Melia Varadero

We booked a classic room, and were offered an upgrade to a partial ocean view room in the 400 wing of this beautiful, flower shaped resort.

Our room was very clean and well appointed.

The staff was always friendly and very professional, from the bartenders, to the waiters, to the hosts, and the cleaning staff -- we were always welcomed with an honest smile and the utmost service!

The Beach is the star of the property, sunsets are visible from many vantage points of the hotel, including the balcony of our room.

Clean white-sand beach, and there were many beach-chairs available throughout the day; waves were gentle, and the weather did not disappoint either!

The Food was actually a pleasant surprise. Despite the many shortages in Cuba, the food at the buffet was plentiful and extremely tasty! Very happy with the grilled meat, chicken, and fish options available, as well as the super tasty beef stew, and chicken in creme sauce.

Our only let-down - the wifi was not widely available throughout the property, and when available was quite slow.

5/5 we can't wait to return. [Details]

My friend and I were looking for a week of relaxation and Melia did not disappoint. The hotel was beautiful and clean. Staff were so kind, friendly and eager to please. We experienced no shortages, lots of food choices, the beach is absolutely breathtaking and location was perfect. Room was comfortable and quiet. Always found a lounger at beach or pool, no matter the time of day. Massages were great and very reasonably priced. The most beautiful sunsets on the beach. [Details]

This was an amazing stay. I really enjoyed the time I spent in the hotel, food was good as well as drinks. Beach is absolutely stunnig! Room was cozy and comfortable, I had everything I needed, but the view was just perfect. People were always friendly, helphul and smiling. I'm wishing to come back soon! [Details]

This is by far the worse vacation place I have ever been to in my life. Our room view look like a construction site. Unfortunately we found ants all over our bed and room. I have no idea how this place is a 5 Star hotel.

My wife and I went to one of the a la carte which was called Fuertevehtura. The hotel manager Mr Oscar arranged the dinner for us as an apology for the room inconvenience we received with our stay. Oscar provided us a complimentary lobster dinner and fine champagne and alcohol in a private section. Oscar was a complete gentleman and a professional on how to handle situations and offered great customer service.

Unfortunately, when my wife and I arrive at Fuertevehtura the hostess Roberto one of the most rudest ASSHOLES in this place telling me I am not dressed suitable, meanwhile I am wearing white jeans and a white dress shirt with brand new sandals. I am of Italian decent and dress suitable every time for all occasions I attend. I do real estate in Toronto Canada and my wife and I are people you want in your establishment. Meanwhile, the group of people in front of me are all wearing shorts, bring in their own beer and burping rudely in line and this idiot Roberto is questioning me. Really?????

My wife and I only went for 4 days because she is a teacher and wanted to get some sun before returning back to teach her students. Unfortunately, it went wrong and we couldn't wait to return home from this disastrous vacation spot.

RESPECT for tourists is really low in this place. If you like SHIT service, no internet, bed bugs, a staff member ( Roberto) that has no idea on how to speak to people greeting you at the door then come to the Melia Varadero I am sure you will receive the 5 Star shits because food is outdated with no authentic Cuban taste or spice or respect for tourists.

Hotel Manager Oscar is actually a really great guy, his energy is pure and you can see that he really wants his Canadian tourists friends to leave with a good impression/experience of Cuba. In my books Oscar gets an A for service!

Unfortunately, my wife and I will NEVER come back to Varadero even if you paid us and told us our vacation was free. The funny part is I never write reviews but in this case I felt the need to make other tourists aware. [Details]

When you have a complaint you get the reply " there is nothing we can do " They lie to you when a question is asked. Cuba has bad food, this is real bad. This is a place for teenagers who want to listen to ultra loud music ( can hear it very well in your rooms until 1am ) and do not care about food quality or service. Would not return for free. [Details]

Stuffs were very friendly. Food is also good, higher than our expectations. Sometime having issues connecting to wifi in hotel room. View is great [Details]

This is our 4th time to Cuba and the 2nd to Varadero so we know what to expect and this was the nicest hotel we have visited here. The hotel is an older but well kept hotel that is built along the ocean front beach of Varadero. The center court area is beautiful with its large water fountain spraying in the air surrounded by its green vegetation and glass elevators overlooking it. The bedrooms were adequate in size but you could notice washrooms were dated and some maintenance was lacking. The food was very good in the restaurant and we lacked for nothing. Service there was excellent. Had the opportunity to go to all 3 a la carte restaurants which we enjoyed. Sign up to go to these had to be done the morning that you wished to go and they worked hard to accommodate that.
The internet would make you re-sign in each time we would go to use it but there maybe a reason for this. Our last day we were out of our room at noon but did not leave hotel until 8:30 pm. We were able to continue to use all of the facilities except they suspended our internet connection which we needed to check on our travel updates. After much discussion with the front desk clerk, he reluctantly gave me a couple more hours of internet.
It is definitely a nice 4 star for Cuba. We would certainly stay here again. [Details]

We stayed here the week of March 29th to April 5th. We loved it. It's a really great resort. Views are stunning and the grounds are gorgeous. We upgraded to stay at the “level” section of the hotel. Beautiful rooms, wonderful service. Staff are fabulous. The level has its own bar lounge with yummy snack food all day and into the evening. Drinks are wonderful. Food was excellent. Really enjoyed it. Cuba makes do with what they can get which is not the same as other islands. This is fine with me. Fresh cooked seafood, pork and chicken. Vegetables and wonderful rice and bean dishes is terrific. Delicious pina coladas and espresso martinis! We will go back to this hotel. [Details]

Hotel build in 1991, still very good, the Level floor worth the upgrade fees. Needless to say they were missing quite a few things this year, orange juice, yougurt, no lobsters, still we don't starve. Beach was beautifull. Golf was also ok, Been there over 25 times same hotel, the staff is just unbelievable,, always easy to complain although it was a great 10 days again,, [Details]

overall experience is okay , just because of view of beach , rooms not so good [Details]

Very polite and helpful
Clean
A beautiful beach [Details]

We loved the hotel and the beach [Details]

Nice hotel with a huge beach [Details]

The hotel was lovely...well maintained and the staff was excellent. My only disappointment was check in. An older woman who did not speak English could not find our booking (after being delayed 30 hours) and simply walked away when we tried to communicate. The next day I went to get our WiFi password and again, she simply walked away. Someone else came to help us and she was great. Someone with such limited English should not work at front desk. [Details]

Great location, friendly staff, clean and reasonably priced. [Details]

Beaches were amazing, the food was okay not great typical Cuba resort food, every meal at the buffet was the same rarely any new choices, service was slow considering the resort was empty, many locals were there and were skipping lines and making others wait. The hotel wouldn't except CUP that they insisted we exchange our Canadian $ for. The bell hops were persistent on having you book things with them they would scope you out multiple times a day after saying you were not interested in going to places ex. Havana, beach activities that were included were only available 2 days out of the 7 we were there. The entertainment each night was basically the same, no shows just people singing. In the rooms toilets wouldn't flush. They gave free wifi but would kick you off after 2-5 minutes then have to resign in again. [Details]

The staffs are spectacular and the service is excellent, I would definitely choose this hotel a thousand times for my vacation [Details]

There's often some kind of skepticism when it comes to Cuba. The food will be crappy, the weather will be too cold. We just returned from a week at the Melia Varadero ... and I can say it was one of the best vacation weeks we've had. Great weather. The staff in the restaurants and the animation workers were terrific, friendly and attentive to our needs. We stayed in on the fifth floor - it's called The Level. You pay a bit extra, but it's worth every penny. The concierge staff books your a-la-carte nights, there's a special VIP bar on the floor (with snacks) and you get special lunch privileges, with a menu, at the Tex Mex restaurant. We particularly enjoyed dinner at the Japanese restaurant (Sakura) and the International. Played volleyball every morning at 10:30 on the beach, while my wife did yoga. Great night-time entertainment as well. A good mix of young and old - a fun crowd. I would love if they had a true swim-up bar, but that's a small complaint. The hotel is walking distance to Varadero Golf Club - if you're a golfer, you've got to try it. And a $10-peso taxi ride from The Beatles Bar. If you're staying in The Level, you also get free internet cards. A huge thumbs up, we will be back. [Details]

First time to Cuba for myself, second for my husband. We truly enjoyed this hotel! The staff were excellent. We asked for a room with a king bed ( we requested when booked) there was none available the first night ( New Year's Eve - hotel sold out), The lady at front desk made a note on our file and advised us to come in the morning to ask to change. The room we had first night was not great- was a classic room- terrible view of bushes, safe was missing the door and the bed were two twin beds together. Only plus was it was on first floor. We switched in the morning- To a room with a king bed, safe had a door/worked and view was bit better. We Tried to get on the level but there were no rooms available until the 3rd day of arriving. We were given name of manger of level to meet with him two days later, so we could move. When we met with him two days later and took a look at room- room we were in was better..the upgrade room was worse- As it was two twin beds again together. View was same as we had.It was going to cost us $40.00 each per day to be on level.. not worth $80.00 a day for the little perks that you got. We stayed in room we had, the maid we had (Isobel) was excellent!!
Food - was ok.. buffet same food each day.. homemade croissants- yummy. Really poor fruit selection and no lettuce for salad.. we had same server most time- Lisandra. She was great! We loved her!!
Piano Bar- awesome- staff great!!
Pool- nice, but water really cold- Ocean is warmer- Waterfall beautiful, drink cups really small so that's a bit annoying..and there is no pool servers- have to go to bar for drinks. There is kinda a swim up bar- but it's weird - you actually don't get served from it.
Ocean/beach- Absolutely amazing!! Snorkeling on beach was fun. Cost was $20.00 cuc for an hour. We went kayaking and paddle boating for free.
Hotel entertainment- was good, one night we did disco was so much fun- best night, dancing and listening to music!! Was not offered every night though, which is too bad!! It should be!!
Bikes- we used the bikes on resort- was an ordeal to use them and you really can't ride them anywhere.. not allowed to ride into town with them, which is too bad that would have been nice.
We did massages- was great! Recommend!!
WiFi- cost $1.00 for an hour - signal not bad. Never had an issue getting on. If in the level you get free WiFi cards- don't have to pay.
We liked this resort a lot and would stay here again! [Details]

The hotel is older and has its limits, namely small rooms, small and very slow elevators and lack of washrooms. It is Cuba so they are always running out of things, no shrimp, no potatoes, no onions, etc. [Details]

Lovely hotel with exceptional services! I have traveled 13 times to Cuba and 2 have been to this hotel, always the same affection and good treatment. Special recognition to Luisito el Comercial for the professionalism with which he attended our requests from before our arrival.
Thank you all so much for such a beautiful holiday, we return in February 2020. Thank you [Details]

Incredible attention of all! Exquisite place for a vacation in the Caribbean. I will return to this hotel next month! It definitely change my life!
Love Cuba for ever [Details]

This is the 4th time we've been to this resort. We usually travel in February or March but went in June this year. It wasn't too hot. The resort is beautiful. I highly recommend the Level rooms. The manager there (Mario) is very nice. Luisito at the level bar is very friendly. Luis and Oscar are great too. It's a beautiful resort and the beach is spectacular. We have travelled each year for 20 years and there's nowhere even comes close. There is a huge food selection is great and the food is great. I'm a picky eater and loved the food - especially the pasta bar. Highly recommend this place. [Details]

Meliá Varadero is amazing, spectacular views and the staff is unique, typical of Cuba. Thanks Meliá Varadero. [Details]

My wife and i just returned from a wonderful weeks vacation at the Melia Varadero. We spoiled ourselves and booked on "The Level". It was everything I expected it to be. From a personalized check in and wonderful reception by the Lovely group of Receptionists: Daylet, Yanet and Orlaida. They were always there to answer any question and exchange our currency. No need to go to the front desk!! I cant say enough about the personalized care by the concierges Idania, and Carlos. Want a fresh Coconut? Just ask.. The "perks" on The level are awesome. The private lounge , with a constant array of snacks and drinks. Best Cappuccino in the Hotel, is to be had there.. Quiet and nourishing breakfasts, with fresh fruit and Juices in the Level Lounge..
Special mention goes to Mario, the Level Manager, who oversees the entire level staff. Attentive to detail, he ensures your stay is as perfect as it should be..
Thank You all.. Marc and Carol..
Till we see you again!! [Details]

Overall I would recommend this resort, nice beach but sometimes a little crowded, but it's a large resort, so expect more people on the beach, pool was ok with bar, would have preferred another pool on site although there were always plenty of chairs available, food was above average compared to other resorts I've been in Cuba.
Best rooms for views are in buildings 3 & 4 with higher numbered rooms, ex: 4412 will have a better ocean view than 4401).
Homberto at the beach (Level section) was awesome and worked hard every day to get our parasols and chairs and Maita the waitress was super at our private dinner. [Details]

To start I have to give my compliments and sincere thank you to the staff of “The Level”. They were all very attentive and made us feel like part of their family. Luis, Annia, Alleyne, Arianna, Hanoi, Jose and Mario were amazing (I apologize for any misspelled names). Our day chamber maid and night chamber maid, although we didn't officially meet them, kept our room spotless. The private eating area was a nice relaxing space where we enjoyed many nights with the new friends we met on our vacation.

The hotel and the grounds are very well maintaned and very clean. I am very particular about cleanliness especially when it comes to bathrooms. They were always clean and tidy. The restaurants were also very clean and organized. No matter where we were in the resort there was always a member of the staff cleaning or tidying.

The front desk staff were very accommodating and friendly. In fact, we didn't meet a single staff member of the resort that wasn't friendly to us. The restaurant staff were very organized and attentive.

The food was excellent to say the least. Portion sizes were perfect for me but a little small for my boyfriend. The staff recognized that and would always offer a larger portion for him. It was never a problem to find food that we enjoyed. Whether it was the buffet or a la carte restaurant there was always a great selection. Even the wine was very tasty :)

I am a beach girl and was not disappointed. We spent almost every day at the private section of the beach that was for guests of “The Level” only. It was quieter than the main beach section we really enjoyed that. We did spend one day at the pool as it was too windy at the beach. The water was a little cool but otherwise the pool was lovely.

There was always nightly entertainment for everyone to enjoy. We enjoyed our quiet at night but did enjoy some of the festivities.

There is so much more I could write about the amazing resort and the staff. We would definitely recommend the resort to our friends and family. We will be repeat guests :)

Thank you to Melia Varadero and your amazing staff for making our vacation a memorable one. [Details]

From the LEVEL beach in the morning to poolside in the afternoon with mid afternoon snacks at the LEVEL lounge, to the fantastic staff, LEVEL rooms and awesome food, it's hard to not enjoy this place. This was our second time going and not the last. The Melia is so people friendly and a huge sense of family amongst the staff that as you build your relationships with them you become part of the family. A huge thank you to: Daylet, Maidelys, Yanet, Orlaida, Daily, Idania, Marian and Carlos and The Level Manager: Mario. If you want something they will do their best to make it happen. [Details]

Second time to Melia Varadero in two years. This time we booked the Level. The last time we did not, so we have a good reference on the relative value.

Generally and not specifically related to The Level:
- Layout - resort is nice size... not too big, easy to navigate yet never feels crowded
- Rooms and grounds - comparable to other 4.5-5 star rated properties in Cuba (reference, we've been to Cuba over 10 times). Well kept and clean. There was construction on a new outdoor bar area this trip. Upgrading is a good thing but I would think the slow season is a better time to initiate. There is a charge for Cabana's overlooking the ocean which is the prime view. In my opinion that is weak for an all inclusive. And others seem to agree because in two trips to this resort, the Cabana's sit 80% vacant so the best views cannot be experienced from above
- Entertainment - mostly indoors and average relative to other Cuban resorts
- Beach - very nice. Wide but not too long if you're into km's of uninterrupted beach. Clean. Only thing I would change is the volleyball court which is small and right in front of the beach bar which is very awkwardly positioned for roaming guests, Humberto Reyes was very hard working and pleasant
Food - buffet is well stocked with a good assortment but very repetitive. Quality is comparable to other 4,5-5 star Cuban resorts. Biggest issue this trip was that two of the five a la carte resto's (Trinidad & Japanese) were closed for the entire duration and a third (The Grill by pool) was closed for half the trip. All that was open was the International and Tex Mex. Both good. Why would you close half of your a la carte's during the busy season? Or any time for that matter given it is a big booking feature for some. One theme day/night (Cuban Wednesdays) the the entire week. We left Wednesday at 4:30 and all we saw was sugar cane pressing off to one side. Having come to Cuba so frequently, our food expectations are reasonable. Melia Varadero should pick up their game on this front

See strong and weak points for the value on The Level [Details]

The food wasn't great, but you shouldn't go to any place just for the food. I often enjoyed the pasta bar and my husband liked the area where you pick your meat/fish and they prepare it for you - both located in the regular buffet. The overall experience was great, although the price was quite a bit steep in our opinion. Unfortunately, we paid a lot more in comparison to other people we met; luck of the draw I suppose. The LEVEL upgrade did not seem worth it and we were glad that we did not waste the money on it. Their “special” bar and restaurant was ALWAYS empty. Their “special” spot on the beach was literally roped off right beside everyone else, but a bit further from all the amenities - bathrooms, food, bar, etc. The beach was off limits on our last day because they were filming a movie. It was a bit inconvenient but not disastrous. The bathrooms are way too far from the beach, it could be nice to have some either on the beach or just beside it. 95% of the staff was extremely attentive and friendly. Our room was always beautifully cleaned. The shower was hot and had great water pressure!! The grounds were well kept. The internet was awful, even though you pay for it. Again, not a big deal, you're on vacation anyway and shouldn't need your phone/tablet/laptop/etc often.
I cannot comment on the kids entertainment/facility as we do not have any, and we did not use the spa. We did look inside the spa and it looked to be quite nice and very clean.

I would definitely recommend this place to others. We never travel to the same resort twice, but we will likely be back, depending on the price! [Details]