Occidental Arenas Blancas: Good value

The hotel was nice enought. I would say more like a 3+ star than 4. The grounds were clean and beautiful. The beach was the best feature, white sand and clean. Lots of seating available on the beach. The The resident dog was friendly, loveable and a delight, he followed me everywhere and I observed him following the other guess around the grounds and to the beach. I would vacation here again.

Hotel Villa Cuba: Time travel

Arriving at this hotel was like going back in time. (1970's) Not up to US standards, but then this was not the US. This holiday is what you make of it, hotel run down but beach is perfect and sea clear.

Palma Real: I would go back!!

Three pools , one with a bar!! Food was good if you're not picki,,, nice and clean room!! The only thing that wasent convenient is you had to cross the road to go to the beach but it's not far, there's a bank on the other side of the road!! Just beside the other there's a club named havana and call 62!! I would go back anytime!!

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Nice resort but housekeeping not good.

Spent 5 days at Laguna Azul, May 18-23. The resort is lovely, and the staff were amazing. Food was much better than we expected, but salt was next to impossible to find. We stayed away from the main buffet for breakfast and lunch, preferring to eat at the beachside restaurant. The selection was not as large, but the food and service was better, and the local close to the beach was perfect. Our a la carte dinners at the Cuban restaurant and the Romantic restaurant were very good. Service in all r [... read more]estaurants and the lobby area was excellent. The only downside to this resort was housekeeping. Our sheets were not changed during our stay and smelled bad! We only received a full set of fresh towels once, only to lose them the next morning and never have hand towels again. Tipping did nothing to make this better, so don't waste your money.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: unfortunately

Beautiful layout and marvelous beach. Deteriorating services and are not maintaining towels or rooms appropriately. Can be the best resort with loving care. Staff trying their best. Best balcony set up.

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Needs Complete Overhaul!!

1st time in this resort but have travelled extensively to Carribean resorts - not a good impression. Food at buffet made me sick (fruit flies on food) cross contamination (not good for people with allergies) Had to go to outside restaurants to eat. Problem with doors in room (would not open) A/C not working..advised staff many times..also computers/cell phones not always working and staff did not take responsibility but said it was an IT problem and had to call company in Havana!! Staff seemed n [... read more]ot interested & bored with you. No facecloths in Cuba - bring your own! If travelling with family(kids) do not stay in front where pools are - loud music/people until at least 11 p.m.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Amazing Resort

The people and staff we very friendly and we enjoyed ourselves alot. We took our 17 year old daughter and our 13 year old son. It was her graduation gift and for 2 kids that dont get along at home I was so happy we choose to take this family vacation. The snorkling on the hobbycat boat was by far one of my best part of the trip. The schools of fish swimming around us was AWESOME. We all enjoyed that. The Catermaran tour was a fun filled day and the kids really loved swimming with Nina the dolphi [... read more]n. Really enjoyed the whole trip. Thank you. The Harms

Hotel Acuazul: Vacation

The hotel as mentionned was a three star and I got what I expected. The room was actually not too bad except the toilet that didn't flush properly due to low water pressure, so we had to keep filling up juggs and dumping it in the reservoir for it to function properly. The food was the same nealy everyday and not too bad, but I didn't go on vacation to stay in my room! The location was wonderful there was good enertainment at the resort and the staff were friendly. The beach is a skip away and t [... read more]he pool was great. The tips that we left were items, clothes and a bit of money. But the items and clothing seemed to be much appreciated. Taken into consideration that it is a THREE star (or a two star back home) I was pleased.

Memories Jibacoa: Superb retreat!

This was our second time visiting this resort; and we love it! Everyone is very friendly, from the ground keepers, to the dining staff to the dive center. Special kudos to the dive center; the staff there are outstanding!

Occidental Arenas Blancas: Incredible Vacation

Overall this hotel was incredible. Like all hotels, there are ups and downs. The only thing that really disappointment me was the maid cleaning our room. She was very consistent and cleaned our room well throughout the whole trip however, one day she cleaned our room and did not make the bed which you would think is the one thing that would be done. Other than that, my trip was amazing. The pool was always kept clean, you could always exchange your beach towels for new ones, the beach was gorgeo [... read more]us, the staff was extremely friendly and welcoming, the rooms were very up to date, there was always food available when you were hungry and there were many activities and entertainment available to do. I would definitely go back and recommend Arenas Blancas to others. It was such an incredible experience!

Melia Marina Varadero: Very nice

Grounds and facilities very nice. Food is ok. Beach and pools beautiful. Great hospitality. Not a five star but certainly 4 star in my view. No place beats Cuba. Will return for the right price, come and experience for yourself.

Blau Varadero: Blau Varadero Cuba Review:

HOTEL PROS • Rated 4 star (Tripadvisor rating 4.2/5) • 10 min from town of Varadero • 30 min from Airport (if direct) • lobby is large allows good seating when waiting for transfers/pickups • lot’s to do day and night throughout hotel. Lot’s of activities for guests. Even have two tennis courts and a general court. Good energetic shows at night even though stage is small. There were also some good Aquatic shows at the pool. • lot’s of Bar’s with ample seating and musical ente [... read more]rtainment. • an amazing musical show (standing ovcation) at the piano bar one night with a group of talented ladies playing classical music CONS • It actually took us over 45 min after drop-off at hotels with Air Transat transfers. • Nolitour advertises separate check-in, did not appear to be the case as we had long line-up to check-in. • Trip did not start off so great, as Air Transat trxfrs got us in around 2:30pm and the room was not ready. (Yes they state room check-in is 4pm however I’m a seasoned traveler and I’ve always been checked in earlier.) They told us to try again in an hour The lunch buffet closes at 3pm so we left all our luggage with bellman, ate quickly, came back around 3:20pm still not ready. After a few more inquiries finally ready by 3:55pm! • Nolitour advertises snacks and bottle of rum in room on check-in. This was not the case. I had to report to Nolitour rep who indicated that it should come by 2nd day. It did not. I had to follow-up several times with hotel customer service myself before it finally came after the 3rd day. Disappointed that the rum was a small 350ml whereas other resorts I have attended gave 700ml. • Elevators were very slow as documented by others. They are small and poor narrow design and can really hold about 6 adults. HOTEL ROOM PROS • large clean room, lot’s of seating • large clean balcony, with retracting drying rack was very handy/useful • include, 2 shampoo, 1 bar soap, body gel, 2 small rolls of toilet paper, hairdryer, 1 shower cap all week. • fridge nice and cold as my bottle water was often icing up even at the lowest setting • lots of hot water all day, never encountered shortage like another Cuban hotel I stayed at last year • safe in the room, but my safe had been previously drilled out where English instructions were so had to call front desk. Turns out they need to enter code with the room key inserted first, not a personal magnetic card (ie credit card) • toilet was dual flush and worked well which is important! • has a bidet • Majority of outlets are 220V but do allow 2 prong North American plugs. Make sure your appliance has dual voltage. In the washroom and adapter is useful for your own curling iron. CONS • Was given 1 bar of soap all week even though tipped maid daily • Tipping the bar fridge guy did not gain more than the normal 1 bottle of water , 2 cans of beer and 2 cola • no body lotion so bring your own • no hair conditioner • no iron available • no clocks in the room, but can phone for wake up call • closet doors were the sliding type and were always getting stuck, very frustrating when trying to get to your clothes daily. Reported to front desk and they tried to fix by shaving the doors tracks, but not very effective. • not enough closet hangers, best to bring some of your own. Actually not a lot of closet space or shelves for the size of the room. • A/C too powerful and cold even on lowest fan and cold settings. Was cold the first night and did not sleep at all. Had to dig out the blanket! • Sliding door was not aligned correctly and had gap at top causing whistling/howling sounds at night. Called front desk to fix, they showed up when we were out of room for the day. They did not fix issue but left the door wide open all day (security and bug access issue!). I ended up having to use “McGivering” a solution by using my airline luggage stickers to tape up the gap so we could sleep. • Shower curtain smells really mouldy • Shower head even though fully tightened keeps dropping spraying water everywhere • last day it was humid in the morning. This seemed to have brought out ants by the sliding door which we did not see all week fortunately! • got two sheets of writing paper but no pen BEACH PROS • Amazing beach. Wide, clean no weeds, no jellyfish, calm and clear water. Calm beach during the morning. By late afternoon wind picks up and you get a few waves which is great. • 24 hr beach bar for food and drink • AI includes kayak’s paddleboats and sailboat rides • However you can actually turn right and walk to the end of the beach for about 30 minutes and snorkel by the rocks. Take bread. CONS • plastic cups for drinks too small, guess that’s ok to prevent wastage? • allow guests to bring personal mugs to be filled by bartenders. Watched bartenders put the un-rinsed lips of customer mugs against the dispensing beer spout. Also saw bartenders use muddler to crush Mojito mint right in these customer mugs then use for another customer. Not too hygienic! • beach not good for snorkeling, but beach guys will take you out in the sailboat to the reef for $20CUC pp. Entire snorkeling excursion about 1.5hr they said. • People still reserving palapas early by putting their towels on the beach chairs. If you don’t get to beach by 10ish you would be lucky to get one. FOOD PROS • variety of salads and cold cuts, never ran out • great fruit selection daily if you are into Caribbean type fruits. • fairly good variety of protein daily and was well stocked and hot. • food and service very good at Mexican restaurant • food and service and entertainment very good at Palma Real restaurant • variety of sweet buns in morning, never ran out • variety of breads daily, never ran out • had a Cuban night with delicious roast pig BBQ CONS • no oranges or apples probably due to availability • sliced potatoes for B/F always cold for some reason. • birds flying in/out of main buffet due to windows being left open as no Air conditioning was turned on. Do they even have A/C in buffet? • during the dining @ Mexican specialty restaurant, bitten while sitting inside by mosquito’s as the windows were large mesh. Also birds flying in/out via the open entrance to the restaurant. Raw cabbage was served as part of the salad, not very desirable. During dessert no coffee available. Was told coffee machine broken! • As you enter the Palma Real restaurant you start to smell something like sewage. Could be due to the stagnant pond water surrounding the building. This smell unfortunately creeps in through cracks as we sat by the window. Other patrons in our area complained about the smell. That was the only negative for that entire dining experience. It was not a pleasant smell! WEATHER • We were there April 12-19/15, the weather was fantastic (sunny and 32+) even though weather channel predicted rain all week before we left. Weather channel also said Havana would be around 26-27 C but actual we found it was also 32+. Mid April still not rainy season yet which starts in May. OTHER comments PROS • I never encountered any men’s washroom stalls w/o toilet paper that includes the pool, beach or w/r by the entertainment stage. All men’s w/r were clean. • Wife said the women’s washroom were clean and had toilet paper. • Overall service excellent from everyone we encountered except one morning for breakfast so tipped accordingly CONS • Not sure why they use toilet paper to dry hands vs. paper towels in both the men’s and women w/r’s. Perhaps paper towel n/a? Found the toilet paper falls apart and sticks to hands when your hands are wet.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Good resort!

The food at the buffet was not very good or tasty but the food at the Gourmet and Oriental restaurant was good though. The beach is not a flat beach so if you are not careful you could hurt yourself. The water is calm and the color a beautiful turquoise. The rooms are beautiful and clean but if you want coffee or a bottle of water you must tip the maid.

Melia Las Antillas: Review

The grounds were very well layed out but some of the paths need work. cracks, missing stone and cement. T he buffet dining area needs proper A/C so it wont have flys and dirt. The line-up to register for the ala-carte is unacceptable.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Fell Short in So Many Ways...

Aside from the beautiful weather, I have nothing nice to say about the resort. From the minute we checked in, I knew this wasn’t going to be good. We arrived at the resort around 1am and given our experience with the flight, we were eager to get our room, unpack, hopefully grab something to eat, and go to sleep. Our plan was unfolding nicely until we got to our room…OMG. Room: When we opened the door, we were greeted with an overwhelming stench of mold and mildew. If that wasn’t bad enoug [... read more]h it was apparent that the room was not clean. The A/C didn’t work, the telephone didn’t work, the fan above the bed didn’t work and the tv didn’t work. Nothing worked…and to top it off there were no towels (little did we know, this would continue to be an ongoing issue our entire stay). We proceeded back to the front desk to ask that we be placed in another room. They told us that there were no more rooms available. After pleading with them for nearly an hour, they finally gave us keys to a new room (without the view which we paid for), but by this point we were happy to have A/C. I did however, return to the front desk to let them know that we still wanted what we paid for; a room with a view. They told us to come back in the morning but still couldn’t guarantee they would have anything for us the next day. I returned to the front desk around 9:30am the next morning and thankfully they had a room available , things were looking better, so we thought. Our new room wasn’t much better. The same smell resonated throughout the room, there was black mold in the bathroom and along side the A/C, but at least this one worked. The bed had no support, and again when I checked the towel situation, we only had two hand towels. I immediately called the front desk and asked them to bring us more towels and they said they would send someone. About 35 minutes later, someone arrived with two more towels, hand towels not bath towels. When I asked for bigger ones, she told me there were none and that there laundry service was broken. WHAT???? This resort has 800+ rooms and no laundry service?? We quickly discovered that there was also not hot water, so no clean towels and no hot water the entire week…ugh. Food - horrible and they never restocked anything once it was gone. Anywhere we ate (aside from the Japanese a la carte) was filthy. Amenities throughout the resort were horrible and it was common for the toilets to have no toilet seats. Service - what service; they were very selective of who and when they helped which made buying wifi cards and exchanging money nearly impossible. All in all, this trip was a niightmare and we couldn't wait to be home with hot water and clean towels.

Blau Varadero: Beautiful Resort!

Completely above our expectations, this resort was clean and beautiful. Considering Cuba is not known for their food, our meals were fantastic and the chefs work so hard. Lovely people working at the resort all round, the entertainment was fantastic too with some extremely talented musicians serenading you during dinner and lunch times. Our room was lovely with good working air conditioning, the beach is soft white sand extending out for a long way in the water so great for swimming or just simp [... read more]ly floating under the sun. The drinks were fantastic too. We would go again to Blau for sure! :)

Melia Varadero: Had an amazing time!

Had such a fantastic experience here. The resort is really nice for Cuba. Our room was a little dated, but they have renovated suites if you prefer something more modern. The pools were good, but the beach was amazing, so we spent most of our time. The food was awesome which surprised everyone. The staff are so super friendly and really made the trip! Make sure you find Leah and Alex (2 of many great entertainers), Michel and Danny in the cafeteria, and Jesus, Melena, and Bolten in the Buffet! G [... read more]reat vacation spot! Would absolutely return!

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: First and last trip

Really bad hotel . We hated it and I spend the first night crying . The room was so dirty and the bed sheet as well . Bugs everywhere . The food was reaally bad and un eatble . Un friendly staff and so rode . Save your money for a good five stars hotel

Hotel Los Cactus: 4th. time back and two weeks this time!

Obviously if we keep going back we like the resort but I also appreciate the fact that they are always improving. I noticed the food improved once again over last year and the entertainment was much better. This on top of an already solid standard of service.

Melia Las Antillas: Excellent vacation destination!

Weather was absolutely incredible. The room was in very good condition, the resort grounds well kept and their was always entertainment to keep everyone active. The night life in Veraderro was worth going into town. We would definitely go back.