TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Let me start by saying that I rarely write reviews, but my stay at the Muthu Playa Varadero Resort was so overwhelmingly disappointing that I feel compelled to warn others. If you're considering this resort, do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. This will be a long rant, but every word is deserved. **First Impressions:** When I arrived at the Muthu Playa, I had high hopes. The lobby, I admit, is quite pretty, and the weather in Varadero is lovely. But that’s where the positives end. The moment I checked into my room, the horror began. **Room and Facilities:** My room was a disaster. The ceiling was leaking water, the toilet was broken, and the phone didn’t work, leaving me stranded without any way to contact the front desk for assistance. The bed sheets and towels weren’t swapped out even once during my entire stay, leaving me to sleep in the same dirty linens for days. Cockroaches infested the room, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the pool—when I dared to go for a swim—was incredibly dirty. To top it all off, there were no beach towels available, and the outside bathrooms were perpetually out of toilet paper. **Dining Disasters:** Dining at this resort is an absolute nightmare. The coffee machine never had any coffee, and there was no coffee at the lobby bar either. Breakfast coffee? Served in a ladle like soup. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. The fridge in my room wasn’t stocked, and when I went to the snack bar, all they had to offer was a pathetic dinner roll with a single slice of ham. The dining hall was no better, with roaches crawling around, no milk for my daughter, and a shocking lack of basic food items like potatoes, bacon, and even cocktails. No mojitos, no piña coladas—nothing but disappointment. Oh, and I found rocks in the rice. Yes, rocks. **Activities and Entertainment:** What activities? Everything was closed. No restaurants, no disco, and certainly no pool bar, despite its physical presence. The shows at night were somewhat okay, but the music was so loud it was hard to enjoy anything. **Service and Atmosphere:** This resort is essentially a Cuban local hangout, not designed for foreign tourists. The staff's attitude towards us was dismissive at best and disrespectful at worst. Locals were always served first at the bar, regardless of how long we had been waiting. It was clear that our presence was not valued. **The Final Straw:** The mosquito situation was unbearable. I left with over a hundred mosquito bites, which was just the cherry on top of this miserable experience. **Positives (if you can call them that):** Yes, the beach is nice, the weather is good, and the water is comfortable. The eggs at breakfast (when available) were decent. The internet was surprisingly free with a decent signal. But these minor positives don’t come close to outweighing the countless negatives. **Conclusion:** In summary, Muthu Playa Varadero Resort is a disgrace. From the unsanitary conditions to the complete lack of basic amenities and the terrible service, this resort fails on every level. This is not a place for foreigners, and I would strongly advise anyone considering this resort to steer clear. My stay here was nothing short of a nightmare, and I would not wish this experience on anyone. Save your money, your sanity, and your vacation—stay somewhere else.

Whatever positive reviews you are reading here ... FORGET THEM. I'll explain why I didn't give 1 star, but take this extremely serious from a person who has been coming to Cuba for 13 years AND who works in tourism, and for the biggest airline in Canada. 1. The food is terrible, there is nothing .. literally. I have a 18 month old with me and I have to ask everytime I take her to the buffet for the chef to find me chicken because the only thing they bring out is pork, and yesterday August 24th for dinner there was beef and the beef had such a strong smell that the whole buffet smelt like old meat, I took some and let me tell you .. it was RAW!!! terrible ! I understand that there is an embargo for Cuba but there is no excuse for it to be this bad, if there is such an embargo then shut down tourism because noone that pays $1000 per person wants to come to a place and have NOTHING to eat and just eat whatever is here ... we come on vacation to enjoy , not to worry. I haven't even been sleeping because of worrying about what is my baby going to eat. The snack bar .... please don't even try, we went to go get sandwiches and they told us the only thing they had was tuna, so we said waohh tuna awesome ... it was the fish left from the dinner buffet with some type of sauce ... it was the worst thing I have ever eaten in my life. I had stomach pains all night, and I have been to the washroom today every hour. I found a fellow Canadian who thankfully had medicine for my stomach. The rice ... it is STONES inside ... which is to say they don't wash the rice ... and my baby eats rice and chicken, rice and beans and chicken , and she started crying so much because something hurt her and she spat it out and it was a stone ... needless to say .. be careful with your little ones. For food I give this hotel a -100 , it is absolutely horrendous. The service and the attentiveness in regards to my babys food I give them a 4 because they literally try to give me something that my baby eats which is chicken for both meals and eggs in the morning. 2. It's full of cuban tourists! I don't care if the tourists are Cuban or Australian but what does bother me is waiting for the food to be cooked (like the pork) on the hot plate for literally 20 minutes and a bunch of cubans come and the chef serves them first ... I have actually gotten into a debate with a cuban here and no staff said anything IN FACT they talked crap in their language to each other about me.. little did they know that I speak FLUENT Spanish, literally like a Cuban. I will be speaking with the Public relations about this. This brings me to say, because of the influx of cubans the pool is super DISGUSTING , it's like you are swimming in URINE , the water is soooooo murky that you can't see the floor of the pool. I spoke to a staff member about this and they told me "you know there are alot of cubans here so if the pool man comes and asks them to get out of the pool for him to clean it , they will say that they will not get out because they paid for this, and so to avoid problems with our own, they just don't clean it in the middle of the day"- so caution because you will he swimming in literal urine fest. Which bring me to ... tatatataaaaaa , NO TOWELS!!! the towels have been dirty now for 6 days, and they don't know when they will have clean towels, so BRING YOUR OWN BEACH/POOL towel. The beach is beautiful, but that's cuba's natural beauty. The coffee bar at the lobby apperantly has the best coffee ... what a shame that it is ALWAYS closed. The front desk says that the lunch will be at the beach buffet... - it's always at the same buffet with no food. The A LA CARTES .. C L O S E D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They advertise all of this and that and it's ALL lies. The drinks (alcohol) are good , but if you want juice.. goodluck, coke ???? GOODLUCK ... it's water that tastes like coke, there is no sparkle. When asked, the staff says "it's cuba" The entertainment... everything in Spanish.. lol other Canadians who are here and found us today said thank goodness ENGLISH! Long story short ... choose a better hotel. I confirm that the elevator does not work still. I have reached out to air canada and reach air canada vacations once I get home. THIS IS NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY RESORT. 5 more days ......

We went to Muthu Aug 2 - Aug 9 2024 and I would like to explain why I gave this place a 5, with all the negative points I saw!!!!! First of all, the context: Cuba is under embargo, and yes, you will feel it. Let's deal ith the negative points so we can talk more about the positive (which triggered the note of 5): - Yes, the food is quite often the same. But it's good! (Pork, chicken and fish everyday) - Yes, the "A la carte" serves the same food you have at the buffet. So unless you want the quiet atmosphere and private show, just do not go! - The elevator does not work: Yes/No .... I think it is to save electricity (Remember, embargo). It works from 3rd to 5th to go up and 5th to 1 to go down... If you are lucky, someone will go down just when you want to go up and voila! Things we heard before leaving but did not experience: - Drink shortage: never (always had beer, wine, rhum etc...) - Same shows everyday: never - Gready staff: never - Dirty pool: never - No beach towels: never - Room no cleaned: never - No water bottle in room: never Ok, now let's talk about the good stuff! Remember: embargo and poor economic situation. So a few $1 here and there when you want a drink, a smile, a few jokes, and you will realize the staff is the best I have seen in a while (All countries). They will remember your taste and even anticipate your requests. I have never seen a place with cleaner mopping from 6am to 11pm!!!!! There's always someone cleaning somewhere! The maid: leave some stuff on the bed for her (Feminin hygiene, candies, toothbrush etc...). The room was perfectly cleaned everyday and new 1.5l bottle of water everyday. Plus a nice hand written note. We left a nice tip on the last day. Shows: very diverse, and super fun. The best being the aquatic show. We really enjoyed it.. By the pool, with a mojito. You realize that there a lot of work into the preparation of it. Beach: Super clean. No annoying vendors (They stay on the shore). Coffee bar: Great coffee with a piece of sugar cane instead of a spoon (Ok sometimes, no milk, but it is imported so...) Activities: tons of them, but if you want to just borrow a chess board or other games, it's free at the shack close to the pool. Long story short, a place with all these problems able to provide such quality deserves a 5 stars. Did I mention the mangoes? My son (13) does not want to eat the mangoes we import in Canada anymore... He wants cuban ones only! He also wants Cuban Sandwiches at 11pm... damn pool bar! Yes there are negative points but overall, are they really that important? We spend awesome vacations, met nice people, had fun...

This was one of the worst resorts I’ve ever visited. The bathroom had leaks, the elevators were non-functional throughout my entire 7-day stay, and the food was the same for lunch and dinner every day. The wait times for food were over an hour each time, and the service was very disorganized and extremely slow. Staff were nice but I noticed that they will allow their own people to bud in lines and give them first dibs for everything. I've never had such an experience before, and I definitely will not be returning.

Having visited Cuba numerous times, I knew what to expect, but... Staff were excellent and very friendly. They are doing their best under very difficult circumstances. The food situation was the worse I have see. No selection, same thing every meal. Local visitors leave a lot to be desired. It was a shame to see how they treat their fellow countrymen and women. Room was comfortable and clean. grounds are well looked after. Property needs lots of loving care.