Will return there next year.

Only 3 stars but have found my annual winter getaway. Love the place despite: - Horrible service from airline. They lost my girlfriend's luggage for 3 days with others. Not the hotel's fault and am grateful to the hotel manager for going out of his way to deliver the luggage. - Elevator service was spotty. Not a problem for me as I enjoyed the 160 approx steps from the beach level to the buffet and main lobby areas. I traveled with seniors however who feared going to the beach as they could not  [... read more]climb the stairs. They really have to fix their elevator and get a backup unit. There was 2 elevators but later learned 1 has not worked for years. Not good. - Wifi service was horrible. I bought 4 passes of 1 hour each @ 2 CUCs per pass to log in and connect. Wifi rarely worked despite connecting to the router successfully. Worse yet, when I could connect, it would last for a few seconds and then disconnect. Of course, the service was still "logged in" meaning my pass expired in 1 hour unless I logged back in and "signed off". No support or advice at the hotel. This has to be frustrating as I brought a laptop along to keep up with emails and activity I did not want to share on a public kiosk PC there. Now what I liked. - Breathtaking scenery. I loved walking the beach and the surrounding resort. - The water was great at the beach and took advantage frequently. - They have a small plot of land by the beach and grow food for the hotel. This showed up in the flavour of some of the produce there. Excellent. - Although in need of some repair, the hotel is a delight to stay there and loved the layout. Just looking out from my ocean view room was simply, "Wow". - I can see why I ran into several Canadians there who have been staying at Brisas Sierra Mar every year for many years. I will be one of those people when I return next year. - I also enjoyed the "mud bath" tour. Recommended - Although there was limited choices and some shortages of food, overall, it was very good, Do not visit Cuba to a typical resort of you love thick steaks, huge cheeseburgers and other choices here in Canada. - The musicians performing were very good to excellent. There is a blind guitar player that performs there who can be best described as "Jose Feliciano meets Carlos Santana". Despite my issues, I have no hesitation returning there.

Loved it

My husband and I visited this resort from Dec 17 to 24th. We had a great time - the grounds are lovely, the food was quite good with enough variety to satisfy. Staff were friendly and helpful and the entertainment in the lobby and at the beach restaurant was great.

This is a very friendly resort.

Love the location of the resort with the mountains and the ocean. The view is fantastic even if you are on the pool or on the beach. The gardens are beautiful and well kept. and the staff is amazing and very friendly.

Wonderful for my friends. CarrolAnn

The Staff members, Public Relations, Sandra Ramon, Service, Clean, beauty, landscaping is second to none. A main feature is the gentleness and helping personality of all of the people working there. Thank you.

Great resort for relaxing vacation

very clean, friendly staff,one of the best place's i been to in cuba. and i have done a lot. it's better for older folks but lot's of stair's and elevators old and breakdown quite often. not much for kids to do. set in mountains so views are exelant. could offer more in ways of day trips but would be expensive because of where it's placed but over all a great resort.

Awesome Resort!!!!!!!!

I luved the resort, it had everythg any one would want. Shopping and the food was so good I gained weight I hate to admit. I even watched them roast a pig and Im not a ham eater but it tasted just like chicken was so amazing. I even had a mud bath and felt like a new person after did my arthritics good too. The mountain view is speechless and the pools and beach so relaxing. The staff and workers were so helpful I needed extra pillows were in my room before could get back after going to front de [... read more]sk. They gave us shampoo and soap and even toothbrushes in case we forgot somethg. They had entertainment every nite even a magician who was just like David Copperfield that good. Well I tell you a resort worth going to twice.

Amazing Time!

Staff and guests made this a great trip! Resort was quiet which meant no line ups at the buffet and no need to worry about securing your favorite chaise at the pool! There is a a place to eat great food across the street from the resort called Oceano... Wait staff are extremely hospitable and the good is great!

Beautiful natural setting :brisas sierra mar

nature setting -mountains and sea is truly fantastic, staff very friendly, food good, a bit repetitive, weather perfect every day. Beach small with rugged entry, but perfect swimming after 30m. All kayaks damaged and useless

Okay resort

beautiful surroundings, staff were very good, food was not good with same bland foods served every day. (told that it would improve in high season), recreation staff were very good, entertainment was very good in piano bar.

Great resort

Resort was good clean and friendly. Food was good but could be repetitive at times. Not a resort for people with limited mobility. Resort has lots of stairs and a elevator that will work off and on. However its always entertaining. I will definitely return here again in the future and would recommend it to most people.

Resort is overrun with one day passes with locals.

Food sub par other than the lower restaurant near the beach. Great fish and fried potatoes there. One spot staff is excellent.. Not a 3.5 Star. Resort washrooms always in need of toilet paper. Pool not cleaned daily. Pool in terrible shape.Torn liner exposes previous original cement pool with mildew and dirt build up. Large rolls in area where liner is so damaged. I realise it is Cuba but there is a lot of disrepair. Maids are fabulous. Bartenders and food service personnel are quick to look aft [... read more]er the locals and ignore out of country guests. But it is the out of country guests that tip them, Strange resort. Difficult to book an a la carte dining. Booking staff not available often. Booked VIP and had to ask for mini fridge service daily and usually was looked after the following day. Mind you they wrote it down. But not quick to rectify issues.

Enjoyed my stay

A different resort as you have all the public areas ie dining rooms, some bars, swimming pools, reception on the top floor and the rooms are located on floors below where the beach is also. It is a big resort with lots of space. The staff are excellent and most helpful. Probably a downside is the distance from the city of Santiago de Cuba. It is about 60/65 KM. I had a bicycle lent to me by a Cuban friend so the isolation allowed me lots of riding on roads that were very quiet. A small town 12 k [... read more]m away was a nice ride.

It was well worth what they charge

The staff really takes care of you and go above and beyond. There was nothing wrong with the food and there is a good variety. Drinks just flow 24hrs a day. The shows were amazing. It was my first time there and a lot of the guests are repeatcustomers. I wish it were a bit closer to Santiago.

Natural surounding landscape

Hotel site is beautifull. Hotel needs to do maintenence on room, washroom and grounds. Great for hicking into the mountans. Most of the staff are pleasant and work hard. The weather is great even when northern cuba is only 10 C some weeks in the winter.

Had a great holiday.

Hotel public areas and grounds were all really well kept. The botanical garden was a hidden gem. Highly recommend the Eco-Restaurant. Had a great time on the Mud Spa Tour and the Moped Tour, both of which were really reasonably priced. Staff very friendly but professional at the same time. The only thing missing is a shuttle bus to Santiago du Cuba.

Awesome Staff

This resort is in desperate need of repairs. I was at this resort in 98' what a difference. Its sad to see that they have let it go so badly. The staff are amazing esp Miguel our bartender. They ran out of booze on the beach 2 days in a row and it took us paying $ to get them to go get more. I do adore this resort it was a absolutley fantastic time. Nightly shows and fun in the pool with the entertainment staff was a blast ! Front desk could use some training on customer service. Not to friendly [... read more] when trying to exchange for peso's. Would i go back ?? Maybe if they add some more excursions, cleaned up the beach a little more. And fixed the hallways that lead to the rooms. Seeing black running down the walls is not very inviting. Took my husband as he had never experienced Cuba and since i loved this resort last time thought it would be the perfect place. The owner of the store is not too friendly, promised us cigars that he never did get! They need to put bottles of water in each room since there is a fridge not have us go to the pool bar to ask for it. Could be done when maid is cleaning the room.

Beautiful mountains, ok resort

Hotel needs a little loving (pool liner was ripped), not much choice for food but what we ate was good and the two à la carte restaurants were great. The room was clean and the beds nice and firm. Beautiful mountain views, and village life close by. Not the resort for people who are looking for a prestige beach, the sand is brown ( we knew that before booking ) but there is also lots of algae in the water, it felt more like a giant lake. It's also not a resort for young people as most of the pa [... read more]trons, other than the weekend Cubans, were 70 years and up. Hotel is an hour away from Santiago which is a must do visit . Last but not least , there's a great little restaurant at the entrance if the resort, the Oceano, they serve amazing scampi for only 12 cucs

Terrible Hotel

I think that it is an awfull Hotel and will never go back there. The food was awful, the treadment of guest was also bad. Not good. The food was old and recycled. The beach was full of weeds. The Hotel did not offer anything in the mini bar and the swimming pool was broken.

Great!

Beautiful place! Good food but a bit blan (needs spices), Nice excursions, excellent tour guide, excellent resort doctor, beach had too much stones at the bottom, pool nice but needs upkeep, needs more family oriented entertainment as it was a bit seductive at night. Overall- great!

Very enjoyable 3.5* resort - well worth a visit

A well needed two week break 'March 19 - to April 2' that my wife and I enjoyed. This is correctly rated 3.5*. The trip in from the airport was excellent due to the LONG AWAITED new road (Chinese built) and comfortable buses. The weather was very nice ad hot, albeit the surrounding farms are suffering from a lack of rain (big time). The pros: - nice pool and beach area and related bars (i don't drink but they make great coffee) - the entertainment in the lobby is very good (bands / singers in th [... read more]e evening 6-9 and the usual 9 pm shows ....) - love the Cuban a la cart restaurant - also the International. The buffet is adequate. - the Hola Sun rep Elbert is very helpful and organized - Most of the Cubans are very friendly ( and as with any culture the tips help big time) - we had a room on the 4th floor which was 3* comfortable (bring an extra pillow - you won't be sorry) - The maids and cleaning staff work so hard - treat them good please, as are most of the staff The cons: - They are insane about tipping - they want tips but rarely have change at the desk. So obviously they are sneaking their tips out of the resort (just a guess). They need to GET ORGANIZED. - Cuban nationals stay at the resort which is nice BUT the way they hog the food is a disgrace. They will actually raid the buffet of certain essentials etc. (watch as they take mounds of bacon etc. - and i have yet to see a Cuban guest tip (even in their local currency). - I witnessed a lot of what looks like out-right theft. The resort workers passing bags of food and wine in bags to their Cuban guests etc (how do i get some lol :) - really this resort has such great potential - BUT THESE PEOPLE CAN BE SOOO FRUSTRATING - the resort workers are a privileged class and in SOME cases that goes to the head :( they need to rotate the workers (OTHERWISE THEY BECOME TOO ENTITLED ). Would i go there again? - IN A FLASH :)