Roc Arenas Doradas: Fantastic week in the sun!

We went on our agents recommendation that this hotel would be a hit... And she was right!! Beautifully decorated, impeccable grounds, great pool and amenities, and one of the most breathtaking beaches! Loved the free catamaran rides right off our beach...or pay a little extra and go out snorkeling for an hour. Buffet was always well stocked with a couple of grilling stations and a fresh pasta bar. There were times it was a little understaffed but not a huge deal. We saw renovations going on whil [... read more]e we were there ( painting, new roofs on some of the buildings and heard that beds are being replaced on a number of buildings). If you want to go off the resort, you have to hit the Beatles Bar in Varadero ( free shuttle from the resort) and also go on the) jeep safari. This was the highlight of the trip! Overall we had a fantastic week and would definitely go back!!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Beautiful resort!

We travelled to Iberostar Laguna Azul from April 9th to the 16th and had the most fabulous time! Beautiful resort and even though it was a large resort everything was easy to find. Also enjoyed the food at the buffet and our servers were the most friendly and kind staff there! Tried the Romantico and the Japanese restaurant, both served fabulous food but the Japanese one was # 1. Our room was large with a king bed and a small sitting area. There was a couple issues but got resolved very quickly. [... read more] Pools were very clean and we spent alot of time there during the day. Beach was beautiful and large but only took in late afternoon walks. We went on one excursion to Havana and it was well worth the money. If you do nothing else do take this trip. We hired a taxi and our tour guide was Irene ( fabulous young lady and spoke English very well), highly recommend her! Overall this was great trip for us and I would definitely go back again!

Resonance Blu Varadero: Great Resort

I was worried about going to this resort due to reviews, but I liked it.. We arrived at 11 am and got registered right away we had 2 rooms booked and received the 1st room right away and the other after 3... There is lots of walking but I didn't mind, food was common Cuba food sure wasn't as bad as I was expecting, pools were clean, room was cleaned daily and we always had towel art left for us, staff very pleasant...

Roc Arenas Doradas: perfect

absolutely beautiful. perfect location awesome friendly staff, activities for everybody. Nice short walk to the beach from any building, restaurants and bars available all over. Not far from in town, forsure would go back in a heart beat

Resonance Blu Varadero: Good bang for your buck

Going into my vacation, i was hesitant. I read a lot of good, and bad reviews on Memories Varadero. Overall its a nice place, the food was mediocre, nice beaches, nice pools, nothing to really complain about except our room and the customer service. Our room wasn't bad itself, but our maids didn't come till the evening, and would just refold our wet, used towels some days. The help desk was horrible, they brushed off what you had to say, and just wrote it in a book. If you complain, or request s [... read more]omething, you will have to do it again, and again till you get what you need/want. For what i paid, I'm not complaining. If you get a deal, then memories is worth your money.

Palma Real: Bellevue Palma Real

The resort was dated but what resort in Cuba isn't. The staff was friendly the grounds where kept up and a lot of updates were being made while we stayed. I would recommend this resort based on location beach was 5 minute walk (Canadian time not Cuban) The food was very good the one thing I really enjoyed was the fact that each lobby of your complex had it's own bar very nice. The burger bar was great for that late night snack or after a long day and night of drinking.

Hotel Bella Costa: wonderful resort

the welcome was joyful, rooms on 5th floor was very fresh smelling and clean every day, the food is excellent been cooked not too many spices, which you taste the freshness of the seafood or meat, pool cleaned every day, the beach side to die for, the staff very courteous relax completely

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Beautiful Royalton Hicacos (Adult only..the best)

Beautiful resort. Our room in Block 9, 3rd floor was terrific. Nice, clean and spacious for the two of us. The bathroom was clean and well maintained with hot water throughout our stay. Our room backed onto the resorts back road which really was not a problem because traffic is not busy there. We normally got back to our room around 4pm after a day at the beautiful white sandy beach. Palapas were plenty and we usually were escorted by one of the resorts staff to our chaise lounge chairs right on [... read more] the beach. We usually gave a tip to the staff for doing this(they would wipe down the chaises of sand and then set up our resort provided towels on each chaise). We would exchange our towels each day at the towel hut for a new one to use the next day. They also have a book exchange at the same hut,so if you finished the book you brought along, you could exchange it for another one or just leave your book behind for someone else to read. There was always staff working in the gardens and other areas of the building. Overall, I thought the resort was well maintained. The bathroom(ladies) by the main reception area needed some tic.( Toilet out of order and a bit untidy). The staff especially Guillermo who looked after us in block 9 was always ready to help, provide direction or assistance. Always had a smile on his face. Thank you for our wonderful stay! We booked a day trip to Havana before we left Vancouver, Canada with a young man named Blexie. He had a taxi driver named Totor(?) and they took us in a 1957 Chev. Definitely worth the money. I wouldn't have gone there on one of those Bus tours, that's for sure. Took the double decker bus into Varadero for the day. lots to see, just follow the people getting off the bus in town, lots of trinket shops etc. Wonderful trip, beautiful water, beaches and very friendly people. The food at our resort was excellent! Buffet was clean and plentiful. Loved the Caribean Restaurant the most( you have to pre book the your butler for the restaurants within the resort( we forgot to attend the 1st am meeting on the card you are given when you arrive) so Guillermo booked 3 dates for us). The restaurant on the beach was also great for dinner especially on the stormy/ rainy night we were there. The storm let up just as we finished our dinner. ( you can also have breakfast and lunch ther during the day. The seafood one was not as good so unless it gets a bit of a makeover( make it more inviting,not so cold). The ice cream shop was great and the taste of it, mmmmmmmm! There is also the 24 hour little restaurant which you can get fries/hamburgers, crepes etc was also very quick and yummy. One time they didn't have anymore bananas so the gentleman serving us went upstairs to the buffet and got a few so I could have it in my banana and chocolate crepe. Great! The entertainment every night was very good and different for each of the 7 Days we were there. The pool show especially! We would go back there in a heart beat! The plane ride...not so cool, no leg room, stuffed in like sardines (took the flight thru Sunwing)

Resonance Blu Varadero: Good value

Overall, the resort was a good value. We we went in a group of 18 people (10 yrs - 65 yrs). We were satisfied with the rooms - they were kept clean, toilets flushed, and shower had plenty of hot water. The beach was beautiful with lots of lounge chairs and palapas for shade, pools were great with plenty of chairs and shade. The kids had fun collecting sea shells on the beach and goin on the waterslide. The food was ok, just a little repetitive. We actually enjoyed the short walk from the lobby t [... read more]o the beach, especially since this was pretty much the only exercise we got, except for swimming. There were times when there were no towels available (in room or beach towels), but it was not a big deal. The staff were warm and welcoming, always smiling, and did their best with what they had available. We did have a few issues: - public washrooms were often lacking toilet paper and soap. When we asked for a little bit of soap from the snack bar kitchen (since they must have soap for preparing food), the staff confirmed there was no soap in the kitchen either - eww!! - we were not given a bottle of water every day in our room, and the staff said there was none available. - out of our group of 18 people, 7 people were sick with food poisoning/contamination for two days. There were many other people who we spoke to on the resort who were also sick at the same time. This was not suprising given the lack of infection control procedures / food handlers knowledge. - money exchange was a hassle, and small bills for tipping were not available. We did enjoy our holiday for the most part, but I would not return to this resort.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Very Relaxing

The hotel was a great spot for our getaway. Pool and beach were both very nice. Just looking to relax, it was the perfect spot. Food is good and we really enjoyed our a la cartes and our lunches at the Rock House. The staff at these spots were outstanding. Poolside, beach bar and lobby staff also did a great job. Room was nice but I thought our cleaning staff could have done a little better.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Great resort

This was a very nice place to stay , friendly staff , great food . Drinks not made consistently throughout the resort and room was a little musty yet still very clean , some of the stores on the resorts couldnt sell things for days because they couldn't make small change , seemed odd to us when we were told we could go to the bank in town and get ones and threes. Would definitely return next year

Resonance Blu Varadero: Nice resort

Memories Varadero has beautiful grounds the public washrooms are needing cleaning and some renovations the rooms themselves were clean all although I found bugs on the hallways and the rest of the premises other than that the food was mediocre and the beach is beautiful The drinks were made very strong if you like that type of drink they ran out of some drinks at certain times ful capacity resort made it extremely busy and very loud At times...

Hotel Villa Cuba: Be Live Needs An Update

The grounds, staff, and beach are amazing. There was a terrible sewer smell around the towel exchange area. The maids are not cleaning under or around the beds, dressers, etc. A nice board walk should be built on the beach like they did at Las Morlas next door. The night shows were good over all but a few need improving. We got bored by two shows and left early. The food was fair as it is all over Cuba.

Brisas Del Caribe: Renovations since last visit

We were there 3 years ago. Since then, they've renovated the south section with new bathrooms-tiles, sink, paint etc.; the lobby terrace with an outdoor bar, pergolas and lots of tables and chairs; new planters and decor. There's new loveseat swings in the front entrance and the terrace-love the wrought iron claw legs! Baby ducklings in the pond were a hit with all ages.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Quiet resort for Adults only!

The restaurants à la carte are great! We have been to Bamboo (Oriental), Marseilles X2, and Sakura (Japanese). Super good,delicious, good service! No face cloth, water, only 1.5 litres mineral water, some bathrooms were not very clean.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Great Vacation

It was our 4th or 5th time to Cuba. All the staff provide good service here. The first room we got was fairly rough.. just a bit of something wrong with everything.. smell of mold, toilet was loud and took for ever to refill and did not flush well, balcony door was super hard to open or close, bed was super hard and you could feel the springs popping through, etc. etc. But it was not bad enough to get angry and demand a new room in my opinion... but what a disappointment.. even though the revie [... read more]ws prepared me for it. A couple days in my wife accidentally broke the shower faucet off, due to it being completely corroded, and it was the best thing that could happen to us because we got moved to a new room that was much much better. We are used to Cuban resort cuisine so we managed just fine.. however the snack bars food was really hit and miss. We went on two tours. The best day ever was the private tour of Havana with Cuban Trip Compass. And we also did the Jeep Safari group tour and that was loads of fun too.

Brisas Del Caribe: Good resort

The grounds were impeccable. Beautiful pools, well maintained. The most of staff were very friendly and helpful on average. I notice we had better service when we were tipping. I spent $400 on tipping alone to get excellent service. Once staff kbew you were tippers then were on you like bees to honey. We thought food sucked. Need better variety. Only great thing was the lobster dinner and shrimp. Also, the cook on grill in buffet should be fired. I watched him have approximately 30 beautiful ste [... read more]aks on grill. He had about 20 people in line. He gave 2-4 steaks to the first 3 people than called his friends up for the rest. There should be portion limit of 1 then return if you want more. Everyone was angry and there was no more steaks. He was very rude and did same thing at other sitting. They need a manager to watch quality and portion control. Lots of wasted food. Maids did great job daily. Also, we bought Vip package but never got bottle of rum in room. No one seem to know anything about this. All in all, we like resort but no the barage of tipping for great service or the food and food grill cook.

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Best I have stayed st in Cuba

Good food. Large rooms. Nice beach. Excellent entertainment. Smooth check-in. Very clean. Generally friendly staff. Unlimited access to ala cartes. Good restocking of all in room. Bring small bills for tips as very hard to obtain at resort.

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Nice resort but avoid flying with Sunwing

Unfortunately Sunwing appears to be the only airline that flies to the Royalton from Toronto. If you can't find any airline besides Sunwing, find a different resort to go to. The Royalton was good. Nice property. Rooms are a little dated but roomy and clean. Nice swimming pool areas but the pools are all shallow (no deeper than 4 feet). There is a (for lack of a better word) moat running around the property. There wasn't much water in this moat and it desperately needed painting (something other [... read more] than the grimy white). It was a little disgusting. The bars are good and booze plentiful (but you get better service if you get your own drinks as opposed to waiting for someone to take your order). The a la cartes were decent with lots of food. My favourite was the seafood (though I don't eat seafood). I got the best steak here. Next best was Italian. Then the TexMex (nice atmosphere eating on the beach but cats all around your feet while you eat). Least favourite was the Carribean meal. It's a matter of taste though. If you asked someone, I'm sure you'd get a different answer. Buffet was really good. No lineups where they prepared you eggs in the morning or pasta at meal times. Restaurant and bar staff were really friendly but general maintenance staff and cleaning personnel didn't greet you when you passed. The front desk wouldn't exchange you a bigger bill (ie. 10 or 20 CUC for smaller bills like 1 or 3 CUC). They said they needed to keep this for making change. As a result I'm sure the wait staff got royally ripped off with people not tipping as I don't know many people that will tip 5 CUC for a drink. We tried to go around at the end of the week to tip the people that we our favourites but I'm sure we missed some. The entertainment was fantastic (especially the Water Ballet ... do not miss this). Amazing. The beach is really nice. Always lots of available chairs. Double decker bus is a good way to take a trip into Varadero (5 CUC for a day pass ... can't get a one way ticket at all). One way in an old fashioned car costs about 20 CUC. It's an experience (especially when your driver throws the beer he's been drinking into the trash can before you get in). We travelled in a 1927 Yellow Ford Model-T. The driver stradled the centre line on the highway all the way home but we made it. Likely not worth paying the extra for the Diamond club. Besides a pool side bbq, you don't get much else for the money. There were never any lines (checkin / checkout / buffet) and always tons of seating and alcohol so save your money. As far as my complaint with Sunwing, well just suffice to say I won't visit the Royalton again (even as nice as it was) if I have to fly Sunwing. Bottom line is they just don't care about their passengers. My travel agent warned me. She said she would book me with anybody else before Sunwing but unfortunately there was no one else and we already had our hearts set on this resort. Sunwing offers a price drop guarantee but fail to mention that it costs you a $50 administration charge EACH to take advantage of this (and you can only take the price drop once). Sunwing played the movie Creed on the way to Varadero and the newest Star Wars movie on the way home. Both times they started the movies about an hour into the flight and both times they cut the movies off with about 15 minutes left in the movie in order to prepare for landing. They tell you to check their flight book 24 hours before your flight leaves the resort for any changes (which we did and no changes). We were to leave the hotel at 7:00 am. We were up at 5:30 am , went for a quickie breakfast, and got into the lobby at 6:45 am only to find that our flight was postponed 6 hours. Not the worst thing in the world except for the fact that everything was packed up, we were tired from getting up so early, we'd spent all our Cuban money with our final tipping, we had our 80 year old father picking us up at the airport for 3:00 (and now we weren't get home until 9:00 and he doesn't see so well at night) plus the fact that we had to scramble to buy another internet care to email and the internet happened to be down all morning at the resort. We ended up having to make a phone call (cost equivalent of $8 for a 1 minute call). By this time I was so wound up, I really just wanted to get home. I heard people saying the delay was because a worker was killed at Pearson the night before (so sad .. my heart goes out to the family) however, the paper said that no delays were encountered due to this. I think it was likely that there was a plane coming from Halifax and it was cheaper to send us home on this arriving plane as opposed to sending another flight from Toronto. All I know is that Sunwing didn't give us proper notice like they said they would. If we had 24 hours advance warning, we could have prepared ourselves. They just don't care about their passengers. There were a lot of angry people (and lots of other Sunwing stories from people telling the same tale). Avoid Sunwing !!

Playa Caleta: Bellevue Puntarena Playa Caleta Resort

Beside the elevator not the best, and the tub needs upgrading, the bathroom needs paint, the trouble with the TV, with the pool (the one with the bar) was closed, shortage of $1.00 though-out Varadero. Every thing was ok