Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: Over all Amazing! No complaints!
The Hotel is super clean and well maintained regardless that it is starting to show its age. Certain areas would need a refresher but overall not an issue. The ocean view & beach; just paradise! The staff is attentive and the service is excellent. I recommend & would return anytime!!
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Elena -
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Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Very good , beautiful beach, ocean, no grass,
Resort is very good, we will try to be back.Ocean and beach Beatiful! Hotel and rooms - modern, clean, condition works!!! Quite! This resort would be good choice for wintertime (January/feb) Service is good- a lot of workers and many of them do perfect job. Food- you would not be hungry , and all tourists know about shortages, but.. we stayed at Melia Paradisus Rio de Oro many times and was much better choices of food and cooked with love. ( it located very close) Overall we liked this resort an[... read more]d can suggest to Come! But- I would think which company to choose for transportation- west jet (((( we were there on thanksgiving weekend, and flight back to Toronto was cancelled due to broken plane. All passengers were left in Holguín aero port for almost 4 hours without no information / no info updates , no water provided to us. Then they transferred us back to resort( Thank you for that! Gave us rooms food beach for extra day!!! West jet send empty rescue plane to pick up174 passengers!!! Great! But not provided food and hot water , no flushing water in the toilet???? How??? And Two pilots from broken Saturday flight didn’t get opportunity to have Seats to fly home!!! Now I understand why air Canada were on strike this summer.
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Pam B -
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Sanctuary at Grand Memories Holguin: Clean and beautiful but lacking entertainment
Eight of us returned September 19th from a week of the Sanctuary Grand Memories in Hoguin. The hotel is beautiful. Staff were amazing. The rooms were lovely and came equipped with a safe, storage for your clothes, a balcony and very comfortable beds. The food is OK, but was really lacking in fruit and vegetables. The only fruit we saw for the week was papaya for about three days and bananas on one day. There are a few à la carte restaurants at this resort the Japanese was our favourite. The alco[... read more]hol was better than expected. The pink gin from Spain being my favourite for sure. If you have a flight, leaving later from the resort, the prestige plan allows you to check out at 3 PM which would’ve been a nice bonus. We did one excursion on a catamaran for a lobster dinner and sunset cruise for $65. This was a great trip. Others said they really enjoyed the Jeep trip but the snorkelling trip wasn’t great. There was very little entertainment in the evening. There were no theatre style shows. They did have a karaoke night and a dance competition night. I don’t even know if we met an entertainment staff member when we were there. The beach was beautiful and lots of beach chairs and shade available. The water was warm and clear other than when it was stormy. There are a few jellyfish and sea urchins in the rocky areas. We met some amazing people and made some fantastic memories.
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Crofty -
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Playa Costa Verde: Amazing Staff
We came to this resort for the first time. We found the staff to be exceptional, friendly and exceptional customer service. The entertainment was great. The beach was beautiful! We will definitely be back.
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Private -
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Sanctuary at Grand Memories Holguin: Relaxing and memorable
The staff were amazing. I really appreciated getting to know them and how willing they were to do anything to help us or meet our needs. The butlers are to be commended as well. Yumior and Yennel were super but l appreciated all of them.
The hotel is unique in many ways and we enjoyed the beach, the bites restaurant for breakfast and lunch was a nice change but the selections buffet also was good. A nice experience was the bus tour into the nearby town.
Overall we had good experienc[... read more]es and made new friends.
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Private -
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Sanctuary at Grand Memories Holguin: A Great experience
I enjoyed the lovely people there.
The hotel was clean and well kept. The gardeners work hard because everywhere you look it’s so nice!!!
My favorite place to eat was Bites. Although l still enjoyed all of the options.
The staff was by far unforgettable.
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Sharonm -
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Sanctuary at Grand Memories Holguin: Beautiful Resort
The pools were beautiful and clean. But the beach was a little rough but I still enjoyed it. So were the grounds. The food was lacking flavour at times but still we had choices. Breakfast was especially great but Woujd have been better if we had more fruit choices. The service was exceptional. My butler Daniel was very helpful and the rest of the staff always tried to please us. The restaurant staff were amazing, friendly, warm, kind and most helpful.
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RobDi -
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Iberostar Coral Holguin: Awesome Adults only
Comfortable bed, best yet in all Carribean. Perfect day beds and cushioned loungers around beautiful lazy pool.
Great Staff all around from
ALlexander and all Lobby Bar Tenders
Maria Del Carmen and William and staff at Main buffet
DYANA at swimup bar
Larissa and Junior our Butlers
We will definitely be back again soon
Thanks for an awesome 7days
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RobDi -
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Iberostar Coral Holguin: Awesome Adults only
Comfortable bed, best yet in all Carribean. Perfect day beds and cushioned loungers around beautiful lazy pool.
Great Staff all around from
ALlexander and all Lobby Bar Tenders
Maria Del Carmen and William and staff at Main buffet
DYANA at swimup bar
Larissa and Junior our Butlers
We will definitely be back again soon
Thanks for an awesome 7days
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Debs -
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Iberostar Selection Holguin: Amazing Resort
We had such a wonderful experience at Iberostar Selection Holguín! The resort is absolutely beautiful — clean, well-maintained, and surrounded by stunning views of both the ocean and lush gardens. The staff were incredibly kind and always willing to help, making us feel welcome from the moment we arrived.
Our room was spacious, spotless, and very comfortable — perfect for traveling with kids. The pools and beach were breathtaking, and we loved that there were areas for both relaxation and famil[... read more]y fun.
Buffet always had something for every taste.
Can’t wait to go back ❤️
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Muhammad Chughtai -
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Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Wonderful hotel
Everything thing in value is presenting itself own unique ? sparkle like ? special in one roof all services provided. Most of stuff understanding English. Landscaping around building in plain square shaped yard looks beautiful in good taken care.
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RaeRae -
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Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort: Amazing beach
The beach was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen. Sands were so white and smooth and it went out like that in the water for feet and feet. It had no rocks or any green algae. It was clean and beautiful.
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Private -
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Sol Rio de Luna y Mares: The hotel is good, within reasonable expectations.
September 16-30, 2025.
The flight was smooth. I had to pay $55 for checked baggage, but only once. Baggage return from Cuba was free. The charter flight to the hotel took less than 90 minutes on a new, comfortable bus.
I was assigned a room in which everything worked except the air conditioning. I insisted on being moved to another room. This one did work, but I had to manually turn it on and off repeatedly.
The hotel and room 1024 were clean and generally in good condition. The food exce[... read more]eded my expectations, but there were still some shortcomings. They had eggs, bread, butter, cheese, edible sausages, pork, chicken, and a little fruit. No tomatoes or greens. For Cuba, this is definitely a four-star meal. Yesterday's compositions were limited. The yogurt and juice seemed to have been diluted with tap water. I've had food poisoning for the past four days.
The snack bar was good.
The weather was fine the entire trip, but it rained for the last four days. The temperature was 24/32°C. The water was very warm, 28-30°C.
The beach is good, 5 out of 5. The bottom is a bit steep. If you can't swim, be careful. Beach shoes are not necessary. There are no rip currents. Coral reefs are within a 1-1.5 km radius.
The loud noise from the entertainment wasn't too loud.
The staff was busy with their work, and the results were visible.
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Jeffrey JDS -
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Iberostar Coral Holguin: August was So-So vs Feb at the Iberostar
We traveled as a family of four with two rooms on the first floor, one with an outdoor shower and both with direct pool access. The Iberostar Coral Holguin is a smaller adults only resort located in the Playa Pesquero area of Holguin on Cuba’s northern coast. The layout is one of the most convenient we have seen, easy to navigate with a straight central path from the lobby to the beach. Buildings are no more than three stories high, and the atmosphere is calm and quiet. The outdoor shower was a [... read more]unique experience for me, while my wife especially enjoyed the jetted tub.
Food
August is not the time to come. Compared to February the shortages were much more pronounced. Both times there were gaps but August was far worse. Nothing either time compared to pre 2020 Cuba.
Breakfast and lunch were the highlights. Most meals were at the Coral buffet and grill which were consistent and enjoyable. At lunch there was often fresh grilling and breakfast was a strong point with good variety.
The one time at the Selection buffet was disappointing. Chicken wings were so greasy that both hands were covered in a thick layer and it took multiple napkins to clean up. Food quality was lower than at Coral and the room had an echo that made it unpleasant. That same visit ended in food poisoning despite having had no alcohol that day.
The Selection sit down was no better. The returning guests meal at the Mediterranean reeked so strongly of seafood that even my daughter who normally enjoys it had to leave.
Suppers at Coral were inconsistent. Often the description did not match the dish. Salmon was replaced with white fish. A seafood platter turned out to be fish stew. Shrimp was actually crab meat not even the lagustinas usually seen in Cuba. On many nights there was only one non fish option. After two weeks we were already bored within the first. When meals were done well they were good but honesty about what was actually being served would go a long way.
Snack bars at both hotels were nearly useless. Most of the time the only options were ham sandwiches and pizza that was basically cheese toast if you were lucky. On rare occasions fried cheese or chicken wings were offered and those were highlights, but they were seldom available. Supper time or later there was almost nothing, so if you had a bad evening meal there was no backup option in the Coral section.
We were also invited to an off site “thank you for returning visitors” event at Playa Pesquero. Being the last bus to arrive we were stuck with cold hot dogs and hamburgers and had to sit through two hours of mediocre 90s music.
Service at all food locations was great. Staff were attentive and friendly, which helped balance out the inconsistent food quality.
Overall score: 1.5/5 (-3.5 for shortages, inconsistency, and lack of honest labeling)
Pools
The Coral pool is the highlight of the outdoor spaces. Bali beds and loungers were always in abundance, and first floor patios with direct walk out to the pool made the experience especially convenient. The pool itself is giant, and even at full capacity there would still be plenty of space so it never felt crowded.
During our stay the pool was often quiet to the point of being dead. For the first four days there were no activities and very few people around. We left a comment in the Facebook group which led to four or five days of improvement, but once again the daytime atmosphere went back to silence. When Carlos was present it was a completely different experience. He brought aquafit, drink demonstrations, and music. Those days were highlights, but for much of our two week stay the lack of energy left the pool flat. We do not want a chaotic or noisy pool, just one with a bit of life.
There are speakers around the Coral pool but they play the same small rotation of about twenty songs. Uptown Funk came on six times in a single day. It is an easily fixed issue but noticeable after a few days.
Drinks and service at the pool bar were excellent. The bartender was consistently attentive and the cocktails were great. Simply wandering the pool area at Coral was a pleasant and relaxed experience.
The jetted tub beside the Coral pool was also enjoyable. It is not really a hot tub but more of a bubbling pool. My wife used it frequently and found it relaxing.
The Selection pool by contrast was the opposite extreme, a moshpit of jumping kids, party music, and crowding.
Overall score: 3.5/5 (-1.5 for lack of consistent activity and atmosphere)
Beach
There are two beaches connected at this resort. From the larger Playa Pesquero beach you can swim out past the break and come around to the smaller one. Cuba has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and this was certainly the case here. The water is clear, the sand is soft, and there is plenty of wildlife in the ocean between both beaches. Swimming between them is fun and feels safe.
The Coral section of the resort is set far back from the water. Getting to the beach often felt like a trek. Carts are sometimes available to drive you down but not consistently. Most days we walked back and would stop at the Selection pool halfway to cool off and grab a drink for the walk.
The larger Playa Pesquero side is more active with more people and a snack bar. The smaller area is quieter and less crowded. Both offered good options depending on whether we wanted quiet or activity.
One downside was the facilities at the smaller beach. The washroom never had toilet paper and there was no toilet seat, which made it less usable.
Overall score: 4/5 (-1 for distance from Coral and poor beach facilities)
Facilities
The layout of Coral is one of the best parts of the resort. Everything connects along a straight central path from the lobby to the beach, making it simple and convenient to find your way. The pool, buffet, and restaurants are all placed logically, and room blocks are evenly spaced so nothing feels far away. It is one of the most convenient and well laid out hotels I have visited.
The Coral section is mostly outdoors, which keeps things open but in August the lack of airflow made some areas uncomfortable. The lobby bar in particular would benefit from fans to improve circulation, as it often felt hot and still.
Carts are available at times to make the trek to the beach easier, though they are not always consistent. Washrooms are available in the lobby, pool area, and at the beach, though the beach facilities were poor with no toilet paper or seat.
Overall score: 4.5/5 (-0.5 for inconsistent cart availability and poor beach washroom)
Rooms
We had two rooms on the first floor, and one of them had an outdoor shower. That was the coolest experience and something I have never had before. It seems there are only a limited number of upgraded rooms with this feature and there is no way to ensure you will get one, but if you do it is worth it.
Rooms were large with plenty of space, the beds were comfortable, and everything was clean and well maintained. The jetted tub in the bathroom was my wife’s favourite feature, while the outdoor shower was mine. Having a first floor room also made it convenient to step directly out to the pool area.
The air conditioning worked well even in the August heat, and the large ceiling fan over the bed was a welcome touch. From our previous stay in February we knew the patio door was hard to operate, so this trip we brought a stick on handle which made it easier to open and close. That small adjustment made a big difference to comfort and accessibility.
Overall score: 5/5
Service and Staff
Service across the resort was generally very good. At food locations and bars the staff were attentive and friendly, and pool bar service was excellent. Drinks were always well made and the bartenders stood out for their consistency. Lisbet, who worked the grill in the Coral section, was always friendly and did a great job. Lifeguards and other general staff were friendly and helpful, and the overall tone from staff made the experience positive.
Entertainment staff also played a key role. Carlos in particular stood out. When he was present the pool area came alive with activities and energy. His presence made a clear difference and was a highlight of the stay.
Guests at Coral are assigned a butler, and this is where our experience was mixed. Over our two weeks the assigned butler changed. Larissa was fantastic. She kept us updated on what was going on, helped organize details, and made the experience smooth. Junior was the opposite. He was like the Where’s Waldo of staff. Hard to find, no easy way to contact, and rarely communicated with us. This became an issue because the Coral section does not post information anywhere. If you wanted to know about special dinners, returning guest events, or how to arrange a trip off the compound you had to track down the butler and ask.
We later learned that we could have requested things like morning coffee service or fruit and tea delivered in the evening. Other guests did this, but because Junior was our butler 80 percent of the time we never knew it was an option. Even when I asked him directly if there was any other way to reach him besides chasing him down at the lobby he never mentioned that dialing 555 on the room phone would connect to the service.
When Larissa was our butler the difference was night and day. She kept us informed and made sure we did not miss out. The hotel could really benefit from something as simple as a chalkboard or daily posting in the Coral lobby. Not knowing what is going on until it is too late is a common complaint among guests, and it was our biggest frustration with the staff setup.
Overall score: 4/5 (-1 for inconsistent butler service and lack of posted information)
Entertainment
Entertainment at Coral was a mix of highs and lows. When it was present it was fantastic. Cocktail demonstrations and live music were highlights, and when Carlos was leading activities the pool area had energy and life. Those days stood out as some of the best parts of our trip.
The challenge was consistency. For long stretches there was no entertainment at all. During those times the Coral pool felt empty and lifeless. Just small touches like aquafit or a drink demonstration would have made a big difference.
We never went to the evening events in the main Selection area. They were so loud and filled with kids that we chose to stay away. We could still hear them clearly from our section even though we were not close to the plaza.
When entertainment was offered in the Coral section it was exactly the right balance of lively without being overwhelming. The issue was that it did not happen often enough.
Overall score: 3.5/5 (-1.5 for lack of consistency and overly loud Selection events)
Overall
The Iberostar Coral Holguin is one of the most convenient and well laid out resorts we have visited. The straight central path makes navigation simple, and the first floor rooms with direct pool access were a highlight. The outdoor shower was a unique experience for me, while my wife especially enjoyed the jetted tub.
Service across the resort was consistently friendly. Staff at the pool bar, Lisbet at the grill, and Larissa as our butler all stood out for making the stay memorable. Carlos brought energy and fun whenever he was around. The weakness was the inconsistency in communication. Without posted information in the Coral section we often felt out of the loop and dependent on finding the right staff at the right time.
Food was the greatest disappointment. Breakfast and lunch at the Coral buffet were the highlights, but dinner was inconsistent, ingredients often did not match the menu, and shortages in August were pronounced. The snack bars rarely offered more than ham sandwiches or pizza that resembled cheese toast. On rare occasions fried cheese or chicken wings appeared, but they were unreliable. After two weeks the repetition wore us down. You had better like ham if you come here during this season.
The contrast between the beautiful facilities and the lack of food variety or opportunities to socialize took a toll. By the fourth day my wife, who had hyped up the trip to our two adult children, ended up in tears. My adult kids likely would have rated the trip much lower as they struggled to find meals that matched their tastes and were bored of the limited dishes well before the two weeks were over. After we posted on Facebook, staff did approach her and referenced our comments, and for a few days there was a noticeable improvement in activity and atmosphere. However, it should not take a public complaint to get action, and those improvements faded back to the usual quiet routine by the end of our stay.
The pool and beaches were outstanding in terms of space, cleanliness, and overall setting. The Coral pool never felt crowded, and the beaches were beautiful with safe swimming and the ability to move between them. But the long trek to the beach and lack of energy around the Coral pool on most days made the experience feel empty compared to what it could have been.
Entertainment when offered was excellent, with cocktail demonstrations and live music being standouts. Yet those moments were few, and the loud family shows at the Selection were unappealing.
Overall, Coral is a resort with enormous potential. The layout is superb, the rooms are well maintained, and the staff are friendly. But the inconsistent food, lack of communication, and absence of social energy in the Coral section made the trip far less than it could have been.
Overall score: 3/5
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GevG -
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Playa Pesquero: Great Resort
The resort was beautiful, well-maintained, and had a very relaxed, welcoming atmosphere.
The staff were friendly and always helpful, making sure we felt comfortable throughout our stay.
The beach was absolutely stunning, with clear water and soft sand, and there were plenty of activities for both kids and adults. Our rooms were clean and spacious, and everything we needed was taken care of.
Overall, we had a great family getaway and created some unforgettable memories. We would definit[... read more]ely recommend this resort to other families looking to relax and enjoy a tropical escape.
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Private -
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Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Great vacation
The resort was very clean and fresh. The buffet was good a few too many flies when eating. The grounds were very well maintained, the walking areas were clean, no garbage laying around. The lobby was always exceptional clean.
For the money you pay for 3 star it is worth of 4 stars.
Rooms were excellent compare to 5 star hotels
Eggs, bread, meat, real fruit juice, coffee and many other items everyday (no ice cream)
Alcohol beverages may very like vodka, tequila and white wine were absent time to time.
Over all you wont starve and guaranty that they have more food than you have in your house.
I recommend this hotel.
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Private -
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Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: Grand muthu Almirente beach
Perfect service the people are amazing the room are very clean
The food a little not enough but with price that I bought the resort it is ok
The beach is really good
The restaurent are good
The guest service they are very kind the manager Mr raul is very active man
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Private -
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Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort: The VIP section was amazing.
The VIP section was amazing. Rooms where very cozy. Lovely cleaning staff. The beach where the locals go had a lot of rubbish around. This is a HUGE hotell, if you want a great selection of food at the large buffet, go early. So much waste from the vacationers.Take only what you eat. Too many people for me. I will not return, BUT I would recommend it to families. So much for kids to do.
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Private -
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Iberostar Coral Holguin: Wonderful Vacation
Had a relaxing and enjoyable week at Iberostar Coral in Holguin. Great food, great staff and great vacation. Would like to have carts to go to the beach as a fair walk in such hot hot weather. Even though it is off season there was still enough entertainment and variety of food.