Perfect beach, bad service

Stayed Jan 18-26. Positive: great beach and ability to walk both directions for few km. Negative: - very first impression is during check in: only 1 person available, and although full bus comes at same time for check in,- having laughs and personal conversation with other staff, totally disregarding long line of tourists and not even acknowledging the guests. -more staff should be present for check ins (taking their lunch around the tourists time) -Arrived to resort before 2 pm, not  [... read more]able to check in till 4 pm. really bad and inconvenient-all you want to do after flight is check in/change clothes and start your vacation -2 days the whole resort didnt have ANY water-meaning no wash up and /or bathrooms are available for use. Customer service is absent (away on lunch?) instead of addressing issues. No announcements are made for any update. Long line to reception to get ANY info about water. At best-keep lying "in 20 minutes" water will be available. (Please dont lie, just say you dont have any info and will keep everyone updated) -THE WORST part: long lines and wait for ANY meal of the day:breakfast, lunch and dinner. WE`ve been many times to Cuba and dont expect much, to be honest, but NEVER had to wait in line for 20-30 min to enter restaurant ! On top of it-half of the time the doors to restaurant open 10-20 min late ! Again- no customer service or management available. -Management just not present or visible. Only on one occasion saw the management when one of the guests escalated the issue and demanded to see manager (who looked like he was annoyed to be called and was totally unhelpful) -Stayed in building 10 (rm 10115). On the very first day reported broken phone and safe-both to reception AND customer service. And the stolen portable radio from our room (unfortunately , on the very first day). Nobody for the whole week addressed the issue OR tried to do/fix anything. -While cleaning staff and gardeners are working hard-at same time nobody picks up garbage scattered in the garden OR dirty dishes sitting in front of building with pieces of old food for several days! At the restaurant waiting staff will walk past dirty dishes on a table, not collecting it. Witnessed during every meal 4-5 different staff will walk past dirty plates and doesnt occur to them to collect it. Poor training. Conclusion: will definitely return to Cayo Coco for the beach, but never again to Playa Paraiso. _

Nice beach

beautiful beach with calm ocean, very good for kids but not enough shaded places. Rooms are old and smelly with really bad beds and matelas. Evening entertainment is bad. Only saxaphon player is amazing

Overall Poor to Fair - but would not go back

I did not like this hotel at all - maybe it was the timing - post covid - but we had numerous issues with the hotel from toilet paper, toilets not working, no napkins to no heat in the room - and it was very cold down to 18 celsius at one point in our hotel room. I only give the resort an "OK" mention because it was a good deal financially, however, it was a disappointment and I had realized that saving a few extra bucks was really not worth it in the end. The people working at the resort were v [... read more]ery friendly, however, my daughter did get sick from the buffet, it was extremely loud and chaotic every mealtime in the buffet. The best thing at the resort for me was the entertainment every evening - it was a nice surprise. I feel badly for the people living in Cuba if this is the standard for tourists, but maybe it's just me.

Not pleasant Playa Paraiso, Cayo Coco, Cuba

My wife and I have been on vacation in Cuba many times, we enjoyed it. This vacation was different. We spent almost two weeks in Playa Paradiso, Cayo Coco, Cuba around Christmas time. COVID19 limitations are very minimal, some people were voluntarily wearing masks on the plane and in the resort, (less than 5%), nobody on the beaches. Leaving Cuba there is a body temperature check before entering the airport. We were trying to keep distance from people coughing. The airport is very busy, [... read more] long waiting time but it is just formality to go through customs, staff is very friendly. On the positive note; landscape in the resort is beautiful, abundance of food, room was clean, ac worked, nice pool, hot and cold water, free WiFi in the lobby, gorgeous beaches, crystal clear and warm sea water, nice weather. Unfortunately there were many drawbacks. There were not welcome drink or greetings when we came to the resort. Servants and other staff in the hotel were apathetic and ignorant. It looked that we were standing on their way to have a nice, funny day, they were important in the hotel, not clients. Many unpleasant little things like; give a tip for better service or drink (all-inclusive vac), electric vehicle drivers would run you over-they never offered a ride or smile, beach towel exchange not available. In the lobby we were offered a drink or coffee only once over two week period. Bars were offering drinks only with cheap rum. On plaques at bar walls they listed many drinks but only a few were available. We never got Margarita, Mohito was available only for a couple of hours a day. Hotel was overcrowded, long lineups to get food in one only buffet, pizza shack or drinks in bars. Lobby was always crowded in the evenings. Catamaran or paddle boats were always booked solid and not available. Pineapple on the beach cost $5US. And many, many more. The entertainment at the pool was not too bad with a nice music. Shows in the theater were very low quality but very noisy. Both; theater and beach were using powerful speakers and were making lots of loud noise. Most of the time it was low bass, trembling modern music, not Cuban traditional music. Lobby was unbelievably noisy; pool and theater were competing who was louder, theater was winning, they were the loudest. Ear plugs would help to survive but they were not available. If you are looking for a nice quiet vacation to relax do not go to Playa Paradiso. My wife left in our room # 9308 in a drawer brand new, expensive lipstick ($65), it was stolen. The last but not the least was flags at the entrance to the hotel. There were three of them: Cuban, Canadian and Russian. We talked about the Russian flag to the Quality Manager. We complained that the Russian flag should not be proudly exposed in a hotel were people from many countries are coming. After Russia invaded Ukraine many people have died, Ukraine is ruined by racket attacks and many inhuman criminal crimes have been committed in Ukraine by Russia. Russia should be tried by international tribunal for war crimes and reparations to Ukraine, not proudly supported. After we discussed this with the Quality Manager one flag was removed, guess which one, you will never guess. They removed the Cuban flag, Russian and Canadian flags remained. Cuban convertible currency is not used anymore, they like Canadian and preferably the US dollars. When we purchased vacation the hotel was advertised as #4.5 stars. After our experience we say that Playa Paradiso should be re-rated to #3.5 stars. On our next vacation we will not go to Cuba until they figure out what they are doing, how to serve better vacationers and where the Cuban economy is heading, are they still sticking to Russia or changing direction to go along with the democratic world. We may go to Mexico or Costa Rica instead.

Great vacation!

Everything was great on this trip. Our Transat Rep Jorge was very well informed and his initial talk very clear. We purchased the Sunset Cruise, ‘Now Cuba’ trip into Moron & the VIP lounge for the return trip. We used the Hop on Hop Off bus also. The buffet and all the a-La-carte restaurants were very good the nightly entertainment with the dancers was excellent , Xmas Eve show was spectacular! The ‘band’ on our last night was not enjoyed by us. We see lots of live music at home and pre [... read more]fer performers who are pleased when the audience enjoys a show and appreciates us. This show felt like the performers thought the audience was not enough for them & instead of entertaining us they wanted us to cheer more, clap more, dance more , stand more, catch a God forsaken T shirt thrown at us! LOL ! I felt ‘safe’ & did not worry about COVID & thank God Covid protocols weren’t’ in our face all the time!

Unorganized Hotel with very Poor Managenent and filled over capacity!!!

This was our first time going back to Cayo Coco post-COVID and our first time staying at Hotel Playa Paraiso. This Resort is unorganized, it has very poor management, it was short staffed and full over the hotel capacity. Checking in was a mess. We had to wait 4 and half hours to get the keys to our room and the teenager girl working at the front desk was very rude, unprofessional and not helpful at all, not giving us any explanation other than the room was occupied with other guests that had p [... read more]aid for late checkout so they could not make it ready for us sooner. My question is why would the Hotel assign rooms with late checkout to the guests that arrive early???? Not just us, but every guest that arrived at that time had to go through the same. The lobby was full of people just waiting for their room keys for many hours. They were short of everything specially towels and bedding. There was only 1 made cleaning all the rooms in each level so the room was not cleaned some days until the evening. The made was taking away the used towels from the room and telling us she did not have clean towels to give us, so we ended up using our own beach towels to take a shower. There were long lines to get into the Buffet, specially for breakfast and dinner, and once you were in, there were long lines to get to the food (like 40 minutes to get an omelet or a portion of grilled chicken). Also there was clearly an issue with the hot table, maybe it was not working or maybe they put it at a very low temperature because the food was always cold even when the Buffet just opened. It was also very dirty, there were flies and a small bird flying around the buffet and we even saw cockroaches in two different occasions during the dinner service. As for COVID-19 adaptations, there was nothing more that EMPTY hand sanitizer dispensers all around the lobby area of the hotel. I wish I had better things to say, but this was our experience in this Hotel. What was supposed to be a relaxing family vacation turned into a very frustrating and disappointing experience. We will definitely not be back at this hotel. .

Warm and welcoming

First time at a smaller resort where everything is only a 5 minute walk away - very handy. Staff were all very friendly and helpful. Our room was spacious and Disnay was meticulous in cleaning it. Very inventive with his towel art too - lots of fun! Food was plentiful in the buffet but not many options for fruit. They did the best that they could with what they had to work with ... The food and service in the a la carte restaurants were excellent!! As the resort was in the middle of a bay [... read more], you could walk the beach for at least half an hour in each direction which was great to walk off all those extra calories from the delicious drinks they made at the beach bar. We took bug repellent but didn't need it as there was enough of a constant breeze to keep us cool and the bugs away. All in all, very happy with this resort.

We are not happy...

Excellent place, nice ocean, green territory, very bad service, fair food, dirty restaurant with cockroaches and flies, lazy and not friendly receptionists, good beer but no pinacolato in the bars... It can be a good 4 star hotel if there was a normal top manager there who cares a little about the job he/she has to do. Just my feeling. I go to Cuba almost every year and I can compare different hotels. I don't expect too much from Cuban service, but this time is just less than expected.

Beautiful location

rooms are old and in need to be redone including installation of bathroom fan , better specification and location of 110 volts plugs due to the fact that most guests are Canadian . grounds vegetation are great and nice to look at ,nice large swimming pool devaited in to 2 sections

December 2022

Very nice resort and beach. There was some rain and wind most days but resort even had umbrellas in the rooms. Great staff and amenities.Food was pretty good and drinks were good most times (sometimes they didn’t have certain beverages)

Cayo Coco Beach was awesome

I will start with the positive: - Beach was AMAZING!! - Hotel was in a great location close to airport. - Gardner Osmani was very nice to us. Thank you for the hats!!! - The lady at the 24hr bar. She was in the world cup section (irina?) She was always with a smile and very attentive. - Food was ok 👍 . Poutine and ham and cheese sandwich at the 24hr bar was AMAZING!! Now to the negative: - Our hotel room bed was hard as a rock. BATHTUB was a struggle to get in (we had to climb [... read more] up to get in) my friend had a hip replacement so was very very difficult to shower. - Customer Service from the lobby to bartenders and servers was very poor (except a few that cracked a smile at us) - We felt discriminated due to the fact that we were 2 girls, a few of your staff thought we were a couple and even one server blew a kiss to my sister in law. - We noticed that once hotel staff knew we were not a couple they satrted to be nice to us. - We had no toilet paper for a whole day, we complaint twice about it and also no phone service in room, the phone had no cord!!! - water was running thru walls and into our plugs.. again we complaint to front desk but DID NOTHING!! We have videos - Last day we brought our luggage down to lobby and asked were we can leave our luggage they told us to leave them in the hallway. We did as we thought everydody will do the same, but nope later we realized the hotel had a luggage room to store your luggage!!! - One server in the buffet restaurant was rude to us the 4 days we saw him, giving us such a disgusting looks 😑 thinking we were a couple. Overall i will not book again in this hotel. We've been to Cuba more than 7 times with our own families and this was our 1st time it was just my sister in law and me and never felt the way we felt this TIME. All resorts we've been customer service is been GREAT!!

Hotel Playa Paraiso...was not bad

Please read full review for hints :) Just a short bus ride to the resort and our driver had cold beer on hand. Resort is laid out nice and most of the employees were great. Things can always be cleaner when around food and food serving, but overall a genuinely nice place to go. You don't go to Cuba for their food...but it was not bad at all. Once we navigated the daily routine of the buffet and 24 hr snack bar we were able to find what we all enjoyed daily. Breakfast buffet had cheese, e [... read more]ggs/ omelet bar, fresh cooked/smoked ham and potatoes they would add to the grill for you to crisp up and was always fresh bread for toast. Lunch we stuck with the snack shop or beach as they had grilled panini sandwiches, hotdogs, fries. The beach food had some nice deep-fried fish or bbq pork sandwich bun. They had fun things for the kids like cotton candy and churro. There was a pizza bar as well daily, and if you ask them they will add grilled chicken...and you can fold it in half like a pizza pocket. There is ice cream in the lunch buffet, and it is good. The cones are a bit soggy, so we grabbed a foam cup from the bar. For some reason there are NO SPOONS, anywhere lol Dinner at the buffet was fine. The pasta bar is worth the wait in line...if you bring him things from the buffet to sauté with the sauce it can be very good! DAILY Salt and pepper was not available at each table if at all unfortunately. There were little to no fresh fruit or vegetables...but we avoid them anyway in Cuba, because that is likely where you will get tummy problems, from raw food. They did run out of some selections of alcohol daily but did the best they could with what they had. Beer and Rum flowed freely. No issue. They will make you iced coffee as well, we did not realize this until day 4, and it was really good. Here is something I DID NOT LIKE Purposely/VISABLY watered down wine at each of the 3 a la carte dinners. We watched and heard the server ask the head waiter if she could give me the "real red wine" because the watered down bottle was emptied. I am unsure why this occurred, but it made the dinner experiences less enjoyable. It wasn't a "one off" it was at each a la carte, and it wasn't just our table? Things I would pack/bring again: salt/pepper, spoons, katsup packets, peanut butter/nutella ( we have a little guy and this did help ) Other than that it was a great holiday. Really. You can tell they are doing the best they can with what they have.

Wonderful resort

Our vacation was wonderful - the resort was very well kept. The staff were AMAZING, kind, friendly, helpful and just very genuine. There was no shortage of anything... food and drinks were abundant. Our rooms were very clean and comfortable (except the pillows, bring your own if you can). The Lobby is great social gathering place in the evening - go watch a show and have a few drinks on the house! The pool and surrounding area was very well kept. It was cleaned daily and the staff were alwa [... read more]ys out tidying and ensuring it was up to par. The beach are is very nice - it gets a little rocky when you go too far left or right from the entrance, but if you stay central to enter, you are golden. Overall - nothing at all to complain about!! We even made some new friends. We will be back for sure!

Not the greatest

My husbands first time to Cuba and he was not impressed we had cockroaches in our room had asked if it’s possible to change rooms they said no. My son got an infection using their water and so did my husband. Food was ok saw the cockroach crawling beside the food. They don’t seem to do much. Asked if their is wifi they said no you can’t pay for it only in the lobby. They were always out of hamburgers not the greatest experience

Excell Commitment Ceremony

With the latest Regulatory requirements, weddings at the resorts have become commitment ceremonies. Especially Canadian / Cuban. We had our commitment ceremony on Nov 5, 2022, on the beach at Hotel Playa Paraiso and a formal, legal marriage ceremony in the city of Moron. The staff at the Hotel outdid themselves to ensure that our special time was fabulous. from the ceremony at the beach to the following recception/dinner they made our time very special.

Fabulous Vacation

Playa Paraiso is a beautiful hotel with wonderful staff. We stayed in a 2 room suite that was large clean and comfortable. The pools were clean, there were lots of chairs for everyone. The beach is amazing and the beach man is helpful with chairs. The buffet food is basic like most Cuban resort food. The fried fish for lunch at the beach bar is delicious as is the pizza at the pizza shack. The snack bar by the pool was my favourite ! Chicken sandwich and fries. We will return to this hote [... read more]l as I would recommend others to as well.

Hot in buffet

Air conditioner is always off in buffet. Sometimes they open windows, but that causes too many flies When widows closed - too hot. Ventilation is important to prevent spreading of COVID-19 Shortage of hand towels in the room. Sometimes, toilet flush does not work. Strip of sharp rocks and seashells to enter the ocean Not coming back

All Good - But Rooms are outdated

Rooms needs updating - very old outlook and design. Tons of bugs at night. Otherwise, it is 3.5 star resort. Trust me. Would I go back? No way. Staff were nice. Beach is ok - sand weed. Food was good.

Excellent Beach Front Resort

Our experience at this resort was great! The primary reason for our vacation was to be on the beach and swim in the ocean and we were not disappointed. The rooms were alittle dated and the mattress hard and springy, but the A/C worked well.

Food is getting better

I have been to this resort 5 times this year. On the good side, food ( dinner ) was very good this time. Lunches not so much. Breakfast you can't go wrong. Rooms were about what I expected. Not perfect but also not horrible. Beach was awesome. Pool was very good . Mosquitoes were absolutely horrendous this time. I honestly don't know why or if it's just the season. One thing that I did find interesting was I was given a white wrist brand when I arrived and was told to change it the next day. I d [... read more]id notice that the local visitors all had white bracelets and I did notice this time I was treated significantly different. Not better, anybody can draw their own conclusion from this. I have been there many times this year and I would say that the food is getting better throughout the year but the rest of it is not excelling to the same standards. Service was generally not great. I would say that the service in the lobby in the morning was excellent. Not a horrible resort but I think they could do better. I will be trying other resorts in the future