Great resort!

Amazing staff, very friendly. Food was pretty good for Cuba and the shows were amazing. I would recommend staying in the sanctuary because you have more food options and a more reserved pool. Overall it was a fun time.

Nice and very large resort

All staff were exceptionally nice and facilities relatively in working order. The beach was the main attraction for us and we weren't disappointed. I would comment on the cleanliness of the food areas as a few people including myself got quite sick as well as mold inside the rooms should be treated and removed.

One of the best resorts in Cuba!

The Sanctuary was an adult resort inside Grand Memories family resort. It had the best of everything and you were allowed to access both resorts. The hotel was kept up and the beach was amazing! One of the better resorts for service and food in the area.

Great Resort!!!!!!

The staff were all so friendly and helpful with any type of questions or requests. This was our first trip to Cuba and were prepared for the food to be more bland but was always able to find good food that was tasty and well prepared. Lobster and shrimp was wonderful! The grounds and pool were always kept clean with plants/flowers trimmed to perfection. We were steps away from poolside and the beach was a 1 minute stroll. The water (pool and ocean) was so warm and crystal clear. A couple [... read more] negatives (which is most likely everywhere in Cuba) was the gratuities are not included in the all-inclusive (had to tip everywhere) and if something in your room or a public washroom was broken (ie: door lock, fan, shower head), it didn't get fixed. We would definitely recommend this resort!!!

Great resort

I will start by saying that over all experience is quite positive. Ocean. Something that compensates any negative thing I can describe below. Ocean is amazing. Beach is private for Sanctuary guests only. Quite enough space under the shades. No words to describe the water in ocean, we were spending hours there. Barmen from nearest bar made rounds to pick orders. Grounds. Sanctuary is a small part (adults only) of big resort Grand Memories Varadero. They grounds are very clean and t [... read more]aken care of. In fact the entire resort is very clean. Room. The rooms are quite big, but not really taken care of. Our room was really "screaming" for renovation. Walls, doors, faucets. Everything requires major repairs. However, room was cleaned daily and cleaned very well. Clean towels, clean bed sheets. Minibar refilled daily. Bedding is very comfy. Facilities. Again, no complains there. However, it is adults only resort. Wouldn't it make sense that pool would have swimming bar? I'd say absolutely. There is no. Quite useless hot tub on the middle and the bar is close, but not swimming. Food and drinks. Lets start with drinks. I can say it was great and I can't say it was bad. Drinks are unpredictable. One time you ask for lets say gin and tonic they make it perfect, other time you can't drink it. And it doesn't even depend on barmen. Same barmen does it differently. Otherwise, no complains. Coffee - only in bars. Whatever they give in restaurants it not drinkable. Don't drink water at restaurants. Ask for sparkling. At least you will be sure they didn't serve you tub water. Food is decent, but not great. We had all meals "a la carte". Breakfast is good. You may order eggs and its done fine. Very little dairy products: no cottage cheese, no cream cheese. Very little vegetables. Lunch and dinner are very much the same. I would expect from the resort of this level a little more variety. Four out of seven days they have lobster on menu. It was pretty well cooked. But no pasta on menu for the entire week. I'm not really picky, but I would take pasta once. Don't take beef, its not good and not cooked well. With fish is also some complications: once it was done well, another time really dry, overcooked. Overall, I can't say food is bad, but it doesn't even come close to resorts in Mexico or Dominican where I've been.

Our Second Home

Hola - A perfect vacay at the Sanctuary! The best part of our vacay was enjoying our friendships with Hanoy, Jesús, Yurilays, Yeny, Yessy, Natali, Alex, Jose-Mario, Leo & Liusmila. Highlights was the Hobie Cat rides with Esteban touring the coastline and dinners by Yurilays and Chef Yasel at the Italian & Gourmet restaurants. My husband always enjoys discussing baseball with his buddies Hanoy & Alex and cigars with Jesús. Shout out to all the staff at the resort including the beach ar [... read more]ea, both beach bars and Casana for our fresh beach towels. We appreciate their friendship and the services they provide making this our second home. The Rock Band 5th Avenue is by far the best of the Sanctuary entertainment. They definitely rock and are extremely popular. In addition, the band who play at Retro night will have you singing and the Duo Group who play keyboard and sax are a crowd favourite. These 3 bands are not to be missed. They are definitely one of the reasons we always want to come back. We would like to thank Hilda for her assistance making us want to return for our 11th time to the Sanctuary! We will see you all again very soon.... Jim & Ali - Canada

Love the Sanctuary

It was awesome to have our butler girl book our restaurant reservations within an hour of check in and deliver the tickets to our room. The internet worked fast in the lounge and around the pool area. Our room faced the pool so we could use it in our room and balcony too. $1cuc/hr. Cuban food is back to the basics of wholesome fresh fruits, veggies, seafood and breads mostly and it's good! We received wonderful hospitality from all staff.

Amazing staff made all the difference!

Unfortunately, our flight was delayed by 6 hours, and we got to the Resort in the wee hours of the morning. Check in was quick and easy, and we received an upgrade, being repeat customers. Our room was on the second floor, with an obstructed view of the pool. As luck would have it, our butler from a previous visit went by while we were on our balcony. He got our room changed to building 31, which was a walk out to the pool. AMAZING!!!! Best room we have ever had there. Jorge-Carlos, our previous [... read more] butler, had always treated us very well, but he went above and beyond this time around. The other butlers we had were great too, Adrian, and Reinert asked us every day if there was anything we needed that day. But no one was better than Jorge-Carlos! Alex on the beach bringing drinks, and Marle at the snack bar. Even the gardener was very friendly, as usual. We had dinner booked at the restaurant close to the pool every night, champagne and room service every morning. If there was any down side to our stay, it was just the usual difficulties of getting an available chair at the beach. Loved our new room, food was always fantastic, amazing staff, and great times!! We will be back again in September.

Amazing Beaches

The Hotel is probably 3.5 star....amazing beach and swimming in ocean. Sanctuary pool is very nice...room was average ..upgrade was not worth it...all and all a nice vacay. The coffee at the Sanctuary bar was very good as they serve all types of specialty coffees as well. Bar staff is very friendly as well the employees in general were very nice...only a small percentage of staff are english speaking

Our 9th Time and Counting

Just returned from our second home the Sanctuary Grand Memories in Varadero Cuba for the 9th time. We cannot say enough about the staff Hanoy, Yeny, Jesus, Yurilays, Yessy L., Natali, Leosdani, Liusmila & Alec. Pleasure to meet the new Manager Saskia! Pleased to say the Italian restuarant’s food has improved so much I have to recommend you go and have a great meal there. The bruschetta, shrimp pasta with cream sauce and steak dishes are well prepared, delicious and filling. You are greete [... read more]d at the door by Yurilays who is very friendly with a big smile and attentive. She is an asset to running this restuarant. We look forward to going back to the Italian restuarant because of her and now the food. The Rock and Roll band definitely rocks and the Opera duo are extremely talented. Two entertaining nights not to miss in the lounge bar and to meet the Captain of the bar Jesus and his staff Liusmila & Leosdani.

It was better last year, we will not be back next year.

The rooms we fairly nice but not cleaned as good as they could have been. Our floors were always sandy (we did not go to the beach). The resort was out of things every day; for example no coffee for the rooms (we had a coffee maker but no coffee we asked the maid but the hotel was out), no diet cola at the pool bar, no buns for burgers and hot dogs one day at the pool, no calamari at the pool (on the menu) no bread for toast at breakfast, we had to wait approximately 1/2 hour several mornings. [... read more] The new food manger actually read my comment card at breakfast and tried to get me to change it from "only good" (his words) to excellent. We usually don't return to a resort but we liked this one so much last year that we came back, that was a mistake it was much better last year.

Just Okay

If you go to this resort stay at the Sanctuary. Check out is at 2 instead of 12. You get the good chairs. Better service. The main buffet was horrible. We’re not picky eaters and have been to Cuba 7 times. This was the worst. Over crowded. Cold food. Ran out of plates!, glasses. Service was almost nonexistent. Forget about getting refills on drinks. Too many people, not enough staff. They ran out of beach towels! This was at the Sanctuary. Used same towels for 3 days. The al a cartes w [... read more]ere good as was the service. You have to make Reservations. The Grand Memories beach chairs are the old white hard ones. Beach was beautiful. Won’t be going back.

Great spot

Very nice spot. I highly recommend the Adult side only for this resort. If your a family the take that side. Want own privacy do Adult only. Great staff ,pools hotel management. Rooms always clean and bar fridge stocked.

Beautiful Oasis

Lovely resort within a resort. Suitable for older vacationers. Peaceful poolside, and Varadero Beach is breathtaking. Caters to return guests. If looking for a lively spot, not the place. Would recommend for a quiet couple getaway

Went to Grand Memories - Santa Maria

Everything was as expected, beautiful beach - mediocre food. The only real complaint is the not clean washroom & really bad smell in the washroom area in the main restaurant. Pretty sure no one really wants that job but it gets a lot of use and it ended up we would go up to our room to use the washroom. The staff are fantastic, really friendly & nice. Absolutely lovely.

Great resort! Would definitely go back!

The Sanctuary section of Grand memories was beautiful, intimate with the right balance between quiet and activity. The grounds were lush and beautiful. The restaurant and service was excellent. Friendly staff. Plus the added bonus of access to all that the Grand Memories resort had to offer. The beach and pool area were beautiful. Lots of sun chairs, however you did have to get up early to reserve a spot if you wanted shade. Plenty of food with unlimited a la carte reservations and two a l [... read more]a carte options for lunch. We only ate the buffet twice, which was also good. My only criticism is that the service at the Italian restaurant was very poor and as a Sanctuary guest the finer wines at the Gormet restaurant should be included, or at least some of them. The rooms were fine. We had a deluxe suite and the bed and pillows were the best we’ve had in Cuba!! We would definitely go back!!

One of my Favorite

This is my third year to Cuba and The Sanctuary at Grand Memories is definitely a "visit again" resort. Resort was well maintained. Rooms were excellent and staff was friendly and courteous. You will not regret your stay here!

What a wonderful week we had!

This resort was great! We stayed in building 35 which was closest to the beach. A very short walk from the beach, the beach bar, the Sanctuary restaurant and the pool. The resort is quiet and very peaceful. We went over to the Grand Memories a few times but we spent most of our time at the Sanctuary. We would return!!!!

Great resort!

Loved it at the Sanctuary, excellent staff and service! We would return in a heartbeat. Staff very friendly and accommodating, resort shows some wear but rooms and resort are pretty clean, beach is the best part fir us 😊

Awesome place to stay

Our rooms were excellent, the service went above and beyond. Our butler Malitza was super, could not have asked for better service. I liked that everything was close, the restuarant, the bar, the beach, all were within 2 minutes of each other. I will never stay anywhere else but the Sanctuary