Sanctuary Family Resort in Varadero didn't disappoint us. Newer Hotel, clean and well maintained. Food 5 out of 5 Pools 5 out of 5 Beach 4 out of 5 Overall great vacation Will definitely go back

Sanctuary Family Resort in Varadero didn't disappoint us. Newer Hotel, clean and well maintained. Food 5 out of 5 Pools 5 out of 5 Beach 4 out of 5 Overall great vacation Will definitely go back

This was the second time we were at this resort and were a little worried it wouldn’t be as good as we remembered as our last trip the hotel was brand new…it didn’t disappoint…rooms very clean …staff amazing ..pools very clean and well maintained …

My husband and I and my two little boys stayed here for a week, April 25 to May 2. We had a blast, all the staff for excellent, very friendly and were at your service for whatever you needed. Food and drinks were great. We have zero complaints as we love Cuba and feel it is the safest place to travel.I totally recommend.

All the areas of the hotel very nice. Good entertainment for all ages. The food was good. You have the choice of what you wanted to eat. Everywhere at the hotel very friendly staff. The beach not the best compare to others resorts in Varadero but ok to me.

very good food except meat. we guess that it is due to embargo. so no complain. dining service is slow in rush hours. Phone service is not working. We requested few missing towels but no response. Service to rooms is non existing.

Have a few things that could be improved at the resort. Food was very good but lacked service in buffets girls standing around while plates need to be removed from tables. The elevators inside need cleaning badly mirrors dirty and stainless panels dirty. The beach has lots rocks so don’t go there for the beach.Mainbar is good great service.Pool was clean and pool bar good service.Overall nice resort just needs some tighter management of service in buffet.Grounds are well kept.

Grounds very good , public area good.beach rocky noy good . Hotel itself is new but it needs upkeep if not it will get very rundown. Elevators and doors public bathroom need cleaning . It is getting very run down. Servers i the buffet are either on their phone or just stand talking to each other. They never ask if u need anything. Service is very bad in the buffet. Not sure if I can recommend to anyone.

This is my 4th visit to Varadero (March 28-April 4) and I thought I would try this new resort. I loved my ocean view (Room 1432), the newness and the layout of it, as it overlooked the pools/entertainment area. I could sit and enjoy the shows from the comfort of my balcony. The entertainment staff are exceptional. Poolside, evening shows or lobby bar. I enjoyed the musicians at the lobby bar several evenings and those drinks - YUM! As a non smoker, I appreciated the designated smoking areas. As for the food, every day there were several types of yogurt, breads, pastries, milk for cereal and a variety of fruits and fruit juices. I don't eat eggs, but I did see several egg options. Lunch offered salads, cheeses, deli meats, fish, chicken, beef. Not as much pork as other resorts, lots of cabbage and pumpkin. The buffet is unorganized and under staffed with no visible Manager. Those workers couldn't keep up with the demand of clearing and cleaning tables, resetting and providing coffee/hot water/libations. From travelling to resorts over the past 30 years, this is the worst buffet layout and food I have experienced. That's not to negate the workers - it's a comment to management. I expected more. The workers that clean the rooms is hit and miss. My worker was friendly but towels weren't changed out, I made the bed more than the worker, floors rarely cleaned and bathroom / shower not touched. There are USB plugs on each side of the bed (I had king size), working safe, and plenty of hangers. I read many comments on the beach and all is true. The area near the pier has no rocks upon entry; otherwise, it's not a smooth entry as there are rocks. It's a bit of maneuvering, and sometimes comical, to get past the rocky entrance and then it's wonderful. It's not coral. I didn't wear shoes and not cuts to my feet, but I did see others wear them. Whatever is your comfort level. As a Sunwing patron, I took advantage of the one free dinner at the VIP restaurant. The 7th floor location offered lovely ocean/canal views, beautiful setup and good service. The Sunwing menu is preset vs the menu given to paying visitors. My meal left much to be desired. The beer was cold and the champagne was delicious! Overall, for me, I found this resort lacked personality. In speaking with repeat visitors, it has decreased in services in less than a year, which I can see from lack of upkeep in elevators, main floors - but the lobby is kepy clean! As a PSA, be mindful if you keep your suitcases locked in the complimentary storage room. I discovered items stolen from my carry on bag once I reached the airport. The only time my carry on was out of my sight was when in storage. I took advantage of this service due to the several hours lag time before the airport transfer. I was sad from this as in all of my Cuban visits, I have never had this happen. For the reasons above, I would not return to to this resort.

Hotel was nice very clean.cleaning staff and staff very friendly Alex and Maria from the pool area bar where the best looking after all are needs they are the best . Food could have been a little more thought put onto it. All in not a bad hotel

The resort was very nice, still new. The service was great, very friendly staff the only problem was some of the waiters did not speak English. The food was the same every day but you could never go hungry. You could always find something to eat. We had fresh eggs for breakfast every day and grilled meat for dinner ( chicken, beef and pork). I was only shocked that there was no fish at all for the whole week I stayed there, only mussels, octopus and calamari. The beach was Ok, there are stones when you go in but I always went to swim by the pier where is no stones. The coffee was amazing and at the bars you could always find something you like. The staff were always very helpful and friendly. I had an amazing week!

This hotel was real great . We enjoyed the dinning ,the staff is amazing.we got served with a smile . Special thanks to our maid she was fantastic. The pool and the grounds are clean they take pride of what they do here. We went to a la Carte because we loved it so much . Over all a great vacation and we will definitely come back soon.

Hotel is fairly new so amenities are nice. Food was ample. Beach/pool loungers were always available. There was only 1 day where they couldn’t change our beach towels, but otherwise, always available. Staff were nice. Only bath towels in rooms.

Just returned from this resort - March 11-18, 2024. Overall this was a nice resort. It is newer so buildings and grounds are in good repair. Pools were nice, pool bar was good. Some shortages, which seems standard in Cuba the past couple years. Bars and public areas were good. Service was good. Entertainment was ok - nothing stellar Service was good. Rooms cleaned daily, maid was very pleasant. My biggest complaint was food. Pork, chicken, seafood grilled daily lunch and dinner, however side dishes were not plentiful and very repetitive. Basically lunch and dinner in buffet was always the same. We never saw bacon or "sausage" for breakfast. Sometimes cut up hamburgers or hot dogs - not really a preference for breakfast. There was always food available - just quite repetitive.

Here’s an honest review from March 15th at Selectum Family Resort Varadero. I’ve been to Varadero over 4 times and this has been by far the worst experience. Here we go: Thefts: several guests experienced a theft in their room (we heard them complaining at guest services). Safes don’t work. So lock up items in your baggage. The staff will steal anything (I mean it…anything). Buffet: for breakfast (730am-10am) there are 2 omelet making stations with real eggs with long lineups. A panini press, but act fast because the toast bread is gone fast and not replenished. There’s donuts but you barely see them after 9am-they also don’t taste like much. Also, the staff are more focused on cleaning up fast so they don’t have to do it later rather than getting you water/drinks. For lunch (1pm-3pm) and dinner (630pm-10pm) it’s the same selection. They make 5 pizzas for lunch (another 5 for dinner), but that’s it-so it goes fast (under 30’). Meat selection is pork, chicken, beef and lineups are about 30’ unless you go towards the end and get the leftovers which are raw (not edible). Muscles are non existent (one day they had them and ran out in 30’). Some clams, one time we got squid. There was a soft white fish that was good. There are no potatoes (no chips, no fries). The pasta making section is better than the old ready pasta they have on the side. Ice cream section is good for dessert, the other desserts don’t taste like anything. No pepper. They offer you salt that comes on a plate and has finger marks because they pass it around guests that put their fingers in the salt-no one cares. There’s no syrup/honey/jam like other resorts. 24-hour Snack Bar: not a 24-hour snack bar (only open when buffet is closed or whenever they feel like it because even when the buffet is closed they refuse to take your order sometimes saying “the buffet opens soon”). Only has tuna sandwiches, hot dogs, and burgers. There’s watered down mustard and ketchup (can’t even taste it). No fries. No drinks. Nothing else. You must sit down first and wait for the waiter to get your order-don’t go up to the counter as they won’t serve you, but they’ll serve the resort staff immediately. Beach bar: works from 11am-6pm and it only serves drinks. Don’t expect food. Overall Staff: not good or bad-just completely uninterested with no customer service skills. Buffet staff: where do I start…As mentioned they only make 5 pizzas per lunch/dinner. However, they steal slices for themselves, bake 2-3 pizzas (cheese and pepperoni) for the staff in the back and when a guest asks about those they say “sorry not for you.” I don’t understand how this is acceptable. It was a daily occurrence btw (every day for 7 days this took place). The waitresses didn’t care about you or your drink, they cared about cleaning the place up as fast as possible so they could leave. Snack bar staff: clueless, lazy, more concerned around gossiping between in each other. Bellboy/service staff horrible customer service and no manners. Room cleaners/water service: if you don’t leave a tip for one day, that’s it-nothing is getting done (no towels, no water, no organization, no garbage disposal, not even the cover of the bed on the bed as it was folded on the chair). Water boy is rude and indifferent. You ask him for water and he looks at you and says “5 minutes” but never comes. Their managers are entitled men with 0 empathy and desire to help-they’re there just to tell you “I am the boss” and that’s if they decide to come out of their hiding spot in the back offices (as they tell the girls on the phone to pass on a message). Resort guests: the other reviews are accurate. Certain groups of people don’t have manners nor do they know what a line up means. Rude, no pleasantries-seems like everything is a race and you have to rush (makes it more frustrating than an enjoyable vacation). Bar: there is one bar area open till 2am and the lineups get really long. What no one knows is about the jazz bar right beside (open till 10pm) that serves drinks as well. No cola so no Cuba libre. Wi-fi: the positive? It works in the room. However, you have to disconnect and reconnect every time you close your phone as it won’t work. Also any area you change, you have to disconnect and reconnect again as it jumps from router to another router. Very spotty. Very slow. Rooms: I thought since it was a new resort the rooms would be clean and based on some reviews I thought this would be the case-the biggest reason we booked this hotel-It is not. There is a dirty rug in every room-don’t step on it. The toilet seat has stains soaked in. No comforter cover. The sheets and towels do not get changed during your stay. I had to beg the front desk person to give me a towel. One of our rooms didn’t even have towels-only 2 beach towels. Theres no hand towels or smaller towels (in the rooms that they put towels, you get 2 for showering-that’s it). Rooms smell moldy. The pillows smell like BO. There’s hair, old blood, and debri on the bedsheets as well. Bring shampoo/conditioner/body soap as it’s scarce and they don’t offer conditioner. Suggestion: bring your own pillow cases, hand towels, towels, comforter cover. Water: they don’t bring water to your room. For 2 days, I got 0 water in one of the rooms. Nothing. Had to beg front desk again, for water this time where she turned to me and said “we only give water when you arrive to the resort but here you go.” 1. I never received water when I arrived and 2. Don’t act like you’re doing me any favours since you’ve neglected a basic life necessity-the audacity of the staff baffles me. Buffet and restaurants give you filtered water-not from a bottle. Phones in rooms: don’t even bother. No one answers from the front desk of guest services. Especially if you need water after 2 days of no water. Beach: the reviews about the rocks in the water are right hence why they don’t present any beach/water pics. It’s impossible to get in without special shoes. Super dangerous for children. Bring peroxide as getting cut is almost unavoidable. If you walk in front of the other resort (about 15’ walk), you’ll find a clear patch. This was a relief, however many people go into that small little patch. Pool Cabanas/huts: good luck getting one. They are taken with towels on them since 6am. It’s impossible to get any as there are no rules as to how long someone can reserve them for. Families take over 2 cabanas and 2 huts for the whole day by putting their towels there at 6am and then go back to bed until they wake up/want to use them. The pool boys attest to this and the guest services staff are aware as well, but no one does anything. No one cares. (And no they were not VIP guests-green bracelet) Pools: they don’t clean them (for our entire stay they never cleaned them). There is so much sand at the bottom of the pools. There was a mother encouraging (making sounds) to her child to urinate at the pool. There is garbage everywhere. It was a disaster. I hope you decide to spend your well-earned money somewhere else. I’ve been to other resorts that are so much better and in the same price range. Good luck!

Very clean and good staffs overall. Friendly warm welcoming environment. They can improve the food. Staffs are very nice and hard working with good attitude. Room service staffs are very good. Dining area staffs ate very nice and efficient. Management can improve the food section by keeping more varieties of food instead of same items in every meals specially the main courses. Meat and eggs line are sometime too long to wait. Overall the qualities of food and cooking was ok. There is no laundry facilities yet in this property for guest, it would be great if added. Cleaner of our room was very nice lady.

It is definitely a newer hotel, no kayaks,paddle boats etc yet,becasue there is rocks etc on the beach shores from the reef. However! The food is GOOD! No problem at all! During my stay there WASNT any shortage of condiments, food shortage etc There wasn't a disco. From what I was.told a few months there.was.one,and I personally like to go dancing after the nightly show. After.1am, the hotel lobby bar closes off, but there is the plaza disco which is a 15 sec walk next door and you can also visit the Beatles OR Havana club (boulevard) if.you want nightly parties. We always had towels etc. And the guest services is.always very accommodating, if you request anything. Once again,seriously speaking the food (breakfast,lunch, dinner AND snack bar and the BBQ lunch at 1pm) is good. We.didnt bother with any of the a la cartes becasue the buffet was satisfying for us. As we all know, we go cuba for the beaches and a vacation, don't have super high expectations, and when you arrive you.will see for yourself how accommodating the.locals are. We will be back again, and I feel I will visit selectum again. I only.wish they have.a.disco,so I can enjoy the.late night parties. Good job to all the staff from the.management to the grounds keepers who care for the gardens,to the cleaning staff who try their utmost best Keep up the excellent work!

I had a wonderful time at the Selectum Family Resort. The staff were awesome. Friendly and accommodating. I would definitely recommend this resort. There was plenty of options at the buffet and the rooms were very clean. The one thing that does need improving is the househousekeeping staff seem to show up at the time you are coming back to your room to get ready for dinner. I understand this is probably due to staff shortages and they don't get to the rooms on the higher floors until later in the day. That being said when asked to come back later they willingly accommodated . Can't wait to come back

Extremely clean, grounds well maintained, design of hotel very unique with greenery in a courtyard off the rooms. Buffet food was good however long wait for grilled meat. Staff friendly and great entertainment. Only issue is lacked outside bathroom necessities.

This is the best Cuban all inclusive resort I've experienced thus far. The resort is beautiful and very well maintained, the staff are friendly and extremely attentive and the food is great. A better selection of fresh fruit is my only criticism, but I believe many Cuban resorts are probably dealing with supply issues. We'll definitely be back. Thanks for a terrific vacation.

Selectum resort is clean and most of facilities are new. people working there is kind and friendly. When we have troubles about the door lock, technician came to fix promptly. One thing not satisfied is the fruit from the buffet has only limited options and no apples, orange or bananas etc. I suggest the resort can increase the level of buffet and kids program. Overall it is very value of money for my stays.

This hotel / resort is absolutely beautiful. I just can’t say enough about it. So clean and modern, no shortage of food. The staff is always friendly and willing to help in anyway. The only downside if the beach is very rocky but I heard that they are planning to fix that. We are already planning to return same time next year.

The selectum family resort was great! The staff was wonderful and very welcoming. The food was good and the bartenders were great, the drinks were delicious! The day time entertainment group were absolutely amazing!!! Highly recommend 👌

After searching the web for weeks, we landed on Selectum Varadero. Modern, clean, friendly resort close to the airport. The only downfall was that they have not yet fully prepared their beach so it was a little rocky, nothing a pair of crocs/water shoes couldn’t fix. Highly recommend this resort to anyone looking for a week away in the sun!

This resort was amazing . I have been to Cuba 23 times and this resort was the best. It was spotless in all areas. The food was good. The rooms were big and spotless. Every worker was very polite and helpful in any way you needed them. I will definitely be returning.

The staff were amazing, food was great and not lacking of anything. The rooms were beautiful and cleaned everyday.. The only downfall was the beach, but if you walked a little you can find an area where there are no rocks. I was told that this would be corrected. Also, you can catch the bus for $5 for day use, and go into town to the most amazing beach. Enjoy lunch, as well as check out the markets. We would definitely visit this location again, and have been checking out the prices for later this year.

We vacationed at the Selectum Family Resort from April 13-20th. We had an absolutely wonderful time. The rooms are well equipped, having everything we needed including a nice hair dryer, iron and ironing board. Our housekeeper did a great job cleaning our room, including changing our towels when asked. We booked 4 a la cartes, Italian, Cuban, International and Italian again, all of them served delicious meals, including a birthday cake for dessert. Our server Teresa at the Italian restaurant was an absolute sweetheart. Activities at the pool included bingo and name that tune/movie title. The entertainment team are very active and friendly. A big shoutout to our new buddy Jhoan and his crew. Unfortunately we are big beach people and the beach here didn't live up to our expectations, but this didn't stop us from basking in the sun while listening to the waves.(We knew the beach situation before booking but still gave it a try) You definitely need water shoes to enter the water, as there are alot of large rocks. As others have mentioned there is a clear spot to the left, it's few minute walk, however there are no chairs or palapas there. As for the pool area, it's in direct sunlight so you definitely need a spot with an umbrella or one of the palapas. They are saved quite early in the morning and we only managed to grab one once. They were building more as we were there. Service at all bars was top notch, although slow at times, but we were on vacation, so who cares. The day before we left was very busy, there were alot of locals visiting and having a blast. All in all we had a great time, the only reason we would not return is because of the beach. Oh, one other thing, the Varadero Hop On Hop Off bus changed their pricing, we were told by our Sunwing rep it was $5 CDN or US, well the lady on the bus taking the money said it was $7.50 CDN/$15 for 2 people. I couldn't help but think we were getting ripped off, considering they don't take any change. We went again 5 days later and she was only taking credit cards. Apparently she's lost too much money the last month due to exchange? I think she was trying to cash in on tourists. This had nothing to do with the resort but I wanted others to be aware.

The food was limited but what was offered was really good. The fresh grilled fish at the buffet was a hit with my family. Our room had a hot water issue for the 1st couple days. Being a new resort you have to expect a few issues. With saying that, they were quick to resolve the issue. You will find the staff throughout the resort extremely friendly and willing to help with anything. My one concern was the lack of shade. With only one building currently open, I can’t imagine what it will be like to secure a shaded spot once the resort is at full capability. They would benefit from purchasing a few more umbrella for the pool area. The beach hasn’t been cleared of rocks, my understanding is this should be completed within the next few months. Overall we had a great week and will definitely stay here if and when we return to Cuba.

Beautiful resort except food was not impressive amd the beach was terrible! Nothing but rocks and large hill of sand. Could not even walk on the beach. Very disappointed in that. Service was wonderful.