Hotel Rancho Luna

My bathroom smelled strongly of raw sewage and the fan didn't work. There was no phone and no fridge in the room. There was no toilet paper, just the sheets of sort of glossy paper that didn't absorb very well. The food was pretty bad as well. [Details]

I have been to Rancho Luna many times and am amazed every time I go at all the positive changes taking place. I was there for 2 weeks March 2023 and saw changes to lobby furniture, new air conditioners and new beds in the rooms that are more comfortable than my home in Canada. Scenic grounds have changed. All staff from the manager, to grounds crew are so nice and approachable. They are simply a pleasure to be around and make you feel special while your visit. Special thanks to the manager and Lidaisy and Julio for allowing me to plug in my new electric scooter, so I can explore the whole beautiful area. Amanda, Karla (in the store), Beatrice, Jorge, Roxanne, Dialemis my maid, Security Staff and Security Chief are amazing. Julio is great. IN SHORT THE WHOLE STAFF ARE WONDERFUL! The food at the buffet was great to. Very diabetic friendly, didnt need my insulin for both weeks as the food is all natural, fresh and healthy, very tasty. The resort is very easily accessible to those with disabilities and staff are there to help. Onsite is a round the clock doctor and nurse.
My trip was so positive I booked again for April 13 for 1 more week!
Cheers! [Details]

Staff. Most of the staff barely spoke English which made it challenging to communicate.
The rooms are run down, the wall was falling apart under the window. Missing fire extinguishers in the hallway. Stairs with chunks of concrete missing and rebar showing. Paint splatters all over the plants from the recent paint job.
You can't relax by the pool as the loud music is on the entire time the pool is open. They also do shows but they are 80% in Spanish so I never really knew what was going on. I get that this is Cuba and the language is Spanish but they cater to so many foreigners that I was hoping the base English would be better.
They don't really check for bracelets at the bars or buffet. I watched a person wear long sleeve shirt getting served and he wasn't staying at the resort. He drank all night and dined in the dining room.
The food is what you expect. Nothing great. The way they arranged the buffet seemed to be to limit the easy flow as everyone is bunched together in small areas whereas before it was a long line in the middle. Not sure why they changed it as this is not effective.
The buffet never opened on time. True it was only normally five minutes or so but it was consistent.
Three dishes of same thing to make it look like a lot
No veggies other than cucumbers
Once dessert was cleared it was barely ever refilled. This happened often.
There were days no butter for toast….
I asked once what a meat was in the dining room I was told beef, it turns out it was liver…..luckily I like liver.
No soda water anywhere on resort. Water, pop and booze and water was hard to get.
The juices they served were from bags, not fresh. This seems to be common to most resorts though.
There is one area on the resort that is not all inclusive., right at the beach front.
The bathroom nearest the buffet dining area was out of toilet paper more often than not for women.
Different bars serve different drinks at different times. The cups are tiny. Bring something to have them put your drink in or you are forever going to the bar.
The open air hallways have these posts running through them which the birds sit on. I know to a degree it can't be helped but the amount of bird poop on them is quite gross.
The shows at night were super loud. Could clearly hear them in my room. I honestly thought the person next door to me was blaring their TV until I stepped in the hallway and realized it was coming from the main lounge.
Heard from several people no water pressure on second floor, seemed ok on first floor. Also my travel buddy only managed 3 hot showers in the two weeks we were there, the rest were luke warm to cold.
Many men complained they were frequently approached asking if they want “girlfriend”.
If you want something cheap, not fancy and where you can sit on a beach, if you are ok with the fleas this is a great spot. As mentioned don't put your lounger near the trees as the local women sit there and talk while they wait for men.
Over all I wouldn't recommend this place at all. The beach is nice, full of sand fleas. Don't try to climb the lifeguard tower that has/had a metal ladder. I did one morning before they unlocked the loungers and the ladder broke when I tried to get down dumping me on the sand.
The scenery was really nice.
Temperature was terrific.
I don't plan on returning. [Details]

Great hotel to learn Spanish, mix with locals and visit Cienfuegos. Rooms are clean and food is fresh. Diving is fantastic. Noise level from 9 am till 3am constant and excessive. Food limited, long line ups, and very crowded at serving points. Masks mandatory at all times. There is no quiet, no smoking area where someone can sit and talk or read a book. I would not recommend this hotel for vacation. [Details]

The staff is really nice and try their best to accommodate you with comfort and and plenty of food and also beverages!
Its the 6 th time that we are returning to this hotel because the dive center at the Faro Luna ( about 2 kilometers away . But the transport is included in the price) is just amazing. The Divemasters are great and the dives just incredible. Since this dive center is in a protected part of Cuba ,the fishes and the corals are just awesome [Details]

We had a beautiful time [Details]

very poor hotel,lousy service unprofessional just waiting for tips [Details]

It was a good place for the price, we had a ground floor room with a patio and ocean view, with a mini-fridge in the room. The property is well-maintained and clean, the gardeners are doing a great job! The cleaning ladies cleaned the room well and exchanged towels daily. Some staff in the restaurant were very nice and helpful. The food in restaurants was good for Cuba, with seasonal fruit and veggies, not too great for picky eaters. The beach would be better with more shady space on it. We could not catch the sailboat, despite my attempts for the whole week, because in the morning there's no wind and by the time the kids finish lunch and nap, the guy was gone for the day. I wish they could arrange their work hours considering the needs of tourists. We could not play tennis or golf, because of the heat we could do it only after sunset, but the light didn't work in those areas. Little store on premises was good for shampoo, mosquito spray, ice-cream, etc. But the little pharmacy never worked during our stay. [Details]

Staff where more than helpful
. Food was good in general .Rooms are. Dated need to be upgraded.pool and pool bar where alright but bar did have enough tables and chairs lots lounge chairs.beach and buffet in general was good .the beach was not good ocean full of weeds and not that big . For the price I paid I would go back. Good value for what I spent. [Details]

Quiet relaxing vacation. Friendly people and staff. Nice pool and beach. Excursions ok. Allowed free extension of check out from 12 noon to 4pm. [Details]

Go there to meet friends from across Canada. Know what to expect and nothing surprises me as I have been there many times. [Details]

This was my first time to Cienfuegos. Having been to all Cuban destinations with the exception of Manzanillo, I have a pretty idea of what to expect of a 3 star resort, but this one unfortunately came at the very bottom although it has a few good things. It started with a very long wait at the airport in the bus that took us to the hotel and by the time we got there the restaurant was closed and there was no food except frozen ham and cheese sandwiches. During my stay never saw the wholesaler representative at the desk where was suppose to be, there was no briefing and no tours were offered. The hotel itself is a 3 star, the rooms are okay but not as clean as any other hotels that I've been to. The beach not so great in front of the hotel but there is a very nice beach (if you don't care for dark sand) at a walking distance. The food was above my expectations...it was good. On the other hand the service with very few exceptions was the worse that I've experienced. I have to mention Jorge and his co-worker's exceptional professionalism at the restaurant (they should be training everyone else). Coffee was served in plastic cups everywhere with the exception of the restaurant. Service at the bar was as bad as anywhere else, when I asked for a Spanish coffee the bartender asked me what it was and how was it made although he was very good at flipping bottles before serving a drink. Although my comments may not entice you to visit this place, I should say that most guests are repeated clients that have been going there for many many years. Another positive note is the daily complementary bus trip to the City of Cienfuegos where I went every other day, it's a vibrant place to visit. [Details]

I HAVE BEEN GOING TO THIS HOTEL SINCE JAN 2000 AND AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH IT.IT IS NOT FANCY BUT IT IS GOOD VALUE FOR THE MONEY AND MANY OTHERS ALSO THINK SO AND COME BACK REGULARLY.THERE HAVE BEEN STEADY IMPROVEMENTS. [Details]

nice weather, affordable,staff very helpfull when i had a health problem [Details]

Overall, a very relaxing place to visit. The staff was amazing and helpful. There are multiple cities to visit in the area. Cienfuegos Cuba is close by (free bus rides, Monday, Wednesday Friday. Trinidad and Santa Clara not far away. Havana is approx. 4 hours by taxi at a cost of $150. Driver will stay in Havana for the day waiting for you.Pool is amazingly clean and nice. Beach is ok but not sure about swimming as there are some fish that a local snorkeler brought out that had stingers on the back. Great for snorkeling though due to the variety of fish. Diving is apparently outstanding not a kilometer away.But overall I would visit this place again for sure.
On a sad not I was disappointed on how a few visitors from Montreal treated the staff there. [Details]

Staff steels everything. Selling licker. [Details]

This was our first time in Cienfuegos. the hotel was good-well kept grounds, clean, great staff.
-You can change money at this hotel
-They have sporadic internet access that is slow. You can get faster downtown across from Union Hotel
-You can get massages from Eduardo the host of nightly entertainment.
-They have a nurse in site as well as a small gym.
-They have ramps etc for those using walkers.
-Food, as usual in Cuba is ok not great. As expected, was challenging for a vegetarian as they put meat and fish in most things. Permitted 2 a la carte and they tried hard to accommodate. The personal relations staff Roly is a nice man. There is also a grill restaurant for lunch. 2 places to get snacks when restaurants closed-pizza and sandwiches.
-They have nightly shows which are ok-they try hard.
-Great excursions- El Nicho waterfalls-bring a jacket it's cool in the mountains and we travelled in an open truck. Though cool we swam in 2 waterfalls-beautiful. Trips to Trinidad City, lake where you can see flamingos. You can arrange trips to Havana but a 4 hour trip each way. Dolphin Show 20 min walk away. 2X/day except Wed. 10 CUC. You can swim with dolphins for 50 CUC.
-The best thing is there are free shuttle buses 1 or 2X/day daily to downtown Cienfuegos(one of these late night so you can enjoy live cabaret show).
-Cienfuegos is a Unesco World Heritage City-buildings in city centre were beautifully restored. Also visit south end of city Punto Gorda-nice here.
-We went downtown at night (10 CUC each way by taxi) to see live music for free at Uneac in main Jose Marti park. There are many clubs with traditional live music 7 nights/week.
-We found a great independent art gallery that sells various artists' work called PB (Poco Bonita) run by Carlos in downtown near where they sell all the crafts-29th St 50-52 St
-Re donations-we took clothes, school supplies and instruments. You can donate at school in town where bus stops on the way to El Nicho (ask guide in advance). We donated to Catholic Cathedral in Main downtown Cienfuegos where bus drops you. I'm sure other churches would take donations. We donated medicine to the children's hospital's pharmacy (it's on he map hotel gives you).
-The staff here are mostly great. If people say otherwise my guess is because you behave entitled, demanding and arrogant toward them.
-The worst thing about this hotel is that half the Canadians are loud, rude, obnoxious and the (mostly)old men who are there with very young Cuban women. It was disgusting to see this all day long. Very shameful behavior. (Wouldn't bring my children here)
-Overall this was an extraordinary week, a wonderful break from Toronto cold, and a pleasure to be around such educated Cubans who do their best in challenging life circumstances. Please remember that respect goes a long way and you are a visitor in someone's country. [Details]

I have been going to Rancho Luna off and on for 20 years and although something is different every time, new rules, services in different locations, it basically never changes. You would not go to this hotel to be impressed by world class service & amenities, so if that is what you are looking for, look elsewhere. What this hotel provides me year after year is a small, intimate place to stay that has a "feel" of the real Cuba. There is a little hardship with everything, but an underlying love and connection of the people through that hardship. It is a unique location on the island in that it is a BEACH resort, yet close enough to the mountains to travel there. Close enough to many lakes and rivers including Hannabanila if you wish to fish or boat. Close to Trinidad, the 3rd oldest founded city on the island at 500 years as of 2014. close to Cienfuegos itself a large and fairly representative city of Cuba as it exists outside of Havana and tourist locations such as Cayo Coco, Cayo Santa Maria and Varadero. I have taken a bicycle many times and enjoyed the many roadways in the area and getting out and seeing Cuba and its people along the road.

The one unfortunate change at Rancho Luna as anyone who has stayed frequently would know is the loss of the best customer service rep ever there a couple of years ago, Iagna. Sadly, her replacement is not only useless, but she is actually antagonistic, rude, judgemental and does not listen at all. I had ONE issue I needed to deal with during my holiday and I could tell from the start that she just blamed me in her mind for the problem and from that point on did nothing but make excuses as to why things were the way they were rather than make any attempt to assist me to overcome the issue. As a customer service rep, that is all she is there to do... help the tourists with any problems they may encounter. Thankfully I know Iagna personally and after one phone call to her at home she was able to work some magic in the background and had my problem resolved for me the next day. Louisa (the new rep) continued to badger me day after day about the problem and reminding me that it was MY problem. I reminded her that indeed it was MY problem and she had already told me nothing could be done about it so why was she continuing to worry about it? She would just start to mutter to me that nothing could be done and would turn and walk away while still talking EVERY time we engaged as a tactic to not actually have to listen to me, or deal with the problem. I honestly don't know how she has kept this job as I can not see her being a help to ANYONE.

So, to sum up. Great place if you want to FEEL Cuba and do not have expectations of grandeur. The food is up and down every year, some good years, some bad years, but you will never starve. The place is always clean and the room maids are incredibly friendly and kind. Mostly the same staff year after year so that it kind of feels like a home away from home. [Details]

Good weather, warm Caribbean sea,very good vacation. [Details]

Noisy with pool renovations ongoing and entertainment staff who do not get that not everyone wants blaring music. Service & food (s0/so) doesn't change from year to year. Go each year to meet friends from different parts of Canada. [Details]

The room was dirty, and the bathroom and the shower area were quit unsanitary, the front desk people were unfriendly, I will think it twice before going back. [Details]

This was my second trip to Rancho Luna, keeping in mind that you get what you pay for I have no real complaints, staff were top notch, nightly entertainment not so much. I will probably return. [Details]

I have been to Cuba on several occasions. This location is set on a public beach which seems to be good for snorkeling/ scuba diving, but not so great for swimming & lacks the white sands of other locations. I have been told the sands have "browned" due to being near the port & the oils from the ships has soiled the beach. Cuba is not necessarily known for it's food, but to be fair, there was always something to eat. The buffet offered pasta each night, choice of fish & either pork, beef or chicken, rice, salad. The beach bar offered burgers, fish or pork from 12:30 to 3 I believe and the a la carte offered fish, shrimp, pork or chicken. The room was basic as expected, but clean. The maid went through our bags daily, but I did not notice anything missing. Just be sure to lock up anything valuable. Overall was an ok experience. There are a few excursion options: swimming with dolphins, going to "el nicho" a provincial park that offers waterfalls and natural pools for swimming, a Trinidad excursion ect. The animation team has different things going on through the day, aerobics, zumba, Spanish lessons, dance lessons and nightly shows. My main complaint for this resort was the lack of assistance from the staff. They were quite rude or would just ignore you at times. [Details]

The food was very disgusting, they have pork in everything, and did not take into consideration, that not all people eat pork. People who smoked everywhere without consideration for non smokers. There was only white bread, which was very hard. [Details]

We should have known from some of the previous reviews we had read that this hotel may have been disappointing, but we were hoping for the best. We are by far picky people, but in the end I feel sadly disappointed. We are not overly picky people, but as this was our first visit to Cuba we were quite disappointed. It was intimidating to approach the staff at any of the counters for a drink or food. It felt extremely uncomfortable, as if you were a bother. Even if you were the only person standing at the counter staff would continue to chit chat, or sometimes even walk away for a bit. From asking to ride a horse, or to get a mask to snorkel, or to ask for a drink it seemed to be an inconvenience to the staff. For the horses we were told to come back later, then to wait for five minutes, etc. Perhaps it is a cultural difference, I don't know, but the body language, lack of smiles, or hello, or you are welcome was completely missing, yet tips are expected everywhere you turn with the staff. I did not find the staff to be friendly, or even genuinely pleased that we were there to experience their culture and country. The presentation given by our tour guide from Hola Sun was confusing and some of the information given at this meeting was inaccurate. It was long and as we were only there for 5 days I just wanted to sign up for the excursion of our choice, and then get going on our day. Questions were taken throughout the presentation that in my opinion should have been left to the end so that you could leave when you wanted to. Time was spent cutting the already extremely short grass rather than keeping the beach area tidy. The beach was littered....I wish I'd had a big garbage bag to clean it up. (It's sad that tourists would be so careless about the environment). The water appeared to be dirty. It was quite murky and frothy at the edge. Normally on other beaches you would see a lot of evidence of life, i.e. water birds, starfish, fish in the water, but there was nothing. Even farther out when I snorkeled everything looked dead and dirty. I knew not to expect much from the room, but the beds really are not great. Do bring your own pillow and even a blanket that helps you to sleep. They are twin beds and very uncomfortable. Lastly the food was at best mediocre. Basically the same thing was served every day with only one or two variations to differentiate between breakfast and the other two meals. Left overs are served in a mixture heaped in a mound on dinner plates. Literally everything was piled in different combinations on the dinner plates. I was afraid of getting sick for sure, knowing that day after day these were leftovers. I hate sounding so critical, but honestly, you are still spending a decent amount of money, tipping like crazy, paying to leave the country, it's difficult to not be. I don't know that we would visit Cuba again.... [Details]

Good hotel no problems [Details]

The Resort gave us what we wanted on a price we wish to pay. Beach,beer and relaxation. [Details]

Good choice of food .Crab fish. rabbit beef goat .Lots of fruit.Fast ommlete maker.Free bus to the city twice a day.excellat tours to TRINIDAD AND THE MOUNTAINS [Details]

We enjoyed our stay here although there seemed to be some shortages of food and staff. Everyone did their very best and we had a good week.

We had a 90 minute bus ride which turned into a 2 hour bus ride to and from the airport. Using the airport at Cienfuegos would be a better start to a vacation. The hotel is situated in a nice bay and was secluded from the open water which was clearly visible and one could watch the freighters and cruise ships go by. [Details]

We decided for a 5 day instead of 7 days. Not really enough but the Rancho Luna people were there to entertain. Entertainment included a group of about ten playing music from 60's and 70's (Los Moodys) a fashion show and a great dance troup from Cienfuegos. They had a pig roast the night before departure. The best feature of the hotel, aside from what was mentioned was that when you leave your room,there is a card that automatically turns all the electricity off to the room. Its the same card that you use to open the door. Good energy conservation. Food was good, plentiful and excellent ice cream. Always clean. Thanks, Rancho Luna. I would recommend this to others. [Details]