Nice resorst great location for us specious 1 bdrm apt

Over all it's a good experience, this is our 2nd time at the same resort, there was little glitch at checking in time where the toilet seat cover was broken, when I asked for to be replaced, surprisingly I was told that isn't possible? no explanation why, then I was offered a room instead of the studio which I paid for, of course I refused. the house keeping manager Lucia after telling her that we are a repeated guest, she offered us complimentary upgrade to a 1 bedroom apartment. Food is bi [... read more]t better than last year, entertainment was very good, the only thing I noticed the cleaning I mean the house keeping last year was bit better as pillow covers were smelly because of the pillows themselves weren't clean. We asked for replacement. One thing we didn't like at all also some other guests we spoke with had similar complain is the mattress, it was awful, broken springs impossible to sleep on, we slept on the couch in the living room which was somehow better. This would be the reason if I don't go to this resort again.

The magnificent Melia Marina

A dream vacation on a pristine resort. First class food, perfect pools and a beauty beach make for a quality experience. The rooms were tastefully decorated and very comfortable, thanks Tripcentral and Melia Marina!!

The very best Cuba has to offer!

Melia’s Marina Varadero is at the extreme outer end of the Hicacos Peninsula. It is regarded as the “Florida zone” by locals because of its large collection of modern, upscale and multi-functional resorts. At the end of one of world’s best, longest and most accessible beaches, you will find Amelia Marina Varadero, located within Cuba’s most modern marina with adjoining boutiques, restaurants, bars and an excellent music hall. Inside you will find a 5 star resort, spotlessly clean and s [... read more]erved by a wonderful friendly staff. The hallways are open to the see and still reflect some damage from recent hurricanes, but the rooms are good, the pools are perfect and the service is superb ... all for thousands (yes thousands) less than comparable resorts and levels of service elsewhere in the Caribbean. While modern car rentals and electric scooters are available, the resort is served by all 3 major bus and tour services, including Varadero’s joy-filled, hop on/ hop off, open top double deckers! Food is wholesome and Cuban, great pork, ubiquitous chicken and lots of fish followed by marvellous desserts and world famous ice cream! Of course, Cuban rum and international bars add pleasure to every visit,. Book the Havana Premium tour for a truly unforgettable day that both delights and informs.

Very Large Resort

The resort itself is very modern and the grounds are huge. There is a shuttle cart that comes around regularly if you want a ride to the beach. Beach was really nice. Staff pleasant and room maid great. The food was terrible except for the egg station in the morning. There were so many basic things missing every day such as sliced bread, condiments (mustard, ketchup, salad dressings, oil & vinegar). Last half of the week there was no cheese, only blue cheese everywhere. I'm glad we got a B [... read more]lack Friday Deal because I would've have been really upset paying full price. Hola Sun good and Air Transat a great airline thats on time. Would not return to this resort as I have been to lower star resorts in Varadero with better food and entertainment.

Just OK.

So glad we upgraded to the Level when we booked. Anyone thinking about going to this resort should spend the extra money and upgrade to the Level. Jorge and Mikael (the concierges in the Level) were fantastic and resolved all our issues very quickly. If we were not in the Level, I don't think they would have been resolved so quickly. There were 4 travelling together and we were suppose to have rooms side by side, which we did not have when we arrived, and in addition to this, we were not eve [... read more]n on the floor for Level guests. Jorge had that fixed the next day. We had rooms next to each other, and we even ended up with Marina view rooms at no additional cost. The food in the a la cart restaurants were terrible. We walked out at the Asian restaurant. (and we are not picky eaters) The buffet was much better. (if you don't mind how loud and busy it is there), as well as the extremely rude guests. The staff were fantastic, it's the guests that don't know how to wait their turn. The atmosphere, service and the food/drinks in the VIP lounge were great. All the restaurants were constantly running out of food. I know it is not the resorts fault, I understand it is all due to the embargo with Venezuela. So be prepared. There was still a lot of food, but maybe not what you wanted that day. There were no waiters around the pool, and nothing on the beach to do (no watersports such as paddle boats, catamarans, snorkeling, etc) It's fine if you just want to relax by the pool or beach. But if you are looking for activities, there really was nothing. I've been to Cayo Santa Maria a couple of times, and there was so much more to do there. The resort is only 6 years old, but is already due for a facelift. The staff really try very hard with what they have to work with. So just be prepared. It is rated a 5 star, but even for Cuba, it really should not be a 5 star. Maybe a 3 1/2 for Cuba.

The Level saved us

The hotel is looking pretty run down for a less than 8 yr old resort. The Level Rooms on the 6th floor were in good condition freshly painted or perhaps better maintained. Our first room was on the 5th floor and we were told it was a Level overflow type room. It was awful. Mould in the shower, cracked tiles dark hallways to the room, smelly room and so on. The view poolside was great and it was nice and quiet compared to our 6th Marina View room which was very noisy at night. With guests in the  [... read more]lobby and entertainment marina side Service at the Level bar and restaurant was fabulous. The atmosphere quiet. The food pretty good. Often resort is running out of things. Lobster, burgers,wine, bread, pizza, vodka, ice, cheese something different everyday. Al la Carte restaurants are hit and miss and not even close to theme - no pizza or Italian food at Don Pepperonis ( described as pizza and Italian restraint ). No Asian at the oriental. ( says sushi and oriental Food ) it was stir fry frozen veggies. Pad thai made from Spaghetti noodles and Indian food that really was horrid. Buffet food was good. Pasta bar always a good option. But it’s loud and disorganized and often lacks glass wear or cutlery but staff is trying their best to keep up. The Level Upgrade well worth it - if the buffet was too busy or the lobby bar to difficult to get a drink we just went up to the 7th floor bar and restaurant. Always quiet there.

Would not go back!

This is my fourth trip to Cuba. This resort has potential but didn't meet my expectations. Food was very good but they constantly ran out of plates, glasses, spoons. Lineups were long. It was difficult to get water or coffee at the buffet. Staff were very busy - perhaps more staff is needed. The lobby bar frequently did not have wine and other items. Very few servers and the lobby bar was several people deep. The grounds appear to have adequate lighting standards/poles but the lights are burn [... read more]ed out making walking in the evening dangerous. Some staff are wonderful, others dismissive. We attended one ala carte. It was good. Unable to book any others as they were full. We attempted to book them on our second day. The beach is quite a distance away from the far end of the resort. A Trolley is available for rides around the resort but during some periods there is only one trolley for the whole resort. It was necessary to call maintenance to the room on a couple occasions. They came very quickly. We couldn't get the room cleaning sorted out. Occasionally they missed our room, it appears that the towels are only replaced if left on the floor. We observe the cleaner one day - she worked hard but did not appear to have any disinfectant or soap. She used only water.

Definately not a 4 star resort, 3 at best, the pool in the picture is not from the melia marina

We booked the Melia Marina View Room, The level Our package included a private dining room/bar and 7 a la carte restaurants. The dining room meals were good, however, the drinks that were available in the bar were limited, far less than appeared on the drink menu. We went to the Chinese restaurant and it was the worst meal we have ever had The entire meal was precooked, and very small portions. For desert they served us ice cream, 70% melted on the plate. The swimming pool water was extremely  [... read more]cold, very few swimmers, not enough seating and most of the lounges were broken. The pool are was very dirty. It needed a good pressure washer spray. To buy the Cuban dollar (CUC), your cost is the same as buying a US dollar. Our room was overlooking the marina, however it was also over the nightclub below, and immediately behind our room, at ground level were 6 industrial size air conditioners. We were moved to the pool side which was much better. We asked and were moved again to another Melia resort, The Hotel Paradisus Princesa del Mar, Junior suite, Royal Service, no kids, very nice at no additional cost.

Good resort at a great price

Well maintained and the food was good for being in Cuba. I've been to Cuba a few times and the food is normally lacking in taste. However this resort found to be good. The staff and beach make this our favorite vacation to Cuba so far!

Melia Marina Varadero

The room is very large, clean, beautiful and great view. The beach is good and most of chairs are broken, few of them is very bad should throw away. Many sea weeds on the beach on windy days but no one clean up (probably clean up next day). The food is OK but some very bad such as finger claim was smelly and uneatable. Kidney beans and hot dogs were sour probably from left over from previous day. It is OK to serve the left over foods if they are still good to eat (the chef should taste them firs [... read more]t). The services are good in most areas but the receptionists are not very helpful. WIFI only available in the main lobby and very slow and hard to login. It is not a good place for people want to have a working vacation (using your PC). The swimming pool is not well organize, many chairs are taken for entire day but see no one using then for 4-5 hours, therefore not enough chairs for others. Coffee in buffet restaurant is not very good compare to others in Cuba with same stars.

Ok

We had to wait hours for our room, and pool snack bar always ran out of food. My room door didn’t lock probably and I had them come fix it and it still didn’t lock probably the maid left my room unlock the whole day. On a positive note they were clean and the chicken was a amazing other the front desk staff everyone else were very nice!

Melia Marina Varadero is a Terrible Resort!!! Don't waste your money!!!

We went to the Melia Marina Varadero with the highest of hopes from January 6-16, 2020. My husband and I are not overly picky people. We know it is Cuba and our expectations were in check from the get go. I had previously gone to Cuba with my girlfriends three years prior and fell in love with Cuba, the people and even really enjoyed the food at our resort. My friends and I only paid $975 tax included for that lovely 7 day trip. The resort was called the Ocean Del Mar and was located in Cayo  [... read more]Santa Maria. It was roughly 1 year old. My husband and I certainly expected more when we opted for a 10 day stay at the Melia Marina Varadero and upgraded to a special floor called "The LEVEL". It was an extra $250 per person but we wanted an extra special stay and were looking forward to being well taken care of. This trip cost us $4800 :( I will start with the pros of this resort to be fair: 1. The LEVEL usually made really good flavourful soup at supper 2. On the second day we had delicious Pina Coladas 3. One night I had a good shrimp pasta with lobster tail (I paid $16.00 for the lobster tail. The pasta was included) 4. The rooms were clean and kept up by housekeeping daily 5. The LEVEL had a nice scenic atmosphere 6. At the LEVEL, if you went up to the bar, you could get a drink without waiting long I honestly can't think of anything else nice to say, so let me get to the cons: 1. It took 15-20 minutes to get a drink at the bars 2. We tried twice to go to the buffet and the line-up was so long, we left 3. Almost all of the pool and beach chairs were broken to some degree 4. The beach chairs were VERY scarce. No small tables to put a drink on. 5. The beach while scenic was INFESTED with sand fleas. We went 2 times only because we were bitten so many times we looked like we had a disease. I lost count on my husbands legs after 50 bites (which bled by the way). Keep in mind, we only went 2 TIMES!!! Imagine if we had gone every day! And we sprayed bug spray! A LOT of bug spray! 6. Back at the one and ONLY pool for over (we estimated 800 rooms) it was a drunken, obnoxious free for all most of the time. Never enough chairs and almost always a long line to wait for a drink at the pool. You couldn't even get away from people because again, no other pools at this resort. 7. I went to the restaurant by the pool to use the washroom. HUGE mistake! The washrooms were filthy, there were no locks on the door and when I went to sit on the toilet it began to rock back and forth. Before I knew it, it almost tipped over and that is when I realized it was not bolted to the ground!! 8. Not once was there any paper towels in the bathroom, wherever we went. 9. We decided to have lunch at the beach restaurant and this was bloody unbelievable. We waited about 40 minutes to get a seat, which I have never run into before at a resort but that's not even the kicker. After waiting for the 40 minutes, there was yet ANOTHER line-up to get something from the BBQ. I decided to have some rice only, as I did not want to wait in the line but my husband being a big meat eater decided to wait. I went and got my rice and sat down. He waited in this line up at the BBQ for over an hour before it almost being his turn. I then saw him turn around empty handed and angrily said, the chef had left the BBQ unattended, that the resort customers had taken over barbequing and that there was no food left!!!! Can you friggin imagine!!! And please remember, this was not a 2 or 3 star resort, it is supposed to be a 4.5 stars! And we paid $4800 for this crap!!! 10. The Cuban people at this resort seemed overworked and sad. Not at all like the happy people I had encountered in Cayo Santa Maria. It didn't seem to matter how much you tipped either, they just seemed exhausted. 11. On the way to the resort in the WestJet bus, we were not offered a drink of any kind. I have never experienced this and I have been away to several resorts in Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican, and that Cuba trip I was talking about with my girlfriends (again, only $975 tax in). 12. We spoke with several VERY unhappy guests. In fact, the first day we were there, we overheard 2 different couples saying that they had been "upgraded" for the night to The LEVEL because their experiences were so awful and they complained. The problem for us was that we were already "upgraded" to the LEVEL so we had no one to complain to about all of the nasty issues. Another couple who had been to the resort about 6 years earlier, said the difference in service and overall experience was night and day. They were so angry they left early. All the guests seemed angry and complaints were heard EVERYWHERE. 13. The LEVEL had a nice scenic atmosphere (which is a good thing because we spent most of our trip trapped up there because everywhere else was so awful!!!!) 14. The LEVEL while scenic and the ONLY peaceful place at the resort had very slow service. I'm talking 15-20 minutes if you sat down at a table and waited to be served a drink. Again, if you went up to the bar, you would be served right away. 15. The LEVEL, NEVER had a day in the 9 days we were there, where everything was available on the already limited menu. The waiter would tell us at least 2-3 things that were not available every night! 16. We only ventured to one a la carte restaurant outside of The LEVEL restaurant and for good reason. We decided to try the Japanese restaurant one evening. We were told by the waiter that we could only choose one appetizer one main dish and one dessert each. I have never heard of limiting food like this. So cheap!!!!. Anyways, we ordered and all I can say is it wouldn't feed a 4 year old. The portions were so tiny, which in this case was a good thing because it was GROSS! We of course, tried to finish enough on our plates not to seem rude and then headed upstairs, to THE LEVEL to actually eat. After that night, we only ate at The LEVEL. Again....trapped upstairs. We will NEVER return to Varadero. It is a completely over saturated part of Cuba and has little charm left. I bet if whoever gave this resort a 4.5 stars returned, it would only pass as a 3 star at best. This trip has left us with such a bad taste in our mouths, that I don't think we will be travelling anywhere for a while which makes me truly sad. We unfortunately, took the advice of our TripCentral travel agent who said she has never received a complaint about this resort. If that is a fact, then the people who went there were so pissed they didn't want to write a review, are totally unaware of their surroundings or live under a rock.

Awesome resort

Well, first off, when we first got there was were given a room that really required attention. The bathroom was dirty as was the pull out couch. It was absolutely disgusting. We immediately went back to the front desk and demanded a new room. The second room was much better. The grounds were amazing. Lots of shopping, great restaurants etc. The buffet left a lot to be desired. It was the same food night after night which got very boring. Thank God for the a la carte restaurants. These provided a [... read more] little variety to our meals at the buffet. We loved the tours, they were well worth the money.

Resort knew better times

To much complains, but most of them to Cuba itself. Food not tasty at all, and you need “to hunt” for it. Stuff corrupted. One time experience-is Ok. But really don’t understand why people come back here?

Don’t come here!!

Pick a different 5 star resort! This 5star was comparable to a 3star I stayed at in Santiago. Eat freshly cooked food THATS made in front of u, don’t settle for the stuff that’s been left out for hours. Beach was average. Rooms were spacious. Service was poor. Freshly cooked Food was ok.

Worst trip to Cuba

Our experience to Melia Marina in Varadero Cuba was our worst trip ever. 9 out of 10 travelers that we've meet will never returned. Services was poor, you felt you were bothering them when ask for some small service like cleaning a table so other can used it, or when requesting some coffee or water it's was a burthen. Some of the server says they will get it but never returned. Hotel is not well maintain and its falling apart. All pillows from the lobby or rooms were all filthy. Pool and be [... read more]ach chairs where damage and not enough to accommodate all the guess. Gym is a joke, 7 out of 8 exercise equipment where damage and the weight room was extremely small and limited of weights equipment. Bad service at the buffet, guess service and bar. Staff aren't happy at all. Only one Bar with one bartender and it take at least 15 to 20 min to get one drink if not longer. So we avoid the bar. Most of the guess during our stay were all looking forward to go back home. Always out of stock, wine red or white is only limited and often out of stock, fruit is only pineapple and water melon. Eggs and coffee for breakfast was a challenge to have and every morning I was getting upset with the services and that is not a way to start my day in the south. We've waste a week of vacation plus money to go to Cuba.

Not the greatest resort

Wifi didn’t work. Our shower didn’t work. Our toilet didn’t work. They were constantly “out of stuff” and the service was very mediocre. Overall the resort needs improvement. Disappointed with my stay.

Much less than good

There are some pluses and minuses for this resort. 1) check in great! 2) room was dated but ok. Rusty plumbing fixtures but functional 3) food, worst we have ever experienced. Same meal every day for 7 days, cold or lukewarm at best. Horrible fruit selection, you name it, it was bad. I know Cuba doesn't have a reputation for good food but this was ridiculous. We have been to Cuba before and this resort wins for worst food ever. 4) staff was minimal, uninterested and aloof. We can not  [... read more]recommend this to anyone looking for a 5 star experience. At most a 3 star.

3-3.5 star resort

Not a bad resort but not 5-star worthy. I would give it a 3-3.5 star rating. Food was okay but usually the same all over Cuba so I wasn’t too concerned about that. The staff were friendly and never had an issue with them. The rooms could’ve been cleaner and we found a couple cockroaches. Overall not a bad experience but have been to better.

Melia Marina Varadero

Terrible service and terrible room Every single day had a problem with toilet and ugly customer service. It was 1 star hotel not 4. Waste my money and time. Impolite waitress. Dirty and noisy elevators.dirty kitchen and many negative things.