Returning Customer - 3 times

Hotel has gone down hill since our last visit 3 years ago. We picked this hotel again, because in the past we had a great experience here. This trip, we were put in a room close to the ocean, with a partial ocean view, which was nice, however we had no hot water for our entire visit, and our toilet did not work, and toilet paper was limited. We found the staff not near as friendly as they have been in the past, the entertainment was not as plentiful as in other years. The food was horrible,  [... read more] worst I have seen in all my 7 trips to Cuba. There was often only one serving spoon for several different items of food. People who have food allergies like myself can not eat as a result of this, I had to stick to bread and eggs. The resort itself needs a lot of repairs although we did see a lot of maintenance workers and ground workers out and about, however there are safety issues that need to be addressed before someone gets badly hurt. We will not be going back!

Time to find a new resort!!

Over time this hotel has become VERY run down!! This is my 3rd and last time at Memories. The entire shower bar, head, plumbing had all fallen out of the wall, both sets of curtains were hanging off the rods and would not close. Huge wall / water damage patches in the bathroom, tub would not drain for a long time. Missing tiles around sink & tub. Towels old & strained. The small foot bridge to the beach has total fallen apart, nails sticking out, boards missing, no hand rail super dange [... read more]rous. The bathrooms by the Japanese restaurant and disco are DISGUSTING!!! Never any paper, men's and ladies toilets flooded and full, NO locks on the doors. The clock at the fountain square has never had the correct time in the past 7 yrs that I have been there. Lobby & main bar at 2:00 p.m. has NO ice, Mojitos served with WATER and not soda, mid evening no glasses to drink from, restaurant over the pool NO rum, mix at noon only beer left. What the hell? Guests are annoyed so they don't tip, staff are frustrated they don't have supplies and are getting no tips so crappy service does not make for a good holiday. No butter or margarine for toast in the a.m. when asked the young girl replied "no we're all out" it's 07:30 how can you be out of butter the restaurant only opened 30 mins ago? Asked an older male gentlemen who was happy to walk to the fridge & get some more. Again back to the poor service. Sunwing rep arrived 20 mins after bus arrived with guests for Diamond Club registration, 1/2 the guests in standard rooms had already checked in before rep showed up. No welcome drinks as advertised. Evening entertainment was very disappointing every night seemed to be the same artistic, tribal, jungle jumping around despite having a different theme. People were always walking out or falling asleep. The pool show & Michael Jackson were good. Lots of broken concrete on the foot paths and NO lights for rooms near the beach, very dark and hazardous due to all the broken tiles, bricks, etc. Carts are few & don't come around often. Be prepared to walk A LOT! Quiet pool is not so quiet lots of kids and noise. It would be nice to see them go down to the main pool so others could enjoy a more peaceful environment. On a positive note the day time Entertainment team is a hoot and always engaging people to do things. Main pool is always a buzz of activity, laughs, water polo, games and good times. Thank you Vettie, Caesar, Yenny and Denis it was great to see familiar faces. OUTSTANDING service and ladies at the bar going to the beach connected to the restaurant. Always pleasant, cheerful and make the best drinks at the resort!! Yarndis is a lovely lady and always smiling despite the lack of supplies; coffee first thing in the a.m., rum & ice mid day. Main restaurant the fruit lady Jeannette is always smiling, cheerful and happy to please her guests. Peachie the omelet lady is also another outstanding employee. The staff in the Diamond Club could use some training had to ask for coffee & juice 3x before we received any. Japanese restaurant was very good, fresh, filling and tasty. Cuban Day on the beach was great, good food and entertainment. Could use more chairs & table on these days for people to sit.

Great Value Resort

This resort was an excellent value. Some aspects were a bit dated, however we had a lovely week and didn't spend much time in our room any way. Would definitely recommend if you are looking to get away on a budget. The beach was amazing. There are two pools with bars to choose from, not including the two kiddie pools. There was a waterslide, and I would say this resort was very family oriented. The food was tasty for the most part, and the staff members were very kind and attentive. I would defi [... read more]nitely go back, except I would request to be put in one of the newer buildings. Our mattress was pretty uncomfortable, so if you have back issues I would take that into consideration. Possibly the newer rooms also have newer beds.

Overall good resort

Grounds keepers were constantly working...trying to fix the damage which was minimal by the time we got there. There was no noise associated with this work. It had no impact on our vacation. Our room was outdated and worse was the obvious patch work to fix certain fixtures. For example, sink plug was broken, plaster wall had apparent water damage. Room was not cleaned well when we checked in, for example broken glass in sink drain, grime on bathroom wall tiles and counter. We got used to the mo [... read more]ldy odor and the appearance of the room. Now for the good part...most of the employees were courteous, some were fantastic; the food was better than I was expecting, a liter of bottled water was supplied daily free of charge, our housekeeper paid attention to details, the entertainment in the lobby was good, the beach chairs were free, they provided an extra single bed for us without being asked (a bonus for us three, travelled with two teenagers), Sunwing provided an information session on our first day and were always available for any questions and/or concerns. Overall we paid and got 3-star service. My girls and I would definitely consider going back to Cuba...the beach was fantastic!

Nice beach

The hotel was clean, nice beach, drinks were what you would expect from this caliber resort, staff was friendly, lobby bar was good late night. A la carte food was ok, the beach burgers were good, though the buffet wasn't very good.

Not a great resort

The bar service was slow and the drinks where disgusting. The food at buffet was cold and the meats where all under cooked. This was my third time at memories and I will never go back. Had to ask for toliet paper and bottle water we where diamond club and room key stopped working twice during our stay. The Sunwing rep was very rude. It’s was my worst trip to Cuba ever,have gone 3 times before

Pretty good resort

Food was good but needs more variety. Pool was clean, beach was pretty good. Rooms need an upgrade, badly. New mattress and bed set. The whole shower needs to be replaced. Entertainment was pretty good. Excursions were great!

Great time

Wonderful time at this resort! Everything was just perfect! Looking forward to returning. Villa 39 is by the activity pool and close walk to the beach. My family had just a great time. Highly recommend.

Another wonderful time at Memories

Grounds were beautiful as always. We were in building 31 and had an updated room with king size bed. The mattress was comfy and we loved the extra large pillows. Food was good, breakfast was always our fav! Staff were friendly and made sure even during the bad weather we were happy and entertained.

Awesome resort.

This place is amazing for the price. I'm not quite sure what people are thinking when they give this place a bad review. We all need to remember what they are working with when we visit Cuba. The rooms aren't going to be a diamond rated class suite but the beds are good, showers are hot and the TV works. Who actually spends much time in a room on vacation anyway. The food is great. Decent selection at every meal and always had plenty of food. Don't try and show up 10 min before closing a [... read more]nd complain that one item ran out on the buffet. That's your fault, not the resorts. Whoever says the food sucks in Cuba hasn't stayed here. The shows are fantastic and entertaining. The drinks are cold and strong. The pools are all good. The beach is very nice but watch out for sand mites. Again, that's not something the resort can control. I'd come here again for the right price and would recommend it anyone. A nightclub would have been nice but not a deal breaker.

Some positives some needs improvement

We stayed at Memories Varadero Jan 8-15. The resort is quite large which isn't a bad thing, atleast you get daily exercise! The beach is stunning! They have a section for diamond club and theres always loungers available. The bars on the beach are great and the snack bar BBQ was good as well. The food at the buffet was repetitive but that is like any resort really, and again like anywhere you go in Cuba, food is hit or miss. I ended up getting food poisoning the last night, atlas it was th [... read more]e last night so my trip wasn't affected lol. The grounds are lovely, the staff are amazing, my boyfriend lost his chain with 2 rings on it and two days later we were told a young girl found it and gave it to a staff member from the entertainment them and when we located him he had it and gave it to us!! The shows are great the disco is super fun at night and the activities during the day are super fun and really get people involved. Now of course for the needs improvement part. I don't wanna say negative things as I know the staff work so so hard to keep people happy but these are just 2 things that i feel can be worked on. The bathrooms at night at the theatre and around the disco area are just horrid...sadly.. i get the no toilet paper thing so i always had some on me, but the smell of sewer coming from somewhere and out of 3 toilets 1 flushed and the bathroom was flooded every night, hopefully it was just water lol But if the toilets were all working and the source of the leak was fixed it would be great. The other thing was the cleanliness of the activity pool...garbage left for days, debris in the pool floating, cigarette butts that have been in the pool and around for days, i get thats the ignorance pf the guests being lazy and dirty but it would be nice if each morning it was cleaned up. I had a good time and met amazing people and Chico from the entertainment team was just wonderful, will i go back? Sadly no, i thought i would try a new place but i think ill go back to my usual spot :) Keep up the great work though Memories

Underwhelmed!

Having been to Cuba 2 other times our expectations were tempered. This was our least favorite experience. The gardening, dance shows and beach were good but that's where the good ends...the rest of the place was regrettable. Dirty pools! Terrible beds! Patio doors broken! Very few tongs at the buffets make for plenty of cross contamination. Many food items sitting in the danger temp. zone. My wife now has strep throat! Not the Memories we were looking for. This will be our last time getting s [... read more]cammed by Cuban destinations.

Really good resort

Grounds and restaurants maintained really well. Rooms could use a bit of an update but still good. Great service and very friendly. No one asks for tips and they work hard for them. Great place to bring a family.

Poor experience

I got food poisoning in the last day of my trip and today is my 3rd day of having diarrhea, so I decided to see doctor. I've been told by the nurse that I am the 4th person there today who caught diarrhea from this hotel. I was like "wow" Overall the hotel was OK, staffs there are friendly and very easy to communicate, but I don't think I will ever go back to this hotel.

Great Christmas

Memories is a very large resort so be prepared to walk, but the layout works well and there are always carts. The food was typical Cuban fare. We never went hungry. The bar staff are all super! You can be quiet when you want. Or have a wold night of you want. Lots of kids....but they always had activities going for them. The entertainment team was good...but not as good as in years past. We were in block 31 and our housekeeping staff was EXCELLENT!! We always had a clean room towel [... read more]s toilet paper and beer pop and water in our fridge. Beds need updating the mattress wasnt very comfy Beach was beautiful as always. I think this resort may be under new ownership as some of the sineage is changing... We had a great time as we always do!

Overall Good

Overall the services from the check-in, check-out, bartenders, room cleaning, entertainment, dining (Japanese a la cart and buffet) where very much what I expected. Very friendly and smiling staff making us feel welcomed. I want to emphasize the impeccable services of two Bartenders (a women on right side bar (day) in main lobby, one guy at the quiet pool swim up bar). Sorry not good at remembering names. As well as the room cleaning staff, Janet I believe. These people makes one want to r [... read more]eturn again. Thank you! What I did not like and appreciate AT ALL was the service provided at the registration of the a la cart meals. First day I went to register, the lady says she can only do same day registration. Well I got the next day, long story but couldn't get the Italian since it's closed that day so got the Japanese (FYI AMAZING!). After, when I returned two days later to book my next dinner and guess what, she can't book me in until the next day. I'm like what!! Oh the computer is working now. Sorry, can't do anything to help ma'am. Finally after pushing thorough to the Diamond Club, got the reservation for later that evening. OMG! my worst experience ever. Got seated at 8:00pm, after prodding the server by 8:30pm we finally order. Thinking 2 pizza's and 2 pieces of reheated lasagna would be quick and easy, hahaha nope! By 8:55pm here comes the 2 lasagnas and my step-sons pizza and me nothing. Waiting, waiting and seeing everyone finishing their plates, I finally walked out. My other bad experience was the Snack Bar. Service always slow (30-45 min at times (and not full of travelers) and not very friendly. This could definitely be improved since all you are serving is either breakfast or Ham & Cheese/Hot Dog/Hamburger/Fries. For my friend traveling with me, her daily complaint from her section of the resort was that it was very loud with inside noises (above) which she couldn't sleep well. (light sleeper) I know I have vented my frustrations here, which is only geared to few individuals, my overall comment is that this is a good place to stay in Varadero. For the price and affordability for a group of 4, I do recommend this resort. It is a fun, entertaining, clean and overall friendly and welcoming staff. Thank you Memories Varadero.

Decent resort

Beautiful grounds and amazing gardens. We did the Diamond Club and were glad we did. Our room had issues with a very noisey A/C and Fan. No screen on the balcony door. Bed / Mattress was absolutely terrible. Told customer service and they swapped it but again was terrible sleeping on springs. They also said they fixed the A/C fan noise but got worse as the week went along. Side note; had met a couple there whom had the ceiling fall on her while they slept at 3 am. Full sheet of drywall crashed d [... read more]own on them in the room. They did get upgraded to Diamond Club but not impressed at all. Beach had unsightly ATV tire tracks all over and lots of seaweed strewn about. Not very clean - was disappointed. Food was decent for Cuba. Staff were really great and friendly. Gardeners work very hard and fixed them up with gifts. Overall it was ok for Cuba. Would not return here for sure. My wife and I been to Cuba 5 times so we know what to expect. Wouldn’t recommend this resort.

Pretty darn good resort

I am very happy with our stay at Memories. This resort compound is very large and required a lot of walking but we were all up to the fun. I travelled with my girlfriend and two children ages 10 & 12. They loved the place and want to go back next year. The flights were on time and our transfers all connected as expected. Check in took about 20-minutes to get through and we were all greeted with a non-alcoholic drink while we waited. I thought this was a nice touch because the flight w [... read more]as long and the kids were reaching their limit. The drinks perked all of us up. We stayed in building 33 (33208) and were immediately pleased. The room was right next to the beach. This meant we had to walk the furthest to get to the lobby and the buffet but this was no problem for us. Being beachside was awesome! The rooms are basic but was provided as they promised. It's a 3-star room (3-star in Mexico) so please go with those expectations. The food was plentiful and always available. Seafood, beef, and chicken served daily. We were never hungry. The beach was clean and awesome; everyone really enjoyed the waves crashing over our heads. Honestly, that was the trip's highlight for me. The pools are fun, the slide is okay but a little slow. The drinks were average. We brought our own mugs and it appeared everyone else was envious that we did. We were asked many times, "Hey, where did you get those mugs?" The main residents at this resort are Russian, I'd say about 75% Russian. So you might want to expect unexpected language barriers and different behaviors than what you're use to. I would rate this hotel as a 3.5 star, perfect for my budget and the needs of the children.

Great value for money

We stayed at this hotel on three different occasions when it was Serenis la Salina. On a need to improve note, we found that there were only three A La Carte restaurants. The Italian restaurant was horrible, all they had was lasagna and it was way too salty.The public washrooms were not cleaned often enough and there was a lack of toilet paper at the public locations. The restaurant bar that used to be used by the ocean for breakfast and lunch was closed. The small money exchange was always out  [... read more]of one dollar coins. Check in was as slow as it had been on previous occasions. On a positive note, the staff was friendly and helpful. the rooms were clean and everything worked, the maid was awesome. My four requests were all met when I arrived. The grounds were being worked on and there were a lot of gardeners. The food at the main buffet restaurant was good and there was a lot of choices on what to eat. The Japanese restaurant was superb. The beach area provide ample lounge chairs. We did not take in any shows as they only started at 9:30, too late for us. We were very happy with the quality of service for the money we paid. Unfortunately not enough people tipped, these workers could really use the extra change.

Great resort

We were in building 31, the rooms were newly renovated, new beds, beautiful bathrooms, hot water, new furniture, I just can't say enough about the newly renovated rooms. There was a group of 5 of us. My sister, her daughter and grandson booked a different resort which they weren't satisfied with and were able to transfer to Memories for a small fee. The food was better than before, there was enough selection that our group of 8 were satisfied at each meal. The pools were being cleaned daily  [... read more]and the beach was groomed daily. The staff was friendly and would go out of their way to try and find what you wanted to drink. (red wine or campaign in the lobby). They only thing that we were disappointed with was that the Michael Jackson show was on Saturday night. We landed late Sat night and left at 7:00pm the following Sat night and weren't able to see it. The aquatics night was fabulous. Where can you go that you can eat out daily, drink till your hearts continent and not have to cook or clean. Make the best of it and enjoy that you are with friends and family.