Meliá Cayo Santa María

Anónimo, CA, 2007-06-20  
My boyfriend and I (age 26 & 30) stayed at the Melia Cayo Santa Maria May 19-26. This was our first all-inclusive and it will be pretty hard to top.
The beach is GORGEOUS!! We couldn't believe our eyes when we first saw it! Perfect white sand and crystal clear turquise water...unbelievable! The resort grounds are lush and beautiful. The pools are clean and gorgeous. Our first room was on the ground floor and had many bugs so we asked for a second floor room. We were moved the next morning and did not see one more bug the rest of our stay. The rooms are so clean, pretty and spacious. The food is okay, as it is everywhere in Cuba. The resort seemed half-full and was mostly couples and some families, not many little kids at all but there is a kids pool. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation, this is the resort! This is not a party/spring break type resort, thank god. The Cuban people that work there are so cute and so hard working. They are a big part of what makes this resort is so great... You can change your Canadian money at the airport (also at hotel) and be sure to get single pesos to tip your maid and your servers. They all work so hard.
To sum it up, this resort was amazing, we were very sad to leave and will definately return!!

Anik Léveillé, CA, 2006-02-02
When my husband and I decided to get married in Cuba, we had no expectations whatsoever about our wedding. We wanted such a simple ceremony that we figured it would probably be the most boring wedding to ever take place in Cuba! But when we got to meet Maria Elena, our wedding coordinator, we never suspected that she would make our wedding so incredibly wonderful and warm. Not only did we receive a royal treatment throughout the entire week (champain, fruits, rhum, reservations in advance for the "à la carte" restaurants, special attentions, etc...) but we were also treated with such kindness, organization and efficiency that we simply felt that we did not deserve such kindness! There is no way that we could have received this same treatment in Montreal had we decided to get married at home. Maria Elena is a very nice human being and the way she handled all the details of the ceremony was simply perfect, and this, with always a big nice smile on her face even though I had noticed that she was extremely busy with her other tasks all day long. Moreover, she always made sure our little baby was doing fine and had everything he needed at the hotel. In fact, she had even prepared a baby bed for him in our room even though we had not requested one! So needless to say that this was extremely appreciated. Maria Elena had become our little personal gold mine!!

Sincerely thanking your staff for such an incredible job at the Melia Cayo Santa Maria. We will always keep a great souvenir about the Cuban hospitality.

Anik Léveillé

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-25
I have travelled all over the world and visited over 30 countries. This was my first trip to Cuba...it will not be my last. Because of the research I did using mostly trip reports from this site we brought things with us for the hotel staff and the locals. Take the time to go to Value Village and spend $10 on children's clothes and toys. The smiles on their faces are priceless. We also took fishing gear for the catamaran Captain, nail polish (they all love red), hair clips, "scrunchies", colouring books and crayons. I just wish we could have done more.

For detailed information on this resort including additional reviews photos and what there is to do, please visit ----. This is a private website dedicated to this specific resort by a couple in Montreal.

Let me start by saying...WOW!!!...one more time....WOW!!! What a beautiful resort. Even though it is only a year and a half old and not as lush as the Sol, it was absolutely beautiful. There must be something special because there were more people staying at the Melia than the Sol. I'm telling you, it is absolutely stunning. This was our Honeymoon and the staff at the hotel couldn't have made it any better than they did. We had a perfect week of sun and sand and romance. My deepest appreciation to Maria Elena and Miriela at reservations for making this such a perfect vacation.

The Flight
Air Transat could give the other airlines lessons in processing passengers. When we arrived at the airport there were nearly 100 people ahead of us and yet we were check in in less than 15 minutes. The flight was on-time and smooth. If you can pre-book your seats, choose row 13. it's the overwing emergency exit row and has more legroom.

Arrival.
The airport in Santa Clara is roughly the size of any Canadian gas station. Despite it's size, they people are very professional and very efficient. Even the drug dog is adorable. Like so many before us, we lined up on the tarmac and waited our turn to go through customs. This is a very social event as everyone is excited to have arrived. We were through customs in about half an hour. Once through, change your money to Convertible Pesos and get yourself a cold drink while you wait for the rest of your group. Check-in is done on the bus and very easy. You receive an envelope with your room keys, bracelets and hotel passport and you're done. I told you it was easy.

The ride through the countryside to the hotel is very interesting. The locals all wave and seem very happy to see the busses roll by. The causeway is something spectacular. An engineering marvel that the Cubans should be very proud of. The scenery is beautiful and only gets better as you get closer to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel roughly 7 hours after leaving Toronto. The staff at the hotel was waiting for us when we arrived. The entertainers were dressed in bright colours and dancing for us and there was rum punch for everyone. They kept the buffet open for us to have an evening snack. Our luggage was delivered to our room within the hour. These people know how to do things right.

Our Room
We were in room 1621. That's the yellow bungalow right in front of the chessboard. You'll know which one when you get there. Our second floor balcony not only overlooked the pool and resort but the ocean as well. Because this was our honeymoon, there was a bottle of Champaign, flowers and a fruit plate waiting for us when we arrived, accompanied by a very nice letter from hotel management. They even pre-booked us for dinner at each of the a-la-carte restaurants. The rooms are large and bright and very, very clean. The king size bed with 6 pillows bed was much more than we needed. Open the windows at night and fall asleep to an ocean breeze and the sounds of the waves and wake up to the birds singing. What an experience.

The Food.
The food was excellent. We tried everything. What we didn't like...we didn't try again. Simple eh??? Every morning we ate omelettes at the buffet and fresh squeezed orange juice. You just can't appreciate good orange juice until you've had it fresh squeezed. The only disappointment was the coffee in the restaurants. I'm not sure if it's the machines they use or what but we stopped drinking it. It's not that it's bad...just different. The coffee in the room was so good we started drinking it black and bought some to bring home. The wine we had was from Spain and Antigua. It was surprisingly very good.

Each night we ate in one of the a-la-carte restaurants the meals got better and better. The first night it was lobster on the patio by the pool. Serenaded under the stars. The next night, Italian. Also very good. The night before we left we ate at the El Portuna. The food at all of the restaurants is excellent and the service is as good as that in the best restaurants in Montreal and Toronto.

Activities.
We wanted to do it all. Unfortunately due to time and availability constraints we couldn't. We did rent a jeep for 3 hours ($21). Good thing we chose the jeep over the scooters as only the road to the hotels is paved and the scooters are not off-road friendly. We saw a couple who rented them and she was not a happy camper. The jeep is definitely the way to go. We explored jungle trails and secluded beaches. Because it's an island, all roads eventually lead to a beach. We made sandwiches at the buffet before we left, took drinks from the mini bar and had a picnic. Bring a few Tupperware dishes for this as there is no plastic wrap or sandwich bags.

On Wednesday we took the trip to Trinidad. It was one of those things you have to do once but not again. The bus ride is far too long (3 hours) and once in Trinidad the temperature must have been 40 deg C between the buildings. We left the resort at 7:30am and returned at 7 pm. That's 6 hours on a bus. If you go, take bars of soap from the hotel, and little gifts for the locals. They really have very little. One part of this tour stops at another smaller hotel outside of Trinidad where you board an old Russian army truck and head off into the jungle. You stop at a little hidden oasis where lunch is provided. The next time we will take the Santa Clara tour just because it's shorter.

On Thursday we sailed on the Catamaran. This is a MUST DO!!!! It's $72/person but worth every penny. We snorkelled twice, ate fresh lobster on the boat and sailed all afternoon. The crews are fabulous and everyone on board quickly became friends. This will forever be our most memorable activity of the trip. Book early, as this is very popular.

We had a massage while there. You've gotta have a massage. Even if it's just for the opportunity to talk to Roberto. He's very well educated and very interesting to talk to. My wife and I were both very relaxed afterwards.

People
What can I say? The staff at the hotel is wonderful. Very friendly, very helpful and a ton of fun. Everyone from the gardeners to the entertainers are genuinely happy to see you and talk with you. Oraima, our maid showed us pictures of her kids and we chatted nearly every day. We left a note and a little something in the room each day for her and her family....again, the kid's clothes and toys are greatly appreciated.

If you only see one show while there, make it the Michael Jackson show. This guy is great. Right down to the crotch grabbing and moon walking. Absolutely perfect. We went to about 4 shows and each was different and equally good. Remember, they are mostly kids and they do a much better job than I could. It's not Vegas but they do a very good job.

Final Thoughts.
Genevieve, our travel rep was organized and very helpful. She will be missed when she rotates out in a couple of weeks.

If you bring one item to Cuba, make it a thermal mug like the kind used for coffee in the car on the way to work. For safety, no glass is allowed on the beach or around the pool and the plastic glasses they provide are very small. I spent a lot of time running back and forth from the beach to the bar just for drinks.

There are currently 2 additional hotels under construction on the island. This place is going to take off and the prices will go up accordingly. If you want a wonderful vacation go now. You will not be sorry.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-24
We are a couple around 30's, and we have extensive experience of visiting different resorts in Caribbean. We jsut returned from this resort on April 23, 2005.

Money:
Take with you a handful of US $1-bills for tipping (20 should be enough for one week). It's much better than trying to change Canadian money into the local currency (the exchange rate is awful). Canadian looneys and tooneys are not accepted.

Tipping
Remember, that average Cuban salary is $12 a month. You can tip for an outstanding service, but don't go crazy. As I have said, $20 of tips should be enough for a week. For example for the room service - one dollar at the beginning of the stay, and another dollar in the middle of your stay would keep them properly stimulated to invent new ways to please you :) Also, you may want to tip with some presents from Canadian dollar stores. They would appreciate any useful items like watches, calculators, toys, crayons and so on.

Room:
Very nice and spacious rooms, stylish decorations and paitings. The fridge was updated every day. But there was only one beer can per day, and a couple of other soft drinks. If you want, you can buy a couple of 6-packs beers in Toronto duty free and take it with you. It costs $7 each (which is almost $1 per can), and gives you a full freedom when to drink the beer on your vacation :)

Food:
The buffet has a very limited variety of food, especially for breakfast. Definetly less than I would expect from a 5 star resort. The food is usually cooked in a very plain way, without much sauce or other ideas. Just boiled fish, boiled meet, and so on. The cheese was plain awful. The greatest taste had the fresh local vegetables and fruts, just because they are fresh and organic. Lobster dinner is a joke, snack bar is a waste of time. Highly recommend the Mediterranean resturant - amazing atmosphere and the flute music from heaven.

Activites:
Activities are rather limited - tai chi, dance, spanish, beach voleyball, tennis. The local staff shows very little enthusiasm in involving people.

Pool:
The pools and landscaping aronud them are beautiful. But the water is very cold, there was practically nobody in the water. So, you may think about them more like a decoration ponds :) Also, the shade is very limited and usually it was impossible to get a place in the shade. So, take lots of 45 sunscreen.

Beach:
Very beautiful beach, with pure wilderness around for miles. The same problem of insufficient shady places. The sea bottom has nice yellow sand. But there is nothing to see for snorkelling.

Weather:
The weather was unpleasant. Very strong wind, which was really bothering us. We had to dress really warm in the evening, and we got cold immediately once we got out of the water. 4 days the beach was closed because of the big waves. The other 3 days the beach was open, but the sea was still pretty rough.

Staff:
Cuban people are very friendly, open and warm. It's a real pleasure to deal with them. Although sometimes they put some pressure to lure some tips out of you. They have a real strategy for this for example at the buffet restaurant. A waiter would bring you a cup of coffee, put it on the table and wait for a couple of seconds to signify his deed. For every plate removed from the table there would be a small performance of "excuse me my interruption, sir", "are you done with your plate?", "are you positive?", and then gracious removal of the plate :) Which for me is the total opposite that one would expect from a waiter in a restaurant. Of course none of them got any tips for this :) Other then that, they are a charming people to deal with, and we always had a very good service and communications.

Return flight:
It took us about 11 hours to get back home (Air Transat). We gatherd for boarding buses at 2:15 pm, then the loading procedure took about 45 minutes. Another 1 hr 15 min to get to the airport. Where we spent 1 hr for check-in. Then we waited another 2 hrs until boarding the plane. Then 1 hr flight to Montego Bay. 45 min stop there. Another 3 hr 30 min flight to Toronto. And finally unloading from the plane, customs and "home, sweet home" :)

Summary:
Even though the price was a real bargain ($840 per person - from Toronto, including taxes and everything) next time we'll try to find a different place. The island weather is very unpredictable and can make the vacations not the most pleasant experience. Besides, 11 hours for a return flight - that's way too much.

Anónimo, CA, 2005-04-23
Just got back from a vacation at this resort April 15. My friend and I were going for some relaxation, and had read reviews prior to booking, so we were not disappointed. The resort was beautiful- we were very surprised to find out how luxurious it was, especially the rooms. They were well decorated, and spotlessly clean. I was surprised- there was even a soaker tub and hand held shower, so that made bathing luxurious for the week. We tipped extra, and got extra water and beer put in the fridge every day, so that was terrific.
The food was very good- it's been five years since I'd last been to Cuba, and the improvement is noticeable. We only ate one night at the buffet. We registered for our a la carte dinners, but on two nights went to different restaurants for the 6:30 sitting, and got in when people didn't show up for their reservations. So try this, if you want to return to a particular restaurant, or you miss booking your meals. The only disappointment for me with food was a lack of fresh fruit, but I was told that there's been a drought in Cuba for the past 8 months, so fresh fruit is at a premium. It was available, but not in abundance.
The beach was absolutely amazing. I've never seen a more beautiful beach, or cleaner one. We walked for hours-I had the blisters to prove it! The best day was when we got up before sunrise and met the morning on the beach. We kept walking, and without anyone around for miles were able to swim in total privacy. It was bliss.
We ended up going to the pool at the Sol hotel next door every afternoon to swim. Finding a chair in the shade at the Melia was impossible, but we could have our pick at the Sol. The gardens there are more established, so there was plenty of shade trees and beautiful flowers around the pool, so it was very pleasant. You can get drinks there, just not food. It made a nice change, as we always swam in the ocean in the mornings. The water is so warm, you can swim at dawn and it's lovely.
We went on the catamaran, and it was absolutely one of the best things we did that week. Lots of fun, great snorkeling, and a swim at a pristine beach that had sand like talcum powder. It was paradise. We found star fish, and a conch to look at. I highly recommend this trip. We also rented a moped and explored. Get directions to the Blanco Beach- it was deserted and beautiful. It's about a 30 minute ride from the Melia, and is at the far eastern part of the beach in front of the hotel.
The people who work at the resort were wonderful. I was so impressed- my friend and I will definitely return. I wish I was there right now.....
We both highly recommend this resort. It represented great value, and if relaxation is what you want, it's here.