Resonance Blu Santa Maria: Beautiful scenery, horrible service

First day no a/c, by the end of the second day I requested a new room after 3 different people came to repair and left saying it was working fine, room would not go below 24 but a/c was set to 16. I had to fight with them to change rooms, they were extremely rude. Spent more time in my first two days in the lobby then I did enjoying my trip. Second room had water leaking from light fixture in bathroom and the bathroom flooded every time you used the shower. Had to go to Management multiple times [... read more] and they just said someone would be there but no one ever came, finally gave up and just lived with it! Weather was beautiful everyday! Pool and beach were amazing! Bar staff, and entertainment staff were wonderful and very friendly.

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Disappointment

The first night there, we were hungry as it was past 9pm. We settled our stuff in the 2 rooms and went for supper. Upon return, our travel companions had their suitcase broken I to and $350 was stolen. Even though the resort acknowledged that the room had clearly been entered by an unknown key, they had no insurance to cover the loss. Our room was full of mold, I coughed all the first night. They did give us another room. This room had a little less mold. On the Sat I went to the resort bank  [... read more]to withdraw some money. When checking my bank account on the Tuesday; there was another withdrawl for the same amount. They took out 2 payments. I tried to have it corrected but noone from the resort could get through to anyone in the bank. The food was not the best, but the people were doing their best. The wifi I paid for worked for 20min. I paid for 3hrs. The lobby by the little store was overwhelmingly putrid from the smell of garbage. I will ot be going back their.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great value

Very happy with hotel, service and food. Overall great value and would return to this hotel. Location on beach is excellent. Hotel needs some repairs to pool areas and walkways to beach. But they were working on the walkway while I was there.

Paradisus Los Cayos: Review

The hotel was very clean and the buffet would good - a good mix of food - meat can be cooked right in front of you if needed. The staff was friendly, the rooms were nice as well. The al carte were not very good - this would be my Only complaint. You can tell it’s a new resort with some kinks to be worked out but no real issues - would recommend.

Melia Las Dunas: Great resort!

We were very pleased with the resort. The food was better than expected with several places to choose from. The a la carte restaurants especially the internacional and oriental were great, the staff was friendly and the beach was as perfect as you could imagine. The rooms were comfortable and clean. Would recommend to anyone

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: Fantastic reaort

Be Live Collection Cayo Santa Maria resort is absolutely amazing. The suite we were in was outstanding ( nothing can compare). It was huge extremely clean and well taken care of every single day. The grounds of the resort were well taken care of daily. The pools were beautiful The beach and Ocean OUTSTANDING. The staff we’re always attentive and friendly . The buffet food looked good and there was plenty to eat for most guests ( my husband and I are Vegan so it was difficult for us to find f [... read more]ood) Overall the resort is definitely the one I would recommend to everyone.

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: Great resort!!

Had an amazing time at the Grand Aston hotel. Food was really good, especially at the a la cartes. Definitely the best I have ever eaten anywhere in Cuba. The pizza at the snack bar was great. The pool area was nice although I only went once. Beach was really nice and big with lots of activites, non motorized water sports, entertainment and great bartenders. The water is absolutely beautiful. Cant get enough of that gorgeous Ocean. I wish there was more than just one entrance to the beach but if [... read more] you are staying close to the adults only side it is perfect. Hotel grounds were really nice for the most part. My only complaint would be that as you are walking to the beach there are a couple of areas with stagnant disgusting water. Im assuming that's why I got so many no see um bug bites. Make sure you bring bug spray. All in all had a great trip and would recommend to anyone who loves Cuba and loves swimming in the crystal clear Ocean. Thanks again Linda Lavoie making our booking such a quick and easy process.

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: Best bang for your buck!

Stayed at Grand Aston. Resort is new and very clean. The food was the best food I have ever eaten in Cuba (3rd time to Cuba). The beach was amazing with beautiful blue waters. If you enjoy snorkeling, this was a great resort for that. Snack bar pizzas are delicious, as well as the ice cream. Lots to do - paddleboarding, sailing and kayaking included. Booked deep sea fishing and caught two barracuda! Buffets were also very tasty. Ocean view room is a definite must here. Lobby was beautiful, servi [... read more]ng the best cappuccino on the whole resort. Would stay here again for sure. Stayed in building 10- close to the beach, a little bit of a walk to restaurants and pool. There are golf carts to pick you up if you dont want to walk to the main attractions. The only thing bad I have to say is that at the front desk they need a few more people to speak better english. Staff was amazing and very accommodating, even having someone pull out your chez lounge for you daily and sweeping it off! Beach bar is very close to the beach and drinks were very good. Would rate this hotel 4.5/5. A big thankyou to Linda at Trip Central for booking us such a beautiful vacation! A great week away!!

Valentin Perla Blanca: Not a 5 star

No soap in the public washrooms,no facecloths in your room. Poor lighting on the walkways at night going for supper. Service was poor at meals.Ran out of food at the buffet often. Always had to ask for extra cutlery.Food was terrible.Not what we expected

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: You get what you pay for

We just returned from a one week stay ( 2 adults, 1 teen and a six year old). Beaches are beautiful naturally and the workers keep them spotless . Ernesto, Alexi and Yunior prep your lounges for you. Stellar service Beverages are cold, service is quick, and there is plenty to go around Nestor, Osbiel, Jose take great care of you Buffet always had a variety of food, servers were efficient and bldg was clean. A la cartes were simple- line up to reserve your spot early if you want to go to on [... read more]e Snack Bar and Beach grills were our fav. ( pizza and hot dogs) .. Ingrid, Henri Lusy and John take great care of us Rooms were clean, air conditioning worked and never had a cold shower. Beer Fridge was full, Eduardo and Delio are stellar are keeping it stocked. Alfredo best pool dude ever- pools were clean and lounges to be found. Kids Club was solid- our 6 year old loved the ladies...Tune, Danna & Nayi Speaking with other tourists in the region, our hotel was a good one. The people who work there are what make the resort - being around all of them make it easy to be there

Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria: more or less

Some good points ,some bad points.First good points,fantastic beach,great service,always hot water for the showers,no lack of towels,clean rooms,great weather,over all fun holiday .Animation enjoyable. Abundant shade on beach, no rocks when entering surf. Clean beach, gardens very beautiful,good internet.Clean toilet all around.Clean pools.Kids friendly. Welcoming staff. Good desserts and cakes. Now for the negatives . No wines for 3 days at the buffet, lots of excuses but no wine. Less food  [... read more]variety than any other resort we have visited in Cuba . Low quality food at the restaurants. Bed, not comfortable. Outdoor beach buffet closed, unacceptable. No regrets for having chosen this resort, because we had a great time. thank you to all the staff , extremely friendly , and fun to talk to.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Pleasant resort

The pool was great that we hung out at daily. Lots of shade which was important to us. The grounds were well kept and tastefully planted. The beach was amazing! Upon request, our needs were met by the housekeeping staff. The room was clean and comfortable. The food was unappealing and it was nice to have sit down a la cartes. We knew not to expect too much from the food. The furniture around the pool and in the lobby is not made for comfort. Why are there never chairs around the pools? Only low  [... read more]saggy loungers.

Paradisus Los Cayos: Better than expected.

Was very happy with this resort for Cuba. Went with 7 people. Resort was clean with great service. Beach was amazing very clean and well laid out. Food was better than expected for the most. Nothing spectacular but still good. Room was clean and very nicely presented. Shower leaked but nothing serious. There are two small mall close by for cigars, rum and local merchandise. One is attach to Royalton. Not a lot of night life. All and all very pleased.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Alway count on Cuban Weather

We had great weather between Jan 24 - Feb 6/2020 in Santa Maria, Cuba. Must say we were disappointed in the lack of services this year. We have been at playa cayo Santa Maria 3 times previously and this time brought 2 other couples. We were very disappointed. Had to ask for service a few times in the buffet and lobby. At the a lacarte I couldn’t even cut my beef dinner and had to leave it. At the Italy a la crate we walked out as there was only one girl working all by herself. I heard one [... read more] night in the buffet they ran out of red wine, glad I drank white. Staff were short staffed thought out the resort. First week our rooms were cleaned mid day but second week the room was cleaned around 5-6pm. We had to leave room when they came to clean. I mentioned this to our air transat rep and all he could say was “embargo was the problem”. But overall weather and beaches were wonderful.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: OK resort

The grounds were very nice and the beach was nice. The food was about a 3 and the service at the start was about a 3. We spent 2 weeks here so by the second week some of the staff were more friendly as they got to know us. The reason we decided to try this resort is that my wife and I are both very limited to walking so we were interested because they offered 24 hour room service. When I asked for the number to call for room service they said they did not have a number for room service that I c [... read more]ould asked the butler at our building. I could only get breakfast and you had to order it the day before. There was no other room service for lunch or supper. When we arrived to book in they were going to put us in the memories section which is family's and we had booked the adult only section at sanctuary. After some conversation with a manager they got us to the adults only section were our room was already given away because we didn't show up right away. They did however come up with a room on the bottom floor were we wanted with the exception that we wanted pool view and got garden view. That was not a big problem until we decided to set out on the deck. Were we were in the back off the building you could smell the sewage all the time so we could not sit on the deck. The pools were nice but there was no service you had to go to the bar if you wanted a drink, there was no service to the tables when in the lounge. There was some service in the dining rooms but very slow. I would not recommend this resort for people with disabilities. I am sure lots of people like this resort it just didn't work for us.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Great resort

We enjoyed our stay. Aside from the beach we love the staff at the resort. They were friendly and made us feel welcome. We got to know a few individually which was really nice and we look forward to seeing them again in the future.

Valentin Perla Blanca: Loved it

This was my first experience with Cuba and I'd definitely go back to the Valentin Perla Blanca. The food wasn't bad, you see a lot of the same things at the buffet, but they all taste fine. I really enjoyed the food we recieved while on excursions at restaurants. Great entertainment nightly, and our room was clean and exactly as described online. The grounds and the beach were perfect. Couldn't have asked for more out of our experience.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Peacefull

Just got back Feb 4th. Had a nice relaxing vacation. Beach was nice, lots of chairs at the pool. Rooms were nice with updated showers, vanity. Service was awesome, very friendly staff.! I would return to this Friendly clean relaxing resort.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Playa Cayo Santa Maria Jan 27-Feb 3

We are a family of 5 and travel yearly to various destinations. In the 25+ years of travelling I have never taken the time to provide a review except to close friends and family. The reason for this review is because I think people considering a trip to Cayo Santa Maria, would benefit from an honest review. We have been to various places in Cuba about 5-6 times but most recently to Cayo Santa Maria 3 times in the last 2 years. We highly recommend this destination. The beautiful white sand  [... read more]beach is breathtaking and worth every penny and the 2 hour drive from the airport. We have all heard that Cuba is not known for its food but for its beaches..this is true to some extent. January 2019, my family (and my brothers family) stayed at Melia Las Dunas. It was great. The service, the variety of food and the options of different lunch areas and of course the beautiful beach. To be honest, the rooms were a little outdated but how much time so you really spend in your room?? We loved our trip so much that my brother and his family returned in June with his inlaws and nephews. they had a great experience. This year we decided to go back to Cayo Santa Maria but to my brothers request (he wanted to try a different resort) we choose the next hotel over -Playa Cayo. The reviews were good and the rating was positive. We had 24 people in our group. We arrived at 9:30 pm with Air Canada and arrived at the hotel at 11:30. Even though we were basically the only guests arriving at that time, checking in took forever. Only 2 people at the front desk to register 24 people into 8 rooms. We have small children, elderly people and we were hungry and tired and just wanted to settle in...but no one is in any hurry to get things going. As a group you'd think they would have put us all in the same block or at least close by to each other..nope! We were scattered and unfortunately the elders in our group (total of 6 people) were put in the block furthest to the central area of the resort . It was too late to make any changes and no one wants to move the next day when you have already settled in? Everyone stayed in their assigned rooms. The only thing open to get some food at that time is the snack bar. The selection of food was limited and not appetizing. The burgers looked like they were processed meat covered in a thick batter. No fries just a teaspoon of what they call salad. the pizza was made with a dough that was a thick pita bread and the cheese used is what I know now to be the extact cheese used at every buffet at lunch and dinner. they use cut up hotdogs for pepperoni. This was not a good start . We are not picky eaters and just thought tomorrow would be better. Well it was. The buffet at breakfast was typical except no bacon, no hashbrowns to brown bread no jam or peanut butter and the coffee was absolute garbage. Cuba typically has awesome coffee so we were perplexed to be given this dark water. My review of this place will never end if I continue so in a nutshell here is what our next 6 days consisted of. The food is circulated for lunch and dinner. There is no difference EVER from one day to the next. Same food items all day. The coffee in the dining room is awful. Its good at the coffee bar but the line up crazy. There are a few lunch option areas although they to repeat. They are not towel crazy and are quite liberal with beach towels. The palapas in this area of the beach are limited therefore you need to get there by 7:30 to secure chairs and palapas. There are always guys on the beach willing to get the chairs for a fee. The beach buffet has the most god awful feces smell. We think their sewage system is not maintained. You can actually see the water seep thorough the ground in this area. The wait for a pizza at the beach buffet is 45 mins-only 1 person working and he does not hustle. The hotdogs on the beach grill are great but the wait is also long with only 1 panini press and 1 person working it. The service at this lacking, especially in the food areas. There were limited people working and they really don't go above any beyond to get you drinks or clear the tables-this was disappointing. Our big concern was the alcohol being served at the beach bar. 5 of us drinking the same vodka/soda, rum and cokes and mojitos all got major headaches the first night. we noticed that the alcohol being poured into our bubbas was from 2 different bottles at the same time. Hard to explain but witnessed by a number of us. I think they use some of the "real" stuff to make it look legit but top it with "crap" or tainted stuff..this we cannot prove but coincidence that we all felt the effects and we are all social drinkers. The animation team was great. Had the guest participating on the beach and pool all the time. The night shows were a little disappointing and boring. Rooms were very nice. AC worked great, Great showers and nice set up. Never in our past travels did we have anything taken from our rooms. Unfortunately, this time 3 of our families had something taken from our rooms. A bracelet, face cream and a container with dish soap (to wash out our beach bubbas). We were told that the simple things like dish soap, laundry detergent are limited on the island and locals fight over these things at supermarkets when they do become available. These items taken were not essential and important to us and did not merit a complaint just so that someone would loose their job but we were diffidently disappointed and afraid that other things would go missing. The trust was lost. Will I return to Cuba? Yes. but not for a while. Will I return to Playa Cayo? Unfortunately not.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Great First Experience

This was my first ever all inclusive vacation. At first, I wasn't too keen on Cuba, but now I would 1000% go back. I had an amazing time at this resort. I originally chose Sanctuary because it was an Adults only, with the option to "stay at one, play at 3". We really enjoyed it. It was secluded to the back of the resort, with only 6 Bungalows. It was quiet, but would get loud and fun in the afternoons at the pool. The entertainment staff always kept us going during the day Poolside with pool go [... read more]lf, dancing, morning stretching with Lissy. They were fabulous. The tram drivers were always friendly. You will come to know the chicken man Rene. His tram was always a party! William made sure our stay was going well, Our butler, Rudy, was the best. He always made sure we had a reservation for dinner. Everyone staying at the resort were always friendly. The beach was BEAUTIFUL, clear teal waters, white sand. Just beware of sand fleas if staying all day at the beach. My partner and I are picky eaters and we found enough food to keep us going. We didn't starve. The italian restaurant was the best, but we didn't get to try the Emporium (international). We had no problems with our room, We had 5920, which was right at the entrance stairs and it was fairly quiet. The A/C worked great. Our housekeeper, Janey, always did an amazing job on our room! We did the Remedios city tour and Jeep Safari. The jeep safari was our favourite excursion. We paid extra to have our own jeep and it was worth it. We will definitely return!! Read less