Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing Resort

As first timers this was an amazing experience. The food was not great but we always found something to eat. Everything else was exceptional including the staff. Everyone was so welcoming. I will be back

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Great resort

Everything great except they do not accept Cnd. money at their hotel currency exchange.!! Only U.S. and Euro's. Had to get taxi($60 U.S. return) to change money at City currency exchange. I believe you should highlight this when advising clients visiting this hotel to perhaps change at airport on arrival. Entertainment at night is pathetic, grade 5 school level. T.V. has NO shows in English for kids or adults. Surely they can afford U.S. cable stations??  [... read more] Will try somewhere else next year for these reasons..

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Relaxing holiday

The hotel was very clean and the grounds were well kept. We brought our own hot sauce and peanut butter .The food was good .Every day there was a choice of beef, chicken,pork and fish as well as desserts and fruit. The staff were very accommodating . I didn't realize how far we were from everything though. We also ran into wind and rain for 3 days. Therefore swimming at the beach was impossible. I know you can't do anything about the weather. This was my 4th trip to Cuba.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: Just great vacation, Iberostar Bella Vista place to go.

I wish I could give more then 5 stars, this hotel should get 100+. Location, service, people that work there are just amazing, everything was just perfect. We are planning to go back in Nov or Dec with other family members and friends. Thank you Iberostar Bella Vista. :):)

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Better than expected

This was our 4th visit in 5 years and we were worried about all the negative reviews generally from all locations in Cuba so we were pleasantly surprised to find that Ensenachos hasn't changed a bit, in fact we thought that the buffet was quite good. Most of the week we enjoyed delicious (and expensive back home) all you can eat smoked salmon. The fresh fruit, veggies, bread and butter were excellent and in fact better than the fruit we can get shipped into Toronto. Most of the meat was challeng [... read more]ing but it's always been that way. We did sometimes find some edible beef, pork or chicken. The service was great. The lobby entertainment quality ranged from terrible (karaoke) to amazing (live Cuban trio). Everything worked: WiFi, Toilets, shower, hot water, TV, beach towels, no blackouts, etc. The (TWO) beaches are still amazing as is the swimming. Lots of lounge chairs as we suspect the resort is still nowhere near fully booked. Same with the (TWO) pools - very clean and not too crowded. One evening in the lobby, the no-see-ums bit us up pretty good so after that we wore bug spray and sat away from the outside and that seemed to solve it. One calm late afternoon at the beach we got bit up as well so bug spray is probably a good idea. Overall, the place could use a bit of paint, some lighting and door repairs, a few plumbing repairs, etc. but it's CUBA and so this is just the way it's been there for many years. Probably why it's half the price of other destinations. We just love the country, the beaches and the people and feel very safe and welcome there. I'm sure that we'll go back.

Iberostar Origin Tainos: Perfect for our needs

Excellent treatment by staff, accessibility good for a woman of age. Elevator, stair options. Ground well kept. Food more than adequate. Pool very clean. Lots of lounges for number of people there. Specific smoking/ non smoking areas. Rooms very clean and well stocked. Only complaint, no coffee makers in rooms. I would have brought my own had I know.

Iberostar Selection Esmeralda: New resort/ not managed properly

This resort was new but not managed properly at all. Like running out of sugar at one bar while there is more elsewhere..running out of wine and beer at different bars while there’s some at other bars. This is just managed improperly. Absolutely no condiments. None. Spoke to several people i met at the airport and those 3 resorts had all condiments. Why not iberostar Esmeralda? The a la Cartes are the same food as buffets..buffets usually had pork and chicken some pasta and rice . Some thin [... read more]gs i cannot describe as nothing had descriptions on them and looked foreign to us and not appetizing. Fruit….pineapple every day. Saw grapes one day and guava here and there..breakfast were the hardest to eat. Not a lot of variety. The yogurts don’t look right. The milk looked like the yogurts. Bread but no butter or any condiments as mentioned . They make great rice pudding! The furniture in the lobby is terribly uncomfortable as are the loungers but 2 of the pools. Like cannot lay in them uncomfortabe. Not sure what happened there. The loungers by the kids pool are comfy enough but the pool is 2 feet deep so we didn’t stay there. The mosquitoes are out in full force in the lobby. The sea weed was cleaned up daily but piles elsewhere..should have just taken away. Biggest issue was the actual booking with trip central. Be very careful while looking are resorts.. its deceiving. We booked what i thought was the iberostar Esmeralda Cayo Coco and that’s what it says in the actual heading when looking at resorts. But after booking realizing it was actually cayo cruz was not impressed. Talking to a few people there they made the same mistake;. Cayo Cruz in 1 hour and 45 minutes from the time you leave the airport to arriving at Esmeralda. Our bus stopped and one other resort which I’m sure adds 20 min to the drive.. the actual tour guide first said its 1 hour and 45 minutes long. That Esmeralda is way out there..and it was . The trip central girl said it as 1 hour…wrong. Worse i thought it was cayo coco which is only half hour away which is what we thought we booked again because of the headline under the iberostar Esmeralda .. wrong its cayo Cruz. So overall not impressed and will not return or book through trip central . One last thing big shout out to Christian at the buffet who has the nicest smile, very helpful and attentive.. many waiters and waitresses wouldn’t even make eye contact with people. The tables are not cleaned quickly enough and certainly not cleaned properly. They need to actually remove the placemats and clean under them after every customer ..the plates are not cleaned properly either and have grease residue..

JOIA Bavaro by Iberostar: Beautiful All-Inclusive

We just returned March 24th, 2023 from a two week stay. We were there last year and loved it so much we decided to go back again this year.The resort is absolutely beautiful in every way. It is immaculately kept inside and out. The pools are wonderful and the beach second to none. The grounds are beautiful. The rooms are on the older side but wonderfully kept. The staff for the most part are great, so friendly. This is a 5 Star all-inclusive in every way. Now, the small negatives. This is  [... read more]an all-inclusive and they advertise 'no tipping'. However, we felt pressured and stressed over tipping everybody. When we go to an all-inclusive we seldom take much money. Now, you don't have to tip but you feel the pressure. In one instance a bar server came and put coasters in front of us and asked for a tip! We hadn't even ordered drinks.Iberostar needs to clean this up. Charge a little more but prohibit tipping, similar to Sandals. Everyone gets a butler, like it or not. How much do you tip these guys? They typically just make your dinner reservations and ensure the fridge is loaded with your preferences but you're in for $100 a week. The second issue is the food. We found the night buffet and the lunch buffet place had little to our particular tastes. Lots of weird choices. Their fries and pizza are great but you can't live on that. We were very disappointed in the dinner selections at the night buffet. No roast beef, no turkey, no homemade burgers, no Mac n cheese. The service in the buffets has gone down since last year. It would take 20 minutes to get a coffee in the morning. The reservation restaurants are great with excellent service but alternate choices to beef were not to our liking. The beef is fantastic. They need to expand their menu choices! Lastly, the place lacks a coffee, sweets, ice cream snack place. I suggest getting rid of the wine store which no one goes in and get a fun coffee & sweets place. Most all-inclusive have these. Finally, the Punta Cana airport is your worst nightmare and for that reason alone we doubt we'll go back to DR. Two hours in a row it has taken us to check-in to leave. You stand in line with seemingly thousands of people and barely move and we pay extra for Elite level. Just horrible. On top of that Sunwing was 1 1/2 hours late departing for no known reason.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing resort!!

From the moment we arrived at 2:30am, we were treated like family, the staff was phenomal. The resort was beautiful, the grounds were impressive and well taken care of. There was an abundance of food and activities by the pool during the day. I was concerned about travelling to Cuba considering all the comments that you hear about the lack of food but this resort did not disappoint, the three daily buffets were always well stocked and the 24 hour snack bar always had good food, hot dogs, fren [... read more]ch fries, chicken, etc. Their food was a little bland but we brought salt, pepper and hot sauce and that made it taste like home. There were lots of Canadians at the resort as well, which made it feel even more like home. I would definitely return to this resort. Thank you for making my first experience in Cuba memorable.

Iberostar Selection Varadero: Great experience!

What can I say? Iberostar Selection delivered in all aspects 1-Room was very clean and maid service was great, we got clean towels every day and water bottles refill every day 2- beach was fantastic and the water was a beautiful blue color, fantastic location 3- entertainment was good and drinks were plenty, never ran out of anything 4- food...you don't go to Cuba for the food but we found something to eat every day, especially the bbq fish and hamburgers were great, lots of fruits 5- Booki [... read more]ng with tripcentral and airtransat service was top notch 👌

Iberostar Selection Esmeralda: Not a 5 star resort

It was a beautiful resort. The rooms were great. The beach was beautiful but if you want for a walk there was some garbage. We found that the entertainment staff was lacking. Not alot of things to do as we are so far away. The service was lacking as well. We already new about food shortage but we were able to find food to eat

Iberostar Waves Punta Cana: Perfect Escape!

The hotel exceeded our expectations. The grounds were impeccable. Everything was exceptionally clean and well kept. The food at the buffets was fresh, abundant, and there was a large variety. The staff were always friendly and smiling. The entertainment staff were fun and energetic and great at encouraging us to participate in everything from pool fitness to dance lessons. We ate at the Asian and Mediterranean restaurants and the food was very good. The fitness centre was wonderful and the yoga  [... read more]teachers were skilled! All around a fabulous vacation!

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Not a good place

It seems that they have great issues securing basic supplies for cleaning and maintenance. The food at the buffet is full of flies, the cucarachas are running on the floor and the walls by the trays with the food. There is no awareness about dietary or ethnic restrictions. Unless you are at the buffet when it opens you don’t find some of the basic options or you can’t eat it anymore due to the bugs. The towels or bedsheets are not being changed the whole week. The hotel has no beach or ac [... read more]cess to the beach. It has a strip of sand behind a deck. The pools were decent but they had no products to clean the edge of the pool so that was yellowish. No pool service, no drinks other than rum. Everything is old and not maintained. More than this it is obvious that they have limited training or awareness of safety practices. They use glass even by the pool and a few times when things broke they picked what was visible and pushed with their foot the small pieces to the drain or side area.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Don't recommend

Although the resort itself was fine, the food and drinks were not. No milk for cereal, no butter, usually no milk for coffee, no roasts, etc. Not many drinks available so usually drank beer even though normally it would be mojitos or pina coladas. An abundance of house flies as well. Staff were great though.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Disappointed

Although Covid had a tremendous impact on the overall situation in Cuba I was very disappointed in the lack of customer service received from the staff. The food shortage was accepted but there were cockroaches in the buffet and in my room. One day they had sugar the next day none. Just to name a few things. Staff was friendly but not eager to work. You would stand at bar with no acknowledgement. Would not go back to this resort

Iberostar Origin Tainos: Awesome Resort!

What make this resort special, is its people. Very friendly staff. Especially the entertainers, they were just great. The evening shows were great, the beach at this resort is so beautiful. Lots of variety when it came to food. If you need something spicy, just take it with you and add it.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Beautiful resort

Beautiful grounds and beach. Very clean everywhere. And the staff is so friendly and amazing always ready to help you and with a smile. Lots of entertainment. The Japanese à la carte is the best. The weather was excellent will return for sure

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Sweet and Simple

Room-Swim out suite with personal Plunge pool building 7 Pool on front side/beach party on back side. Private but not the quietest. Suite was amazing, 2 bathrooms,double sinks,2 tvs only one worked. Lights in closets but not working.Air conditioning worked great!No issues with water at all at any time. Plunge pool was not cleaned once not clean nor usable. Reported and requested but not addressed. Maid service-basics completed daily, had to ask to make sure water restocked. Friendly service. [... read more] Buffet-Typical Cuba menu, rice,chicken,fish,papaya, pineapple some days. We did not go hungry and love Cuban food. Since covid. Lots of shortages. No milk a few days,no beef,no variety or consistency. Best chocolate ice cream. Al la Carte(Gourmet) Very nice, good food,great service Lobby bar- Poor service, seemed very unattentive and disinterested in any requests. No consistency with coffee or mixed drinks. Each mojito and coffee made differently and often did not have what you previously ordered. Front desk- Sometimes okay service. Again showed disinterest in what you were asking. Did not receive our wake up call, when we mentioned this were told l,sorry no bellboy until 7. The entire resort had a major house fly issue. Hundreds in buffet, lobby areas. Pool- Clean, fairly small but sufficient. Pool bar seemed great. Music played from 10am-430pm daily extremely LOUD. Entertainment- We did not attend but heard great things SPA- services reasonably priced, wonderful staff 24 hr Snack bar- Most times offered only one thing. One day was a giant bun with a half a piece of cheese. Only fries 1 day out of 7, hotdogs no bun one day, deep fried chips one night Main Buffet- great,friendly old school happy welcoming Cuban service from Ideky and Luis. They made our trip. Boardwalk- Different than we are uses to but loved the wildlife and nature. Pelicans, fish,great white herons,amazing snorkeling,lots of fish,starfish Pathways-Low lighting at night Mostly sounds negative however overall this resort had everything WE needed. Most of the things didn't bother us or affect our over all trip. We felt the impact of covid on the people of Cuba and the economy. Shortages,lack of resources for workers, understaffed.

Iberostar Selection Esmeralda: Good resort

For the most part the hotel and the grounds were well taken care of. Staff and grounds keepers were very polite and always greeted you. Sometimes you had to ask the cleaning staff to make sure the floors were cleaned, but for the most part they did a good job. Make sure to tip them the service will be better. Room safe locked on me once and A/C gave out a couple of times, the technician was not always available. The beach was absolutely AMAZING, one of the best beaches I've seen to date. Enterta [... read more]inment staff had music and activities on the beach which was nice. The beach grounds men did a very good job at cleaning up any washed up seaweed and tried to keep the sand clean. Food was pretty good, alot of meat options but not alot of vegetables. Also not a lot of fruit. But you definitely won't starve. Dining area could use a good clean up after each meal as sometimes the floors and table mats were dirty. The entertainment staff were great, very friendly and always interacting with the guests and making sure everyone was having a good time. Shows at night were pretty good as well, mostly when the guests were involved. Overall it was a good experience for a fairly new hotel.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Most amazing trip!

I won’t lie, I read reviews whether it’s from trip advisor or from fan Facebook pages. I will always do my research. I’ve been to Cuba 6 times and I have experienced the good, bad and the ugly. Coming into this trip, knowing how hard it is for them to receive stock for food, booze, and other items I knew to not expect much. When I tell you I was blown away.. this trip exceeded my expectations. From the grounds, the rooms, the staff, the beaches even the food .. I was surprised. I wen [... read more]t with a group of 4, This is a 5 star resort in Cuba. The staff go above and beyond to exceed your requirements. We came out with many friends who have kept in contact with us. The rooms are great. You either get a king bed or two doubles and you push them together it becomes a California king (amazing) yes you get a fridge no it’s not stocked so bring pop or coolers from home not the end of the world. They must give you a bottle of water every day. If we didn’t see it we went right to the butler and it was in your room by the time you got back. The buffet we ate for breakfast and dinner and we had breads, bacon, fresh egg omelettes, and fruits. If you like peanut butter, butter, maple syrup bring small packets no biggie. Dinner we didn’t think it was repetitive. You had your choice of fresh grilled beef, chicken, pork, fish, burgers or hot dogs. You had different side dish options all were great. For lunch we kept with the snack bar. We had wood oven margarita pizzas, or hamburger (with buns) or even pasta one day. It was all hot and amazing. The a la cartes we did the only two open Cuban and Mediterranean. We really enjoyed the Mediterranean. Drinks. Strong but you get used to it. Yes you have to think of things to have but I always asked for the bartender surprise or if you go to the snack bar ask for the Luis drink (gin lemonade). We didn’t notice shortages as they adapt to it. The entertainment at both resorts were great and hilarious. The day staff is the same as the night staff and they work hard to include everyone. Yes the bus ride from the airport to the hotel is about 1 hour and 30 minutes but it’s okay I didn’t mind it. we would recommend the VIP lounge in the airport on the way home if it’s a mid day flight or later. Had the air condition and inclusive booze and food. Big question would we go back…. 100% Luis, Uni, Yoem, Danny all the lobby bar workers and entertainment staff .. thank you for a memorable week.