Iberostar Selection Varadero: Love Cuba!

The Iberostar Varadero is an amazing resort. We would stay there again, hopefully sooner than later. The beach was amazing! The room was nice, but I don't think I would pay the extra for the Junior Suite upgrade again as we were really only in the room to sleep. We found the buffet was better than the restaurants, which was a little disappointing. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Starfish Jibacoa: Beautiful Resort - Excellent stay.

Great vacation at this resort, the beach is beautiful, water warm, and no jellyfish this time of year. We snorkelled and saw beautiful reef and colourful fish. Staff was great, quick check in, attentive service in the restaurant, the lobby bar was busy with only 1 bartender on duty all day, but that improved the second week. Lobby bar opens at 8am for coffee, have to wait until then for a nice cappuccino, or get coffee with your breakfast in the dining room which opens at 7:30am. Rooms were neat [... read more], grounds are beautiful and well tended. Gardeners work every day, cutting grass, trimming bushes, tidying the beach. Bring your bug spray!!

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: Great resort. Would definitely go back!

This is a great resort. Excellent service, great food, amazing beach, and nice pools. We were always able to find shaded loungers around the pool or at the beach no matter what time we went. This made for a very relaxing holiday - no rushing to get a lounger. The beach was powder soft sand and crystal clear water. The staff could not do enough for us! Our room was very clean and nicely decorated. Our Butler was very helpful and always available. The Foam Party in the pool was great fun and the S [... read more]unset Party at the beach was a nice touch. Cuba is an interesting country to visit and the Cuban people are very friendly. We took a day tour into Havana and felt very relaxed and safe. Fabulous architecture! The double decker buses pass the resort going into Varadero, and for $5 you can hop on and off at the various resorts, markets and places of interest. The food was great - lots of choice, very tasty and well presented. The Buffet had a Pasta Station, Seafood Grill, and a Meat Grill where you select your meat, etc and it is prepared in front of you to your liking. The Crepe Station had delicious dessert crepes! At dinner they have different themes each day of the week. The a la cartes were also very good. We did not go to the Mexican restaurant so do not know what it was like - we chose to go to the Buffet on Cuban Night and sample Cuban dishes. Would definitely recommend this resort!

Iberostar Selection Varadero: Certainly a deserved 5-star rating!

Everything about our holiday exceeded expectations....the friendly and eager to please staff,the amazing facilities and beach,the wonderful food and drinks!Strongly recommend an excursion to Havana to get a taste of Cuban life away from the resort,a guide helps with a wealth of facts and personal experiences!

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: An overall poor experience.

We found that very few personnel spoke or understood English, even at the main desk so communication was definitely a major concern. We had problems with our room in that the TV didn't work and twice we had to have someone repair our toilet with the overall result seeing us moved to another room on our 3rd day which was of course an inconvenience. We were upgraded but this did not include the benefits that went with the room which we felt we should have received given the inconvenience of our fi [... read more]rst 3 days. Our complaints were met with rudeness. The pick up service was poor in that it took forever to be picked up and we usually had to call more than once. Overall we would put this trip at the bottom of our list of resorts we have travelled to over the years.

Melia Marina Varadero: Paradise in Cuba

This hotel was first class. Good food, great beach for swimming, adequate pools and pool bars. Service was first class. I highly recommend the upgrade to "The Level" the upgrade includes an extra a la carte restaurant and concierge services.

Barcelo Solymar: Barcelo Solymar

I have stayed here several times and as much as I love the hotel and the staff, the hotel is not being taken care of. My room wasn't cleaned daily, the air conditioner didn't work properly and caused daily flooding in the room. The pool could have used some cleaning. Overall, the staff at this hotel are amazing and are the best part of the trip and it's in a perfect location from the nightlife of varadero.

Hotel Bella Costa: The price was right

The food at the buffet was good,, The a la carts were terrible. The rooms were old but clean. We had no water pressure st all. The staff very friendly. The pool area was clean and well kept up all day. The resort is close to down town. Lots of dry beach towels. If you leave them laying around, they go missing

Brisas Del Caribe: Good and confortable resorts to stay

Overall staffs are friendly, we upgrade our room to 3rd floor with no extra cost, room 337 on the third floor is the best, food are good, sometime the buffet restaurant very busy, we tips them not all the time (but a dollars goes a long way), our server at the restaurant reserve our table every night. Afterall it is only 3 stars resorts not a 5 stars, but I feel it is 4 stars.

Barcelo Solymar: Beautiful beach, decent resort

The beach and ocean are so lovely all up and down the peninsula. The resort itself was totally fine, no big issues. The buffet on the Arenas Blancas side was better. The a la carte restaurants were pretty good. We booked a bungalow close to the beach and enjoyed not being in the main building, though if you like being more central to the buffet, desk, etc., the rooms in the main building are nice too (probably a bit nicer). The location is right on the border between town and the all-resort part [... read more] of the peninsula farther up, which was good.

Blau Varadero: Fun in the Sun & Sea

A one week getaway at a 4 star all-inclusive. Excellent hotel service from arrival to departure. The rooms are tired but were air-conditioned & clean. Each has a private balcony. Recommend requesting an ocean view (pool side) room & if possible, the 5th floor or above. Only the rooms, buffet restaurant, international restaurant, exercise room, games room, & the few shops had AC. Wifi is available only in the lobby & piano bar-2 peso/hr. Our package included two dinners-we ate at the Mexican & In [... read more]ternational restaurants. The food at the buffet was abundant, fresh but predictable.The pool area is lovely with grounds that are very well maintained. Food & drinks are available at poolside. A very short walk on a boardwalk to the sea and an incredible sandy beach that stretches miles. Adequate lounges and umbrellas for shade. A small restaurant at the beach provides food & drinks-24hours a day. I would highly recommend a day trip to Havana-about a 2 hr drive each way. A few comments on currency. The official currency - 1 peso(CUC) = $1 USD. The peso (CUC) is effectively the only one used everywhere. You can change money at the airport or hotel or any bank. This hotel has a very good rate. Bring Canadian dollars (NOT US dollars-13% charge to covert USD). Only change what you need at the front desk, since you are unable to change back into foreign currency at the hotel -ONLY at the airport (with passport) when you are leaving-and you don't get a great rate. Although we were told by travel agents that you can use either VISA or Mastercard (only if not issued by an American Bank)-reality is CASH is preferred everywhere, only some tourist shops accept VISA and charge a 3% fee. The only small problem we encountered was the rising request for tips-from airport transfer buses, excursions, & musicians in Havana restaurants. This did not happen in the hotel; however, most people choose to leave a few pesos a day with restaurant waiters, at the bar, and for the maids.

Los Delfines: Decent resort, great beach.

I did not have high expectations (in terms of room condition and quality of food) when booking this resort, as it was rated 3 stars. Regardless of the slightly deteriorating condition of the room everything worked properly, the food was not great but there were plenty of options to pick from for picky eaters. The best part about this resort is that it is directly on the beach, right in the heart of Veradero and close enough for an affordable taxi ride to Havana. So, essentially it's a great opti [... read more]on for people that want to stay on a resort and explore Cuba.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Memories Varadero

We really liked this resort. Nice nature, pools, great entertainment, clean beaches, helpful staff. The construction in the main restaurant was not the best, of course as there was noise from morning till night. The food selection was so so, and the restaurants were not air-conditioned. The food was OK.

Melia Las Antillas: Beautiful Resort, a great place to stay

The room was clean - a little dated but we spent very little time in the room! Beach was gorgeous, the staff was very friendly and helpful; I would definitely stay here again. The buffet food was average for Cuba but once we discovered the omelette station for breakfast, the pool restaurant for lunch and the hot pasta station for dinner, all was good. A la Carte restaurants were all very good as well, especially for chicken and fish/seafood. One note - didn't realize until we got there that they [... read more] want men to wear long pants in the restaurants (not buffet) - my husband had to wear his 1 pair of pants 5 times! Then we saw them letting people come in wearing shorts so maybe not always an enforced rule. This is my 3rd time in Veradero, Cuba and I really enjoyed this resort.

Melia Las Antillas: Amazing resort

Visited resort for 4 times . Best memories during stay under "Beaches". Very good service specially for return guests. The grounds and entertainment are very good. Overall i like this resort. Good variety of food, perfect service at the piano and lobby bars.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Great Resort with some Issues to Solve

Let's just say we had a five-star experience, but it's tough in some ways to give the resort even a three-star rating. After reading all the mixed reviews of Memories Varadero, which I found hard to interpret but now understand better, I will try to explain our experience. This is a beautiful resort, nice grounds, pools, beach – but with serious management and supply problems. If you are laid back and looking for a good value, nice simple vacation – this place is for you. If you can't over [... read more]look numerous small problems and will be stressed or irritated by them, then go somewhere else. Also, it’s a huge resort, over 1000 rooms, so if a ten-minute walk is not to your liking, then you must either have patience to wait for rides, or consider a smaller resort. The good: - Stunning beach! Can take long beach walks in either direction. Nice shells can be found heading left on the beach towards the rocks. - Awesome bartending staff. Even at peak times, there was little waiting, and they tried very hard to make you happy. - Lots of hot water and good water pressure – even at peak times. (for the toilet flushing complaints: push down and hold the flusher and count to 10 and you should be fine) - Well maintained grounds – lots of blooms! - Beautiful pools – main active pool and quiet pool were both well maintained. Large waterslide at main pool was well used. - Lots of activities available and outgoing activities team. - Most of the staff were pleasant, although there were comments that some asked for tips, rather than just appreciating getting them. The less good: - Food – we've been to Cuba 10 times, so we know the standard, but this was voted by my group as the worst so far. It seems ironic to me because I was always satisfied – the made to order pizzas were great, but that was offset by the crazy wait times, further irritated by vacationers who do not respect queues. Same for the grilled meats and omelettes. (Big shoutout to the older omelette lady in the main buffet – she makes up for any wait with her bubbly character). - Snack bars selection – at both pools, there are nice snack bars (the 24-hour one is at the quiet pool close to the lobby). These both have nice menus, but they normally only have hamburger, ham and cheese sandwich and spaghetti. Sometimes they surprise you by having something else available (like tasty grilled fish or a nice breaded chicken). A solution would be just to have a blackboard which shows what’s available “today” – because when you sit down and decide you like something and then are told you can’t have it,… of course it makes you disappointed. Also, there is no wine at either snack bar ... no reason for that! The staff, especially at the quiet pool snack bar which seems to have a larger menu but typically less options available, seemed disheartened – understandable – they probably get a lot less tips from disappointed customers. - Beach towel exchange – after reading previous reviews, I tried out of principle every day to exchange the beach towel that was provided in our room. New towels were available exactly one day out of seven. That day was luckily about half-way through our stay! I was also disappointed with guests loudly berating the poor towel attendant – don’t shoot the messenger – they can’t help whether they have new towels or not… - Stained laundry – towels, sheets,… all had iron stains. From what I understand they are clean but stained from older laundry equipment… but not what one expects from a 4-star (or any) resort. - Lack of toilet paper – carry your own – they don't seem to be able to keep the public washrooms stocked. Also sometimes both washrooms were closed for cleaning at the same time... (?) Regarding birds and flies: birds were bothering some people at the snack bars – they are quite bold if you are sitting alone. At the main restaurant, the hotel has a good solution by using a red-tailed hawk (with handlers) to scare the birds away. Flies around the food wasn't an issue for us – but these guys that look like houseflies actually take a nasty bite out of you, and the bites ITCH! The flies got noticeably worse when the wind died down. Bug repellent helps. We were a group of seven in four rooms in low season. I can imagine that the problems and wait times will amplify during peak times.But we enjoyed ourselves and could see going back again in the future.

Memories Jibacoa: great value for price....good resort

the resort is clean and run very well...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................AWSU [... read more]MMMMM DEAL

Memories Jibacoa: Heaven on a Beach

This hotel has it all. Well manicured beaches,ample lounge chairs,friendly staff members,and amazing food. Even if you want a special evening for a quiet dinner ,there are two beautiful restaurants on site to temp your taste buds.If you want excitement on the ocean how about scuba diving,sailing,or snorkeling in an ocean that offers a whole new world.Entertainment in your wish book? The evening shows are outside by the pool and are a must see...every night! Something more intimate? How about the [... read more] piano bar upstairs! it would rival any professional entertainment anywhere in the world of hotels!! Looking for more of a challenge during the day. Then be sure to sign up for free tennis lessons, or book a trip into the old city of Havana and see Cuba as it was and will be once again.The days at the hotel are an endless array of possibilities and entertainment and if you want a quiet day be sure to seek out the spa. A womens paradise! Yes , go to Memmories in Jibacoa.

Barcelo Solymar: Worth the Money

Well situated, close to Varadero, with a spectacular beach layout. Hotel is a bit dated and in need of renovations. The week we were there the main building had no air conditionning. We we're lucky enough to be transferred to one of the free standing bungalows that were well laid out, clean and...cool. Staff is friendly. Food is average with the breakfast portion being the weakest link.

Palma Real: Cuban Home!

This was my 6th trip to the Bellvue Palma Reall ... truly like a home away from home! The staff are the best and service is consistently good. There is a wonderful new Manager and she is very hands on with her staff and is working hard to maintain a clean, friendly and welcoming environment. She is also working at getting wifi in the hotel for all those who really want to stay connected during their vacation. This is resort is also in an excellent location ... you can walk to shopping, wonderful [... read more] restaurants and the best dancing in Veradero! We start at The Beatles and then move to Caleigh 62 and then to the Havana Club. If you go with a group it's even more fun! Please keep in mind this is Cuba and we are going for the sun, their beautiful beaches and relaxing away from all the hustle and bustle of our western world. What we take for granted as normal everyday conveniences are luxuries still in Cuba. Slow down as soon as you arrive and be patient when asking for help at the front desk ... it will go a looooong way to getting great assistance. I have taken many family and friends with me and have also made many good friends on my trips to this resort that stay in touch with so I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone who is needing a warm, home away from home! p.s. if you want to take the locals gifts, peanut butter, nutella and good tasting toothpaste were some of the things we were told were so expensive there they rarely got them!