Beautiful resort

The sunwing outline of the hotel said if your vacation is during your anniversary then you would get a bottle of champagne. Flowers. And a special dinner at this hotel. We asked 6 times for these bonus items as it was our anniversary we asked the front desk as well the concierge manager we finally got a dinner but nothing else. The flight with sunwing to cuba was horrible we paid for prestige seats and got regular seats my husband is 6’8” tall he cant sit in regular seats yet s mother and  [... read more]child were in emergency exit!! Flight attendants did nothing about it. We had paid 120.00 for these seats on the plane. We advised sunwing rep about this and he said nothing he could do from cuba, we had to pay another 100.00 to get emergency exit for the seats back to winnipeg Terrible flights!

Hotel is a former glory

Have stayed here before. Hotel is not the same. My room no HOT WATER. Asked many times...no responce. Towels are not changed unless you ask. Beach is beautiful but thats about it. Shows are few and tacky, no class. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT WAS THE FOOD PROGRAM. Buffet was terrible, food was often re-heated over and over. very little taste and quality. No imagination on presentation and culinary skills. The head chef walked thru the buffet more than once and started picking with his hands and eatin [... read more]g off the buffet........GROSS beyond words. Biggest disappointment was our Anniversay Dinner at the a la carte. We pre-ordered steak and lobster......we were served Tough Roast Beef and Seafood Lasagna !!!!!! Will never stay here again. SUNWING IS A WHOLE OTHER ISSUE

Great resort - if they opened all services they state they have!

The resort stated 24 hour bars and this was not a thing half the vacation. Half the bars/restaurants/ services were open. The buffet had hardly any choices compared to our last visit to this same resort. We will not be going here again.

Many advertised amenities not available

The grounds were amazing! Trees, flowers, cactus oh my! Friendly grounds-staff and great maid service daily. Katherin and Alejandro and the main bar were super accommodating and helpful. The Ocean was breathtakingly beautiful and clean but no bar service. The pool was good, clean and spacious, umbrellas would have been nice for those that can't handle the sun (not me) there was no shade. The swim up pool seats are not worth sitting on, don't do it. There should have been towels at the pool b [... read more]ut we had to cart them from our room and back again. Unfortunately many amenities were not open. Some were not open the hours we were told. A printout in English with information about times and restaurants would have been helpful as my Spanish is sparse. Lighting was a poor at night everyone was using phone flashlights to find our way. When our flight was delayed we had to pay for 2 hours to have a room to freshen up. No wine. Restaurants are a joke, it's the same food as the buffet just presented nicer. Buffet did not care much about vegetarian clients. I was hungry the entire time I was there. Maybe a snack bar should be considered on the grounds. Despite being advised against bringing any American dollars because they would not be accepted, this was incorrect, I wish I had brought some with me. The internet was really really poor so arrange a specific time to catch up with family at home. Be prepared, bring snacks, bug spray and any necessities as the store on site stocks rum and cigars. This was good value for the money, but don't expect 5 star service and amenities.

Good times!!!!

Privilege is the way to go! We stayed here before COVID and this is my 5th time staying at this resort and the first time under the new ownership Valentin El Patriarca. The Island is still recovering from COVID but the people are friendly and helpful. The food was plentiful and tasty. Better than I remembered. The resort grounds are well groomed. The large pools filter system had an issue so it closed on our second last day and the privilege pool was open for everyone which wasn’t optima [... read more]l if you were looking for a quiet spot to read etc. The coffee shop was closed under this owner and that was a disappointment. The beach was fabulous. The rooms were ok. One of our party did not get water for 4 days and one had to move rooms because of bugs but they were most accommodating and upgraded her to a suite. All in all we had fun!

Good Resort

Resort Staff are good, pleasant and welcoming. The neatness / hygiene however could use a lot of improvement. The wifi issue was another major problem as it disconnects every 3 hours or so and if you’re not in your room or around the reception, say you were relaxing at the beach, you’ll have to walk all the way if it’s that important . The main meals are nice, I mostly enjoyed them, dessert however… not as much.

Good Hotel. Bad service

The Beach and hotel room are very good, but the people who worked there are very rude and demanding. They stress you so you don't know how to ask them for anything. Some of the bar closed at 6:00 pm while you want to stay.

The worst Cuban experience!

We were a group of 9 women who were so eager to travel to one of our favorite spots again since Covid. This excitement was over shadowed quite quickly once we were finally settled into our ant infested rooms. One of the women's rooms looked like there was bed bug eggs all over her nighttables and the other room wreaked of sewer. This was topped with the absolute lack of service everywhere in the resort with the exception of the à la Carte restaurants. If you have a picky eater in your group goo [... read more]d luck. The buffet mainly consisted of muscles, shrimp and questionable mixes of all of that. Saving grace was the omlette station but be prepared to wait 25 mins. One grill and lots of hungry guests from the night before. One honorable mention was Dayron in entertainment, real gem. One server in the restaurants named Edwin. No bar service close enough to the beach to make it anywhere near wanting a drink. The bugs nighttime were absolutely unbearable and several girls needed medical attention. Cuba is normally a favorite place of mine but I think I will wait a couple years to return, if ever to Varadero. Also off resort we went to a lobster dinner at El Carbon, the house flies almost ate our meal for us and the waitress ripped each of the 4 of us off for 12 dollars each. We just paid and got the hell out before we got eaten alive.

Great resort

This was my second time at this resort.The first time was 9 years ago and it certainly could use some freshening up. I strongly recommend you upgrade to privledge.The food and service there is exceptional compared to the buffet and restaurants.Roberto in the privileged bar went over and above for all of his guests as did all of the staff working the privileged restaurant. The jeep safari was one of the best excursions I have ever been on in Cuba.

Bad experience!

A lot of cockroaches in the restaurant. We saw them over the tables, chairs, so many of them on the floor and on the food trays. A lot of mosquitoes, we got up in the morning with lots of bites on our bodies. The bites on my parents-in-law’s bodies suggested bad bugs. The services was bad unless you tip them well.

Awesome Resort

Just got back on May7th.Check in was easy and fast. Our room was ready which was great so we didn’t have to worry about keeping our luggage somewhere. We were in room 4111 which was a very short walk to the pool as well as the privledge restauant. We were on the bottom floor and had two double beds. I had requested both so was very happy about that. The room could use a bit of updating (electrical outlets fixed) but it was absolutely fine and clean. It had a nice patio. The bed was comfortable [... read more] and we slept well. The shower stall was spacious, the water pressure was fantastic. We had hot water every day except one and had fresh towels daily. The bathtub was huge. The air conditioning worked really well. The woman who cleaned our room, Yamile, was wonderful. She always had a smile and a kind word. This was our second time at this resort and privledge is definitely worth the upgrade! However, be prepared to get lots of mosquito bites and flies are quite abundent in the priv restaurant. The shows were entertaining but not unmissable. This could use some improvement. Lobby also had entertainment after show. The beach is amazing here and lots of activities to keep you entertained. Wifi was free but you have to go to main reception to add time to your wifi ticket when 3 hrs of use is up. TIP: turn wifi off when not using to conserve time. The staff is super friendly especially when tips are in your hand. All in all great spot to relax by the pool or on the beach and feel safe. No one goes to Cuba for the food but you must upgrade to privledge to eat half decent!!!

Disappointing esp. communication

I have been to Cuba many times. I know what to expect. The people are friendly, the food is OK and the rum is plentiful. This place was recommended by my new Trip Central booking agent. He said it was 20 minutes from the airport.. We were be the first to be dropped off and it took 45 minutes. It started with arriving and the room wasn’t ready. We were told to come back at three and double check but in the end it was a hard no, check-in is at four. But there were no bellboys when we finally go [... read more]t checked in and all they handed us was our key card in an envelope that had our room number on it. Internet was not available till 7 PM when you were in your room so we had no idea where to go, (they told us to look on their website) where the bars were, where the food was, and hours of everything. It continued to be like this the entire week we were there. People had no idea because there was no communication. But we got to meet in a lot of people because everybody was asking where everything was the hours of everything and how to get things done. Even our Air Canada on site agent got the times of things wrong. The first two days, there was no milk for your coffee, there was no red wine the entire time and no gin for our friends for the first four days. It would be helpful to have a big board, chalkboard or whiteboard, in the reception area that would tell you all this information. We were told that due to Covid they didn’t want to touch the paper because it transmitted the disease but nobody wore gloves. A map that was accessible and visual would also would have been good so we would know where things were. On the plus side, the resort was immaculate, we had toilet paper and people were so friendly. Coffee in the bar is the best! Cuba has nothing so bring tons of everything including your old clothes, toiletries, stuff for kids and Canadian money. They can only go to the bank with $20 bills from Canada but staff will ask you to change their money or Canadian money to do this. Unfortunately not going back to this place again

Won’t go back

The initial impression soured the whole experience. We arrived too early to check in which was made abundantly clear. We were waved off to find our own way to the buffet or beach. When we finally got to check in, we had to wait 20 minutes while the front desk rang a little bell. We had to ask for the bus boy to be called and then we loaded our own bags onto the wagon. When my key card didn’t work, I was told to stand by the room and wait until he eventually came back. I didn’t, I g [... read more]ot back on the trolly and saw him galavanting around to see his friends before we returned to get a new key card. We were not given the rooms we requested and were told that there could be no moving. Frankly, if I could’ve gotten back on the plane, I would have, I was that angry. There was no information given ever about the facilities of the hotel: no map, no times for restaurants, nothing. The official explanation was Covid, even though paper was regularly passed around by people who didn’t wear gloves. We were told to download information from the website despite the fact that Wi-Fi didn’t work. We relied on information from other guests. The resort was very badly sign posted, a problem for a sprawling resort. Unfortunate because it is actually a nice resort. Well-maintained. Clean. The lack of communication and the lack of any effort to communicate made it difficult. They could’ve laminated a map for us to take pictures of. An easel could’ve reported which restaurants were open and closed, We were constantly left guessing. We were told things were open when they weren’t. There were no managers wandering around to talk to. The overall impression was of a badly organized facility.

Very good resort

Mask are required only when entering the restaurant and during collecting your food. Outside- lobby, pool, beach: no masks. However, personal are wearing masks. Stars of the hotel are matching the quality. Small deficiencies that everyone can find are not important. People running the resort are friendly. Pool is loud from music. Beach is very nice. Ocean super! Food is mainly chicken and fish, plus reasonable fruits and vegies. Highly recommended after 2 years of trauma in Canada. One we [... read more]ek there will bring much needed relax everyone need.

March 17-24 2022

Overall clean resort,, staff wore masks all the time. Resort was very quiet due to low occupancy rate. Little entertainment each night, restaurants were limited in opening each night. Buffet limited selection as well. This resort is still feeling the effects of low fill rates and have had to make many cost cutting measures. Wifi hit and miss. Had no hot water for 2.days. Mini bar only stocked with water each day in room. A lot of flies nightly in the lobby. Easy access to antigen test on site, 5 [... read more]0 dollars American for 2 people. Overall I have been to Cuba many times with reasonable expectations but I would not return to this location but would return to Cuba.

Finally!

A fair experience,inexpensive resort,good getaway after 2 years of pandemic.Things are still slow,just 1 restaurant open per night,scarce reservations,at 9:30 all seats were gone.As expected for someone who travels for the sun and the beach.

Amazing friendly staff

Upgrade is totally worth it- privilege section- beach section, restaurant and pool and bar tender! Roberto- was awesome- very professional but friendly and made us feel at home the very first day there! He made the stay at the pool very enjoyable!!!! Makes a "mean" kiwi daiquiri and sangria!!! Walk to the lobby was further than I thought- but it made for a good workout each day! A la Carte restaurant was OK.... Italian night very disappointing- the service was not their usual and the foo [... read more]d was a long wait and each table was not offered the same thing- some received pizza other tables were not offered. Lobster dinner was AMAZING in the Privilege restaurant!!!! Friday night was very upsetting- many newcomers into the hotel and not made to wear masks around the buffet or in the lobby- All other days- felt very safe with people wearing masks and following protocol! The staff was super- very friendly, helpful and very accommodating. If you needed a ride to somewhere in the resort- they were there almost immediately to pick you up! Service with a smile daily!!!!! definitely will recommend this resort to friends and will definitely return in the near future!!!!

Nice resort.

This hotel has been taken over by new management so they are hiring a lot of new people and working on the grounds as the hotel is outdated. However, the rooms were very clean and spacious, the pool was nice and the beach was awesome. I cant say much about the food as I expected it not to be good. I had 3 good dinners. The breakfast buffet needs some work. Couldn't stomach it the last day. The staff are awesome and very friendly. This hotel.just needs to work on their menus. Of course there are [... read more] a lot of shortages on certain foods due to Covid. Bring condiments as there weren't any.

Beautiful Resort

Enjoyed staying at this hotel. Easy check in and stayed in the privilege area. Was nice to have a restaurant and bar nearby and really good serving personnel. All the hotel workers wear masks inside and outside. The room was spacious and had a balcony. The one issue I had was little to no hot water. However the rest was great. Privilege has it's own pool and its a short walk to the ocean. The beach is not as nice as the long main beach of Varadero but it's adequate. Internet is free and works th [... read more]rough out the resort.

Good vacation

Friendly Cubans ..............................................................)))..)).).........................................................)))))))).................................)...............