Melia Peninsula Varadero: Not so great experience

Customer service especially receptionist are very rude. They only have one buffet restaurant, one international, Italian and Japanese restaurants. They only have one standard bar and don't go with website list as this is the reality.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Would not recommend: Jan 14-21, 2023

Our group of 4 had a great time together and loved the sand, sun and ocean but the "resort" itself leaves soooo much to be desired. It is one of the last resorts to get dropped off so if you don't want an hour and 1/2 drive after your flight, take a cab! From the shortage or lack of variety of food to the rundown(ness) of the resort, we were disappointed to say the least. The staff for the most part was friendly but a lot did not speak english or understand what we were trying to say or didn' [... read more]t bother at all. The lounge chairs on the beach have been around forever and were terrible to lay on for a week. We went for the ocean for sure, although the pools looked fabulous, but the water was so cold there were very few people swimming the whole week. The drinks were so sporadic and the taste of them was terrible, there was no snack bar on the beach at all and the snack bar that was on the resort ran out of buns (for the hotdogs) everyday and they had no more access to banana chips (which was the best tasting thing on their menu) about 1/2 way through our week.. The buffet had the same food all week long, no change ever and the only meat they served was pork (all week). The a la cart's were ok but again a lot of the same food there too. That being said, I know the pandemic has hit hard everywhere but there needs to be something done. One of the things we did like a lot was that you can use Canadian money at par and the Cuban people are mostly very warm and friendly!

Melia Jardines del Rey: Great resort, book it today!

I been to Cuba many, many, times and to differently places/resorts. This resort by far was the best place for food and drinks. We were nervous because we had friends returning from various locations in Cuba and they said there was a daily shortage of food and drinks. This wasn't the case for this resort. You could always find something to eat and drink. There is a pizza restaurant, fries-hotdogs-sandwiches restaurant and 2 buffets. There is a lobby bar, pool swim up bar- that always had daily  [... read more]entertainment, beach bar- that the workers even came around while your relaxing on the beach to bring you drinks. Areas were always clean, room was very nice (we were in building #2), great water pressure in the shower. Staff very helpful, friendly and they never once asked us for $, items or to purchase things from them. It's a large resort therefore your walking a distance from the lobby to the beach but I took it that you are getting your daily steps in lol. During our vacation we were told there were approx 1200 people there and it can house up to 2500. Bring Canadian money, $20can = 5pesco exchanged at the front desk. You can either tipped in pesco or Canadian. We exchanged ( for the workers ) Canadian coin for bills because they cannot by anything with coin or even take it to the bank to exchange. They truly appreciate any tips no matter the amount or currency. We did not do any excursions but if you want to they must be paid by credit card. Went to the spa for massage (it was great) you can pay in Can.$ I do not like using my credit card in Cuba because it's charged in American $ along with an additional credit card fee. The only downside had nothing to do with the resort was our Sunwing rep. did not have a Sunwing information binder in the lobby with information regarding our departure from the hotel timings. All other travel reps had the information either in a binder or letter posted won their information board. I highly recommend to bring water socks because when you first get in the water it's rocky with lots of dead coral that are sharp. I love to see coral because it's great for snorkeling, if you enjoy snorkeling bring your equipment. The beach is beautiful. I highly recommend this resort to anyone, we will for sure return. I also highly recommend our travel agent Carol Webber, she is our go to Girl, Ext 7209

Melia Las Dunas: Just the girls

The resort and the employees were awesome. Limited English but everyone was very helpful with any issues we had. The staff are very eager to please. The beach is one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen. White sand and turquoise water. The beach was always clean. Limited chairs available. Food was good. I enjoyed the rice & beans, squash and the chicken and pork very much. I will definitely return to Cuba!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: I wanted to like it...

I wanted to like Paradisus Princessa Del Mar, truly - but I cannot recommend going to the resort over others in Cuba for a few reasons. I will however highlight the pros: The beach, absolutely beautiful, clean (even in the water), and an easily accessible bar with lots of activities going on every hour in the morning into early afternoon (aquafit, dancing, etc.) - very easy to find loungers and usually they were in pairs under umbrellas. Very relaxing. The pool as well, it's shallower but  [... read more]beautiful, well maintained & clean - all the fountains too were functioning and looked great, except for the courtyard fountain wasn't on but was clean & freshly painted. Again, loungers and personal cabanas were in abundance. Few people ever seemed to be in the pool vs. the ocean, except for the swim up bar area. We arrived late to the hotel (thanks WestJet for changing our flight... /s) and the front desk man was very pleasant and fast in getting us checked in. We were driven straight to our room and shown some of the resorts amenities on the golf cart ride. The room left more to desired. It felt like I was breathing in mold, I couldn't see it but it was very damp feeling even inside the sheets of the bed! Speaking of, there was only a thin sheet on there but thankfully extra blankets in the closet. There was a safe that was very old, circa 1980s looking and it didn't work & no instructions were there anyways - just gave an error code when trying to use it. It didn't feel great leaving anything in the room like a passport/cash. There was a nice little welcome package of 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner and some body wash - no face towels, but some hand towels and 2 body towels & 2 beach towels. No toilet paper, which I know usually you bring your own to Cuba when in public, but we had to wait until the next day for the cleaner to bring 1 roll for us. There was bottled water, an interesting carbonated drink I can only describe as "heavy iced tea" and a few cerveza cans. The mini fridge was restocked daily with these. The rest of the room was fine, the sliding patio door was a bit broken around the lock (there was the door lock, a chain lock and a door guard bar), the curtains were clean but stuck in their tracks constantly, and the furniture/couches looked faded and definitely not comfortable. The food was... bad, even for Cuban standards. I've been to resorts in Cuba that had access to food even throughout COVID and this was interesting in how bad it could get. They had the raw ingredients to make great food but they didn't. They had bell peppers, rice, chicken but couldn't make fried rice or some stir fry for example - instead they'd steam some plaintains, basic rice, and maybe some fried eggplant then separately cook some bell peppers in oil in a pan. There were potatoes but you could easily make mashed or fried potatoes, but instead they were constantly cold/just cooked with some sauce. If you wanted something cooked like beef/chicken/pork there was 1 chef doing this throughout the meal time so normally you'd be waiting behind 4-8 people but also the lines were in front of food people were trying to get to. A note to the resort on food, if you're just cooking pork/beef/chicken to put on someones plate, just do a bunch of it and then have it in hot dishes so people can get what they want! It would save so much time and make people happier. Every morning you'd have to line up for eggs to get cooked - to the resort, just have scrambled eggs and fried eggs available in hot dishes too and you'd save a lot of time and effort there too. If you're worried about waste, just don't replenish in the last hour of the meal and then have people come up/line up to get what they want. I didn't need amazing food, but I needed edible/warm food. 6 different types of rice and some cold cuts doesn't make a meal. The bread was good, as were the small desserts but it felt like there was something missing constantly - perhaps low amounts of sugar/butter. The saving grace for the food were the restaurants such as Sakura which I do 110% recommend for the experience and food quality vs. the buffet. Speaking with other travelers during our trips we learned they had great access to food, no idea why this resort isn't able to get the same level of food quality and/or chefs. I weighed myself before/after the trip and I lost 4lbs even after drinking/eating at least 1 plate of food per meal because it wasn't filling/calorie. The beer was great, the alcohol availability at all the smaller bars was limited to basically rum and some mixers (no name brand things like Coca-Cola/Sprite but offbrand that didn't taste great, the embargo I think however does apply here.) The main bar by the check-in desk (piano bar) is the only bar where you could get something with crushed ice or even a bit nicer than a mixed drink in a paper cup. The staff were friendly & helpful but some of the dining room staff consistently ignored us, even if we tipped - and it was hard to flag them down as they seemed to keep themselves behind the servers areas or didn't walk around. I would maybe get 1 beer/drink per meal even if I was there for 45 min to an hour. To the resort - your dining room glasses are small, for items like beer there needs to be larger 16 or 20 oz pint glasses. I won't be returning unfortunately, I'll come back to Cuba but not to this resort. The location was one of the farthest resorts also! So, be warned you'll usually be the last people on the bus getting dropped off, and first ones picked up for any trips (meaning early morning + at least 40-60 minutes of turning into other resorts to grab people)

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Great beaches,dissapointing resort

Great beaches but not hard to find in cuba. What is increasing hard to tolerate are the resorts. This one is is promoted as 5 stars but if you know anything about cuba that equates to about a 3 1/2 star resort anywhere else. The staff were pleasant and helpful but expected to be tipped for just about anything. It is supposed to be an adults resort and spa. No quiet zones here! Its cuban dance music everywhere. Cant get away from it and on the beach they offer rides on three different ultrali [... read more]te aircraft. Very noisy and annoing! The worst thing about the resort is the buffet - unless you really like rice. Same thing for lunch and supper - more rice! They even had a cook station doing fried rice? Nobody I talked to were happy with the food choices. They want your tourist dollars but dont want to feed you. We had our best meals in town. We also had items stolen from our luggage on the flight back. Wont be returning!

Melia Las Americas: Great Resort

This hotel was very comfortable, well laid out, well kept. The public areas were always tidy, clean and attractive. We upgraded to LEVEL area which was well worth the extra cost. The "Limoncello" restaurant in this area was clean, well staffed with excellent menus to choose from. The only draw back was the elevated platform in the middle which was a stumbling block for quite a few customers. The other restaurants were also well stocked with very good food. Our rooms were always kept clean an [... read more]d well stocked. The loudness of music in many areas was too loud for our age group!

Paradisus Varadero: Good resort

in general, the beach is very beautiful, the pools are clean, as for the hotel, it is a very dilapidated resort, it needs a renovation, the rooms are quite clean, but they have very poor wi-fi and no usb input

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Fantastic vacation!!!

The whole experience was great. The grounds were beautiful and clean. The Staff was amazing. Food was yummy for the most part. Overall, we are already planning when we can come back to the same Hotel

Melia Jardines del Rey: Recommended but would not return

Long story short; You get what you pay for. This is a nice resort with some updated features and a beautiful beach to walk. More details: Before leaving for Cayo Coco Melia Jardines del Rey I read many of the reviews and noticed that they were either 0-1 or 4-5 star reviews with not a lot of middle ground. After visiting I realize that the 0-1 reviewers were focusing too much on just one aspect of their stay and experience. My suggestion to you the reader (and the previous reviewers), if you [... read more] read in here that there is a lack of something (i.e. towel or toilet paper) pack it in your suitcase and bring it from home. Simple solution. As for the 4-5 star reviews, yes the resort is nice and clean. The staff work very hard. The food is decent and the restaurant have a good enough variety for the week. My main issue staying on the resort was not the resort itself (the building, staff, beach or food), it was the other people (guests) staying there. Many of them are rude, they but in lines, empty baby carriages full of food on the floor for the staff to clean up - they are busy enough they do not need to clean up after grown adults. Have some respect for yourself and for the staff, help clean and keep the place tidy. Stop cutting in lines and ask the person in front of you if they have already ordered. As for the maintenance; one pool was not swimmable. It was covered in green algae and did not look inviting to swim in. I suggest the beach instead. Bring a snorkel and mask to view the fish along the beach shore. I would recommend water shoes as there as many spots covered in coral. Be prepared for shortages of wine or other liquors besides rum. Bring the things from home that would make your trip more enjoyable and be kind to one another.

Melia Cayo Coco: Great Resort

Hotel was very clean. Staff always working to keep up. Great place. Food was very good especially for Cuba. Rooms a bit dated but clean. Staff amazing. Beautiful pool. Beach was amazing. Never had an issue finding seats. Would definitely go back.

Melia Las Americas: 5 star resort!

Every aspect of the hotel was clean and the staff very friendly. We were happy with the food and the specialty restaurants were a nice addition to our stay. Lots of beach chairs at the beach and the pool at any time of day. We have no complaints or suggestions to make our vacation better.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Good resort

The beach was amazing, you could walk for miles, safe and no seaweed. Plenty of beach chairs and an employee was there full time organizing chairs and helping people move chairs as required, etc. Drinks were ok, not the usual beach drink quality you get at other places but the beer was good and it was cold. Service at the buffett was great but patio service was horrible, workers need training on service and in english. The resort was clean and attractive. The food was fine, we never went hungry  [... read more]and it was what we expected. Overall a strong 3 because of the great beach.

Melia Cayo Coco: Amazing time!

We had a great time at the Melia Cayo Coco! The people, grounds, common areas were wonderful. There was always someone cleaning. The food was limited, but very good. The baked goods were spectacular! We would go back😁

Sol Palmeras: Great time with family

We had a great stay at Sol Palmeras. Positives: outstanding beach, great for swimming and relaxation. We were nicely surprised that there were enough sun beds and umbrellas for the guests (we didn’t have to fight for the space at all). We really enjoyed the food especially a la carte restaurants. I thought the food was really good (you will definitely no be able to lose weight here! Lol ). We did long walks along the beach each morning which was a plus. Customer service was good (you got t [... read more]hat “odd” person once in a while) but generally staff was nice and helpful! The bungalows were lovely. My sister stayed in 215 and it was very spacious! We stayed at the main building and the room was average but bright and clean! Negatives: in our room (#3079) every time we flushed toilet 🚽 this horrible noise kicked in from inside the wall that you could hear all the way in the hallway- it got fixed two days into our trip. Our shower head also did not work (the water was just dripping down on the side of the shower wire) we were able to wash only under the faucet. Twice I went to my sisters bungalow to take a shower. Zone 3,4 and 5 were lacking landscaping and you could tell no one has cut the grass in ages. Only bungalows closer to the main pool had nice bushes around them and grass was trimmed. Generally very nice resort but definitely in need of some TLC especially in places less common. I like to go for walks and noticed all areas were there was less traffic were sort of neglected. The cabanas by the pools are stained with old food and drinks. Is anyone washing these ever???

Melia Marina Varadero: Great Resort!

We had an amazing family vacation! The hotel is wonderful and staff are super friendly. We went when the hotel was only half capacity so some things took longer than usual to get but other than that we have no regrets!

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Resort okay - not 5 star

-This resort was okay, we had issues with the rooms, not being what was represented on the website. We had no water for approximately 18 hours and when notifying the front desk, they said - "it's a big problem" - no explanation, or offer of another room to have a shower/use the washroom. We had to ask for a key to another room for these necessary amenities. -Food was as expected. Japanese restaurant was good, entertaining. The others were pretty much all the same meals. Buffet was good with  [... read more]some good variety. -Hotel lobby entertainment was excellent! -Friendly staff many who speak mostly Spanish, which was at time difficult to communicate. -Lovely grounds, well maintained pool, beach is great. I did get bit by sand fleas on our last few days which made it a little uncomfortable.

Melia Las Dunas: Beautiful Place

Beautiful resort lovely people from the landscape staff , bar staff buffet and a la Carte restaurants and everyone in between . The food was good for what is made available to them. Some people will find a reason to complain. We come to enjoy friendly people nice weather and the beautiful beach We will be returning Feb

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Lovely Resort

The resort has beautiful grounds and is clean and well maintained. The rooms are comfortable and clean. The restaurants are easy to book and the food was very good. The buffet had a wide variety every day and the a la cartes had super service. There are tons of activities for singles, couples and families and the entertainment team was superb. The beach is, of course, the highlight of your stay here. Some negatives: There are not enough chairs at the beach and pools so it is difficult to get  [... read more]a chair when the resort is full. Also, beach towels often run out. The towels are not the resort's fault, but rather the fault of selfish guests.

Paradisus Los Cayos: Great resort

Paradisus Los Cayos is a great resort in Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. The hotel is relatively new, the beach is stunning and the people working there are so nice. The food is not bad [for Cuba]. We didn't spend any time in the pools or the kid's area. This is definitely a beach resort!