TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

The sliding door was broken, and the manager on duty the day we were robbed told us that the hotel is not responsible for any items left on the balcony. I paid a lot of money to stay in the ‘Royal’ area, supposedly the most expensive and secure one, and you’re telling me you’re not responsible? Are you serious?”

I stayed at this hotel when it first opened in 2000. It was magnificent in 2000. There was lobster at the buffet. They served glasses of champagne at the beach every morning. My room was perfect. It was truly a 5 star, world class resort in 2000. Fast forward to November 2025. It is necessary to manage and lower your expectations. This is not a 5 star resort. In Mexico, it would be a 3 star. I was fortunate that in my room the shower worked (low pressure, but workable). The air conditioning and the toilet also worked. For many other Canadians staying at the resort, they had issues with showers and/or toilets not working in their rooms. Many people also had issues with their air conditioning not working. To the credit of the resort, most people with these issues were resolved by fixing them in their room or switching to upgraded rooms on the Royal side of the resort. I paid $1,000 Canadian dollars for one week. For what I paid and what I drank it's excellent value. The beach is amazing. The staff are great. The grounds and the facilities are clean. The snack bar is open 24 hours and serves hamburgers, hot dogs, sardine sandwiches and fries in addition to 24 hour alcohol. I only ate at the snack bar and the buffet restaurant. For breakfast at the buffet restaurant, I had a fresh omelet with many different vegetables to choose from to add to my omelet. The buffet had chicken, beef, pork, calamari, rice, squash, watermelon, papaya, etc for lunch. A number of people complained that the resort ran out of wine. It may be worthwhile to pack a bottle of wine or buy a bottle in town if you're a wine drinker. I drank beer, vodka and international gin which were all plentiful and included. The espresso martinis are excellent! The resort was 80% Canadians, 15% Russians & 5% others. During my November visit most of the visitors were retirees (age 60 and over). When I visited in Feb 2025, most of the visitors were younger (40s, 50s). The beach is amazing! There are no vendors trying to sell you anything on the beach. There are no Cubans on the beach. It is tourists only. It is worthwhile to pack some water shoes as there are some broken sea shells for the first 10 meters or so when you enter the water. After that 10 m, it's all soft sand in the water. Pack Bug Spray! If you want to go into downtown Varadero, a taxi costs $20 US dollars each way. I recommend the Beatles Bar where live classic rock music is performed

Still at the hotel and sadly, what I hoped would be a fun getaway, turned out to be quite the opposite( to the point we were going to fly home after 2 days). We spent a significant amount of money for what was supposed to be royal service, but the experience fell short in so many areas. Firstly, the daytime entertainment is virtually non-existent. I’ve been to Cuba before, so I understand that options might be limited, but I expected at least some activities to keep guests engaged. To make matters worse, our fridge has been empty the entire stay—Despite leaving money in there, it never gets stocked but the cash disappears. There is no wine, no cola, champagne, orange juice ( not even the fake kind)and yesterday I asked for vodka for my drink and was told no vodka! Let’s talk about basic amenities. We went days without clean towels we had to share one towel between the two of us in the bathroom, which was really frustrating. (We do have some now) The state of the food was another letdown; I get that Cuban cuisine and availability, we don’t come for the food and can be hit or miss, but this was definitely on the 'miss' side. Overall, I wanted to love this trip, but it just didn’t live up to the high expectations we had based on the price. If you’re considering this place, I’d recommend thinking twice. It’s not worth the investment if you’re looking for service and amenities that meet the mark

My wife and I just returned from Veradero, Paradisus Princess resort, Nov.24, 2025. Overall it was not what we expected from a 5 star resort. We have had better experiences at 4 star resorts in Cuba. The resort did not live up to what they claim, being all inclusive. more like sparsly inclusive. However, I must point out that we had no issues with our room and were very satisfied compared to other tourist during our week of stay. The only issue was no mini bar (beers in fridge) due to shortage of canned beers. Some of the feedback from ppl we met were: - no clean towels for 3 days - no hot water at times. - door key card not working at odd times --toilet not working properly At a 5 star resort the food was a big disappointment. There were little variation in menu choices. We felt like we were eating the same food for lunch and dinner. Fruits were a very sour fruit (3 trays no one touch) Papaya, one or two trays and lots of tasteless watermelon. Lots of sliced cheese , so happy for that. Lunch was basically grilled chicken breast (not bad) pork and calamari and squid. Does'nt sound bad for the first day or two but after that we got fed up of that. We found that the resort rashioned food, which is understanable, we dont like waste. For example roast meats get put away way before closing time..so if you go at 9PM , you are SOL, and the same roasts showed up for lunch the next day.LOL Red and white wine was sparsely avaialble in all bars, so hit and miss when you get wine with dinner. It was a luxury when you get wine, but lots of beer, and other drinks. We found the mixed drinks very sweet. No cola for the whole week, so no rum and coke as I like to drink that. However, they have wine and cola for sale in the hotel shop at a rip off price but not available in the bars.LOL Bread station had no knife due to being loss as was told. So had to break bread by hand...lol The Spa was a joke. The masseuse could'nt speak a word of english and it was a hassle to get a receipt for insurance, seemed like they were doing that for the first time ( we went 3 times for the receipts) The gardens and hotel grounds are nicely kept kudos to the gardeners who we gave most of the gifts to. They are happy to cut a coconut for you, so take advantage of that. The Rock bar was good. We got banana chips once, then not available. To our surprise they had french fries at times. Thankful for that. the capucinno was good anytime. Washrooms were clean, but some have no handsoap , or paper towel (most times) Water was shut off in the main lobby washroom at times. So, to summarize, if you are expecting a 5 star experience with unlimited red/white wine, 5 star food variety and freshness dont go there, or if you want to buy wine and cola , or just want to sit on the beach and enjoy the sunshine and dont care about anything else..then go for it. The beach is nice, but can get rough depending on weather, not in anyone's control. Crew were cleaning up the weeds at times. Hope this helps anyone wishing to go to Paradisus Princessa. The staff is nice for the most part and they will serve you well. Good Luck!!

During our visit on the second last day of our stay, I was bitten by mosquitoes and addressed my concerns to the manager on-site, and both managers showed a lot of concern and went out of their way to get a bellboy to drive me to the nearby hospital. The next day, when I had to pay a $15 USD fee for an injection containing allergy medication, I was told by management not to worry as they would take care of it on my behalf. Although I did not expect them to cover the cost, they did so anyways, going above and beyond what is expected of them. Also, they had a Canadian special dinner, where management told us to catch the bus between 6:30pm and 7:00pm, which we were in the lobby waiting. Apparently, when we were told we missed the bus, we addressed our concerns with the front desk, and they called the same manager who went out of his way to pick us up from the resort and bring us to the Marina, where the Canadian special dinner was taking place. These were genuine acts of kindness that you do not usually receive anywhere else in resorts or management, and these staff members went above and beyond what I would have expected from a resort stay. I would definitely recommend this resort as one of the best places you could choose to stay on your trip! Thank you, Paradisus Princesa Del Mar Resort & Spa, see you again next year!