Paradisus Varadero Resort & Spa — Attraction in Cárdenas

Cuba 2023 – Let me begin my review as I have with other reviews for Cuba. Please consider that Cuba is a single mother raising 3 children with no child support, no government support or support of any kind. Recently one of her children has been diagnosed with an ailment that further complicates the situation. She is doing the best she can with what she has with a smile and all the love she can share. This is Cuba in 2022/2023. Their Russian funding dried up in the late 2010s, the on, then off, then on again US embargo impacted them. Covid-19 has hit their dominant economic industry harder than any hurricane, storm or upheaval, and compacting all of this is a global supply chain issue that only serves to exacerbate an already dreadful situation.||||Having said that, this review if for the people considering the resort in general and more specifically “The Royale” or “Reserve” service areas. My wife and I stayed in the “Royale” area for two weeks. The first of two weeks, my daughter, son-in-law, and 8 year grandson stayed in the “Reserve” area. We were there from Dec 16 until Dec 31st. The first week the place seemed empty (and it was), the following week it started to fill up. We learned that many of the rooms and some of the sections were under renovations, we hope that this is true. At best guess the resort was around 40% capacity when we left on Dec 31. The first week it was closer to 20% (if that).||||Simply put, the resort is “NOT AS ADVERTISED”. The Melia website is very appealing. It shows features, events, picturesque offerings of fun and services that do not represent the reality of the resort. This is to say that the cost of our stay in the Royale section was $10,500 CAD (16 days), the family stay in the Reserve was $3700 CAD (8 days). As a trial, we wanted to see if paying an uber-premium rate resulted in an far above average stay (above our other stays at Ensenachos (Cayo Santa Maria), Las Americas (Varadero), Las Antillas, (Varadero) etc..). The circumstances of the past 2 – 3 years has made this a near impossibility. However, it is not reflected in the cost of the stay. ||||The RESERVE – This is an upscale area in the resort that had its own restaurants, pools, services, related to and specific to families.||Buffet (Reserve) – The buffet serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. There is an omelette bar in the morning wherein you can get eggs to order as you desire. In the afternoon and dinner, you can get grilled meats and fish as well. Food is and remains a challenge in Cuba, and at this resort it was no different. Cuba food requires imagination from a North American to truly enjoy. My wife’s dietary needs were met. She doesn’t eat gluten or dairy but found meals of fresh fish, meats, soups, salads / greens, rice, enough that she had no complaints. On this trip there were no dairy alternatives such as soy milk or almond milk. I wouldn’t expect it any time soon. Cuba has not had potatoes in several months (not sure as to why). In this case, the normal staple of French fries as a side was not available. Cheese, another staple of Cuba, was short on some days, and returned a few days later. There was always a fish, a pork, a beef dish with rice and other sides from which to choose. Desserts ranged from ice cream, to donuts, to pastries and flan variations. You may not find what you WANT but you won’t go hungry.||||Reserve Buffet (Service) – In comparison to other resorts (of which there are many as recent as of Dec 2021), the service here was substandard per Cuba. Staff sometimes struggled with the language (English). Other resorts we have been to, the staff spoke exceptional English and very often several other languages such as Italian, French, Russian, German with ease. The staff of this buffet seemed to struggle with English at times depending on the person.||||Snack Bar / Grill (Reserve) – Sandwiches (Chicken, Ham & Cheese, Cheese & Ham, Ham & Ham, Cheese & Cheese 😊), Burgers. Service is friendly and sufficient for a pool side snack if the Reserve Buffet isn’t open. It does close at 6pm but sometimes closes early so plan ahead if this is your pre-flight meal option.||||Reserve Kids Pool – It has water. The pumps that enable the fun times for the children has not been functioning for two (2) years and is not expected to be functioning in the near term (NOT AS ADVERTISED). So not splash pad experience, no sliding down the slide, no playing in the water falls. In essence, a shallow pool.||||Reserve Kids Zone – This is an area that had activities for the children to a certain age. Our 8 year old made extensive use of this area for organized activities like a cooking class, treasure hunt, face painting, Olympic games (at the beach), mini-spa day, likely others too. Maya, the lady who is there most days, should be nominated for sainthood as she dealt with all the children with a smile and vigor that would cause me to drink. This was one of the highlights of the Reserve area for sure.||||Towels – You are issued a ticket for towels, most days we were able to swap them for fresh clean towels but there were a couple of times when that was unavailable. We have found this to be true at other resorts, so not particular to this one. At the end of your stay, you return the towels for a ticket that must be presented at check-out so you are not charged to replace them (Cost unknown as my daughter and her family returned all their towels). ||||Check-out – Check-out time in the Reserve (and Royale) area is 2pm and there is a Courtesy Room if you have a later flight. You must book the Courtesy Room the day of your departure. You should also advise the Reserve staff of your intention to check-out up until 2pm.||||Reserve Restaurants – There are 4 or 5 restaurants in the Reserve, but only 2 were operational at the time of our stay. They switched up the menu depending on the night.||||||The ROYALE Section – This area was described to me by a Melia representative as a “hotel within a hotel” and I will say that this is mostly true. It has its own restaurant that requires a reservation for dinner only. It has a small but efficient buffet for breakfast and lunch along with an ala carte menu from which to choose. After our family returned home, my wife and I exclusively stayed in the Royale section as it was all that we needed for our stay.||||Royale Pool – 10 Plus palapas and ample beach chairs situated around the main pool in the Royale section made for a very pleasant time. It is serviced by a bar tender who was very good about taking orders, delivering drinks, and otherwise servicing the needs of his patrons. There are some activities like aqua fitness, yoga, Spanish lessons, dance lessons, typical to most Cuban resorts. Some guessing games (number of pages in a book, number of stones in a jar), that resulted a massage at the spa. Note: we didn’t partake in any of the spa offerings, as such I cannot comment.||||ROYAL SERVICE LUXURY JUNIOR SUITE – Our room was quite nice. It was furnished with a (real) king sized bed. An LCD TV, mini-fridge, two chairs and a love seat with coffee table. There was a walk-in closet with two sections (his/hers) for clothes to hang or to put in drawers along with a programmable safe. There was an iron with ironing board in the closet. The Melia golf umbrella came in handy on the few occasions when it rained. Air conditioning was programmable, efficient and working in our suite. The bathroom is separate from the bedroom/living room by sliding doors (to keep the afternoon heat out we suspect). The bathroom had a full-size jacuzzi style soaker tub, a room with toilet and bidet. Two separate wash counters, one with a magnifying mirror for makeup or other uses. The shower was in a private outside alcove. It was daunting at first but quite an experience to shower outside. I didn’t regard this as a negative as it kept the suite cool and less humid and when the temp is over 22C the shower is great. Our bed was comfortable, clean, warm under the covers. We did ask for a couple extra pillows to meet our needs and they were supplied promptly. It took a few tries to sort out the stocking of the mini-fridge but eventually they got it right. There is dedicated a Wi-Fi access point in this suite that made internet a reality which was sufficient enough to make VoIP calls, send emails, texts, receive news, etc.. Each guest is given a username and password that is used during their stay (and tied to their passport). Initially you are afforded 10 hours of time and more can be requested if you use it all. ||||ROYALE Butler Service – To me and mine this was not quite what we expected. The name infers butler right inside it, however it should be noted that it is more like “dedicated concierge”. Our dedicated concierges, Javier and Osmany were both delightful. They helped with some issues in the room, getting the fridge items sorted out, and helped with a few issues that our daughter was having in the Reserve section too. They both tried very hard and came through each and every time. They ensured we had restaurant reservations for the 5 of us (for the first week) and for the 2 of us the last week. We did have a few things that required extra attention and each was good about making sure our needs were met.||||ROYALE Restaurant – There are a few themed menu nights. Tuesday is Cuban, another is Mexican, another is Special night (such as Christmas or New Years). The standard evening menu offered fish, pork, lobster, with an appetizer, a starter, a main and a dessert. Be sure to mention any allergies at each meal as sometimes things change due to creativity of the chef and what he/she is working with that day.||||Breakfast was standard. Ala carte yielded a choice sandwich or pancakes/French toast, eggs to order. The small buffet has yogurts, cereals, fruits, garnishes, and breads with a toaster, etc.. ||||Lunch was also standard. A variety of hamburgers. I do recommend the Paradisus Burger (Ham, cheese, egg, burger). There were other sandwiches or soups to choose from along with the buffet items including greens, desserts, dressings (mustard, mayo, ketchup, etc.), breads and more.||||Summary – A decent resort however it is overpriced when compared to the value of a Secrets. For $10,000 (plus airfare) I could have easily stated at a Secrets in Mexico or DR without the shortages, limitations, or other issues. This is not to say the resort is not adequate or undesirable, it is to say that it is overpriced and did not reflect the value of the cost. I am aware that Mexico and the DR is an unfair comparison to Cuba for a host of reasons but the dollars I spent are discerning and justify the statement.||||The Beach - Varadero has some of the best beaches world. However, the beach at this resort is not one of them in our experience. Very rocky, very rough, not nearly as nice as other resorts just down the way. Every person in our group, cut or injured their feet when entering the water. It could have been the storms, it could be ecological but there is a great deal of corral, rocks and sharp things as you enter the water. We have not found that to be true of other areas of Varadero's beaches. Water shoes or sandas are HIGHLY recommended for use at this resort's beach.||||Notes for Melia Paradisus: ||||Mixology – Not everyone wants a “rum and coke” with 8oz of Rum and 2oz of Coke. We get it, you free pour. As non-drinkers, both my wife and I, along with our family ordered some drinks for fun. They were undrinkable not because of the quality of alcohol (tequila, rum, etc.) but because it was almost entirely alcohol, and subsequently went to waste. Any drink for most is 1.5oz of liquor plus the mix. Start there, if the person wants more alcohol, they’ll ask.||||Dress for Dinner – Very disappointed to see that the dinner dress code has been all but abandoned. The requirement to wear pants at dinner (IMDO) should be enforced. I don’t think it is too much to ask for a long pair of pants, a collared (sleeved) shirt and closed toed shoes for dinner. It brings an atmosphere of (some) elegance to the dining experience. It was obvious after our second seating that this “rule” stated on the reservation slip was abandoned. Sometimes the customer isn’t ALWAYS right. If I want to eat dinner with someone in a sports jersey and flip flops, I’ll go to the buffet where I have no expectations of dress or decorum. ||||Traveller’s Insights||||Tipping – Tipping is allowed (and a little expected) when warranted. Tips can come in a variety of forms ranging from dollars, treats, gifts, meds, toothbrushes, toothpastes, etc.. When travelling to Cuba, we go to the Dollar Store to buy many useful items that are seemingly easy for us to buy but near impossible for Cubans too. We take our Cold & Flu meds from last year, bottles of Tylenol, Advil, children’s activities, tooth brushes and tooth pastes, razors, and use these to tip our wait staff and housekeepers.||||Money – Do NOT exchange your money. Things have changed in Cuba. There is no longer a CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso) for tourists. You can spend Canadian / US dollars in the stores, shops, markets without issue. For Canadians, our smallest bill is a $5 bill. Coins are virtually useless to a Cuban as their bank will not accept them for conversion. You can tip your staff less often with a $5 rather than every time with a loonie or a twonie. For those from the UK/Euro, convert your money to US before leaving the UK / Europe it goes further and won’t hit your wallet as hard when tipping.||||Credit Cards – Credit cards are widely accepted in Cuba at stores and shops (most do not take cash anymore). They must be from a Canadian Bank such as TD, RBC, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, PC Bank, Credit Unions, etc. are all fine. Credit Cards issued by US banks or parent institutions, even if you are or they seem to be Canadian are not accepted such as MBNA, American Express, CapitalOne. You would be wise to let your bank know you are travelling to Cuba as you may or may not be able to approve your transaction as a result of not having cell service. I know they say you don’t have to, I’m suggesting you should just to be sure. ||||Happy to address and questions about Reserve, Royale or Cuba...

My family and I were there from April 24-May 1st. We arrived a couple of hours later than expected as the bus we were on ran out of gas and had to wait for another bus to come get us. Check in was smooth. We stayed on the reserve side. ||Room - We stayed on the top floor in building #41. (32,33, and 36). The rooms are absolutely gorgeous! The king size bed was very firm and comfortable enough to sleep on without waking up throughout the night. The safe worked in our rooms. The dressers/walls could use some painting/maintenance. Though there are phones in the room, they did not work. |FYI - We were not aware that the balcony doors locks from the outside. Please be mindful of this in case you’re out there and shut the door in hopes that you don’t let any bugs in! Read story below under “services”.||Plumbing - First day staying there, we had luke warm water, and most days hot water. A couple of times we did occur not having water at all. This lasted a couple of hours at a time. ||Maid - I don’t remember who the maid was, but she had done an excellent job in keeping the room spotless. I had brought extra TP as I wasn’t sure if this resort was experiencing shortages with it, but the maid took them away. There were a couple of times that we had to ask for a roll of TP, a bottle of water and towels as we didn’t have any after the room was cleaned. ||Pools - We practically had the whole reserve pool to ourselves most times. There are pools in front of our buildings as well — though we had not seen anybody use them. The reserve pool was very clean. Most times the bartenders would be serving drinks on the other side of the bar and not in the actual poor bar itself. We did not experience the main pool. The temperature of the pool was a little bit chilly, but easy to get use to.||Beach - Absolutely gorgeous! You may come across some seaweed in certain areas, but the sand is white and soft. The beach water was warmer than the pools were. We found most vacationers would stay at the beach instead of the pools. We came across a few fishies in the ocean, but nothing crazy. ||Chairs - We were always use to waking up early enough to claim a chair whether it be by the pool or beach, but with this resort, we didn’t have to. There were lots available. There were a lot of umbrellas and cabanas free as well. ||Beach/pool towels - Tbh, we were unable to get any towels until day 5 of our trip. Luckily, I brought some in case if we came across any issues getting some. ||Buffets - The reserve side was only available for breakfast and lunch, and we had to use the main buffet for dinner. Though the food was repetitive, there were plenty to choose from. I lived off of the “sausage croquettes” as they were delicious! For breakfast, they had crepes, hashbrowns, omelettes, sausages, smoothies, toast (with condiments such as butter and jam), and cereal. They had other food that you typically wouldn’t eat for breakfast. I was surprised that they didn’t have bacon. Near the end of our trip unfortunately there was a cockroach near the bread station, but wasn’t on the food directly. |For lunch and dinner was basically the same thing - pasta, meats, corn, carrots, sweet potato’s, pumpkin, soup, beans, sliced cheese, etc. Some of the desserts were delicious. ||Snackbar - There are two that we went to, and both didn’t have a variety of food. Most days hotdogs or burgers (though at times no bread to go with them), tuna, sardine or chicken sandwiches. Plantain chips. I was shocked that they had no fries. ||Al la cartes - We went to Oriental, Italian and Japanese. Oriental was okay. The paper spring roll was good. The main chicken dish wasn’t the greatest. Italian was alright. I had an Alfredo-like pasta and it was good. Japanese I found was the best one. The soup and stir fry was delicious. ||Drinks - There wasn’t really much to choose from which we expected, so we drank Rum punch most times, and lime daiquiris. They didn’t have grenadine for Miami vices but instead used a mint syrup, and it was very good! They iced coffees are delicious as well!! ||Entertainment - Surprisingly, we never came across any activities or dancers around the pool. We just noticed something going on at the main on our last day, but maybe because we were on the reserve side there was next to nobody there and was very quiet. We went to a couple of night shows, and both shows were amazing! Be sure not to miss the thriller show or magic! ||Disco - I promised myself to go to at least one of them, but it wasn’t a vibe sadly :( it was just odd because they had the entertainment crew at the disco — and it wasn’t the typical vibe where you had a DJ play songs and people dancing whether they’re dancing alone or with their person/ group. ||Wifi - Was a hit or miss :/ worked most times if late at night or super early in the day. Didn’t seem to work for most of us near the beach, but everywhere else yes. ||Wildlife - We saw a lot of curly tailed lizards, a few TURTLES, a dog, and a cat with a litter of kittens. I brought some food for the cats. There were a couple of cool looking birds, but that was it. ||Bugs - Please bring bug spray as they are BAD at night time! I brought some but despite of that, I was covered in welts and had to take Benadryl and anti-histamines everyday I was there. ||Service - Maid - Did a great job cleaning our rooms. We may have been face to face a couple of times. I hope she appreciated the gifts we left for her service. |Gardeners - There was a guy named London and there’s someone else, but they were absolutely sweet! They like to pick us coconuts, bananas, mangoes and flowers. We made a big bag full of goodies as they deserve something great for their service as well. |Bartenders - Most were nice. Drinks were made perfectly, and some times too strong.. |Waitresses - Most were so so kind! They were providing us top service! We tipped them very well! |**Hotel lobby receptionist - Please be aware of an incident that occurred in our group. The first night we got here, my brother and his friend were out drinking and when they came back to their room, they went out on the balcony and shut the door behind them to not let the bugs in. Little did they (or any one of us) know that the doors lock from the outside. This was at 2am. They called reception and were told that there’s nothing that could be done for them and will need to stay there until someone can let them back in the morning.. which is absolutely terrifying. I’m sure that they must have some sort of night staff that could’ve used a master key to let themselves into any room for instances like this. Especially with the bugs out, if any of them were severely allergic to them like I am and went into an anaphylactic shock..?|My brother’s girlfriend was awake and while speaking to her (as she wasn’t with us), called the place herself and was hung up on after explaining the situation. |My brother then got in contact with the Sunwing rep, and after 2 and a half hours of back and forth as there was not much communication with the rep, they told him the same thing, AND that they were going to “terminate this conversation”. “Please stay safe”. Like WHAT?!?! |The boys haven’t stopped screaming for help. I guess he tried contacting me and my other brother, but the wifi wasn’t working for both of us, and I’m placed on the opposite side of the building and didn’t hear anything. At 5:15am, my older brother did wake up and he was able to get inside of their room and let them back in. They were bitten to pieces by the bugs, and of course were restless. What a crazy experience!|Our last day at the resort, we had a later checkout as that’s part of our upgrade. However, we were unable to keep our rooms as there was no water anymore.. so we were moved to the “royal” side, and moved to this 1 suite for the 6 of us. Unfortunately, it was not cleaned before we got there, as someone’s feces was left in the toilet, a large dead cockroach beside it, and the tub was left filled with water that was used to bathe in. I’m glad they could accommodate us another spot so we didn’t lose our time overall. The royal side was very nice. Very quiet. ||Environment - The resort alone is very huge, but is absolutely breath-taking. We may come back here once the shortages...

My partner and I travelled to Varadero for the first time together in 2019 and stayed at this resort (Melia Paradisus Varadero). We decided to stay at the same resort for a week at the end of September.||||Unfortunately, despite the resort having glowing reviews on Sunwing, Tripadvisor, Google, etc. as well as our own past experiences, it was absolutely NOTHING like our experience at the same resort several years ago. From an incredibly high pest load of mosquitos which the resort seemed to do little to control to food shortages (including a number of restaurants at the resort being shut down due to low season which was NOT advertised), supply shortages (most prominently, toilet paper but on a less critical level, ketchup and select foods), to, most concerning of all, an overall roster of staff at the resort who seemed to care less about our comfort and satisfaction and were truly miserable. This is NOT the experience my partner and I paid a significant amount of money for. ||||To start with, we had to change rooms THREE times when we arrived at the resort. The first reason was because the room we received was not the room we paid for (it had two twin beds instead of a king). We moved from the second room because we were not happy in the Reserve side of the resort. It was quiet - to the point of feeling completely isolated from the remainder of the resort. The second room also had very low water flow in the faucets and shower and was freezing cold - with a thermostat that we could not control - for the one night we spent there. While we looked for peace and relaxation on this vacation, the Reserve section of the resort - which was advertised as being a free upgrade through Sunwing - did not deliver on any or all of the services it promised including a butler, a service we were much looking forward to having. Of particular note, many of the pathways – including the pathway to the bungalows we were assigned to both in the Reserve section and the main resort – were not lit up. Indeed, there were in-ground light posts situated at intervals throughout the resort however they were not turned on. This posed a serious safety issue, particularly for any woman at night, myself and my partner included. This was perhaps the biggest concern that prompted us to ask to be moved to the main resort from the Reserve side, given how isolated the Reserve side was. I have a hard time comprehending why saving money (as I can think of no other reason as to why the lights were deliberately turned off) would take precedence over the safety of guests staying at the resort. Despite our request to be moved to the main area of the resort, the hotel concierge made a note in our file and promised that we would still be able to take advantage of all of the services of the Reserve section. This did not occur (no personalized attention during our stay, no daily minibar restock, no 24-hour room service, no access to the water spa ritual, no bathrobe, slippers, or in-room amenities such as a toothbrush). The resort however kindly made reservations at two of the restaurants but unfortunately made one of the reservations for the same night we were arriving in Varadero, before we even arrived at the resort and then argued with us about it. ||||The rooms and resort as a whole appear to be in serious disrepair and the product of neglect. Tiny ants crawling all over the furniture in the room, mosquito carcasses on the walls of the rooms and common areas from previous customers which were never wiped clean, and challenges throughout our entire stay getting bottled water…all of these things made us feel anything but relaxed. It certainly did not showcase any semblance of pride from the staff who worked there. On one particular morning that we had planned an organized excursion off resort, suddenly and without any apparent reason, the in-room safe stopped working with all of our valuables – including money – inside. As you can imagine, we needed access to the safe for money to take with us for the excursion. After spending over an hour at the front desk and being told repeatedly that there was nothing that they could do until the mechanic arrived at 0930 in the morning (the pickup for our excursion was at 0850!), it took us threatening the hotel with the cost of the excursion we would miss in order to expedite the arrival of the mechanic. (At the end of it all, the mechanic ended up having to remove the safe entirely from the shelf in our room so that he could properly access it and required the use of a hammer and crowbar to do so.||||We looked for and craved a feeling of being pampered and with the vast majority of staff at the resort truly appearing miserable and unwilling to go above and beyond for their guests, this was simply not the case. My partner and I have been planning and looking forward to this getaway for the entire year. As you can well imagine with the circumstances we dealt with while we were away, this was a huge letdown. The resort as a whole did nothing to help us relax and in doing so made our time there, ironically, more stressful. For the first time, we were both looking forward to coming home. We strongly urge you to look into Melia Paradisus Varadero and the many issues that we encountered while we were there to prevent other customers from the sheer disappointment we experienced in staying there. We truly felt scammed.||||To make matters worse, we filed a complaint with Sunwing - expecting to be compensated in some way by the hotel - only to be told that the hotel would NOT be compensating us, truly demonstrating that the hotel gives little care or attention to the customer experience....