A no no resort

Rooms: outdated, dirty and dusty walls, smelly bathroom, no new sheets for 10 days, we never received the crib for our baby, TV wasn't working. Buffet: Cockroaches all around. Even though meals were tastier than other resorts we 've been, they offered the same lunch and dinner during our stay. Many people got sick. They try hard though. Public washrooms: veeeeeeeeery smelly. At least they had paper and soap. Pool: dirty and small Beach: the only amazing place During our stay, we [... read more] ended up scratching our legs because of insect/mosquito bites. Lobby and bar was updated and nice. The waitresses try hard to offer a good service. People who worked there were very nice and friendly. Overall, i would not recommend going to that resort.

Amazon resort

The food was so good for Cuba! Fresh meat grill and rice stations. Beach was a 10! Rooms were clean and comfortable. Beer and pop and water restocked daily. The grounds were beautiful! The drive there was great. 90 mins of driving through little Cubans towns. We will go back again Foresure.

Disappointment

The first night there, we were hungry as it was past 9pm. We settled our stuff in the 2 rooms and went for supper. Upon return, our travel companions had their suitcase broken I to and $350 was stolen. Even though the resort acknowledged that the room had clearly been entered by an unknown key, they had no insurance to cover the loss. Our room was full of mold, I coughed all the first night. They did give us another room. This room had a little less mold. On the Sat I went to the resort bank  [... read more]to withdraw some money. When checking my bank account on the Tuesday; there was another withdrawl for the same amount. They took out 2 payments. I tried to have it corrected but noone from the resort could get through to anyone in the bank. The food was not the best, but the people were doing their best. The wifi I paid for worked for 20min. I paid for 3hrs. The lobby by the little store was overwhelmingly putrid from the smell of garbage. I will ot be going back their.

GOOD POTENTIAL

I have a limited review as only 2 of our 10 days were spent at Grand Memories. After arriving at the hotel at 1:00, our room was still not ready so we strolled the pizza hut, the grounds and checked out the beach - all looked very good and clean. By 5:00 our room was still not ready so we checked with our Sunwing Rep and she went to the front desk and got our key. The room was 'tired' and the door to the room looked to have been broken sometime in the past. Our linens were damp and we put tha [... read more]t down to them having been recently washed and maybe not quite dry. We tried it for the night and in the morning they were still damp and our clothes began to get damp. Then we discovered some mould on the wall, ceiling and bedskirt. We asked to be moved to a new room but the hotel was full. We told Sunwing and they asked if we'd like to go to the Ocean Casa Del Mar, 5 minutes away. We'd stayed there twice before and agreed to go there. We enjoyed our third trip to the Ocean Casa Del Mar and as a result, my ratings of the service and facilities at the Grand Memories is very limited. My rating is based on 1 day and limited exposure to the resort. /bc

Absolutely Relaxing

Spent a week here with my cousin and my biggest critique was that the place is slightly outdated and could use just a bit of renovating. They also need to keep their alcohol fully stocked. That's the worst I can say about this place. Other than that, we had a very relaxing week, that staff are phenomenal, some of the best food I've had in Cuba (In the past I've found the food to be flavourless and bland). I wasn't looking to party so this resort was perfect for that. There are shows every ni [... read more]ght that are entertaining, a lot of quiet spots to just relax and enjoy a beverage or read. If you aren't picky about appearance, you'll enjoy it here! Also bring bug spray, I was covered in mosquito bites!

Amazing!

This resort was by far one of the best I have stayed at so far in Cuba. I have been to Cuba three times and this resort was hands down my favourite. The staff were exceptional and very attentive at every meal. The pools and surrounding areas were well maintained and the cleaning staff were very wonderful, they gave us extra towels and changed the sheets upon request. I would definitely recommend this resort. I stayed at the Grand memories as there are three attached (Memories Paraiso, Grand Memo [... read more]ries and Sanctuary). Something I would say was that we could not locate one of the restaurants.

Fun time with family!

Great time loved the pool beach! The pizza and bbq food areas were delicious! Good shows and entertainment, little extras! Staff was lovely and very kind- the service all around was great. Loved the little pop up stands with cherrios and cotton candy!

Fun family resort

I took my wife and 5 year old away for our first all inclusive family week long vacation. The main reason was their free kids promotion and it was very affordable. I’ve been to Cuba before so knew what to expect and I was mostly happy with the trip. Room was ok, resort was very nice and the staff was fantastic. I would consider going back again next year.

Wonderful for Families

Hotel was great for families. Pool: was clean and lots of chairs. Kids club: was always open and kids enjoyed it. Food: We are not picky eaters and thought the food was great. We heard it was a lot better than other Cuban resorts from talking with people at the airport at the end of the week. They had an unlimited lobster dinner one night and turkey dinner another. Always had fruit, salad bar and rice or mashed potatoes that were so good and creamy. A station cooking steak, fish or  [... read more]pork chops each night to order. A pasta station and stir fry station as well. Lunch we usually had shredded beef and rice, hotdogs, hamburgers or chicken sandwiches by the pool but the buffet was very similar to dinner. Breakfast they had Omelette bar bacon, hash browns and fruit, plus a toaster to toast bread. Beach: the most beautiful white sand and turquoise water ever. Not very crowded, and a special “diamond club” adults only section if you want to get away from the kids. Rooms: older bed that was a touch on the firm side but the showers had super strong water pressure, the room had ice cold A/C, a mini fridge and balcony overlooking pool side or beach side. Entertainment was very good as well. Kids show at 8-8:30 daily and adults show from 9:30-10:30. Hotel in general: it is a very large hotel and if your building is on the outer edge you will do a lot of walking. At night the paths aren’t lit up very well, but never felt unsafe or got lost. Hotel borders on a market that has restaurants, craft tables, clothing, jewelry, ice cream, popcorn, and other touristy Knick-knacks for sale. Only downside was that we got lots of mosquito bites on the first night Bc we weren’t wearing bug spray. You couldn’t ever see or hear the bugs, but they def got us while watching the entertainment and walking around at night. Wore bug spray on lower legs after that at night, and never got any more bites.

Good memories

The resort was a good experience! The entertainment and the accessibility of the cays help make up for any thing that may seem off! Enjoy the beach and make sure to befriend plenty of staff. Don’t go for the food or you’ll find yourself eating mashed potatoes and bread for 7 days. Tip 1: walk on the beach not on the sidewalks-take the bus! Tip 2: mosquitoes aren’t the only thing biting so remember to bring deet spray and after-bite! All in all, we had a good time!

Ok trip

We arrived New Year's Eve just before midnight. Check-in was decent. Dropped our bags and headed to the theatre for the countdown festivities. It was a great start. The villa we were staying in seemed abandoned with only a few rooms to rent. The first and second level were not lit up and it seemed a bit sketchy and dark in the stairwell. We asked to be changed to a different villa to feel safer with our kids. The second room seemed very run down with AC not working. The Manager Ricardo was quick [... read more] to upgrade to a suite, which we were pleased. We had a villa between pool and beach and it was very convenient. Food was boring and lacking flavor. I survived on omelets and hash browns and bananas. Staff is quite friendly. Biggest problem was lack of beach chairs at beach and pool. It seemed it was deliberate so as to upgrade to diamond club for beach chairs. Great weather hotel needs much TLC.

Trip from hell

My husband and I visited this hotel for the first time in 2012. We fell in love with resort and it really set the bar high for all of our Cuba vacations and so we decided to go there again with our kids 8 years later. I call this the trip from hell for several reasons. The first being there is a major safety issue at this hotel. If you chose to visit this hotel, I recommend you pack a flash light or two as the stairway and hallways are not always lit up in the evening. The pathways on the resort [... read more] grounds are also very dark. The second safety issue is the septic tanks and manholes. You will find some of the septic tanks and manholes do not always have their covers on. In fact, some of the covers are removed and placed right next to a big open hole. My son had the misfortune of falling into a septic sewage due to the manhole cover being removed. His curiosity with the lizards got the best of him and he wasn’t paying attention to his steps, one step backward and he fell right into raw sewage! When I addressed the manager, he took it quite seriously but I’m still not happy with this as it could have been prevented had they used proper procedures. Another issue I have with the hotel is the cross contamination of foods. When I went to the buffet and the pizza making station, the cooks would often use the same plate and spoon to pick up and place your toppings for fresh pasta or pizza. Being a vegetarian, I would get disgusted with having my food come into contact with meat. The hotel guests also use the same serving spoons to pick up cheese and cold cuts or rice and beef stew.. I had to tell a hotel guest that a vegan or vegetarian person doesn’t like this practice. I would also like to mention that there are a lot of cockroaches in the buffet. You will see them crawling on the walls behind the meat and pasta stations, crawling on the buffet area where your food is.. I was disgusted and didn’t eat much for a week. We paid for an ocean suite and when we got there, it was a standard suite and very dirty. Once we complained and got the ocean view, there was a huge difference. These rooms are updated and more clean. Getting a hot shower at peek times won’t happen so be sure to shower before 4pm if you want hot water. The only thing this hotel has going for them in nice staff and a gorgeous beach.

Grand Sickness in Cuba

It's difficult to have a Fun Vacation when it becomes a Sick Vacation! My wife and I , and possibly 40 percent of the remaining guests were violently ill and spent two and a half days in the loo.The causes after discussions with other sick guests were many: tainted food,contaminated ice at the bars,contaminated glasses,improperly and unhygienic public bathrooms,questionable water etc. etc.

Ok resort

We stayed at the grand memories for 2 weeks, the weather was amazing!! I’ve been to cuba over 40 times and this resort was not what I expected at all. They let the other two resorts come to this buffet which made it total chaos, we pretty much waited till it was closed and went in and got some scraps! We never complained because we just couldn’t be bothered. The room was ok, pretty musty but I had fabreeze. Some staff was ok but not near as friendly as other resorts I’ve been to in cuba. [... read more] The snack bar is impossible to get pizza if it’s busy because it’s 1 guy working his ass off so we didn’t bother with that either. I felt bad for people with kids because there really were no snacks that were convenient for them......I love Cuba and will be back but not to this resort unless it’s a super deal.

First visit in Ciba and the resort also hotel

The hotel is not for 4stars. We were missed of drinking water - we asked three times the reception and reception manager. We spent a lot of pesos to buy water. We gave tips every times for every occasion before to be served and even for asking water. The keys did not worked when we entered. We gave 20 can dol to the gay with electric car because it was night and no pesos for change. The driver wanted tip an then get the money and leaves us to resolve the issus with keys. It was dark and we n [... read more]eeded to go to the reception to ask new instead to offer us To help. The meals were ok the nature and beach amazing. .

Resort was ok.

My stay at the Grand Memories will be a memory that I won't forget. For starters the hotel is not a 4 and half star more like a three and a half. The service was alright ,no problems there. The beach was impeccable but could of have more shading . The grounds were nice but too forest look type, the mosquitoes bites reminded you that. They need to up their maintenance such as replace the light bulbs on the paths to and from your room, very dark at night. The food wasn't the best but reasonable an [... read more]d the drinks lacked flavour. All in all I would go back only if they resolve the small problems.

Excellent resort for family

Good hotel on grate location and good service. People are very friendly and shows happiness when are you satisfied. Staying in this resorts was good out of season. I will recommend this for people that can take vacation at this time as price is very good.

Beautiful Country, Terrible Resort

We had a lovely time in Cuba although I would not recommend Grand Memories to others. The location was amazing and the staff were friendly; however, the accommodations and amenities are in a severe state of dilapidation. We did not voice our concerns while there (though we came very close) as we were spending the majority of our time off the resort. In our room: the toilet seat was broken and not secured, the fan didn't work, there were odd stains all over the ceiling, the light on the balco [... read more]ny was broken and hanging by loose electrical wires, there was only one bath towel for three people (even though I kept asking for more), there were always ants in the water glasses and we were itchy and waking up with bites or rashes every day we slept in the beds until I finally asked them to change the sheets -- the problem was resolved after that. On the resort: the buildings were tired looking, the floors and furniture appeared dirty, the dishes and glassware were always greasy even though they were "clean" and we saw many cockroaches in the restaurants. At one point during breakfast a glass was dropped and smashed on the floor and no one cleaned it up or sectioned the area off -- we were there for another 30-minutes and it was still all over the floor when we left. Lastly, on the morning of our departure the buffet failed to open even 30-minutes early so guests could eat before travelling close to 2-hours to the airport. As adults we dealt with it but most (including ourselves) were travelling with small children who were obviously very hungry until food service began on our flight to Toronto over 4 hours later. I do wish they would rate this resort as a 3-star at best as it's very misleading as a 4-star. Many guests did complain and some were moved to alternate resorts as a result. I've travelled to Cuba a few times and have stayed in 3-star resorts that were in better condition and offered better service than this one. I would return to Cuba as it really is a special place but never to this resort again.

Ok Resort!

I can honestly say this wasn’t our best vacation. The Diamond Club package is so not worth it. Do not waste your money!!! We waited 3 hours before being able to go to our room. This already rubbed me the wrong way because we had our 16 month old and a 9 year old with us. There was some sort of mix up and our room las given to someone else. We were then placed in a room that did not have a phone. Again mom with two kids and no phone in the room. I went to the concierge to ask for a phone to be  [... read more]placed in the room. I was told that the building where they put the Diamond Club guests has a faulty phone line and that not all rooms have a working phone. I ended up complaining because we had also bought the superior package with ocean view, and we were put right beside the pool where there was music on all day. Getting my little guy to nap was a nightmare. They moved us to another building farther away and they told us the phones worked. Yes there was a phone in the room but not working. I gave up! The next 3 days water was an issue. I spoke to 5 different people requesting and extra bottle of water in the room and I was told don’t worry it will get done. It never did. I needed the extra bottle for the formulas for the baby. Finally I had to pay a worker to help me get water and from then on every day we had extra water in the room. It was very frustrating. I have been to Cuba 7 times before this. I have never ever had an issue with food because we aren’t picky eaters. But this time around... they had the extract same thing every single day for lunch and dinner. We got tired of it real quick. By the third day this became an issue. The only time when we really enjoyed the food was in the a la cart restaurants. The hotel was pretty badly damaged because of the hurricane and you could see it. The iron in the rooms is all rusted, windows are cracked or broken, pieces missing from the walls, the shutters in the buildings has mold on them. Yes they are slowly trying to fix it but it still looked really bad. The only good thing about this resort was the beach. The beach is just beautiful. Otherwise I honestly do not recommend this hotel. I was way too frustrated trying to get the basics for the kids and I like to relaxed on vacation not be frustrated and feel like no one is listening.

Not so amazing

This was my first time to cuba with my 4 year old and 2 year old and this resort supposibly a 4.5 star resort but it in reality I would rate it a 3 star. Our first day we got to the resort at 12:30am didnt get to our room till 1:30am, as check in was the longest wait. They didnt give us the 2 double bed rooms we booked instead they gave us 1 king and cot. After getting to the room then we saw the room wasnt what we booked. Went back to the lobby and was told our room wasnt available, they prom [... read more]ised it would be available the next day. The next day they said the same, I never got the room I booked for my entire stay. By the way dont bother with the reports they make. The food was horrible didnt have much for the kids as there play ground was all broken up. Someone even stole our stroller. The only thing good about this resort is the beach. Before I travelled I did my research on this resort saw all the bad reviews and honestly thought it couldn't be that bad. But the reviews were all right. I will never go back to this resort.