Meliá Varadero

Very good hotel, service and accommodation. Food and service was excellent. My only complaint was the amount of broken beer bottles that I found at the beach during my everyday walks. A lot of broken glass, and an everyday occurrence. There is a mall next door where they serve alcohol and people just walk up to the beach with them. There are no signs that says NO BOTTLES allowed at the beach. I even saw children throwing bottles at each other while playing in the water. And those were not tourists. I wish that there would be a policy put in place to forbid bottles at the beach.

Had a great time for 10 days. Stayed at the Melia Marina Varadero Hotel in Cuba. Great Service, food not so good, fantastic beach. Im so tanned that I look like a Cuban now! Made friends everyday. Special thanks go out to Penelope (bar maid), Michelle (barhop), Edison (barhop), Leonardo (barhop), Rico (driver to-and-from beach). All these people made our vacation memorable. Penelope chased us down the morning we were leaving. She caught us just as we were to getting on our bus. Gave us all hugs and kisses and wished us a safe trip home. Will miss all of them.

I spend 3 night with my girl and all i get was great the food, service, the hotel was very clean and the beach is amazing, i recomended this hotel and my trip to cuba too, im thinking coming back next year

We just got back from a very relaxing vacation where we stayed at the Melia Varadero Level. This was our 3rd time to Cuba, 2nd time to Varadero but our very first time at the Melia. We were very pleased with this resort, the building when you drive up looked impressive. The check-in was good, could have been better though. When we told them we were booked in the Level, we had to wait about 5 minutes for our concierge to come down and show us around, then we went up to the 5th floor to fill out our paperwork. One suggestion would be to let all Level guests fill out the paperwork at the front desk while they wait for the Level concierge to show them around and to their rooms. We arrived at 9:40 PM but by the time we checked it, the Level Lounge food was put away, we were starving but luckily we were able to get a snack at the café. We aren’t huge fans of buffets so we ate all our meals at the Level Lounge for breakfast and at the Tex Mex for lunch. We did stop by a couple of times to have a salad at the buffet but found it too loud but the food and selection was great. The food at the Tex Mex and International was awesome! The service was excellent too. Everyone was soooo nice and helpful and they were always smiling. We always tip after a great experience and they really appreciated it and always gave us amazing service. Our room was very nice and was facing the ocean. Our cleaning lady, Yusleidy was super sweet and always created cool animals with our towels and left us fresh flowers and our fridge was always filled. She also left us notes each day too wishing us a nice day. The resort is very nice, the pictures are pretty accurate except there were no hammocks, the Japanese restaurant was closed which was a big disappointment because we love Japanese food and the gym was in bad shape. We workout 5-6 days a week and only ended up in their gym once because it was filthy. All of their equipment was dirty, there were men working out sweating all over the machines and equipment but there was nothing there for them to clean up. I was totally disgusted because I needed to use the bench and it was covered in sweat from the previous person. There was no one working in the gym so that image isn’t accurate. I strongly suggest they supply small towels, or paper towels and a spray bottle so the people using the equipment can clean up once they are done using the equipment. Also the flooring by the weights is bulging and very dangerous, I tripped on it and could have fallen on the weights and hurt myself, so that needs to be corrected. Also there was a weight that was broken with tape on it, it needs replacing. The beach is beautiful, and the Level area was great because Humberto Reyes, our server, was always there to setup our chairs, lay our towels out and get you a umbrella with shade. He was one of our favourite employees at the resort, he has a kind heart. Each day Humberto would take any food left over by the guests, whistle like a seagull and they would all come flying and wait patiently for him. Then he would feed the birds by throwing the food up in the air. He let kids try it and everyone would take pictures because it was very cool to watch. He was always ready to get us our drinks and fill up our Bubbas. We also really liked Papito for his pina coladas by the pool area. I believe his real name is Jose but not sure. He was super nice and always smiling and made the best blender drinks! The snorkeling was disappointing. We love to snorkel and have snorkeled all over the Caribbean, including Roatan, Belize, Bonaire, Grand Cayman and in Hawaii. We knew Varadero wasn’t known for good snorkeling but when the water activity people offered a 1 hour snorkeling trip for only 20 cuc I had to give it a try. The reef is nice but deep, at least 12 feet deep so the visibility isn’t great but its nice if you have never snorkeled before. The small catamarans take you out about 600 meters across from the resort. The issue for me is that there were about 8 boats all anchored directly above the reef area and their anchors were actually damaging it! Rather than stop the catamaran on the sandy areas and let the people swim to the reef area, they were all over top of it. It was also super dangerous because while swimming I almost got hit by the boats a on few occasions. It was very choppy too. It’s a shame because this is a money maker for them, and if this continues the reef will be beyond repair, and someone is going to get hurt too. I discussed this with our guide and he agreed but says, its hard to control because the catamarans are coming from all of the different resorts nearby, not just the Melia. The other issue I had was that my guide took a beautiful shell and gave it to me. It was alive and I saw him give a large live star fish to another person. I met another man snorkeling the beach collecting large shells, sand dollars and star fish too. These need to stay in the ocean, or there will be nothing left. There should be signs around the beach asking people to not take any shells from the water. I also noticed there were NO crabs on the beach. There was always a breeze when we were there which was so nice, I did not get one mosquito bite! All in all, this was a 5 star experience, the negatives regarding the snorkeling has nothing to do with the resort itself. We really enjoyed our vacation and would definitely go back! Thanks Melia Varadero

Stay started off well by being greeted upon entry and brought to the Level area for quick check in. To note, even those who didn't upgrade appeared to be checked in quickly. Rooms were ready, even with an early arrival and were very clean and well kept. We ate almost everywhere on the property and the quality and selection did not disapoint anywhere we went. Staff were very friendly and helpful, especially those at the Level bar and beach (Humberto, aka, the seagull whisperer!). The pool was well kept and had no issues getting chairs in either place at any time of day. Hotel is in walking distance of plaza with bank machine, double decker bus and golf. Excellent time, would highly recommend the Level upgrade!