Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Another Great Week!

Although it was low season, Ocean Casa Del Mar did not let me down! The room and entire grounds were kept immaculate. There was plenty of food selection and the drinks were delicious. Nighttime shows were scaled back slightly, but were still excellent. The best part of the trip hands down was the care given to us by Big Daniels of the Animation Team, Leo and Daniel from the Buffet and Vania, Valentin and Andrey at the Pool Bar. Thank you so much and I cannot wait to return to this beautiful [... read more] place!

Ocean Blue and Sand: Above Average Resort

Here are the pros and cons of what I thought about the resort: Pros: - The grounds were well kept and maintained. - A nice selection of restaurants, especially the coffee shop. - Security presence on the beach. - Decent entertainment venues during the mornings, afternoons and evenings. - The room was clean. - The staff was very pleasant. Cons: - The beach was full of seaweed and the water was very cloudy and murky. It might be due to the time of the year. - The hair dryer was not  [... read more]working. I informed the concierge and he promised that it would be fixed. I was there for a week and it was never replaced or fixed. - The air conditioner wasn't working well. During the warm evening, I had to turn on the fan in order to compensate for the lack of efficiency from the air conditioner. - The concierge seemed to be only concern about selling me a time-share program. - The room was dated and really needs an upgrade. - The price of the excursions from the hotel and Nexus was too expensive compared to the outside operators. For example, the Saona excursion, the hotel quoted me $100 USD, Nexus quoted me $99 USD and the outside operator quoted $55 USD. Guess which option I went with?

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Not as expected

My husband and I stayed at Ocean Casa del Mar in Cayo Santa Maria Cuba for a week Sept. 4/18. While the weather was fantastic and the staff very friendly & helpful the food was less desirable. The main buffet (only one) open did not have an abundance of fresh fruit. There were no fresh bananas only fried. My husband likes to have one a day as he takes medication for hypertension as recommended by his physician. The hotel photos of the food in the reserved dinning are a little deceptive. What y [... read more]ou see in the photos is not what you get for dinner.The food in the buffet is the same almost every day. What is offered for lunch is re-offered dinner more or less. Our room was cleaned & mini fridge restocked daily. The service provided by housekeeping was very good. It was easy to obtain a chair at the beach/pool daily only because I believe half the resort was closed due to it being low season. If we had stayed here during peak season, I'm sure there would be a struggle for a chair. We have stayed at many resorts in Cuba but won't be returning to Ocean Casa del Mar.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Fabulous Resort

This resort is awesome. The grounds are very well looked after, rooms very clean, restaurants are excellent, entertainment staff are great. The staff were great.Pool is nice. We were close to the beach. Beach activities were fun. Went on one excursion to Saona Island but it was too long a day.There was too much climbing on and off boats as well. Other than the excursion I have no complaints. I am looking forward to going back to Ocean Blue and Sand.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Great resort, would recommend to family/friends

The hotel was very well maintained. Grounds were kept clean and staff were friendly. Hotel rooms were very spacious with nice rainfall shower, quiet AC. Food was really good at all the restaurants. During our stay in August there was a lot of seaweed so we did not swim in the ocean at all but the staff did try to clean up the beach. The pools made up for the beach, there was a good selection of food, drinks and entertainment at the pools from 9-5pm

Ocean Coral Riviera Cancun: Not great

Upon arrival they offered a reduced rate to upgrade to an 'Ocean View' room but it had no view do to a a 3/4 hight wall as barrier of the balcony and a huge palm tree blocking the view, we declined it, but the alternative was a mouldy and dirty room at ground level which we declined and finally stayed at the first room with no extra charge. They didn't have much entertainment or activities for kids, some staff were rude (at spa) others were nice (restaurants). Food was ok. Beach is a disaster d [... read more]ue to seaweed in the region.

Playa Vista Azul: 5 star hotel

Is not 5 start hotel and staff they’re not friendly if you don’t tip every day no service and food is not 5 star and people in hotel 86 percent are local people vacationing with you is okay with me but beach is the best in world

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Beautiful resort

Everything about the resort was top notch and beautiful. The room was big and always made so clean my the workers. You can never get tired of the food at the main buffet, and there are many other restaurants around to keep things different. The staff is also very friendly. I recommend staying at the adults only section because there are always special events being held in the pool. Only disappointment was their poor selection of beers

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Totally awesome place to be!!

What a wonderful experience we had at Ocean Reviera Paradise. My two teenagers and myself enjoyed the experience so much that we definately want to return some day soon. Hopefully when there is no sea weed problem at the beach. :) We felt safe and I found comfort in knowing how safe the place was as they enjoyed time with friends. There was always someone from the resort walking around. They seemed to be working around the clock. Employees were respectful, courtious, very helpful and it was  [... read more]easy to see how hard they worked each day. Seeing how long they worked in the hot sun, servicing everyone and to still manage their smile and have such energy made me have more respect for them. Two thumbs up for the ALL the employees at Ocean Reviera Paradise!! One thing that would be nice to see is a teenager night club. Where teenagers can go dance and have fun. Teenagers (ages 13 to 19 or even those just turning 20) want a place to go dance within the resort. In the rooms there should be at least 2 blankets left in the room for those that want to be extra warm from the air condition. The shower floor in the rooms need to be looked at. The water seems to leak out while showering and sometimes flows outside the bathroom. I like that you added a scale in the rooms. It's good to know how much your luggage weighs after you purchase other things to bring home. "Or ourselves after we've eaten so much throughout the day" lol. And to not forget to say... The Food was Delicious!!! The chefs and cooks did such a wonderful job. "Five Stars" It was great hearing English music throughout but it would be nice to hear More Mexican/Spanish music throughout as well. Even in the evenings. "I love Mexican songs" Besides... " We are in Mexico" Other then that.. the rooms are quite spacious, very clean and cozy. The balcony is very lovey and we loved the view overlooking the trees and spider monkeys. The shows were amazing! Loved them all!! Your hard work paid off. And to all the host and entertainment crew... " You are all fabulous!!" Aqua swim, bingo, volleyball and all the water games and hostessing etc.. Thank you for such fun and great laughter. Till we see each other again :)

Ocean Maya Royale: Very nice resort

We recently stayed at Ocean Maya Royale for 10 days. We loved our experience, excellent food, friendly staff, fun entertainment. The only negative aspect is the presence of algue on the beach but workers do their best daily to clean it up. Water temperature is very nice. Algue is present all along the coast this year.

Ocean Riviera Paradise: It’s ok

Hello! Friends trip, group of 4 just got back from ocean Riviera Paradise Reaort. In short, it’s ok. Food is decent, restaurants are good, rooms are comfortable. The hotel has a lot of positives, big pools and swim up bars, adult pool, decent activities at the pools. Also, some major negatives. Beachfront is primarily public and we were HARASSED every 5-10 mins to buy something. Often going as far as to interupt conversations and even waking us up. The water is quite rocky, swim shoes are reco [... read more]mmended. The pools close kinda early, so from 8-11pm (bar opens) not much to do but eat dinner. That wasn’t a big deal to us, but to some it could be. It’s difficult to make reservations for the Japanese restaurant, having said that, the show was decent but food was just good. The resort is built ‘long’ so make sure you can walk or be prepared to wait for the ‘bus’ that drives back and forth. Not a big deal for us, but maybe challenging for some. I’d give this resort a 6/10. None of us plan on returning, but we made the best of it and enjoyed ourselves.

Playa Vista Azul: Very nice resort

This is a nice hotel, nice beach, but one is vey small but has a bar with lunch buffet that compensate. The water is magnificent as always. The room was okay and our maid Raquel was very accommodating in our demands. Mikes cafe is a most in the morning for a Mocciato or a cold ice coffee with cacao liquor. The food is okay and the best restaurant is the Italian one. Very relaxing week with adorable smiling people!!

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Has potential

Great beach, newer rooms with inconsistency of things working like balcony doors. Food just eat the pastas, stay away from any fish, hamburgers are not good, just get hotdogs not sausages - trust me. The usual no ketchup or catsup lol. Staff is good until cubans stay on the weekend as staff has to assist them before anyone else. Not really a young group resort.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: I will NOT Book this Hotel Ever Again

The Resort 1. I had no electricity/ hydro for a day. 2. I had no TV for four days (it was on and off during the entire stay). 3. My telephone in the room didn’t work for 4 (four) days. 4. The bathroom/shower was awful. Every time I needed to take a shower I was flooding the entire floor of the bathroom. I wanted to take a decent shower and I could because I had to collect the water from the floor and clean up everything time after every shower, in order to prevent a flooding. Final I fou [... read more]nd a solution, I was taking a shower late at night at the beach shower. That way I didn’t have mop and clean the entire bathroom floor after I took a shower and most importantly I was standing straight. The Food and the Drinks and Bartenders As a beginning I would like to share with you that I will never in my life will imagine that a very dry and poorly made, most probably frozen burger and a few “hush browns”, as the Cuban personal at the restaurants have called them, will be the best meal that I will ever have. Here are a few observations of my stay: 1. The food in the buffet was terrible and tasteless and 75% and more of the menu was served for breakfast, lunch and dinner (cold cuts, a few vegetables, a few different kind of rise and a few different fish dishes) 2. I was wondering why in a country which grows mangos, pineapples and papaya year round they will serve you juice from a can? You can tell it is can juice because it has this very specific metal smell from the can, when you drink it. 3. I have asked for scotch and my drink was served to me in a red wine glass. I will accept that in a 2 star hotel but I in a 5 star luxury resort - this is unacceptable. 4. I have asked for a dry Martine and I got a scotch glass with on ice or olive. What a nonsense... 5. I am not sure how many bartenders are in the resort, but a few of them at the main bar, below the main lobby, were constantly grumpy and absolutely not pleasant to deal with. I purposely avoided them ant I have spent my tips money on more pleasant, always smiling and welcoming bartenders. I was extremely disappointed and disgusted by the service at Ocean Casa del Mar and my vacation was not pleasant and not enjoyable.

Ocean Blue and Sand: Great Family friendly resort!

The grounds were well-kept, the employees were courteous, friendly and helpful. The pools were amazing and the amenities were great for the entire family. The grounds were large, with a frequent shuttle to take you from the front to the beach in minutes. The variety of restaurant options gave a different flavourful option each night, with the Japanese restaurant, only one requiring a reservation, the best. A wonderful family-friendly resort.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Not quite good in some aspects

First time to Varadero with family😀 The resort is quite nice like the garden and landscapes, the gardeners were the friendliest always smiling and acknowledging you with a warm greeting. But we noticed how there are garbages around the pool and we didn’t see any staff cleaning or picking up garbage around. There were cigarette butts around the pool area and it has been there piling on the ground for the whole week we were there. We felt so bad we even picked up all the plastic cups by the  [... read more]pool since nobody cleans up, it’s like that everyday! The room is very disappointing, 😒it wasn’t very clean, I had to clean and disinfect our rooms (ours and kids room, my mom did the same in their room too) when we got to our rooms with Lysol wipes that I brought with me😖 also there were ants all over the bathroom floor (in all our rooms) so I figured how to get rid of them, I sprayed repellant all over the bathroom floors and it solved it😲 when I noticed there were ants on our bed, I made sure the maid change our sheets before it gets to our ears while sleeping, five days in and they haven’t changed any of our sheets so I had to request she change sheets. Food is not very good and not a lot of main dish to choose from! Very disappointing☹️ When food is gone they don’t replenish and refill, or they would take forever if they decide to do so😡 The beach is beautiful 😍 loved the turquoise water the one positive thing! We still made the most of it and had fun but we will not come back to this resort😥

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Wow!... Couldn't ask for more

Got back from ORP on the 24th of July and couldn't be any happier! Our expectations for the trip were wildly exceeded ... We stayed in Eden very close to the beach and pool ... We have stayed in Mexico several times and this resort was the best ... We have previously stayed at and enjoyed another hotel in the H10 chain ... Ocean Coral and Turquesa so restaraunts etc were similar yet ORCs were even better Everything was excellent ... Reception was seamless ... Service was great in all the bars a [... read more]nd restaurants .... Pools were all as advertised ... El beso ...party pool!!! ...Eden ...fun but a little calmer and the beach pool was great for going for a dip right off the beach ... Entertainment staff was excellent day and night ... There were plenty of huts and chairs at the beach ... There were a number of comments on trip advisor concerning the walk from beach to lobby ... 10 minute stroll at the longest with lots to see on the way Lots of reviews talked about the seaweed on the beach and in the water as well as the fact there are lots of rocks ... All are correct .... However it's an ocean surrounded by one of the largest reefs in the world .... If you go through the initial seaweed area the ocean is gorgeous .... Take water shoes if you have tender feet ... The workers are constantly cleaning the beach all day and should be commended for their hard work Tips .... If you like the beach stay in Eden ... Adult area is El Beso All the restaraunts were great except Route 66 ... Burger place we didn't try but stayed away because we heard it wasn't great If you want a good burger go to the beach restaraunt at lunch Definitely go to the beach restaraunt at dinner and sit on the patio .... Beautiful breeze on the ocean and a fabulous array of seafood Blue moon was delish but you MUST have closed shoes ... No sandals if you are a male ... Sexist? .... The food is worth it Italian was also excellent Eat breakfast at the Mexican restaraunt .... Seems to be a little known secret but they have everything the same as the buffet but no lineups ... See Jose and/or Ricardo ... AKA ...The Chili Man if you want to book a tour especially snorkelling ... Set us up on an excellent snorkelling adventure Go book ORP now .... You won't regret it

Ocean Riviera Paradise: Great resort but had restaurant booking issues and major issues with trip central

This Resort is beautiful. There are multiple pools and activities. The nightly entertainment is really good. The food at the buffet was decent. Their steaks at all the restaurants were excellent. There was enough variety to satisfy every member of our family ranging from a 3yr old to 60+ yr old. The ice cream parlor was a hit! Rooms are clean and nicely decorated. We lost electricity in our room twice during the 7 day period we were there (mid July 2018) ..and one of those times the water [... read more] pressure was down and then completely stopped flowing out (front desk said it was an issue through out the hotel and this was fixed within about 15min) The Bars were serving imported alchohol that my hubby said was exceptional as he's usually seen domestic alcohol at other resorts in our past travels. The service however was backed up on few occasions with about a 10 min wait as there weren't enough bar tenders. The beach was not great. Too much seaweed. The staff that was in charge of cleaning up the seaweed couldn't keep up. It looked and smelled dirty. Not many people were going into the ocean. We usually enjoy the pools anyway and were not bothered. Though it would have been nice to be able to walk down the shore had it been cleaner and seaweed free. We arrived at the resort around 8pm. No one greeted us with drinks as we normally have been at other resorts in our past travels. My biggest complaint is the way the restaurants book guests. First they have many restaurants to choose from but the Japanese restaurant is the only one that takes reservations on the same day you want to dine. Guests stand in line from 10am for guest services to begin taking reservations 1130-1230pm ..and this place gets booked fast. In order to get a guaranteed booking, they make you buy a bottle of wine. We did this finally after unsuccessfully attempts to get a reservation two days in a row. And they screwed up our booking. When we arrived for dinner at the Japanese restaurant they had a booking for only 2 when we had asked for reservation for 6 family members. We fought for our seating for 6 people and refused to leave. This was the only way we were able to dine hear. The other four guests who's seating we apparently took arrived 30 min late so they were denied seating at that point. The guest services also made mistakenly told us this restaurant was taking reservations on monday which we learned on the monday that its closed when we went in to make reservations. We basically wasted a decent amount of our time trying to book dinner at this restaurant which is the most popular one there. Server and cook were very good. The cooking table was entertaining and enjoyable after all but it didn't start pleasantly and so my mood was upset as I was the one who faught for our seating. Oh and I had asked to speak to the manager who was never called to the front to help with the situation and confusion. The second most popular restaurant is the steak house and is only takes walk-ins. But with a family of 6, we had to wait 1 hour and 45 min !!!!! Again this was ridiculous and they had told us it would be about a hour wait. In that hour we decided to feed the kids at the buffet and then return in time to be seated. We still had to wait about 45 more minutes. We put our name on the wait list st about 740pm. We returned an hour later and were finally seated around 930pm. It was a very late dinner for us and they turn off the Air conditioning at about 10/1030pm. So half way into dinner the restaurant was beginning to get warm and eventually uncomfortable to eat in a hot environment. Not the best experience. The main entrees were very good yet not excellent and the appetizers and desserts were very much so lacking in flavor and quality. Server was very kind and helpful. Lastly, when booking with trip central, the reservation/receipt/email DID NOT INDICATE That we had paid for AIRPORT TRANAFERS as part of the AIR CANADA VACATIONS PACKAGE. There were no vouchers available as part of our online booking. We ended up forking out $97 USD for return taxi fare to and from hotel for 4 people. My parents were supposed to arrive the same day and time from calgary with connecting flight from Toronto to cancun. We were coming from toronto. We were all supposed to land together on the same flight but my parents air Canada flight got delayed in Calgary for 3 hours so they had to take a different flight the NEXT DAY. They arrived the following day and ALSO PAID $67USD FOR A ONE WAY TAXI TRIP TO THE RESORT. had we been made aware by trip central about the airport transfers we would have saved $170 USD that the taxi company charged!!! Let's not forget that my parents got delayed and so they would have missed their connecting flight in Toronto .. other other option given to them was to fly out to Seattle and wait their for a few hours before catching a red eye flight to Cancun arriving 8am. This option would have meant that they'd be In transport for more then 14+ hours. Really not a good one at all for someone who's in their 60's with health problems. So they chose a direct flight the next day and arrived at 8pm at the resort. They missed one whole day of their vacation and nights stay at the resort. So who's going to compensate for this?? Not to mention they missed out on the birthday celebrations that were planned for their granddaughter for that afternoon of the day they finally arrived. Just a big mess ..and alot of hard earned money lost. Not how you expect to start off your vacation. Did I mention this was my parents very very first time traveling down south to an all inclusive resort. Started off with some disappoints for sure. The first day/afternoon we missed my parents as they weren't present to enjoy the once a week pool bbq and pool foam party. Disappointing! I'm not sure I would return to this resort when there are plenty of other great choices out there. In fact we are not sure if we will ever book with trip central again unless the above issues are resolved and compensated for. We've lost alot of money booking with trip central and air canada vacations. 1. The taxi fare could have been avoided! $170USD 2. The airport transfers we paid for were no use to us because we were never made aware of or given the vouchers on booking. (Air Canada vacations rep told us the vouchers were approx. $25/per person each way). So apparently we paid $300CAD (INCLUDED IN THE COST OF OUR TRIP..$50PP) in total between us 6 that trip central did not give us the vouchers for. 3. The delayed Air Canada flight for my parents from Calgary to Cancun via Toronto, resulting in one missed night stay at the resort. Losing one whole day at the resort.

Valentin El Patriarca Varadero: Great experience

The À la cart Dinners were amazing buffet was ok Rooms are kind of small and ac is a pain in the butt but work ok for the most part our phone didn’t work Dinner shower were great fun and entertaining Lots todo on the resourt piano bar And mikes coffee shop were great as this is my first time to Cuba I probably won’t go back the this resort anytime soon but after travel to different countries I would return

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Had a great time!

The resort is beautiful, clean abd nicely decorated. The employees will go above and beyond to see a smile on your face. Buffet food isnt the greatest but the a la carte restaurants were great. Very lively but still quiet. great for all types of vacations for all ages