Worst resort

This Hotel it's the worst I saw in Cuba, I have been 4 times in Cuba, the 3 first great vacation, but at Memories Azul Beach Resort, the reception very poor in customer services, people working in reception, without any manners, I didn't like it at all, bar and beach were okay, but Buffet... waitress always mad, and very bad attention, we had to wait almost 40 minutes for someone bring water or juice, never offer coffee, we have to stand up and serve our self , coffee machine without cups, no su [... read more]gar on tables, no salt, etc, HORRIBLE experience, 99% of clients were Cubans, and they were very laud, after midnight screaming at the hallways, early in the morning same thing, so I never recommend this hotel to anybody, never come back again.

Nice holiday!

I felt the resort was mostly average. I felt it was too expensive for what we got. The rooms were ok - we had no power twice in the room and it took a couple of hours before it was restored. I had to call several times before it was serviced. Sometimes my room was forgotten for bar refills and bottled water. Often a phone call wouldn't suffice, I had to go in person to customer service to request bottled water. The pools were beautiful but the water was freezing - we happened to hit a cold front [... read more]. The brochure advertised heated pool which is definitely not the case. The beach was awesome though I felt not kept clean on the shorelines - lots of sea weed. I've been to Cuba before in Cayo Coco at a 3 star resort which I felt was much better than this 4+star resort in Santa Maria. And Cayo Coco was the least expensive. It makes me question the accuracy of their star rating in general. Either way, as a single mom, my daughter and I were ecstatic to get away - and she fell in love with the beach as well as their burgers served at the beach grill at lunch time!

Been there 8 times and will go again!

have been going to Memories Holquin since it was Occidental Grand Playa Sirennas ! I read the reviews each time I go and it still doesnt stop us from going. The people at the resort are very friendly. The rooms are kept very clean and so what if there are a few ants in the room, they are in your own home. There is such a variety of food at the buffet, they have the basics on a daily basis but they have something different every day as a main. I managed to have something diffrent each day! The bi [... read more]rds in the buffet, no different than sitting at home having a bbq in your own backyard. If you dont like to climb the stairs ( and they do tell you all about them while you are choosing your vacation) you can walk around or call the desk and someone will come and pick you up. There is a swimming pool on each level, there is always a spot for you to sit, they are adding more hatched umbrellas at each level. The fridges are stocked with beer, pop and water on a daily basis, clean towel and sheets on a daily basis...you dont get that in a hotel at home. The liquor dispensers are restocked, let them know they are empty and they will right there. It is Cuba, you know where you are going so do some research before you book so you wont be disatisfied. If you want Eggs Benedict and aspargus for breakfast every morning and sirloin steak for dinner .... stay home and miss out on the beautiful beaches, the wonderful hospitality and the relaxation. and in addition, they love seeing you back again and give you a very nice thankyou for returning dinner and you dont have to check out early. HOLA !!!!!!!

Average Resort

This was my 2nd visit to Memories Azul (I was there in 2014) and came back to this resort this year as my group of travellers liked the Diamond Club Service. The Diamond Club Service this year was inadequate and I would not go back to this resort again. Initially, my roommate and I were put in a building far from my other travellers. We were moved and it took 5 days to get our complimentary shampoos, etc. and got our complimentary bottle of rum late the night before we left for home, despite goi [... read more]ng to the Diamond Club room on 5 separate occasions to complain. The premium liquor that was included last year with Diamond Club was only available this year if you wanted to pay for it. Very dissappointing. We had the worst maid service I have ever had at a resort and I have been travelling every spring since 2005. We were 2 days with cold water and just a trickle to shower in. We had to lift the top off the toilet seat in order to flush it properly. The worst part of the trip were the hundreds and hundreds of flies in the dining room, on the windows and on the chairs.

Awesome Family Vacation

My five children and I recently traveled from Halifax to Cayo Santa Maria Cuba for a one week stay at Memories Paraiso Azul Beach Resort. Our stay was fantastic! The people that work there are so friendly especially our forever friend Roulin whom my kids grew to love! There was always something to do for everyone including dance lessons, volleyball in the pool and on the beach and many competitions. The beach was AMAZING crystal clear water and white powdery sand, there was workers on the beach  [... read more]that would get a chair for you and clean the sand off which was a great plus. The food was ok, we never went hungry. There was a seafood buffet one night which was great for anyone who likes lobster. We absolutely loved this resort and can't wait to return! I would also like to say thank you to our wonderful travel agent Tanya Smith from Trip Central in Bedford N.S who worked day and night trying to find the perfect vacation for me and my family. Tara

Great time at Memorie

Grounds clean , resort is huge with three beautiful pools. Lots of great entertainment. My only complaint is that the oversized golf carts they drive around the resort do not have their own driving path so you are constantly jumping out of the way.

The great the bad and the ugly...mostly great.

This resort has the potential to be great but falls short because of the disrepair of the rooms and as a result is difficult to properly rate. It is definitely not a 41/2* as rated by Sunwing. Be prepared for the long bus ride from the airport. Tour guides shorten the journey and provide a lot of history . We stayed on the Azul side in building 56 and it is the largest resort we have ever stayed at. My husband and myself are both walkers and we had no issues with long walks to the buffets and re [... read more]staurants. Wonderful to have the beach vendors all located in the little village instead of pestering everyone on the beach. I highly recommend getting the Diamond Club if booking here. Much better service and not the long waits. I'd buy Diamond Club for the speedy check in and private beach section with wait staff alone. We travelled Jan 29th to Feb 5th. Firstly, the beach is the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Miles of white sand and turquoise waters teeming with small silver fish, tilapia and we even saw a couple of small barracuda. Clearest water I've ever seen. Even chest deep you could see your feet perfectly. While we were there lots of jelly fish in the mornings but they seemed to disappear by afternoon and we didn't hear of a single person getting stung. The grounds are gorgeous and extremely well maintained with beautiful gardens and pathways lined with all manner of flowering shrubs. The quality of the shows is above average and the Michael Jackson show the most professional I've seen and not to be missed. The food was good, the serving staff and bar staff simply amazing. Always cheerful smiling and friendly. I especially would like to give huge praise to Maria in the Italian restaurant and also say goodbye to her as I was unable to before leaving. Bye Maria! Beach grills have amazing ham and cheese melts and wonderful hotdogs and hamburgers and very friendly cooks. Tips are appreciated, but not expected. The maintenance staff however seems non existent. I was extremely happy if not in our room. Thus the difficulty in rating the service. We booked a Jr. suite with balcony and this being my 5th trip to Cuba we had much higher expectations of our room. Our first two days here we had no water. Hot or cold. We arrived on Thursday and I couldn't shower until Saturday night. I was in tears and wanted to come home. It happened to be cold until Sunday (not the resort's fault) and we couldn't even swim. We did finally have a chilly dip in one of the beautiful pools. We were told that the water was shut off to the entire island which we later found to be totally untrue. Other resorts did not lose their water at any time and we soon found out that only part of ours did. We complained and were told that we could change rooms but they could not guarantee any improvement. I stepped out onto our balcony to view rebar poking out of the ground and got locked out. The screen door jammed so badly my husband had to remove it. I am bruised from springs poking through the mattress. Towels are very tired and grey and hard to come by. One of our cupboard doors was missing, our toilet seat broken and cracked. We asked to have it replaced and it never did materialize. Not surprising as the majority of public washrooms were missing seats entirely. I wouldn't even mention these issues if I was at a 3* just not what we expected for a 41/2* resort. The plumbing pulled out of the wall when removing the shower head. When the water returned there was a lot of pressure and we never ran out of hot water though. The safe worked, the air conditioning very cold and the fridge was very cold and re-stocked every day. The cleaning staff did a great job with what they had to work with. We heard that many rooms have been upgraded so just the luck of the draw I guess. As we also heard that many rooms had similar issues to ours. As this was the only downside we did not let it ruin our vacation Our friends joined us mid week and flying out of Toronto were able to book a ground floor suite and it was lovely. They upgraded to Diamond club upon arrival. We enjoyed the convenience of flying out of London, a smaller airport with much more convenient flight times but that category of room was no longer available when we booked. All in all, after the water issue was resolved, we had a wonderful time and I cannot say enough good about the staff. The bulk of the time was spent outside of the room so I was able to get over the ugly. :)) I would return but only to a suite. Then the 41/2* rating is totally accurate.

Terrible buffet

poorly managed, supplied and maintained, SunWing should be ashamed. Certainly not a 4 1/2 star. food was very limited and resort allows guests to feed entire table while others wait for one person-one serving

Decent

Nice place , bit to busy , good food,but don't expect to find chicket at the grill,only beef and catfish ,not good quality grill food , alacart is good not only 2 a week , a lot of French people go to this resort , great if you french , but they seem a bit rude if your not french , to far from airport , crazy departure times , leaving hotel at 4 am,overall a good resort , I would rate it at 3.5 star

Very hospitable

Food was great as were the staff. We felt welcomed and valued. The beach was amazing and we were very happy with the day trips. Sometimes the wait at the bar for drinks was a little long, however the staff seemed to be doing their best to accommodate

Amazing Resort

Our Second year in a row to this Resort and can't wait to go back again. We go for two weeks every year. The Resort is very clean and the food and drinks were awesome!!! The staff are amazing, very accomadating and friendly!! This was our twelth trip to Cuba..We truly love this Resort, our favorite by far!! The Resort is the biggest we have ever stayed at but, still our fav..Alot of walking but, if you don't like to walk they are always driving around with golf carts and more then willing to tak [... read more]e you to your destination.. there is a huge market and a few resturants right beside the resort, in walking distance..the pools and beach are also amazing!! The resort is a little over an hour from the resort, so buy some beer at the Airport and enjoy the scenery!!

Amazing resort

over all the best beach and rooms were nice as for foor in the morning buffett lines hit or miss alot of misses for us no bacon for five days and alot of empty trays alcarts were great and the drinks were good but the staff needs to be up dated on some drinks

Staff Great, Beach Great, Food Great!

Everything at this resort is great! Beautiful grounds and beach! It is very large so bring your walking shoes. We had to call for a golf cart to pick us up a few times. Staff were very friendly, food was good for Cuba. Value was terrific.