa

Lets just say my husband and I are planning on go back to this resort next year. The place was great. The food was good for Cuba. No line ups a the bars. The staff were amazing.. can't say enough about good things about this resort.