MELIA CAYO SANTA MARIA AMAZING

The beach and the people working at this hotel make our trip amazing!! The service was excellent in the restaurants and on the beach and at the pool. The coffee bar was a cool place to hang out and have an amazing drink with or without the very good coffee.

Beautiful resort!

First time to Cuba and we loved it! The weather, grounds, beach, weather was just amazing!! The food was ok meaning you’ll never starve but you can’t compare it to Mexico as this is a communist Country and what they import is limited....Capuccino’s at lobby and snack bar were delicious! Beach Grill was good.....Entertainment was hit and miss but enjoyed violinist every night...!

Melia Cayo Santa Maria

The renovations that they did after the hurricane are beautiful and the resort is kept very clean. We were a little disappointed this year with the food selections and the number of things that they ran out of. None of the restaurants had shrimp and lobster was available at a price of 18 CUC ($26 Cdn) which I thought was too expensive. Service was not as good as it has been, as the staff say that they are always understaffed. There was only one person working the pool bar and trying to serve [... read more] all of the people sitting around 2 pools. One evening, I asked for white wine and they didn't have any. Then I asked for gin and tonic but there was no tonic. Then I asked for vodka soda and there was no soda. The resort seemed a bit mismanaged and the staff are stressed having to tell guests that they do not have something - especially people that are repeat customers that they have known a long time. We will most likely go back due to the friends that we have met there but I would be a little hesitant to recommend the resort to others based on this year.

Lovely resort

/Excellent value for your money. The grounds are beautiful, almost as beautiful as the beach. Friendly staff, clean room. In particular, Juan Carlos at the lobby bar was so hard working. Would definitely stay again.

Great Experience!

We enjoyed our stay at Melia Cayo Santa Maria . All the staff were very friendly, helpful and attentive to your needs. Our check in and checkout were fast and efficient. All the public areas were kept clean and nice; the grounds, flowers , trees, etc..The pools were big and nice and kept clean. We didn't take much part in the pool activities but found the fashion show and some other competition they had in the pool thoroughly entertaining and fun. The facilities at the beach were adequate and th [... read more]e staff made sure you would get clean deck chairs and beach umbrellas. Loved the beautiful sandy beach and the turquoise water! We enjoyed all the evening and nightly entertainment which added something unique to our holiday experience. The drinks at the lobby were the best and they had a good selection of them available. Our room was adequate and comfortable and kept clean every day. Plenty of sitting and storage space and the bed was big and comfortable. The food was average and we had a mixed experience at both the buffet and a la carte restaurants. But, we didn't expect anything great as we had travelled to Cuba before and found that food is pretty much the same everywhere. We preferred The food at the Beach Grill and we had some good lunches there. The food was also good some of the nights at the buffet restaurant. Overall, we had a very good experience at this resort and would recommend it to friends and consider coming back again. Auzi & Bill

Excellent resort

My husband and myself loved this resort, the rooms were great very spacious and clean, the outdoor grounds were well kept. This is my 5th time to Santa Maria never at this resort before, but i would definately go back to Melia. Its quaint and very welcoming!

Very nice resort

This is my second time at this resort and everything is still amazing. It has the most beautiful beach with white sand. The staff is very nice. The only downfall is the 1hr45 drive from the airport to the resort. The food was good with a good variety but the thing that really disappointed me was that they did not have the fresh orange juice which was incredible anymore because they told me that it was too expensive. I will certainly go back in the near future.

Great resort

Stayed at this resort over ten years ago. Great vacation overall! Decided to visit again. Still great resort friendly staff but was really disappointed with the food. First time I ever got sick and we travel quite a bit. Couldn’t even get a banana! Fruit loops was the only cereal there. One of the waitresses brought us bananas from her home. Friendly staff,everything else great but will not revisit!

Melia

Very nice, very clean. A bit of a distance to beach but once there absolutely stunning. Food was mediocre but always something suitable. Workers very nice. Cleaning staff did good job but were very bold in asking for things. Gardeners do incredible work. Under appreciated.

Nice Resort

Beautiful grounds! Well kept. The beach is amazing. One of the best! Some of the lounge chairs need to be replaced but the friendly lifeguards work hard to ensure you have a good one. The staff are nice and friendly. The rooms need some work. We were in a couple and found they had a damp smell. The sliding door would not work. But we decided as long as we could lock them and not use the little patio we would not complain. The bathroom needs a lot of work. Lots of hot water and pressure making fo [... read more]r a nice shower! Food was the usual as in most of the resorts we have visited, perhaps a little better. I am fussy so usually eat from the pasta bar but the basic ingredients, as in onions and peppers were rarely available. I enjoy salads however lettuce was usually missing for the last meal of the day. But for the first time I tried and enjoyed some of the meat from the barbeque located at the beach lunch hut!

Resort is beautiful

This hotel had beautiful grounds, pools very nice, clean and spacious, everything close by, beautifully gardened paths and walk ways, main dining buffet clean and spacious, speciality restaurants nice- however most of the time book and also on the select menu a lot of items not available, food was okay but if you have any type of food restrictions very hard to get something to eat. Staff very friendly and helpful (always pleasant and smiling) wonderful people :) we had an awesome stay here but t [... read more]he biggest let down was the Hotel room its self, it was in much need of repairs (bathroom door broken, toilet leaked over floor, shower head broken, walls were full of stains really needed to be painted and the bedclothes and towels full of stains and did not feel clean and fresh at all. unfortunately the bedrooms felt dirty :( If I were to recommend this Hotel (because it does have some very great qualities) I would have to be honest and warn that person about the bedrooms. I have to rate this at a 3 only because of the bedrooms! :(

Beautiful Experience

Grounds were beautifully taken care of. Pools were clean and well maintained. Resort was nice size and didn’t have a lot of walking to get to places which was great. Food was great and plentiful. BEACH was the most beautiful I’d ever experienced. Rooms were good size and clean - beds were very hard.

MeliaCayo Santa Maria

the hotel was awesome very clean. People were very helpful. The grounds were beautiful well looked after. The size of the resort was perfect for us it was very easy for us to get around. The food was very good lots to choose from. The beach was beautiful lots of activities as well as the pool. Our room was always clean .As for the entertainment the theatre not so much , we enjoy going to the lobby every evening, entertainment was awesome. We would definitely go back to this resort.

Relaxing Time

While this was a smaller Melia resort, it was right beside the busier one so we could easily walk over anytime. The à la carte dinners were excellent and the buffet is typical. There are just 2 downsides being many « no-see-ems » which are tiny mosquitoes that you just cannot see and they leave welts and the long bus ride. To get there took us just 90 minutes but the return ride took a long 2.5 hours.

Reliable Quality

Our third visit to Melia Cayo SM, after a few years absence. Facilities in excellent shape, reflecting upgrades visible on exterior finish, grounds, and interiors. Staff as always charming and attentive. Location exceptional: glorious sea, broad clean beach, pools very comfortable. Drinks very good, food fine if one is selective: the basic materials mostly good, but finish uneven. We were disappointed that the menu in our favorite place- the resto overlooking the beach- has been shrunk. Nonethel [... read more]ess, an idyllic place for lunch. The one a la carte restaurant tested this time, the Tex-Mex, was OK: ambience and service very good, beef as expected sub-par. Overall, a wonderfully rich and relaxing week, once again!

Perfect January getaway!

This is our 5th trip to Cuba over a 13 year span. We've been to Veradero 2x, Cayo Coco 1x and Cayo Santa Maria 2x. Melia Cayo Santa Maria was perfect in so many ways! The beach was stunning! We spent every day there...the water beautiful shades of green and blue, and warm! The the resort small, clean, in good repair and easy to navigate! The food good with variety as were the restaurants! We were most impressed with the staff....they were caring, friendly and had a very good command of the  [... read more]English language. We had a wonderful time and definitely plan to return to this resort next year!

A great place to spend a week out of the frozen North!

This is an older resort, well maintained, with a long serving, loyal, and extremely friendly staff. It is a small resort in today’s standards, and quite frankly, it’s a gem! Many of the staff have a command of English, which is very helpful. The beach grill is an authentic charcoal BBQ, which is so welcome in January! Yummy BBQ Chicken! Loved it!

Another great stay at this resort!

This was our 8th visit to this resort and again we were extremely satisfied. The service, the food, the staff, everything was as we expected. We often hear people say they are pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoyed their stay here.

Great resort!

The food was what you'd expect for Cuba...I stuck with fruit, cheese and bread and of course delicious omelets, fries and amazing coffees! Oh ya...crispy bacon at the pool/snack bar! The beach is just a small walk away from the pools, down a boardwalk onto a beach that is very big, and has what must be hundreds of chairs and huts!! Even around the pools, we never had to worry about not having a chair! The pool staff were always delivering chairs where needed. The bar staff filled us up ever [... read more]y 10-15 minutes if we wanted lol!! There's the usual pool activities, the staff were all awesome. I also loved that there was a kids pool that was actually off in a quieter area, which would be great for our youngest child (if we were to do a family trip!) Our favourite a la carte was the Mediterranean, every bit of it was delicious. And the Tex mex was good too! We heard from other people that tried the other a la cartes and they did not enjoy them. The grounds are well taken care of, and the gardeners and maintenance staff were very polite. The pool was clean, and every morning the workers would vacuum it and clean the decks. Rooms are clearly well used, with dated decor, but they're clean and very spacious! For me, it is important that the bathrooms are sparkling clean, and ours was, every single day! We stayed on the 300 building, and loved that it was an easy walk to the pool. While at the pool we could use the lobby washroom, or walk a few extra steps to our own room. We would definitely go back to this resort...but I would bring more snacks along. Food is not why we go to Cuba, and I think most people understand that. I should mention that this hotel is advertised as being approx 90mins from the Santa Clara airport...but the transfer takes quite a bit longer than the 90minutes, with loading people, and then stopping for pee breaks, and then also stopping at 5 other hotels to drop people off. We flew from Toronto at 6:15am and got to the resort around 3pm...it made for a long day. Check in was nice and smooth, and our room was ready...so we were able to relax right away.

Paradise on a budget

Stay at Melia Cayo Santa Maria 15 January to 22 January . First of all may I say that We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. This is the most well laid out resort with every lodging within easy walking distance to the restaurants , lobby and pools. From the moment we arrived we were treated like we were the only guests at the resort. Check in was flawless despite our late arrival from the airport. The bell hop was very friendly and knowledgeable. When I tried to take one of my suitcases upstairs, the b [... read more]ell hop said no, sir, you are on vacation, it's my pleasure to bring your bags. Our room was clean and spacious. The mattress was a little firm but good for Cuba. Restaurants were decent, buffet offered something for everyone. Out of all the resorts we have been to this buffet offered the most choices. Daniel at the Omelette bar is a great guy and an asset to the resort. The bartenders and pool staff treated us like family. Even the lifeguards were quick to respond when I lost my footing in the ocean. After visiting this resort I find it difficult to book elsewhere as it will be hard to beat this resort.