Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: MEMORABLE MEMORIES

We spent two weeks in lodge 6 at Flamenco Memories with perfect weather and a beautiful beach. The variety and freshness of food was excellent and most servers, polite and fun. One, however, stopped us from sitting st an unoccupied table saying a guy had a birthday and wanted it. Not cool at a buffet. He could have booked at any of five restaurants if it was really his birthday. We were surprised to find workers st the beach 'reserve' beach chairs early so when people arrived they all looked ta [... read more]ken. By afternoon many people couldn't find a beach chair. I couldn't sleep because the volume of the music was absolutely unbearable. I asked for music to be appropriate for the audience in that room and not to shake the walls in the lodges. No change. Bartenders were great. Cleaning staff was great. Internet is dodgy.

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Modest and Comfortable Friendly Staff

Cuba is a third world country with limitations in some of its food presenation and availablity. If you accept this you have no complaints. The buffet is hearty with lots of fresh local choices of fish and fruit with omlette station and grill for beef and chicken. This hotel is about the beach and the people. If you want the clearest of teal blue beaches and welcoming freindly faces I can highly recommend this hotel. I would return again without hesitation knowing that the food choices may  [... read more]be more limited than other resorts and locations. The service, beach and people overturned all other (food) circumstances that are truly uncontrolable in Cuba. I felt 110% safe on the resort and in the area. I found Cuba much cleaner than Dominican or Mexico as far as roadside garbage and ocean clean up compaired to other travels. I can't say enough about the amazing staff and people, and it is of note that most are very fluet in english, moreso than I found in DR or Mexico. When I can I go back?!

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Nice resort if you don't mind stairs.

The grounds,beach and staff are all very nice.The food was probably one of the best I have experienced in Cuba and the a la carte restaurants were exceptional.The nightly entertainment shows were also good. The only improvements that really need to be addressed are we paid extra for the diamond package which was supposed to include a special check in area that was not offered and they need more power carts traveling around the resort to help with walking on such a large resort. There are rough [... read more]ly 100 stairs to travel from the lobby to the beach so this resort is not designed for everyone.

Memories Jibacoa: Still love it, but resort needs update

Cons: Our ocean-view room needs upgrade. Bathroom: vanity is missing marble plate, mirror is rusty, floor has unmatching tiles. Bed is covered with plastic sheet, thus it feels uncomfortable and very hot. Food is 'hit and miss'. Pros: Our ocean-view room had a great view. Decor of the room is nice. Staff are friendly and helpful. Our rep, Mirena, is amazing!

Memories Paraiso: Memories Great chain!

Ola! The grounds were clean and well maintained. Staff were great, cleaning staff and restaurant staff courteous and helpful. Beach white, white sand fluffy and amazing. Food was great for Cuba. Pools were clean and little cold. Weather was fantastic. Entertainment was great but started at 9:30 which is a little late if you have kids. Lots of kids activities. Buffets had lots of good hot freshly cooked food. Many assorts to pick from. Sand flees to get you so bring bug spray. Cute little gift sh [... read more]op but go to the market is huge with lots more to choose from. Trolleys pick you up and can take you all over the repost but the resort is definitely small enough to walk it all. This report is shared with Grand Memories but we have the bigger pool. Towels were plentiful and always exchangeable. Sports area always had something open or someone to play with. Managers and staff always said good morning and talked with you. Will definitely go back and recommend this resort. Bus ride 1. 3/4 hours off the cosway from the airport but you get see the marvelous Cuba and culture on the ride and the sunsets and sun rises are amazing!!!!! See you again soon Cuba

Memories Caribe Beach Resort: Mediocre resort!

No hot water in room all week. Beach towels not available to switch out. Construction happening by pool whole week. Entertainment was good and staff very friendly and helpful. Cleaning staff great! Food variety minimal in buffet restaurant. Same thing every meal. Beach was beautiful! Getting chairs fairly easy. Don’t think we’ll go back but overall nice week.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero: Great resort!

We had a fabulous time at this resort. Room, grounds, restaurants and public areas were very clean and well maintained. Food was excellent on the Sanctuary side, both in the restaurant and pool side. Also enjoyed the beach grill for lunch. Staff were excellent and friendly. Shout out to Natalie in the beach bar and Roxanna at the pool bar. Our butlers were great and helped coordinate a surprise poolside lobster dinner one evening. We will be back!

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: Almost a Nice Place to Stay

Must start by saying that Cayo Santa Maria has the best beaches we have ever seen. Powdery white sand as far as you can walk. We always got chairs and palapas at the beach, but by 10am there were none available. Room nice, clean. Beds were very hard and uncomfortable. Had lots of problems finding working bathrooms outside of hotel room. Service was hit and miss. Some staff were very pleasant, while others obviously wished they were somewhere else. Food was not good. We've been [... read more] to Cuba twice before and have always found something "good" to eat. Other than breakfast, we could not find edible food, which is a serious problem. Entertainment was always "dancing" – a bit more variety would have been nice

Memories Paraiso: Great Resort

We stayed at the Memories Paraiso in Cayo Santa Maria from January 26-Feb 2nd. We had a great time and the service was EXCELLENT! We were very pleased with our room. Villa 35 great location overlooking the pool and our room was very clean. Great layout of the grounds.We were a walk away from the market.We will definitely go back! Would I recommend this resort.....Absolutely!

Grand Memories Varadero: Great experience

The resort was absolutely beautiful, although if you are not a fan of big resorts, this is not the one for you. Food was great, especially the fresh omelettes every morning. My biggest complaint is the room was a bit out dated and there were blood stains on my sheets. Staff was very friendly though.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Fantastic resort

I enjoyed the resort immensely the rooms were clean a r very well kept. The grounds were beautiful and well kept, loved seeing the cats around. The pools were very well kept and lounge chairs were available immediately. Most of all the staff especially the dancers interaction with guest was fantastic as well as the Barman at the swim up bar. The main dining room was well staffed and food plentiful. The specialty restaurants were superb where food and service were excellent. Lastly the sho [... read more]ws were excellent the dancers were exceptional better than some on Dancing With the Stars, Michael Jackson was unbelievable.. Overall a great place to stay.

Resonance Blu Varadero: Beach is beautiful

A large resort with gorgeous grounds, beach and fun pool options. The rooms were not comfortable and we came across many issues at the resort(check-in problems, things offered in our room category never received, had to complain many times, etc... Seemed like the list was never-ending) .The food and drinks were good. It was our kids first trip. They had fun. We have traveled to other countries and would probably not travel to Cuba again.

Memories Paraiso: disapointing

We paid extra for the Diamond Club. The check in was fast and easy, the drink was delicious, the tram ride great. We asked for a King size bed, but there wasn't any available then, we did get one the next day. The first room was on ground level, looking at a bunch of bushes with garbage strewn through it. Our AC didn't work and there was no bar in the closet to hang our clothes on. The mini bar was not stocked and the other 2 couples got Champaign, we didn't. None of the room phone [... read more]s work either. The next day we spent at least an hour trying to get a room change. Happy to say we did and had to ask for the bar in the closet again. One was brought right away. We had to ask for water because the mini bar didn't have any. The sliding door to the balcony worked great, except, someone put the latch on upside down, so it didn't lock. We were suppose to get premium drinks, but they kept running out of it. The pool bar ran out of beer kegs, but they did offer cans. The main buffet was ok, but they didn't have enough things to make omelets and didn't bother getting any more. The bathrooms beside the main buffet didn't work all week, but the ones off the lobby did, except for the mens and for the 1st 2 days they used the ladies. The beach is perfect! Thank you Mother Nature. The bathrooms at the beach were disgusting. We had someone come and ask us for drink orders a few times, but later in the afternoon, nothing. It's ok, we can walk. But it says in the brochure we paid for that service. The concierge was in the lobby 2 days only, then disappeared for the rest of the week. As I said, premium amenities in the room was zilch. We weren't told about the exclusive lunch at an a la carte restaurant. We did go to the dinner show, it was ok. The other 2 couples we went with are still there. From what I've been hearing, you won't like what they have to say about this week. Something is going on, are they selling, going under or don't really care about their guests.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Vacation January 24-31, 2019: Never Again

Beach, pool and grounds are nice. Bathrooms in common areas are disgusting. No toilet paper available most of the time. Beach towels are very scarce. Received fresh beach towels twice all week. Fridge in room was restocked with 2 beers once all week. We paid extra for diamond club and barely received the extras we paid for. It should have included ocean view room, service on the beach, etc...when we checked in we got a ground floor room facing bushes. NO ocean view and all they could say is ‘ [... read more]sorry we are fully booked’. Bed sheets were not changed at all during our stay, sheets smelled musty and were stained. We set low expectations on food in Cuba but one night they actually ran out of bread on the entire resort! ‘Sorry’ was the theme of the week with no real sense that they cared and absolutely no effort to find a solution. The on-site Sunwing Rep made no effort to help and didn’t care at all either. I could go on and on, but you get the jest...NEVER AGAIN!

Memories Jibacoa: Great resort,home away from home

This resort is like home to us as we have enjoyed six visits here. We really like the smaller , more cozy size of the resort. The staff is like family and their service is exceptional. We are very much looking forward to our next visit.

Memories Paraiso: 2 star resort

This was a very poor rundown dirty resort. Food was terrible not sanitary at all. Service was slow. Rooms were old and falling apart. The only good thing was the beaches and they were full of and fleas.

Memories Paraiso: Family oriented resort.

Beautiful white sand beach, shallows slope gently, but no coral & no fish & often high waves. Lovely landscaping & attractive architecture. Good swimming pool. Children's programs, but not enough adult activities. Large complex but only one pool table & one dead ping pong table. No bicycles, no horses. Gym in market square was okay. Buffet food variety good if you go early. Lots of crab & shrimp. Security was very good. On the other hand, no chance to meet non-resort staff Cubans. Often have  [... read more]to dodge electric carts along pathways. Exchange money at resort bank counter rather than reception.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Best beach in Cayo Coco

Love Memories Flamengo Beach resort. Best show in Cuba for sure. This year the hotel was full to capacity so there were no way to change the beach towels unless you ask the room cleaning service. Food was as usual for Cuba. The hotel was very discret about shortage of flour or coffee. We didn’t suffer to much. Was serve at the resort anyway but with a bit of limitation. Orange pool party was the shine of the vacation. Good music and entertainment. This is the Best resort for Cayo Coco.

Memories Flamenco Beach Resort: Cayo Coco Memories Flamenco

Food was acceptable, grounds and restaurants were clean and well maintained. There is an issue with water supply, our room building 5 room 5116 had water every day but only hot for 2 days. Other buildings didn't have any water for a few days. The Cuban restaurant did not have any coffee or rum, difficult to believe. Otherwise it was fine and the flight delay coming home was understandable.

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria: THE GOOD - THE BAD - THE UGLY

We are a married couple, and, seasoned travelers that have enjoyed in excess of 75 vacations over the years. We have visited many resorts in countries too numerous to mention, and, sailed on 14 different cruise ships to a multitude of destinations. In fact, this was our 15th trip to Cuba. Our travel agent is The Esteemed Mr. Bill Gentry at TRIPCENTRAL. He has always been the greatest!!!! We book all of our trips with him, and, recommend him to our family, and, friends on a continual basis.  [... read more] This review covers 22-29 January 2019, while residing in the 59 block, (room 5943), at The Grand Memories Sanctuary - Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba. We hope that you find this review to be fair, unbiased, and, informative. THE GOOD : The beach was simply magnificent, and, spectacular. The sand was like powder, the water crystal clear, and, the beach was extremely clean with numerous lounge chairs available for the guests. A wonderful staff member took us out for a splendid thirty minute catamaran ride that highlighted the entire Cayo Santa Maria peninsula. The room was neat, clean, comfortable, and, even included two bathrobes, two beach towels, and, a free safe. Our housekeeper was charming, and, ensured that our room was perfectly maintained. A wonderful individual named Reniel, (possibly spelled wrong), even stocked our fridge with a large bottle of water, colas, and, beers on a daily basis in the late afternoon. The walkways, and, grounds were in excellent condition. This is quite impressive when you consider the actual size of this resort. It is mammoth!!!!! In fact, it is three resorts merged into one resort. When you stay at The Sanctuary, you also have the privilege of utilizing the amenities at Memories Parasio, and, Grand Memories. The golf cart drivers were fabulous. Basically, you can participate in the national pastime of Cuba - hitch hiking. They will drive you anywhere you want to go, and, are quite entertaining. They yell: "I have no brakes" at unsuspecting tourists, drive like maniacs, play music, and, encourage ridership participation. The Chicken Man was our favourite!!!!!!! However, all of them were simply magnificent!!!! The pools were crystal clear, and, numerous lounge chairs were available. All of the bar staff were wonderful. In fact, I know this is wrong, but, I want to marry Bartender Evelyn. We enjoyed wearing our swim suits at the pool bars, and, the swim up bars........after all........at home they were enjoying a massive snow storm, and, minus 26C temperatures!!!!!! The SUNWING Representative, (having a seniors moment as I cannot recall his name at the time of this writing), provided an enormously funny, and, animated introductory briefing. The seminar was held the day after our arrival. So, we would have attended the meeting on the 23rd of January of 2019, (hoping that SUNWING takes note of his name). Make sure you attend!!!!! He is a wonderful, thoughtful, and, caring/considerate human being, and, will provide information that even seasoned travelers will find informative. The management staff were always available, and, quite helpful in nature. In fact, The General Manager of The Resort even showed up at our introductory briefing to personally welcome all of us to his establishment!!!!!!!!!! Our butlers, on the second floor, (Raoul and Frank), were spectacular. They arranged our six ala carte dinner reservations. They were also responsible for attending to any problems that we might experience at the resort......there were none!!!!! The entertainment team was fun, upbeat, and, with energy that should be captured in a bottle to save for eternity!!!!!! The musicians in the lobby bars were just sooooooooooooo talented!!!!!!!!! Please, do not miss their shows!!!!! The ala carte Mexican restaurant, and, staff were amazing!!!! Make sure you order the fried mozzarella, and, the wire tacos. We went there three times, and, ordered the exact same dinners!!!!!!!!! The ala carte Italian restaurant, and, staff were equally amazing!!!! Make sure you order the shrimp cocktail with mucho, mucho shrimp, and, the lasagna!!!!! We went there on two occasions, and, ordered the exact same dinners!!!!!!!! The Sanctuary breakfast buffet, and, staff were wonderful. We enjoyed made to order omelettes in the mornings. The bacon was not completely cooked, so, we requested to have it fully cooked at the grill when the omelettes were being made.........as usual.........no problemo....... The Sanctuary lunch buffet, and, staff were extraordinary. Fresh lobster, tuna, salmon, shrimp, and, meat carving station were all offered on a daily basis!!!!! Yes........you can have these items for lunch every day!!!! The imported cheeses, and, other delectables were equally impressive. NOTE: WE HAVE BEEN TO CUBA 15 TIMES AND HAVE NEVER ENJOYED THE FOOD AT ANY OF THE OTHER RESORTS WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY VISITED....WE ARE PICKY EATERS!!!!!!!! My wife wanted to visit The Dolphinarium because she loves animals. Odd, I know, because she has me!!!! It is located about 7 kilometers from the resort. This complex is the largest dolphinarium in Latin America, and, is literally astounding. The show was wonderful. The trainers genuinely love the animals, and, these sea creatures equally adore their human friends. The cost was 10 pesos to travel to the site by taxi, 5 pesos each for the show, and, another 10 pesos for a cab to return to the resort. The total cost was 30 pesos which translates to about 41 Canadian dollars. As well, at the end of the show, I was allowed to take pictures of my wife with the dolphins on the dock for 5 pesos, or, roughly 7 Canadian dollars. These pictures are absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!! Note......when watching the show.....listen to the emcee.....he will direct you to the action and then you will be able to take magnificent pictures of the dolphins flying through the air............We were able to capture many incredible pictures....... The SUNWING pilots, cabin crew, and, planes were magnificent as usual. WE LOVE FLYING WITH SUNWING!!!!!!! We firmly believe that SUNWING always provides the most memorable vacation experiences. THE BAD: My wife suffered from insect bites on most areas of her body, but, in particular on her legs. They became elevated lesions that were red, oozing, weeping, itchy, infected, and, sore. They became blisters. We had to go to The International Clinic. She had a consultation with a doctor, and, received an injection of Benadryl, and, Cortisone. She was also given two antibiotics to take orally, and, an antibiotic cream. This visit would cost us 96.45 pesos, or, about 133 Canadian dollars. On a positive note, the clinic and staff were wonderful, my wife bounced back to great health shortly thereafter, and, the medical insurance will reimburse us for these expenses. Many guests had bites, but, not to this extent; therefore, take some form of bug spray for preventative purposes, and, some ointments for treatment before you visit. The bus transfer from the airport is about a 1:45 minute ride; however, this is not the fault of the resort. There are no toilets available on these buses which is surprising as the buses seem brand new. Naturally, this can be a problem when people are indulging heavily with beer. Note........I am not a prude.......I drink lots of beer.....please, see the notation in The Ugly Section of this correspondence. The public washrooms on the resort need improving as they can flood, and, get dirty. Note, this is not a housekeeping issue, (probably more of a plumbing issue), as the housekeeping staff are meticulous. THE UGLY: As noted, there are no toilets available during bus transfers to and from the airport. When we were traveling from the airport to the resort, I was literally AGHAST when the bus pulled over to the side of the 45 kilometer causeway to allow guests a bathroom break. The tour guide informed female passengers to go to the back of the bus, and, male riders to go to the front of the bus if they felt the need to go to the bathroom. They relieved themselves on a causeway that spans the middle of the ocean with cars, and, buses passing in both directions. This event did not occur during the transfer from the resort to the airport on our way home. CONCLUSION: In summary, we would like to thank SUNWING, TRIPCENTRAL, and, The General Manager of The Grand Memories Sanctuary for allowing us to enjoy a memorable, and, magnificent vacation. We hope that you found our review to be fair, unbiased, and, informative. Respectfully Yours, Chris and Tracey