Grand Memories Santa Maria: Not so amazing

This was my first time to cuba with my 4 year old and 2 year old and this resort supposibly a 4.5 star resort but it in reality I would rate it a 3 star. Our first day we got to the resort at 12:30am didnt get to our room till 1:30am, as check in was the longest wait. They didnt give us the 2 double bed rooms we booked instead they gave us 1 king and cot. After getting to the room then we saw the room wasnt what we booked. Went back to the lobby and was told our room wasnt available, they prom [... read more]ised it would be available the next day. The next day they said the same, I never got the room I booked for my entire stay. By the way dont bother with the reports they make. The food was horrible didnt have much for the kids as there play ground was all broken up. Someone even stole our stroller. The only thing good about this resort is the beach. Before I travelled I did my research on this resort saw all the bad reviews and honestly thought it couldn't be that bad. But the reviews were all right. I will never go back to this resort.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: nice but need love

i have to say the hotel is nice but miss maintenance. The pool was green all week damage with weed they didn't do nothing. The path to the beach everyday was one more damage plank at the end of week was dangerous. Service by leidy at the buffet and rachel lobby make our vacation more plesant thank to them. Beach amazing and pleny of palapas so was convenient.I will not go back i still enjoy the week and will not refer my costumers or friends to go there

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Cayo Santa Maria Grand Memories

Our stay on this trip was a complete disaster. This our first one that we’ve ever had, when booking these packages. 1) The last incident was the check-in rep, at the airport did not sit our daughter with us, when seating. Ava is 6 years old??? Does Sunwing not have basic policies about this? The check-in rep was unresponsive and just an absolutely horrid and rude person. Furthermore, when we paid extra for Elite Plus on our return leg, they did not have right configuration of the plane!  [... read more]And we were not sitting Plus seats that we paid $50 per person for. Why are we paying money, for not receiving the extra legroom? Trevor is well over 6 feet, and he was extremely uncomfortable for his entire flight home. 2) Lost luggage. On way down, our friend Trevor Smith had his baggage still in Toronto until Monday. Sunwing did pay $50CUC for this. We are following up with Sunwing about a missing piece of carry-on luggage. 3) We moved 3 times during our stay at Grand Memories: Rooms 5579 to 3309 to 5207!!! 4) On the last night we finally did receive our Diamond Club Superior Junior Suite. They screwed us out of our rooms, for almost the entire stay. Our initial room on the 1st night was in the worst building with filthy room conditions with sand all over the floors, sand in the bed, faucets were faulty. Our next few days were okay in 3309, until the entire plumbing started coming up through both of the bathtubs, showers, and toilets. Had to follow up with the staff multiple times, for them to even check about the faulty plumbing. Their response time was neglectful and extremely slow. There are too many other details about our stay at Grand Memories that it would take several more paragraph. But we would definitely not recommend this hotel! I would say, this the worst hotel that we have ever been to and our overall experience was absolutely terrible.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Nice hotel

At first, our trip was frustrating. We kept getting locked out of the room, missed our AirTransat rep meeting because we were told to go at 9:30, but at that time it was in French so we were told to go the next day. We didnt know until day 3 that you have to book a la carte restaurants between 9-10am only. We werent enjoying ourselves until Osiris the manager stepped in and turned things around to make our stay much better. He wanted to make sure we were happy at all times. He surprised us with  [... read more]a nice bottle of wine sent to our room. When we were having our anniversary dinner he came personally to say Happy Anniversary to us. After our dinner we went to our room and found that he had arranged for them to decorate our room with rose petals, ran us a romantic bubble bath, left some gifts and flowers and desserts for us as well. That was so nice. The wait staff was very wonderful. Hector, Leo and Hilda go above and beyond. Wonderful people. The beach was the best beach Ive ever been too. So beautiful, clear and such warm water. The down side for me was the food wasnt very different day to day, but breakfast was my favorite meal. Get the lobster dinner! For $20, they will charge it to your room. Its delicious.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Great Resort / Amazing beach / met my expectations again!

I have been to Cuba at least 15 times, including Holguin (once at a three start and never again), Cayo Coco (three times mostly 4 stars), Varadero ( a 3 star, mostly 4 stars and a cuple of 5 stars) and Cayo Santa Maria (twice to Playa Cayo Santa Maria) Of all the hotels that I have been to, this one far exceeds any of the others. My first visit to this hotel was in 2013. From what I could remember, the food was delicious, the room very clean and new, and the beach absolutely amazing with wate [... read more]r transparent to the point where you can see your toes clearly when standing in 5 1/2 feet of water. My only two complaints at the time were 1) the air conditioner was too cold and the vents were directed towards the bed which could make it somewhat cold at night especially if the AC is hitting your head all night long. Quick fix was to move the beds around. 2) The patio or balcony door locks didn't work. This was not a big deal as we were on the second floor..and we could jam the two chairs in the room to block the door from sliding open Six years later, my second time to this hotel, in August 2019, I expected it to be run down and not as great as my first time around. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the room that I stayed in was very well maintained ad this had by far exceeded my expectations. The only areas in which I saw a decline was: 1) nightly entertainment (too repetitive...mostly dancing)...However, there was one night of live entertainment (Band, Guitarist, drummer, Bassist and live singer belting out various tunes, including latin, classic rock/pop type music) 2) The pool...Although there were quite a few pools, many of which were spacious and enjoyable, one pool shut down for a day or so due to algae issues. But then again, who goes to Cuba for a chlorinated pool when you have a crystal clear ocean at your disposal...Besides, if I wanted a pee-filled pool...I would stay home and swim in my own. 3) the food - Compared to the first trip to this hotel, the buffet food variety was sufficient and the food edible but it was mostly repetitive...same thing day after day...night after night. However, the specialty restaurants (Italian, Seafood and Asian) were pretty good. Cuba is not known for the food and although many expect this, if you're a foodie you may be somewhat disappointed. Overall, on both my trips, despite the staff being completely different from what I recall, the service provided was impeccable. This seems like one of the few hotels that know how to service their guests. Every person that I met was polite, and overly concerned with making sure that the guests had a pleasant stay. The busboys, the waiters, the men maids who cleaned our rooms, the gardener, etc...My only complaint about the staff was the entertainment staff...their high pitched voices over the microphone at the beach...Yap Yap Yap...they never stopped talking...but I guess it's their job and the younger folks enjoyed it...so all is good. Again, my complaints from the first trip (i.e. the AC being too cold and directed towards our beds as well as the non functioning patio door locks) still existed but there were work-arounds as mentioned above. We took a Montecristo package (although we didn't have to pay much for this). This package included a complimentary bottle of rum, a cigar, discounts at the shops, as well as 2 hours of free internet per guest per day or 14 hours per week per guest. Well worth the price if you have kids that spend their entire evening surfing the net and watching videos. My understanding though is that regardless of the package you obtain, every guest gets 1 hour of internet usage per day per room...which is still sufficient in my eyes. The internet connection was pretty strong and allowed us to stream videos on Youtube and on occasion netflix as well....somewhat surprising... I would also like to mention that repeat visitors get certain perks which, if I knew about them in advance, I would have certainly taken advantage of. The service representative, Elaine, explained the perks and I believe that this also included being able to reserve restaurants from home before arriving in Cuba, free bottle of rum cigar, special dinner for repeat guests, and more from which I cannot recall. More reason to go back a third time, which I would plan to do over the next year or two.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: No more Cuba

This has been my fifth time in Cuba. Unfortunately this will be my last time. I am saying unfortunately because I loved the country and most of people; however this time the food was beyond awful. The majority of my group got sick a d we spent nights in the washroom. Our suite was nice and we had wonderful view. The ocean was amazing but we couldn't enjoy it as much as wanted as we had to be near washrooms most of the time. While most of the staff was amazing, one lady in the customer service a [... read more]lso a waiter in the seafood restaurant (she wear glasses) was beyond rude. I will give this trip and the resort 3 stars due to the food.

Playa Cayo Santa Maria: Little value for the money

I am not going to talk about the resort and facilities as there many reviews on it. But meals are a big part of any trip and I will drop a few words. Apart from breakfast, lunch and dinner at the buffet is always the same. To the point where my kids did not want to go to the buffet anymore after three days. This is my third time in Cuba and this is the only place where the menu is always the same. Not even a dish or two different the next day. If the menu going to stay the same, at least they co [... read more]uld do a better cooking. The only thing that helped our family going thru the days was the a la carte restaurants. No complains there, but if the number of a la carte you can go is limited, then at least improve the buffet menu. The snack bar was ok but the good items were always out.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Our 9th anniversary

At first, our trip was frustrating. We kept getting locked out of the room, missed our AirTransat rep meeting because we were told to go at 9:30, but at that time it was in French so we were told to go the next day. We didnt know until day 3 that you have to book a la carte restaurants between 9-10am only. We werent enjoying ourselves until Osiris the manager stepped in and turned things around to make our stay much better. He wanted to make sure we were happy at all times. He surprised us with  [... read more]a nice bottle of wine sent to our room. When we were having our anniversary dinner he came personally to say Happy Anniversary to us. After our dinner we went to our room and found that he had arranged for them to decorate our room with rose petals, ran us a romantic bubble bath, left some gifts and flowers and desserts for us as well. That was so nice. The wait staff was very wonderful. Hector, Leo and Hilda go above and beyond. Wonderful people. The beach was the best beach Ive ever been too. So beautiful, clear and such warm water. The down side for me was the food wasnt very different day to day, but breakfast was my favorite meal. Get the lobster dinner! For $20, they will charge it to your room. Its delicious.

Melia Las Dunas: Beautiful beach, poor service

Room was average, hotel grounds were beautiful. Friendly staff, but poor service. The servers favored the locals, and there seemed to be alot there. Most Canadians we met there felt the same, that the service was poor and the wait for drinks and food were long. We felt like we were begging for service. It was very disappointing. There were alot of shortages - ice, beer, bread, towels, coffee cups (plastic was used for coffee)... Would not return to this resort.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Hope you’re not hungry!!

Though obviously I can’t complain about the weather (45) I can certainly say that this trip was a 75% bust. No issues with flights or delays at all, they all ran smoothly. When we got to the resort though they checked us into the wrong room. We didn’t get in until 10pm so we just went to our room because we have younger kids. The next day they did apologize and put us into our actual room. The refused us pillows because it was Sunday? Don’t ask me what that means. So when I went to the fro [... read more]nt desk and talked to them they said someone would come by and give us pillows and sheets. The “new” sheets had blood on them. The beds had hair all over it and there were so many stains that we wouldn’t let our kids sit down on the chair. We then paid $200 US dollars to get a room upgrade. The servers were put out when we ordered and I was surprised that about 98% of the staff didn’t speak any English so things didn’t always come across as hoped. If you’re looking for a weight loss program this is your stop. The food was AWFUL!! If you like cappuccino then this is your place. All and all I would look elsewhere.

Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas: mondern resort

The resort it self was modern and clean, most of the people were great, the ones that spoke English. The food was to be honest the worst we have had and we have gone to Cuba 4 times. There was no pizza, they ran out of fries, the snack bar had very little food. The buffet was not good at all. There was only one cook top and they only served chicken and meat, there was no pasta station. The best day in the buffet was the day we left. That day we actually saw chef's walking around putting fr [... read more]esh food out. All the locals were there taking ALL the fresh chicken and ice cream. I had to wait 45 minutes for 4 pieces of chicken one day, the people in front were taking 30-40 pieces. They only had 1 restaurant open per night and the food was good. The shows were good at night.

Paradisus Los Cayos: Waste of Money

I am struggling on finding a way to politely express how awful of an experience I recently had at paradisus los cayos in Cayo Santa Maria Cuba. Upon check in I asked if we could have a room on the ground floor or something close to the buffet or beach as I was traveling with my Mother and young son and was told "it is impossible, there are no available rooms". I thought fair enough, it's a beautiful resort it must be fully booked. . Which was not the case at all they had entire wings that had no [... read more] guests in them and rooms on our block that had no guests staying inside. There wasn't a single day where something didn't go wrong. On our first morning after our arrival we had no power for about 4 hours. Air conditioning, water, fridge nothing was working. The same thing for the buffet, all that good sitting in that heat speaks for itself; the food spoiled quickly. Half the elevators weren't working for days after the power outage.. Imagine going up four flights of stairs and having to walk over 400m to your room in 37 degree weather with a 65 year old woman with herniated spinal cord discs and a 5 year old with asthma. On our second day we decided to try the 24 hour snack bar restaurant by the pool; we sat on the patio for over half an hour before one of the servers decided to come over and ask us if we wanted food. Every other patron (95% of which were Cuban / spoke Spanish) was served almost immediately after they sat down. Never have I had such awful service at a resort in my life. Our 3rd day we awoke to our beautiful view of the ocean and main swimming pool... Only to find that the swimming pool had gone green. Not a little green, literally moss green. I thought to myself maybe it'll be clean by tomorrow, nope. You could see clouds of algae floating around in the pool on the 4th day. The 5th night going into the 6th night my son had awoken at 230am vomiting and having uncontrollable diarrhoea. I was trying to clean up the mess and put him on the toilet only to find out that there was no running water. Literally couldn't flush the toilet and couldn't wash him off or my hands. I had to use all the towels including beach towels to try and clean the mess up. We only got running in the room at about 530am. It may not be pleasent to read but the stench from my poor son was almost unbearable, and I couldn't even flush the toilet. I had to use bottled water to clean him off with our towels cold water from the fridge. My poor son was so uncomfortable and the cries from him; it just broke my heart. He didn't understand why there was no water for him to take a bath. I tried calling the front desk 5 times to have my call ring out. I spoke to another guest who was staying with her husband and 1 year old baby and found out that they didn't have water for the same block of hours 2 nights prior.. I was shocked. Is the resort shutting off the water at night to save money??? What other reason would there be for no running water for more than 2 nights in 4 days? We had to stay in the room the whole next day only leaving to get bread for him to eat at lunch time. When we came back to the room I had found that the maid cleaned up the room but left us without blankets and pillows cases for my son's bed on the pull out couch. My son really enjoyed the pizza at the snack bar and we went back 3 seperate times during the course of our trip to find out that they had run out. Same with hamburgers. The buffet was awful for their portions they served on the platters. They would put (for any given fish) the same amount of portions for a dinner party of 20 people. It was literally a race to each dish to try and get food. It was so sparse with them filling up the dishes. All of these problems I could MAYBE understand experiencing them at a small 2 star resort where you're paying next to nothing to be a guest at. But to pay collectively for 3 people over 500 a night to experience these issues it's simply unacceptable. I thought spending a little bit extra than normal I would be comfortable.. not the case at all. I have used trip central in the past for a family vacation where we paid 680$ per person and had a wonderful experience; although this past experience where I spent literally double the price per person is making me want to rethink my decision to use trip central in the future. Double the price and not even a quarter of the quality and customer service from the resort. Had I known that I would have had a vacation like this I wouldn't have even boarded the plane. I am truly gutted that my family vacation (which as a single mother I can't afford many of) went so badly. How do you explain to a 5 year old he can't go swimming in the pool because it's dirty? Truly disgraceful on the resort's part.

Iberostar Selection Ensenachos: Iberostar

We enjoyed our stay. Friendly staff and clean premises. Efficient service. Needs transportation services within resort ie., trolley system that reliable. We would recommend. Other suggestions are to have good air condition systems in the rooms at least. To get a break from heat.

Starfish Tropical Cayo Santa Maria: Lasure time

My first visit to Cuba and it was very satisfying. Service was on expecting level,everyone most helpful and approching. Resort ,rooms,beach, pool ,very clean. Entertaining team is excellent, I learned few cuba dances. My only concern would be about food,need more fruit veraety,more sea food,due to location,and maybe to introduce some of Cuba history,life in general,art,sports etc.

Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria: Dhawa looks better in the pictures cleaning lady was afraid to kill a cockroach in the room. Had to do it myself.

Hotel not too impressive for 4 and 1/2 *. Food was excellent. Only a handful of staff members we're polite and courteous. The rest were annoying always standing around for tips. Two women clean the bathroom started telling us their sob story about how many children they have to take care of. Very annoying. Resort is very quiet and very minimal activities. It was simply not for us.

Hotel Roc Casa del Mar: Cheap and cheerful

The hotel is absolutely beautiful just as you see on the website very modern resort. I just wish the food was better. I know Cuba is not know for the food but I have to say this resort was the worst for food. The selection was horrible. As for rooms it was very clean! Do not stay in the privilege section and the don’t have showers ONLY tubs. You can only bath and not shower. Beach was beautiful!! Pool needed to be cleaned which they were not doing.

Royalton Cayo Santa Maria: Fabulous stay!

This was our second visit to this resort and we were equally pleased. The beach is second to none in Cuba and the people were simply amazing. From resort management in Luis who welcomed us with open arms and made sure our stay was what we wanted, to entertainment staff including Blanca, Sousa and Yuri! Their presence was infectious and genuinely made you feel a part of the party, to wait staff who demonstrated upmost respect and always greeted us with warm smiles and wonderful hospitality... to  [... read more]our amazing butlers .. Dani and Javier, who catered to our every need and request.. yoandra our cleaning staff made sure our room was spotless every single day, her genuine smile and humbleness was admired. I recommend this hotel to anyone who wishes to visit Cuba in an adult only environment with wonderful accommodations and a backdrop to die for. If I could say anything.. I would say to please acknowledge those resort workers that are behind the scenes working their butts off to make your stay everything you could wish for from groundskeeper to bartenders on the beach to the loveliest gentleman who made sure the beach was cleaned of garbage daily.. we appreciate you all!!!

Grand Memories Santa Maria: Awesome Fun Resort

Over all I think the resort (Grand Memories) is an excellent example of Cuban culture and Tourism. There were a few hiccups the first day but nothing major. Our stay started with our room not being ready until 5:00pm that was a bit disappointing but staff accommodated us with a locked storage room for our belongings. Our toilet would not flush the second day and it took several hours to get it repaired. Staff were very apologetic and did try to assist us. The servers on the main bar and the hote [... read more]l buffet were very apprised on how to treat guests and they really made our vacation so enjoyable. We enjoyed the nightly shows so much we stayed and joined in on the late night dance party.Staff would remember our names after being told one time and also were happy to assist when we had questions to do with the resort.

Roc Lagunas del Mar: Amazing Resort and Nice people but no food

Beach beautiful Service really good Food nothing proper available to eat Not drinks available all the time Not cups available all the time Animation team amazing Cleaning very good Reception not good Would go again if better food

Melia Cayo Santa Maria: Very great experience

This was our first family trip to the Caribbean and it was better than expected. So many helpful reviews and some misleading comments left us wondering what to expect. As first time to Cuba we had much to experience. We chose Melia CSM for it’s smaller size and beautiful beaches. And the beach was glorious- white sand and clear blue water - this was the highlight of the destination. The resort was very nice. Beautiful gardens, majestic palm trees swaying in the background of every view [... read more]. The pool was bustling with activity morning and afternoon with staff keeping everyone entertained and satisfied. The entertainment was very good. Thoroughly enjoyed the many presentations from live music to theatric synchronized swimming, magic shows, fashion shoes, dancing and acrobatics. The food was much better than forewarned. Nothing bland or short of flavour. Many choices kept our family with a few picky eaters never without options. The rooms were slightly dated but very clean and well kept by the maid service. Really had no concerns as we weren’t expecting luxury. A safe and comfortable room to handle our needs between beach pool dinner and nightlife. The staff - the people of Cuba who welcomed us eager to serve and make our experience memorable were top notch! Despite our first time - with much research and review and discussion with other guests, we really did enjoy this resort and experience in Cuba. We may have caught the travel bug as a result of this trip. Thanks Melia CSM for great memories!