Iberostar Selection Paraiso Maya Suites: Great Resort

The hotel needs to enforce its policy of not allowing people to reserve seating with towels or personal belongings...most mornings by 9am, all seats had towels. Also, as the resort said 100% no smoking, this was something that was also not enforced by the staff. Otherwise great place to stay, clean rooms, lots of choice for food and all tasted amazing.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Would not stay here again

We just arrived back from this Resort last night. It is definity not a 5* more like a 2*. We love Cuba and its people. We were totally open minded regarding meals as food is rationed out amongst all the resorts with 5* getting best first and goes down the chain to lower star ratings. We stayed one week and when we checked into our room the mini fridge was empty. Went to front desk twice to have some sent to our room with no success. No pop either. For a resort this large, none of the elevators w [... read more]ere working. If you have small children or seniors travelling its a brutal climb. For two people we had one towel all week. We never saw any maids on our 4th floor all week. Most food were weiners cooked 15 different ways. No eggs or bacon the entire week. Lots of beans, sausages and hard biskets. Some fixings to make a salad. Decent desserts and ice cream is delicious. Ran out of coffee most days not to mention it was the same for drink mixes. One bit of advice..tip the staff. We tipped between 1$ to sometimes 3$. Front desk staff give you the impression that they dont want to be there. Restaurant and beach bar staff are amazing. Beach is ok but last week we had to listen to bull dozers digging on the beach for 3 days. Swim up pool/bar was being retiled, that left one pool for every one. We loved all staff except for front desk. Sadly to say that we will not be returning.

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Sunwing Rep & Doctors are unethical!

Customer service is really good at this hotel. You can be driven anywhere within the hotel grounds and even be driven to the good part of the beach. The beach front pictured in the display pictures is only good until about noon, then it turns into a shallow green lagoon. You’ll have to go over the bridge to the part of the beach where you can enjoy free water sports. They have staff there that will pull chairs out for you. If you don’t get a ride to that part of the beach it can be maybe a 5-6mi [... read more]n walk to your room. The grounds are massive. They have so many golf carts rolling around so you’ll eventually hitch a ride. The staff are courteous, professional & kind. We can’t complain about them whatsoever. The staff are very nice to kids and visually genuine about it. The lady who books al la carte is very shady. We arrived Tuesday and saw her immediately Wednesday. She told us everything was booked and we could only enjoy one restaurant. We spoke to another family on the beach and they advised you’ve got to tip her and she will magically have additional restaurant spots. The Al la carte we did go to, Mediterranean, was good.. but empty. Not sure how they could be sooooo full. Hotel rooms are clean. The women that maintain them are great. If you leave them a tip they’ll make designs with the towels. If you don’t, just a simple little design with the bed throw. Room is still very clean and lots of towels. You get two glass bottles sealed with a piece of sticker of water. The water is different. When it’s cold it’s a bit easier to drink. It isn’t what we’re used to in Canada so it is a bit rough. Other guests were spending upwards of $50-$60 USD for a case of bottled water a taxi driver would go and get. Tips get you anything and everything. Word of advice, coins are not helpful to the staff. Tip them Canadian bills and not Halloween chocolate.. (fine people of Quebec, I saw what you guys were doing.. embarassing behaviour) Beach sports, same deal. You’ll have to sign up to get a spot.. however if you tip, miraculously you can head out on them whenever you want- ask for a guy named “uzmoney”, he will go out with you immediately for about $5/$10- he will bring bread and you’ll be able to see the most beautiful colourful fish. He will stay out long with you too. It’s worth the experience. When the guys have had enough taking people out on them.. they’ll claim wind is too strong or the rescue boat is gone. Usually around 2pm. Don’t sign up for anything after 2, just give them $5 and you’ll get on. They have a tiny little bar on the beach, it’s good. No complaints about the beach at all.. (and I’m talking about the one over the long bridge) watch your stuff on that part of the beach. There are locals hanging out in the bushes. They try to beg at first for your kids’ stuff then they start getting rude that their kids need it more than yours. Listen, we’re all for helping but I’m not about to give you sand toys and the bathing suit on my kids body. Too pushy. Food was ok. We aren’t picky people. They have lots of bread. We didn’t have any eggs the entire week. No bananas? Odd. People went on tours in the villages and there were banana trees. It’s hard to believe the hotel can’t source fresher fruit? I think whoever owns the hotel needs to come and take a look at what the dining experience is like. The food was very repetitive. Lunch and dinner in the buffet were better than breakfast. After a while it was getting a bit hard to find something for breakfast. They had one day of thin bacon, after that it was this pink thick fatty bacon.. that no matter how long it cooked.. it was still kinda raw. You won’t starve at this hotel. You’ll find something to eat. They have chicken breast they cut in thin slices everyday on the grill. Literally, everyday. Lots of deli meat. They have 2 panini makers and 2 toasters so you can make a nicer sandwich. Bring CONDIMENTS!!! Bring ketchup, mayo, peanut butter, salad dressing. Honestly, bring it. DO NOT THINK TWICE.. We brought bags of chips and snacks in our luggage too. It’s important, trust me!!! A separate and concerning experience I’d like to share. We had a very shady experience with the Sunwing rep and the “doctors”. Our daughter had a very bad fever Saturday night. We contacted Sunwing to change our flight (we were supposed to fly out Tuesday). That Saturday night someone left a note at our door to see our shady Sunwing rep at 9:00am. His name is Norge. When we saw him, he told us that we had to go see the doctors on site in order to be cleared to fly. I asked him how much that would cost and he said he didn’t know. He said had we came to see him first and if we didn’t call Sunwing directly, we wouldn’t have to see the doctor. Immediately I thought, shady. He tells us there are flights that day at 10pm (Sunday). So we go to see these two women, one is the “doctor” and one is the “nurse”. They were sitting outside like a bunch of slobs. We greet them. The nurse looks at our daughter, grabs her arm, looks at the inside part of her arm and says.. “yes.. very sick”. Right away we knew.. this is going to be a joke. We walk into the office, it was filthy. They stuck a dirty, probably used, popsicle stick in her mouth to see her throat. At no point did they wear gloves or wash their hands. They tell me her throat is red. Only the nurse could speak some English. I told them, yea, I know. Her throat is sore. We need a note to say we’re fit to fly. (At this point her fever broke, she didn’t have a fever) They take her temperature with a thermometer under the arm, for “5 minutes”. 5 minutes they didn’t time. Sure enough, no fever. They start telling us that we need to return at 4pm for another assessment. I said, for what? Oh to make sure she doesn’t have a fever. I said, no no, Sunwing rep leaves at 4. I’m not going to wait for you guys. She won’t have a fever either way, I’m giving her Tylenol. I immediately saw that this was a game. They started implying that we brought them this sickness. That from Tuesday to Saturday night, our 3 year old brought this sickness. I guess it’s impossible to believe that she could have picked it up at the hotel?? I told them that if they walked around the hotel they’d hear people coughing, sneezing and sniffling. Nope, they refused to believe that. They asked me if I’d like to do a blood test. HAHA for a sore throat??? Oh please. Over my dead body would these people stick anything in my child’s arm. Our daughter had a heat rash developing too. The kind nurse turned off the air conditioning while we were in there so my kids skin was getting worse. What a tool. Our daughter has sensitivities to sunscreen, she wears a beach rash shirt outside and the rash was primarily where the sunscreen was applied but that was too hard for them to believe. She said she couldn’t write us a letter until we returned. I told my husband to go and get the Sunwing rep because clearly we weren’t getting anywhere. He comes, tries to double down that yes, she needs to return. Which I found funny because at the beginning privately he said, had we saw him first we wouldn’t need the doctor. Now he’s preaching she needs to return for another assessment. At this point I started to get very mad. All I wanted to do was go home. I told him regardless, she’s taking Tylenol, their assessment doesn’t mean anything. He then continues speaking Spanish to them. My husband was using google translate, the nurse attempted to grab the phone from his hands and tell him to stop recording. Shady!!! The doctor was trying to explain her name is on the line if she allows us to fly with a sick kid. Then they started talking about Covid. How we need to be tested. I called bull, how can we be tested for Covid when the entire hotel isn’t tested on arrival. So what, we brought Covid.. on Tuesday??? I said no way. They started to get nervous with me and then she started writing some sort of “diagnosis”. Only visually checked her throat ok. Remember people. Diagnosis her with something we couldn’t understand. Gives it to me on a paper with 2023 on it. Then she’s trying to stamp it everywhere and her stamp pad is dry. Joke. She then writes out her diagnosis on a blank piece of paper writing 2024 once the nurse points it out. Gives it to me. While she’s writing out this novel, the nurse is telling us not to allow our daughter to eat ketchup (we had it with us after breaky). Ketchup is giving her a fever and sore throat. Lol anyways.. I walk back to the Sunwing guy so we can book our flights. I ask him to read the letter, sure enough, no where did she write, fit to fly. They told us we’d need this document at the airport because she will be assessed at the airport. I told him to walk back and talk to them because if I go back in there, it won’t be pretty. He’s in there for 20 minutes. She squeezed in “fit to fly”. I asked him what the charge was for our visit with the doctors.. he said no charge. It was supposed to be $10 Canadian but I guess me calling out their shady “practice” was enough for them to skip the charge. I told Norge that these doctors need to watch more movies or tv shows to atleast fake being doctors. They just sit outside and smoke cigarettes all day.. waiting for their next customer to nail. We booked our flights, $465 each cnd to get out of there. We booked a taxi $80 to the airport to beat the buses. At no point were we assessed in the airport or asked for this hand written note. Nice lies “doctors” and Norge - you’re all playing games for money. It’s sad. Very sad. Sunwing, you are disappointing and we will never use you for travel again. We saw our doctors in Canada, Monday morning. Our daughter picked up hand, foot and mouth disease. We swam at the pool on Wednesday and everyday after that we swam in the ocean. There were a bunch of kids at the airport from our hotel, sick as dogs. If your kids have a rash around their mouth, hands and feet.. you got it from the hotel. It’s spreading around. She’s on antibiotics. I also picked up strep throat while there. I’m also on antibiotics. No genius blood test required, just a swab. Lol They don’t sanitize the tables.. and the silverware isn’t all picked up after people eat. They just clear whatever looks touched or used. Some of the waitresses would hold it up, look if it was greasy and then decide if it needs to go back. Servingware isn’t sanitized so God only knows where we picked this up. Plates and glasses were greasy.. looked wiped but no soap. The manager we watched in the restaurant, he would walk by the places and use his fingers to wipe anything off the plates. Place mats on the tables aren’t wiped. You don’t smell vinegar or any sort of cleaning solution. The hotel manager can respond to this with some bull response saying they’re sanitizing, they’re not. We watched. Quite a few passengers on the plane home were coughing, sneezing, hacking. Curious if they had a trusty blood test or Covid test before flying LOL. The beach was wonderful. You can’t beat Cuban beaches. Everything else.. is just too much to handle. If you can afford it, spend a bit more and go to another destination. We went here because it was our daughters first flight and the 3.5 hours on the plane we thought was a good starter for her. We were speaking to others that were in hotels down the way. It’s scary to believe that they had it worse. They were served moldy bread most days. Whoever owns these chains needs to be held accountable. The workers and managers aren’t to blame. They’re working with what they’ve got.. but the owners need a real slap. Unfortunately, we will never return to Cuba again. We were in Varadero in 2012 and it didn’t seem too bad. Covid beat Cuba up bad. The government needs to spend more and invest in tourism in that country before it’s suitable. Sickening and sad.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Amazing resort!

Amazing resort! The location is wonderful! Love the beaches!! Service was good! Food may be need to improve a bit. Overall we had good time there! Thank you for everything! We would like to come back soon

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: A Slice of Paradise

The grounds are a slice of paradise. They provide a beautiful background to the exceptional service provide by the staff. The staff provide a welcoming but laid back vibe. This was our second visit and we will definitely return for visit three.

JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar: Beautiful resort

Most beautiful building I have ever stayed in. Grounds are nice and you have access to all the other resorts in the complex - fun to wander around and see what they have (I made good use of the waterslides at the Lindo, and went to restaurants at the Del Mar/Beach and Maya as well as the coffee shops, ice cream and hamburger stands throughout the complex). Staff are friendly and service was almost uniformly good. Food was very good for an all-inclusive. We went to the Venetian (Italian), [... read more] Toni's (steaks), the Mexican/ceviche restaurant for lunch, and Haiku (Japanese). Portions were small at the Venetian and Haiku but the food was good. Also went to El Puerto (BBQ, which was decent) at the Beach/Del Mar and El Rancho (steaks - best meal all week) at the Maya. Nothing on the resort is open early so went to the Maya Star Café for a sandwich before some early excursions. Buffet was excellent. Tons of variety. App is glitchy, couldn't use it for a few days as according to the staff it is affected by weather (?). This meant it was hard to view the menus. You can book reservations on the app but obviously can't if it isn't working so I used the concierge. Also need to use the concierge for reservations at other resorts. Ordering drinks on the app didn't work for me, drinks never came. Maps on the app can be confusing. We had an entry-level "garden view" room in the main building and it was still very nice and large. Good housekeeping service with turndown, refilling the mini-bar was sometimes neglected. Entertainment was good. Included things like traditional Mexican dances and mariachi, cover bands, violinist/pianist, etc. Not a lot of other activities on-resort; the other resorts in the complex are more active (e.g. all non-motorized watersports are located at an adjacent resort). The gym is decent, crowding in the morning. Small but has a good collection of equipment. In poor weather you can also use the indoor hot tubs and pool. Wish the hot tub was hotter. Pool area was nice with decent drink service and a swim-up bar. Didn't have a problem getting a spot even on the hottest day though might not be right by the pool. The beach was OK - smallish, lots of seaweed but that's a common issue in this area. Beach is very rocky and red flags the the entirety of our 7-night stay. Overall, very nice resort, would recommend.

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Will not be returning to cuba

I have been to cuba many time ,but now the food was the worst, cuba needs to do something to servive , covid really changed the place resort was only 1/2ocupied in January, the people were grate,no botle water,no soft drink or beer in the fridge

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Do not go here

This hotel needs to be torn down. It’s beyond repair. Mouldy pillows, no toilet paper musty rooms. Overall in terrible shape. Surprisingly the food wasn’t bad. Go somewhere else. Anywhere else. The staff tried but appeared beaten down. Also not many people under 65. If your looking to meet interesting people and have fun this is not the place. .

Hotel Bella Costa: Trip to remember

The first impression of the hotel was, this could not be the same place in the pictures. We were cat fished, the appearance very disappointing. We arrived after 12pm, room was not ready, we were told, we went and checked out the hotel to see what to expect, the hotel smelled moldy, which seemed like they must have leakage, very much so. The beach was beautiful, went back to front desk, room was still not ready. Went to try get something to eat, the lanuage barrier was a major issue, my friend di [... read more]dnt eat pork, but i did I asked for a hamburger got a bun with cheese what my friend settled for. I asked for the hamburger with meat, We noticed the cook and other workers stearing back at us every minute, when I was servered the meat was burnt and couldnt break apart, we saw so many other people getting their burgers and it did not look like what I was served. This was about after 2pm, we left from the hotel went into town, we found a great restaurant named El Bodegon Del Gardo, Calle 49 NO.106 e/1 ra y 2da Ave. Varadero, Cuba (53)45611369 food was pretty good that was a go to place to eat and the staff were great. Went back to the hotel after 7pm same crap room not ready. It was about after 9 we got a room and when we went upstairs, oh and the numbers in the elevator don't match the floors. There was a trail of water drips down the hall to the room, the smell of fresh paint slap us right in the face, the sheets on the bed were dirty, the washroom needed to be cleaned, there was no towel, toilet paper, soap. There was tape holding the glass of balcony door. Fridge was dirty no water. We went right back to front desk, of course we got the looks of here they come again. My head felt like it was going to burst from the smell of the paint. We asked to speak to the manager, she came to me to find out what was happening. I explained to her our ordeal and she was very understanding and apologized for the inconvenience. She offered a new room, which was locted on the other side of the hotel in the bungalow units. Well it was a well needed upgrade. Until we had a visitor who ran out of the washroom (lizard) ? we almost died from heart failure, my friend ran out the room screaming down the path to the security, while I was jumping from bed to chair, security ran over to help but then said he can't go into the room, he went to get someone else, thank God a lovely guest came back from the beach and came to our rescue, using a pillow to get it out of the room. The guy arrived to helped but the work was done already, I almost fell on the lizard trying to move it from the front of our door. It was a very long and stressful day, but we made the best of it and had some very memorable moments and lots of laughter. The one day we chose to go to the beach in the water, was the day after they had a storm, apparently there was a message sent out to not go in the water because of jellyfish, we did not get the message and we were out in the water having a blast trying to understand why no one was joining us out there. Atleast we entertained the guess who was watching us from way up on the sand. Smh, the manager was amazing and really made it her duty to check in with us and tried to make us as comfortable as possible. Was only a shame we only booked for the weekend. Makesure you bring your USD or CAD there is no ATMs and there was no way to get any Cash, and information that we got from the Workers was not very useful, seems like they were confused as much as we were. We will be returning to Cuba but not at this hotel.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: A great place to relax

My wife and I just came back home from a 5 days stay at this resort. This is a beach front property with a boardwalk that will take you right into the warm, beautiful turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. Our room was kept nicely clean and tidy by the housekeepers of Bungalow 5, (thank you very much Lia, Lauren and Carlos). The food was delicious, varied and abundant, and we got to enjoy many different Cuban Cuisine dishes. There was plenty of fresh veggies and fruits, that made our meals very  [... read more]delicious and healthy. The grounds are well kept and clean. I really have to commend the hard work and friendliness of the staff at this resort as they made us feel welcome and appreciative of our stay. This is definitely a place I want to go back soon again.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: POOR - for a 5 Star "this is going to be a long read"

I spent 11 days (Jan 9-20) in the Coral section and I was ready to leave by the 2nd day. I do not recommend the Coral section unless you're specifically looking to be left alone and like quietness. You do not get additional services, the buffet and a-la cart restaurants serve same food across both sides. Grounds - well maintained, the gardeners work hard and are very friendly. The layout is pretty easy to maneuver around once you know your way around. They were happy and surprised that we [... read more] acknowledged and chatted with them. We speak a little Spanish but shouldn't matter a simple "Hola" goes along way for them. Room - I asked for an ocean view room, well, I can't say I didn't get see to a glimpse of the ocean (that's all it was). They are having alot of issues with house keeping. My shower was not cleaned the whole 11 days. Depending on who you get, you will get floor mats as hand towels (I got it twice as the regular person was on a day off). Come on, that's not acceptable. empty fridge, 2 (500 ml) bottes of water. Exchanging of towels we had to call Public Relations and they would deliver to the room. Dining Rooms - Coral side is 2 years old and the dinning chairs look like they have been around for longer, they are dirty and a lot of stains, very disgusting. The first 9 days, we were given a very thin ply paper towel for napkins, unacceptable for a 5 star. Depending who is servicing, you get what you get for service (some great friendly staff and others, they look and treat you like we are disturbing them). A-la cart restaurants, not worth it, they pretty much serve what is on the buffet. I understand that the Country might be struggling with resources, but customer service, cleanliness and service need a lot of work, this is not a lack of resources it comes down from the Top "Management issues". They need to lower their rating because they are not working at a 5 star level. I have stayed at other 5 star in Cuba so I can compare. I have also stayed at 3 star in Cuba and had better service and amenities. Common area bathrooms, were a hit and miss (more of a miss) with having toilet paper, so I was always carrying it with me and lacked cleanliness with not working toilets. Again, definitely not a 5 star rating. All, my issues I'm expressing here were discussed with their Public Relations representative (Ariel) and his response was, here is a bottle of water, your towels (pretty much shutting us up) and the hand towel situation was addressed immediately. We were locked out of our room on two occasions (7th day - opps mistake, come to the front desk for assistance, again on the 10th day - oops - again come the front desk. We spoke to Ariel regarding a late check out and he said it's 11/hr. I'm like anyway you can compensate us for all the inconveniences we have been experiencing, he had the nerve to say "what inconveniences" and went on to say this is a Socialist Country and we do not negotiate, that is the price. We did not lower our head and walk away this time, we exchanged some words with him and walked away, but nothing rude. Staff / Guests - we met some wonderful people both staff and guests. They were the ones that made our stay better. I want to say thank you and a few shout outs to Yari and Mi (Taca Taca - they know what I mean) for their friendly smile and tried very had to keep guests engaged. Joseph (singer/pianist) what a great guy, it shows he loves what he does and that is entertaining and engaging with the guests. Some bartenders were awesome (hard to give shout outs by name, as they don't have name tags). Beach - absolutely amazing, calm, warm and crystal clear to the exception of a few days. Once my feet touched the sand, I forgot about all the issues that were behind me. The beach boys, were very nice shout out to Humberto, very friendly and engaging. But take this as you may, this was our experience in the 11 days there, maybe things just happened to us, but I would have a hard time believing it was just us.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Best Vacation EVER !!!

My husband and I spent a week at this resort, with a swim up room...We were in Building 6 and it was perfect. The service at this resort is by far the best I've seen in Cuba, and have been numerous times over the past 20 years. The food was delicious and plentiful. The grounds are lush and maintained just lovely. The bar service best around... Pools and Beach spectacular !

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Very Bad Hotel - Total Disappointment

I wish we did not select this hotel. I believe that Tripcentral or Sunwing should send an independent inspector there to check it out. Until this many, many issues are resolved - please exclude this hotel from the options and please do not send people over there. This is a total shame to Ibersotar network reputation and to Cuba overall. 1. Elevators do not work in any of the buildings. We paid extra for the ocean view room and were placed on the 5th floor. We were with a 10-month old baby and [... read more] a stroller. We needed to walk the stairs multiple times per day with the baby and the stroller. We also witnessed how hard it was for people with disabilities to move between the levels. Lobby is on the 3rd floor and the buffet is on the 1st floor. Even if you do not go to your room, you are still required to move the levels. We were carrying the stroller on the stairs multiple times per day. We did not receive any warning in advance. We did not get any apologies from the hotel. We were not offered a different room. 2. Drinks quality and availability. Coffee was not available at all bar locations for days, except the lobby bar. I believe that the milk used in the coffee was powdered as multiple times we were tasting powder lumps in the milk. There was no pop, except tonic. No soda or bottled water. Coca-cola was available for 3 days out of 11 and it wasn't an original Coke/Pepsi. All the alcoholic cocktails were limited to the options alcohol + tonic. Wine selection was only red, white or rose - with no name (e.g. merlot, it was just red wine), the wine quality was poor. Many alcoholic drinks were not available - e.g. vermouth. All the juices were powdered and of a very poor quality. There were very limited options for non-alcoholic drinks - just tonic or powdered juice. Having at least lemonade would have been nice. 3. Food quality and variety. There was mostly processed meat - sausages, ham etc. and very rarely pork, beef or chicken. Not every day and only for one meal per day there was grilled fish or meat, however, guests were required to stand in the line for 15-20 minutes. Eggs were not available for half of our stay for breakfast. Vegetables were very limited - salad bar (cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers) or steamed pumpkin, eggplants, green peppers, tomatoes tasting all very plain. Rice and beans were always there. Pasta was always available, however, it was always overcooked. Cheese variety was good. The food presentation was not appealing. There were no potatoes, except French fries in a snack bar 3 days out of 11. A-la carte restaurants were a bit better, except Cuban restaurant which served the same buffet food on nicer plates. 4. The big pool didn't work, the hot tubs didn't work. We received an email about the main pool being repaired 2 days before our trip but no word about the hot tubs. The working pools had damaged tiles and were unpleasant to walk in, especially for the baby. 5. Room cleaning did not happen every day, despite the fact we put a sign on our door. One day we had to go out to throw away the garbage ourselves (there were diapers). The cleaning lady works 9 to 5 and on some days she was not able to find 15 minutes to clean the room, unless you begged her. We always went to the beach 8am to 12pm and put the sign on the door but most of the days when we were comin back the room wasn't cleaned. Our baby was going for a nap 12pm to 2pm and we put the "do not disturb" sign on the door. On some days the cleaning lady would barge in during that time, despite the sign. We were refusing the cleaning during our baby naptime and she would assume we wouldn't need it that day, due to the language barrier. I feel like I paid twice more than I supposed to. I feel robbed, tired and disappointed. When I was leaving this hotel I was thinking maybe all Cuba is like this and that I would never come back to this country. But after talking to other tourists, I realized this was the hotel problem. Tripcentral - please don't send people there. If you are considering going this hotel - please don't go, it doesn't worth your money, time and mental health.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Getting Older but Never Disappoints

This is our favourite resort in Cuba and have been back 7 times. Some aspects are getting tired and could use some work but these are overshadowed by the beauty of the grounds, buildings and most importantly the staff. We will definitely be back as the value is excellent.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Amazing First Trip/Stay in Cuba at the Playa Alameda

The Iberostar Playa Alameda was a wonderful stay with extremely friendly and helpful staff. We enjoyed the various activity options throughout the day and the nightly entertainment. We travelled in early January for a 10-day birthday trip and were surprised by a lovely complimentary bottle of champagne on the day of my birthday despite not informing the staff. We loved the theatre shows and the beach party in addition to the live music. The drinks were wonderful and the bar staff was great at cr [... read more]eating exciting variations on classic drinks. The food was plentiful and we even enjoyed 3 different dinners at the various restaurants on site. The beach was beautiful and the private entrance right at the back of the resort made going back and forth quick and easy. We also enjoyed lounging by the pool and eating at the snack bar. Our room was spacious and the bathroom was lovely with good lighting and a magnifying mirror for those who love to do makeup. Having a WestJet rep on site to book excursions was very convenient as we were able to book our day trip to Havana and a Catamaran to Cayo Blanco with ease. The onsite bank was great for exchanging for Cuban pesos as needed and the frequent busses into Varadero made it easy to pop into town throughout the day. We deeply enjoyed our stay and would recommended the resort to anyone looking for an 18+ stay in Cuba!

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Disappointing

The people were so unfriendly. The resort itself was nice but just couldn’t get over how the staff was. Just to ask a simple question it felt like you were putting them out. Not the Cuba I have experienced in the past. I would not go back if someone paid me. Such an unwelcoming miserable staff.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Amazing Beach

Beach was beautiful, staff was fantastic. Rooms were average but clean and tidy Food was typical Cuba, a bit bland but plentiful. Lobby Bar staff was great and entertainment in the theatre was good

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Great stay

Everything with the resort was awesome. Great food and lots of it. Staff were very helpful. Beach area had a lot of weeds, but staff did their best to clean it up daily. Would definitely return again.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: True paradise

This is my 4th time going to this hotel and I love it. Ive been everywhere in Cuba and this hotel is by far my favourite. I’m a beach person and you can’t get any better than ensanachos beach it’s simply stunning!! Staff is amazing, staring from the lobby , entertainment, beach bar ensanachos , life guard, cleaning ladies , etc…. honestly they all made our stay even better! Now , I hear people complain about food and all, as I always say if you go to vacation for food don’t choose cuba sim [... read more]ple as that. You will never be hungry and if you are simple person you will not have any problems with food. For cuban standards food is very good! I would recommend this hotel to families with little kids and everyone who wants to relax their mind , body and soul . :) Hotel may need some reno from the outside but rooms are amazing and spacious. I can’t wait to go back there again we are latest looking for good deals to go back in April !!

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Extremely concerned for any future travellers

Hello Trip Central team, We are writing to you on behalf of our entire family about our recent trip to Iberostar Selection Holguin, Cuba, on January 3rd – 10th, 2024, which was booked with Sunwing through Trip Central. For context, instead of buying Christmas gifts this year, we decided to take a trip with the whole family, which included 10 of us total. We heard great reviews about booking through an agent with Trip Central, so we thought that now would be a great opportunity to try. The boo [... read more]king process was smooth; Steve Langstaff was kind and professional. He provided us with all the information and resources we’d need to have a successful trip. We can’t say enough about how great the process was with Trip Central. However, to say we are tremendously disappointed with the trip overall is an understatement. Below, we will walk you through how it went. Starting with Sunwing: The Sunwing customer service staff and flight crew on flight WG6342 were by far the rudest employees our entire family has ever experienced. Many other travellers/passengers agreed. From the time we arrived at the airport, it was completely disorganized, and it felt like absolute chaos. When we arrived at the airport, we checked in and requested 10 seats together. However, we were told this was not possible. We understood that it was a big ask having not pre-selected seats in advance, so we were disappointed that we could not all sit together, but we completely understood. We then checked our baggage and received our boarding passes. It was not mentioned to us that we had to take a shuttle to a different terminal, so we were unaware until a final boarding call announcement was made (2 hours prior to the scheduled boarding time), to which we quickly received more information on where to go and then hopped on the shuttle. Upon boarding, we were told to bring the stroller for our 1-year-old on the plane and the women at customer service provided us with a sticker for it. When we boarded the plane, the flight attendants were quite rude to us about it, informing us that we should not have brought the stroller on the plane and that someone should have taken it from us before we boarded. We were just following instructions, so we gave them the stroller to secure it where they pleased. We then proceeded to our seats. This was just the start. As mentioned earlier, as a family of 10, we wanted to book our seats in successive rows. Six of us sat together across from one another in the middle of the aircraft while the other 4 were at the front of the plane. Much to our dismay, when we boarded the flight, it was only about ¾ full of many empty seats. We remained in our seats for takeoff (we have 2 young kids with us, 1 and 4) and about halfway through the flight, a family member let us know there was a full empty row of seats right in front of them. We brought the kids back to see and get some support from the family and sat down in those empty seats for a few minutes. These seats were the emergency exit seats that my family, who was in the row behind on both sides of the aisle, agreed to look after in case of an emergency and received the training for, because 10 of the 12 seats were unoccupied. One male flight attendant came over and said very nicely that unfortunately, the children could not sit in the emergency seats, which is completely understandable for safety reasons, so we apologized and switched up the seats with our family. Approximately 30 minutes passed and who we assume to be the lead flight attendant, who refused to tell us her name but can be described as a French-Canadian blonde woman, came over to us and very smugly said "Who told you that you could sit here?". We explained we had been sitting here for 30 minutes because the children were fussing and all of our family was back here. We also explained that another flight attendant had spoken to us to ensure the children were not sitting in the emergency row seats, but nothing beyond that. She was very aggressive in her approach, explaining that "these seats cost extra money per person, you can't just sit here". We apologized and offered to pay the upcharge for the seats and explained that we had tried to book seats all together upon check-in but were told that it was not possible. We would have been more than happy to pay to be closer to our family. She began raising her voice and told us “it was too late”. She then excused herself and said that “she will be back in a moment”. She then made an announcement over the intercom system regarding sitting in your own seats, to which we followed and went back to our original seats so not to have any confrontation. Not only this, but our ENTIRE family was skipped over for drink service and for Sunwing excursions, which was very unprofessional. We ended up spending a couple thousand dollars on excursions for the family when we arrived at the resort, but we booked with a different company when we got there. Cherry on top of the flight, when we were disembarking the plane in Holguin, everyone got a "have a great trip" except for our family. The behaviour of this flight crew was disgusting. All in all, customer service and communication overall were extremely poor and the employees were very rude and unprofessional. Iberostar Selection Holguin: We arrive at the resort, check-in was a breeze, the staff was great and we got shuttled to our buildings as the resort is huge. The rooms are nicely decorated, air conditioning was on, and it was great. As we are looking around the room, we notice that the mini bar is empty (unusual for an all-inclusive resort) and there are 2 canteen bottles of water on the desk with a sticker that reads "purified water" with numbers written on the sticker with a pen. Strange, as we have all been on dozens of all-inclusive vacations and have never seen this before. The water smelled like mud and tasted like what I would describe as the smell of walking into a busy nail salon (and did not get better throughout the trip). It was awful and what I would consider to be not drinkable, although we had no other option. We had requested bottles of water through the housekeeping staff, store clerk, bartenders, customer service, etc. with no success – all mentioned that there is no bottled water on the resort. After a few days, we noticed that there was mold on the inside lid of the canteen water bottles. Not just one, but most of them. This was extremely concerning and was of course brought to the attention of customer service. Within a couple of days of being on the resort, we had 2 of 10 of our family members violently ill. They were so sick they couldn't even leave the room for 24-48 hours, predominantly with cold sweats, vomiting, and diarrhea, followed by a lingering upset stomach. By day 4, it was 6 of us that had experienced this and by day 5, all 10 of us had been unbearably sick for at least 24-48 hours, not even able to leave our bed unless it was to run to the toilet. By this time, we had enough and asked some of the resort staff to bring us bottled water from their town for the next day, which we paid out pocket for. This only lasted for so long, so we ended up having to go to other resorts in the area and bribe them with tips for one or two bottles of water. All in all, each bottle we received ended up costing us between $2-$5 USD per bottle. In total we spent a few hundred dollars on bottled water. Safe, clean drinking water really should be available—it is essential. It was not until day 5 violent illness and expressing our discernment to the Management Team at the hotel that we got a big jug of water for each one of our 4 rooms. By this time, it was too late, everyone had already been so sick. The only reason we were able to save the trip was because there were 10 of us, and we all looked out for one another while the others were ill. If we had been alone, it would have been the worst trip of our lives. One of the housekeepers said in confidence how sorry she felt for us, as “many others on the resort are very sick as well”. Aside from the water issue, the food supply was extremely limited. For the first 2 days of the trip, there was only canned fruit (pears and peaches). On day 2 there was unripe pineapple and unripe watermelon. On day 4 the resort received lettuce and papaya. The only protein options were fish, pork, or beef. They ran out of eggs for breakfast. Most options were bread, pizza, and pasta. Fortunately, we came knowing that food options may be limited, but we didn’t expect it to be this bad. In all, the staff at Iberostar were amazing! A huge shout out to Axel who made our late-night meals so much fun! All staff were kind, and caring, and truly went above and beyond for all guests to ensure we were well taken care of and having a great time! The resort was clean and well cared for, decorated beautifully, and had entertainment and events every day and evening. They didn’t have much music playing in a lot of places which would have been great to brighten up the mood, but that’s just personal preference. Ending with Sunwing: Our flight was delayed approximately 5 hours on the way home due to technical reasons (which we found out via the pilots announcement after we had boarded the plane). The Sunwing flight WG6343 home was fantastic, the cabin crew were wonderful. Our children and one family member were still not feeling well, and the crew took great care us. On a closing note, Trip Central & Sunwing – it is NOT safe to send people to a resort that does not have clean drinking water (or bottled water) for their guests. Clean and safe drinking water is essential and arguably the most important thing a resort should have. This is supposed to be a 5-star resort however the lack of safety for its patrons is beyond concerning. We would like an explanation as to why this resort does not have any clean or bottled water, while the resorts just steps away did. Please do an investigation and follow up with us. We will be posting public reviews once we hear back from you. We believe compensation would be appropriate to address the significant dissatisfaction and inconvenience we experienced. This trip was far from a vacation; we collectively spent more time in bed and/or being caregivers to one another than we did anything else. This was written by a family member and sent by myself, who booked the trip with Trip Central. This concern is sent on behalf of all 10 family members. Thank you for your time and we look forward to your response.