Melia Las Dunas: 20 times later…

It must be more or less 20 times that I go to this resort over the course of the last 15 years. Needless to say that I enjoy it! I go for a couple of reasons: the warmth of the Cuban people, the incomparable beaches (no sargassum, crystal clear waters) the Rhum, the cigars for hubby and the unbeatable prices! Food: as we always say, Cuba is Cuba. The embargo always strikes hard and now add the pandemic to top it. But you will never go hungry. Always remember that what ever you have on your p [... read more]late is because on Cuban can not have it. Everything is kept for tourism, so please show them great respect. Talking of pandemic, the staff is submitted to strict rules but the same rules are not reinforced for the guests. (Feb.2022). You can spend a full week without a mask ( restaurant, buffet) and nobody will tell you do wear it. Rooms: always freshly painted. Curtains, bedspread, mattresses are new. Bathroom are a bit worned out. I can’t wait to my next stay! And as far as the reservation goes with Trip Central, thank you to Karol Chareza, 2 bookings in 2 months! Communication was easy even from abroad! Great job Karol!

Paradisus Los Cayos: Clean and new

Very clean and nice resort. Beach is fantastic. As expected in Cuba, there is much to be desired for better food. Although there was always something to eat, the food was very repetitive…and no cream or milk one morning. For a 4.5 star hotel, that is almost unheard of. Staff were great…always smiling and gracious but communication can be a challenge. I would return there again but not for the price we paid.

Melia Buenavista: My favour place

2nd time in this resort and it is definitely my favour place. Small nice resort, beautiful beach all 3 of them. Nice rooms. Amazing stuff. Everyone from reception , Buttler, maid, to all bar and restaurants stuff. Looks like everyone there just want to make your stay the most wonderful experience.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Awesome time

We had an incredible time at the Royalton. The resort is small, clean, and beautiful. It never felt crowded, and was always relaxing. We spent most of our time at the quiet pool, which was usually almost empty and had lots of shaded space (which was important since my husband and I are both incredibly pale). The beach is also stunning—even on “rough” days it was totally swimmable, and the sand was super soft. Our room was great too. It was large, with a peek of the ocean from the balcony,  [... read more]a bathtub, and standup shower. The food was surprisingly good. We never had a bad meal, and the lunchtime grill was a standout with excellent pork, seafood, and local specialities. We had the best calamari we’d ever had from the grill. For drinks, all the bars were good, but our pre- and post-dinner hangout was always the lobby bar, which was by far the best. We also felt super safe in regards to covid. I’m recovering from cancer treatment so was slightly paranoid, but the staff was consistently masked, all meals were a-la-carte so never over crowded, almost everyone wore masks on the buses, and we were outside for pretty much everything else. I felt totally comfortable the whole time. But what really makes the Royalton so awesome were the people. Absolutely everyone was so friendly, saying hello and stopping to chat if they could, from the GM and AGM to the gardeners (special shoutout to Luis). Our butlers were Michel and Omar. Both were excellent, surprising us with chilled champagne and a drawn bath, or helping us out with any questions we had. Omar especially stood out as absolutely top-notch—just a super nice, funny guy and always there if we needed him. He almost instantly made us feel right at home, and it felt like we’d known him for years. Andy, the community manager, was also great, stopping to chat with us poolside. Our servers and bartenders were fantastic too, remembering us and any special requests we had made previously. Really great service all around. We’ll definitely return to the Royalton and recommend it to all our friends. It was a wonderful time! The only (relatively) negative experiences we had (and like, how bad can it be when you’re sitting on a beach for a week in Cuba, right?) were: the catamaran sea tour, where we were inexplicably left on an abandoned, garbage-covered beach for an hour (it was weird), and Sunwing delays and confusion (which seems par for the course with Sunwing). These had nothing to do with the Royalton though, so we’ll be back!

Melia Buenavista: Best We've Been At!

This was our 22nd trip to Cuba since 2006. Everything here was superior to any resort we had previously stayed at, except for the beach, which doesn't quite measure up to Cayo Largo imho. But hey, that's Mother Nature's doing!

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Highly Recommend The Royalton, Cayo Santa Maria

The Royalton is a beautiful and clean resort. We loved all the staff and the food was great. The beach is the best EVER!! Clear, turquoise water with sandy bottom and you can walk for miles. The bar staff on the beach did a lot of running for everyone and they had the drinks all organized with your own cups. Loved it. The little snack bar on the beach was so yummy - quesadillas, grilled sandwiches and hot dogs. The staff there were also amazing and worked so hard. The staff at the restau [... read more]rants were all so nice and efficient. Our room was spotless every day and the cleaning staff were great.. The entertainment staff were lots of fun and the shows in the evening were great. Loved the aqua show!! I would highly recommend this resort. The staff are so happy to be back to work - bring your tip money in Canadian or US. Make sure your bills are crisp with no tears or they cannot use them. The Cubans are beautiful people. Lets help them get back on their feet.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Cuba is awesome!

We are very happy with our trip, the service was excellent and the workers were very friendly. The food was very good. The beach was excellent, beautiful water and sand. Be prepared to use a credit card for excursions and pay American exchange rate.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Beautiful Beach

The hotel was very nice and well kept. The service was tremendous and the staff were exceptionally friendly. All wore masks inside and out. The entertainment staff work very hard to keep you entertained.

Paradisus Los Cayos: It is a Paradise

Hotel infrastructure is good and nice; it covers all the needs for a pleasant stay. The beaches are the best we saw through our extensive travel experience in the Caribbean area. People are nice with a good service oriented training. There is field to improve the food area, for example: for 2 days we could not have our usual capuccinos due to milk run out.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Superlative resort!

Modern, immaculate, wonderful food and beverage selections, especially in the gourmet French restaurant, Maison Gourmet, and the Italian restaurant, Portofino, friendly staff, beautiful grounds, crystal clear water, creative maids who left towels in the shape of a swan or a heart, gardeners who gave flowers to guests or bamboo birds, bilingual customer service personnel, as well as guides. My excursion to Remedios and Santa Clara was a treat as we rode a steam powered train, toured a former sug [... read more]arcane factory and cigar factory, Che Guevara’s mausoleum and museum and dined where a pianist played songs by Edith Piaf, Leonard Cohen, the Beatles etc. Stay inside at dusk, however, to avoid mosquito bites. You will not feel them biting but will be scratching for days! The telephones did not work, but a faulty fire alarm did go off intermittently. Great selection of news channels from across the world in English, French, German, Italian etc.! You can walk to resorts on either side or straight ahead too. Bring bundles of $1. American notes for tips as staff cannot use Canadian coins and a $5. tip for every service such as a washroom at the airport is too much. I left big tips at the end of the week as I had no small notes.

Paradisus Los Cayos: Best Cuba resort yet!!

We have been to cuba 7 times and have been to cayo coco and cayo largo but have been to cayo Santa Maria the most and just keep on going back and there is reasons why. The ocean is unbeatable and is the most beautiful we have ever seen. The Paradisus de la cayos has brought Cuba hotels to the next level. The grounds are beautiful,gardeners always working hard daily to keep it beautiful, the food is great, and always something for you to select. The rooms are absolutely gorgeous and we had two  [... read more]rain shower heads and had our own space in the shower which was wonderful. We always had hot water. We also had a bath in our room and that was nice after a long day to relax. The employees all exceeded our expectations. The workers go above and beyond and please tip them as the littlest tip helps them tremendously and they really appreciate whatever they get. Not everyone tips so please make sure to budget a bit for that. They also appreciate small gifts which we always tend to bring more and more every time we go back. They have a hard time getting certain items so tooth brushes tooth paste deodorant etc. Also do not forget that the maids seem to get a lot more gifts to give some to the other workers at the bar waitresses etc as they all deserve to be treated as they treat us. DO NOT exchange your money into their pesos. I exchanged $100 Canadian and received 2000 pesos so when I would tip 50 pesos I would be giving them 2.50 tip but unfortunately the government knows what their doing and the exchange rate should be almost 5000 pesos for 100 Canadian. So we get screwed exchanging to pesos and the Cubans are making less tips which is a control thing. Please bring Canadian money $5 bills are The best as loonies and too ira they will take but they cannot exchange it at their banks so the only way is to exchange it with Canadian bills with us. They also will take American 1 dollar bills and I guess euro’s are good too. Again just wanted everyone to know this as even myself I made the mistake of not bringing Canadian cash as I would always take money out at the Cuban banks but again not worth the exchange. The Cubans deserve every penny they can to help them in their difficult life but are all happy to be working and back to almost normalcy. It was sad to see some hotels still closed. I wanted also to say how honest the Cuban people are. I went to the market beside the hotel and bought cigars and some rum. There was a situation where I paid twice by accident and didn’t know till I got home as they called my hotel and sent someone to send me back as their was an issue with my transaction. I know I had paid and don’t bother going back to see. When I got home I noticed they charged me twice and actually refunded me the one transaction back which was almost 120 Canadian dollars. This shows you the honesty and safety of Cuba and Cayo Santa Maria is our favorite place to travel and now Paradisus is our favorite resort. Please take a vacation and relax and if you want the quiet side of this resort pay the bit extra and you will be on the royal side which is so paradise and peaceful. Congrats to all the employees from Paradisus from managers to butlers to maids and waitresses and bar tenders etc. Keep up the great work Paradisus and see you soon with many more friends and family ❤️🍻

Melia Buenavista: Very good hotel

The hotel is well suited for adult adults. It is small and well run. The staff are friendly and helpful, the place is very clean and the 3 beaches are all different, the room spacious and comfortable. This said if you’re a foodie best think again the food is unappetizing and repetitive.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Fantastic vacation

We stayed at the Royalton Cayo Santa Maria after not being to Cuba for 13 years. The reason we had not returned to Cuba was primarily lack of comfortable accommodation and good food. I must say the Royalton was a lovely surprise from every aspect: ROOMS: spacious, clean and comfortable beds FOOD: varied and plentiful (they do experience shortages, but they cope very well with what they have); we always ate all our plates and there was a good variety GROUNDS: stunning! well kept gardens, no [... read more]t too big of a property BEACH: spectacular! STAFF: beyond compare! each and every one of them special in their own way Would not hesitate to go back again.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Making new memories..

It was so nice to catch up with old friends again. From the porters to the Valets to the bar staff all were friendly, professional and helpful. There were some shortages on certain days but we never went hungry. Our villa with it's outside hot tub was a blessing on the cooler days. It was a comfortable syay, obviuosly they were not at full capacity yet but we did not want for anything. Will definitely return for a 5th visit !

Melia Buenavista: Very nice resort

It was our second stay in this hotel. First 8 years ago. After two years of Covid, rooms require upgrades and renovation. Grounds are amazing. Service too. Very friendly and helpful. Ocean and beaches beautiful. Food is testy and fresh however choice is not that great. Overall, great stay. Will come here again.

Playa Luxury Cayo Las Brujas: Excellent resort

Angsana is a great resort to get away for a a quiet laid back vacation. The place is very well kept. The beach is a smal cove with a sand coral mix and well maintained. People complain about the food in Cuba, the food here is pretty good to me. A few items not around due to supply issues but no big deal. All of the staff and employees are great. They couldn't do enough for you. Masks were worn at all times covid protocols were observed at all times.We will be back.

Melia Buenavista: Lovely small resort!

We enjoyed our week at this resort. The staff were great, very friendly, and many spoke English well. Bar service around the pool was wonderful, especially Lester! Hut by the pool offered delicious pizza and burgers 24 hours/day. Enjoyed yoga on the beach and aqua fit with entertainment staff Nayibi and Navy. Grounds were tidy and well maintained. 3 separate beaches provided a good variety for enjoyable walks. Loved the ocean view room and the outdoor shower. Quiet, relaxing small resort!

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Amazing beach

The most that I liked about this resort is their beach. The sand is soft and clean, the sea water is of amazing emerald color and super welcoming, waves are very tender. The least that I liked is their food. At the same time, I would like to say that no one will remain hungry, the food selection is sufficient. There are different types of cheeses for example. However fresh veggies are totally tasteless and bread is stale. Deserts are practically nonexistent, there were some kind of white sq [... read more]uirmishes with blue and pink decorations. I have not dared to try…. Ala carte restaurants have the same food as in the buffet, just individually served. However, I absolutely loved Havana Club Bar. Cocktails, service and atmosphere was always a treat. Big kudos to people who work there. In terms of Covid, everyone wore masks and surfaces were constantly disinfected. Many people were in this particular resort a few times. Overall, I enjoyed my trip. and consider returning next year.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Royalton

This hotel was absolutely beautiful. Staff members are exceptional. The grounds are well kept. The beach is stunning with many palapas available. The main pool was also quite lovely and very clean. Food was very good with many choices to suit everyone. Management was also great and remained visible and available to help out if necessary. We were very pleased with our stay here. Definitely would return.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Problems at Resort

Upon arrival the resort was very nice, clean and friendly. Our first few days were great until our keycard wouldn’t work. I went to the lobby to have it reprogrammed. Back at the room it didn’t work again. I tried to get the housekeeper to try and hers didn’t work either. She asked another gentleman who didn’t have any success either. We found this a real problem. We then went to the back balcony and climbed over the railing. You must understand we are three women over 70. It was a big p [... read more]roblem. Things didn’t change. Nothing got better. This went on for the rest of our two week stay. Our complaints were listed but nothing happened to remedy them. On the day before our departure we had our final Covid test and one gal tested positive. She was quarantined and another test was done. Again positive. Three of us were negative. We were told we were able to depart the net day without our friend. We were told by the Transat Rep that if our friend had another test before Thursday and tested negative she would be able to leave Friday April 1st. She was then instructed that she would not be able to board an airline for 10 days. This info is not acceptable. Nothing is concrete here. We is responding for the payment of costs incurred. Nothing is black and white. Please follow up on this and I wait for a response.