MELIA CAYO SANTA MARIA

Spent this past Christmas at the Melia Cayo Santa Maria and we had a great time and made some great new friends. The resort is beautiful and the staff is very friendly. Shout out to Amanda in Customer service, Chef Daniel, Yainelys and Jose in the buffet dining room, Juan Carlo in the lobby bar, bellboys Junior and Alexis and last but not least, Clarabelle in housekeeping. The Christmas Eve buffet was amazing!
We had an issue with water temp and pressure, but other than that, the room was great. We will definitely be back again.

My second time at Cayo Santa Maria. My first visit, I stayed at Melia Buenavista with my friend where we get to visit almost all of the hotels close by. I like the location a lot that I had to come back with my daughter but Buenavista is adults only resort. I have the affinity to Melia Cayo Santa Maria because their friendly staff, so I decided to book them for my second time at Santa Maria with my daughter. It was a great decision! Their nightly show blew me away. It's like broadway on some nights, some circus acts too such as fire breathing and acrobatics. They are very talented and comparable to the acts you see in NYC.

The other things I and my daughter enjoyed is the Latin dance lessons on the beach every morning and again by the pool late afternoon. You can't go wrong with that... imagine grooving to the beats of Latin music on a perfect day outdoors! The teacher is passionate and he will make you learn to dance!

Aside from their top notch entertainment team, the resort also has freshly painted tennis court. They have about 4 or 5 tennis courts and a single player practice court.

The food is great for me. I see it as clean food - fresh and organic with not a lot of additives. Their drinks are the best, the lobby bar has great choices of liquors. My personal favorite is espresso martini and ofcourse, Cuban classics- Pina colada and mojito.

The rooms are spacious, beds are comfortable and the cleaner always makes arts and crafts with the towels that will warm up your heart when you get back to your freshly made room.

Over all I think, what stands out about this resort is their team. The hotel has a good vibe from the moment you enter the resort, the first lounge chair you pull- (the pool and beach guys are always there to make sure you get the most out of your lounging), and when you sit to get a drink. It was hard to leave the resort because you never really know when you can come back. Also despite of the crisis in Cuba, the Melia Cayo Santa Maria team is always smiling and making sure that we have a great vacation!

I appreciate my stay!

Highly recommended!

Hola! My husband and I spent 2 weeks at Melia Cayo Santa Maria Dec 13 - 27, 2023. We were there for a wedding during a cold front and it was rainy and cold BUT the entertainment team led by Darbel including Ariel, Victor, Antonio, Adrian and Nayibi made our stay so much FUN!!!! This group hosted the most epic bachelor/bachelorette party EVER. We had a blast with this group almost every single night and can't wait to go back for a visit. Thank you to my friends for making our visit so much fun!! And Hacha Hacha mi amours ❤

Hotel has one of the best beaches, long and wide beach, white sand and lots of palapas. Hotels is smaller but everything is within walking distance. 2 beach bars are serving lunch now, grilled meat and soup every day, some salad too. lobby bar is the place to be in the evening for live music, entertainment crew is doing great job to balance whole day and fill it with activities for all ages and all day. Good Job Melia and see you soon again sometimes.

Cayo Santa Maria is a beautiful island but this hotel Cayo Santa Maria has one of the most amazing beach !!! Spectacular Beach.
The hotel is nice 👍 in general . Most of the people who work are friendly and dedicated to their work.Snack Bar was our favourite place to eat pizza 🍕 and burger are delicious . Also the specialty restaurants was good .Christmas Eve dinner was delicious our favourite was the grill lobster and sushi 🍣.that night the buffet restaurant was beautiful decorated . We had a great time there. Thank you to Cuba and to all Cuban for the hardworking and kindness

Awesome place with really great people. Beach is 10/10 white sand crystal clear water. Food is good for Cuba. 🇨🇺 Rooms were adequate, this isn't a fancy hotel however it is nice and safe with good drinks, good food and amazing people. Don't trust the bad reviews people wanting 5 star value who cheap out and go to Cuba. Nightly entertainment in the lobby was always good live music was great.

Remember where you are, we go because the people there are the best.
Jovanni, Nester and Rob at the beach bar and grill are amazing guys who made our vacation.

A once in a lifetime experience! I went there with my wife and two kids. This was our first trip to Cuba and let me tell you, it could not have been any better. The location of the hotel is excellent and the beaches are phenomenal. The food was great, and the service was outstanding. I felt like I knew the staff my whole life and I was treated like family. They even taught me a little Spanish like the words hermanos (brothers), bebida (drink) and farlopa (beautiful). It definitely won't be my last time in Cuba and I will for sure be staying at the same hotel again!

Absolutely beautiful beach at this resort. All the staff go out of their way to make your stay the best it can possibly be. Some limitations with food but nothing that impacted us very much.

A beautiful resort with the most incredible staff!! I’ve been to this resort multiple times and will not be staying at any other resort in Cuba. The resort itself is gorgeous, pristine beaches, and plenty of great amenities and activities. The staff go above and beyond to make sure you’re having a good time and make the stay at Melia Las Dunas that much better. The restaurants at resort have excellent food with lots of variety and selection. The a la carte restaurants are each offer different cuisines such as Caribbean, Mediterranean, Asian, Italian and international. The pool is the best part. Lots of space with many shaded cabanas, swim-up bar and daily activities for kids & adults. The entertainment at the resort is next level. The shows put on in the lobby are professional level performances/productions, you can tell the entertainers work tirelessly on their craft and put their all into every show. The audience is always engaged and impressed throughout each performance. The resort hosts different types of parties at night in the lobby or at the beach which are super fun and engaging! Overall, Melia Las Dunas is an amazing resort and everyone who works there is just as incredible. I cannot recommend it any higher. 10/10

This resort is a beautiful gem well worth the one and a half hour drive from the Santa Clara Airport. My daughter and I recently spent a week there (February 17-24). It was our first trip to Cuba, our travel agent had suggested Melia Cayo Santa Maria and it was everything we could wish for and more. The cleanliness of our room, buildings, dining areas, lobby, bars etc. was exceptional, everything shone, the food was varied and excellent, my compliments to the chefs, the service was excellent. The pools were clean and the beach was breathtakingly beautiful!. The staff were professional and friendly, we were treated so well. We listened to live music after supper by what I believe to be some of the most talented musicians they have . It was all wonderful. The only drawback was the wifi connection but that is a common problem I learned with all resorts on Cuba, so based on the "stories" I heard from other people at other resorts. Melia was not so bad.
Unfortunately, Air Transat, the airline we flew with, was a absolute hellish disaster coming home, all passengers spending a full night in an airport and most of the next day, it was hellish. But that was in no way any fault of the Melia resort. i would highly recommend this resort to anyone but hopefully another airline who cares about its passengers will be available to transport you. We could never fly there again by Air Transat.

The resort is beautiful, the staff are friendly and accommodating. Chocolate was wonderful!! The drinks are mixed perfectly and the food was great! Had an amazing time here. Flaca is a good bartender. Andre is a great guy too!

Great resort . Great workers. Food was decent due to economic conditions but the chefs are amazing. Fresh food still very good.

This is a fabulous resort, the rooms are clean and spacious with maid service done daily, the staff are very friendly and helpful during our stay. The resort is limited to only staff and resort vacationers through security checkpoints.

Stayed for a week and I loved everything. The people are super kind and the food is very good too. It was my first all inclusive experience and I loved it.

2nd visit to this hotel. The grounds are amazing, staff very friendly and happy to see tourists. The rooms were standard but very clean and funtional. Great selection of food which was adequate. The best part is the beach. This is by far the nicest beach i have ever visited. The water is crystal clear and white sand like flour. Gorgeous.

I dont understand why some ratings are so low. The employees were exceptional. So good with children. The rooms were nice. Some first level rooms did have a slight must smell but expected after hurricane season. Entertainment for kids and adults. Assortments of places to eat. Coffee not Canadian that's for sure (and cream) but expected.
You treat workers good and your on but never asked or expected. They are always happy. Pools clear and ocean fun. We enjoyed it all.

We went late May 2016 and it was the best trip we could have ever asked for. The food was surprisingly amazing, the staff was incredible and the beach was absolutely amazing.
The resturants on site and the buffet had incredible food. There was always something for everyone and there was always a great selection of food to satisfy anyone.
There were always activities going on and the staff was exciting and helpful and always kept the party going.
But it was also a great place to relax. There were multiple pools so one was the "party" pool and the other was definitely more for relaxing.
We were down for a week and definitely enjoyed every moment of it.

And for Cuba, it was surprisingly clean. We didn't have a bug problem at all. Even the water pressure in the showers was great.

Everything was perfect.

There is a reason that my wife and I have been to this resort 10 times. The resort's vegetation is very plush and the staff are very friendly and helpful. The beaches...well, I can't imagine anywhere being better. the pools are top notch and the daily activities are well thought out and highly interactive. Although this is not a brand new resort, management has done a great job in keeping it updated. The televisions are the old style, but the channel selection is very satisfactory. The nightly shows are very good quality and everyone, including the General Manager, is very approachable. Anyone who complains about the food here, I think, forgets that they are in a foreign country and their foods are a bit different. Personally, I've fallen in love with their native fruits and wish I could get them here at home. Definitely a very good value, for the money and I believe it fully deserves its 4 1/2 star rating.

We just finished a 7-day trip to Melia Cayo Santa Maria. This was our first trip to Cuba. The level of service, and friendly staff along with the absolutely stunning gardens, pool and facilities all made our trip so memorable. We found the staff, all of them, to be continually checking to ensure our stay was as comfortable as possible. In particular, the entertainment crew of Arel, Alberto, Filipe, Victor, Alex, Jorje and so many more made our trip something we will never forget. Salsa and merengue lessons happen daily for those who are interested and mornings have great activities at the beach, and in the afternoon at the pool. The night entertainment is top notch and will bring a bit of Cuban culture to your stay. We are already planning our return and will miss all whom we have met and made friends with at Melia Cayo Santa Maria.

I stayed at this resort back in 2012. I was with a group of 17 people, and i had my wedding there. Beautiful resort, the beach was amazing. The overall experience was excellent partly because we had an amazing weather to complement the resort. Staff were always willing to help and very friendly. The resort is a little more than one hour drive from the airport.