Punta Peninsula Varadero: Amazing Vacation!

A group of 18 of us stayed at the Blau Marina for 7 days - including new years eve. My fiancé and I have absolutely no complaints. We enjoyed it 200%! The food was good - it's Cuba. People tend to forget that it's not Canada and they are limited to everything. The resort itself overall was fantastic. Great beaches, the pools were amazing and the staff there have hearts of gold. They are always ready to help you out. We made some great friends during our trip with the staff there and they defini [... read more]tely made our trip a great one. The resort is huge, make sure you check the entire thing out. We missed out on lots of it and only discovered it on our 2nd last day - still worth it though!

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great Place for R&R...that's about it

This was our second visit to AI in Cuba, we've been to Jamaica twice and Mexico 10 times all AI. The facilities here are well kept, the rooms are spacious and the restaurants are not usually full and look nice....there is a huge buffet with lots of choices most things have very little taste or worse all taste the same! I feel I have a good perspective of what an all inclusive can provide for food and this one is def not great. We survived and didn't go hungry but only once in the week did we aft [... read more]er eating say "that tasted good" that was the Italian al a carte. The beach and pool area were wonderful and great for families with small kids. We remember Cubans as friendly and kind people, the staff at this resort were less so but we weren't looking for long term relationships, we wanted a quiet week away to celebrate the holidays and we definitely got that. There is no night life at all...dust bunnies could blow through the lobby by 11pm.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Nice Resort

Positives: Room Location: We were in unit 34 which was amazing as we were by the beach and the activity pool which our boys loved. The hotel grounds were clean and well maintained The entertainment on the beach and activity pool was great BUT they have to make sure to choose music with no swearing as this is a family resort The food variety was good and servers were attentive. Negatives: The rooms need major renovations. The beds were hard as rocks and we had to ask many times for clean towels  [... read more]and water. They were overbooked so line ups were long and service was slow unless you went right when restaurants opened or early in the morning to the lobby There were several times when the grill bar by the beach ran out of food ( fresh fish and meat to grill) The life jackets had broken zippers so I was afraid to let my boys do too many water activities.

Memories Jibacoa: Beautiful Resort

Well kept resort with beautiful grounds, clean rooms and adequate food varieties. Piano bar is great for evening entertainment. Close to Havana which is a must see. Third time back and would go again.

Hotel Internacional: 1 Star

From the outside it looks like the hotel has not seen a paint job since it was built. The best part was the beach and lets be honest that is shared by all the resorts. The food was barely edible and meat was served without being fully cooked. Its a wonder I didn't get food poisoning. The bar was not open 24hr as indicated and water sports were nonexistent. The hours for other amenities (first aid/massage/etc) did not follow the schedule either as staff seemed to come and go as they pleased. In f [... read more]act the massage room was padlocked EVERY time I checked. The pool was deserted, did not provide any view and there was NO pool bar which would have been a welcomed addition. For the rooms: the bed sheets were not changed and water was only provided on the first day. This was annoying considering I did not tip that day but did on other days only to get worst service. Other guests complained of bedbugs and cockroachs. When ordering hot dogs from the cafeteria, one came out with a 5 inch curled hair over top. I hate to think of what I may have eaten without seeing. Hairnets and proper sanitary service would go a long way. When asking for a particular type of rum/drink the service was hit and miss. At times what was ordered was served. Other times they insisted on using the cheaper liquour instead. If it wasn't for the fellow travellers I met and friends I went with, then I would have left after the second day. Honestly, we might as well have stayed in a hostel or just slept on the beach.

Club Karey: Go elsewhere.

The rooms we had were appalling. We were in what had been a stand-alone motel, almost a km from the main lobby/restaurant. Despite many attempts to get a better room, were stuck there in 2 rooms with patio doors that didn't open, bedbugs, constant dampness. I have no illusions about Cuba, having stayed at lower rated hotels in Santiago, which were far superior. The food was just awful, and I'm not very fussy, as long as there is plenty. Staff were mostly pleasant, but quite aggressive about want [... read more]ing tips. The breakfast cook suggested I give him $50 for the week.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: New Years in Varadero

Great resort. Lots of walking (which is required as the food is great). Beautiful rooms and nice amenities. The main pool has a swim-up bar and waterslide. Take the double-decker bus into Varadero for some shopping. Will return!!

Melia Marina Varadero: Nice hotel,decent service,bad food(even for Cuba)

Nice hotel, excellent clean rooms, and the staff for the most part worked hard to make your stay enjoyable. Beach was beautiful but crowed at Christmas. Pool was large and clean and very user friendly. Excellent gym although on several occasions there were no towels. Entertainment was good especially the band Cuba Libre on New years eve. Drinks are so so and served in tiny, flimsy, wasteful plastic cups. Our biggest disappointment was the food. We have travelled to Cuba before so we knew not too [... read more] expect much, but in this instance it was just no acceptable given the price and ratings The Level restaurant had the best food but ironically the slowest service....several time we walked out after waiting 10 or more minutes without anyone acknowledging us. The buffet was the worst with heaps of luke warm over cooked stuff. The fresh prepared stations were marginally better but the line ups were ridiculous. There was very little fresh fruit(unripe pineapple, seedy watermelon, and gross papaya...one day they had tiny bananas that were not too bad)) or vegetables and what there was, was on short supply and regularly ran out...so eat early.The ala carte restaurants were not much better. They need to do better in this regard if they want to continue to command 5 stars and the fees they charge. Hiding behind old Cuban stereotypes is not going to work and will relegate this property to a 3 star budget experience($1000 a week per person vs. $2500 they charge now) where the food quality won't be as big an issue. Overall we had a nice Christmas break on a beautiful beach with perfect weather and on the bright side we all dropped a few pounds.

Sirenis Tropical Varadero: Save your money and go Else where !!!

Rooms are rough, no hot water 4 days, bad lighting in room, no lights on our floor in hall, patio doors not opening. Had to slam our room entrance door to close, which decoded the card reader or displaced battery several times. requiring maintenance. No Map- requested a map or paper advising where and hours of dining, bars, snack bar disco etc were and told the did not have any. So for 3 days you hunt to find where they are and hope you get there when they are open too. Grounds are average, pret [... read more]ty plain and needed some TLC. Public washrooms had no toilet paper for days, cleaning staff came with out any supplies. Many toilets without seats in various bathrooms. Dining- advertise 8 restaurants- There was only one buffet open and one a la carte with only the buffet open on new years eve (food was good that day, but stood in line forever to get a table- which we had made a reservation for). Otherwise food average with no signage as to what they were made with what they may be. 24 hour snack bar was closed 3 times when we went for a hamburger, which was the only snack offered every day. If you could get one, as they were all out once too when we had requested burgers. Bars ran out of dark rum and beer 3 days which we went to 4 bars looking. Service - reception did what they could to appease us which wasn't much. In the buffet the service is horrible (we felt this was due to lack of training or management guidance) Setting Places were not reset with silverware and in asking it took a long time to received them if at all from the staff. Got to walking around grabbing silverware and then going to the buffet to be sure we could eat. Breakfast could not get a cup of coffee or tea with out walking over to a server which sometimes they came back. No coffee or tea service offered at lunch or dinner . No service of any kind of a beverage at lunch and dinner EG: Wine, beer or even pop or water. Ad stated Cocktail upon arrival, bottle of rum in room, priority reservations and late check out. NONE of these happened. Pushed for hospitality room and was told to go to the gym on the last day. Only 6 of us checking out that day and to get on the bus, there were no towels and the only water that came from shower was scalding hot- turn the lever and no cold . P.S. we have traveled over 12 times to the islands and never written a bad review .The excuse "It's Cuba" ... well not again I'll tell you that for sure. We have been to cuba 3 other times and do acknowledge there will be different food and lesser accommodations, but this was NOT acceptable. The only thing that was positive was the beach and the weather, which this hotel had nothing to do with. Totally dismayed with it all, which made it not enjoyable or a vacation and then causing argumentative situations between my husband and I too. Nothing more than a loss of money in our opinion.

Playa Caleta: Soooooo disappointing!!!!

We have used trip central for all of vacation bookings, this trip and hotel were by the worst we have visited! We booked our first family Christmas vacation. Ages 21-55. We booked the Playa Caleta, upon arrival were told this hotel was closed and no reason given!!!! We were directed to the bellevue Puntarena..that's when things went down hill fast! Hotel is very old, elevators seldom worked, hygiene was almost none exsistant!!! We saw staff washing dishes in coffee bar never a wash cloth used, o [... read more]nly bare hands!! Rarely did you find, toilet paper, soap or towels in the pool, or lobby washrooms! It took us 3 room changes to find a room that wasn't flooded or water dripping from ceilings! Second night as I was using our washroom, large cockroach came out from under sink!!!!!! We stuffed towels in our sink and bathtub drain every night. We were advised it was 10 pesos per towel deposit, tried to buy pesos, this hotel advised they do not have pesos!!!! Told to take taxi to varadero to bank!!!! Waited almost an hour twice for our canjet rep showed up!!! Our first trip to Buffett was our last. Directed to table with filthy stained table cloths and dirty cutlery.. Lobby bar staff were wonderful however you had to share furniture with the dogs and cats that took over lobby bar every night!!!!!! I literally was in tears by our second day!!! This hotel should be rated no more than a 2!!! I called our trip central rep upon our return to advise the Playa Caleta was shut down, an investigation is now underway. If you can afford a few more dollars please please book somewhere else and avoid the night mare we endured!

Roc Arenas Doradas: Very Good

We stayed between Xmas and New Year 2015 for 7nights in this wonderful hotel.The location is absolute great We were lucky to get a 'free' room up grade to one of the superb loft conversion - close to the pool. beds -Nice ! .

Hotel Internacional: Amazing beach, but the hotel needs TLC

The hotel is planned to be demolished so there is no effort to maintain the building and its content. Broken chairs, rusty bathtub, hanging down curtains and so on. But, we forget all this when we are on the beach. Clear turquoise water, white sands and wonderful weather.

Punta Peninsula Varadero: So so

Had a wonderful time. Staff friendly. The only problem we had was that the hotel is understaffed. Chasing after towels and running out if supplies was a daily occurrence. Staff was difficult to locate at times as there isn't enough staff on the premises. Food was ok but not exceptional. Overall a 3 out of 5

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: a "5" star resort that falls woefully short

The staff and beach are great however that's where the positives end. The rooms are dated and in need of an upgrade of the furniture. The door to our room was covered in finger prints to the point it was turning black near the handle. The kitchen door in the seafood restaurant was black with finger prints which the staff touched constantly then they hanled our food plates. The towels in our room where a light shade of grey rather than white. The lights in the bathroom were old and therefore ligh [... read more]ting was inadequate. The whole resort needs to be painted.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: As close to perfection as one can expect

Resort = Beautiful and laid out brilliantly. It's not a large resort, but there is plenty of space (and we were there during a near-sold-out week). Food = average to good (to be expected for Cuba) Service = fine, but slow The upgrade to Royal Service is totally worth it. The rooms are super, the pool is lovely, and the private beach area always has plenty of chairs, including chairs in the shade.

Be Live Turquesa: not bad for the price

grounds and rooms were decent and clean but the service was poor , both at the bars and at the front desk. the companion plus club was not acknowledged. Bars constantly ran out of wine or mixes. the food was fairly good.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Great weather but would not return to the resort

Iberostar Laguna Azul was a disappointment. While the weather and the people in Cuba are both wonderful, the resort's rooms were not very nice, often the public washrooms were out of toilet paper, and the food was middling at best. The Cubans are wonderful, but this resort is not.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Simply the the best!!

This resort is the best you'll find in Cuba. The staff work day and night to clean and give the best service. I would definitely stay there again. The beach was amazing, the food was fresh and there was something for everyone.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Relaxing vacation with a few issues

The hotel grounds were beautiful and even the food had good moments. We did have issues with the rooms (no towels, minibar fridge not working) but overall the stay was pleasant. The beach was a definite highlight and also the outdoor restaurant.

Iberostar Origin Tainos: Beautiful grounds and beach.

Grounds were excellent, room was a disappointment, service was excellent and staff very friendly. Only thing that we did not care for was the food. It was the same thing day after day and we did not expect cold cuts.