Iberostar Selection Varadero: Excellent vacation!

This was our first trip to Cuba and the decision to go to this resort was based on other reviews. May I say the reviews are right, this resort is clean, beautiful and close to many excursions. The staff are friendly, helpful and go above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable. The food, I’m assuming for Cuba is above average because we were very happy with the selection. The Japanese a la carte was WAY too salty and we didn’t enjoy it much but the others were fantastic. Special thanks to our [... read more] housekeeper Fefa, our regular server Marciely and Victor (one of the “entertainers”) for the great service. We will be back!

Tryp Cayo Coco: Tryp trip

Well, it's Cuba and you don't expect a lot. The rooms are clean but dated and the a/c works well. The only negative thing was the shower head was original, water came out like a hose, and the toilet required a pail of water to flush. They are still repairing the damage from the last hurricane but it's coming along nicely from last year. Staff are great and polite, always saying Ola and wanting to engage. They loved any little gift you give them be it gloves or gum. The food choices are good but [... read more] they don't rotate the selection enough. Atmosphere was great, always something to do, pools are clean and beach beautiful. Do bring bug spray as the sand fleas are voracious as well as a bottle of Benadryl.

Roc Barlovento: Third time...we love it...

The staff is very friendly and helpful...the food selection is excellent...personally I love fresh vegetables and there are always plenty...the grounds are well tended and the beach is a dream....rooms are clean and comfy...the only drawback is,Overconsumption off alcohol ....since alcohol is free at any time off the day and night,people are abusing the generosity of the Cubans....personally I feel alcohol should not be included in the all inclusive....

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Out of date resort

Service at bars and restaurants was terrible. Servers were more concerned about cleaning tables rather than taking care of guests. It was next to impossible to get a drink refill. Rooms are old and falling apart. No lifeguards on the beach. They sat at the back row and spent all of their time on their phones. Snorkeling equipment was terrible with most masks leaking. Check in took 45 mins with a very small lineup. Lady changing money to pesos was very rude. Refused to exchange more then [... read more] 10 peso coins at one point. Does she not want us to tip?

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Beautiful resort

We loved our stay at this hotel. It's a small resort but the staff and service was amazing! Our room was upstairs in the main lobby, plain jane but ok. Food is alright. There is always something you can find to eat. My favorite is the omelette in the morning but the pancakes are delicious as well. The beach was fantastic!!!! I would definitely return at this resort.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: A Great Stay

This a sweet resort with amazing staff. We stayed on the regular side. We enjoyed our week very much. The everyday buffet wasn't phenominal but we managed to eat well. The booked restaurants were amazing and Sakura (Japenese) was by far the absolute best. The 24 hour eateries run out of stuff quite often but you can still manage to get a bite to eat. The rooms were tidied each day, but the sheets were not changed during our entire stay. Close access to the ocean and there is also a stop for th [... read more]e "hop on hop off bus" just outside the main gate. Getting to downtown Veradero is quite easy. Would stay again with the knowledge that it is about a 3star resort by Canadian standards.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Good resort, horrible food

Beaches are amazing, best I’ve ever experienced. The staff is very friendly & knowledgeable. The rooms AC was not good, so we were pretty hot most nights. Big con is the food, below average, especially the buffet. Often had to eat outside the resort. Overall good experience.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Fantastic vacation!

Sanctuary was great. Some small issues in rooms but nothing major. And they were always super helpful if you needed anything. Would definitely go back! Pool and beach was amazing and staff at pools and beach - excellent!

Resonance Blu Varadero: Will never stay here again

The resort was horrible. A bad case of the fleas by everyone in our trip. A case of food poisoning for me and the food was just plain horrible will never go back to any resort in Cuba again. Then on top of it all stayed in the horrible Cuba air port in Varadero from 1 pm till 1130 pm due to plane troubles so Sunwing will never have me business again

Melia Jardines del Rey: Will return

Clean resort , food wasn’t all that bad , like any resort after 4 days it gets monotonous, great beach , loved the sandbar. Only complaint is the walkways were very dark ... they need way more lighting !

Club Kawama: Good time- Great people

Rooms were clean, you may want to bring a pillow, not the fluffiest I've seen. Very poor selection of food in the buffet..but lets face it, were not there for the food..lol Grounds were kept clean. Resort ran out of towels one day- not sure why? The Staff, always very nice.. This is my 2nd time at this resort.. I always meet the nicest people and leave having new friends..I will always go to Club Kawama because it offers what i want, nice people, close to downtown Varadero and first resor [... read more]t from the airport.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great place to stay.

This is a very nice resort to stay during my family vacation in Cuba, people are friendly, foods are good, beach is great for relax as well. The tours we choose from Sunwing to Havana and Ocean were great too. Thanks to hardworking Cuba people, they’re not rich but are happy!

Palma Real: Great value for the price

We loved our stay at the Allegro Palma Real. I recommend for those who like to walk outside the hotel, since It’s one block from the main strip. The hotel is clean, the food is good even if it’s a little bit redundant. The pool is fair and the beach is amazing. The personnel is very nice. I intened to go back since for the price it’s the best value I ever had.

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Mediocre at Best

Just stayed at Melia Cayo Santa Maria December 2019 for one-week. Overall: 2 1/2 stars Beach: 5 stars Room: 3 stars Food: 1 Star Pools: 3 1/2 stars Serving staff: 3 1/2 stars Location: 2 stars Reception staff: 2 stars Animation Team: 4 stars Value: 3 stars Got a decent price for the time of year and decided to take our 2 thirteen year olds. We had a very early flight and arrived at 10 am in Cuba. Bus transfer was very long, almost 2 hours. So the location wasn’t the best but the [... read more] beach made up for it. Not a lot to do around there and not a lot of choice in shopping. Can take a can ride in an antique car or 2 dollar bus ride to another resort where there are more market shops but barely. In general, the resort needs a massive overhaul. The rooms are dated. Beds are hard. Found bugs in our bed. Tubs have no plugs so you can’t take a bath. Shower has weak pressure. Smells musty. Fridge and room not stocked very well. Had to push for more water and soda pops instead of just beer. Reception staff rude and not very well trained. The one staff - Adriana - took issue with me watching her as she billed my credit card for spa services I purchased for the kids and my wife. She was palming my credit card and after scanning it through the debit machine did not want to return it. She recorded the MasterCard numbers separately which gave me concern as I didn’t want my card defrauded. When I asked her to return it she laughed and said don’t worry. I found this to be infuriating and rude. It’s my card. It’s my money. Be respectful. And the billing was of concern. I was quoted one price at the spa for 3 massages and then billed 12 USA dollars more when I had to pay. The food was sub standard. We have stayed at many melia resorts before and this resort does not compare. The food was bland and tasteless. There was very little selection at the buffet and it was the exact same for 7 days in a row. Like, change it up a bit. It’s not a huge deal if it’s the same but then increase your buffet stations to give some variety. Breakfast was terrible. No standard selections. No bacon. No pancakes. No waffles. Only a small selection of cereal. The restaurants were also low quality. The only restaurant that was good was the 24 hour bar/restaurant near the pool. Pizza was amazing. Burgers were amazing. Staff was really friendly. We went there every night after the restaurants because we were so Dissatisfied with the other restaurants. The entertainment team was good. Pool is in desperate need of repair. Grout is coming out all over and it is not being cleaned. It collects at bottom of pool. Beach was incredible. We tipped over 100 Canadian dollars during our trip and still felt the service was lacking. In any case, it was under average and in desperate need of an overhaul. I tried talking to managers on several occasions but the staff would give me the runaround so none of the other issues we had ever got resolved. Disappointing. Would not recommend.

Club Amigo Ancon: Club Amigo Ancon

We loved this hotel...its old..but well maintained with friendly staff..beautiful beach and pool..and close the 2 small fishing villages and a large city over 500 years old with cobble stone streets and stately architecture. For a real insite of Cuban flair..Trinidad is the place to visit. Loved our experience in Ancon..a place we love to visit

Melia Las Dunas: Review of Melia Las Dunas

I visited Melia Las Dunas December 2019. Grounds: The grounds were nice, and the ocean was beautiful. However, there were about 4 sharks spotted on day 1 of our vacation about 10 feet off the shoreline and we were not permitted to swim. Again, on day 2, there were about 5 more sharks and we were not able to swim. Most of the tourists that had been there for some time said this had not happened before, but it still put a damper on our vacation. We visit Cuba for the beach and swimming. Many of [... read more] the remaining days very windy, causing large waves and strong current. There was one calm day where we were able to swim with no issue. The pools were nice and the swim up bar was in a good location. We enjoyed going here while unable to swim at the beach. Room: The room was fine. About what is expected in Cuba. Friends who I traveled with, did not have a working blow dryer in their room and had to use ours. Our toilet seat (lid) would not stay up, so we kind of had to hold it up while using the bathroom. Not pleasant, but manageable. The maid, Karenia, was nice and always had a smile on her face. Entertainment: Probably the highlight of the whole resort. The entertainment team did a great shop with the nightly shows. However, the bar was packed and drinks were terrible! They absolutely water down the liquor. Food: Absolutely TERRIBLE. I have previously been to Cuba 5 times. I know the food is generally below average, but this was worse than any other visit. There were little options in the buffet, and even the basics - pasta/pizza were NOT good. I heard that this may be due to food supply issues overall in Cuba right now but I don't know how true that is. Overall: I would give this resort about a 3.5 star max. Unfortunately, the sharks/not being able to swim in the ocean some days, and the food brought down the average for me. With that said, the grounds were nice and entertainment was good.

Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: Good value for the money

Beautiful location and grounds, very well kept gardens. The beach is amazing. The rooms are old, especially bathrooms need major revamping. We visited this resort many times, mainly because of the beach and nice grounds. The downside this time was the construction work on the beach (new restaurant is being built). So it was noisy and smelly at times.

Sol Palmeras: Gorgeous Beaches

I recently stayed at the Sol Palmereas in Varadero. The resort is huge and also very beautiful. The buffet get a little tired as it is the same thing everyday. Also we stayed in a one bedroom bungalow and yes they clean it everyday but if one of your kids drops as much as Cheerio on the floor an army of ants will soon be crawling around the floor. The beaches are gorgeous and the pool as great as well. One thing did not sit well with us was the fact that we waited 2 hrs and 30 minut [... read more]es for the Sunwing bus to collect us to go home. Then once we arrived at the airport our flight was delayed two hours. That made for an exhausting long day for a 1 and 3 year old.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Another wonderful visit to our favourite resort!

This Paradisus has it all, as evidenced by its many return visitors.....many of whom have visited more than 10 times. Spread out over a large property, beautifully landscaped and managed, this collection of small accommodation buildings, including smaller 'villa-style' units in two major sections, offers many excellent dining opportunities from the open-air buffet, snack bar, ocean view beach-side dining, to the 5 up-scale specialty air-conditioned dining restaurants on the property. With 24 h [... read more]our per day complete service for food and beverages of all types, the ORO does 'have it all' to offer its guests. The main swimming pool is always excellently maintained, offers a wide variety of seating opportunities with excellent seating/lounging options from full sun to filtered sun and full shade.....with never a need to 'reserve' your favourite spot. The 1.3 km beautiful creamy fine sand beach (considered by many to be the best beach in Cuba), with beach access to excellent off-the-beach snorkelling is beautiful too. But, for us and many other return visitors, the ORO's fabulous staff really are the magnet that keep us going back! The resort celebrated its 21st birthday on Dec. 21, 2019.....and many of the staff have been at the resort since it was opened......this fact speaks volumes about their excellent service standard, and that of the Paradisus Rio de Oro! We have recommended the ORO to many friends.....all have been more than satisfied and impressed.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Head scratching vacation

First of all I want say we went with our best friends a had so much fun. However, our room was beyond hilarious. Apparently our bathroom door broke(who knows when) so the hotel replaced it with a shower curtain. Our toilet whistled when we flushed it. Our shower leaked every where. We had little lights as it was not the bulbs but the sockets were burned out. No fix according to the staff. Our thermostat never worked so we had cold 24 hours a day. You can not drink the tap water however you h [... read more]ave to beg for bottled water. We had none so I went to the snack bar for water and he would not give us a bottle. He said it was a different department. I have never seen so many people doing so much and getting nothing done. Their banking system is like exchanging real money for Monopoly money for a premium. Their money is useless off the Island however they charge Canadians at US rates. What a rip off. Plus make sure you have your Passport to get pesos, get an attitude and all you want to do is get money to tip the workers. Their airports are so backward it is head scratching. It took us an hour and and half just to check our luggage. The people are great however they have no chance as they work long hours, make little money, have no resources to solve our problems and have no hope. Will never go back. Kissed the ground when we arrived in cold Canada.