TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I loved this resort, the attention from the management and the magnificent workers.Love the Canadian day, kisses for Naomi, Hansel and Daniel who with their fun activities made our stay more enjoyable. We hope to return soon, we are going to miss you all

Delighted to visit this hotel, spend a wonderful week, spectacular the attention by everyone, especially our waitress Yeidilen (The Chicken) always attentive to our needs .The fabulous animation, with its so many diverse activities, love the stretching in the morning and the exercises in the water.Kisses for Naomi, Hansel and Daniel

we have been home for a week now and I thought I would give my opinion on this resort. One thing I would say is that when you arrive at the santuary they should at least tell you about the area or take you around they just slaped a bracelet on and sent us on our way... we did not get any info or even a wifi code?? Not sure if they were just busy or what but it was a strange way to start our vaction, they bell boy ( man ) was super nice and funny though. We traveled with 2 other friends we were in building 35 room 303 it is great location but the room itself is in dire need of fixing, not just out dated but falling apart. I wont go into all the detail but the few things that did eventually fall off the walls did get fixed right away, we did end up staying in the room as I realy loved the location and I could live with the issues. I have to remember that these hotels have been trough huricanes and other natural issues that cause the general unkept look. Having said that the butler we had for most of our trit Rainier was great he was there every day asking if he could do anything for us, I really appriciated that. We liked the dinner at the santuary resturant as most of the other resturant were not that great, this is not my first time in Cuba so I do know that you dont go for the food but the Asian resturant is one I would stay away from. The service in all the resturants was hit or miss some days it ws fast others it was slow but we had nowhere to go so it was not that big of a feal most days. there were two server that were good at the sanctuary resturant Matilda and Alenis s ususal the people who work there made our trip a good one from the entertainment staff at the pool ( i only remember golden teeth but he was with another guy who was also very great), we went to the buffet for lunch most days and there were two girls who wer super nice, Yanny and suzette ( suzy), the bartenders at the sanctuary bar were all great ( most of them were women ) and then there is Victor, when were at the beach they was Yeon ( i hope that is right) who was always in a great mood. Unfortunatly we never did get the names of the two grounds keeper who we saw daily but they worked very hard and got us coconuts most days. What I would say is that the beach is lovely, the beds are confy and the people are fantastic. We dont tend to go back to the same place twice as there are so many choices and I would say the same for this one I will go back to varaderos but not this resort. we enjoyed ourselves even with the few problems we had, i just dont let little things get me down when on vacation.

We were at the Sanctuary at Grand Memories from Nov 11-18 and had a fantastic time! I read a lot of reviews and I was a bit worried about the food situation but I was very impressed with how good the food was! There was always a few protein options and the plating was quite nice, especially considering the shortages they face. I ate salmon everyday (my choice, as there was always beef and pork too). The one thing we didn’t see all week, until the last day, was chicken (maybe the next week had chicken everyday…who knows!) We had eggs every morning, and there was always lots of salads, bread, cheese, etc to choose. We never went hungry and loved the Sanctuary restaurant. We also ate at the Italian restaurant one night and it was good. We only ate at the buffet on the Grand Memories side once, the night we arrived. They would run out of one mix, but then I would just switch to another mix (lemonade, pineapple juice, orange juice, sprite) so there was always something to drink! We were in Building 35. Yes, the rooms are very dated. But they were cleaned everyday. There was always hot water and good water pressure in the shower. I didn’t see any bugs in the room at all. Our balcony door wouldn’t lock after the first time, but we didn’t really care because we were on the 3rd floor. We didn’t get our beach towel changed the whole week, but we didn’t actually ask for it either, so maybe we could have. So, was it perfect? No. But I don’t go to Cuba for a modern hotel experience. We don’t spend time in the room, except to sleep so as long as it is clean, I’m good! We enjoyed the almost nightly entertainment in the 24/7 bar. The beach is amazing and you can walk forever on it. One thing that stuck out to us was how uninviting the Sanctuary reception area is. The reception staff was not friendly and welcoming, and the design of the space is not inviting to engage with staff. We took the Hop on Hop Off bus into Varadero one day and had fun just walking around. We had a delicious lobster lunch at El Aljibe on the Main Street. With 2 pina coladas, it cost only $10USD each. There was also really good, but small, pina coladas near the Varadero sign in town, and they cost less than $1USD each. A few shoutouts for staff who we thoroughly enjoyed interacting with and made our week even more memorable: 1. Victor in the 24/7 bar was fantastic and he knew exactly what we wanted to drink every night, and kept us hydrated! The bartenders worked hard and always had a smile for us. 2. Marle, Roxane and Ailed in the snack bar greeted us in the morning for our breakfast outside by the pool and always had a smile. 3. Mileydi in the Sanctuary restaurant and the 24/7 bar was always friendly. 4. Yoan at the beach bar made yummy drinks and always did it with a smile! 5. Marisel was super sweet and always made sure the bathrooms were kept tidy, both near the restaurant and the washroom heading to the beach. 6. Rosanna, our butler, was very attentive and always answered us quickly when we had a question via WhatsApp. She booked all our dinner reservations for us on the second day we were there. 7. Emilio made us laugh everyday and would find us at the beach to get us to play the games….even when we tried to get out of it….the motorcycle ride was just the beginning…..lol 8. Carlos on the beach is amazing. I have the utmost respect for him as he works very hard and seems like a genuinely great guy who loves his job! How does he remember all the drinks people wanted and deliver them so quickly!? Thank you for a great week! I would recommend the Sanctuary and am already dreaming of going again!

We chose Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero for our first visit to Cuba and very much enjoyed our stay. I can not say enough about the staff at this resort very friendly, always smiling and always willing to go the extra mile to help with all your needs. I have read alot of negative comments about Cuba but I did not encounter any problems at this resort. Everything worked in our room, there were no mosquitoes, no power outages, and no real shortages except of french fries the resort even had Coke and Pepsi. The only reason I didn't give Sanctuary a 5 star rating was due to the fact that the rooms are really dated. I would like to give a special thanks to our front of house butler "Adriel" our beach butler "Carlos" our maid "Susanna" in Block 31, "Roxy" at the snack bar and Mily at the 24hr bar.