Worth the Price - Best Price/Quality ratio in Cuba

I don't understand why people complain about the food. It's very good for Cuba`s standards, if people go in expecting a 5 star North American food service then of course they will be dissapointed. I like to compare apples to apples, Melia Las Dunas has great quality food compared to other resorts in the region.

Great vacation

It is a beautiful hotel. The lobby is very big and spacious. Grounds were very nice. Beach was amazing. Pools were beautiful and could always get a chair. They have adult and family pools. Had a few issues with the room but they were taken care of in a timely matter. Saw a few familiar faces from the last time we was there. Frank was in the Buffett . He is very friendly and attentive. One of the gardeners was also named Frank. He was a very friendly gentleman. Spoke to us everyday as he went abo [... read more]ut his work. Manuel was also another server in the buffet. He made sure we were well taken care of. He was very friendly and attentive also. Always smiling and happy. One of the drivers , Manuel was also there the last we time was there. He was always smiling and happy. There didn’t appear to be much staff around but then the resort was not full either, so maybe they cut back on their staff when they are not at full capacity. The resort is very big so a lot of walking. The Asian restaurant was amazing. Buffett was not bad, always something for everyone.

Melia Las Dunas

The resort was very large but very pretty. The beaches were wonderful with white powdery sand. Found the staff to be super friendly and very helpful especially a younger guy and an older guy at the lobby bar...failed to get their names though. Also at the adult pool the little barmaid Yarentsy was trying to find my drink of choice but it was not available. Our chambermaid , Yaritsy was great and made sure our needs were met every day. We had a couple favourite people in the Buffet M [... read more]anual being one and again missed the other couple of names. Entertainment at night was very nice. Food was pretty good. Wifi was available at lobby but could get on most times I tried.

A great Cuban retreat

Well-established resort with an awesome beach. Friendly staff great food. Wonderful place for family Or adults. Great staff would recommend this placeTo anybody that wants to enjoy an awesome Cuban experience

Toss up

half decent resort over all but was in premium room but air coditioner could have worked better always was on high even at night which I should,nt have had too do it never worked right the phone was good to call out but it would,nt ring in the room if you wasn,t watching it too see the light flashing you would,nt know someone was trying to get you and I called them 4 or 5 times in few days before they told me they haven,t had a phone to trade it in they should have said before that,the vodka w [... read more]asn,t good like in cayo coco and my sister only got certain drink at one bar out of 3 some times 2 bars,i stayed 10 minutes down the rd 3 years ago at a memories by the market which was a better resort but got a bad rap which I thought was better and that one was ordinary room and ocean view this premium and garden view or another 12 room building,no pool or ocean

Pleasantly surprised!

First time in Cuba. Definitely will return to this resort. Good choice of food, beach was best ever, staff very friendly,enjoyed excursions. Also airtransat was very accomodating.Cant wait till next year!

Amazing resort

This resort was great. Great staff,very helpful. Beach was amazing. Al la carte not so great. Needs new Italian. Maybe a steak house restaurant. The actives were great. Great staff doing activities. The nightly shows were great. Internet not that great. Would be nice for improvement.

Perfect value

There is really nothing to complain about: great rooms, wonderful food, beautiful and always clean beach. The only thing is probably communication between employees: we had a honeymoon there and a symbolic wedding ceremony there; everybody except the coordinator didn't know what exactly was going on and what we were supposed to get and why, but everybody we dealt with were exceptionally nice and tried to provide us with the services we didn't even need. Overall a wonderful destination for a very [... read more] affordable price! P.S. If you are offered a reservation at one of their restaurants, they are fancy and service is great, but the food is MUCH better in their regular buffet.

Amazing Resort

We were at the Melia Las Dunas March 23rd to March 30th. This resort was fantastic. I had read many reviews and was a little concerned about the negative ones, but we didn't see anything negative. Check in was a breeze, we arrived around 9 pm and it took about 10 mins to check in. They had us in the family section and we had requested adults only and they moved us with no problems. They had carts to take us to our rooms in building 49. Room was clean, we saw no bugs in our room, we always ha [... read more]d hot water, air conditioning and our maid did a great job. In fact we forgot to lock the safe one day and nothing was touched. The grounds are beautiful...hard to see any damage from the hurricane. Pools are nice on both sides, but we found that we liked the family side a little more as there is more going on at that side. The beach is incredible......you have to see it to understand! We had no problems with the food. I would recommend using the a la cartes to break up going to the buffet. The snack restaurant by the family pool was great for breakfast or lunch. And we never found that we had to deal with long lines at the buffet. The people.....We have never met nicer, more genuine people in our lives. Adrian at the snack restaurant and Manuel in the buffet made our trip even more enjoyable. My husband and I always say that we will not go back to the same place twice as there are so many places to go and see, however, we would go back to the Melia tomorrow.

Fantastic resort

We stayed at this hotel on March 20 to 27, 2018. The hotel was very clean, rooms and bathrooms very beautiful, food was excellent, beach is perfect for long walking with white sand, water enough warm and very nice color. Excellent services. They are very well organized and efficient. Yanelis, the waitress, was the best one, always smiling and calm. I’ll come back and I recommend this hotel to everyone who is looking for vacation.

My favourite place

The hotel was great staff amazing grounds were beautiful enjoyed every minute this was my 3rd stay at the melia and i plan on going back again great place for all ages raging from kids to teens young adults and familys

Pretty good considering...

Okay... I'll make this short... I've been to Cuba about eight or nine times so far. So, I know what to expect. Considering that they are still recouping from a hurricane, the grounds were great. If there was something that I would consider a con, it would be the lack of bathrooms. I have a 5 and 6 year old and if we were eating in the buffet and they had to use the bathroom, we would have to leave the buffet and walk to the main lobby. Also, at the Family Pool there was only one small bathroom [... read more] and in the men's side, it was just a toilet and a urinal with the urinal out of order. The food wasn't the best selection that I've seen in Cuba and very inconsistent. I only saw bacon 2 days and they didn't have french fries until the end of the week. Again, it is what it is but, in the future I would probably choose another Resort before revisiting here.

4th time and still amazing!!

This was our fourth time at Melia Las Dunas and the staff was still as amazing as ever. The staff remembered us and the service was amazing! The hotel and beach were damaged by the hirricane but you can not tell. Food was average and repetitive and there were no fries all week. All in all the service and the beach made up for the food. We do not go to Cuba for the food. We go for the people and the beach. We will be back!!

So much to do!

Just returned from a great week at Melia Las Dunas in Santa Maria Cuba! It is a huge resort with so much to do. Beach is gorgeous, staff are wonderful, loved the live music after dinner, and the many bars and restaurants. Lots of activities for kids and adults, definitely something for everyone!

Another Unforgettable Time in Cayo Santa Maria

Beautiful layout. Lobby opens up to the beach in the background. Main lobby was always so lively and the Beer Gardens made the trip. Cold beer bottles and food at any time was incredible, especially with the lovely service of Hassan and Juan Carlos. Also the service of Alia, Kiri and Andry at the Family Pool swim-up bar. They love their jobs and love their people and I’d recommend this place to anyone. Cheers Melia Las Dunas!

Loved everything about our Vacation :)

Our first trip to Cuba, and it has surpassed our expectations. My husband and daughter would agree as well. Beach was the most beautiful one we had ever seen, we enjoyed long walks looking and the seashells. Always chairs at the pool or beach. we were a group of 7 and never had any problems. Food was good too, we enjoyed the pasta & stirfry stations at the buffet & the Snack bar by the pool. we had a nice relaxing vacation, exactly what we were looking for and MORE!!

Best resort I've been to in Cuba so far!!

Hard to find anything bad with this amazing resort at all! The rooms are more then comfortable, stocked and cleaned everyday. The staff were amazing and lobby and sports bar were my favorite part, but was an amazing resort for couples or entire families. Great food and non stop entertainment! Can't wait to go back!!!!!!!!!

Stellar Vacation

I had a blast at this resort. Plenty of things to do. The food was amazing and the staff were so warm and friendly. The beach was in rough shape but that was to be expected due to the hurricane. Definitely will be going back!

Melia Las Dunas

It was a very big resort, lots of walking.. food was repetitive and expected not to be great lol. The drive is soo long after a long flight.. Beautiful ocean and beach..some staff we're wonderful, some not so much.. room was nice, bed was hard as a rock and full if springs... minus a few if that negative over all for being Cuba it's a decent place

Really great food at this resort for Cuba

The Great: Our sunwing rep in cuba (Michael) was amazing... so helpful and very honest with awesome recommendations. He always put a smile on our faces. This was our second time in Cuba, so we were prepared with spices and ketchup, but we didn't need them. The food was very good and had a variety to choose from. I liked all of the fresh juices in the morning for breakfast and the fresh omelettes were awesome. Also, the snack bar was very good. There were several and you could always get s [... read more]omething to eat and be satisfied if you didn't make the buffet or ala cartes. We tried three ala cartes, the mediteranian, international and asian. I enjoyed the mediteranian and asian best of the three. At the international they had a really great piano player. the grounds were well kept - very lush and well laid out. I liked the hanging swings. We stayed in the family section, which seemed better lit at night especially at the pool area where we took lots of short cuts to and from places from our building. You can tell they worked so hard to put everything back together after Irma hit 6 months ago. The beach was great, my only regret is that I didnt take advantage of the kite surfing and other water sport activities this resort had to offer, which was a draw in choosing this place. We did a catamaran excursion which was lovely. I snorkled around a reef and saw schools of colourful fish. I wish I had brought a waterproof camera... it was beautiful. We also had snacks that they provided and went to a isolated and private island. That was really cool. On a night excursion we went to see the Bueno Vista Social Club play. We were very lucky to have had that opportunity. I heard alot about them previously. The Not so Good... Unfortunately, there was a mix-up when we checked in and went to our building I realized we had a gardenview room and not the balcony room which I asked for when booking. It was in building 51 room 12 (on the beach side). It was a beautiful room with new beds. I could tell it was renovated recently however, the mold and musty smell was so overpowering when we walked in I felt sick and after 20 minutes on the phone I eventually got through to someone and after a few hours we were switched to a balcony room on the other side, which was building 17 room 23. This room was not as nice and needed some updating, especially the shower curtain, bedspread and bedsheets. However, it was clean and there was no mold smell so we were happy to be settled. This resort felt a bit isolated to us, the double decker buses that run through the island are rare. So, if you want to go to the market or explore off the resort you better get a cab or you will find yourself waiting for hours on a bus that might never come. Just be sure you sort out the 5 cuc price with the driver. Some will demand as much as 10. But 5 cuc is the correct rate to go to the Estrella market. Also, you wont have much luck getting information from many people who wear suits in supervisor or management positions... they look like they might know something but they are just there. I found the prices really inflated for buying souvenier and gift items compared to Varadero or Havanna. Other people took notice as well. I suppose they can do that because there isn't many options. The service staff were pretty good and some were very exceptional. You won't get the sense of real Cuban life or it's people here in Cayo Santa Maria.