Great Time

The hotel was small and well maintained. Glad we got an oceanfront view. Food was passable. You don’t go to Cuba for the food. Staff was lovely. Beach was nice, hard to get a chair at times and music was loud.

Dhawa Santa Maria Resort

This is the first all-inclusive resort that I have been to. This resort is rated as a 4 star. I would definitely give it 4 stars. The service was excellent in both the rooms and in all dinning areas. The room was clean, spacious with a great view and the balcony was perfect for peaceful and quiet times. I was pleasantly surprised about the food. Being a lover of seafood, I really enjoyed the fresh fish, shrimp etc. The selection of various dishes was a nice surprise as well. The beach  [... read more]was great! lot's of fine white sand and turquoise blue waters! The beach area was kept clean and there was never any shortage of lounge chairs. Overall, it was a great experience!

Everything but the food.

We very much enjoyed our stay at Dhawa. The beach is amazing, the pools are large and clean, the rooms are comfortable a good size and have an amazing shower with great water pressure. Mattresses are very comfortable too. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Check in is long and tedious. They only ever have 2 people at the front desk. Wifi is excellent and it works in your room as well as throughout the hotel. The bad: if you are vegetarian your food options will be quite limited as you wi [... read more]ll only be able to eat at the buffet. The options at the buffet are hit and miss. Under cooked fish and over cooked beef and pork. Cheese platters had some mouldy cheese on a regular basis. Lots of cross contamination in the food prep stations. Be careful if you have food allergies. Overall everything but the food was great.

Overall good resort

I would rate Dhawa a 4/5 star. Pools were beautiful and clean, beach was even better with beautiful white sand and turquoise water perfect for snorkeling. Room was clean and comfortable, with the maids always leaving it spotless with cute towel art. Food was just ok, the pasta bar at the buffet was really good and the pizzas at the 24hr snack bar. They had lots of seafood, we really liked the shrimp. Sometimes we waited awhile for our meal but I do understand the resort was full capac [... read more]ity, I do think they could use more staff. The staff are friendly and hard working. However, I have docked Dhawa a star because I recieved a massage at the hut down by the water on the resort and left feeling violated. I was uncomfortable the entire time and more stressed coming out then before I went in.

Very Nice Resort

We really enjoyed our 10 day stay. we were a little disappointed in the buffet. examples: We didn't see any watermelon after the first three days, no bananas all vacation, ran out of white wine after 3 or four days. We enjoyed the entertainment in the lobby in the evenings and for the most part the nightly theatre shows. Were a little disappointed that the water show was cancelled during our stay. The crew that was in charge of the daily activities at the beach and around the pool were gr [... read more]eat.

Awesome Resort

We just returned from a one week stay at the Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria.This resort was really nice and everything was in short walking distance as the layout was perfect.The rooms were nice and clean and the grounds were meticulous kept.We loved the beautiful white sandy beach as this was where we spent most of our time.I would highly recommend this resort if you want to go and relax on the beach it is a perfect place to go🏝🏝😎😎

Good resort

The hotel, Beach and pools fantastic. Weather was great. 7 days of sun. The service needs drastic improvements. You order a drink and it is takes 1/2 hour to get it. If you decide to go to the bar to order it yourself you wait again because they serve the waiters first then the client waiting. Towels were another problem. You went days without Fred’s beach towels.

Absolutely beautiful resort .

We traveled from Feb 22 to March 1st .Check in was quick and was very welcomed with beautiful smiles from 2 lovely ladies .Resort was stunning and beautiful we will be back .We had an Ocean view room was very beautiful especially at the end of the day when we wanted to unwind from the day .I can not say enough Thanks to all the staff at Dhawa you truly made our stay absolutely beautiful.The gardeners who I took the time each morning to say good morning to and give them a little something were m [... read more]ore then thankful .I met so many wonderful people I wish I could remember all their names .Gustava ,Ariel,you guys made our week truly amazing .Keep smiling Gustava you truly are a blessed soul .The beach here is amazing .The food was great .Dayana at the lobby bar is truly a sweetheart if you see her give her a big hug she is beautiful young lady,Always has a big smile .Overall an amazing resort and we are already planning for next year. .

Amazing resort !!

Everything was at superlative, room very clean,beach, people, partys, pools, bar, .... everything Please don’t forget about the food, the food was very good too, so many options to choose from For breakfast, lunch or dinner I can’t wait to be there again Thank you

Alright

Rooms were clean, food was a disappointment same thing every night no fresh food ex seafood it was hot DogsHamburgers on buffet and stir fry and pasta that was pretty much it no fries no pizza not to much for children what so ever. No waitress after 11.30 at night and switch to plastic cups. During the day from 6 till 11.00 at it usually takes 40 minuets to get a drink unless u go up to bar then it usually took only 20 minutes. Would not recommend this resort .

Great Resort!

Stayed at Dhawa CSM Feb 14 to 21. Loved the ocean view room and balcony. Really worth the small amount extra it cost. The room was modern, clean, and everything was in good working order. Nice size resort, everything was within a 10 minute walk. Staff were friendly and helpful, and the beach is beautiful, clean white sand, easy to walk in and out of the water. Staff on the beach to get drinks and find lounge chairs, and good snorkelling right off the beach. Would definitely go back again.

Some Issues

Upon arriving at the resort, there was a guest passed out in the front lobby (not a good first impression) especially considering this is a family resort. It would be helpful to get a heads up on all the shortages of this resort. We could not start our vacation immediately due to a towel shortage, there were no beach towels available. Really??? This is a beach resort and not one beach towel was available let alone exchanging for a clean one every day! There were shortages on mint for drinks, [... read more] vodka, white wine, as well as other items. For the most part you can get by without these items but the beach towel would be nice to know in advance so I could have packed one myself. Beach is beautiful, staff is mostly friendly, the front desk and service desk could improve. The rooms were nice but the cleanliness was about a 4 out of 10. There was a squashed bug on the wall that had not been cleaned off and a lot of hair still on the floor when first entering the room. The resort itself had a good atmosphere and was enjoyable overall. Again, informing guests of some of the shortages in advance would have been helpful.

Amazing beach, decent food and resort but bad service

Grounds and beach are 5 star worthy, the food is decent (good for Cuba) but the staff is rude and unconcerned about the wellbeing of the customer. The resort is also 1h45 away from the airport on a good day. It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes. There is zero entertainment and nothing to do but snorkel and swim. I would not go back.

Not happy

As far as the hotel and grounds the resort is nice small and quaint keeps things more personable. As far as the food I’ve been going to Cuba for 28 years and this was the worst hotel yet you think by now Cuba could get it together and stop feeding us processed and caned foods. Some that aren’t identifiable,bring up the quality of their food this is 2019. Half the staff were great to serve you and the other half wouldn’t even look at you whether you tipped or not almost like they were en [... read more]titled. the beach cannot compare to Varadero and should not be advertised as so. If the food quality would come up in this resort it’s a great resort

Fantastic Resort !

This is an excellent resort. The rooms are modern, grounds are very well kept. The staff are all excellent. They really take care of you. Food was really good. Hit up the snack bar for some awesome chicken / fish nuggets and fillets. Beach is very nice and the staff are attentive. Beach grill will satisfy your mid day cravings.

Dhawa Winter Getaway

We went to Dhawa last week (February 10-17, 2019). We were a group of 9 people. It was our first time in Cayo Santa Maria and Dhawa. But we have been to Varadero twice. We have been eyeing this resort since it opened, and finally we have decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day and pre-Family Day there. We stayed at building 6 rooms 602, 609, 610, 614. It was accessible to everything. I emailed Gilberto a few weeks before we came and requested to stay at Building 6 on the same floor for the group  [... read more]and luckily they granted our request. Our rooms are always cleaned, the towels are changed everyday and the fridge is always restocked. The grounds are well-maintained and the garden is beautiful! The buffet is huge and the food selections were better than the ones we had in Varadero. We would like to acknowledge Evelyn Coronado at the buffet for taking care of us every breakfast and lunch- making sure we have our water or coffee or cervezas ready. There were different choices of food for every palate. Thank you to Michel and Henry at the hot grill section in the buffet for cooking our food on-the-spot. There are three à la cart restaurants that you can go to. The Italian was good but the French à la carte was the best. We went to the seafood à la carte for Valentine’s Day but we didn’t enjoy the food. They changed the menu for Valentine’s Day special but we didn’t like it, but kudos for the effort. They gave all the ladies roses as soon as we entered the restaurant. They had a foam party in the afternoon on Valentine’s Day. It was so much fun! My children (19 and 9 y/o) enjoyed it! They then had a special aquatic program at night and it was the best show we’ve seen compared to the other resorts we’ve been to. They also had shows for kids everyday at 8:30pm. My 9 y/o daughter enjoyed it and always look forward to go there after dinner. Rosa the clown was the best! The snack bar is open 24/7, the employees there especially Yordan, Yalenia, Rogelio and Yunier were all great! We highly recommend the chicken nuggets, fish nuggets and ice cream sundae at the snack bar. The beach snack bar was also good. The burgers were good. By the way, you don’t have to walk all the way to the beach snack bar because a worker will come and take your order for your drinks. At the beach, we’d like to thank Isney for always making sure that our beach chairs were clean. We also like to thank Carlos at the lobby bar for making excellent mojitos! Btw, the lobby bar is also open 24/7. They did not have pizza because of the flour shortage. Too bad, we were looking forward to eating Cuban pizza. But they have bread so at least we had that. CONS: not enough pool chairs; there’s only one buffet restaurant because the other one closer to the beach is closed; there were also a lot of people smoking in the non smoking area! But overall, this hotel is by far the best we’ve been to. The people at the resort were all nice, accommodating and very friendly. We would definitely go back there.

Great time

The resort is lovely and nicely laid out. Beach is fabulous and staff are friendly and go out of their way to help. Food in buffet is great especially the pasta bar and the friendly chef! The age group was fabulous and was nice to have such an affordable single supplement.

Fabulous resort

The hotel and grounds are so clean beautiful gardens everywhere quick walk to beach pool and restraurant people charming polite and can't do enough for you would have liked a coffee maker in room but would rebook here anytime

Fair resort

Poor replacement of food at the buffet restaurant, beach is not that great as resorts nearby, workers at resort are very friendly and always ready to help (doesn't mean that they are able to solve the problem). They should improve with some little things like one more knife to cut the bread(believe me, there was only one for everybody), napkins, cutlery, bar location on the beach, or a second one.

Great Resort!

Overall, my mother and I had a fabulous time! Our room was clean and spacious, food and drinks were free flowing, the staff were wonderful, and the beach was gorgeous!!! Only thing we would have liked to see more of is changing the variety of dishes served day to day. The buffet seemed to have the same food day in and day out but we could always find something to eat.