Beautiful resort - wonderful weather

Being smaller than most resorts, I found everything within reach - the beach, pool, dining and bar areas etc. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and the food was good. Of course, the wonderful weather helped make a great week even better.

Had a great time, would defently go back

Villa Don Lino is a small but cozy resort We had more than a very good time, knowing beforehand that Villa Don Lino was a 2 to 3 star property. We found that the food at Don Lino was just as good if not better than many 4 to 5 star resorts that we have visited previously. Included in our trip was a free catamaran ride which was a lot of fun, with a scenic informative drive each way. One day during the week the staff put on a “Cuban Day” showing us how “milk” sugar cane, with an expositio [... read more]n of Cuban music, dancing, foods, coffee and drinks. A simple highlight was a horse and buggy ride to the site where Columbus landed in 1492 and the beautiful Playa Blanca Beach. We enjoyed watching all the animals around the resort, horses, pigs, chickens and a rooster, dogs, cats, iguanas, salamanders. Our one complaint is there was not enough Toilet Paper in the public washrooms. The rooms are clean with lovely balconies or porches (depending on whether you were on the first or second floor of your building), but the rooms can use some repairs, for example dresser drawers may or may not work. Our only regret was that we only booked for one week rather than two. The bottom line is, for the price I don't think you can find a better place.

Loved it here!

Room quaint and clean, staff amazing, grounds clean and pretty and I loved the size of the resort. Small, easy to get around all the other guests were either reepeat guests or going to return again. I loved it

Amazing service

Don lino employees where very friendly and also very helpful in and with my every needs! I will consider going back to Don Lino anytime! The food isn't the best but they're is a 24h snack bar open with decent food available

Relaxing Resort!

This is a very peaceful resort with super friendly and accommodating staff. Our room was clean and daily visits from our maid ensured we had fresh towels and returned to a tidy room with her creative touch. The food was decent although not a huge variety which lends to being a small resort. The main buffet restaurant is brand new and evening entertainment during dinner was excellent spilling over to the evening entertainment at the beach/pool bar where live bands got all of the patrons participa [... read more]ting. Toni and Manuel always checked to ensure we were enjoying ourselves. Toni went above and beyond to explain about where the snorkelling was safe and made sure we had full gear. The beach is natural and clean although not the best for swimming. We were directed by staff how to get to the beautiful swimming beach a short walk through a village and down the road. Locals were super friendly and the horse drawn taxis were always available if you needed a ride into town or to the beach. Amoral one of the taxi drivers even made reservations for a delicious dinner in the village for us one evening. Overall an excellent resort for a relaxing vacation without spending a fortune. We would go back again!

Watch where you step

You will read other reviews that speak to the quaintness and friendliness of the resort and the staffs that work at Don Lino. All of this is true. This is not a sour grapes review, I had a fine a vacation at the Don Lino. However, there are four things I think are worth high lighting that may be of benefit to you in deciding to choose a vacation at Don Lino: 1. The buffet food is the same day after day, a very limited selection and frequently the grill selection is very poorly prepared - dry, ov [... read more]ercooked, over seasoned with salt etc. We saw lettuce once in 14 days. I know Cuba food is notorious, but seriously this buffet was not ok. 2. Farm animals do roam the property, quaint - yes, sanitary - no. A welcome horse patty in front of the room and yes I did step in it, is not ok. The one large grass area in which you can do activities is frequently a grazing area for pigs and horses. 3. Tips - with a tip I was poured the 5 year old dark rum. With no tip , I heard the bartender tell a student to pour me the low quality Santera rum. Bartenders spend a great deal of time promoting their own side businesses, frequently while clients at the bar wait for service. Don't leave a tip for the maid - you get no new towels and a very basic clean. Leave a tip, get fancy towel art and new towels and a premium clean. There is a bartender at the Don Lino who is wealthier then most of the clients who attend this resort. Please tip, but notice that the maids and bartenders are living a very good life relative to their nieghbours. Management at the Don Lino needs to wind in the bartender greed and set a cleaning standard for the maids despite the tip on the pillow or not. 4. Animation staff - we experienced 6 consecutive days of bad weather, several attempts to have the animation team do something to entertain the clients fell on deaf ears. Kudos to them for an impromptu super bowl party and the Cuban themed afternoon party. Generally, however, they spend all of their time in their little room chatting or looking on their phones. There is no water sports, pool aqua size ( we had guests organizing their own). Bingo is one time a week with one game. Expect to be on your own when it comes to entertainment. Never saw Spanish lessons, saw dance once, etc. There is a list of activities by day that is never followed. We tried to do activities at the set time and no staff in sight or the event was cancelled? This is an easy fix - management sets a standard and then enforces it, simple. This was my second time to Don Lino and yes despite the comments above I will likely go back, but it is because of the people in the nieghbouring area and the lovely natural beauty that surrounds the Don Lino. If your looking for a resort based vacation I would not recommend the Don Lino.

Newest Convert will be a many time repeat customer

It was the size (96 rooms), quiet (on its own in the country side) and ocean front setting that attracted my husband and me to this resort. Having read many reviews on TripAdvisor I felt confident the Villa Don Lino would suit us. And it did! We had one of the old rooms, 50 feet from the shoreline. The food, although not an unnecessary over abundance of choices, was well prepared and tasty. The service we received in the dining hall and throughout the resort was genuinely friendly and helpful. O [... read more]ur room and bed was comfortable, other than when a smell of sewer gas came up the floor vent. We fixed this right away by placing a plastic sandwich bag between the vent and its cover. Slept so well due to the lullaby of the waves. Ate well, with no "regrets". And enjoyed the horses, bikes, buggies and antique car ride to sight see, I have never enjoyed a vacation more! Regarding the booking process, Trip Central made it simple with their on line booking process, and polite replies when I phoned to ask a silly question. Our e-documents (tickets) arrived well before our flight. Thanks TC. The flights with Sunwing: On the way down the plane was one of their new fleet, lots of leg room and a "new car" feeling. Great cabin crew. On the way home the plane was an unmarked generic with slightly cramped seating and a crew (excepting the cheery audible Captain) seemed tired and eager to just get home. Smooth check ins, customs, etc. both ways.

Lovely little get away!

This small resort is working hard to provide for every visitor need. There is a reason so many visitors return over and over. It could be the relaxing atmosphere, or the great beach, it might be the local folks in the area who welcome tourists, for me it was the snorkeling.

Home base for many adventures!

Nice hotel, clean, beautiful with good location to many places. Playa Blanca was a very beautiful beach, 6 pesos carriage rid there and back. Bring ear plugs as the roosters will wake you up all night. Hit the breaker panel, near door to turn on/off the air conditioner and clean the filters in the tub. Food was OK. Older crowd, no pina coladas :( bring insect spray! Hope to return to Cuba soon.

Great resort for the price!!!

This resort is great for the price. The grounds are kept clean, rooms are basic they were having water issues while we were there but we made do as long as we had warm water. Staff are very friendly. The new buffet restaurant opened while we were there it's beautiful. The food was good for Cuba always something for everyone just bring your own ketchup and hot sauce and your good to go. Beach is nice but u need water shoes your better off going to playa Blanca 15 min walk or 5 min horse and buggy [... read more] ride. The restaurant in front of the beach has great pizza and seafood. Marlin restaurant just down the road has great lobster. Overall it was a great week minus the rain and awesome place to travel with kids will definitely be returning.

Was ok, but could improve...

Food quite not that good! The rest was not bad!very calm and pleasant. The Catamaran trip was a problem. The agent responsible with it didn't give us life jackets. Was very windy and rainy, very dangerous!!! people were mad at him, they said would write bad reviews.

Great location

Poor food , musty rooms with septic tank smells spoiled an otherwise ideal location. Very competent medical help made it all survivable. Good access to Cuban towns and villages where you meet wonderful locals. No sign of panhandlers, a few jiniteros.

It is ok

Staff was friendly , but hotel to crowded ,. was not to nice , let us go to the airport and have us wait for eight hour. Other passengers came later and they known the plain would be late and two day earlier people came back to the resort because of the flight delay .

Very Relaxing

Really relaxing resort, friendly staff and the other guests were laid. Bring your water shoes, and a water bottle. I loved the big waves on the beach and coffee Oceanside in the morning. Food was above average for Cuba and the rooms in the bungalows were nice with a little balcony to sit out on.

Great resort

We just returned from our third holiday at don lino. The bungalows are very nice. Horseback riding is available for free every day. The tourists who stay here are very friendly. It is not the best beach for swimming but there is a fantastic public beach close by. It takes about 15 walking minutes to walk there or you could bicycle there. The food is just ok but there is always something good to eat.nightly entertainment was low key but very very good. It is not a resort for people looking for a  [... read more]loud disco party. We will go back.

Nice and peaceful

Very basic but still a nice place to visit. All amenities are very right there for you, the buffet and the pool and not to mention basically right on the beach. Moped rentals right on property is a blessing for the more adventerous but otherwise very quiet.

Truly a special place

grounds are beautiful,staff are the best I have met,the food was very good this year,service was great,these people really do care about the client,they are really trying to give clients everything they need for a great stay

Very nice and peacefull resort

It is the third time for me in that resort and I will go again If you are picky about food stay at home but if you enjoy different culture food you will love this place the rooms are fantastic and clean you don't have to walk a lot to reach to the beach, bar etc. I recommend to rent a scooter for a 25 CUC a day so you can go around to all beaches of all resorts in Holguin as well as all the shops in the near towns the scenery is very beautiful and people are very friendly and helpful If you want [... read more] to have a good time it depends on your attitude and imagination and not the resort

One star

This is my third time in this resort, and the last time in April I somebody went in my room on the last 2 hours while I was at the restaurant....when I arrived home in Canada I was missing $ 300.00 from my wallet, plus two memory cards with all the photos that I took,and a pair of Adidas pants all from my suitcase..this time I went back to complain with the manager but nobody would listen to me......good luck anybody going here.....I won't..... This is the typical Cuban resort that would be one  [... read more]star in the rest of the Caribbean, don't get fouled by the staff, every body takes whatever the can take, I saw boxes of bottles of liqueur going to cars, I had to change my room 3 times in one week, the 1st one, had phone not working, TV broken, and toilet loosing water from the bottom, the 2nd one no small fridge and air conditioner broken, the 3rd one I had to fix the shower head, no phone, and the TV was down 4 days out of 7,....the beach was abandoned, dirty, nobody to cleaned, all rocks and the only place at the corner of the beach that you can get in was all sea weeds, only once in the water in one week, stayed at the swimming pool, FOOD?....4 choices every day the same, after 4-5 days you are craving to come back home....watch out for the transportation, they take you to the cleaners because there is no way out of there, they will ask you double every time, the transportation peoples knows this and they are very arrogant too...so be careful...is a junk

Don Lino Hotel

Basic small hotel. Very clean and well kept. Located close to the village and therefore feels like you're in a village yourself with cows roaming at night and roosters singing in the morning. Horseback riding is included and is a must! Countryside is gorgeous when you go through the fields. The beach is small and clean, but extremely rocky . No bank at the hotel, exchange at the airport. Same food everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. No enterteinment