Great resort overall

Great resort The staff were really friendly and approachable. We got to know our waiters and the daytime entertainment staff and they are lovely people. They went out of their way to make our experience enjoyable. We had paid for a pool view room and we were very pleased at the view. Not only could we see the beautiful pool but the ocean as well. We were right by the entertainment pool which is what we wanted. The beach was the most amazing beach I've ever been to. The sand was beautiful and [... read more] the water was clear and blue. The daytime entertainment was great. We like to participate, and we got to do step classes, dancing, etc. If you wanted to relax more, they have pools on the other side of the resort that are quieter. The night entertainment was really great dancers- typical to other resort entertainment. The room was cleaned everyday and the cleaner was nice. Room for improvement The food was not the greatest. I was travelling with a vegetarian and she could not eat much at the resort, so I'd recommend bringing snacks. Also they did have fresh food being made at certain stations, but the lines were quite long. For the room, while it was clean and with a great view, there were some stains on the sheets. Overall, this resort was great especially for the price. I would go back.

Bad resort

This resort is in terrible shape for a 3 year old, the furnishings in the lobby are stained and worn, smell of sewage esp. in building 3 which we were in, lack of food, bread, meats, fries, bananas, etc.,beach grill serving uncooked chicken, ceiling in main buffet restaurant ready to come down with water stains, no exhaust for cooking major smell of grease and smoke in dining area must eat outside. This resort should not be sold or recommended by travel agents. More work should be done to class  [... read more]a resort as a 4+, obvious it is a bad 3. Too big for Cuba. No one cleaning beach area, cups everywhere and garbage not emptied regular.

Ocean Casa Del Mar - Santa Maria

The hotel was decent, but the food was lacking. The ala carte restaurants did not have most of the items on the menu as they claimed they had run out and the buffet lacked basic items like pizza (which is a staple in most resorts). Besides that the beaches were beautiful and so are the people.

Amazing resort

I will start with the good. Clean rooms Clean grounds.(the only mess was made by the guests and was cleaned up the next day) Beer and water was restocked in the room daily(leaving a tip in the fridge helped get extra) The staff was friendly and helpful and most spoke fairly good english. They let you refill the water bottles with water or juice at the bars. Activities staff tried to get everybody active at the pool. The beach was clean. The bad Food at the buffet was cold and repetitive [... read more]. The 2 hour bus ride was a little long though they do stop halfway for a smoke and bathroom break.

Nice resort

Resort is fairly new, room was clean and everything worked (ie: shower, a/c). Food shortages at the a la carte restaurants (Lemoncello and Neptuno) and at the snack bars. Beach was beautiful and the grounds were well maintained. Coffee place was excellent.

Could be better ...

Just spent a week at the Ocean Casa Del Mar (March 7-14). Wasn’t expecting anything extraordinary considering all the bad reviews I had read after booking. Some of the reviews were right and this hotel is suffering. It was badly damaged with the hurricane in 2017 and they patched it up some, but the wear and tear is showing. There’s very few palm trees and mature vegetation on the grounds, so it makes it feel a lot like a compound with cold concrete rectangular buildings. The beach is gorgeo [... read more]us and the east side of the beach is completely coral free. The west side is a little more bumby and has coral upon entry, so good for snorkeling. We took a hobby cat ride with Danny who was quite informative about all the resorts on Santa Maria as he has worked at many of them. We were in building 14 in the mostly quiet part of the resort as it is farther away from the lobby area but close to both the quiet pool and the beach. There is 2 parts to this resort: the animated part and the quiet part. We didn’t care for animation, so remained on the west part. The pool water is quite chilly but it is cleaned everyday. We found the staff to be very friendly and accommodating- give a smile and get one back! Didn’t feel the obligation to tip and didn’t feel like tips were expected either. But we tipped upon good service anyway. The rooms are ok. We had a regular room with a partial ocean view. Beds are quite uncomfortable and you only get one flat pillow per person. Heard a lot of people had issues with leaking toilets or leaking AC, but we were fine. Mini fridge is restocked daily with a big bottle of water and beer/pop upon consumption. Cleaning was done daily, although they didn’t change the sheets all week, so by the end of the week, the sheets smelled moldy because of the humidity, which was unpleasant. We weren’t able to get our beach towels changed more than once during the week, and we were the lucky ones! The kiosk is always closed or if it is opened, they don’t have clean towels. We just happen to pass by when the towel buggy came and switched out our towels. By the end of the week, our towels were pretty gross. The walls of the room were dirty and the bathroom needs a good coat of fresh paint and mildew remover in the shower. Although you don’t spend a lot of time in the room, you still want to feel clean and it didn’t. Now for the food... we know that we can’t expect to eat well in Cuba, but this was beyond anything I have experienced in my 5 times in Cuba. There is a serious shortage of food on the island because of the embargo and it shows. They keep on building resorts on Cayo Santa Maria but they can’t provide for all of them properly. I’ve never eaten so much rice and chicken in my life, because that is all I could find that was palatable. There is a redondance everyday at the buffet. Very few fresh fruits (guava, papaya andsome days we had pineapple and watermelon) the food is sadly just really bad. The buffet is disorganized and crowded, doesn’t accommodate all the guest at the resort during meal hours. The à la carte weren’t much better. And you have to wait in line for an hour (not an exaggeration) to get 3 dinner reservations at a time. I later found out from our tour operator that there is a serious shortage of food in Cuba and Cubans are on ratios of food so that the tourists can be fed adequately. So they can’t eat beef (other than pregnant women, children, the sick and elderly) and chicken and potatoes are available on ratio only. There is a sortage of flour on the island, so some resorts lacked of bread and pasta, but it didn’t seem to affect us. Made me feel bad to know that I could eat while Cubans aren’t allowed to. So this will be our last trip to Cuba. It made us feel like we were in a third world country stealing away from their people.

Beautiful resort!

The resort was beautiful with well kept manicured lawns and and many pools. There was no shortage of daily and nightly entertainment. Unfortunately, there were a few things lacking late start with the buffet with the same foods every single day. There were a few a la carte restaurants we tried but the common theme was half the items listed on the menu were unavailable. Neptuno was the best of all we tried. Dont even bother going to limoncello. The staff hands down made the stay enjoyable but co [... read more]nsidering all the $ spent Ocean needs to do better!

ENJOYABLE

This was my first time in Cuba. I loved the resort and the employees there were amazing. For me the food was fine. My companions on the other hand are more discerning. My favorite spot at the resort was MIKES COFFE BAR open 24 hours. The only complaints I had were the mattresses were rock hard (we changed rooms) and it was the same. They could easily fix this by adding foam mattress tops to all the beds. The only other complaint we had was signing up for the specialty restaurants which yo [... read more]u need to do in advance and then finding the menu changed when you get there. Would I go back. Yes in a heart beat.

A great stay

Check in went smooth and fast. Asked for a certain room ,ended up with a upgrade to Ocean view room.The room clean and everything workers ,always had lots of hot water. The grounds well kept and clean. The 3pools always pristine and lots of loungers .The bar had plenty of cold beer with a variety of mixed drinks,service was fast and the bartenders very pleasant. The food at the main restaurant was OK with lots of variety,service was super always with a smile.The alacarts were very good did all 4 [... read more].The beach and water made the trip itself best beach in Cuba long walks great clean beach.Neaded a drink there was 3 beach bars for Ocean resort.Night life after supper bar supper service with good entertainment every night. Small disco later for the party animal. The night shows were some of the best very professional.On the negative side the on site bank not well set up long lineups for money exchange.never enough one dollars for tipping and often the teller very unpleasant and rude! Lack of fresh towels was a problem always running out or not even open. No first aid station in the hotel for any medical aid considering that the hotel has 800 rooms !! Had to take a taxi to get medical help? Overal great trip for the 10days stayed .

Amazing beach

Rooms were clean but could have used some paint, beach amazing. Food at buffet was exactly the same every day for each meal. A la cartes were ok and snack bar was not bad. One thing is they serve drinks in these tiny plastic glasses (4oz max) bring a reusable cup. Music at bar before show was amazing.

Ocean: Casa del Mar

We were satisfied with the room and the location. We were in 0632 room and building and what we really liked was the quietness.... no noise from the celebrations and the loudspeakers from the pool.Would go there again. Check-in and check-out was fast and efficient - no long line up for service. Easy access to the beach. Fantastic sany beach, clean and excellent swimming. Plan to go there again. Food was good, although one got tired of it ... mostly the same every meal..... but that is ok... [... read more]. we went there to relax and swimming and beach... not to get fatter!

Beautiful beach, beautiful people, it stops there!

First day in and three rooms later! First room obvious busted and vandalized lock on the patio door on the ground floor with broken glass all over the ground outside on the patio, second room no air conditioning. Manager was an absolute creep and did not want to move us. We went to Sun wing rep who was fantastic and helped us get a new room. Line up of people waiting to talk to the manager with similar complaints, hoards of unhappy people. Food was horrific. Room cleaners and maintenance and all [... read more] staff in general were lovely. Beach was beautiful... Beware and be prepared to lose your first day arguing with the manager.

Great resort!

Enjoyed Oceans Casa Del Mar February 21 - 28, 2019. This was my 3rd time traveling to Cuba, first time at this resort. Check in was smooth, no hassles. Room was clean with a nice king bed. The bed pillows were not great, could have used a couple more. Nice open concept shower, and bathroom. Buffet food was OK. I never went hungry. Somethings like fries and bacon were not there every day. The 24 hour snack bar was terrible, especially during the late night hours. Excellent entertainment in the [... read more] lobby bar every evening, however the "Showtime" nightly entertainment was sub par, there was some talent, just needed more practice. Overall I had a great vacation. Having said that I will be taking a break from Cuba and spending my vacation money elsewhere.

Don’t do it ever!!!!!!!

Food was terrible and cooks using same utensils to handle raw and cooked meat, staff at bars where rude and ungrateful even if you where tipping.resort was clean and beach was beautiful.hour and thirty minute bus ride from airport to resort with no bathroom on bus. Garden staff and maids were very nice and friendly. Not toilet papers at times and towels were well worn Don’t go to this resort!!!!!

Not one problem

The flights worked out perfectly so we had our sights set high and although it is a 2 hour bus ride to the resort from the airport it was not a problem. We got to the resort and check in was a breeze and the bellhop was super helpful, got to the room and it was beautiful and he went over and turned on the ac which blew cold the whole trip. Beach was amazing as you can expect and the swim up bar was awesome. Fresh options of food every meal at the buffet made us not even worry about a la carte. I [... read more] would recommend this place to anyone.

Solid 3.5 Stars

The resort is large with modern-styled rooms. We were given a room central to the main amenity spaces however it was very loud with evening entertainment. The food was of good quality, in fact one of the best we've had in Cuba. The buffet area was frustrating with long line ups if you wanted omelettes in the morning or freshly grilled meats, pasta station and fried rice station for dinner. The buffet dining experience often felt stressful in a hurried up atmosphere. The beach was stunning [... read more] and chairs were available at most times of the day without feeling you need to play the reservation game. The pools were clean and they in fact posted the chlorine and ph levels, so we were happy to enjoy the swimming for a break in the afternoon. The beach and pool made this resort a good experience for us despite the other issues that we experienced. There wasn't any activities for kids and the entertainment staff didn't go out of their way to do activities that were listed - this was a short coming of this resort. If you're looking for a low key place to plant your butt in a lounger by the beach, than this may be a possible choice for you but we would not return ourselves.

Pretty nice resort!

Overall my boyfriend and I enjoyed our stay. The rooms were exactly like the pictures and the beach there is absolutely breath taking. Food is what you expect in Cuba resorts ( not very good ) but regardless a fun time had with plenty of mediocre drinks lol

The staff, the beaches, the entertainment, fantastic!!

First impressions are everything. Very clean, professionally kept resort with lots of things to see and do. The grounds are tidy and constantly being maintained. Minor technical difficulties (room key card not working) were repaired quickly and efficiently. Maid service is prompt and courteous. For premium service, consider upgrading to Privilege service, but it is not necessary for great service. Some of the rooms have showers, some do not. This is not a deal breaker but somewhat of an inconven [... read more]ience if you don't like baths. The atmosphere is very relaxed and friendly with 80% of the tourists being Canadian. The restaurants were very clean, bright and the food was delicious. Be prepared to bring your own spices for food as the Cuban pallette is quite bland. If you want to be treated like royalty like I was, I would recommend Ocean Casa del Mar. Cheers!

Just okay

The resort is beautiful and so is the beach. The service was awful. Check in and check out were both frustrating. The food was good if you could get to it. Not enough stations to feed a packed resort. I will not visit this resort again.

Ocean Casa Del Mar

Rooms were clean. Couldn't exchange beach towels all week. garbage in pool and on beach. Food was good and coffee bar was excellent. Staff were not impressed with only a peso for tip. Overall it was our first all inclusive. Wasn't horrible but would try another resort next time.