Paradisus Princesa Del Mar Vacations

We arrived in the late afternoon of March 31st. We were warmly welcomed by the charming Anisley at the main portal of the Paradisus Princesa del Mar and immediately given a welcome drink. Shortly afterwards our luggage was loaded onto an electric cart and we were quickly driven to the lobby of the Royal Service by Alain, who was also very friendly. The butler Randy introduced himself very politely and explained everything to us. Basically everyone there is very hardworking and hardworking. The people whose names I will mention here have gone a lot further and have inspired us every day. These are the people who impressed us with their commitment, met us very emotionally and touched us with their manner. They are the names of the people who gave us indescribable moments. We were constantly asked how we were doing and asked about our wishes. I would also like to highlight Laura, many people know her from the beautiful reports on social media platforms - she is always there when questions need to be answered or when there is something to discuss. Laura was supported every day by her always friendly and present colleague Leodanys, who constantly made sure that the guests' wishes were fulfilled.
There are several buffet-style restaurants or you can use the very nice a la carte restaurants. We enjoyed the service and the taste experiences in the restaurants “Miramar”, “Marseille” and “Firenze”. The teppanyaki show in “Sakura” was well worth seeing and the food there was also very tasty. Not everything is always available in the hotel due to various shortages, but what is available is very well prepared and decorated.
The beach: Kilometers long and gently sloping, beautiful turquoise blue, with a small beach bar, in the Royal Service area they even brought drinks or fruit cubes to the loungers.
The pool area in the Royal Service is beautifully laid out; umbrellas can be placed directly on the loungers upon request. There is a swim-up bar right next to the pool with a team that keeps holidaymakers smiling all day long. Annarays, Belkis and Marlene are very experienced, committed, friendly and accommodating. We laughed a lot together and felt good every second. The girls also serve directly at the lounger if you want. There are many hard-working employees around the pool who ensure that everything is in good condition. Miguel was always on the go and took great care of everything around the pool.
The entertainment – ​​we really enjoy it when something is offered and the service is not intrusive. For us it was such a hit. We enjoyed the varied evening shows, the Cuban and Canadian themed days and the offers throughout the day very often. We were particularly impressed by Marialys; it was a pleasure to watch her dance or interact with the guests in a lovely way.
Music and entertainment from morning to evening - Ritmo Cubano... in many places throughout the complex there is singing, magical, hand-made music played - and now and then even spontaneous dancing by the guests.
We experienced another top performer with the small and yet huge Yasnivi. She is the only woman in the Royal Service Butler team and is simply always there. She asked constantly and everywhere if everything was okay, fulfilled every wish that could be fulfilled and made sure that nothing was missing.
The minibar was filled daily, if possible even with the drinks you wanted. The room cleaning was really very good - sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, often with little decoration surprises in the bathroom or on the bed.
Halfway through our vacation we met Carolien from the resort management for the first time, she even speaks German - she also went from guest to guest more and more often to ask how they were feeling or whether something could be done.

Very dated, terrible food. BUT, Service was excellent, royal service is a must. Staff was helpful and doing the best they could with what they had to work with. If you like the beach, pool and friendly people then this is your place, food and drinks are hit and miss.

Excellent service, beautiful garden areas, we loved the beach and the animation of the hotel is what moves all the hot ones, I make a special mention on Saturday night the concert of the most beautiful singer I met in Cuba, Miss Nayvi, it is a top professional and the entertainment team, I make special mention of Mary and Teresa, thank you for the experiences.

Despite the situations of the hotel, the workers had very good service, the food was excellent. I want to congratulate the entertainer Brenda for her great job, very good teaching the dance classes, the shows at night were very good and the decoration was very nice.

Day 2 and this is a wonderful, beautiful place! Clean, well organized, and the staff are all AMAZING! Just participated in a Canadian Day show with singing, dancing and great food. Ended with O Canada, so amazing!!! Can't wait to spend the rest of our get-away in this relaxed, welcoming resort. Would definitely recommend. ❤️

Girls trip with 6 friends, so much fun!!

TOP NOTCH STAFF!! We absolutely love the staff and it has been an amazing experience! Will definitely add to our list of resorts to return to! Everyone has been extremely accommodating and if we need anything there is always someone to help out. Cuba is beautiful and the people here make it a wonderful place to visit! The Entertainment Team goes above and beyond! 🇨🇺❤️

We've been twice now to this resort, and we will definitely be going back! We have three young boys, so vacations for my husband I are precious and rare. We went to this hotel last year, and loved it. I really do love so many features of this hotel, but one of my favourite things is how it is spread out. The rooms are not far from the beach(2-5 min), the food (2- 5min) or even the marina (20 min walk, enjoy the markets and the jelly fish at the docks). Nothing is on top on each other, so you can really enjoy the sounds and scenery. The staff are wonderful (especially Ani and Leo, whom went above and beyond to celebrate our anniversary). Whether on the regular side or the royal service side, either are honestly a paradise. This year we were on the royal service side. If you want the amazing music, upbeat people at the pool side bar, and more youthful feel - I suggest the regular side, however if you want a lovely quiet, much more relaxed vacation - the royal service is more tailored for you. We ended LOVING the quiet, the 24 hour bar (fantastic drinks), and our ocean view suite. It really is more of an experience, that you want to not leave and dream of returning to. Not only is this a fabulous hotel, but as soon as you arrive you just breathe easier, not only because of its incredible beauty but also because of its atmosphere. We will be overjoyed if we get to return again.

-Jessica

We enjoy our holidays in the resort , the hotel is very nice , the entertainment team is the best, the food and service is excellent, the show in the afternoon in the restaurant is very good the canada party was very fun ,the diner in the hill top very good ,we like and enjoy our holidays 😀.

I read a lot of reviews about Cuba. Lots of unsatisfactory reviews about the service and food. In turn, I want to say that when we went to Cuba, we perfectly understood where we were going. They knew very well about the sanctions since the late fifties. Therefore, we did not expect that our towels would be changed twice a day, as in Dubai or the Maldives. They understood perfectly well that the food was not as varied, again, as in Dubai or Bodrum, etc. However, we did not regret that we went on vacation to Cuba. The menu is not rich, but the products are high quality. It’s fashionable to live in a simple “kitchen” for 2 weeks. Bed linen and towels were not changed every day, however, upon request this was done.
Otherwise, the rest was wonderful and interesting. We attended 10 massage sessions. The people are wonderful, smiling and kind. The ocean and the beach are just fire!

Kevin, Teresa, Dariel, Vrenda, Jesus were very good entertainers! They were lots of fun!

It is the best hotel I have ever seen, a paradise I had a great time with excellent service impeccable cleanliness the food was very well prepared and varied you can visit the hotel I recommend it 100% I make special mention of the entertainment team and their workers tere, Mari, Dariel, Kevin, Nayvi, excellent singer and entertainer, this is the third time at the hotel and some things have changed but this team is still the one who gives life to the hotel.

My wife and I recently stayed at this resort for a week. This was our 3rd time in Cuba. Our last stay was 2 years at the Iberostar next door.

The highlights: the beach and the staff. The rest was either average or below average. The resort deserves a 3-star only - and any ratings below 2 stars or above 4 stars are, in my opinion, out of line. The resort is not "horrible" as some describe and it's hardly "the best place ever" as some imply. Full disclosure: I have no vested interest in this review - I want to help others make the right decision when making their travel plans.

The beaches of Varadero are excellent. While I did prefer the beaches in the Santa Maria region (finer/whiter sand, you can walk out further), the beaches in Varadero are excellent too.

The staff were very friendly and were generally willing to help. Special consideration goes to Leonydas who was always around the front desk and pool area to help with any concerns. The man deserves 6 stars out of 5 - a true asset to the resort and the company.

As for my criticisms and concerns - in no particular order. The pool area is very nice but there is no shade - no umbrellas at all, which makes sitting in the hot sun uncomfortable and, unsafe for many. In my many travels to sunny destinations, I've never seen a resort absent of umbrellas or shady zones poolside. There were, however, plenty of umbrellas by the ocean.

Food - nobody goes to Cuban resorts for top-notch cuisine. While we never went hungry, the resort consistently repeated the same options - whether it was fruits, vegetables or even hot foods. They were 'just OK'. Soft drinks were very low in supply, with no colas. Bread was unavailable on some days, eggs on others. No pina coladas on many days - that was a new one for us, having visited many Caribbean resorts over the years. While we aren't big drinkers, a pina colada is always a nice drink to have poolside. The specialty restaurants were fair at best with the Japanese option being the best in our opinion. With the various food shortages, it is no surprise that the restaurant staff had to repurpose and reinvent the menu.

Wifi - being on vacation, disconnecting a bit is nice but getting on the wifi is a real chore. While this is not atypical in Cuba, and shouldn't have to be this way either. The resort could easily implement a secure system that allows you to input your room number and surname into the login screen rather than a code that even the CIA couldn't crack. Adding a few more wifi antennas across the resort would be helpful too.
Pool and room towels were often in short supply. This is unacceptable.

While our room was nice, we lacked air-conditioning for 1.5 days. It would have been very helpful to have screens on the balcony doors so at least you could let an evening or night breeze to enter and ventilate/cool the room without allowing any insects.

I spoke to several guests who had all kinds of horror stories during their stays.. One fellow from Vancouver, BC said part of his ceiling collapsed - fortunately, he was unhurt. Several people waited hours beyond the check-in time to get a room. Another one was checked into a room where the walls were lined with mosquitoes.

A few tips if you haven't been to a Cuban resort - bring small US bills ($1 is fine) and some small CDN bills too. The staff appreciate and deserve tips. If you have any baseball caps or shirts, they love those too. They will gladly accept common medicines. A day trip to Havana is interesting but things are especially tough there due to economic hardships - be prepared to be followed by locals looking for money. The local hop-on hop-off bus in Varadero for $5/day is a bargain and makes for a nice ½ day trip.

In conclusion, any deficiencies at this resort are squarely on the shoulders of Melia - a Spanish company with many resorts around the world. My wife and I have stayed in many of their properties - Spain, Mexico, Cuba and elsewhere. They have great local staff working here but are providing them with limited resources and oversight. Shame on them.

A group of girls went to spend the weekend and we had a great time. Thanks to all the teams at this beautiful hotel.

Absolutely loved our stay. The crew was very kind and was open to help us with all of our questions.
We loved the food despite the fact that sometimes it can get very difficult to get the best produce on Cuba. We had the feeling the kitchen staff was excellent in making the best out of everything.
The hotel is right on the beach so we could not ask for more.
When we werent feeling the beach we could enjoy the enormous clean pool.
I would recommend this hotel to everybody!

My best vacation without a doubt, it is an excellent hotel, a wonderful and very professional staff Anisley at the reception is incredible, thanks to her our stay was wonderful, the guys at the Lobby Bar Geovany and Amaury are magnificent, the animation team is super good Thank you all, we will definitely be back soon.

We have been at the hotel for two hours and without a doubt it has been the worst welcome received in our days in Cuba.
We arrived before check-in time and the wait was reasonable. However, we had to leave our luggage at the entrance and they did not provide us with the wifi key or towels to be able to wait at the pool. When we entered the hall bathroom, the cleanliness was not as expected. We went to look for the restaurants and for lunch only the buffets are open (which leave a lot to be desired, it looks more like a water park canteen).
Two couples came, they gave us the key to one room at the scheduled time but without a wifi key, and we had to wait because the other one was not ready. When we got to this first room, there were no towels. The room was spacious but very old and had a tremendous musty smell. A small refrigerator made us think we would have fresh water, but it was empty despite staying on an all-inclusive basis. I don't know what the rest of the hours will be like, but I can assure you that all the guest houses visited were much better and the service was spectacular, despite not being staff trained for customer service. We have paid 200 euros per night per couple per night. As an interesting fact, in the rest of the accommodations we have not paid more than 35 euros per night and food in Cuba is cheap (a main meal can be around 15 euros per person in the best restaurants in the country).
I don't understand how the Meliá group is not ashamed to provide this service.

Never ever I will come again not only to this resort. Never ever I will go again to Cuba at all.
This garbage not even worth my time to write review.

Wonderful place and great stuff

Everything was nice but the catering was lacking.