Ocean El Faro: great resort

My daughter and I arrived on January 26th. We had a wonderful experience. The lobby is breathtaking, so big and beautiful! Can’t event justify it with a picture! As this is a new hotel, we came expecting hiccups, there obviously were somethings that were not perfect; but nothing major they would make us not come back. -The beach is nice but does not have the crystal-clear bright blue water, they need to add more sand in the water, as there is still lots of areas where you are stepping on ro [... read more]cks and weeds, I suggest packing a pool noodle, this allows you to pass the waves/weeds and rocks and enjoy the ocean a bit more. -Be prepared for slow service at meals; they are either understaffed still, or take Island time to the extreme. We had a room 9327 which has a rooftop, this was a beautiful room, the only downfall of these rooftop rooms is they do not have locks on the rooftop doors, which means any of your rooftop neighbours could come in your room. Ensure to have any valuables locked at all times. We requested them to secure our rooftop door any way possible, every day, they would say they would but it was never done. That was our biggest disappointment, as we kind of slept with one eye open every night. I was traveling with my very beautiful 20 year old daughter and did not feel comfortable having her alone in the room. Craftsmanship in the rooms is very sloppy, it was done in a big hurry, caulking and paint drips everywhere, including on the new furniture, even the toilet seats! Shower door in our room did not close, we had to take our showers with the shower door open, we just put a towel on the floor, it was all good, nothing major, but if these types of things bother you, then you might be disappointed. I loved the concept that they have all common places in one area, as you come out of the lobby, everything is there, restaurants, gym, spa, store, sports bar, Showtime, etc, all in one area, they will soon have a small casino and bowling alley open which will be a real nice addition… One of the things that made this trip so memorably is the staff, the employees are great, friendly and will help you with anything you need! Some of the staff are just exceptionally good, just to mention a few: • Manuel Lora - bellboy; • Manuel, Julio and Melissa night staff at the lobby bar; • Luis from Mike’s cafe • Santiago at the beach bar • Gabriel from the lazy river pool bar; If you have a chance to meet these individuals, they are amazing! The entertainment staff are also very good, Chihuahua will definitely make you laugh with his corky ways and his laughter! For the most part, the shows were good, my two favorites were the acrobatic show and the Michael Jackson show which was one of the best I’ve ever seen! Overall, we had a wonderful experience, and would go back, if the prices do not skyrocket.

Ocean El Faro: Ocean Blue And Sand - Good

Room was always cleaned well, but starting to show wear (shower trim was duck taped and slipping). Mini fridge was refilled 5 out of the seven days while we were there. The beach is nice, a little sand lost from rising water but still plenty to walk along I would guess 2 or3 kms in either direction. Food in the buffet was the same variety breakfast, lunch and dinner. We ate dinner 5 out of 7 at the a la carte restaurants, all were good, Mexican, Italian, Route 66, we tried the steak house bu [... read more]t we were forgotten about. We arrived at 5:45 they opened at 6:00, order was taken at 6:10 food never arrived we left at 7:00 after asking twice about our order. Drinks, you received what you order. Order Jack Daniels that is what you receive. Order Kahului, Bailey’s that is what was received no replacements

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Amazing resort

Beautiful grounds ,clean rooms,food was fantastic with a lot of variety, service was great , will definitely return to this beautiful resort. The shows were great and views were amazing. The rooms were so clean and loved the huge showers with the rainfall shower heads. Beds were extremely comfortable , overall I give it a full 5 star hotel!

Ocean Blue and Sand: Don’t Bother

The resort is situated in Bavaro. The beach is NOT nice. It has large man made sand banks to prevent weeds from reaching the beach. It is a narrow resort so the beach chairs are squeezed together. You can barely walk between the chairs /rows. The rooms smell very moldy. It it in need of a major renovation. The food is all prepared in advance “a la cafeteria style”. The gym is pathetic. The equipment is old and used. For example, The material on the work bench is all torn out; as are the mat [... read more]s. The treadmill is a cheap home version. In short go somewhere else. You can do better.

Playa Vista Azul: Culd Have Been So Much Better

Hotel was on the newer side and very very clean. Entertainment was awesome. Food was horrible. I've been to Cuba 13 times and over the few years the food has really improved, with the exception of this place. Food was bland, boring. They ran out of items at the buffet, grill, restaurants etc: Napkins, cheese, spoons etc. Ice cream machine would not work. No towels in the gym .Some of the simple expected things like I listed were not available. They had no fresh fruit for drinks, not even the [... read more] puree stuff. To make a strawberry drink, they used a strawberry syrup. They ran out of decaf coffee. There are two beaches. Both you share with hotel next door. Both are super small and crowded.

Ocean Coral by H10: Incredible Service!

We booked our trip with a Privilege Upgrade and that is the only way to travel! The level of service at the Privilege Lounge was exceptional. Our good friend Angel in there took incredible service for us and provided us with incredible meals. Thank you also to Isabel the chef. How she is able to prepare the meals she did in that small kitchen I don't know, she is a magician me thinks. I strongly recommend everyone check out the Privilege level of service at this resort. Myself and my frien [... read more]ds came back a second time due to the service of Angel. I have also sent other friends there from Canada who had a similar great experience. Thank you for booking the trip for us!

Ocean Coral by H10: Wonderful Stay

A fantastic resort. Upgrading to Priveledge Class well worth the money. Food at all restaurants exceptional except for the 'Marina' where food was cold and service was poor. Even though this restaurant is know as the Steak Pit I do not recommend it. Priveledge Class has a Priveledge Lounge which has exception staff. Angle and his chefs are the best. All resort staff friendly and helpful. Our buttler Manual was awesome. Easily a 4.5 out of 5 and would have been a 5 if not for the one poor restaur [... read more]ant. There are 8 restaurants in total and 7 of them really were exceptional. This was our second stay in 2 years and we will be returning in the future.

Playa Vista Azul: Wonderful resort

This resort was wonderful.Rooms modern and clean.Big warm thanks to Raysa our maid who kept room clean and looked after our every need.Especially liked the designs she made on our beds each day with towels,etc.The people of Cuba very loving.Plenty of choices to eat at the buffet in building 8 and at the beach. Ate at the a la carte restaurants for supper.Never went hungry.The water at the beach is a beautiful blue in color and weather so warm,getting up to 28 celsius.Pretty good for January.Ent [... read more]ertainment in hotel and in the theatre amazing.Big thanks to Yanelis and her crew who entertained our party of 4 with activities by the pool.Mike's coffee shop was our favorite place for specialty coffee.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: I do not recommend this hotel

I ate pastas all week because the buffet was always cold. The staff is friendly but make sure you lock everything in your room's safe unless you want it to disappear. Got my phone charger stolen on the 2nd day of my stay and hotel said I lost it and couldn't help me, even though it never left my room. The beach is alright. The pools and bars are great. I chose that hotel because it had good reviews, but I can't say I would go back there. All in all, I think this hotel was overrated. Up to the [... read more] 10th day, the minibar still wasn't refilled everyday and they never changed our sheets. Just made the bed with the old sheets. For 10 days. I definitely wouldn't recommend this hotel.

Ocean El Faro: Beautiful resort.....but still under major construction

The food was a 10 out of 10, 2 large pools and a lazy river all with their own pool bars....10 out of 10! Rooms were large, each with a sitting room area, warm laminate floors and a roomy 3 piece bathroom! No cold, slippery tile floors to be found. Plenty of loungers around the pools and on the beach. An electric people mover ran up and down the main walkway on a regular basis and was easy to flag down. House-keeping staff were helpful and very diligent in their work, maintenance men were  [... read more]prompt, bell boys were courteous and helpful. Staff in the main dining room could use a little more training and I thought it odd that you had to provide your room number each and every time you entered. Staff on the lobby counter were an absolute mess. There was little organization when arriving and at any time when you needed to go there. I quickly learned to dread going there as it would end up costing me at least an hour of my time.( 3 hours to arrange a room change), Guest services was a joke. The beach is a short one and when you entered the ocean you hit sharp rocks in less than 3 feet. I would love to go back in a year as I am sure by then all of the kinks would be ironed out but by then it would probably be out of my price range. We didn't require it but if you have young children, they have an awesome water park for them.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Amazing resort!

We were treated like royalty as soon as we arrived. Our room was ready for us. Shower = amazing tons of hot water. Close to everything pool, ocean,restaurants, snack bar and ice cream bar. Staff was so friendly.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: It is what it is!

From a first impression standpoint, our trip seemed tarnished right from the start. Staff made it seem as though we were an inconvenience being there. As time went on, they warmed up and became friendlier, however this still left a bad taste in our mouths. The resort itself was well kept, beautiful grounds. The beach was not as nice as we expected in varadero, but we can blame that on the weather which was also hit or (mostly) miss. Some staff spoke half decent English, however many could [... read more] not understand, or at least played it off like they did not understand what we were saying. It was a weird vibe right from the start and it was hard to shake off for the remainder of the trip. A lot of bartenders seemed to cater more to the guests that spoke Spanish, and would serve them quicker and better than they would us. There were even times where we were blantantly ignored while resort staff were being served before us. The pool staff were great. Jorge and Lexniar the bartenders and the entertainment crew were a ton of fun. Meilin and Yaimara in the lobby were great, as were Hanney and Pavel. And the staff in the Italian restaurant were amazing. Unfortunately many of the other staff were unapproachable and evasive no matter how hard we tried to engage with them. Might as well not have a beach bar or beach restaurant, as every order was replied with a sigh from the often rude staff. Still, we had a great trip despite the issues. Would probably try a different resort next time, maybe a different location in Cuba as well.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Need to communicate better

The food was much better than we expected, based on everything you hear about Cuba. The cooking stations do an excellent job of preparing food fresh, it is worth the wait in line. The biggest issue we encountered was the lack of communication. They temporarily 'moved' the a-la-carte restaurants, meaning they served them out of different locations, but did not communicate this to the guests, and none of the staff we asked could tell us where to find it; we ending up finding them (this happened [... read more] twice), but we were late for the reservation. Even staff at the customer service desk in the lobby did not know where the restaurants were located. One evening, they had a pig roast, which was not advertised, we only knew because we happened to be in the vicinity when they were setting up the roaster. No one could tell us, however, what was going on, and when it would be served.

Ocean El Faro: Growing pains

Will be an amazing resort given a few months. The amenities are great . Just not everything working fully yet. Pools are amazing and is a great place for kids. Not for adults unless you are taking your kids. Food not so great. They are a little ambitious in what they are trying to achieve. I am sure when kinks are worked out it will be an amazing resort. Rooms were large and well appointed. One thing to note - ask as many questions as you want. The staff did not tell us balcon [... read more]y door locked automatically when shut and we both went on balcony and shut door. You guessed it....we got locked out. The beach was not very good. Therefore, spent time at pools.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Great resort

The resort was beautiful, rooms were clean,did not have a alcohol dispenser in room, only two beers a day, and pop. Stayed in daisy section close to food, the Japanese, and Blue moon restaurants were our favourite, as far as the pools they were nice , but could use to be cleaned better noticed rings around edges, the hotel was not to far from playa we took a cab ride for $17.00 one way ,only about 15 min ride .

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great Resort

The resort itself was large and well maintained. The rooms were nice and the staff were friendly. The food was good, and while we were there, the resort allowed you to go to the "a la cartes" everyday and there was different entertainment every night. Overall, a very nice resort.

Playa Vista Azul: GREAT FACILITIESexcept for beach access & language barrier

Property was great in all aspects except hallway was not lit - thus VERY dark at night- could not see room # & had difficulty opening the door with key card Beach are was very small & cluttered Could do with some written info in the room re meal times - show times - amenity locations etc The only issue I have is with Air Canada Vacations Flights were poor - delays - poor connections Transfers - arrived in Varadero on schedule - through customs to the bus We sat on the bus waiting for over  [... read more]an hour- all passengers appeared to be on board There was a great delay for no apparent reason We were given no info on the trip except buy beer & book tours - tours - tours Arrived at the hotel after 1030 PM - all restaurants were closed - were hungry as we had not eaten since noon Our info session was booked for 9AM the following morning The ACC Rep - YOAN was useless He did not promote the hotel well - only a 15 minute presentation - gave no info re hotel amenities - No mention of the theater - spa - tennis courts etc. AGAIN BOOK TOURS TOURS with no details As a retired Travel Agent - If had I sent clients there I would be very very disappointed with the presentation they would have received Rep really did nothing to welcome guests or share any helpful info that would have made the vacation more pleasant - no written info I feel strongly that someone needs to evaluate him & perhaps provide a replacement I did speak with Customer Service on site & because of language barrier I received no satisfaction Many thanks

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Great resort

Large resort but clean. Food was good, especially the BBQ by the beach. The beaches were amazing. Only thing was it seemed like there was only nightly entertainment, none by the pool or beach (that I saw anyway).

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: Very nice resort

Our second visit to Oceans. The best food we've found in the area. The staff is great, everything is clean, and a nice beach. Quiet areas and action areas, something for everyone. Bartender Carlos Cuevas made the best drinks at a little snack bar by the kids pool and Waiter Eduardo Ceurcia kept our glasses full while we were on the beach. At night Bartender Johnson kept us well entertained in the main lobby bar.

Playa Vista Azul: Awesome resort

Ocean vista Azul was such a great experience from start to finish. All the workers and staff were friendly and always there to help us if we had questions. There were 3 staff members in particular that we really enjoyed. Anays in the lobby bar and Ariel and Yosi at the pool bar. Food was pretty good for Cuba and the alacart restaurants were also good. Daily and nightly entertainment was always a blast. All together I’ll definitely go back again next year.