Gran Muthu Imperial: Cuba \ Cayo Guillermo \ Grand Muthu Imperial \ this is a 4star resort.

July 1 – 8, 2022 Travel Period : July 1 – 8, 2022, very hot Low season \ off travel season, less then 50 rooms booked. Buffet Restaurant: Day before departure received email that the Buffet Restaurant dining inside was closed due to low season. Mini Buffet service to be offered at the Snack Bar for Breakfast and Lunch. Snack Bar: Serves finger food order from menu, excellent burgers, terrible fries. Open tier walk up. Large room, no problem with finding a table. Buffet Resta [... read more]urant: Due to low season the Buffet Restaurant Dining Facility inside was closed and a mini Buffett service was provided at the snack bar daily for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was fine still cool in the morning but lunch was to hot and I did not like this. Daily Buffet consisted of 3 meat products, pork, chicken, beef, changed one day to shrimp. I eat a lot of salad, green leaves: No lettuce, plenty of peppers, cucumbers etc, just no green leaf lettuce. Also no tomato. Plenty of fruit..excellent. Plenty of sweet desert trays and ice-cream. Excellent Service at the Snack Bar during Breakfast \ Lunch. During lunch there are to many flies on the buffet food and this was a turn off for me. a la carte Menu Restaurant, Dinner was provided in a La carte menu restaurant the menu changed daily. I like this because it was air conditioned and inside, the quality of the food was poor and often cold. Service was excellent. Room: Excellent, AC worked, washroom no problem, no power problem, shower had plenty of pressure. There is a mini fridge inside the room, only on the first day there was 1 can of beer, rest of week no beer and was not re-stocked and no pop. Water was provided in large 2L bottles. Ground Facility: Excellent no problem, clean, on going maintenance by staff. During booking I requested top floor of bungalow and king size bed, sadly disappointed upon arrival I got neither and had to wait until another room was ready few hours later. During booking I fail to understand why make request if they cannot be fulfilled, like above, seems request at best. Pools: 3 Cascade pools, excellent in size, due to low season not many people in pool. Due to the heat the water in the pool was like tap water…very warm excellent. We spent all day inside the pool. Lobby: clean, fun, no problem, excellent bar service with nightly entertainment. Beach: Good, plenty of umbrellas due to low season. Beach grounds need to be kept clean daily as plenty of plastic cups are left by tourists, seaweed washed up, need to do a better job here.

Melia Costa Rey: The Pullman is the best in Cayo Coco

First off, if you think the food in Cuba sucks, please stay home and continue to eat at Mcdonnald's & Swiss Chalet. However if you want FRESH from the Ocean seafood, and chicken that is not jacked up on hormones and steroids, produce that is local and fresh as fresh can be, prepared with love and passion, then Cuba food is what your body craves. Second, the Staff, you will not find more humble, loving, friendly, give their only shirt off their back for you people. Hard working, honest and n [... read more]on intimidating. Third, the rooms, impeccably clean and very comfortable, great AC, Bar fridge (which the stock every day with Beer, Water and Soda), room safe, ironing board and iron, hair dryer, LCD large screen TV, Wifi, spacious, 3 showers and a tub, quality linens, ample hot water, Maid service is fantastic! 4th, The Bar, premium liquor and lots of it. Morning coffee is amazing, try the Frappacino! 5th, The Beach, STELLAR! 6th, The resort, clean, spacious, entertainment all day and night, swim up bar, clean pools, a la cart restaurants, great flora, large theatre, tennis courts, billiards and Ping pong too. You will not get more bang for your buck and enjoy the safest, friendliest place on earth!

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Charming

When you lower your standards Cuba has everything to offer, with such a precarious situation in the country, Iberostar and its fabulous personnel outstandingly went above and beyond to my expectations

Gran Muthu Imperial: Amazing Cuban people.

THE GOOD: Big nice rooms. good & nice room keepers cleaners. good tennis courts. I played with Giobani the Cuban Gym Guy, very kind and helpful. 3 swimming pools, (with very few shades from palms). The entertainment persons are very dedicated & nice, everyone, the ones on the pool, the night shows people, etc. The waitress and staff are awesome, nice & helpful even the garden keepers, (only one of the pool cleaners, look like he doesn't like his job). The Dominican chef is very good, but [... read more] sometimes the food wasn't good, because he doesn't have all the ingredients, (onions, garlic, species, spice hot peppers). So we ask him for "picante", and he ran to his place to invite us from his special Dominican hot sauce, and that save the food of the day! THE BAD: The beach in front of the hotel has no sand, it has reef rocks that you can not step on, nor get into the sea. The accessible beach is after the end of the hotel and the bar, with some chairs and shades far from the bar. Too many mosquitos, flies, crows, and seagulls trying to steal your food when in the big & nice open breakfast and lunch buffet. Some days poor flavor food. The supper at the night restaurants was good in general, but one day I chose onion soup, and they gave me one without onion(???) because they have no onion in the kitchen (???) weird eh? I hope these comments will be helpful. Thanks to the Cuban staff (and Dominican chef) that make my vacation a VERY HAPPY ONE!!! Special thanks to Giobany, (the tennis and gym guy). Adriana López, Grettel Martinez, Jennifer (pool bar), and the bar lady at the indoor sports bar. They were AMAZING!!

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Unsanitary food preparation, violent illness & no water

This is a small, new hotel facility on the island of Cayo Cruz, located a 60-minute bus ride from Cayo Coco airport. Our one week stay was marred by unsanitary food preparation, unplanned water shortages and 4 days of violent illness (vomiting and diarrhea). On the second day we were having hamburgers at the snack bar and my wife bit into her burger to find an insect in the middle of her burger and the insect was alive and still moving around. Very unpleasant. On the third day we went to  [... read more]dinner at the Caribbean/Cuban a la carte restaurant and subsequently my wife and I fell ill with a stomach bug and had vomiting and diarrhea for the remaining 4 days of the trip. On the fifth day the water was shut off across the entire hotel complex - restaurants, pool showers and guest rooms included - and the water became available again the following morning (18 hours later). I have no idea how food was being prepared at the hotel that day without the ability to wash produce or clean dishes. The 4-day violent illness really detracted from our overall experience. Also, there is no bathroom near the beach, which was a concern with the sudden onsets of vomiting or diarrhea. Other surprises: snack bar would serve French fries but did not have ketchup available, bars would serve mixed drinks but did not have lime/lemon slices available, guest rooms have mini fridges but cans of soda or beer are not available. This was not a good trip for us and we will not be returning.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Ugly Resort

My room is old, ugly, smell moldy, the curtain has little worms plant, and mosquitoes. I have no phone in my room for my entire week. I complain about that, but she ignore me . The bathroom is smell stinky and looks dirty. All the washrooms in the resort are stinky and dirty. Not all the faucets have water or only 1 or 2 faucets is working . Some of the toilet in the facility there is no flush water, broken and the door also. Too many flies in the buffet table. 😫 Some plates are still dirty.

Melia Cayo Coco: Ready to go back

Overall good experience. Slightly older resort with outdated rooms and furniture, but good service and decent food. It's a smaller resort which makes it easy and quick to get around, including the beach. The staff was very friendly and provided good service, the food is what you expect from Cuba. They have dinner you can book which provide a nice change from the buffet style. Overall I'd recommend the resort.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Not as advertised

Hate to complain but this place really pushed me and my girlfriend to our limits. Calling this a five star resort is a flat out lie. I understand that there has been problems with food supply and covid-19 causing staff shortages. But the resulting stay was far from the product advertised. Almost everyone came off as very cold. We found this unsettling since we have both worked in the service industry and couldnt understand why we were being ignored, or like we were bothering the staff. The [... read more] atmosphere was just very awkward and confusing. When we asked where dinner was we got shrugs. Public bathrooms were constantly out of toilet paper. We went to the cigar bar looking to have a fun time (as people who dont normally smoke) and the person there just made us feel stupid for knowing nothing about the cigars. The fact that all al a carte restaurants were closed and they solely relied on an outdoor buffet for breakfast and lunch was a joke. Because the buffets were outside the staff had to fight a battle with flies the whole service. Some dishes by the end looked like they had more flies than food in them. The salads were rancid, just constant recycling of food from lunch to breakfast. It felt like a bad summer camp. I didnt eat other then the odd piece of bread and dinner for the last couple days. This was my first "resort" vacation and i found i have been served better meals in hostels in the middle of the Peruvian jungle. I feel the a la carte menus have just been the same since before the pandemic since the descriptions were completely different than the product served was often nothing like what was described. Soups smelt like burning steam tables. We spent $100 USD on a private lobster dinner that pretty much included 2 lobster tails, and appetizers/desert literally brought over to us from the buffet. They have these tables that i see they feature on facebook and Instagram with bottles and glasses lined up with lighting and stuff, but whenever we would walk by staff would just glare at us. I think they're just displays? Just kinda added to the bizarreness of the whole place. It seems like they have nice-ish facilities like a gym or a theatre but I constantly found that everything was shut. No choice in restaurants. All the gym equipment was "out of order" a nice square with several places but all the doors were locked. After braving some toast i needed a bathroom and 3 out of 3 bathrooms either didnt have toilet paper, were locked or was yelled at by maids saying dont go in there. I just feel lied to when looking at the 5 star rating. Really feel like a karen writing this out but i genuinely feel lied to about this resort and spent money but also limited vacation days down here. Once we got 3ish days in we were wishing to be home. It felt like we spent most days waiting our trip out on the beach and sleeping early since there was next to no nightlife. Every response I've received about complaints has been vague customer service copy and pasted mentioning they have brought up our issues to management, and we are left with a feeling of being taken advantage of. There is a shocking amount of good reviews posted that i cant understand, no one in their right mind would find the service, food and stay acceptable with what was advertised. To be fair the beach was nice, and if you end up here, definitely take advantage of a short trip to pillar beach to escape the resort.

Starfish Cayo Guillermo: .A really amazing resort. Could'nt ask for more.

I have often travelled to Cuba,mainly to Varadero and Holguin. Cayo Coco, this time was my first trip there and my first mistake was booking for only 1 week. Starfish Cayo Guillermo was just perfect. ALL employees at the hotel contributed to the extremely pleasant and welcoming atmosphere of the hotel. Every employee that I had contact with always had a smile and always polite. When I thanked one of the employees, the reply was "We are here to serve". That seems to be the all round motto there.  [... read more] My room was garden view, very near to the beach. Room is very pleasant and well equipped. Hotel and surroundings are very well kept, clean and tidy. Beach was great. There was never a problem finding a lounge chair at the beach. Food was good. I did not go hungry and I think I ate too much most meals. I will definitely be returning to this resort. Just an ending note, I have always believed good & happy employees reflect on Good management. Thank you for a very enjoyable stay at Starfish Cayo Guillermo.

Hotel Playa Paraiso: Great place, except for reception & check in/out times

Here are the facts: -We paid for Jr. suite with a sofa but there was no sofa -Our connecting door (for shared rooms option) wasn’t locked so a stranger walked into our room at 2am!!! -Reception says to change money to Cuban, Canadian or US dollars but all excursions are paid with Visa or Mastercard only -The store people had no change so gave us masks instead -Tables and chairs were NEVER cleaned/disinfected (except for stage area) -We arrived at 10:00am but check in is 4:00pm… we ha [... read more]d zero sleep and were hungry, we wanted to shower (flight with coughing passengers), hit by the heat (duh, it’s Cuba) We had to wait until 4 to do all the above -Soap is 75% water (no lather) -Buffet had no barriers or cleaning of shared serving utensils -Tables we’re “washed” with a VERY watered down soap spray (no scent) -Bugs in all corners of floor -Headboard was dusty and had spider webs -Only visible cooks wore masks -Get “take away” plastic cups at bar and buffet because dishes aren’t cleaned properly -Hand sanitizer empty and only a few pumps available

Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo: Not clean

Rooms are ok. Dining and common areas are not clean at all and full of flies. Food is bad with very very limited varaties. At the lobby Very bad customer service. At the restaurant, people are very nice and trying their best.

Melia Cayo Coco: Beautiful resort!

Melia Cayo Coco is a beautiful adult only resort to enjoy a relaxing fun vacation. The staff were very friendly and accommodating to make your vacation enjoyable. They take the COVID precautions serious always cleaning and sanitizing to ensure our safety. All the restaurants provided a great selection to choose from. I really enjoyed the Ala carte.restaurantl the International was exceptional. The waiters and waitresses serving at all these locations work very hard and provided exceptional  [... read more]service. The entertainment in the evenings was amazing. The only negative about this resort is the cats something needs to be done about them. Overall it is a great place to go to for a vacation! Reviews are correct about the closeness to the airport only 15 minutes. Check-in and customs went very smoothly. Thanks Melia for a great vacation. I look forward to returning to the Melia for another amazing vacation.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Great beach

Rooms were big and roomy. Resort was at 20% capacity so food selection was minimal but good. Beach is the best part bar none. Bugs are really bad especially in the lobby- no see ums and mosquitoes. About a 75 minute bus ride. Staff were great and helpful.

Melia Costa Rey: Great trip, COVID hurt Cuba

Really nice, good staff and great amenities. You can really tell they are having a hard time picking back up after COVID - a lot lacking due to supply issues but everyone does their best. There best lobby of any resort I have ever been to and one of the nicest beaches. The rooms are dated but clean and cozy. Highly recommend.

Iberostar Coral Esmeralda: Quiet, hidden oasis

We stayed at the Coral Level Esmeralda the week of June 5th in a swim out room. I have been to Cuba about 9 times, Mexico 4 times, Dominican 4 times, Jamaica twice, Antigua once, St Martin once. Our visit was during the start of low season (hotel at less than half occupancy). The best things about this resort: -the resort is very small and personalized (more like a boutique Style hotel) with probably the best service we have had in Cuba (never had to wait in lines, and the people were excep [... read more]tionally kind and attentive. -the butler Ariel checked if we had everything we needed and arranged things we asked about (e.g., dinner reservations, extra amenities etc). He was one of the kindest, friendliness people we have met and we really enjoyed getting to know him, he went out of his way to make people happy and is a huge asset to this resort. We met Luis and he was super kind and friendly too! -they give you robes in your room and beach towels (never had this in Cuba before). -the room was one of the nicest I have stayed in with the most comfortable bed. -for Cuba, the food was about the best we have had in Cuba- fresh, well decorated, some variety. -room service was offered, including drinks (never had this in Cuba before). -the beach was long, white sand, clear and exceptionally quiet. -the pools were nice and warm and quiet. -this was an ideal resort if you are looking for relaxation or personalized service. -They had entertainment every night that felt personalized because of the small environment. Things you will either like or not like: -the resort is an hour drive from the airport (didn't feel too long but not a lot to look at). -the resort is very quiet- some evening entertainment but more geared towards people looking for a relaxing or low key environment. -the beach is extremely long and quiet- nice for long walks but we like exploring Lagoons or inlets. No other resorts open on the very long stretch of beach. -there are little fish that nibble at your feet (tickles). Things that could be improved: -Our least favourite thing was the design of the lobby- it was small and no ceiling fans and it could get hot and have quite a few mosquitos which made it harder to enjoy. -The first day there was a lot of flies in the buffet restaurant. This improved significantly over the week we were there but was initially an issue for us. Please bring them fly swaters (and maybe sticky fly traps) as things can be very hard to get in Cuba and this might help out a lot. -we wanted to walk next door and see the larger resort that is mostly built and scheduled to open in September, but management would not allow us to cross over (they had employees guarding it) which was disappointing as the resort was small and there wasn’t much area to walk (other than the beach of course). As you can see, mostly positive comments about this special place! Enjoy and please bring gifts to give out (e.g., good quality used shoes, clothes, toiletries, towels, clothes, sunglasses, hats, gardening gloves, tools such as a screwdriver set, pens etc) as it is very difficult to get things in Cuba and extremely expensive for people and you will feel so good making people happy! Don’t forget about the maintenance people, especially the ‘singing gardener’!

Melia Cayo Coco: Good resort

We choose this hotel as it was the number one rated in Cayo Coco, the lobby of this resort is nice and the new furniture that was added while we were there was a bright, modern improvement. There is a nice bar by the pool and all of the amenities were close due to the size of the hotel. However the accomodations were very disappointing. We discovered cockroaches in our room and the water pressure in the very outdated showers was terrible. We were told they couldn’t fix it and offered a bott [... read more]le of rum. Our rooms were not stocked with water or toilet paper after the first couple of days! (basic necessities) The food was decent, especially the beach grill at lunch. There were several nights that the single cook at the buffet was not able to keep up with cooking the meals despite the hotel being at 50% capacity. But this did make it easy to find spots at the pool and the beach. This was our first trip post Covid so we understand it takes time to work the kinks out. The beach is amazing and was cleaned daily and all of the staff was very friendly and welcoming. Overall our experience was positive but still some attention to the details would've made it even better.

Gran Muthu Imperial: Traveler beware!

We are back from spending a week at the Gran Muthu Imperial hotel. On arrival we were given pre-arranged reservations for the a la carte restaurants with dinner at 8 or 9 pm. Due to medical reasons, this was not acceptable and we were told we would have to discuss with the agent making reservations after 9:30 in the morning. When we met with her, that is when we learned that there is NO BUFFET in the evening with the exception of Tuesday and Saturday. All other nights, the guest all had to go  [... read more]to the a la carte restaurant or go to the snack bar (hamburger, hot dog, poutine, fries). We had heard the beach was had rocks I thought it meant we would have a difficult walk into the water. I was so wrong. The water was covered with water big rocks, small boulder size. You cannot swim in this water. We walked to the other beach on the left but the sand is not groomed, looks like it was dumped on the beach, it is so deep and uneven, it was difficult to walk over. Many guests did not even know we had a beach, they thought it was the beach we saw from the pool area where the weddings are performed. The breakfast food selection was very good. The lunch one was left to be desired, it was a hit and miss. You don't go hungry but the selection is bony chicken or pork. Later on they introduced beef stew and a stir fry but I think it is because there was another group of guests that arrived. This is my first time with an adult only. The hotel next door with the kids had much better beach which we ended up going to and the water was beautiful, you could walk a great distance in the water. As for the housecleaning, it was minimal. The rooms were swept and the beds made but they did not pick up the empty water bottles from the desk, they left them. The towels were rarely changed and if you asked for some, no white towels, and they would give you beach towels to use then ask why you have so many of them. I called the front desk about the towels on the Monday, we had been there since Thursday and after that, the housecleaning was nil. The worst part of the trip are the flies, little tiny black flies. So many of us had bites, my husband and I to the point we had to get medical assistance for the itching because we had run out of our benedryl, after bite gel and spray. We had brought as we had been bitten badly in Jan 2020 on our last trip. Therefore, the seasons are different but the flies are bad. Be aware of this before you go. If you want to be on the beach and go into the water, this is not the hotel for you.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Excellent (Diamond Club)

My sister and me, we just finished a week at this hotel, Memories Flamenco, Cayo Coco. Everything was good, the room was clean, the beach is beautiful, the staff were super friendly. we had Diamond Club bracelets, our room had very convenient location right next to the Diamond Club restoran, beach, pool, lobby, basically everything. We could return to Cuba and would be happy to stay in Diamond Club again.

Melia Cayo Coco: Nice resort, good food

Melia Cayo Coco June 2-9. Traveled as a couple, both in our early 60’s. Flew with Air Canada Rouge, flight was on time going, delayed in Montreal coming home, no free meals on flight but was able to purchase something on board. Customs in Cayo Coco was easy and smooth. While flying into Cayo Coco you receive a tourist card, once filled out this card is presented to the customs officer upon arrival. In years past they would keep one half of of the card and the other half you were responsible to [... read more] hold on to it for your return flight. This time around it was different, we received the card back in its entirety from customs. Keep this card with your passport for your return flight home, customs will then keep the card at the time of departure. The resort is probably a fifteen minute drive by car, but by bus with one stop along the way it was more like 30-35 minutes. As far as Covid is concerned we did not experience any problems or delays. We had to wear our masks on the plane. We had our ArriveCAN completed and ready for customs etc, at the airport it was glanced at quickly but never scanned. Check in at the Melia was easy but like at most hotels our room was not ready, (we arrived around 3:00pm). We went for a late lunch, had a couple of beers and checked back later, no big deal. We had what they called an updated room, building 64xx, all white painted furniture including a rocking chair. Our room was kept very clean, we believe the bed sheets were changed every day as were the towels if requested. Sheets and towels were super white which the Mrs really appreciated. We had a king sized bed which was super comfortable! The AC worked perfect, we had absolutely no musty odour in our room, the kind of odour you can sometime run into occasionally at some hotels down south. As indicated on here the staff are very friendly and want to ensure your stay is a pleasurable one. We appreciate this very much, however we never expect hotel / buffet / restaurant staff to cater to us so much that we get bent out of shape if every little detail is not carried out by them, we do have two feet and a heart beat and are capable of getting out of our own way to get or do somethings for ourselves instead of them waiting on us hand and foot. There were mosquitoes, however, we did not get bitten even though we did not use bug spray. We did notice some people had some nasty bites, so probably it’s a good idea to take bug spray with you especially if your prone to bites. During our one week stay we did see someone with a contraption on his back spray for the pesky insects every evening. On our last two days there was a low flying airplane that would circle the hotel grounds numerous times early in the morning spraying, not sure what chemical they were using but I honestly don’t think it was an overly powerful substance because there were mosquitoes around mostly every day anyway. We spent our days at the beach which is beautiful. The water was warm and that nice light teal colour because of the white sand. I wanted to ask but forgot as to why the sand is not one bit hot like on some other beaches where you have a hard time walking on it barefoot. We never had a problem getting chairs at the beach, sometime we had to walk a bit further because we arrived later which was no big deal. We have been traveling south for over 30 years, I would have to say the food at this hotel is definitely one of the best we’ve had. For the first time ever I hadn’t craved anything to eat from home. We ate at the three different a le carte restaurants (same dining area for all three) and enjoyed each one very much. On our last day we discovered the ice cream booth / stand which is open daily from 11-5 just off the lobby, nice treat to help cool off. Every thing was good and we had a great week at the Melia Cayo Coco with only a couple of minor things…….We knew this was a quiet resort geared more towards people who want to relax and have things low key, we enjoy this type of resort that’s why we chose the Melia. However, we did wish the entertainment in the evening was more varied and in some cased extended. We always enjoyed the singer in the evening but found it to be a very short show, usually only a hand full of songs. The nightly shows put on by the animation team were very good, lots of high energy and a brilliant display of talent, but too repetitive in our opinion. The Michael Jackson show was supposed to be held one night during our stay but got canceled for some reason, we were really looking forward to that show and it would have broken up the regular dance show. As mentioned WiFi is free and the speed is good for what we needed anyway. The one annoying thing about this is the LONG and unnecessary user name and password required EVERY time you want to get on your device. A SIMPLE password would surely suffice here in our opinion. These are minor things but I felt they needed to be mentioned again, I know many others have already mentioned some of these things, I just wanted to reiterate. To wrap up I’ll say “good job Melia Cayo Coco” keep up the GREAT quality and service. We would highly recommend this resort.

Iberostar Origin Daiquiri: Iberostar during Covid times

As with all resorts this one is having a difficult time during the pandemic. The staff and management are trying very hard to keep the place safe. I noticed a big difference in the availability and variety of things to eat but I expected that. What disappointed me was the last of local fruits and foods as I had planned to make the best of the local stuff. There is still a lot of confusion with currencies. No one wants the peso so do not change any. Take $1 us for tipping but make sure you have [... read more] enough as there is no way to get any from the hotel or bank.