Disappointed

We were really disappointment with this resort. It's a fairly new resort but maintenance not kept up. Public washrooms were disgusting. Ladies washroom at the pool had three stalls with only one working and there was a constant smell of sewage. We were provided with beach towels in our rooms when we arrived but had to complain towards the end of our stay to get them replaced. There was a towel stand at the pool but no one was ever there. The buffet offered the same food for lunch and dinne [... read more]r every day during our stay. There were always long line ups for food at the buffet. If you didn't pay to be "Privileged" your drink selection was very poor. If you wanted "Canadian rye" you were out of luck. The Canadian Mist (which is the lowest grade of rye) was on the "privileged" shelf. All they had was scotch and called it Canadian whisky. Don't think "privileged" belongs at an all inclusive. This resort is not rated properly in travel books or website.

Definitely NOT a good place for a quiet relaxing holiday

Despite being in a lovely location, this is not a good place for a quiet, relaxing holiday. There is NO ESCAPE from the constant blaring of loud music. At night, the main open-air Bar below the lobby plays loud (thumping) music until 2:00 a.m, which can be heard clearly inside the guest rooms. When the bar closes, the boisterous bar patrons regularly descend on the 24 hour Snack Bar, where they turn up the music carry on partying until 3:30 a.m. And there is no escape during the day. The bars on [... read more] the beach also play non-stop music from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., loudly enough to be heard all along the beach, often drowning out the sound of the waves of the ocean. And in the afternoons, the pool Bars open, and they play loud music all afternoon, punctuated by the exhortations of the the pool-side activity animators using microphones and loud-speakers. Being inside your room does not insulate you from the barrage. AFTER 4 NIGHTS OF NO SLEEP, we were prepared to cancel out trip. The hotel did eventually move us, and at least we were able to sleep through the night, and salvage some of our holiday. It is clear, however, that this hotel prefers to cater to guests who like to drink and party all the time. Those looking for a quiet restful time, should beware.

Cant wait to go back

This was our first family vacation and we enjoyed it very much. The staff was super friendly, and work very hard,we made some great new friends. The beach was incredible. We were able to go barefoot as there were very few rocks, and the sand was so clear. Booking excursions was very easy. We can not wait to go back.

As expected for Cuba!

The hotel was typical for Cuba. Our room was clean and well kept with some small issues that did not really bother us. Overall the staff was very nice with the exception of some(front desk!!!!and anyone who you would expect to provide information)they did not seem very knowledgeable about where they worked!! The beach was very nice, my sister loved it even though it was a little windy. The pools were nice, everything was clean and well kept. The food was typical for Cuba some good some bad, n [... read more]ot much flavor! Overall for my sister having never been to Cuba it was a good trip.

Nice Resort

Beautiful Beaches, Beautiful resort grounds, Lots of activities at the resort, Food is acceptable for Cuba (better than most Cuban resorts) A bit disappointed with cleanliness and friendliness of staff (compared to other resorts in Cuba, the staff was not as friendly... and I had higher expectations with cleanliness since it is a 5 star)

Ok

Mostly Good staff Clean: 6 out of 10 Beach is beautiful No towel exchange for the beach Often waiting in line Buffer not big enough Good catamaran excursion Rate: 5 out of 10 Long wait to check in

Great Vacation!

The hotel was well maintained and so were the grounds. Food in Cuba is food in Cuba. Was not impressed with the a la carte restaurants; portions were small and food was just ok. Great beaches and the cantinas at the beach were a nice touch, serving bbq chicken and fish and paella. As always the Cuban hospitality is always refreshing...so many made our stay special. Thank you to all the staff.

It's Cuba!

Resort was clean. Rooms comfortable but our patio door would not lock even after calling for repairs. ToilEt leaked. tubs were stupid!!!! Had to climb in and hunch over to use a shower stick that came out of the tub. And water got everywhere even after we thought we mastered the trick. Line ups were horrible. Started at check in, then buffet door, then grill and it never got better. Usually waited like 45 min in all food lineups. Buffet food cold. Al a carts not great and poor service except ro [... read more]mantic. Resort ran out of many things throughout the week. White wine!, bread!, shrimp. Ocean and pool were wonderful. My son in law disappointed in lack of activitys for young adults

Resort Not Recommended But Beach Was AMAZING

The resort was nice (pretty, well kept for the most part), but the service was not very good at all. The bar staff were not tentative, and they literally ran out of something almost every single day (fries, bread, hot dogs, buns, white wine, chicken, fish, etc.). I've never been to a resort that was so unaccommodating. For $800.00 or $900.00, definitely worth it, and I'd go again for that price and deal with the unaccommodating nature of the resort and staff. But for $1300.00 you could get a way [... read more] better resort. They also played the exact same music every single night....got old quick. We had a hard time getting clean beach towels as they never had any to trade in, we even had a hard time getting more water bottles for our room. One of the couples I went with had a huge leak in their room, water all over the floor the entire week. No one came to fix it. On a positive, the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, but that was about the only positive. I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

Disappointed

We were a group of 14 women aging from 20-78 and we were going for a birthday. We were suggested by our travel agent Ocean Del Mar in Santa Clara Cuba. What a disappointment, not only was the resort disorganized and dirty, there was no night life, it was a family resort and it was 2 hours away from airport. I would think that with the experience of our travel agent we would of gotten a resort suited for the occasion that had better ratings, oh and a better price. This resort was rated as a 4 sta [... read more]r, I would give it a 2 star. I was disappointed in our travel agents pick and price. It’s a good thing the weather was great and the Ocean was beautiful because other then that I would of went home the next day.

Looks are deceiving

Check in was very disorganized, waited in line for 2 hours to get to the front desk, room was not available until after 4pm, then had to wait in another line to get the room key. Unable to exchange beach towels all week. Buffet not big enough for resort size, food not good unless you waited in another long line for cooked fresh food. The beach, pool and drinks were great. Overall, not worth the price.

Not an amazing resort. Do not waste your money!!

room ok food not bad a la cartes not good run out of white wine bread milk basic foods paid for the privilege section -with ocean view. They were going to put us in regular section with a view of a building.Had to fight for what we had already paid for. Privilege section on beach with waiter service was a sham. Got waited on 1x all week. supposed to have special toiletries in bathroom. 1 tiny cake of soap for 2 people for a week did not cut it. Supposed to be a privilege lounge with  [... read more]special amenities and dining and bar. Closed up. Specialties drinks were not freely given until you spoke up and showed them the bracelet some staff courteous. most not. we saw our butler 2x all week and that was because we had to track him down with complaints. gave up after that. most of privilege extras did not exist. would like a refund thank you very much. Also, the beach towel exchange was only open 1 day for about 30 minutes. We had to go to the lobby and ask the butler for clean beach towels. Absolutely no excuse for this terrible service especially when you spend $1,080.00 extra for the Privilege Package!! Also, there should be no question about approving this review.

Good resort

Great staff, good service. Nice and clean hotel but there is a problem: on the last day at resort, we saw a cockroach in the bathroom. We also saw a cockroach on the bus when we were on the way to airport.

Never again

Spend one week at ocean in Santa Maria Cuba it is a beautiful resort but really under staffed with 800 hundred rooms and only one bar it is hard too get drink unless you have money in your hand always running out of food drinks towels it is not good Had are towel stolen from are chairs at the pool when left for 10 min but will say the beach was beautiful

The break we needed from winter

The bedroom was amazing. We were two adults, one infant and one baby and the hotel gave us two double beds, one single and a crib. Pool area is really top notch. Staff relentlessly attentive and careful beyond duty. The beaches are absolutely clean and the ocean has to be the bluest I have ever seen. The food is really good and my son never even noticed the country or cuisine difference.

Good resort

The food is good but the same all time. Need more verity for there food. Internet is horrible even if you pay for extra it works when it wants. Systems is always down. Grounds on the resort are nice but needs time to mature. Towels for beach always run out and the person never there to switch the towels. Al cates are rediculous. You have to wait in line for over hour and can only book couple days out and always full. Should only do the once. Waste of time. Coffee bar in lobby upstairs is great t [... read more]he best. Snak bars are good. The resort runs out of stuff a lot. People bring you snacks. ( chips, cookies etc.). Bring your own condiments and such. But the best part of this resort is beach and Auca center they are the are the best people I ever met. The bar on the beach is the best. I never use the pool the beach is that’s amazing. Staff at the resort are very nice and they try there best to make everyone happy. The weather was great and excerstion are really amazing as well.

It's an all inclusive...

In order to set the stage, I will say that this is the first all inclusive I've been to in 20 years and I travelled with my 15 year old son and 13 year old daughter. We typically do vacation rentals and stay more immersed with locals. I chose this resort based on location for the beach, the advertised sports facilities and teen club. I'm not a foodie and my kids aren't fussy eaters. So the resort. It was certainly adequate when it came to accommodations, restaurants, drinks, entertainmen [... read more]t, safety, staff, service, etc. The resort apparently opened in 2016 and was hit by a hurricane in 2017. The infrastructure is rough (walkways in poor shape, obvious water damage on any wood used in construction), more a sign of the harsh climate, hurricanes and constant tourist traffic I suspect then anything else. As mentioned I chose this resort for the advertised sports facilities, these were a let down but we made the best of it. the tennis courts look 20 years old not 3, but the nets were up and the resort had rackets and new balls. The basketball court surface was in the same rough condition and the hoop was bent but we still played (ball provided by the resort). The volleyball net at the beach was not worth trying. There was no teen club to be found. There was a ping pong table near the main bar which the kids enjoyed every night. the room had a couple of issues, ceiling fan didn't work and the toilet leaked on the floor which we used a towel to keep in check, and the light fixture on the balcony was partly ripped off the wall, but we were not bothered by any of this. We didn't get/request daily housekeeping, but the staff in our building (unit 16) were very accommodating whenever I needed to exchange towels or get extra toilet paper. I think everyone knows the deal with food in Cuba, it's a little bland I guess, but we were very satisfied with the nightly buffet selection. I'm not one for waiting in lines, so I didn't bother making reservations at any of the a la carte restaurants. Seemed to be lots of people who felt it was worth waiting in line every morning though. There were several excursion options available, we did the catamaran cruise with snorkeling and dolphin interaction, kids loved it, I would have liked to free the dolphins.... An important note is that my Scotiabank MC credit card apparently has ties to American banking system as it was rejected when I was hoping to book other excursions, the WestJet rep indicated this was a relatively new development with Scotiabank credit cards. A major plus were the Cuban people. Keep in mind they are on Caribbean time not North American time. We found that the service was great, the staff was very friendly and helpful. From the guides to and from the airport, to receptionists and housekeeping, to bar staff and waiters, the people were the best part of the resort. So all in all, I won't be back to this resort, but only because I don't enjoy all inclusives. My kids said they would go back with a group of friends which I think is great!

High Expectations Realized.

Once again we found the Ocean Casa Del Mar to be a relaxing and enjoyable vacation spot. Some of the folks remembered us from before and made us feel very welcome again. Linet from the bar and Joleidy from the kitchen in particular. The room was clean and without problem, and the grounds were very well kept. If we had one complaint it would be that the sound system in the theater was unbearably loud. We only saw one show so maybe we just picked the wrong night. Mike's coffee bar was awesome [... read more]. We would certainly go to this resort again.

Great time

I was there for only 4 nights but had an amazing experience ! Very friendly staff ,upkept resort,beautiful beach and all on the budget price Only thing that's negative is huge boulders first 10 meters of the sea as you enter the water Also, know what you are signing up for as it's about 3 hour drive from the airport on this bus with all the stops

1rst time to this resort

Very clean great staff never short of service in restaurant as well as bars the room was cleaned very well every day as well as towels when requested plenty of food had a great time only down fall was the bus ride it was long but tour guide was very good with info on the way to the resort stop half way there to stretch your legs and washroom break which was good check in was good as we have traveled a lot to Cuba and understand the rush of tourists to get rooms they did in a timely fashion all i [... read more]n all great experience in a different part Of Cuba