Fantastic Vacation

We stayed at the Melia Marina from March 31 to April 9. Our stay was one of the best visits so far. I have been to Cuba 7 times and this resort was one of our favourites. The people were very friendly and helpful. The rooms were clean and bright. We had a classic room above the pool and the view was excellent. The food was very good for Cuban standards. Not a great variety at the buffet but enough that you would never starve. We will be returning to this resort for sure.

Un hôtel surclassé et exécrable !

CET HÔTEL N'A ABSOLUMENT PAS LE STANDING D'UN 4.5 ETOILES COMME IL AIME À LE FAIRE CROIRE. Il n’en vaut pas plus que 2 étoiles J’ai fait plusieurs voyages depuis que je suis jeune (Floride, Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba, etc.) et c’est le pire voyage que je n’ai jamais fait. Lors de notre arrivée à l’hôtel notre studio n’était pas prêt. Il a fallu attendre tout près de 2 h avant d’obtenir notre studio, qui soi-disant, était en train de se faire nettoyer. Lorsque nous sommes  [... read more]arrivés au lobby du bâtiment abritant le studio, on s’est aperçu que l’ascenseur ne fonctionnait pas. Le porteur de bagage a dit qu’il était défectueux depuis la veille (on s’est rendu compte au courant de la semaine qu’il disait la même chose à tous les clients). On est donc arrivé au studio et on y est entré… et c’était une vraie scène d’horreur ! La salle de bain était extrêmement sale, le fond du bain était noir de crasse (qui partait soit dit en passant en frottant simplement avec du papier de toilette). La toilette portait un sceau disant qu’elle était propre alors que le dernier qui avait été chié avait encore sa trace dans le fond de la toilette et sur les côtés de la céramique, le miroir avait des d’égoutières de savon et j’en passe… rendu dans la chambre, quelqu’un avait échappé une pizza sur le couvre-pied et celui-ci n’avait été que retourné à l’envers, les draps portaient les traces de la dernière cliente qui s’était fait baiser dans le lit et le mur avait ses traces de pieds sales et le sol avait les gouttes de sperme par terre entre les traces de pied de la fille. (ce n’est pas des farces).... Bref une scène d’horreur ! On a dû rappeler le service de nettoyage pour qu’il refasse la chambre immédiatement… mais comme ils ne semblent pas savoir comment laver ! Les filles nettoyaient le bain avec du shampoing et une guenille plus sale que ce qu’un garagiste a pour s’essuyer les mains suite à un changement d’huile ! Ah oui j’oubliais, le moustiquaire de la porte-patio ne fermait pas et quand ma conjointe a réussi à le faire glisser, il s’est coincé et on devait le contourner pour avoir accès à la galerie. Le reste de la semaine, le ménage de la chambre fut malgré tout médiocre. On a même laissé volontairement des grains de sable sur un meuble et jamais en 7 jours ils ne furent retirés, ah oui, payé pas pour le studio, car on a eu la chance de visiter une chambre et il n’y a pas de différence notable. Aussi, notre présentoir à serviette dans la chambre a brisé et personne ne l’a réparé tout comme la porte patio... Côté nourriture, nous ne sommes pas difficiles, mais à cet hôtel, la nourriture était exécrable ! Le buffet est toujours trop froid malgré que l’aliment devrait être conservé au chaud, la nourriture est trop cuite ou pas assez. Tous les légumes étaient du congelé. Ne cassez-vous pas la tête pour un restaurant à la carte y sont toute pareille ! Portion trop petite vous laissant croire que ce sera succulent, mais dans les faits ce sont des mets congelés qu’il vous sert. Il y avait une soi-disant salade grecque et ce n’en était pas une, la soupe aux crevettes était en fait un bouillon de bÅ“uf aromatisé aux crevettes, au souper, les crevettes soi-disant géantes étaient en fait des crevettes a cocktail. Bref chaque soir où nous avons mangé à la carte on a été finir le souper au buffet en se trouvant de quoi de mangeable. Le vin rouge du tout inclus n’est pas buvable et le vin blanc goutait l’eau. Le 4 IIème jours, ils ont manqué de café. Le seul endroit où il y en avait était au bar pour mettre dans le café espagnol. Si vous cherché un des restaurants à la carte, ne vous fier pas au garde de sécurité sur place pour vous aider, ils ne savent pas où ils sont situés malgré qu’ils étaient justes devant. À chaque soir près de la marina, on aurait dit que l’hôtel évacuait ses eaux usées dans la mer, car ça sentait les égouts. Les spectacles étaient corrects, mais la chanteuse passait son temps à crier dans le micro pour chanter plutôt que de faire porter sa voix naturellement. À la plage, il y avait au minimum 50 % des chaises longues qui étaient brisés ou hors d’usage. La place n’était pas nettoyée malgré la présence de l’équipement motorisé pour pouvoir le faire. Nous ne sommes pas des clients hyper exigeants, mais quand il en vient au service ça nous teints à cÅ“ur et ça se doit d’être honnête. À part du service du bar de la plage et du bar de l’hôtel, il était vraiment ordinaire et en plus le gars qui était venu nous mener à notre chambre à l’arrivée nous a dit que nous devions payer pour la ride jusqu’à la plage (1 peso cubain chacun, car c’était une longue ride. C’était un gros et grand noir (en plus il conduit mal et trop vite sa voiturette électrique)mais je ne me souviens pas de son nom. On a découvert le lendemain que ce n’était pas vrai, wow un gros 5 min de marche ! Et aussi que c’était gratuit en prenant un autre chauffeur. Aussi le staff n’avait aucune prévoyance des besoins de la clientèle. Il fallait toujours leur demander plusieurs fois pour obtenir ce que nous voulions. C’était pareil autour de nous. Et la cerise sur le Sunday ! La veille de notre départ, nous avons reçu un message texte de WestJet nous avisant que nos vols étaient retardés à 20 h, mais l’hôtel était incapable de nous en informer. Au check-out le lendemain à midi, nous avons laissé nos bagages au concierge et il les a rangés dans un endroit prévu à cet effet. Il nous a alors informés que nous avions droit à une chambre de courtoisie pour que nous puissions prendre une douche avant notre départ à 18 h. on est retourné au check-out pour voir ce qui était vrai et la fille nous a dit que oui, mais que nous devions réserver ! On a réservé gratuitement, car au début elle disait qu’on devait payer 8 $/personne/heure et après discussion et un peu de pression on l’a eu gratuitement, et avant de nous y rendre, nous avons demandé s’il y avait des serviettes et la responsable du service a dit que oui… arrivé sur place… pas de serviette ! J’ai dû aller dans le corridor et exiger de la femme de ménage 2 serviettes propres… De plus, le représentant de WestJet (Israël) qui nous a fait le speach d’arrivé et qui était censé nous donner l’intérêt à faire des activités démontrait un désintérêt total de son job et de la clientèle. Il a dit son discours comme un robot et répondait difficilement aux questions de la clientèle. Bref, c’est un hôtel qui survit sur sa réputation du passé, mais qui est plus que dû pour des rénovations importantes partout, et qui devrait former son personnel a donné un meilleur service à la clientèle. Ne vous fier pas aux photos des sites web, elles datent de plus de 10 ans si j’en constate l’état des lieux. Je ne recommande pas cet hôtel à personne. Je crois sincèrement qu’un crédit de 50 % serait la moindre des choses à offrir pour compenser la piètre qualité de cet hôtel. Cet hôtel ne vaut pas plus que 600 $ max frais et taxes incluses. Point positif : Pas d’achalant ou de vendeur de cossins sur la plage. Plage très clame au niveau de sa fréquentation et très belle si on ne tient pas compte des algues échouées en bordure de celles-ci. Nous nous sommes beaucoup reposés malgré les désagréments

Nice resort, beautiful beach & pool, terrible food

We went to Cuba with a very open mind. Hotel, staff, beach, pool, bars, and drinks were ALL amazing. The food was terrible, though, and I hate writing this because everything else was so awesome but it's the truth. I know we were in Cuba and they are not known for their food but I've been to Cuba before and the food was no where near this terrible. A lot of things were undercooked (omelettes in the level 3 mornings, chicken at the grill on the beach, hamburgers) and they ran out of certain food  [... read more](items) all the time which was frustrating. By mid-way through our trip, we started eating rolls with lunch meat and cheese to fill us up. The rolls were pretty good though! Did it ruin our trip - not at all, but we likely won't be back because of it. Aside from the food, we did have a great trip.

Warm atmosphere

My husband and l chose this resort for my bday. Prior to getting there we sent an email with a special request in order to make our stay memorable. We were told at the front desk they will try to honour our request however the room we were given overlooked an area of the resort where there was this loud music blaring at 2am when we checked in! We complained and was given another room however that room also had this stale smell! Finally we were given a room on the 4th floor which was way better [... read more]! The food was not the best but you wont go hungry if you are not too picky. The cappuccino was excellent in the lobby! Very warm staff!

Great Value and Staff

Had a great time at Melia Marina. The staff were awesome, food was very good. Rooms are a bit dated but are clean and provide everything you could need. The staff is more than willing to assist you with any questions you have. Beach and pool are awesome!

Lovely resort.

The Level service was very good and we had access to the Level concierge service which was always very accommodating for making reservations at restaurants and the spa. One comment about the beds available at the pool for only Level guests needs to be better marked for Level guests as others were making use of them. Perhaps a reservation system or regular monitoring of the pool area would ensure that the guests for which these are to be used are in fact able to use them. Not all guests are com [... read more]fortable with confrontation of other guests that are using the facilities or going to speak to hotel staff about abuse of services by guests that are not paying for Level services.

Awesome stay at melia marina cuba

This is the second time at this resort and it was just as great as the first time. The level service is amazing and the à la cart restaurants were very tasty. Definitely the best food I’ve ever eaten in Cuba

Melia Marina Varadero

The grounds were nicely kept; our room was clean and well serviced. The food was flavourless and not well cooked, although there was a wide variety. One had to add black pepper and salt in most cases. PLEASE PUT HOT PEPPER SAUCE ON THE TABLE to give the food some kind of taste! The people were quite friendly, but you got better service if you tipped the bartenders more often. Everyone had their hands out for tips! Tourists are not all RICH people. Many of us have to scrimp and save t [... read more]o have a holiday. And especially since the Cdn dollar is lower than the CUC! So-called, clean towels in the room and for the beach did not smell clean, and looked very grey instead of their intended colour: WHITE! I would recommend this hotel to a friend simply because it is nicely set up, lots of comfortable seatings and has a welcoming feel to it, BUT I would definitely warn them about the food.

Nice resort and clean rooms.

The furniture was very dated for just a five year old building. Employees were very nice. Forgot how bland the food is in Cuba. Not very hot either. No music at piano bar. Would be nice to have some kind of entertainment there.

Great resort

Dining was okay.The beef was a bit rough.The washrooms need some renovations.Most of them were broken, the locks.The condos were very spacious,but there was a smell of musk. The beach to far.sometimes could find Anyone to drives us.

Beautiful resort

Melia Marina Varadero, is such a beautiful resort. The beach is absolutley stunning and goes on for miles. The staff are very friendly, the hotel rooms are spacious and comfortable. There is lot's of activities to choose from, and always a stunning view from anywhere on the resort Marina side or beach side. I definatley would recommend the catamaran to Cayo Blanco!

Melia Marina,Cuba

This hotel was pretty nice. good staffs and nice services. But the restaurant is below expectations and the day trip was not scheduled very well, that we were always in rush for a whole day. overall is good.

Average resort not 5 stars

Excellent beach, very average rooms and facilities, the resort needs upgrading and the service is not up to standards. This resort needs major upgrades both indoors and out doors. The staff need to be trained better on how to help and serve the customers in a proper way.

Deception

The GOOD and the BAD... GOOD: Great beach, great pool (nice and clean), nice restaurant at the beach, clean room, nice view. MEDIOCRE: Not enough shade at the pool and beach. Uncomfortble chaires at the beach. BAD: Once there was no more beer at the beach bar, once there was no more ice, once there was no more red wine at the loundge and often there was no white wine ON the resort. FOOD. It was our 7th time in Cuba, second time in Varadero but as my wife says, it was probably the worst  [... read more]food ever. I even killed a cockroach in the restaurant (but I have to say that the restaurant was always clean). The drain in our shower was blocked, I called, they came pretty quickly and fixed it and they called back to verify if everything was Ok (that I appreciated). Got some mosquito bites to the point I had to go to the pharmacy and get some antihistamine. I wasn't the only one! Paid extra for the Marina View, I think it wasn't worth it. The view towards the pool, you could aslo see the ocean. I paid extra since it was a 5 star on different web sites, (but it didn't feel like it).

Fare

No internet in room looks like you are disconnected from world if I knew there is no internet connection I never diside to go Cuba.In Varadero I went terminal to go Havana couldn’t use it because there was so dirty and unusable. Foods in Hotel not tasty.

Amazing resort

Can't wait to go back ...amaxing place great staff....enjoyed the water the location and all the exciting things to do.my boyfriend and I had an awesome time ...wish the Wi-Fi was a bit better ...over all beautiful place to go

Beautiful Resort

The hotel and staff are wonderful, a lot of the staff have left to go to the new Melia International but the new staff is just as nice and friendly. I would like to take a special shout out to Galia & her staff at the oriental restaurant, Maikel & Janett the Concige's on the level, Arasay the Manager of the level thank you for all your help . Sol,Ossgeel, and all the bar staff in the lobby bar, thank you for your great service. Thank you to Joanna in Customer Service it was great seeing you aga [... read more]in and thank your help also. the only disappointments were there was no entertainment in the lobby in the evenings and there always was before, also when i checked in there was mix up about my reservation and the girl at the front desk wasn't very nice she was very adamant that i wasn't on the level even though my reservation said so.Looking forward to seeing you again in May when Anne & i return to your beautiful hotel for the 10th time.

Beautiful beach, food less than satisfactory

I have lower expectations for Cuba having been there 8 years ago. It took multiple calls to multiple people to get my sink stopper fixed. I wonder how many of the big shots at Melia are sleeping on pillows ? made up of a few layers of quilt batting ! Beautiful location, friendly staff, I just don't think they get support from corporate. Food poor at buffet, a la carte restaurants good. Beach restaurant with fish on sign and called 'Pescadore' (fish) had no fish. Very safe , sunny and 75 all wee [... read more]k 1/31 to 2/7.

Beautiful resort!

It is a beautiful spot and well maintained ground. Room is clean although it is not brand-new. Service staff is well trained. Sunwing's on site rep is exceptionally good. Unfortunately, the food is almost uneatable. We realized that it has more to do with the general condition of the country; it is difficult for any chef to cook with non-fine-milled flours, rough rice and no fresh vegetable except cabbage and carrots. Cubans are very warm, nice and happy people.

Great Resort!

My 16-year-old daughter and I stayed at the Melia Marina Varadero for 5 days. It was a great experience. The resort is very clean, our room was lovely and the view overlooking the pool and ocean was amazing!! Special shout out to our maid Barbara who would leave us notes and left our room looking incredible every day. The buffet was ok, we always found something to eat. We ate at two a la carts – Mediterranean and Latin, both were very good. I spoke to folks who upgraded to The Level  [... read more]and they said it was worth the extra money as the food was better up there. We tried lunch at the beach restaurant one day and were really disappointed. It was a mini buffet with about 8 items. We ended up going to the main buffet and saw other families do the same thing. It’s such a nice spot, it’s a shame there wasn’t more variety/larger buffet there. Unfortunately, the beach grill was closed for the five days we were there. The pool and beach were both pretty amazing. There were always lots of chairs around the pool and at the beach. The beach is a short 5 minute walk, no need to take the shuttle unless you really want to. The service all over the resort was excellent. I was pleasantly pleased with how quick everything was. Everyone was so helpful and friendly. I was a little worried going to a resort where Wi-Fi was only in the lobby and you had to purchase the service. Turns out it was a great way to unplug. We allowed ourselves only 1 hour each day to go online (for only $1.00 per hour) check out email, etc. We got our daily fix, and then went back to enjoying our vacation. A highlight was snorkeling. For only $20 per person we took a sailboat (with resort staff) to a reef where we snorkeled for 1 hour. There were so many fish, it was a great way to spend the morning. Remember bug spray at night. The mosquitos had lots of fun with my ankles one night and I’m still itchy almost a week later. I would definitely return to this resort and recommend it to others.