Great vacation

The beach is amazing, the catamaran trip was fabulous. The food is very good and the coffee bar was really something to look forward to every morning We really appreciated Jack Gentile’s help from Trip Central to put it all together. He reminded us to get our ocean view, that we were return visitors which got us extra perks and got us the best flights Hope everyone enjoys Playa as much as we did

Go elsewhere

Firstly, I take everything with a grain of salt when it comes to reviews, and I think sometimes people are overreacting. Normally I wouldn’t even bother with a review, but I want people to save their money. So here are the major deal breakers I feel need to be brought forward. There were definitely more events that added to the pile, but here are the top ones. Firstly, I got severe food poisoning on this holiday after eating at an a la carte (romantico). I am still recovering after getting hom [... read more]e. Next, I watched a server who was slicing some cheese, hand a woman her order using her fingers. Then the handler licked her fingers clean, and cut my slice and put it on my plate with the exact same fingers she had just licked. I’m not picky, but that’s absolutely disgusting. A strangers saliva all over my food? I don’t think it’s unfair to expect your food is being handled properly. I did not eat the cheese. So the next day when I requested utensils to handle some food, I was told to use my hands. To which I refused. The woman seemed highly annoyed at me as she retrieved some tongs for me to use. Perhaps I know why I received food posioning if this is how the food was being handled. Next, my friend had her jacket stolen. We went to customer service to see if they had a lost and found. The woman working there basically yelled at us and told us she was not responsible for things when they go missing. So that was a waste of time. No one seemed to care that I had gotten sick, or that my friend was simply seeking a lost and found to see if her jacket had been turned in. The beach is lovely. The drinks are cold, but I would NOT recommend this hotel. I wish I could go back and book again and go somewhere else. It was pretty disappointing. Trip advisor has great reviews, and the hotel had been booked a lot and people seem to love it. I do not know how, or why, it’s so highly ranked. I would not encourage anyone to go there.

NOT A 4 STAR

POOLAREA WAS NEVER CLEANED IN 10 DAYS I WAS THERE LOUNGECHAIRS ARE DISGUSTING RUN OUT OF JAM AND SALADDRESSING ON 2ND DAY WAS SICK FOR 4 DAYS FROM SOME FOOD THIS HOTEL IS RUN DOWN,LOOKS LIKE NOBODY CARES ANYMORE

Great resort - we will go back

The resort was beautiful. The grounds were immaculate and the 4 pools have enough chairs with shade for everyone. All the public washrooms were kept clean and the snack bar had a decent selection of foods The best part is the beautiful beach with it’s white sand and turquoise water!!! The only suggestion for improvement is to add more seating to the lobby bar - it got very crowded in the evening

Beautiful Resort

From the moment we arrived the staff were friendly and attentive to our party. The came to know us by the end of the week and was very friendly toward us. The resort was always clean and the rooms were cleaned everyday and the fridges stocked everyday as well.

Triple A+++ resort

This was our 5th stay at this hotel, it has all you need for a great family vacation. Caters to all ages, from children to teens and adults. There are 4 great pools along with a kiddies section and pool. There is a 24 hour snack bar, and also a cigar bar that turns into a disco after 10pm each night. The staff, and people are all friendly and amazing people.. makes you feel comfortable. Will definitely be going back for our 6th visit. Thank yo!

Great beach, great service, but

the beach here is amazing and beach service waiters to go with it. The overall service is really good great people. The food is what it is it's Cuban you don't go there for the food. Our room was cleaned well, asked for a room change as returning quests we were able to change. The main problem which normally does not happen, because of valentines certain areas of resort was taken over by locals. They cut lines expect to be served first eat everything and leave huge mess (garbage) were ever the [... read more]y are. Have been to this resort 4 times now and I will return but not during their holidays or summer.

Fantastic resort!

The employees at this resort went above and beyond to make our trip one to remember! The resort itself is beautiful, beach cannot he beat, and the food was a lot tastier than I was expecting. I will recommend this resort to anyone interested in traveling to Cayo Santa Maria!!

Front Desk Horrors!!

Grounds ,beach, pools, entertainment, were all great. Food marginal but OK. BUT, The front desk staff were terrible & mistake prone & unhelpful! We had booked 2 ajoining rooms at time of booking with our agent for young families & the front desk was informed this at time of checking in. But rooms assigned were on the same floor only, 5 rooms apart & not ajoining rooms at all. After a lot of stress & about 4 hours later, we got one ajoining room & then told no others were available. We were f [... read more]orced to upgrade to a suite at an additional $325 US with no apology. This 4 hour delay I'm sure resulted in all other ajoining room possibilities assighed to folks that checked in after us! A visit to customer was a waste of time. It took 30 minutes just to get the person to understand our strong complaint with the front desk, no compensation at all, & excuses about how busy they were. Even customer service was unhelpful & totally unsatisfactory.This was NOT our problem! They were !!! In addition, our phone chargers & wires were stolen on the last day there. Strong advice to next folks, do not tell the room cleaning staff your departure date. They struck on the last day as we thanked them for the provided service !! Sadly, they took advantage of this. Below, I indicate I would recommend to a friend but with qualification!

Great trip!!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. The resort is well kept. The beach is one of the most beautiful beaches I've seen in Cuba. White sand clear blue water. The weather was windy and cold. Next time I will not book January because I've leaned the it can be a hit or miss with weather and instead will book mid February. The food well it was very blend and although I never got sick from the food there was not much for me to choose from .. this coming from a vegetarian. Breakfast was my f [... read more]avourite meal of the day. Lunch was at the beautiful snack bar by the ocean so tho I wasn't loving my food I was loving my view and dinners was routed between pasta bars and rice bars. The Cuban restaurant was my favourite but it came with a cost 5-11 a person depending what you ordered. I was happy with my stay and would dedenitly book again. The beach made it worth the lack of food.

Definitely worth the price!

My family and I stayed at this resort for one week in January. I emailed the resort prior to staying to inform them that we will be celebrating two birthdays. The hotel staff did an amazing job celebrating our birthdays. They left a welcome note with a rose and a bottle of rum and a cake they also gave us the building of our choice which was block 12 joining rooms ocean view. The beach is amazing lots of room on the beach we brought a shade tent and put it up without worrying about space. T [... read more]he staff is very friendly and happy. The drinks are great!! I highly recommend the cappuccino bar! The only negative thing I would have to say is the food is very repetitive by the end of the week I had enough and was ready to eat some home cooked meals. The food never made me sick and really I'm there for the beach. The grounds are clean. I always had hot water and I really don't have anything negative to say.

Excellent Experience!

We loved almost everything with this resort, clearly one of the best ones in the area. Beach was just amazing, as in pics, staff is friendly and decent, all doing their job. Transfer was smooth and timely, lots of drinks and food! Would recommend definitely to everyone.

Such a Great holiday

Everything was great, Food , Hotel , room , safe and super clean. I would definitely go back again and highly recommend to everyone.the only trouble you might face is the bad attitude of AirTransat check-in counter in Toronto, make sure dont ask for 2 soft-drink or water or your inflight hostess would shout at you and say "JEEEEZZ" , oh and make sure if you ask for extra Visa paper infligh because you mess up yours they charge you additional $16! basically flight services from Toronto TO Cuba  [... read more]Sucks(TS700)! however return flight was so much fun (TS3701)! AirTransat mobile App is great and allow you to do the check in prior

Heaven on Earth

We had an amazing stay at plays cayo santa maria . We spent a beautiful 7 days there and at the end we were very sad to leave. The room was well maintained, very cold AC and daily water and beer in the fridge. Service is amazing and all staff have a smile on their face . We loved the beach and spent most of our days on the plage, however the pool area are really good too with lots of activities . Management in this hotel is superb , the daily night show were amazing especially that one night  [... read more]on Saturday where they brought a professional dancers. We also were lucky to be there on the hotel 6th anniversary so had an amazing beach party. Thank you cayo santa maria and thank you Cuba

Cuba - Home away from Home

This was our 6th time at this resort since 2014 and we plan our 7th in April. Its not a fancy resort but it has everything you would ever need. Its a 1.5 hour ride from the airport but it seems shorter. The staff and the beach are the big draws for us. We never go hungry and enjoy the buffet and only occasionally do we book a restaurant.

A great Resort

The hotel is amazing the grounds are nice and clean the stuff for very generous the pools the beaches were amazing for walking I would highly recommend this spot if you want to go to have a nice relaxing and have a beach to walk on the people in Cuba are very nice

Our second visit, will come again...

Me and my wife just came back from Playa CSM and really enjoyed our stay. We we lucky with weather. What we liked: Beach, people, grounds, room, cleaning service (tips - we left some used clothes as a tip), drinks, coffee (all kinds) even food in most cases Not so much: Show intros are in all languages and quite long, make it short - won't hurt anyone VB court is not safe (last year it was not at the beach - it was much better) Food in some rare cases Internet is much better now but  [... read more]still not very reliable Long 2hrs ride from airport - this is not a complain - just mentioning to people that are planning their visit. Overall a very pleasant visit, we will definitely come again

Nice resort with amazing beach

Food, accommodations, entertainment, and services can definitely be improved. Also, there is no non-smoking section in the lobby area. Big negative is 2 hour bus ride from airport. Overall, good value for money.

Awful stay, will never go back

I did not enjoy the resort. The food was awful. Some of the Cuban staff (men) were creepy and gave weird stalker vibes to me and my friends. Our room door would sometimes not lock randomly. No form of security. Also hotel room was invested with bugs (possible sand fleas). I got mauled and came back home with my entire body covered in bug bites. When I complained to the hotel staff they refused to give me a new room. I will never be coming to Cuba again now because of this awful experience. Air T [... read more]ransat also left us hanging with no information on the 6hr delay on the way home. Not one Air Transat rep available to answer any of our concerns and basically left us stranded at the airport in Santa Clara. It was so bad that we were all running out of food and water to even purchase there. Children and elderly ppl sleeping on the ground. This was the 701 flight scheduled to depart at 1810 when really it didn’t leave until 0230am the next day.

3 time at Playa Cayo Santa Maria

This was our third time back at this resort we have made a lot of friends, at this resort the food and people are 10 out of 10 the beach is amazing. The only complaint was our flight was delayed for 16 hours which was not a great experience. Other then that over all a great time.