Paradisus Los Cayos: Best Cuba resort yet!!

We have been to cuba 7 times and have been to cayo coco and cayo largo but have been to cayo Santa Maria the most and just keep on going back and there is reasons why. The ocean is unbeatable and is the most beautiful we have ever seen. The Paradisus de la cayos has brought Cuba hotels to the next level. The grounds are beautiful,gardeners always working hard daily to keep it beautiful, the food is great, and always something for you to select. The rooms are absolutely gorgeous and we had two  [... read more]rain shower heads and had our own space in the shower which was wonderful. We always had hot water. We also had a bath in our room and that was nice after a long day to relax. The employees all exceeded our expectations. The workers go above and beyond and please tip them as the littlest tip helps them tremendously and they really appreciate whatever they get. Not everyone tips so please make sure to budget a bit for that. They also appreciate small gifts which we always tend to bring more and more every time we go back. They have a hard time getting certain items so tooth brushes tooth paste deodorant etc. Also do not forget that the maids seem to get a lot more gifts to give some to the other workers at the bar waitresses etc as they all deserve to be treated as they treat us. DO NOT exchange your money into their pesos. I exchanged $100 Canadian and received 2000 pesos so when I would tip 50 pesos I would be giving them 2.50 tip but unfortunately the government knows what their doing and the exchange rate should be almost 5000 pesos for 100 Canadian. So we get screwed exchanging to pesos and the Cubans are making less tips which is a control thing. Please bring Canadian money $5 bills are The best as loonies and too ira they will take but they cannot exchange it at their banks so the only way is to exchange it with Canadian bills with us. They also will take American 1 dollar bills and I guess euro’s are good too. Again just wanted everyone to know this as even myself I made the mistake of not bringing Canadian cash as I would always take money out at the Cuban banks but again not worth the exchange. The Cubans deserve every penny they can to help them in their difficult life but are all happy to be working and back to almost normalcy. It was sad to see some hotels still closed. I wanted also to say how honest the Cuban people are. I went to the market beside the hotel and bought cigars and some rum. There was a situation where I paid twice by accident and didn’t know till I got home as they called my hotel and sent someone to send me back as their was an issue with my transaction. I know I had paid and don’t bother going back to see. When I got home I noticed they charged me twice and actually refunded me the one transaction back which was almost 120 Canadian dollars. This shows you the honesty and safety of Cuba and Cayo Santa Maria is our favorite place to travel and now Paradisus is our favorite resort. Please take a vacation and relax and if you want the quiet side of this resort pay the bit extra and you will be on the royal side which is so paradise and peaceful. Congrats to all the employees from Paradisus from managers to butlers to maids and waitresses and bar tenders etc. Keep up the great work Paradisus and see you soon with many more friends and family ❤️🍻

Melia Internacional: Nice Vacation

The hotel was nice. The rooms were spacious. The restaurants need some improvement for example: food. The Cuban restaurant the food was tasty and the service was great. The beverages at the hotel, could be more variety. The beach staff were amazing always willing to help you find umbrellas and lounge chairs.

Melia Buenavista: Very good hotel

The hotel is well suited for adult adults. It is small and well run. The staff are friendly and helpful, the place is very clean and the 3 beaches are all different, the room spacious and comfortable. This said if you’re a foodie best think again the food is unappetizing and repetitive.

Melia Peninsula Varadero: Worst experience ever! DO NOT stay here

Looks can be deceiving! What looks like a beautiful newer resort on the outside, was an absolute nightmare to stay in. From the resort running out of food daily to feed guests, to having to wait up to 45 minutes to receive food. Fire alarms going off almost nightly. Air conditioners in rooms no working, cockroaches' in room! 6 a la cart restaurants closed. Miserable staff and no communication between staff & customer service. This was my 6th trip to Cuba and because of this experience I will NEV [... read more]ER return.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Great facility

Facilities were great, room was as expected for Royal side of resort. Food was extremely disappointing. We paid for Royal service which supposedly included import drink but all there had was rhum. No burgers, we don’t have this, we don’t have that was the commun response. No entertainment around pools, overall I will never go back

Melia Internacional: The best in Cuba!

Modern facilities, clean and well appointed rooms, impressive food quality and attentive service. All staff taking steps to safeguard from Covid by use of masks at all times which was reassuring for all. Would be nice to see more lounge areas with a bit more diversity in the drink program, however, all in all a great set up with friendly and attentive staff.

Melia Buenavista: Very nice resort

It was our second stay in this hotel. First 8 years ago. After two years of Covid, rooms require upgrades and renovation. Grounds are amazing. Service too. Very friendly and helpful. Ocean and beaches beautiful. Food is testy and fresh however choice is not that great. Overall, great stay. Will come here again.

Tryp Cayo Coco: Good times but a few hiccups!

As I’d previously read prior to going, the staff are generally very kind and helpful! The food was great and the views amazing! The few hiccups we encountered were that our room keys demagnetized EVERY day and randomly. As we were in building 9, it was a small trek to go grab new keys at all times of the day and night. The pool by the bar is quite gross and dirty. The nightly entertainment crew is fabulous and we enjoyed dancing afterwards with a DJ. The disco bar isn’t open and there was no [... read more] cave bar experience available on the Tuesday we were there. They did run out of certain foods fairly quickly and the buffet is only open during very specific times. Grab some snacks if you think you’ll be hungry during the times they aren’t open. The à la carte dinners were great and we had one offered for every evening we were there. They also run out of certain alcohol such as vodka early in the day and don’t have mojitos :( Overall we had a good time!

Melia Buenavista: Lovely small resort!

We enjoyed our week at this resort. The staff were great, very friendly, and many spoke English well. Bar service around the pool was wonderful, especially Lester! Hut by the pool offered delicious pizza and burgers 24 hours/day. Enjoyed yoga on the beach and aqua fit with entertainment staff Nayibi and Navy. Grounds were tidy and well maintained. 3 separate beaches provided a good variety for enjoyable walks. Loved the ocean view room and the outdoor shower. Quiet, relaxing small resort!

Melia Cayo Coco: Melia in Cayo Coco

If you want a quite resort withoutlarge crowds then this is the place. Our stay was 18 to 25 March 22. Weather was excellent, beach is among the best anywhere south. Even with limited personel on site (due to covid) service was excellent and food was equaly good. Like most places they ahve had a challenging few years also coupled with supply chain issues, be patient and be happy your getting to travel!!! As this is Cuba please bring the worker anything you can think of cove has hampered supply a [... read more]nd the war has made this worst. I heard they have a very hard time getting milk, if you can manage it bring bags of powdered milk & baby formula along with just about anything else one uses daily. Bring CDN & US cash as tips, don't bother with their Pesos..

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: Good resort but bad luck

The resort was good but due to a family emergency we only stayed for 2 days and cut our vacation..it would be great if we could be reimbursed for the part of our trip or a doscount for a next one so we can repeat our experience there

Paradisus Rio De Oro: Beautiful but needs work

I plan to be very honest and fair. The grounds are beauitful. The rooms are a bit more dated than you would expect for a resort of this magnitude. Mattresses need an update. I had to sleep on the chaise. Beautiful people and fantastic food. Stunning sites. It is the most beautiful resort in Holguin.

Paradisus Rio De Oro: 95 out of a hundred Could be a 100

Staff and locals very friendly and always happy and polite. The only suggestion to improve this hotels overall rating is to address the reception staff performance.There is room to improve the reception service with a possible program on learning basic English.Remember reception is the first point of contact.It was a ok reception but not up to a Five Star service.Everything else,the grounds the pool the beach the restaurants were excellent.This service staff what can I say beautiful peop [... read more]le.

Paradisus Princesa Del Mar: One of the best destinations you will love to go back

Excellent service,amazing customer care,beautiful night show ,friendly staff,clean beach and swimming pools, good food, on the top of all that very clean and safe rooms. The staff were very helpful and trying to help you every way they can.

Melia Cayo Coco: Beautiful Resort !!

We were amazed at how beautiful & tranquil Melia Cayo Coco is !! As are most people we were apprehensive with "post pandemic" travel but the staff automatically put our worries to rest. Everything was clean and sanitized quite often. The rooms were beautiful and quite comfortable. The staff were amazing !! The only suggestion that I would make to Melia would be to have available a "beach mat" that rolls out to the water so that people with disabilities can actually go home from their v [... read more]acation and say that "they actually put their foot or hand in the ocean"

Melia Buenavista: Excellent Hotel and Staff

We recently spent 2 weeks at this hotel and had an amazing vacation. The beaches,pools and rooms were excellent and spotlessly clean. Covid protocols were consistenly in place with cleaning and staff wearing masks. The very best part of the entire experience were the staff. Friendly,welcoming and superb service, by far the best I have experienced. Specifically the bar staff Juan Carlos,Luis and Leydi.Pool and beach Arel,Levin and Hector. I know I have forgotten some other names but they we [... read more]re excellent too. Highly recommend this hotel.

Melia Las Americas: We keep going back!!

We are returnees for I think the twelved time. As always, there is something that's going to go wrong, I had to pay again for my clubs because I could not find my receipt. So I got it over with. There was a lot of people that had not filled out their Cuban entry form, best to have everything done Toronto airport was not very busy and no issues there other then the Tim Hortons line up !! Flight was good. Everybody was wearing mask Varadero aiport was not busy and went through witho [... read more]ut issues, was glad my clubs got there this time, we were there in November and our clubs got there on 4th day !! Mask were worn till we got outside, there was a cooler beer vender in parking lot unlike November Checking in was a breeze, we know a lot of the staff and got our rooms right away There is a serious shortage of beers in stores and at the resort, beers on the golf course are $5.50 us compared to $2.00 no so long ago !! The golf course is in very good shape and the staff are very helpful as usual The people of Cuba are in need of medical supplies & every day items that we take for granted, that they cannot buy at this time, we all brought goods on our trips to help them out All in all, we had a great time again, lots of laughs, in fact I am returning April 3rd to do it again with some other friends!!! Cheers!!

Melia Las Americas: DISAPPOINTED

While the resort itself was beautiful and clean, food plentiful and drinks very good I could not get past the amount of people at this resort chain smoking. Being a lung cancer survivor two years now I could not spend any time on the Terrance as my lungs could not handle the smoke. One evening I was only person without a cigarette out of about 50. No matter where I went on the grounds, whether it be the beach, pool,, everyone around me smoked. I do know from experience other resorts in V [... read more]aradero have designated smoking areas, both on beach and bar areas. The Melia las Americas was a free for all smoking resort. For that reason, I will not be returning to MLA.

Melia Las Dunas: Fantastic Holiday !!

Just returned from a wonderful week at Las Dunas. Mar 17 - 24th. This was our 3rd visit to this hotel and it did not disappoint. As stated in previous reviews, the hotel is running at half capacity - the adult side is closed at this time as well as some of the services like the spa and gym. We stayed in building 26 which was right along the pathway to the beach which was wonderful. This is a big resort with lots of walking so if you are not able to walk very far then this is maybe not the resort [... read more] for you. There is the bell boy service and if you call they will come and pick you up in the shuttle buggy. Our building was also very close to the pool which was great. Easily accessible to both. Because only one side of the resort is open chairs seem to be at a premium......my husband was up early in the morning to go down to the beach to save chairs under a shade structure. It was noticed that the shade structures down in front of the adult side are all gone now. There were 2 beach bars open which was handy. The board walks have been replaced by stone paver walkways which is a much better option. The beach of course did not disappoint - beautiful as always. This has got to be the best beach I have ever been to. We found the water in the ocean to be warmer than the pool. The waves were a blast to play in. Food - we only ate at the buffets & the sports bar because we are not keen on the a la cartes. The food was plentiful, tasty and the service was always top notch. At this time visitors are supposed to be wearing masks inside the restaurants and especially when they are getting food at the buffet. Of course not everyone is following the rules. We had no complaints about the food at all. Would like to see soup as an option once in a while. Fruit is very limited with mostly papaya & guava being served. The pineapple when served is not ripe. Once in a while there were imported pears. You have to try the smoothie's....they are the best. We generally ate at the main buffet for breakfast and dinner and open air buffet for lunch. Food a bit repetitive at both places but always plentiful and could always fill up. Don't stand back and be polite....because there are lots of visitors that just butt right in. The staff was amazing and provided very good service. It was very nice to see old friends and meet new ones. Always appreciative of gifts or monetary tips. Everyone is working very hard to make your trip the best it could be. While there we did 2 excursions - deep sea fishing & the speed boats - both half day trips booked through our Air Canada rep. The deep sea fishing was a fantastic trip. There were 5 of us on the trip. The cost to book the boat was $399 US for 4 ppl and $30 for the extra person. We very much appreciated the crew we had who worked very hard to make our day successful. Our captain was Roley and Julio was the hand on board. We caught 9 fish total - 6 barracuda, 2 mackerel & a 29lb grouper. The bar was help yourself with beer, soda, water and a variety of hard liquor on board. If you decide beforehand that this is a trip you would like to take the crew would be very much appreciative of sunglasses that are polarized. The boat is owned by Gaviota and you can book the "Atun" boat and our crew. Roley & Julio are very knowledgeable and good at what they do. They will make your day a great experience. The other trip we did also ran out of the same marina by Gaviota. This was the speed boat/snorkeling trip. Your time is split between these 2 activities and both very good. The speed boats are very easy to operate and the guides are great. This trip is an exceptional value at $44 US and we have done it twice. The snorkeling was very good. We saw lot of fish of many varieties. If you look real close you can even see urchins in the reef. Snorkel, mask and fins are supplied. A hint.....wear the fins even if to protect your feet. I decided to go without and while treading water in the waves I scraped a couple of toes on the fire coral and it was very painful for a couple of days. The water is very clear and fish are very plentiful. Overall, another amazing trip to Cuba. So glad to be travelling again. We will return to this resort over and over again I'm sure !!

Melia Las Americas: Best Resort Ever!

The resort was beautiful! Beach beautiful! Staff amazing . Food was good considering the shortage issues they are having . No complaints! Elsy the recreation lady was an amazing beautiful person -Raoul at lobby bar was a treat - great guy - all staff were wonderful- beds could be more comfortable- that would be my only suggestion. We had a great vacation and would go back in a heart beat !