TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Just visited in May 2025 and most definitely will not be back to this hotel. It’s too bad since the location and the beach are amazing. I can start writing about all the hotel issues we had as a group but what really was a deciding factor was the staff. Aside from the snack bar workers not one other staff member made us feel welcome not gave it their 100% to make our stay enjoyable. I am beyond surprised that people are leaving good reviews. I’ve been traveling to Cuba for 20+ years and I can’t even count how many resets I visited. I usually don’t leave reviews but this time I had to, I hope the staff realizes that misery does not love company and I wish them all the best I will not recommend this hotel to anyone. If I were you choose a different hotel, plenty to choose from.

Where to begin, I've been to Varadero Cuba for vacation over 20 times, 5 different resorts, and this one was unfortunately the worst one for me personally. Let me start by saying my expectations were not very high, especially because it's not a 5 star resorts. From the check-in to the checkout, the staff was not very friendly or welcoming, especially for myself and the 4 others I was on vacation with for the week. After we finished checking in, I went to the main bar and asked for a few drinks. The bartender came over, and I got the vibe from him like I was bothering him. He served me the drinks, I tipped him 5 dollars, and he couldn't even smile or say thank you. Just took the tip like whatever and walked away. It was not the best first impression at a resort we were at the first time. We proceeded to go to the snack bar where we met Mario. He was absolutely great in every way. Served us food with a smile, great energy, and friendliness. He was absolutely a delight to be around. If the resort was full of workers like Mario, they would have made so much money in tips from us 5, and we would have planned a trip back. Mario gave us hope after the negative interaction with the first bartender, unfortunately Mario turned out to be the exception. The next morning we went to the beach and fell in love with the water and sand. Absolutely breathtaking, best beach ever. Unfortunately for me, by the end of the week, even that didn't help. I just wanted to go home. Story continues, Saturday breakfast, lunch, and dinner at buffet. The food was disappointing, but the service was absolutely nonexistent. We had so many plates at the table piled up neatly, and not one waiter came to pick them up. We're weren't offered much service for drinks, and it took them a long time to even come over even though the restaurant wasn't busy. The next day, on Sunday, we had a wedding outside of the resort and didn't get back to the resort until Sunday night. Once we got back my roommate went to the front desk and asked for a bottle of water and was asked if it was our first night there, when she answered no she was informed that we only get 1 bottle of water for the week which no one informed us on when we arrived and that when we use up the bottle we can refill it at the bar daily as needed with the water jugs letf at the side of the bars. We were all shocked by that. She's also traveled to cuba over 20 times and has not ever been at a resort where you get 1 bottle a week. You get 1 bottle per room, no matter if you have 1 person or 2 per room. It's not even 1 bottle per week if it's 2 guests per room. Absolutely not ok, especially when tourists can get really sick from the water. Also if the tourists drink too much, or have a bad reaction from being in the sun too much, they should always have bottled water available in the room. Water is a basic human need, and we all paid for an all-inclusive resort. Nowhere on the website does it state you get 1 bottle of water per week per room. The hotel resort should be ashamed to treat the guests that way!!!!! We didn't ask or expect a bottle of expensive rum, whiskey, or any other alcohol beverage, not even soft drinks, just a bottle of water per day in our room. 1 per person, not per room. We didn't even have glasses in our room the first 3 days until we asked for some, so we couldn't even pour the 1 bottle we got to share for the week as the hotel provided. That night, after the shock, my roommate went to bed, and I went to the bar with 2 others from our group. I walked over to the front lobby and asked if there was a manager around to speak with, front lady asked why, I informed her that she was already not able to be much help and that it wasn't her business what I wanted to speak to the manager about. She told me I had to wait until the morning. I was able to find a manager named Batista, and he listened and offered to help with the bottle of water issues. The next day was Monday, and we all went to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and unfortunately more of the same unfriendly service at the bars and restaurant. On Monday I had the pleasure of using our toilet and came to find out that the water pressure was so bad in our oceanview room (1234) that you couldn't flush your business away no matter how much you tried. I went to the front desk to report the issue and they were sending a mechanic that never showed up, so I went back after dinner to make another report and it took a bit to even get the front desk girls to pay attention to me and my roommate to ask for someone to come deal with our toilet and shower which was affected by the water pressure as well because they were too busy talking to a guy and being flirtatious and that turned out to be the mechanic. As my roommate was explaining the issue to one of the girls she stopped listening to her and started talking to the mechanic again from what I can imagine was telling him we needed him but she didn't have all the information as she stopped listening to my friend trying to explain all the issues with the bathroom. She was extremely unprofessional, especially for front desk staff, who has a very important job when it comes to guests. She informed us that he had to go get his tools and would come to our room. His tools must have been really far because he never showed up. The next day, on Tuesday, i went to complain again, which was the 3rd time. Finally, the mechanic showed up and couldn't really resolve anything or explain much because he didn't speak much English and we didn't speak Spanish. My understanding was he couldn't change the toilet with a new one, the toilet was old and he said it is what it is basically. Thankfully, we were able to use our friends' bathroom until they finally changed our room by Wednesday. If we didn't have friends here to be able to use their bathroom, we wouldn't have much choice but to keep using ours that wasn't flushing anything away. No toilet paper was thrown in the toilet because from previous trips to Cuba, we both know it's a nono. Once they switched our room, the toilet and shower issue were resolved. Finally, we could shower and go to the bathroom in our own room the way you are supposed to be able to do. The oceanview room as a room was just ok, needs to be updated but wasn't an issue for us.One thing we wished for was more drawers, not enough for 2 people in the room, especially if you are staying more than a week. We found it challenging staying for one. The best part of the room was the absolutely breathtaking view. Best view I've had up to now visiting Cuba. The rest of the week, the beach and weather were absolutely beautiful every day, we started eating at the snack bar for lunch since we discovered the food was much much better especially the pizza and service was better most of the time. The bars at the resort, the only one i can't speak for the service, was the one at the beach. The one next to the snack bar that belongs to the resort i found out you had to pay for drinks from there because as the bartender informed me the drinks he offered weren't free like at the other bars on the resort as he put it. I informed him that the other drinks on the resort weren't free. They were paid for by each guest who paid for the all-inclusive package. Definitely, i didn't see on the website before booking the trip that all the bars are not included. Maybe it was there, and I missed it, but no one else in my group was aware of that either. The bars inside the resort were not stocked well, which for me wasn't an issue since I don't drink. When I went to the bar to get drinks for my friends or for me, i was unfortunately not treated with any respect most of the time, especially when I was just going to get ice and water. Depending on the day, bartender and their mood if they decided to pour the water for me after they put ice in my drink jug or they would give it back to me and tell me i can do it my self on the side with the water pitcher even though they were not busy at all. There were no welcoming smiles, energy, friendliness, or conversation. The only thing I received was really unfriendly negative energy even though i was tipping with Canadian 5 dollar bills, which by Wednesday I had enough of, and I stopped trying to tip my hard earned money. Which, despite what people think doesn't grow on trees in Canada, and some of us have to work hard and save for a long time to be able to go on a vacation and enjoy. I even had a few times I went to the main bar during the early morning and afternoon in the lobby area where there were multiple male bartenders in the back and one female bartender was serving a guest, I came up to the bar and was waiting patiently for one of them to come by and while I waited a few more guests approached the bar on different sides that came after me. A male bartender that served me a few times previously, always unfortunately unapprochable, rude, unprofessional, and not ever welcoming or friendly with a smile, came out from the back and went straight to the other guests that came after me. I still gave him a chance to come by, but when he was done with the one guest, he went to the others while I stood and waited over 10 minutes. I had enough and just left. I understand that life and situation in Cuba is hard, especially for the locals. It's not my fault or any other guests that the situation is hard. No one there knows how hard it is for the guests that choose to go on vacation to their resort and county or how hard they work or how long they save to be able to enjoy a week away from their problems and bs. Everyone has problems. We didn't come to the resort to be treated poorly or disrespected in any way, and we didn't go to the resort to disrespect and treat the staff poorly. As for the maid service we received, it was extremely unprofessional and rude. The only time we saw her was when she had us sign a paper for what we assumed was the beach towels which she was not able to explain well at all, just gave us a pen and the paper and told us to sign. My roommate asked to change the beach towel at one point and was told no, had to argue with her in order to get the towel changed. When I went to change mine, no one could help me. I actually had to go back to Batista, the manager who was new, and he had it changed for me. Our maid didn't really put any extra little effort in being welcoming, friendly, or happy to have us as guests. I had my bath towels half of the week that were left for me looked dirty and unfortunately i didn't have a choice but to use what was left since she wasn't easy to find or ask for stuff from what our experience was already with her. There should also be some kind of small towel or bathmat left on the floor, it's all tiles and when wet it's an accident waiting to happen. I normally tip my maid well, and I didn't leave anything. I don't expect or ask for much, and neither do my friends and family I was there with. We are all very easy going and simple to please. A smile, good morning, afternoon, or evening goes a long way. Unfortunately, most of the staff there don't seem to know or understand that, which cost them tips and losing repeat guests for life. One more thing I forgot to mention at the buffet when waiting for food at the grill for the meat, the man that served me was unprofessional, you could wait and when he was ready to acknowledge you he would. It didn't matter how many people were in front of you. I understand when it's busy and the grill is full of someones order but when it's half full and he's busy chatting away with a Cuban guest for 10 minutes while you wait for him to even ask you what you would like so he can start cooking it was a waste of my vacation time. I shouldn't be and don't expect to be treated any different than any of the other guests regardless where we are visiting from. Unfortunately I have less good things to say about this resort, staff and experience, my experience was really bad that it ruined my vacation halfway through the week. There were a few staff members that were good the day we were leaving, by then we had enough especially me. I couldn't wait to go home and not ever come back to this unfriendly resort. Hotel as a hotel is ok, small and great location if you want to explore the town. Music is loud so if you don't like that and prefer to sleep early definitely not for you. We were ok with dealing with that, even the room situation we could deal with. What i can't and won't deal with is the unwelcome energy, unfriendly staff, disrespect as a human being who didn't do anything wrong and just wanted to enjoy a vacation with family and friends. We paid for our vacation by working hard and saving. It wasn't given to any of us for free. Most of the times I tipped i had a feeling it wasn't appreciated but expected. Not a smile or thank you from all the bartenders i had an interaction with and some staff at buffet in the section i /we sat in. At the end the hotel and staff loose, we will not ever want to go back to this resort after this experience, it's sad because the beach andthe oceanview were absolutely spectacular. A few good staff members unfortunately can't make up for the bad ones, the atmosphere at that hotel was not welcoming or friendly, happy. Most guests looked as unhappy as the bartenders in the lobby. The hotel has so much potential, it's sad that it was sad a bad experience.

I stayed here for a week from May 12-19. There was 11 in our group ranging in age from 18-55. First the good - the rooms were clean and adequate. We don't spend a lot of time in the rooms so we were happy. The beds were comfortable. There was great water pressure to have showers. The beach was stunning. One of the pleasant surprises of our trip. The pool was OK. I didn't spend much time there. The food was good. There wasn't much selection but we all ate. The location of this hotel was very good. The kids enjoyed nights out at the bars etc. Now for the not so good. 10/11 of us said we would never be back. And it was due to one thing - THE SERVICE!! As an avid cuba traveller I have to say I was very disappointed. There was some good points (I emailed ahead for rooms to be close together and that request as fulfilled). The buffet staff were friendly but nothing exceptional stands out. But the bar service was horrible. In the whole week I had one OK mixed drink. But it wasn't just the drinks. The staff never smiled, their attention was on their cell phones rather than with the customer. It didn't matter the time of day, I always felt like I was inconveniencing them. I ended up only drinking water because the drinks were horrible. This was my first trip to Cuba that I don't even have a name to give a shout out. I had zero expectations as far as the food/room etc. But I did for the service and it just wasn't there. I won't be back and I won't be recommending this hotel to anyone.

Second time at this resort. The service at the front reception, the house keeping, and buffet was amazing! I went to get some water at the front 24 hour Bar, the service there was very poor! The manager should check the Bar service often, very rude service! The food was quite good. Overall a great experience, I will be coming back!

I stayed here with my friends for two weeks and I very happy about it! I enjoyed a lot my holiday here and it was our first time in Cuba but for sure we will come back again! The hotel it's situated in a good and strategy position and we didn't need taxi because is in in the middle of everything and the beach it's amazing I was literally speechless when I saw it for mu first time. I want to say thanks to all the staff of cuatro palmas, they work so hard and they're always happy, most of all the animation team it's super nice!