Melia Internacional Varadero — Hotel in Cárdenas

This hotel has fallen very far from a five-star resort. I know that in Cuba, things can be less than other countries, but this is the worst experience I've had in Cuba. Last Friday through Sunday, there was an event with lots of young Cubans ( young adults), their behaviour unlike anything I have experienced in Cuba on and off a resort and in other countries with other people. My husband and I are in our 40s, and watching them, they looked like nothing but trouble makers. Others were not impressed. Other than a handful of staff members, the most are miserable. The check-in people had no smiles. They told us that the resort overbooked and that our rooms weren't going to be ready until 4 pm. Now, the normal checking time is 4pm. That said, we came to witness a bit later on that people who had ocean front or level rooms got automatically checked in with minimal wait times. After waiting 1.5 hrs and having spoken up about our frustrations to the miserable check-in woman, suddenly they had a room available for us. This entire time, we had been respectful but then became frustrated with the double standards. Rooms are rough but have a modern look. Lots of wear and tear with blood on sheets and a cigarette burn on the chair. I was shocked to find no mattress and pillow protectors, which is nasty. With a high turnover of people, it's necessary to minimize bedbugs and keep things clean. The common furniture in the lobby and throughout the resort are stained and soiled, or you can see dirt. This is unrelated to the resort, but people... a couple took their kids into the ocean and took their infants shitty diaper off in the water. Eww. And then at the buffet, a person in their late teens, early 20s, picked up what looked like rice pudding, smelling it before thinking whether or not she was going to put it on her plate. 🤢🤮.

Asked twice for milk /leche and azucar (sugar), and after 15mins nothing so we left.

Ac out 24hrs. And ongoing issues for this resort. Tv is intermittent, and we couldn't watch it at night. My husband went to have our room key activated until later today. He was met with absolute ignorance and disrespectful behaviour from the checkout staff and maybe a man who was in management. He waited for 10 minutes at checkin, and no one came. Then he was told to go to the checkout desk. Then he was left waiting again while the three women talked, not even acknowledging him. When he finally said hello. They called him up only to stop as soon as 20+ cubans came in, and the male staff member said they were next because they had priority bc they were there for one day at the level. My husband spoke up, of course, and said, "Wait a minute, I was next." The woman said no, they are. They then proceeded to count bill upon bill of pesos. Hundreds as all of them pulled stacks of pesos out. The male staff member possibly a manager told my husband that if you don't like it, don't come back to the hotel. There was much more. There were other canadians witnessing this and were pissed themselves with what was going down. From all our travels and even living at home, we have never been treated like this.

Also, when you read these reviews, keep in mind that people write reviews for one day visits. And if you look at the names, many are in Spanish. So what you see as a 4.7for this resort is a farce. This is a subpar place. With extremely unprofessional service and management. These people want our money but don't respect us nor treat all clients equally.

Checked out and the same woman who told my husband EARLIER the people who arrived after him standing there and said they were next, lol. Didn't even ask us about our stay at checkout. Another sign of poor service and customer service.

Air transat plane arrived they have received welcome cocktails and music. What did Air Canada people get NOTHING. LOL.

A Canadian got her entire suitcase stolen from her bedroom.Management is an absolute joke and didnt do nothing.

The ONLY goods thing about this resort are the beach, hotel, and the tex mex a la carte. Otherwise, it's...

I have to start by saying that staff have been amazing - very friendly and welcoming, and clearly working hard. Our frustrations come from problems that are clearly due to hotel management, NOT cleaning and service staff. Cleaning staff try their best - Lisbet (room 6048) has been especially amazing, as well as Belkys (room 5104).

The Bad: Our group of 9 has been in 6 rooms over the last 6 days and in our experience, the rooms are run down, water pools around the perimeter of bathtubs, and we had ants on the bedside tables in one room even though I saw cleaning staff doing everything they should be doing. One family in our party had to change rooms three times because of bad odours in the first two rooms that they were presented with - not the fault of cleaning staff! Sheets, towels, and mattresses are stained (in every room our group has been in during this stay, there have not been mattress covers). The fact that sheets and towels are stained is the fault of management for not providing new ones. The bathroom sinks take forever to drain and water pools even as you wash your hands, with a bad odour emanating from the pipes.

We arrived at the hotel at around noon and were told we would have access to all amenities before our rooms were ready - with one caveat: pool/beach towels are only available upon check-in at 4:00pm, so for the first four hours of our stay, we couldn’t actually make use of multiple amenities. Moreover, we’ve been given multiple towels with large tears (see photo).

On day four of our stay, in the middle of the night, a square hatch in our ceiling (connected to the A/C) had popped open and when we awoke in the morning, I nearly broke my nose walking in to the unexpected hazard. I called customer service at 8:00am, I visited the front desk at 8:25, and I called again at 8:40 to have someone come fix it before an important work meeting scheduled for 9:00am. I was on a tight schedule so I don’t blame them for not coming faster but after they eventually came after 9:30 to fix the fallen flap, the room had a horrible smell (somewhere between rotting onions and a dead animal) that did not dissipate. We complained about the smell at 7:00pm when we returned to the room and realized it still smelled disgusting. We were told someone would check on it but it was still there when we returned to our room for the night at 11:00pm, at which point the front desk told us the only solution was to change rooms. Now, at this point, I would have expected them to make an effort to make the experience as smooth as possible for inconvenienced guests but a busload of new guests had arrived and they asked us to wait in line until after they had all checked in (not a short wait, at 11:30pm, with an 8-year-old in tow). The bedsheets in the new room had hair on them so the bellboy kindly asked that they be changed while we gathered our belongings. In fact, 5 out of the 6 rooms we entered had hair on the sheets and while I’m sure they were washed, it is important that staff are trained to ensure no hair sticks to sheets and towels through wash and dry cycles. Cleaning staff fixed issues as soon as they were made aware!

When we spoke to customer service about these issues, they assured us it is not the norm. They were very apologetic and it’s clear they took our frustrations seriously but it’s so important that staff be given the tools they need to provide top-notch service because it is obvious that staff try very hard to do just that - they need mattress pads, and unstained towels and sheets.

The Good: The food in the buffet is good and plentiful. The service at the buffet has generally been great - there is sometimes a wait for drinks but it’s a big space and it’s clear staff are trying. They often come to the table to ask if everything is okay. The Japanese restaurant was great, the staff there were amazing! Coffee is very good at the Blue Bar, as is the service.

The beach is beautiful, the grounds are well kept. But beware that you may encounter issues with odours in some rooms, as well as extensive...

This was our second time at Melia Internacional Varadero (Level Adults Only package), and somehow it was even better than last year. We are a married couple in our 40’s who prefer a quiet, relaxing atmosphere but also want some night club party time, and this resort was perfect. We have been to a few resorts in Varadero, and this one is very much our favorite. The facility itself is very beautiful, modern, and well designed, the staff are all very friendly and exceedingly hard working, and we experienced no shortages to speak of. The food was all absolutely incredible! Yanet (our concierge) and the lobby staff went very much above and beyond to make each day special.

The adults only side of the resort is highly recommended if you can book it, it's a drastic improvement over the family side. The Capri Lounge on the rooftop has the best cocktails we’ve ever had, and the sunset view is absolutely incredible. It's absolutely worth the extra money.

We spent most of our time at the beach, which offers stunning views of the ocean. The beach itself is massive, it’s probably the biggest I’ve seen on the peninsula. It has plenty of loungers, beds, and gazebos so there is no need to go out early to reserve a spot. Level Adults Only guests have access to a private area of the beach that is much less crowded than the family side. The beach staff are amazing! Yuri, Daniel, and the rest of the team are constantly making rounds to bring drinks, little sandwiches, and little fruit cups. It’s a good idea to bring travel mugs, they are happy to refill them with your drink of choice.

Our room had a beautiful and ultra modern design, and everything worked well. It was large and well laid out, the bed was comfortable, the 2 person shower was very horny and the view of the ocean was amazing. The toilet (with a very powerful handheld bidet) is in its own water closet room and the rest of the room is open concept.

The dining was also very good. As adults only guests we had no need to visit the buffet as each meal can be enjoyed at a restaurant. We ate only at Mosaico, Sensum, and the beach grill. The beach grill had some surprisingly delicious meals and were my preferred place for lunch. You could get grilled chicken, pork, or salmon served with seasoned rice and veggies. Each time at Mosaico or Sensum was a 5 star multi course dining experience. The food was delicious and beautifully presented with a good selection. The menu at Mosaico specifically has improved since last year. We experienced no food shortages to speak of (maybe a morning or two without bacon). Each morning we ate by the pool, and had either omelettes, or eggs benedict with bacon and a selection of fruit. We were offered fresh buns with butter for every meal. Stiploin steaks were available at Mosaico for both lunches and dinners cooked to your preferred doneness and they were delicious. The menu calls them “Beef Entrecot.” They also had unique dishes that I have not heard of before, I think my favorite was a grilled garlic shrimp dinner with cuttlefish inked black rice. Pretty cool. We often ordered burgers and fries for a midnight snack and had fries available every time we looked for them, and fries can be a rarity in Cuba. Every meal and service at both Mosaico and Sensum was perfect.

The entire time we were there, the area was experiencing rolling blackouts and yet the hydro didn’t even flicker at the resort. The resorts have generators, and as tourists we won’t even notice the hydro issues. Unfortunately, the workers will often go home to dark houses and try to sleep in the heat. Despite the challenges facing the country, despite all the stress and fatigue, every staff member maintained positivity and optimism, and created a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Support this resort and it's wonderful people, tip as much as you can and bring gifts, they work hard and they truly deserve it. For any of the staff reading this, thank you for all your hospitality and welcoming us to your beautiful country. We wish you all the best and we hope to visit...