Cayo Santa Maria

The Royalton Cayo Santa Maria is a beautiful Adults only resort. This is definitely a quieter, resort, made for relaxation. It is a small resort , with 2 pools and beautiful bungalow style rooms. There are 3 a la carte restaurants & several bars. The main lobby bar stocked top shelf spirits. The meals were plated and presented nicely and the wait staff were efficient. Resort staff were friendly & amazingly attentive. Each room is assigned a Butler , who is there to assist you, in order to make your stay comfortable. Omar was the best!! The daily room cleaning staff were very competent and quick. Beach was amazing & beautiful! Nightly entertainment was casual & quite enjoyable. It is presented in the main lobby of the resort. It was varied each night & was well received by the guests. We will definitely be coming back!

Having just returned from a week at this beautiful resort, we want to return immediately! 6 trips to Cuba thus far, and this property exceeded our expectations with its modern esthetics, clean beyond clean environment, professional staff, welcoming bars and restaurants, and the beach! Our suite was so well appointed, loved the high quality bathroom amenities, comfy bed and such a zen feeling within. Our ocean view was so peaceful, with the warm ocean air coming through. We were in the royal section and it was just first class everywhere. The lounges were stunning with comfortable seating, the restaurant's vibe was upscale - with choice inside or outside for any of your meals. The violinist - such a beautiful talent! We really enjoyed the Japanese a la carte restaurant. The chicken and pork dishes throughout the week were excellent. Our favourite drinks were mimosas and mojitos, always cold and fresh. At the royal area pool, we so appreciated the orange and lemon slush mix for our rum! Having a delicious pizza on the royal side private beach was above and beyond! The beach brought us so much enjoyment to say the least. The coral reefs were close for snorkeling, the sand white and soft for walking. We suggest turning right once you get to the beach, walk about 30 mins (past 2 more resorts) to find the most gorgeous native beach in the caribbean...we were overwhelmed by the beauty. Go early in the morning to experience the sunrise and the sun's rays through the clouds. The sandbanks caused by the tide being out were amazing! Back to the resort! Anna Rosa was so pro as our maid, Junior and Gabriel at the royal reception were always helpful, Adonis, Otto and the entire wait/bartending team kept us so happy with their prompt and pro service levels. Ariseidy went above and beyond as our concierge. Ricky at the Reserve reception was so informative and knowledgeable about the resort and the area. Lizy from the marketing team was an absolute delight, we so enjoyed chatting and sharing photos from our week with her. We were greeted by the Director Philipp while we were walking around, he asked how our stay was and really listened to our comments...very personable and approachable. If traveling as a couple and you want some down time, book on the royal side! You can then go see the entertainment and different bars in reserve and the family side, returning to the quieter area as you lounge around the pool, beachcomb for shells on the beach or have a cold beverage in a calm environment. Gems: Be sure to have some cash with you for the 1.5hr bus ride to the resort - Crystal beer available on the bus only! Tips are the lifeline for the staff, choose USD or CND. School supplies are appreciated. Use 700 on the phone to reach customer service at the resort. The hour before the entertainment starts is for the kids to run and dance freely. Royal area will have purple towels, go early to the pool or beach to reserve your chairs! Sunscreen 3 times as much as you think you need - the sun will blast through it FAST! Water shoes are recommended around the reefs. Be sure to get to the beach at night to see the stars above.

Very clean resort, the grounds are well maintained. The pools and beaches are stunning, white powder sand with turquoise water. The rooms are clean, a bit run down, mild musty smell. Hot showers with great water pressure. Great selection in alcohol drinks, was even given an option for white rum or dark aged rum for my pina colada. We had a foam party in the pool, lots of fun. Staff very friendly!

The hotel was clean and well looked cared for by staff and the grounds were well taken care of by the gardening staff behind the scenes...(they must get up early) There were no big crowds or lines for anything at bars or buffet.

We have been to Cuba 16 times most often stayed at Melia Hotels but never had such a chaos. We arrived at 1 p.m. as returning guests and we were told that our room was ready. However, there was no towel, or soap. Customer service 700 phone almost never answered, so I had to go back to the reception. Bathtubs were too high to get in and my wife developed a knee problem. I asked for a footstool. After two days and several inquiries we were told that the security rules of hotel do not allow such a thing. We changed the room to one that had a standing shower. It was filthy, with cockroaches, sand flies with no insect spray or an umbrella and no hot water for two days. When it started to rain were told to stay inside until the rain stops. The electronic keys got inactivated nine times, four times in a row.On Dec. 30th the hotel got overbooked by a very rude mob devoid of the basic etiquette. During the four days that hey stayed we were pushed from side and behind to enter the buffet, nudged away from cabinet of buffet, their children were running between tables, hustling and jostling guests and tables. Buffet items got almost empty five minutes after the mob entered as they loaded their plates as much as possible and devoured voraciously. Some guests could not find a seat and ate standing. They entered the pool with clothes on without taking shower, got drunk at the pool bar and shouted insanely. After the mob left the hotel, some items disappeared with them during the remaining days of our “Vacation” : eggs, butter, jam, potatoes, tomato just to mention a few. I discussed all this with the management and filled a form for partial compensation. No news so far.

Our shortest vacation so far, usually going for 7 days. The best are the beach and most of the people working in the resort to make your vacation special. The okay part is that it's a big resort spread out and involves a lot of walking and you loose the candid experience of medium to small sized resorts were the service is more personal. The not so good part is that you'll notice a lot of double standard especially on the management side. I only recommend it with reservations, try it at your own risk and your own expense.

I had a really fun time and would certainly return again. All staff at the resort were genuinely kind and happy people. For the entire duration of my stay, everyone seemed very passionate about their work, and eager to ensure that everyone's experience at the resort was as enjoyable as possible. Despite the low-season and a national economic crisis, everything I would expect of an all-inclusive was there, primed and polished. Live music and dancing, authentic cuisine, and careful attention to detail.

Beach amazing, hotel dated but our building 26 was clean. Had new towels almost daily and bottle water. Food was terrible but expected. However same food it seemed for all 3 meals each day. Music and entertainment were great.

I felt i was surrounded by the right people and in the right environment. Nice rooms and external areas. Clean and cheap resort.

The Buenavista is a small adults-only all-inclusive resort with beach front on 3 sides. And in July, this small resort was maybe 25% full at that. There is one breakfast and lunch-only restaurant, and 2 x a-la-carte restaurants for supper. If you stay on the resort grounds for supper, you must make a reservation through your concierge for supper at one of them. However, a major advantage offered by this hotel is full access to the 2 other Melia properties in Cayo Santa Maria, the eponymously-named resort and Las Dunas. You can go to the beach or the swimming pools there, dine at any of their buffet or a-la-carte restaurants, generally use and take advantage of any facility there, just as if you were a guest at these properties. The room was great - ocean view, spacious, very comfortable (bed, AC, wash facilities), and impeccably kept by the cleaning staff. The beach - the reason we go to Cuba - was great, with small colorful tropical fish swimming with you and around you. A word of caution, there's lots of coral there, so beach shoes should be packed although they're not essential. The Buenavista has 2 small relatively unshaded pools, more for soaking and cooling after a day at the beach than for swimming. There's a bar and a 24 hour grill poolside by one of them. The grounds are extremely-well kept. The staff was amazing, always very friendly and very accomodating to anything we needed. If I could give them 6 stars out of 5, I would. I guess it helps though that there weren't that many other guests to attend to while we were there. I thought the food was good and well-prepared - disclosure, I'm not a picky eater - and again staff there was extremely accomodating to any food or dietary requests that we made. But, by the end of our week, the meals started to have a sameness to them that took away from the experience. And caution, anything with "tomato" sauce actually contains BBQ sauce. However, again, the staff came through for us in this regard by offering us a couple of excellent going-away meals that saved the experience. Bravo. Internet connection was (still) choppy at best, but when I go to Cuba this is more a plus than a negative. There's a gym and a spa on the property, but we didn't use either. The beach was our focus. Overall, we very much enjoyed our experience here. If you want an intimate, quiet, beach-oriented vacation, with the option of more activity and "noise" offered with the aceess to the other 2 Melia properties, this is a great place to go.