Not 5 Stars

Our room was quite run down. I was surprised that the Melia Marina was advertised as 5 stars. They also said that they have tennis courts so being tennis players we brought our racquets and balls. We were told the tennis courts were “broken”. The customer service arranged for us to play at a nearby resort but when we got there the security person had not heard anything about us so wouldn’t let us in. We had a late night flight and since we had to check out of our room at noon we used o [... read more]ne of the courtesy rooms to shower later in the day. The courtesy room was disgusting from having been used by several others before us and there were no clean towels. They apparently book the courtesy rooms every 1/2 hr. With no cleaning in between bookings. Having said that, the food, drink, and entertainment were ok, but definitely not 5 Stars.

Fun, interesting and the unexpected

We had booked a Studio marina view however on arrival we were given a pool view with an upgrade to the Level which was a fair trade and we were pleased with the extras the Level comes with. A la carte restaurants are not any better than the buffet which is adequate but not for a fussy foodie. Staff were amazingly friendly and accommodating. Pool and beach both very nice..

Really, really good resort!

Our overall impression of the resort is that the management really cares about it. The staff seem to be happy and satisfied which in turn makes a better customer service. Food variety and quality are good! Service is good as well. Clean and maintained territory. The building is decent shape, well kept.

Not quite up to the 5 stars

This was a nice enough Melia but certainly not up to 5 stars. The location was great and the beach beautiful but there was some updated needed in the rooms. The furniture in our room felt like it belonged to a grade 3 student, battered and needed repainting. The food was about a 5 out of 10 but this is not unusual for Cuba. We had food at the buffet that very undercooked, as in unedible as well as overcooked. Even some pork pieces with the hair on it still. Things that didn't need to be disapp [... read more]ointing. The staff were very good, but as usual if you were willing to pay alot of extra pesos, you received better service. The entertainment was quite good. It was varied and some of it quite amazing. Not so much for the daytime activities. The weather was quite cool a few days so there wasn't too much to do at that time. We went into Varadero twice just for something to do.

Melia Marina Veradero

Hotel rooms were clean. Staff was friendly and attentive.Food was ok should have more availiable food in snack bar. A la carte was good food but 2 resturants were closed and unavailliable due to issues so had to change choice of a la carte resturants. Pools and beach were nice

Great resort!

This hotel over all is very clean and service is pretty good. I'm very thankful to one of the servers at the buffet, I lost my $500 prescription sunglasses and she handed them to costumer service. I honestly that I will never see them again.

Great resort

Very good food! Most service employees very polite and helpful! Beach and pool area fantastic. Wide variety of restaurants to eat at. Excellent side trips to Havana at a reasonable price. Very good night time activities. Thank you.

Beautiful View and Great Staff

The Staff at Melina Marina were amazing they make the experience twice as amazing! The view was beautiful but definitely more of a family/couple resort than a party destination. The food was definitely lacking I'd advise anyone and everyone to pack spices and ketchup.

Terrible

Do not upgrade to the level. COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY. On top of that we were accused of being thieves with the threat of security being called because of a missing towel...oh not just any towel though... a yellow towel! Once they called security, security had apparently found one and it was met with a "oh okay, nevermind" Everything is a cash grab...as to be expected however they will blantantly lie to sell you on the excusions and pander you every step of the way for more. Stay away.

Book the Level to upgrade your experience!

We really enjoyed our five night stay as Level guests at Melia Marina. The staff were the best part- very friendly, hardworking and helpful. They were always smiling. I went to Cuba with low expectations about the food, and came away pleasantly surprised, though I think the experience would have been different if we had not upgraded to the Level. As Level guests, all meals could be eaten at the exclusive Level restaurant, and ordered from a menu. We never had to eat brave the buffet. The menu [... read more] didn't change, but the food was for the most part very good and always beautifully presented. In particular we enjoyed the "coffee with milk", Eggs Benedict, Fish & chips, all fish dishes, and the Latin A la cart was our favourite. Oscar & Juliet booked us immediately for an A la cart each night. The Level restaurant overlooked the Marina, on the open balcony it felt as if we were on a cruise ship in port. We always enjoyed watching the marina activity. The room was very clean and tastefully decorated. I didn't give it full marks for sleep because some nights the air conditioning was too much! What a funny thing to complain about in a warm country. The pools were beautiful and clean, and we always found a lounge chair. We spent our days by the pool as the beach was too windy for us, but the beach did look beautiful. The walk to and from the beach was very short across a foot bridge. Those who needed a lift could be driven to the beach by Bosch in the 6 person golf cart. Entertainment we enjoyed: morning stretching at the beach, poolside games, outdoor chess, and evening bands in the lobby. Wi-fi was complimentary with our Level room. It was good service in the Level restaurant and hotel lobby, but patchy in our room. If not Level guests, I believe they were charging 1 cuc per hour of Wi-Fi. Though I really enjoyed my stay, there were two things that could be improved upon. Hot beverage service in the a la carte (aside from the Level) was non-existent, and often menu items were not available. I always felt sorry for the staff who had to tell me "its broken" or "there is no hot water here for tea", etc. The second is a feeling of the place heading towards slow disrepair- I had heard the resort is five years old. All wall mounted objects in our bathroom were loose. One ladies toilet on the pool level actually almost tipped over on me. These two small things reflect on management not the wonderful staff working day in and out serving the guests. Not knowing Spanish, we struggled a minor amount. Menus and information were written in Spanish, English and French. The staff tried their best to communicate with us, and some of them were multilingual - koodos to them!!

Great stay!

Loved the lobby bar..great cappuccinos, entertainment and view of the marina. Staff were very friendly, beautiful beach. Pool was a little chilly. Not too crowded at this resort but not too quiet. Highly recommend seeing Havana, about 2 hour drive, either bus or car rental. Food was edible but not the best. They really need some hot sauce!!

Best resort we've been to in Cuba!

My bf and I went to this resort in January 2019 and it was wonderful! We both have been to Cuba several times and the food was always gross and bland. We brought a bunch of condiments and spices this time to add to the food but were so shocked we never needed it! The food was the best food we've ever tasted in Cuba. The resort was clean and pretty well kept. It may not be equal to a 5 star in richer countries but best resort we've been to in Cuba! The beach was beautiful.... White sand, crystal  [... read more]clear, aqua coloured water... Seemed surreal how beautiful it was! If we go back to Cuba, it will definitely be too this resort or another of the Melia resorts!! Amazing!

Big lie

We were so disappointed with the services room conditions with broken bed and table old stuff in the room and restaurants food they were a disaster this cooks they were very young with no experience and very ignored in the food industry everything was total upside down and worse than everything serving the food while they were supposed to discard it the girl restaurant was close and some parts of hotel have to pay and more more......... We were there in 7 of Jan to 14 and never ever go back Cuba

Great Resort

Hotel looked amazing, good facilities with very friendly staff and service. Nice pool, easy walk to beach and great resturants for dining.Lots of selection for food. Great view to the Marina from the room, good clean rooms.

Decent resort

Service was poor compared with my last experience at another resort. There were so many servers serving you at same time. And they share the tips, which doesn’t make any sense to tip. There are 8 restaurants but you can only get in 4. And I was told that I only have one reservation ticket for 3 nights, which means I can only have one dinner at the restaurant the other 2 I have to eat at the buffet restaurant. There’s no any guide book in the room and you have to figure out where are the rest [... read more]aurants by yourself. Rum and Cigar are more expensive than Toronto at the resort shop. And the “bank” in the resort give a bad rate to exchange money. Every day is the same $100CAD=70CUC and 69.5CUC=$85CAD SO DONT OVER EXCHANGE MONEY!!!

Nice resort

Nice hotel very friendly staffs food its ok not the best but ok only one pool but ho care the beach is perfect room are clean drinks are okay overall it is very good resort and we had a wonderful stay don’t forget its Cuba 🇨🇺

Beware

A one star hotel that owes its star to the sun n sand alone Food sucks Service sucks Drinks suck Cleanliness sucks Upkeep sucks Sand fleas suck Entertainment sucks Sucks Sucks sucks sucks sucks Sucks Sucks

First Time in Varadero

Stayed at Melia Marina in classic room with great view of the pool and the ocean ! Rooms are dated and in need of refresh but clean! Small things like no handle on outside of patio door to balcony extremely slow shower drain and very marked up dresser and a drawer that didn’t close properly are just signs of poor maintenance! We all know you don’t go to Cuba for the food and this place particularly the buffet are reasons people say this! Specialty restaurants are slightly better but on our l [... read more]ast night at the International when they served two of the main courses the smell turned everyone off there dinner! Even though two of plates were not touched not one person ask if there was a problem and that has to be blamed on poor management! Enough of the negative the pools are clean and service at pool bar and lobby bar were good! The beach is beautiful but same cannot be said for beach bar and grill!. I would not recommend this resort as over New Years the premium paid is more than double what the resort s value really is!

Disappointed

This resort was nothing like the review said it would be, were we victim to locals staying for The holiday? The last two days were the best and it seemed like Everthing changed after the holidays. Shame

Great location

Great location as we weren’t stuck in the resort thanks to the marina. Staff is very kind and they looked after us well. Food is a bit of an issue at this resort...very basic and sometimes they ran out of bread at breakfast or shrimp at dinner. They are not meant to welcome a huge number of guests. Things were better once the hotel had less guests after NYE. Cleanliness was another factor, they need to step it up on that side, hairs in the hallway, in the bathroom in areas we didn’t use and  [... read more]the couches could use a good clean. Beyond that, we had a wonderful time.