Cayo Santa Maria

We are back from another vacation at this luscious tropical haven on Cayo Ensenachos, Cuba, which is surrounded by white, powdery sandy beaches and crystal blue waters. We arrived on Wednesday evening, April 10, and just so you know, even if you are a guest of the Coral Level you do have to check in at the front lobby desk at the main building. The staff that were on duty Brian and Zulma, gave a warm welcome to all of us as we Checked In. The check in was fast and we were then taken to the Coral level where we were met with refreshing cocktails served by Augustine, my favorite person and bartender, and Alberto, another bartender at the Coral lobby and pool. A light snack was in our Villa, arranged by the Jacobo, who I met in November on our girls trip and is one of the new Spanish management team. His focus is bringing the best that is available at the hotel to the Coral Level. He is an eloquent young man. You will notice there is now premium alcohol available at the Coral level, and we can thank him for these excellent liquors that are now available at the Coral. I think that he is doing a fantastic job with what is available for food and beverages at the resort and keeping the Guest happy. Everything went off beautifully as we immersed ourselves in the beauty and life of laid back vacation mode. Breakfast was great, a few of our usual servers were still there, yay! Livan, and Yasmany, who are wonderful servers and their were also some new faces. Everything was available on the breakfast menu with the exception of salmon but there were many other choices. Fresh pastries and cookies were always available on the table in the middle of the dining area. Lunch is always my favorite at the resort and I usually just have the homemade soup that Jaime the Chef and Loady, his right hand Chef, prepare daily. If you have not had the daily soup you have no idea what you are missing, sometimes I have two bowls. At dinner we were so happy to see our favorite young ladies, Betty, Giselle and Yaquenia, who rush around to make everyone happy and keep the beverages and food flowing. The food was deliciously seasoned and cooked to perfection. Those of us on the Beach on Friday experienced a moment of serendipity. Two little dolphins swam down the beach between guests and just a foot to three feet away from some of us. They swam slowly and were not afraid of people around them. Everyone was just fascinated by these two baby dolphins. In all the years we have vacationed here this was a first. Saturday is White Night where dinner is set up out by the pool. When darkness sets in, the lights around the pool make the whole area look magical. Do not forget to bring your white outfits. There was a sumptuous selection of fresh baked goods, salads, meats, smoked BBQ and various choices of delicious desserts and cocktails of your choosing. Sunday I became ill and was not able to attend dinner for the next few nights but between my Spouse, Jacobo and the amazing staff of Butlers who I treasure dearly, Yandry, Diana, Dismar and Roberto, I wanted for nothing. And thank you Michel. I was amazed that Jacobo actually took time out of the dinner service and went to the main buffet to get me something bland and soft to eat. The Selecion side of the Resort caters to families with children of all ages. So there is a variety of choices available at the Buffet there. On Tuesday morning I went to the doctor who is available 24/7 on the Resort, for those of us who do not or did not know. A cart came right to the room and by 7:30 am I was being checked over by the nurse Lucia, such a very caring lady who speaks English fluently, so it was less stressful,and Dr. Maria Victoria who was so thorough in her assessment and extremely knowledgeable. There is International Medical Centre, located nearby, where they can access medication that is not available readily at the Hotel, so they went there to get the antibiotics that I needed. We were shocked that our charge for everything was $83.00 CAD, $50.00 of which was the consultation fee. The only problem we did have was the lack of toilet paper, and having to ask for more several times as we opted not to have the room refreshed while I was ill. The last few days when I was on the mend I made sure and made up for the lack of tan by relaxing on the beautiful beach. The weather in Cuba always cooperates. If you have to be sick what a beautiful place to be sick surrounded by stunning scenery, in a well equipped Villa and with caring individuals. My heart goes out to Diana and Milexis, the two main Coral building and Beach Restaurant cleaners. I commend you for what you do, I could not do what you do and still always have a smile on my face. They kept the common areas immaculate. Yuniely, a very busy and talented bartender made delicious, yummy, chocolate martinis and Appletini's on our last night. I also have to say the new staff at the Coral Restaurants…Amanda, Gasket, Yahimi and Dario were all great and I wish them the best in their new jobs. And in the background there is Esther, who keeps the kitchen clean all day. They are all a great team. On the last morning before we left, I called at the last minute and asked Yandry, one of the Butlers, if it was possible for us to have a private breakfast down at Casa de Botas. A quiet more private beach. He called back to say it was a go and that Luis stepped up to do it. By the time we got there, the table was set and there was a basket filled with sweet pastries to eat while Luis went and got our order. He was the best. We were so happy to be able to share a meal alone at my most favorite hang out at the Coral. And last but not least the Hotel Managers Luis Angel and Javier, I think that it is great that they make themselves available and accessible to the HoteI Guests. I think your hands on approach brings positive vibes to the experience at the Resort Till the next time. Hasta Pronto!

Great on food /rooms/and the best part people ate so friendly

Clean Welcome nice people Quiet Food is very good

Nous étions au Grand Sirenis à CAYO SANTA MARIA du 27 nov. au 11 déc. C'est le meilleur complexe où nous avons séjourné à Cuba (20 voyages). Nous étions un groupe de 6: grandparents, parents et petits-enfants. Nous avons fait quelques demande pour notre chambre et l'hôtel a satisfait à nos demandes. Les chambres sont grandes. Lit confortable, la climatisation fonctionnait bien. Nous avions un moustiquaire dans la porte patio. On l'a laissé ouvert plusieurs nuits et on s'endormait au son des palmiers et des vagues. Je veux remercier tout particulièrement Gabriella et José et les autres du service des relations publiques pour leur dévouement. Ils étaient toujours présents. Nous avons eu 2 problèmes mineurs et ils ont été réglés en quelques minutes. Les choix au buffet étaient toujours bons: salades, viandes froides, fruits, légumes, viandes et poissons variés, desserts, Etc. Au déjeuner, toujours un bon choix, incluants oeufs et bacon ,café, gaufres, crêpes, pains, confitures et sauces. Il y avait aussi un kiosque de barbe à papa et un de churros, toujours appréciés des jeunes et moins jeunes. Le service partout sur le site était exceptionnel, au buffet, bars, snack bars, restos à la carte. Le site est très propre. Le personnel de soutien est toujours disponible et travaille fort. La plage est spacieuse et bien entretenue. Il y a un snack bar (sandwiches, hamburger) et 2 bars et le service et la sélection sont très bons. Un merci spécial à Ricky qui fait le service sur la plage et tenait nos verres bien remplis. Noua avons eu de belles conversations avec lui. Il y a eu plusieurs événements spéciaux: party à la piscine, Journée Cubaine, Journée du Canada, anniversaire de l'hôtel etc. L'enregistrement à l'arrivée et au départ se fait rapidement. En résumé, ce fut une très belle expérience pour nous tous. Ça valait l'heure et demie de transfert en autobus. Le complexe est le premier arrêt de l'aéroport et le dernier avant l'aéroport. C'est à considérer. LE MAUVAIS: Apportez du bon chasse-moustiques. Ils sont plus nombreux que nous!

Dhawa hotel was very nice, very clean, and very well staffed. However, with a low occupancy rate we missed out on amenities - the restaurants were closed, the buffet was not well stocked, hardly any entertainment. There was no white wine or sparkling wine to be found, but the drinks they did have were very good. There is a specialty bar which has a great selection and a good barman. The food was lacking - even with the food they had it was unimaginative. Example- they have fruit, yogurt, milk, but don't have a smoothie station for the morning like many hotels. They have meat and vegetables but often the selection being offered for the pizza station didn't contain many ingredients - even if those ingredients were available elsewhere. The pastry selection in the morning was amazing, but almost no selection of fruit except papaya. The snack bar that was open 24 hours had actually almost no food. I know cuba has a food shortage but we thought they could do a lot more with the food they do have. The beach could have been beautiful - however there was a lot of seaweed washing up. Instead of putting people to the task of cleaning it they put 1 old man with a rake who barely managed to make any progress while 6 guys watched him from the bar instead of helping. As a consequence, the beach was not really accessible for many days which was disappointing. There were boats available for no extra charge which was nice. Our room was spacious, always very clean, and well stocked (towels, toilet paper, water, etc). The cleaning staff was great. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful in most ways. Overall I do recommend the hotel and I hate to complain but am only trying to give an honest review.

Firstly, I'm there for the beach. And that does not disappoint. In my opinion this resort is on the best stretch of beach in Cuba. The rest....if you've been to Cuba, you know what to expect. It's a slightly better than average resort, when I was there, there were no notable shortages, food is typical Cuban resort food, they do the best they can with what they have. My room was decent, clean and comfortable with a beautiful view, no complaints. Staff for the most part were fantastic, I received great service with a few isolated exceptions. I'll likely return.

Although some things were missing, we still had a great time. The beach is not the best but i enjoyed it. I know of a little spot beside the beach that is just beautuful. perfit for snorkeling. The staff were great and fun. Thank you for a good time. Bring gifts for the staff. (kids, medication, school stuff) i heard that some love chocolate.

Had an amazing vacation. The beach was beautiful, nice powdered sand. The beach we had dancing lessons and games the pool we had games and dancing lessons as well. The staff are nice and friendly, especially the entertainment team WOW amazing. especially Manuel,Tito, Danny,Ray and Julio. Manuel was coming to see me on the beach to get me to come do the dance lessons on the beach what a nice touch and they know i loved dancing so that a plus.Did some activities that they were doing on the beach like volleyball yoga dancing. At night there would be dancing at the lobby bar. Even the performers would come dance with us. I thought it was a nice touch. I would definitely go back again. I had so much fun at the beach and dancing at night at bar. I was actually planning to maybe go again in March

Most of the staff was helpful, outgoing and friendly as most Cubans are. But not all. Some were lazy, unfriendly and rude. The pool was dirty, missing tiles and I never saw anyone in two weeks working on repairs or cleaning it. The variety and quality of activities and excursions was a let down. The buffet had noticeably amours of cockroaches running around daily. My holiday was somewhat disappointing.

Considering recent storms and travel advisories, and prior other recent experiences around Cuba over the recent past, I have a feeling it is improving overall. One must also recognize that some foods served may not be found there where you would see some on the Carabean sea side of the country and vice of versa. Transports costs and easy to ship certainly will feed you what maybe locally harvested nearby. Although it was the first constructed resort in the area after the causeway was built, it has been subject to upgrades on many fronts. My time was off-peak by a few days and I certainly could see hard work by gardeners to polish everything so to be ready for the holidays peaks. Your Canadian banks will most often give you the best exhange rate for USD Dollars. A good tip is to order a bunch of small cuts to pick up a week in advance prior to travelling. Although you can do most with Canadian dollars too, loonies and toonies are a real agravation. The staff were all very professional and welcoming as is most often standard in Cuba. No kids under 16 anywhere...definite bonus too for this location.