Melia Trinidad Península — Hotel in Trinidad

MELIA, Peninsula Trinidad||We just got back from a week of vacationing in Cuba. We’ve travelled to Cuba times, but we’ve never travelled to Trinidad. While searching for vacations, I came across this beautiful resort and right away. It caught my eye, not only because of the beauty, but because Cuba holds a special place in my heart as my husband and I got engaged at a MALEAH resort about 20 years ago in Cuba.||Everyone is aware of the struggles that the beautiful Cuban people are facing on a daily basis, but after reading the reviews, it reassured me that it was OK to travel there. From the pictures the resort looks absolutely amazing so we were excited to go and find out for ourselves. ||We are a family of five with three children, so we wanted to make sure that rooms are connected or very close together. We made a quick phone call to the resort and they assured us that once we had booked to call them and let them know and they would do what they can to make sure that they can accommodate with that being said they do not have connecting rooms per se but they do have two sets of rooms that are connected through a corridor. One is a junior swim up suite and the other is a deluxe swim up suite they’re in the corner and there’s a door that closes that keeps the doors private from the other suites.||The first contact we made was with Louisa who works in the guest services. She is sweet and kind and goes out of her way to make sure that each guest is treated well and has the best day at the resort. We also had the pleasure of meeting Won Who is the general manager of this beautiful resort. He had also reached out to ensure us that our state would be amazing.||The trek from the airport( Santa Clara airport) is pretty long. It took us about two hours to get from the airport to the hotel. The positive side is that you get to see the beautiful scenery along your travel, the mountains, the wild horses, the small towns and the beautiful people our Sunwing rep Santiago did a great job, giving us all the important information that we needed along the way.|While we’re here, I’ll take a minute to let you know to make sure you take a little trip down to town of Trinidad. Although it may seem overwhelming when you get out of your taxi, the people are kind and it is very safe. We walked around the market and went to Plaza de Mayor And visited the Bell Tower and the little museum that was attached. I believe there was a 50 Cuban pesos fee for entry but we just kind of gave a dollar American per person and were able to stay there as long as we’d like there was a lot of beautiful photo ops lots of information about when it was built in the history, the fair from the hotel to Trinidad was about $15-$20 American One Way. We decided to just call a cab on our own from the resort and enjoyed a couple of hours in the city, which was a nice getaway I would recommend you to go out and walk on the street and see the town if you’re able to. |Once we arrive to the resort, we were amazed. The hotel is massive. It’s modern and sleek at reception we were greeted by. () she was amazing. We also had the pleasure of meeting Won here in person who also introduced us to Ivan who pretty much planned our entire itinerary for the rest of our trip in regards to booking restaurants and special events.|I’m going to take a moment and tell you about Ivan. Ivan is everywhere at all times. He is so involved in the hotel and where so many shoes and does his job so well I don’t know how he’s able to keep so much information in his head and not fumble. He is fantastic at what he does and he is one of the main reasons that our trip was so amazing. We are forever grateful for all the efforts that you went through for us and the all the accommodations you made for me and my family.||Food restaurants : there are three à la carte restaurants. There’s a Teppanyaki, Alma, which is a fusion and mosaic which is a Mediterranean restaurant. They also have La Rumba, which is the buffet that is open in the mornings for breakfast lunch and for dinner they do have a 24 hour snack bar. The choices at the snack bar are not ample and I know that if they add a few more items to the menu it would be a great hit. They also have room service, but there is a small fee that comes with that the burger that they serve at room service is absolutely amazing. I do have to tell you about one special person in regards to restaurants. His name is Fernando Fernando insured to go above and beyond to make sure that you have the best experience at any of the restaurants that you’re dining in and he is serving in. He is kind and attentive. He is informative any make sure that you are happy with not only the food that you’re eating but also the experience that you’re having at any of the restaurants. We make sure that every restaurant that we booked that we had him as a waiter now that doesn’t take away from any of the other servers or waiters But when you meet someone and you feel a connection, you want to make sure that you continue that connection throughout your stay we had no issues with any of the other waiters. Everyone in all the restaurants were absolutely amazing but we just wanna make sure that Fernando is recognized For his impeccable dedication and attention to the guests. He serves at MALEAH Peninsula.||The beach |The beach is huge. It’s a long stretch of beautiful white sand beach with lots of seashells to pick they have hammocks and these beautiful rotating chairs. They have a deck with a bar where they have cocktail hour and you can watch the beautiful sunset while having delicious cocktails . The beach shore is a little bit rocky so I do recommend bringing water shoes. They have swings in the ocean, so make sure you take pictures there because it is a great photo op. If you were to walk a little bit to the left of where the beach bar is There is more area of Sandy Beach with less rocks. If you walk to the right they do offer lots of free activities like snorkeling, kayaking, and catamaran my family and I really enjoyed all those free activities and I believe they’re open till 4 PM every day.||The pool|There is one huge main pool and then most of the sweets come with a swim up so you’re able to get into Water at pretty much anywhere on the resort. The only issue we had with the pool is that it’s very very cold. It could be the timing that we are there, but we found it pretty cold to swim in initially. Get used to it after while being in the pool they do play music around the pool, but I feel like if there was some entertainment during the day it would drive more people to the pool in the daytime.||The grounds||The overall aesthetics of the entire resort is beautiful. It is well kept and maintained on a daily basis. In the middle of the resort, there are some pond areas which have turtles fish and crabs. The kids really enjoyed watching them on a daily basis.|They also have a table tennis room, which was fun. There was always somebody in there playing so it seems that most people enjoyed being in there. I’d had probably a few chairs so that those who are in the company of those playing have somewhere to sit speaking of seating on the outside where the water areas are that how the turtles and crabs there’s ample seating. It is so serene to sit back relax enjoy a café and read a nice quiet book. ||The bars|There are many bars on the resort. There’s a daiquiri bar, which is a more high-end area to have great drinks and great conversations. There’s the lobby bar where they also serve amazing coffees and lattes along with great cocktails. There is the sky bar which is open till 1 AM and it’s situated in front of the chill out area Where the entertainment takes place on a nightly basis and across from that where the buffet is there is another bar which is open till 11 PM. Again there is ample seating around all these areas.||The rooms|I stated above, we had a junior swimsuit and a deluxe swimsuit. The junior suite was a very good size room with a king size bed as a pullout sofa lots of storage and areas for your clothing. Beautiful rainfall shower and a bathtub and double sink vanity the deluxe room had two double beds. A sofa bed a nice size bathroom with one vanity sink both rooms had a nice sitting area right outside the patio door with two chairs and a table along with lounge chairs and an umbrella to enjoy. The rooms were always kept clean and housekeeping worked there hardest to make sure that the rooms were up kept.||All in all, this is a brand new resort that is only one years old. This resort is a five star, it has the potential to be an even better hotel as time goes on and small improvements are made. The resort was at only 30 to 40% capacity which made it quite easy to get whatever you needed in regards to seating drinks, food, entertainment, tours, and everything else Keep in mind that Cuba overall has its struggles but if you didn’t know that and you went to this resort, the staff did their absolute best to make sure that it does not affect your vacation whatsoever.||Thank you all for such an incredible...

The 2.5 hour bus ride to the hotel was good. The guide was very interactive and informative. Check in at the resort was basic. We were not given a map or general overview of the hotel to advise us of the amenities. We requested a crib and I confirmed during check in that it was in the room already. Room: we had 2 swimout rooms, in building A. The room itself was nice. The rainfall shower head was great, except that the shower itself sits on a platform above the floor, and there is no slant for the water to drain... therefore if you continuously stand under the shower head, water floods the room. Otherwise, always had hot water and strong pressure. I found the beds to be hard. The swimout would have been amazing if we were in ANY other building. In building A, there is no sun. It is shade 100% of the day which made it freezing and unusable. If you get a swimout in building A, request a switch immediately as it's a waste of money otherwise. The hotel knows this, as they came and removed all the sun umbrellas from these rooms during our stay. Food: The a la cartes are basic, Sasa (japanese) was probably the best of all. The a la carts fill up real quick by people in advance of their stay, but you are able to book the week of dinners at once rather than daily. Keep the paper for the bookings, as the lady who books them failed to actually schedule 2 of our dinners but luckily we had the paper to show we booked at the times. They do not fill the a la carts at all... most restaurants appear empty so they really limit seating. I didn't care for the food at Alma or Mosiac restaurants. The buffet is VERY small, and dishes are rarely rotated. They ran out of eggs during our stay, so we had 4 days of no eggs for breakfast. They do have a grilling section and for the first few days, they gave large portions and cooked the meat thoroughly. However, when the resort became busy our last 2 days, we saw this change drastically... meat was only being half cooked, and the cook was using the same Tongs to touch the food and garbage. So that was a real turnoff once we observed that happening. Beach: the sand is real rocky... as is the water. I recommend water shoes if you're going to try to enjoy the water at all. They have 2 swings in the water to take pictures on, which I was excited for... until I saw that they are LAYERED in algae. The hotel should be cleaning them regularly. There is a nicer beach 30 minutes away by walk, near the Memories hotel. Entertainment: probably the worst I have ever experienced. There is no advertisement of what the entertainment will be at night, it rarely starts on time, there is no guest engagement. There is no stage. The hotel sets up small mats for the performers, and it just makes it look very uncomfortable. There are no chairs. Guests were using chairs at the bars or the Bali beds. However, if/when the hotel gets busy, I imagine this to be very uncomfortable. Service: was absolutely TERRIBLE. I ignored other reviews that complained but now I get it. I am still waiting for approximately 6 water, 4 pops, 2 coffee, and sugar to be sent to my tables. If you ask for a drink or something during the meal, the staff acknowledge you but you're lucky if you actually get it. I was baffled by this. Tables at the buffet were not reset once used. If they were, they were not reset completely... often missing glasses or Utensils, Napkins, etc. It is as if the staff is running around not knowing what their job is. There is no clear direction. The crib we requested ended up being a playpen... it's base was broken. The staff tried to layer it with blankets... however i had to complain cause that was just not safe for my infant. Right now, since the hotel has only been open for 1 year, I understand why it's a 5 star. However the furniture is cheap and not maintained. The room furniture is already peeling. In just a matter of time it will be just like any other hotel in cuba. The resort is not set up to manage a lot of people. I think our experience would have been a lot worse if the resort had been full the...

We stayed at this resort for 7 days. It took about 2hrs or so drive from the airport. Upon arrival, the reception seemed to not have been ready to accommodate guests. The staff were confused on what to do, and when we had questions, it's always, "I don't know". We had to wait over an hour to get checked in as the room was not ready, and we arrived past check in time. Upon getting the keys, we had to ask where to go for our room, and where to find our luggage as they took them to the luggage room. When they gave the keys, it was up to us to figure out the next step. Once in the room, we made our quick check. Overall, the room looked nice, no complaints. But then I immediately noticed that the glass door in the washroom was filthy. I had to wipe this down myself as I thought it was just missed by the cleaners. Then noticed the small fridge was also dirty, not cleaned from the previous guests which I found off-putting. We shrugged this off...We had a swim up room, but the water was freezing as it had no sunlight. We asked to switch rooms on our 2nd day to one with sun, but was told No, even though they told us there was an available room, but was saving it for the guests arriving the next day, so we clearly were not priority, even though we were already there first. The resort itself is nice, the cleaning can do a lot better. The "marble" print tables in the buffet restaurant/around the resort are full of streaks from when they wipe them down, which I personally find bothersome. The customer service is not up to par for a 5 star resort. The staff are not properly trained, mostly standing around congregating, talking to each other and on their phones. We had a few instances where we finished eating and no one served us water or coffee. We had to get up and get them ourselves. I even had to get up and grab the water bottle and pour it myself one time. It's almost as if it's an inconvenience to ask. The bartenders are also not ready to make drinks. If you're ordering a mixed drink, be prepared to wait a few minutes to get it, and also know that they are a hit or miss. We asked different drinks that were on the menu, but they did not know how to make them. At one point we ordered an Alexander, and we were told it was extra, even though it was on the regular menu. We still said no problem, we will pay. The waiter never came back with our order and kept passing us, never checked on us again. I wish I was joking as I write this. The only bartender that seemed to know how to mix drinks was Eduardo by the sky bar. The nightly entertainment is also lacking, but we did use the one ping pong table they had in the entire resort at one point. If you are looking for a party vibes resort, this is not it. Food wise, no complaints here. Buffet had a lot of selection, they even had condiments. No shortage at this resort. The hibachi restaurant was good, Alma restaurant was sub par. When we asked the waitress to tell us more about certain dishes we were not familiar with, we got "I don't know" as an answer. At least know the menu. We ordered the red snapper which was salty. The beach is nice, a bit rocky, but with water shoes, it's not a big deal. The natural pool is beautiful, just a few minutes walk to the left of the resort. We heard that there are good corals, so bring a snorkel with you. The sunsets were beautiful. Make sure to bring bug spray if you plan to be in the beach though to watch it. My husband and I got feasted on from sand ticks/fleas. We did an excursion through nexus tours- the catamaran to the iguana island with snorkeling. The weather was a little too windy when we went, so we were unable to do the snorkeling part of the excursion. It was still a good day trip to explore. Also, the dock is broken, so don't think you will get drinks on the dock during sunset.

There are also no water activities on the beach- even if it's on the website. The resort is not ready yet.

Overall, we still made the most of our vacation. We took a risk booking this brand new resort, and I hope this review...