Melia Peninsula Varadero: Melia peninsula veredero

Beautiful resort, very clean friendly people. Was disappointed with the food selection. If you ate Cuban food then it was like going to the mandarin, but as for the Canadian food selection, there was very little.

Melia Las Americas: Amazing resort!

Spectacular views, so relaxing, always feel like I am at home! Clean rooms and amenities in very good conditions. Very friendly and professional staff ; good food and entertainment!Our friend Mercedes we miss you! Looking forward to see you next year again! My lovely friend Miglen, thank you for your help and love! Thanks to all the great people we make friends with and can't wait to see you again!

Hotel Los Cactus: Fantastic Week

This hotel was overall pretty phenomenal I have to say! I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. Beautiful resort, incredibly clean grounds, pleasant staff, large rooms...everything I was hoping for when booking this trip. The food was good if you take into consideration it is Cuba. I wasn't expecting fantastic food. It was good, nothing made me sick...it just gets tiring eating the same thing all week but I totally expected that. And it was great that they kept cold filtered water readily ava [... read more]ilable at the beach bar throughout the day.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great resort!!!

- Very well kept grounds. The resort is very easy to navigate. public areas - The rooms are large, and very clean. Our shower door wasn't very good and a fair amount of water leaked onto the bathroom floor. - The food was fairly average. There was a wide selection of items, but the best items were the grilled meats/seafood prepared in front of you.

Royalton Hicacos Resort and Spa: great place to relax

stayed at the royal hicacos the last week of aug. overall was very good. I have been to cuba about 15 times and yes this hotel is a 5 star Cuban standard.The service is outstanding , I read many reviews where people say the food was great., the food is limited not bad but not fantastic! pros....... service beds are very comfy ocean of course pools are nice but not deep entertainment was very good quiet adults only check in check out ...very smooth cons......... bad smell around parts of resort  [... read more](septic tank smell) grounds need to be worked on not many restaurants , they had the buffet but the grill on beach was closed for renos ,so all they had was a little snack bar with hodogs and hamburgers not very inviting. our room was in building 6 and there was no lighting at nite they had lights but not working obviously they are doing a lot of work on this resort , but you cant get ocean view, overall nice resort.

Melia Las Americas: Amazing Resort

My daughter and I just spend a week at Melia Las Americas and we couldn't have been treated any better. The hotel is fabulous, the food great and the service exceptional. We were treated like queens :).

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Nice Resort

Great hotel and awesome beach. Room was clean and decor was modern. Suggestion, bring balls (soccer,football,volleyball) for kids. The resort has limited sports equipment and you have to return it by 5pm.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing family vacation at ILA

Our family of 6 went to ILA from Aug. 13 -20 and had a wonderful vacation. Excellent food, wide variety of foods including seafood, chicken and pizza for our picky kids. Staff provided excellent service, beach is the best in Varadero. Would definitely go back for two weeks next time. Only negative is that you have to get down to the beach early to get your loungers under a palapa, which we learned after the first day.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Beautiful resort!

The food was ok to really good! The rooms were spacious and comfortable. mattresses on beds were just ok. The greatest part of our experience was the staff. They were all fantastic! Especially Alex whom we came to look forward to seeing each day. he went way above and beyond to ensure a great time was had by everyone in our group. The nightly shows provided some really great entertainment.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Great Resort - A must visit for all!

Good food, Rooms well kept and cleaned daily. Beach and pools area were amazing with in-pool bar and 7/24 snacks. Wonderful and helpful workers work at this resort. Most of them speak English along with their Spanish. We really enjoyed our time at Memories Varadero. Will visit again soon.

Barcelo Solymar: Untapped potential

This resort is well situated and has beautiful beaches. However, the staff are not quick to respond to reasonable requests. For example, I had to spend 6 of my 7 days without a working washroom sink despite my request to fix it on day 2. Balcony lights do not work if you want to sit and relax at night time. Two days straight my room was cleaned but all of my towels were removed without providing replacements. Moreover, given the noticeable stains on the bed covers I realized after a few days tha [... read more]t they were not replacing the covers with clean ones; but rather, simply refurnishing the bed with the used covers front the night before. The AC is okay at best. My friend's AC was not functioning for almost the whole week despite telling the front desk several times. The resort is beginning to look worn out and dated. Front desk is painfully slow to resolve any issues or to exchange currency. During the first two says I spent a total of 2 hours waiting at the front desk to check in, exchange money, and report my sink malfunction. That is unacceptable! The resort has decided to remove bracelets altogether so half the time I didn't know if the people on the resort were even allowed there. The majority of the time I felt that there were more locals on the resort vacationing than tourists. If we met other tourists from other resorts and wanted to hang out with them in our room we were told they couldn't be brought on the resort. When we inquired about the passes we were told the passes run from 9 am to 10 pm (day pass) and from 10 pm to 1 am (night pass). So between 1 am and 9 am we couldn't have visitors. What kind of nonsense is that?! Its not like the buffet or bars are even open for them to consume the resort's resources!? The other comical aspect was that the main bar closed at 11 pm. This resort has a reputation for catering to younger crowds, so how does thatmake any sense?! One of my biggest grievances, however, is that they relocated the 24 hour beach bar - which was a beautiful area situated near the beach and away from the sleeping population where party-goers could carry on after the clubs - to a small crevace inside of the arenas blancas resort. It was such a disappointment! I had such a good time at the beach bar last year when I first attended Barcelo Solymar. Why would they relocate something that worked so well and facilitated the needs of the nocturnal guests?! All-in-all the people are still fairly pleasant to deal with but I can see that they are worn thin. This resort had/has so much potential, but it feels like poor management, lack of insight on the wants and needs of the average guest, and lack of basic upkeep has caused this gem of a resort to dwindle into something that I wouldn't recommend to others any longer. What a shame. I hope these simple suggestions become resolved so Barcelo Solymar can return to what it used to be.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Ok Resort ...Service Poor!

Resort was great and the beach was amazing! But...the service was very disappointing. Poor service in the dinning area, we had to look for our own table and we had to waive at the waiters/staff for coffee or drinks. Overall, I did enloy myself but would not recommed to anyone and would not go back to this Resort.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Had a great time

Visited Aug 15th to 25th. It's been a few years since I vacationed in Cuba. My last experience (not at this resort) was very bad and I have been nervous to return. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by our experience at this resort. Things started out a little disappointing as I had specifically asked that we not be put on the 1st floor, but that is where we were placed. However, the room was nice enough and we didn't have any problems with bugs that I thought we would on the 1st f [... read more]loor. We had also requested a view of the pool, but though many rooms overlooked the pool, we ended up with a room at the end of the building looking at a garden. I spend little time in my room so it really didn't matter - except there is no where to hang your suits or towels where they couldn't be taken. The only other disappointment was our coffee maker did not work. But we were right beside the pool side restaurant where we could get a delicious cappuccino every morning. We arrived about 10:30 am, and the rooms are not ready until 3:00. No problem, they give you your bracelet, a towel and store your luggage for you so that you can change into your suits, spend the day using all the services and come back after 3:00 to get your room. All worked very well and we had a great first day The pool is very large, kept clean and cold water was added in the afternoons -- the weather was very hot and even the ocean was warm by 3:00. There a many chairs at the pool, but they are very hard and uncomfortable. But we got the "pool guy" to bring us chair pads each day and that made them more comfortable. Had no problems getting a shady spot each day - but we were also early risers and got our spots picked out early. The entertainment group worked hard trying to get the guests to join in with the activities, which wasn't always easy with the temps being in the high 30's. There were activities at the pool and beach. Their English was generally good - at least much better than my Spanish. Service at all bars and there were 4 at the pool alone, was very good and you seemed to get the same service whether you tipped or not. Beach is soft white sand. We took long walks twice a day. The food at the buffet was repeated. However, if you don't eat everything every night it doesn't get boring. Try chicken one night, pork another, then lamb or fish. You could also get chicken breast and steaks cooked for you. There was a good variety every night and the taste was pretty good. It only gets boring if you eat a little of everything every day. Service in the buffet was very good. There is also a poolside buffet that was smaller, but still ok for us. Beside the pool buffet was a pizzeria and a hotdog/burger grill - both were very good. There is also an icecream stand right outside the pool buffet with up to 5 or 6 different flavours! We also ate at the Italian, Romantico and Japanese restaurants. All were delicious with good service and lots of food. We were not rushed through our meals. Would recommend the iced coffees at the seating space outside the lobby bar. Had them each evening after dinner. The person I was traveling with had some sight disabilities so we did not go to any of the shows and were to tired each day to stay up for the disco so can't comment on these things. We went on the day trip to Havana. It is a very busy day while they try to get everything included in one day. Enjoyed it - and recommend to anyone visiting Cuba. We also did the 1/2 day dolphin adventure and would certainly recommend this. From what we heard from others who went on the full day trip - our adventure was much better. We had a full 30 mins in the water with the dolphins, hands on the whole time. Couple of suggestions: Take insulated glasses with you - the glasses they use at the bar are very small - and they will happily make your drink in the glass you bring. Don't tip with loonies or twoonies - their bank will not accept foreign coin. The bank at the resort will easily change your Canadian into convertible pesos and will give you single pesos for tipping if you ask. Take ENOUGH Canadian cash with you. The bank will not give you a cash advance off your charge card, you have to do this at a bank in the cith & they don't have a bank machine. DON'T TAKE AMERICAN - THEY WILL NOT ACCEPT IT. You will need 25 convertible pesos to leave the country. Get this right away and put it aside for the day you are leaving. So......... Remember this is Cuba and a 5 star there is not a 5 star in Toronto. Go relax, enjoy and don't sweat the small stuff. You will have a fun, restful, exciting, happy (whatever you are looking for) vacation! I would return and have already recommended this resort to others

Barcelo Solymar: terrible resort

I have traveled a lot through asia and Europe and stayed at many different resorts and this place was easily the worst. People are drunkenly screaming and yelling until 3am the food at times was not edible if you do stay here at the very least stay in one of the detached condos. Great beach though.

Resonance Blu Varadero: “For the price, it was worth it”

everything was nice but the rooms were needed to be renovated. we enjoyed everything else entertainment, pool, beach etc. Beach was spectacular. Favorite part.Two pools. Pool 1 was the quiet pool. Pool 2 was rye activity pool with a great water slide for the kids. Entertainment was top notch. Very professional. Grounds were nice. Upgrade to the Diamond club. You will receive premium alcohol, special area on the beach with drink service, air conditioned section in the main buffet, restaurants boo [... read more]ked for us and even more. Leo is a great asset to the Diamond club. Always there to speak to you and see how everything was going. The staff are amazing people especially the ladies in the main buffet. Always smiling. Extremely appreciative. Overall we had a very nice time. I would rate this resort as a 3.5 star only because of the rooms. Great potential.

Hotel Villa Cuba: amazing resort

This hotel was pretty amazing all though the food selection was not as good as some resorts but still alright. Had minor issues with accommodations but very easy to see past it. I recommend this resort to anyone. Great first time experience and will definitely be going there again in the near future

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Disappointed

Stayed there from Aug 20-27, 2014! Arrived at the hotel around 11:30 am; some people from my group were assigned rooms immediately, we were told our room was not ready until 1! Checked back around 1:30 and room was still not ready then was told to check back around 2:30! Checked back at 2:30 and room was still not ready then finally was assigned to our room at 3:45! I understand the official check in time is at 4 pm but when a guest arrives early, front desk should inform housekeeping to put a p [... read more]riority to clean the assigned room! After all, the check out time is at 11 and it shouldn't take over 4 hours to turn around a room! When we got to our room 2621, it has a strong musty and cleaning chemical smell! Decided to stay in the room instead of going back to front desk to ask for a room change after being in transit for over 12 hours! I have travelled extensively to the Caribbean and this was my first time to Cuba! I was told by my friends to have low expectations on the quality of food and they were right! What troubled me the most is the way they handle meat at the grill station, they allowed the raw meat to come in contact with the cooked meat! Major no no for food contamination! This would be my first and last time staying at a this resort!

Hotel Villa Cuba: Great people

This hotel is in need of little TLC but the people that work there make up for it. We had a great time. The beach was ubsolutely beautiful. The pool was awesome and the service was incredible. The elevator was a little slow but it was o k. We will defenately go back.

Blau Varadero: Wonderful

Spend a wonderful week at the Blau.Beaches,food and staff were great. Really have no negative things about the resort other than they could use some better ventilation or AC in the fitness center. I would return to this resort again.

Melia Las Antillas: Expect negative surprises

Had a bad experince from day 1 . Hotel promised a balcony , as their literature says. I was given a ground floor room with a chair outside of the patio door on tyhe grass and it was called a balcony. I wanted balocony to be higher level from insects and people walking by . Then they offered 2nd flooe room facing the buses/driveway that come and go . O boy , they make noises in all sorts of times, day time, evening , modnight . Finally we got something facing the band / music space , loud music b [... read more]ut at least it ended at 11pm..... everynight ! Bell boy think he is the president of Hotel , or Apple or IBM. Can not talk to him while he is smoking . You have to wait . He expects you to carry the luggages unless you can not .... on the positve , the buffet area has air conditioning . Nice.