DO NOT STAY HERE

My boyfriend and I stayed here from February 26th-March 4th, 2024. When we first arrived, check in was smoothe and there was a nice worker who took us to our room. Our room was run down. You could not see out of the mirror in the bathroom and not to mention the shower leaked all over the bathroom floor each time it was used. We did not have any hot water at all or water pressure until day 3 of our stay. The mini fridge in our room was rusted but worked well. No smell. Balcony falling apart. Bed  [... read more]was comfy.Bottled water was never an issue until the last day when we had a different maid who did not leave us any water. Each day, our maid was phenomenal until the last day (different maid). She left our room very clean and always left us water. The maid on the last day was demanding us to leave our room when we simply asked her for just 5 more minutes because we just woke up. This resort was FULL of Russians. The buffet was the same food every day. Never seen bread until the last day! The people on the resort were bagging up the bread to take to their rooms... Only seen dessert once... Always had ice cream though. There was not enough seating at the buffet. My boyfriend and I often found ourselves needing to stand. Service was terrible. We had to defend for ourselves to get glasses and utensils and water. The waiters did not serve us. Staff were rude until they found out we were Canadian. There was only 7 Canadians there with us our entire stay. They ran out of beer multiple times and even coffee. The liquor mainly consisted of whiskey and rum. Bathrooms ALWAYS had toilet paper. Beach was incredible. Not enough huts though for the amount of people on the resort. Only an hour of entertainment at night. And, the entertainment was the same depending on which day of the week it was. Only seen day activities once by the pool. My boyfriend and I mainly ate at the snack bar by the pool which is only opened at certain times throughout the day. Only had a bun once for my hamburger throughout my entire stay. The food we ate made us sick each time (diarrhea) no matter where it was. No mosquitoes. The swim up bar by the pool was not in use. Small bar at the beach, minimal options. Wifi always worked and was fast.At the beach, catamarans/kayaks were free too use. Paddle boats were 10 dollars to use. Staff at this resort knew English well for the most part. If they did not, they had translate available and in use. Only two restaurants available at this resort and the reservations filled quickly. The cigar bar did NOT sell cigars... barely was ever opened. There is a gym but I did not see anyone using it. To get a taxi was no issue with front desk staff's help. Very expensive now in Cuba I find. Best bet is to take US and Canadian dollars. Pesos are a NO go - worth nothing. The bank is never a good experience! This resort is about a 5 minute drive into downtown-Varadero strip.We unfortunately did not have a good time at all this time. We have agreed to not go back to Cuba until the shortages can somewhat resolve. I have been to Cuba 6 times now and have NEVER seen it like that... People on our resort who had been there 23 times said they'd never be back.. When we got back to Canada, we were super happy to hear English and not Russian... LOL. A worker there told us it was a Russian owned resort? I was so mad to see most Russians vaping when I left mine home due to being illegal? While sleeping one night, there was a RAT or rodent of some sort that had chewed through my bag of sunflower seeds and made a mess everywhere. Our room had a beautiful view of the ocean on the 7th floor and the elevator was always working and fast. Weather was great and the beach was beautiful. The pool was always clean and lots of seating available. Drinks on this resort are very minimal. Never had pinna coladas, etc.. A few cocktails only, if you were lucky that day. Overall, this resort sucks, sorry. I need to spread awareness. DO YOUR RESEARCH. I've learned the hard way.. my fault for choosing low star and not properly researching. Will go back to Cuba for the beach and people in a few year's time. NOT to this resort.

AWESOME RESORT

This was my FIRST TRIP to CUBA and it was wonderful!! THE WHITE SAND BEACH THAT YOU COULD WALK FOR MILES!! ... A BEACH TO DIE FOR ! Very SAFE and Relaxing! NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT was AWESOME along with the DISCO!!! Nice people and GREAT STAFF!!!!! WE will MOST DEFINITELY!!! SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR!

My experience at this Hotel and First Time in Cuba

This Hotel Gran Caribe Playa Caleta. March 2nd 2018- March 9th 2018. I went down By Myself. Likes about the Hotel The Hotel Employees/People were amazing to me. Customer service give a 4 starts out of 5. If getting a ocean view room, try and get the 5th,6th,or 7th Floor. Shower and A/C and the Bar Fridge all worked wonderful in the Hotel. Food at the A la Carts Amazing I recommend the Italian and the Cuban. Cafeteria food was OK, stay away from the recycled food try and eat what is c [... read more]ooked in front of you. Beach and the Weather were awesome. Disco Club opens at 11PM. It was OK no different then going to one at home. Note: There are a lot of Russian people that visit this resort, I only speaking English found it hard to communicate even with my translator. DisLikes about this Hotel. Food, Got Sick for 3 Days. it is a 3 star resort like you are staying in a Motel on the side of the HWY. So don't expect best western, But just a place for me to lay my head. Not enough Daily activity to get the people involved. Games Dancing .Beach volleyball, water volleyball. WIF Only works in the Lobby and you pay 1 CUC peso for 1 Hour. *** If you are looking to Party in Varadero this Hotel is the 1 st one on the strip its the furthest away. I would recommend Starfish Las Palmas.**** Would I choose this Hotel again yes but only if the deal was too good to pass up. There are 2 Great Bars in Varadero That is Callie 362 and The Beatle Bar, Both Amazing and both close to the Star Fish Las Palmas, This Hotel is right across the street. On a Side Note the people are really great a suggestion, Bring down stuff even from the Dollar Store the Cuban people will love you for it. Reading Glasses, Make Up, Hair brushes, tooth brushes toothpaste, Soap Shampoo.

Nice Resort worth the money

Hotel and the cleaning staff was excellent but entertainment was not up to the par with everything else . Food was good but not too much variety for vegetarians .Excellent location , drinks and the Bar was great - good variety and excellent service .

Good but lots of place for improvement

Lobby: Beautiful sitting area Elevators: dirty elevators, dont look like they got washed in a long time Food: a lot of improvements needed for the food. Only ate rice, cabbage, and turkey. Need a new chef. Beach: nice beach, no seaweed

Decent resort for the price

The resort was overall fairly decent, very close to town and located right on the beach. Half of the rooms have an amazing view of the ocean. The food was okay but nothing special. If you plan to visit this resort you should brush up on your Russian skills, as most of the visitors at this resort were Russian. Overall, a decent place for students travelling on a budget.

Not our best experience

The Playa Caleta and Puntarena experience this trip was disappointing in many respects. While the food quality was somewhat better than usual, the hotel experience was not. Upon arrival we were told there was a laundry problem and that our beach towels would not arrive until the next day. 4 days into our trip, we were still waiting. Thankfully we knew enough to bring some of our own but first time visitors would not have known this. Bedroom linens were also missing due to the laundry issue. [... read more] The daiquiri machines were broken as with many other drink machines, grills and appliances. There seems to be no appetite to ever fix these and as non-drinkers, gets really tiring. There was also a deplorable lack of toilet paper and most women's washrooms had none after 10:00 a.m. This resulted in me carrying our room toilet paper around the resort everywhere. The hotel lobby didn't stick to posted store hours. Almost half of the beach chairs were missing. Finally, the gracious service we normally receive from the lovely Cuban staff was completely missing. With very few exceptions, waiters ignored the dining room guests and bar attendants were grumpy. This was by far the worst experience we've had in Cuba to-date and the current hotel owners should take notice. We are considering a hotel change the next time we return.

The resort is a little outdated. (Puntarina, although we had booked at the Playa Caleta)

The resort has some deficiencies: 1) The elevators are very slow and didn't work at all one day. 2) Not only are there no coffee makers in the room, there isn't even any coffee at the breakfast buffet. We had to go to the neighbouring resort to get coffee, but there was none in either hotel for two days. 3) The safes in the room are not safe. We heard of one couple who were at the beach and when they came back, the door to the safe was open and $500 had been stolen. When we were checking out, [... read more] we couldn't open our safe ... they gave us a new card at the reception, but it didn't work either. A worker had to come up and open it with some electronic device and she had difficulty. 4) Nice view on the ocean side. 5) The fitness centre was pretty bad. No air conditioning, the plug to the treadmill was broken, and the equipment was pretty outdated. I never saw anyone in there, which was not surprising. 6) The food was adequate, some items a little too salty and not hot enough; the omelet maker was great. 7) Lots of pool space and seating in the sun or shade. 8) The staff seemed very friendly. Maryna gave the cleaning lady some clothing, lipstick and money and she was extremely appreciative. 9) The entertainment was good.

Wonderful Memories from Playa Caleta!

My family and I have been vacationing at this hotel (Playa Caleta) for almost ten years now and we love it - I am worried we will not be able to stay there in Jauary 2015 as I believe hotel is closed for renovations - we are holding off making our vacation plans in hopes it will be reopen in time. We think the hotel is great value for your dollar!

Fantastic place

Access to two resorts is better than one that's for sure! A small nightclub but gives you a Cuban experience without having to leave the resort Chinese Allah cart was awesome lobster and shrimp delicious Beautiful beach not so crowded that you couldn't move if it was to windy for the beach you had Access to two swimming pools with plenty of chairs In the sun or shade

Playa Caleta

This was our first trip to Cuba for myself and 2 children. We had a wonderful time on the beach, swimming in the pool and the staff was wonderful. Rooms were clean. No face clothes in the room, towels were not easy to come by. But we really enjoyed our stay.