Iberostar Selection Holguin: Amazing Place that needs minor improvements

We liked everything about the rooms and amenities. The staff were hardworking, nice and pleasant but I would like some improvements on the following:- 1. If there is no toilet paper in a public toilet then a note should be written to notify the public. The public toilets are many around the reception area so just redirect people. The reason is that as a lady it’s embarrassing to use the bathroom and realize half way there is no toilet paper. 2. Food hygiene should be number one priority. It [... read more] maybe hard due to the open buffet style but have a glass protector to prevent dirty hands and flies. 3. The Wi-Fi is very unreliable. The fact that you have to call the reception all the time to give you more hours that disconnects 5 min later. Most of the time no one handles the call at the reception for assistance. The username and password is very long and can’t be saved and you have to retype frequently to login. It is very exhausting when the network is very poor.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Loved it!

We travelled as 2 families over the Christmas holidays. We were very fortunate with Air Transit. 2 hour delay on the way there and half an hour on the way back but we got our luggage unlike West Jet and Sun Wing! I've been to this resort 3 times now. The grounds are beautiful and proximity to the pool and beach are real assets. We had a pool view room which was a great perk for booking early. Lots of choices for food. Always pork, fish, chicken and beef on the buffet line as well as at the gr [... read more]ills. We had omelettes everyday. 24 hour snack shack provided lots of ham and cheese sanwiches and fries. Ice cream stand was a nice daily treat too. 4 a la carte restaurants provided great service. Japanese is always a front runner followed by Italian, Romantico and Cuban. Delicious and nice to have table service. Bring a deck of cards as sometimes it's hard to fill the time in between dinner and the show. The lobby is spacious and grand and it carries out to a large, beautiful patio. We all enjoyed stretching on the beach, dance lessons, beach volleyball, ocean swims, ping pong, pickleball on the tennis courts (brought our own paddles).... Cuba's beach and ocean can't be beat. Turquoise water and white sand. The animation team works hard to get people involved in games and contests, but you can be as lazy or active as you want. Lots of shade available in the huts at the beach. Not much shade at pool area. Fun in the sun! Miss the palm trees and Pina Coladas already.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Meh

In one word, I would have to say the resort experience here was underwhelming. I had never travelled to Cuba and though I was lowering my expectations, so to speak, from other all inclusive resorts, this resort was simply “okay”. Our room was clean enough and stocked with necessities (hand soap and toilet paper). The patio door did not lock though being on the third floor it wasn’t too much of a concern. Not enough loungers by the pool - many were “reserved” in the evenings by p [... read more]eople placing a towel and a rock on them. Pools were a generous size and the boardwalk/beach area was beautiful, though again, lacking in seating. You could walk out in the ocean quite a ways and it was definitely the highlight of the resort. Wifi available in the lobby only and this was very spotty at best. Food wasn’t labelled in the buffet, the variety of beverages was lacking and there were always constant lineups. Waited in line for everything! Only one food option available during the day - when the buffet was open the snack bar was closed and vice versa. Would often order food at the snack bar and after 20 mins or so, would still not have received our order. Constantly running out of food (fries and hot dogs). Very limited options at the snack bar. Again, a lot of waiting! Could never get a towel poolside…recommend you bring your own. Could only book one a la carte and the food quality was simply fine. The resort “shop” sold not much more than cigars and cigarettes, so pack your necessities and change of clothes/footwear in your carryon in case your luggage is lost/delayed. Playa Pillar beach was stunningly beautiful and a short walk away. While it was nice to get away from the frigid Canadian winter and spend time with the family, the resort services were just “meh”.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Christmas vacation

Was pleasantly surprised with the food, but 24 snack bar was dirty and had obvious roaches everywhere. Rooms were dated but clean, common areas clean, but furniture in rough shape. Limited entertainment.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Disappointing

Terrible experience. Food is poor, same every day, hard to get food between meals. Buffet is disorganized, not enough tongs, guests are generally rude and push you around. Not enough pool/beach chairs for the number of guests. Smoking EVERYWHERE, you can’t get a drink from the lobby bar or line up for the buffet without inhaling a bunch of smoke. Grounds keepers are creepy and will peer into rooms when nobody is there, presumably to see what they can steal, they will also try to sell you off b [... read more]rand cigars, etc. if you drink, don’t expect much selection. Coffee is either too weak, the staff don’t even tamp the grinds for espresso so it’s basically coloured water. Pools are okay but small. If you have a bad weather day, there isn’t much to do. There are no trails or anything adventurous much to do in the area unless you want to spent a fortune on an excursion, there’s one road with a bad camber, it’s safe to run on but gets boring quick. Would never go back here, and definitely would not recommend.

JOIA Paraiso by Iberostar: Iberostar Grand Paraiso

Food in a la carte restaurants good Buffet excellent Staff attentive Golf course one of the best we have been a number of times so we know what to expect over time the hotel has changed but overall remains a 4-5 star resort

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Still want to hear about covid?

You ask about "covid"? It is clear you have not moved on, and it shows. Many issues here, none due to covid. I would suggest the TripCentral employees begin to re-learn about their destinations and provide their clients with relevant information. Being misinformed on basic details is an odd phenomenon considering you are our knowledge base for such trips.

Iberostar Selection Varadero: Go for the people .. take lots of extras!!

The fantastic people at this resort are like family, we just keep going back to visit. Cubans are simply phenomenal people who will do anything they can to make your trip enjoyable. This is our first trip since 2019, and we’ve travelled to Cuba many times. We have a few important points to share: 1) Do not exchange money into Cuban Pesos. Most places will not accept them, especially inside the hotels. It’s all credit card and billed in USD. They will accept CDN paper money, US paper m [... read more]oney and also Euros, but ironically not their own Cuban Peso. All bills must be in excellent condition, with no tears or issues with the bills or they won’t except them 2) CUC or Cuban convertible pesos are no longer accepted and won’t be exchanged. The new Cuban Peso also won’t be exchanged back into any currency once converted. 3) There is exceptionally little to buy on the resort. Their gift shops have rum, coffee beans and tonic water that is basically it. All other essentials MUST be taken with you. You can’t buy sunscreen, potato chips or cookies. There is no food for purchase anywhere on the resort. 4)The food choices post COVID are very limited. As repeat customers we know not to expect Canadian style food, however this time even we were challenged with the food. There is also no longer an in room coffee maker, and also no in room mini bar. It’s all been taken away .. a coffee machine can be “ purchased for 600 pesos a day and you get 4 coffee capsules and sugar. One glass litre bottle is refilled with purified water and replaced daily. 5) Paper goods are in very limited supply. Take Kleenex tissues and even some toilet paper, as you will get one roll. The Iberostar Selection Varadero is one of the better resorts in the Varadero strip and we struggled a bit with these changes. I can imagine that lower star resorts are even more impacted!! Luckily I’m a very prepared traveller, so our trip was comfortable as I took many extras. They’ve expanded the beach during COVID and it’s simply wonderful!! The Cubans can’t access much so please take things with you to give away like sneakers, ladies black shoes, nylons, socks, children’s clothes, health and beauty items and chocolate or cookies. Anything you can take with you is very much appreciated as they share with their entire community!

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Below expectations

I found most aspects of this resort to be below standard or at least below expectations. From the start, the hotel reception staff seemed indifferent and often bothered that we had arrived. Simple requests, like requesting a bottle of water, having wifi activated in the room, etc, were returned with furrowed brows and no response. No one took the time, to show the resort but pointed to the map drawing (illegible) propped on a dirty display on lobby counter. Was given a key and had to figu [... read more]re out where the building and room were. We had to wait 24hrs for the next scheduled Sunwing rep appt session in order to get some perspective on the resort. At which time he really only offered ppl info on what to do if you’re traveling outside the resort. Rooms were dated and dirty. Maintenance staff were inconsistent, walk through rooms in dirty outside shoes, didn’t always change sheets/towels and spent a lot of time yelling at each other across rooms and buildings. The resort was very noisy all day with constant 90’s dance music playing at all times. Food was mediocre and service and service same. The lady who booked dinner reservations was unhelpful, didn’t speak English and petitioned me to buy Canadian coins, twice. All went from average to worse, following the delayed flights at the end of vacay.

Iberostar Waves Tucan: Amazing trip

The resorts and grounds were immaculate and well kept. Staff very friendly. Food was great and lots of choices! The most pleasant surprise was the natural jungle in the middleof the resort, and all the wild animals you get to see. Wake up service by peacocks on the balcany!

Iberostar Waves Paraiso Beach: A Good Resort

This was a good resort, have been to 4 other resorts in the Mayan area ( twice at one). This resort offers all the standards that most resorts offer. The staff were fantastic, wish I could remember everyone’s name. Having a water and ice dispenser in each block of room was very nice. The buffet was good but on the smaller side and pretty repetitive but as I said was good. Pool games were okay, I really enjoy pool volleyball and it was tough to get games going when the volleyball net was at a d [... read more]ifferent pool than the activity pool. One thing I did not care for was not having access to the other resorts connected to the resort. We have stayed at other resorts that have multiple resorts in one and could use their amenities, except the private sections. The Star Cafe and the ice cream shop at the mall were a nice treat. I don’t want to discourage people from checking it out for themselves but I would probably not return.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Cute Quiet Resort Except…

This hotel was fantastic until the very last day. They have lots of options for food and everything is very cleanly. The staff here are incredibly friendly and helpful. However, one particular receptionist -Dennis- should be fired and you should stay away at all cost. Very rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional. I had asked for a late checkout the night before as our bus was not leaving until 5:00 and the staff there told me that we just need to pay after we checkout. When I went up at around 2 [... read more]:00 (planned checkout at 5:00 and regularly checkout at 12:00), Dennis rudely asked “do you know what time it is?” as if I didn’t know. He then proceeded to deny us our late b/c checkout was at 12:00. When I explained to him that we were told to pay when we leave and that the staff the night before wrote this in the reception notebook, he refused to check the notes as he “doesn’t care” while also refusing to allow me to speak with his manager about this matter. The whole situation took 2 hours to settle and for them to do the simple task of allowing me to pay and activating the key card for my room. This could have been a 10/10 trip if it were not for this.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Beautiful resort.

We had a wonderful stay and we would recommend this hotel and will definitely return. The food, staff and hotel grounds were amazing. There were tons of loungers at the pool and at the beach with plenty of shade. One thing that needs to be addressed is labelling food at the buffet and beach restaurants. Sometimes it’s hard to tell what the food is. Rooms need to be updated and they are showing their age.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Very good hotel and nice people

Special thanks goes out to Glen the fitness instructor who gave exceptional classes and coaching as well as our housekeeper, Narin. Thanks to Bernie the Sunwing rep for all the tips. Will definitely go back. One small comment, it would be nice if all the wonderful fruit juices were labelled. Our travel agent Lisa Selig was exceptional and extremely helpful!

Iberostar Coral Holguin: Great resort

We enjoyed our vacation at Coral Level at Iberostar. The quality of the hotel was amazing. The room service was impeccable. The butler service was a great bonus for us. Free internet 24/7 was a real gift also.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Horrendous food

The hotel grounds and the beach are great, I really enjoyed the pool area. The cigar lounge was my favourite place the staff there are all amazing ! Tip them and they’ll take care you of you. Sadly the rest was a huge disappointment. The food was not only bad but gave both of us food poisoning. 2 of the people we met had the same issue. I spent a whole day on the toilet . We saw cockroaches in every restaurant there. The front desk is awful, not only they misinformed us upon arrival about th [... read more]e currency situation but anytime we can to ask them anything they either shrugged their shoulders or said no. They had no problem taking our Canadian currency and giving us pesos but when asked the next day if they can exchange 500 peso bill into 100s they said go to bar. The only good staff there are cigar lounge and pool area. Even 24 hr snack bar that had kind of decent food constantly would say “nothing yet give us 20-30 min”

Iberostar Waves Quetzal: Incredible Resort!

The staff were attentive to all of our requests from planning a birthday decoration for my wife to getting the perfect cigar recommendations from the cigar man. The food was amazing, I gained weight from our visit because I couldn’t stop at just one plate at each meal. The cleanliness of everything was spot on.

Iberostar Origin Playa Alameda: Nice place to spend a week or. more.

Beautiful grounds, well maintained, clean. the beach is perfect. The staff is polite and friendly. Rooms are comfortable but need some maintenance. The food is variable and well presented, always fresh. The service is well organized.

Iberostar Selection Esmeralda: Great resort

Everything is great in that resort. It’s brand new one with great layout and design is 21 century in all details. It’s about 1 hour from airport and if you enjoy Cuban beaches this will be right for you. Coral level bit more advance.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Good value

The hotel has seen better days but it was clean, service was good. There was no special covid procedures as nine are needed any longer really. You can order ivermectin to bring home at the customer service desk and a pharmacy will deliver it.