Meliá Varadero *****

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-19
I've just returned from a fabulous week at the Melia Varadero. I was VERY worried after reading some of the reviews but I have to say they were totally off base! The staff were friendly (contrary to other reviews I read) and the service was top notch. I certainly didn't see or experience a lack of service at either the beach bar or the pool bar.... in fact the bartenders got to know us so well, they were pouring our drinks when they caught sight of us. No problems booking the à la carte restaurants however you do need to book as soon as you arrive. The rooms are clean and very well maintained. The property itself is also clean. The beach does have a strip of coral however if you walk down towards the golf course, it is absolutely fabulous! I would highly recommend this property for a great vacation. I know people tend to complain about the food in Cuba but I have to say the Italian restaurant was very good and the Trinidad restaurant during the day serves a great steak! Even the buffet was very tolerable - most nights they offered a fresh pasta bar which was very good! All in all a great time had by all!!

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-03
My wife and I spent the week of March 20-27 at this Melia hotel and found it be much more than we had been expecting given some negative reviews.
We have have travelled to the Caribbean numerous times from 3 star to 5 star hotels. The majority of the hotels we have stayed in reflect the old adage, " you get what you pay for". The Melia Varadero was no exception.

Most reports rate this hotel ratings place this at a 4.5 star while the hotel gives itself a 5 star rating. We felt we had paid for and received services, food, scenery and entertainment that would equate to a 4.5 rated hotel/resort.

Food: Having read that you should book immediately for the specialty retaurants, we did so and thoroughly enjoyed the meals and service. Sure the buffet was repetitive and there were some things we didn't care for but I have found found the same thing wherever I may choose to dine, including in our home country. If I had one negative comment here which was not true of the specialty restaurants, was that in the buffet at times, some items were not kept as hot as we would have liked.

Beach and Pools: What can we say. The beach was fantastic and for us, I can relate them best to the wonderful beach at Cancun without the undertow or consistent waves. If you like rougher water, I would suggest Cancun. Both are great though for appearance and cleanliness.
The pools were excellent except as someone mentioned the lack of a swim up bar. This was the one hotel in all our trips that we didn't have to play the "save the beach or pool chair game". No having to get up at 5:30 am to throw your towel on the chair and leave it "saved for 6 hours while you went to town (pet peeve).

Language: We found that the staff spoke fairly good English. It can never hurt to try and learn some key words and phrases in Spanish, after all, it is you who is travelling to their country. We found it amusing that we would try to order food and drinks in Spanish, and they would smile and answer us in English. We always carry a small pocket book to help us with Spanish words, phrases, and pronounciations.

Tipping: Another refreshing part of our trip was the excellent Sunquest rep we worked with. She spoke fluent English, having studied in Canada. Her tipping advise seemed to work well for us. As previously mentioned by someone, the tip is after the service and not to facilitate good service. The fact you tip ( but it is all inclusive?)will make your stay more enjoyable if you are the type of person who is always worrying if you should tip or not tip. The Sunquest rep put it to us this way. If you you very receive good service a tip is not out of line. A peso (convertable) or 2 would be well received at a specialty restaurant a 5 peso tip would be considered almost extravagant for 2 people. At the pool bar every couple of days if we had been there regularly (hic), it doesn't hurt to give the guys a couple of pesos. You can also tip if you felt it was deserved, with a Canadian $5.00 bill, 25% less valued than a convertable peso. Any way I think you get the drift. Hey it worked for us and we had a great time. If you happen to get to the Melia, say hi to Andres and Fernando from Rick (Ricardo) and Donna (Dohna).

Anónimo, CA, 2005-03-24
We (3 adults between 36 and 69) travelled to Cuba from February 28th to March 7th. It was simply a wonderful vacation. I had been visiting TripAdvisor prior to our vacation and became concerned. Reviews of the hotel were all over the place! None of us had travelled to Cuba and were concerned we had made a poor choice.

After a wonderful week of sun, surf, food and fun, I am pleased to say that it was well worth what we paid. I found little fault in the resort and certainly wouldn’t give the place any less than 4 stars.

Read of line-ups for drinks? Never had to wait for more than a minute or two (as I would in Canada). Read that the beach was poor with lots of coral to walk across? The beach was amazing and the coral stretch for about 10 feet, maximum.

We booked by Sunquest/Skyservice. Bought the “premier package” which included advanced seat selection, earphones, 4 free drinks and a variety of other coupons. It was worth it, if only for the advanced seat selection!

Melia Varadero is marvellous. The lobby, with the open-air tropical garden is amazing and a perfect place for afternoon or evening drinks. Most evenings there was entertainment to add to the atmosphere. The outside is well maintained and a pleasure to walk around. The Melia was built in 1991, so it is beginning to show its age. Renovations are underway, but you would be hard-pressed to notice during your stay. There are several pictures already posted on TripAdvisor that give a good representation of what Melia Varadero has to offer.

The rooms were more than adequate, but not luxurious. Clean and big, with the amenities you need (except a face cloth). We all had rooms on the 1st floor (as requested). Faced the pool where it would get a little noisy when shows were on, but over by 9’ish. As the hotel seems to draw the over 35 crowd, I wouldn’t recommend it for people looking to “party”. We went for peace and quiet, and got it.

With several restaurants (requiring reservations) as well as buffet restaurant and a 24-hour café on site, it is impossible to go hungry at the Melia. There are “regular” restaurants across the street at the Plaza and in Varadero. I found the restaurants in the Melia not worth the effort. Almost everything being served in them is served in the buffet restaurant, just under another name. The “Italian Restaurant” is actually located IN THE BUFFET RESTAURANT? The only difference is you are being served rather than serving yourself. The Buffet is as good as it gets, and it is good, although a bit “tired” after a week. Crowed too, but they are constructing patios so things will improve.

Service was an issue. The staff approach to service is much different than North American standards. Yes, the coffee in Cuba is marvellous, … but try getting a cup!!! Yes, staff are quite friendly and helpful, … but a great many are not. To make your stay more enjoyable, remember where you sat and who served you. Go to them again if it was good, avoid if it was not.

We took 2 tours while we where in Cuba, both booked through the Sunquest representative at the Melia. “Guama, Trains and History” and “Havana Special”. We recommend both.

While staying at the Melia, you are only a couple of minutes from Varadero. Only a $6 cab ride. Give the city a try, but don’t expect much. Bear in mind that the sidewalks are in HORRIBLE condition. Deep holes everywhere! When you arrive in Melia, you may notice folks with new casts on their legs and arms. They are people who have been to the city and taken a tumble on the sidewalk. No kidding, … don’t get too distracted or you will get hurt badly.

We all took a considerable amount of “stuff” with us as gifts for staff at the Melia. We recommend that you don’t. They have enough pens and paper. Shopping for the stuff prior to going was a chore, packing the items was difficult, and distributing them daily to the maid a bit of a hassle. I recommend that if you feel you must tip the maid (you will know her name as it is in a card displayed in your suite), leave money. She can decide how best it be spent.

We left the Melia feeling that tipping has gotten out of hand. There are poor in Cuba, which will become very obvious to you. There are no poor working at the Melia Varadero, which will become obvious to you as well. The same common sense you use when tipping in Canada is appropriate at the Melia. Tips are earned by meeting (and exceeding) expected standards in service.

I could go on for quite some time regarding both the Melia Varadero and our trip. Basically, I recommend the resort (or the other two resorts associated with it – Melia Las Americas or Sol Palmas) and am certain you would enjoy your stay.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-03-23
Just returned from 14 days in Cuba, 4 days at the Melia Cohiba (which was fantastic) and 10 days at the Melia Varadero.

The Melia Varadero is a nice hotel, but didn't live up to the 5-star rating that the Sol Melia chain gives it.

Negative points: (1) we had a room facing the courtyard, and had to listen to buses idling and dogs barking ALL night long; (2) both my wife and I got food poisoning from the buffet on 2 separate occasions (3) huge hotel, lots of kids out-of-control, etc (which is fine if you have kids) (4) al la carte restaurant food was mediocre at best.

Good points: great beach, friendly people, resort is well maintained, rooms are modern and clean.

Hope that helps.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-03-23
My friend and I stayed at the Melia from March 12th to March 19th. If you are used to getting hospitable and proactive service, save yourself and don't expect much, moreso, anything from the staff. You need to be assertive and ask for service, otherwise, you won't get it. The hotel is poorly maintained - the hallways smelled like a combination of vomit and mold - an indication that the place is not well-ventilated. Also, be forewarned of the language barrier - you'll be lucky if you can find someone who can speak and understand good (not fluent) english. Most of the clients speak french and/or spanish and majority of the staff only speaks spanish. The place have 4-5 so-called 'specialty' restaurants but do not expect an authentic menu from these places. You have to reserve your seating for these resto's as soon as you checked in otherwise you'll end up at the buffet restaurant- 'quite a blessing for us because you can eat what you want and as much as you want at the buffet. The food is not that great either - too bland, the rice is uncoooked, the veggies are stale and the fruits are close to being rotten (specifically the papaya). You won't have unlimited access to drinking water, so make sure to ask for a bottle when you dine. This, you can take with you to the beach. But, don't expect it to be cold as drinking water at the place is lukewarm. Ask for ice always! The drinking glasses smelled like seawater and so were the dishes - they are not properly washed and sanitized. The rooms are well-maintained, however, toilet paper supply is scarce. Air conditioning in the room was poor (felt like a fan) as well. It is activated by your room key and so, if you leave your room for the day, you will return to a very hot room (unless you decide to leave your key - which is very risky considering the cleaning staff has access to your room too). Concierge service is very bad - we called for toilet paper one time and didn't get it. We had to wait for the cleaning lady to come and clean our room the next day just to get a new supply of 2 rolls. Also, we came back from a Havana trip at 4 AM and saw that we didn't have any towels. As it turned out, the cleaning lady forgot about it. We had to call the desk twice for clean towels. Imagine coming back from a whole day in Havana and you wanted to freshen up before going to bed and voila, you don't have any towels!!!

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone only because you won't get the full value from the price that you're paying for. This is not a 4 star resort. This place should be re-assessed. To me, a 2-star rating is more appropriate. Try the other places (Breezes, for instance) and you'll get a better deal. The beach may be nice, but it is not unique to this place - other resorts can offer it as well. Spend your hard-earned money somewhere else.