Amazing Trip!

My husband & I just returned from our trip to Sanctuary. What a fantastic time! The resort is beautiful, the food was quite good & the staff were incredible! Usually, on a trip to Cuba, we're ready to go home after about day 5. Not this time! We didn't want to leave! We will definitely be back to this resort! Maybe a 10 day trip next time, rather than 7!

Resort ok

Resort was clean ,food good. Our stay was fun. Until time to come home. Resort staff dropped the ball on wake up call and baggage puck up. Neither came. Staff argued with us while bus was still at resort. We didn't know bus was still at resort.

Great resort

The location is great, the service was good and the staff was nice and helpful. I enjoyed the food as well, and the water and the beach were amazing. I would recommend this resort and may end up returning in the future.

Recent Trips to Sanctuary Grand Memories Varadero

Although we had a good time we most likely will not return to this resort. Pros: -private Sanctuary beach was nice, water was lovely -food was good for Cuba standards -most of the staff were very pleasant -sanctuary pool was nice -bed very comfortable -air conditioned lounge was very nice, air conditioning in room good -entertainment in lounge was good -main buffet was good (a la carts so so), a la carte breakfast at Sanctuary - very good, ---drinks in lounge very good, coffee very goo [... read more]d -was able to get shuttle to main Memories when needed Cons we could manage: Balcony door was extremely hard to open Closet doors hard to open Key cards had some difficulties Cons hard to manage: Ladies washroom in Sanctuary lounge was out of service from 2nd day on and is probably still broken. We had to use the one toilet in the men's washroom when it was vacant (not fixing any of the toilets in the Ladies washroom for the whole duration was unacceptable.. Our friends has several problems occur - their toilet had difficulties flushing for 2 days and finally did not flush at all. They went to the butler twice to mention this and twice to the management. After the final visit to management and my friend being very polite but very fed up about this, management FINALLY got the message that she needed a flushing toilet. Other issues they had (could not get into the walk-in shower as door opened in and not out but was able to use the shower in the tub (although for a 65 year old was hard to get in and out). Like us their balcony door and closet doors were hard to open. They had to get their key cards resets at least 3 times and had to go to the main memories front desk as key machine at Sanctuary was broken. Finally last episode someone from Sanctuary management took the cards to the main desk. The last time door to their room had to be fixed as the key cards (and even the maid's card) would not work. They had to wait 3 hours to get into their room. Sanctuary and Memories have a maintenance problem. Things are starting to get run down which is a shame because it is a nice resort. As said before, we had a good time but will most likely not return unless we get a very good price (which by the way many people paid a lot this than we did and some even traveling from out west). We will definitely return to Varadero. This is our second trip there but first time at Sanctuary.

Great Resort! Issues with Tipping

We had a really great time! Beach is great! Pools are lovely! Rooms are ok. I find the staff a little unfriendly if they are not tipped as often as they deem necessary. I also find them to be a little racist from my perspective. Other than that the hotel itself is really nice to stay. Food us awful as is everywhere in Cuba.

Great Getaway!

Overall the resort is well kept and the staff are great. You will have a great time, if your looking to relax under the sun by the pool or ocean. Bring yourself a Bubba Mug and save yourself the multiple trips to the bar; as they only have smaller plastic cups. Also, make sure to bring plenty of sunscreen! :)

No wonder Ive been 5x!

From start to finish; staff, room & food, everything was amazing! The grounds are lush & gorgeous, the beach is beautiful & the pool ALWAYS clean & well maintained. Karl the food & bev mngr is beyond attentive & Hilda made sure every whim was satisfied with our room & stay. Highly recommended!!

Small but great

It's a small VIP section on the much bigger Grand Memories ground. We have our own cozy elegant restaurant, snack bar,Lounge Bar, Reception and swimming pool. We can also use all facilities and restaurants in Grand Memories but we ended up staying at the Sanctuary throughout the 7 days because everything is very good and within 2 minutes walk from our room. It's our 7th time to Cuba, 6th to Varadero and we are very impressed overall with the Sanctuary but especially so with the following: ( [... read more]1) Sanctuary's restaurant serves yummy lobster almost at lunch almost everyday and 4 times during our stay at dinner. The staff lead by manager Karl . The manager Karl is very professional and hardworking, setting a great example for his staff and together they provide efficient and friendly service. We always found ourselves very well taken care of. (2) Sanctuary has the best night entertainment we've ever had at a Cuban resort. We have the option of watching a nightly show at the Grand Memories theater or having our own entertainment in our Lounge Bar. We did go to the Cuban Show the first night which was good, but in terms of comfort of the environment, quality of the show and interaction with performers, the nightly Lounge Bar entertainment is several levels higher. We had opera singers, a hot rock and roll band, sax and piano duo, pool side Retro parties and Karaok. Never danced so much and so crazily at a Caribbean holiday. (3) Mosquitoes usually like me but at this resort I didn't get one bite. And this is first ever. (4) There are 2 bottles of rum, one vodka and one scotch at our disposal in our room. (5) Our butlers, especially the lady (sorry I didn't get her name) have been most helpful. They are always around and would be asking if we need anything. Our requests had all been fulfilled. It's a nice feeling to be taken care of. Of course, the resort is clean, service is great, our room is big and the shower looks pretty new. The maids are pleasant and friendly. Every guest seems to be having a great time. The hotel manager Sabine is always there to make sure everything is what it should be. With management like Sabine and Karl, it's not surprising that Sanctuary is run so well. I was skeptical about how true those 4+ star reviews were before the trip but now I know why people made those comments. Have already told friends that it's a must-try.

Just a massive disappointment

The hotel itself was advertised as a 4/5 star resort, however, what we actually experienced was definitely not a 4/5 star experience. To begin, the Sunwing operator that took us to our resort on Aug 31, 2019 went up to my boyfriend after I had gotten off of the bus and asked him "are you not gonna tip?" My boyfriend responded with "I'm sorry, I don't have any CUC, I only have CAD... we just landed and I couldn't exchange my money yet" and he looked at him, rolled his eyes and handed him his lugg [... read more]age. Second, the food is a massive disappointment. Unless you are going to the a la cartes, good luck finding good food at the buffet that is remotely edible. We had to wait in line for almost 20 minutes to get some chicken griddled up by a very nice man however, the wait is just way too long considering we had other plans after dinner. The servers are sometimes nice, and sometimes will fill up your glass with water and others, seem as though they are waiting for you to tip them. Another issue we encountered was that upon entering our room and using the bathroom, it made a very loud screaming sound every single time we flushed it and continued to do so for another 10 minutes or so post-flush. Additionally, in the bathroom of 35208 (our room), there was a bunch of black mold located on the corner of the ceiling. I mentioned this to housekeeping and they literally said "ok". Mind you, I am fluent in Spanish so there is absolutely no way that there could be anything lost in translation over here. Another thing, when we asked for more water to be delivered to our room or to ask for another bottle of water from the bar, we often received looks or if we ordered them for our room, it took more than 2 hours to get it... almost as if they had to travel to get to the bottling company themselves and retrieve it. Don't get me wrong, I love Cuba and I understand that sometimes things take time to be delivered... but what I cannot tolerate, is the lack of professionalism, customer service and friendliness of hotel staff. Especially the lady that works at the check in/check out counter that works at nights in the Sanctuary lobby. She was a total witch with a capital B and every single time I asked to purchase a WIFI card, she seemed as though I had asked her to do the most impossible task ever. On one night, we found a cockroach in our curtains as i was closing them for the night and when we called someone to help, it took them about 20 minutes to get here which was a bit worrisome considering the cockroach had then moved to a different location in the room (Eventually, they caught and killed the cockroach). It is important to note, though, that in Cuba, and other tropical countries, you should expect to see these kinds of insects as they are native to the country... so this wasnt a massive deal. To make matters worse, when we were leaving from our room to catch the bus that brings us to the airport for our return flight to Toronto, we noticed that the entire building (35) was completely unlit in the staircases and hallways... We were residing on the second floor so we had to bring all four of our suitcases down with us in pitch black lighting because it was 6am when we left. We called reception/client services and no one picked up. I called them three times before I noticed it was getting too late and ended up having to bring our suitcases down in the dark otherwise, we would have missed our bus. Anyway, my boyfriend, as he was bringing his suitcases down, fell down the stairs (since it was so dark), and one of his suitcases fell on him, and subsequently broke from landing on the cement staircase. His carry-on's wheels split in half from the impact and were unusable and failed to function as they had been completely damaged from the fall which could have been PREVENTED, had the Sanctuary actually had lighting in the building. The whole lighting issue is not only problematic for people who are trying to go down the stairs with their suitcases, but this is also a potential fall and fire hazard as if there is an emergency, there is absolutely no lighting for guests to see down the stairs during an emergency such as a fire. I spoke to the Sanctuary reception/check in and check out lady that I mentioned above, and she didn't seem to care and said "lo entiendo" which means "I understand"..... understand what? that he fell down the stairs? or that you need to do something about this? The entire communication from the guest services staff and reception was atrocious. Nobody seemed to give a goddamn crap about anything and even with me asking very nicely in Spanish to prevent the risk of miscommunication, things were never done as they were promised. My boyfriend and I tried to be as positive as possible regardless of the crappy circumstances, but I certainly feel as though we need another vacation to help us de-stress from this mess of a "vacation". Also, I have stayed in the Sanctuary before... I stayed in the Cayo Santa Maria one in June of 2018 and it was beautiful. Everything in that resort was great... which is why I chose this resort in Varadero... expecting the same experience, but we ended up just super disappointed. Hopefully nobody has to ever beg for water to be given to them in that resort ever again.

Nice place

I like the hotel very much, it's clean and comfortable. My friends and I had great time there. I miss the blue sky, beautiful ocean, nice food, all kinds of drink... I think I will go there again. See you soon.

An ok resort

The hotel was ok , was expecting something nicer since I booked at the sanctuary which is a upgrade from the grand memories side , the room were decent , the butler service was great , not many young people , overall I say 6.5 /10

Good resort

Good resort good food for Cuba standards only downfall not enough entertainment at night and would not recommend this resort for young people overall great stay enjoyed it was very relaxing met lots of great people and staff is awesome

Satisfactory

I will say that the employees are amazing individuals, the 'butler' we had was absolutely amazing; he made sure we had reservations and was honest about certain aspects surrounding the hotel. The food was terrible, the dessert looked like a kid made it in an easy bake oven and did a horrible job. we also had a room that did not look similar to the pictures online and there was mold in the washroom ceiling and the smell of it was very evident; we had asked to change rooms and it was avoided and d [... read more]elayed until the last day so we dealt with it, the room service is a complete disaster & lastly there were cockroaches within the washrooms as well.

Comfortable, friendly resort

The staff were friendly, the grounds were clean, the pool was clean, food was good (for Cuba) Lots of choices for meals. Hop on Hop off bus, close by, convenient. Great atmosphere. Shuttle services to the sanctuary section could have been better. It was extremely hot and humid and after a long day on an excursion, a ride back to sanctuary would have been nice. Shuttle services didn't always go to sanctuary but to the family side of the resort. One driver was irritated and not very friends that w [... read more]e asked for a ride. Which, in Cuba is unusual.

My Happy Place

My wife and I just love this resort , it is our 6th time to Sanctuary at the Grand Memories and plan on going again . We so enjoy meeting all the very friendly staff from the moment you arrive to when you leave they are terrific. The Butlers are amazing they will do all your dinner arrangements all we have to do is relax . the waitress remember you name and the Bartenders know your favourite drink . It is very relaxing no stress, a true vacation.

Fantastic Resort and Staff

It was our 25th Anniversary trip and the staff at Sanctuary made it fantastic. We arrived on August 2nd to find that our room had been upgraded to a suite with doors that opened onto the adults only pool. We loved the adults lounge, restaurant, pool bar and WOW!!!! is all I can say about the Beach.....We did try and enjoy 3 of the a la Carte's ( Oriental, Italian & Gourmet) with the Oriental being our favorite. The main Buffet food was okay ( it is CUBA) but our waiter Jesus in the Diamond Secti [... read more]on was amazing!!!! We are already looking at booking for February.

A bit quiet but a great vacation

The grounds are beautifully kept. The rooms are clean and well appointed. The shower leaked under the door. The staff are great, friendly and helpful. The entertainment was ok, there needs to be more entertainment staff for a resort this size. The food was very good, always a variety. The sanctuary side was lovely and the no kids rule was strictly enforced there. As always, the beach was amazing.

Amazing resort

This is a very nice property. Facility is small but has all you need. Food is great. Service in its own restaurants is excellent. Beach is beautiful. Room is big and clean. Swimming pool is good size but lacks a swim up bar. Lounge bar is excellent.

Amazing Resort!

The resort has everything! Great staff, clean, amazing beaches, everyone was very accommodating! Great choices for restaurants and there was always available everywhere we went! Would definitely go Back!

Great Resort

This resort is very nice, clean, amazing staff, food was ok except at the Italian restaurant, we're Italian and maybe we're too fussy about Italian food. Overall the resort was fine a little too big for us, the shuttle was not always available but by staying at the sanctuary we had all the amenities close to us. We will not go back just for the reason that it is too vast but we will sure recommend it to our friends.