Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Amazing resort

Everything was good a part from the food! Oh and the cleanliness of the beach! You go in the morning and you notice there are used glasses from a day before which were not picked up and washed and left there over night! The gypsies who try to sell stuff to you are always on the beach and they are very disruptive. They sometimes get into a fight within themselves and ruin your relaxation.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Not as expected!

1-We had heard that Megano beach is the best in the world. That is not correct. It is the worst from two beaches the resort has, not comparing it with Cayo Santa Maria beach. Starting from the color of the sea, it is not blue and clear. There are sewed in the depth that make the color dark, but there are some even in the shallow part where the floor of the sea is like dusty, not firm. Esenachos beach is beautiful, but far from the rooms that were mostly in use, so you should rely in the golf car [... read more]ts to go there. Resort was very big from one side to another, including Coral Village. It was a long way from lobby to Megano beach, that was was over some dirty smelly water that maybe was the "home" of mosquitos. 2-Grounds are nice looking but a lot of mosquitos and small bugs that made everyone itching their skins all the time. That was a big trouble for us. Even though they were spaying twice a day, that spray didn't do any change. 3-The food was basic, there were some varieties but the cleanness needs to be greatly improved. This is regarding buffet(where there were lots of flies, but we realized even cockroaches in the cold salad area in the center). The restaurant close to the beach was dirty as well, flies were covering the cold food, salads. Other restaurants were a waste of time. There were two dinners organized outside, the food in those had much more variety, but considering the fact that mosquitos, bugs and flies were there all the time, weren't enjoyable. God helped us giving no big problem for the health as a result of bad hygiene in food especially. Also it is a shame to have napkins cut in four for saving in buffet. Is this Iberostar standard?!!!! 4-Rooms were big, the air conditioning was not enough to create good environment comparing to the heat that was outside. Different issues in the room during 1 week stay, people that were supposed to repair them were fixing one issue and creating other ones. There was no hot water in the bathroom for days. 5-We were happy to see that there was a washroom close to the beach, in fact we later realized that there was not toilet paper and soap most of the time there. One of women's washroom did not even have the lock for the door. 6- Bottled waters in the rooms were given without the "seal" that showed that it was not previously open, and we realized a big problem with hygiene of the plastic, not one time used caps for water or other drinks in the beach. 7-Esenachos resort is supposed to have 5 stars, we would give them max 2 stars, and we are not going back there any more.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: High's and low's

Let me start off this review with We have been to Cuba 7 times, all over the island. Varedero, Cayo coco, Cayo Santa Maria, Jibicoa and now Cayo Ensenachos. We know the standard for Cuba and have a good idea of what we were getting ourselves into. We had also been told the pandemic had hit Cuba hard, this can not be overstated. This was the first time we went to Cuba with our 2 kids ages 4 & 2. I'll start off with the resort its self, I'm sure when this place was built new it was gorgeous, I [... read more]'m not sure they have done much to keep it up since. Overall it is a beautiful place but once you start to look a little closer it requires improvement. The first thing that stood out was the kids pool, The plaster around the bottom of the waterslides have cracked and fallen off so there is about a 6-inch gap of sharp exposed rusted rebar protruding from the sides of the water slides. Also on the top of the boat where a sail must of been broken off there was just an exposed channel sticking out of the ground a couple inches. All of this is easily fixable but a cause for concern at the same time. The boardwalks out to the beach definitely need attention as multiple railing posts have fallen over and laying on the ground, a hand full of boards are completely rotten, enough our 4 year old was pointing them out and telling us not to step on them. Also the elevator does not work, if you have mobility issues or a stroller this will effect you. In our room our phone did not work (no one's did in our building) are safe didn't work and the air conditioning well we can say it did its best but definitely needs some TLC. I will say that this is the first time in all our trips that we had issues with the staff. Not just one but were met with some of the most arrogant people we have met. Also the lack of bell boys/golf carts is what really got us. First upon check in no bell boy to help us unload all our luggage, check in was fine and smooth. We had 2 children sleeping and their luggage and our luggage and other guests were helping us none of their staff. after a 30 min wait, a golf cart showed up to take us to our room. He was great and extremely helpful. upon going into our room our safe didn't work, phone didn't work, light didn't work in the bathroom, toilet wouldn't flush, and one key card didn't work. I couldn't call the front desk so started the 15 min hike back down and let them know and was told someone will come down to fix it. No one showed, then went to their 24 hr snack bar. FYI their 24hr snack bar is only open after 3pm. Went to the lobby every morning and told them we fixed the toilet but would just like a working safe for the passports cash etc. no one ever came. One morning in our trip my wife went down to the buffet with our 2 year old in the stroller. With no elevator she had to do 3 flights of stairs with our daughter in the stroller. Which is completely fine and we didn't expect anyone to help her as we have manged all week.( I will say that for the most part if they saw one of us with the stroller doing the stair someone offer to help which was great) What she didn't expect was the SPA staff which were standing at the top of the stairs watch her do them all with beach bags, stroller and a 2 year old. Laughing at her then when she reached the top of the stairs the said looks like you could use a massage how about purchasing a spa package. We were mocked in Spanish by the Omellete chef as there was a misunderstanding due to translation, we had another chef once we located lunch which was moved to the beach. Told the waitress, myself and my 4 year old to get our own food. walked away with a plate of food they cooked for themselves and left to join their friends behind the building eating. The waitress was yelling at them and trying to help but my son and i ended up walking back to the buffet at the main building. Even though we talked to the front desk and had the pool bar order/call for the bell boy to come with a golf cart when we were leaving they never showed. I was stuck carrying 4 suitcases and stroller, 4 carry ons's and a beach back all the way back to the main building including the 3 flights of stairs in 36 degree heat. Other guests rushed to help us once they saw the struggle. The hotel staff sat back and offered more massage packages. The golf cart was sitting at the front of the resort with its driver just chatting with the landscape crew. One thing you need to be prepared for is that the meals are moved to different locations throughout the resort daily. We weren't the only one mentioning this, no one ever knew where the next meal was. This resort is massive and we had talked to several couples that didn't eat lunch simply because they couldn't find where they were serving lunch that day. (our solution every morning we went to the front desk and asked where all the meals were that day, you would be surprised that half the time they didn't even know) The shade structures around the pool we were at were all removed there was not a single shade structure to be used. I want to say that this resort has so much potential and should be a 5 star resort (For cuba) but it keeps getting in its own way. The beaches are incredible, most of the staff is great. the resort is nice, the pools are nice even for lack of shade. Some staff members are absolutely incredible and some are terrible just like any other work force. One last thing if your expecting to find snacks anywhere in cuba in the stores/markets etc like pringles, coca cola or cookies or anything there is nothing. Not a big deal we brought a lot of our own. Overall we enjoyed our vacation but the resort is dated, huge and with no golf carts to drive people around it can be challenging to get around as one of the beaches is only accessible by golf cart. We would still rate this 3.5-4 stars even with the issues we encountered just keep in mind how hard this country has been hit and there is definitely a shortage of materials and workers. If you keep everything in perspective you will have a great trip there, we enjoyed it and the kids had a blast we just left wanting a bit more as the property definitely has the potential to offer it.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Worth a stay

The variety in pools and access to the beach are great. The nightly shows on the resort and activities on the beach/pool side (dancing. Games) was a great add on that i was not expecting. It made every day fun hearing the music and feeling apart of the culture. The staff were great. Friendly and helpful. Rooms could use some work. The bathtub would not drain and a few minor aesthetic items. During a rain storm in the hallway the rain was pouring through a light fixture. The food was okay (lik [... read more]e everywhere experiencing shortages) they offered the best selection of food possible. You wont go hungry. The "specialty" Restaurants (italian and romantic) were not worth it. There was nothing different from the buffet just less options on fancier plates. My spaghetti noodles came out with a big clump stuck together. The "vegetable salad" came with nothing on it for a dressing. It was just bare cabbage. The options in the store are very slim (no snack items) so if you are bringing kids or even some adults i suggest bringing some items with you. Overall i would recommend this resort to stay. It was beautiful. Hopefully some of the minor details can be taken care of to ensure people want to come back.

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Great first time experience in Cuba

This was my first time in Cuba. Stayed at the Iberostar Laguna Azul. As I expected the food is blah. But I didn't go hungry. Of note next time I visit, I won't waste my time at the specialty restaurants as its pretty mush the same food at the buffet. The hotel room itself is looking dated but again, I was only there to sleep in. Hotel staff very friendly and the swim up bartender Felix was great. Looking forward to going back. Oh and next time I will be taking some American $$.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Amazing resort

It's not my first time in Cuba, but it was first time in Cayo Coco, and like always I didn't get disappointed. Honestly I can't get it, why everybody are complaining about the food, it was so good food there, a lots of fruits, meat , fish, seafood, pasta, vegetables, all so yummy. The customer service was great, all personnel at the resort are so welcoming, so nice!!!!! The common area always clean, same as great room service. The beach are so beautiful, just love it! The only thing I wa [... read more]sn't ok with it's mosquitoes, they literally eat me alive, but it's just me, not lucky I guess😉. For sure will visit this resort again, same as my friends with who I went there. One of them already planning to go there with a family on January 2023. Thanks a lot for making my vacation so wonderful 💕

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: SHAME

Hotel was nice and beach. Food was a absolute joke. Horrible. Lost 14 pounds. Service at hotel was fair. They all.looked for tips for service that you had to pretty much beg for. I would rate this trip a 2. Thanks

Iberostar Selection Holguin: Good new resort.

The rooms were perfect with air condition, the service was really good, the food was ok, the territory is well maintained. There weren't many black flies, otherwise the spray worked well. We all liked it except the beaches are not safe as there are a lot of local people coming. They stole our sandals and it was hell to stay on vacation with just sneakers. The rest of the vacation was a bit ruined because of this because we were scared every time we went to the beach and it was impossible to s [... read more]wim together because someone would have stayed to watch our clothes.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Amazing Beach

Good size rooms with a very good air conditioning system. Food was OK. People amazing. Fantastic massages at the SPA. Good entertainment and plenty of things to do. I just wish for more selections at the buffet.

Iberostar Coral Holguin: Large resort

Stayed on the coral level side of the resort. Rooms were nice and always kept very clean. Towels were exchanged everyday. Pool on this area was clean and quiet with chairs always available. Butler service was amazing. Laritza and Junior went above and beyond for us and even arranged a special dinner for our honeymoon. We used the butler service all week to transport us to the a la carte restaurants and beach areas as the resort is quite large and if you have mobility issues it’s definitely wor [... read more]th paying extra to stay in this area of the resort. Beach areas were nice. The only downside were the shortage of food and alcohol available. Not much vegetables or fruit available and no pop for mixed drinks. We did eat lobster all week at no extra cost. Quiet and relaxing in the coral level with only adults. Massages were excellent and very inexpensive. If you want to relax then this is the resort to visit. Definitely want to visit again so hoping that the shortage of food and alcohol improves.

Iberostar Waves Costa Dorada: Good bang for your buck

My husband and i had a lovely time at the resort. We stayed for 7 days. We thought the food was pretty decent. The buffet mostly had the same food everyday but we didn’t find that to be a problem, as the food tasted good. A la carts were surprisingly good. There was lots of chairs at the beach and the pool, we never had a problem at any time of the day. Drinks were good. Lobby bar was our favourite to hang out around. We loved the beach and didn’t see anything wrong with it.  [... read more]Some seaweed that got cleaned up everyday. But.. As people say the locals really overtake the resort Friday to Sunday. But the rest of the week was quieter for sure. The pool was crowded over the weekend because of this. There were locals in the beach trying to get you to come down to their “market” to sell you things. They were very persistent and some days were set up on the resort blocking the pathways to the lobby and buffet so you could not avoid them. Like other people say, the pool was dirty. But they had a worker fishing things out of it every afternoon. We did have 1 cockroach in our room that we killed, but a day or two later there was a letter under our door stating that they were fumigating it, so it’s nice to see they were taking care of it. We had an updated room in building 1. So we had no complaints there. Except our AC wasn’t super cold, and our safe stopped working on our last day. Customer service was amazing. We had all power go out in our room one day and when we told the front desk, it was fixed within an hour or two. They had them phoned us later that evening to follow up and make sure it was working, which was nice to see. We really enjoyed our stay here, and like i said, for the money we payed, it exceeded our expectation.

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Great family resort

We spent our 7 days at the Iberostar Selection Playa Pilar and were pleased with the overall infrastructure and service of the resort. All the staff are exceptionally friendly, helpful, and hard working. We were very grateful for every measure of due diligence in attending to our inquiries, requests, and sincere efforts in accommodating our concerns. There is however an evident shortage in a few things. Please bear in mind that in light of the pandemic, this resort and its staff have given 1 [... read more]00% of their very best. It would be helpful to carry these items for your comfort: - toilet tissue (runs out during the course of the day in the main lobby areas) - paper towel/dinner napkins (if you consume/rely on a lot of serviettes while dining) - wipes (baby wipes, or sanitizing wipes) - condiments of your preference - water/thermos bottles - snacks that will fit in your luggage (especially if you have children) & cup noodles (wish I did this!) - first aid kit & medications, extra hygienic items, etc. The resort itself is a great size. You don't feel crowded or lost by the layout of the whole place. We had a large room with 3 beds and it was comfortable. Bring a comfy light sheet. The beach is beautiful! A lot of fish underneath the staircase leading down into the water. IT IS NOT A STRETCH OF SAND FYI. It would help to bring water shoes so you don't get cut by the beautiful corals. The food is fair. I stuck to a lot of grilled pork chop, and grilled tilapia with rice, squash, and avocado; fruits: I had a lot of guava, and mango/guava juice to drink. Thank you Iberostar for a wonderful week with my family!

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Another fun, sunny Cuba vacation

Beach, pool, bars are great. Food is regular Cuba resort minus the free lobster. My other 7 Cuba resorts have at least 2 lobster dinner. It seems there was no attempt to control bugs such as the many flies in the buffet area and sand fleas which are hard to detect. The resort is subpar for an Iberostar. there was a lack of maintenance such as sliding doors which do not lock, safe with no battery, the toilet design (brand) is bad, and maintenance of the toilet is badly needed. The room its [... read more]elf is quite spacious and nice. There is no disco but the nightly entertainment was quite good.

Iberostar Origin Bella Vista Varadero: The worse resort

This has been the worse resort in my entire life. My family and I couldn’t stand how bad it was that we have to pay extra to our airline agent and go to another hotel. Please don’t go there. They need to close this hotel, make renovation, improve the gastronomy, train the stuff and improve their salaries so they can give a good service. I never complain and I am very tolerant but this was the worse experience ever.

Iberostar Coral Holguin: the best resert in Cuba!!!!!

It was the best experience ever!!!!Beautiful resort,delicious food,gorgeous beaches and amazing service!!!!bravo!!! very friendly stuff,spotless rooms,great entertainment!!!love everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [... read more]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Hotel is struggling

Hotel service in general is struggling. We had several issues however we made the best of it. 1. Room towels were limited. We had to speak to management to get some and when we finally did, they were not replaced everyday. 2. Beach towels, same as above however these were not replaced the entire trip. 3. We had 2 rooms 318, 319. Both rooms had the following issuses. A. Shower heads did not have cold water. When you switch on the cold water, nothing came out and hot water basically trickled [... read more] out. We needed to bath kids using a glass, we would fill water from the fauset and carry it over to shower to rinse. We complained and on the 4th day, we finally moved into other rooms which had running water coming out of the shower head. 4. Phones and room safes do not work. 5. We believe we had some sort of bed bug in the first two rooms. Bites all over legs. 6. If you like beaches, DO NOT GO TO THIS RESORT. I cannot stress enough how this beach is not your typical sandy Cuba beach. There is no sand ANYWHERE, Just rocks where theyve built an elevated walk way. If you want beach, this is not the place for you. 7. Main pool was green when we arrived. They unfortunately did not have chlorine and cleaning Agents until day 3.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: A wonderful resort and great week

We loved our stay at this beautiful resort,we stayed a week, it is about a hour from the airport the hotel is new and very clean we had a ocean view, with this being a newer resort the resorts are set back from the ocean and you get a very small view of the ocean, we enjoyed the room large bathroom with tub, walkin shower double sinks comfortable king bed I love the safe being included in your room and did not have to pay extra for a safe hair blower iron and ironing board bottl [... read more]ed water left everyday beach towels left in our room and plug in for your cell phone our room was left cleaned everyday with fresh towels they have swim up rooms we would choose this next time also robes Food: Great fresh food great bread and desserts and meat rice Snack bar had great pizza and hamburgers and other items were great as well the alcartes were great medderation Caribbean,intilian on Thursday had a cuban day and great buffet set up outside Beach: lots of seed weed but the staff really try and clean it up great chairs to sit and lots of shaded spots a bar close to the beach great walking on the beach Sunwing I am disappointed that sunwing does not have the times posted when the bus will pick you at the hotel the day you leave to go home We had to ask a few people to find out not even a phone number to phone the sunwing rep One staff stood out to us ,Airel the butler he was kind and very helpful and very calm and caring great customer service he provides We loved our stay

Iberostar Origin Laguna Azul: Worst hotel experience ever!

First of all I would like to express my disappointment of tripcentral and Sunwing for keeping this hotel in their portfolio. This hotel shouldn’t be sold to anyone let alone Canadian public. I understand Covid affected Cuba, but your company should have sent your people to check the hotel before sell it to people. You would have found out the incompetence in half a day if you had stayed at the hotel. We went as a group of 18 people. Everyone in our group wanted to come back home next day of ar [... read more]rival. I am extremely disappointed with your company and Sunwing. This was a false advertisement by your company and Sunwing. I regret that we trusted your company!!! Instead of a holiday we all came back home stressed out and out of money!!!!!!

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: Disappointing

Let me start off by saying the staff was wonderful at the Buffet and beach bar. The room was a good size but could not open the screen or patio door half a roll of toilet paper one bar of soap in seven days my towels were never changed in my hotel room. I got my beach towels changed only one day. If you enjoy long walks on the beach don’t bother staying at this hotel because you cannot walk on the beach you enter the water from a pier. The staff work so hard the problem is management. I would  [... read more]not recommend this hotel

Iberostar Origin Playa Pilar: This is a very poorly run hotel

I have never written a review on a hotel except for this hotel. We just returned from a ladies week away. Save your money or choose another hotel. Hotel rating given is a one star at the very best. We believe that the higher star reviews have some how been paid for from an inside source. Issues: poorly set up check in process, no air conditioning in the buffet, flies landing on the prepared food, some of the staff seemed very, very unhappy and not easily approachable. We saw time ov [... read more]er time that Spanish speaking people were served before the Ontario ladies. The rooms: Upon check in, one of my friends was placed into another building. My other friend found someone else’s hair on her floor. I had bugs jumping on me. My pillows smelled like vomit. The balcony door could not be opened. My electricity in my room kept on shutting off. They actually ran out of toilet paper. Many other shortages. No diet pop only Coke, Sprite and Orange. If you are diabetic, good luck! They refused to hand out plastic bottles. but they gave you one bottle of their purified water, per day. Pool: Main pool turned green and they did not correct the problem for more than two days. Beach towel service was almost non existent. During our week I could only exchange my towel once, as they stated they had no clean towels. Walkways at night had little to no light. Very dangerous to walk our friend to her building. Beach: Athough they built a nice pier, the steps to get into the ocean were very green and slimy making it very dangerous to get in and out. Why would the staff not clean the steps?? Shame on Iberostar for not properly maintaining this property! Shame on Iberostar for making our time in Cuba horrific.