We have stayed on this hotel from 13 to 18 February 2022. We were 3 adults, me, my husband and my daughter. We book two junior suites and we had been given suite 601 and 602, which are very well located near beach and the second swimming pool. These junior suites don´t have sea views. But they are at the first location on the beach, which is great as we are guests that prefer to spend their days at the beach.
This was our first intercontinental trip after March 2020. We are used to visit the south America on winter, from Europe, more precisely Portugal.

The following is a description of the positive points and improvement points for each area and service on the hotel according to our own opinion. We have also created a list of points which we believe are relevant to those who decide to visit Cuba after the pandemic taking in consideration this fact and also the fact that there was a change on the coin used at Cuba which generated a DE valorization of the peso. We have not only stayed at this hotel, and specially, we have not been confined to the hotel. We also visit Habana, Trinidad and Vinales during 10 days.
As a conclusion, we would say we have loved the hotel and we recommend anyone that is still having second doubts on if it is safe to travel , special intercontinental trips, to choose Cuba as a safe an reliable destination. Cayo Santa Maria is located 4.5 hours taxi ride from Havana, and cost us 300 euros on private taxi to go and 250 euros to come back to Havana. It is reachable by car as there is a type of brige road which connects the Cayo to the continent during 45 km. Due to Covid, internal flights are not yet working normaly, so having a Cayo which can be reach by car is a nice choice.
I am writing this after having arrived home from this trip (10 days trip) . No one has caught Covid, which, in spite all have had taken 3 doses of the vaccine in Europe, was a possibility due to the Omincron variant. Me and my husband had never been infected , and as of today, are still some of the lucky ones.

Rooms:

Positive:
1 –Rooms have everything you need. It is a junior suite so it is huge and can accommodate 3 adults as there is a sofa. We had two junior suites but could have stayed all together, without filling lack of space
2 – The air condition works very well but for cold.
3- The housekeeping was very good and tried to make always nice things to make you fill welcome
4- The bathroom was very big and in proper conditions. All amenities are available in huge quantity. Every day we receive a lot of towels to allow us to take bath in the morning and afternoon and evening if we want to.

To improve:
1 – The room was always a little bit cold. We had not been very lucky with the weather, as there was a cold front coming from USA which affected almost our entire stay at this hotel. So there was too much wind and rain on two days.To keep the room warm the only possibility was to not switch on the air condition.
2- There are mosquitos when sun disappear, as usual on this type of clime. The hotel spread on the air around the gardens at sunset a smoke to make them disappear. On the rooms, however, they only disappear with air condition on cold (which probably is what happens 360 days of the year) . But if it is cold and you do not want to switch on the air, ask the reception and they will place leaves on aloe vera and mosquitos will not bit you. I was never the victim of mosquitos, but my husband was . However with their help we solve the issue
3- The furnish on the outside of the house is white plastic. Being this a 5 start hotel, and looking on the other type of furnish on other hotel areas, I would say it does not match. Even if in plastic, the ones used at the bar at the beach are quite better . The best would be to use wood as it exist on some rooms which had long chairs on the balcony . I would have to say that these 2 rooms, in spite being at the first line of the beach, face a fence with flowers, and so they have no views. They are also with north orientation (as it is the beach) so the exterior area is not used at all. There are other perfect places to stay during the day with amazing views. So we have not used this space but plastic furnish is not to the level to the rest of the hotel
4 -The interior light at the room should be changed to always being yellow as it is more warm. Our room had several lamps which were white. In our daughter room all lamps were yellow and was much more cozy. As floor is white ceramic, with white light looks an hospital environment. However, allows you to see how clean thing are!

Swimming pool:

Positive:
1 – Clean an large. There are two, one with activities and another near reception, which is a quite one. We have almost only used one, and it was only due to the weather conditions , because with such beach you never choose to stay on a swimming pool
2 – There are a huge amount of beds and you always find a space.

To improve:
1 –At some times of the day there are activities on the swing pool which is more protected from the wind. So it can be annoying. But other guest like, so it is a question of what you are looking for. As said, we had not been very lucky with weather and so we have used the pool at least 1.5 days.
2- Some guests bring their own sound columns and like to make other guest having to hear their music. That is quickly solves by the team at the swinging pool who requires them to switch off. I believe these rules should be communicated at check in.

Beach :

Positive:
1 – This is an amazing beach and the main reason why I choose this hotel. This beach is similar to what I have seen on Maldives, Riviera Maya in Mexico and at Punta Cana. Much better than Colombia, Costa Rica and even south of Jamaica or St Lucia, which have lovely beaches but not with a white and long stretch of sand which you can walk miles. The sand is really smooth and thin and the water is turquoise. There are other hotels nearby, but the majority are still closed. The beach gets worst when you walk a long it (several km) as the rock starts to appear and the sand length is reduce. So I would say this is the best beach spot at this Cayo
2- Water is translucid and temperature was fine. There are cliffs which I am sure you can visit by boat an make snorkeling. As we got too much wind we could not profit to use the sea as we would had liked . The waves were big and the flag was red. The only day when it calm down we had made a catamaran trip as the hotel has their boats and ride for free the guests. You can walk a lot inside the water without losing your feet or simple rest on the water. It is amazing
2- The beach is a quite spacious as it has a long area and, if activities are made, you can always find a spot without being bother by them.

To improve:
1 – I would say that the only thing missing is what we have in Portugal, to allow guest to stay at the beach when there is too much wind; I had shown to one of the team members at the beach, a picture of a "stop wind device", made with tissue and wood, which allow people to stay at the beach even on winding days. We have stayed at the beach using other chairs to protect us from the wind but that is not so effective. So, I do not know if the wind condition was only bad luck or if happens with some frequency on Cuban winter time at this side of the island (it is the north side facing Florida), but if that is the case, it would help a lot if the hotel had such devices, as there are chairs and umbrellas enough for every guest.
2- The team at the beach bar is always asking what you want which is a great service. But the drinks should not be served on plastic . Due to the wind and as there are not enough little tables, this plastic glasses are on the floor. The usual guest (Canadian guests) bring their own bottle which are filled by the beach team and that is the best option. So , unless the hotel starts giving one of those bottles to each guest when we do the check in, I would say, that if you are a person with environmental worries, bring your reusable bottles from home.

Restaurants:

Positive:
1 – Restaurant are booked by them on check in for the entire stay. You can change if you want from one restaurant to another. There are two main restaurants, a restaurant open air near pool which offers during lunch grilled meat and fish . This is the one open 24 hours. There is a snack at the beach which has amazing tortillas. The breakfast is served on one of the main restaurants. There is room service 24 hours a day
Due to covid, every thing is served at the table or in case of the grill or breakfast, you go to places where you are served. Food is very, very good.
Do not forget this is Cuba. They make miracles with the goods they have. Situation has for sure escalated, not only due to the economical embargo but also due to Covid which stop turism.
You get lobster and fish and shrimps and meat and pizza and spaghetti, and everything you are used to. So for me, this was perfect and I congratulate the chiefs that presented every day different dishes very well served.
For us, the plates have more food than what we normally eat, so after the first day we start asking less food to be placed on our plates as we cannot accept to through away food after having seen what Cuban people is suffering.

Entertainment by the hotel:

Positive:
1-Shows are done daily. We did not profit too much as we were always exhausted as we wake up very early due to jet leg. But looked OK to entertain guest
2- There are ping pong tables
3- There is a SPA on a square which is not part of the hotel but serves all other hotels. It is a square which looks like Disney world, with shops and restaurants. You access this on foot . Almost everything was closed. The SAP can be used with 20% of discount. We did not use it as it closed very early (17:00)
4- There is a gym free of charge
5- There is a desk with a person that can book you trips. The majority is still not available but we had decided to book a trip only for us to Trinidad, and that person found us a taxi driver which we book directly. It was a great decision as we had escape from a day of rain at Cayo Santa Maria and went to the south area of the island, where we had sun and chilly for two hours at Playa Ancon, eating lobster for a very cheap price. The trip cost us 160 Euros. Took 3.5 hours to go and similar time to come back. The beaches at the south of the island are not similar to Cayo, but are also very beautiful. Look like Costa Rica with a lot of plants near the water. Only by changing to the other side of the island we had an amazing weather and we also had seen the El Cafeteiro area and Trinidad city which worth the visit. Playa Ancon, is 15 minutes ride from Trinidad which also has hotels and Cayos which can be reach by boat as there are no hotels on those Cayos there. So I believe this trip worth if you stay for so many days as we did on Cayo Santa Maria

To be improve:
1 – Gym and SPA timetable not adequate. They should be open after sunset which is when you want to do a massage or go to the gym before dinner or even early in the morning (gym is only open at 9:00)

Hotels surrounding:

Positive
1 – The hotel is not big (122 rooms) and it was only full on the 14th as it was San Valentin day. Majority of guests are Canadian and Cuban. Many Canadian are usual guests
2 – Gardens are well treated. This is not as tropical as other countries we had visit but specially as these are Cayos

Staff
Only positive points to say . Starts by the butler encharge of your room which change between two different staff members. They know you and they start knowing your tastes. They solve all issues . The director and is replacement are also always present and present themselves and also know you. Their strategic policy is to be there for us. They do it quite well. You always feel welcome and at same time are left alone if you want.

Other relevant information if you visit Cuba in the next months:

1- Bring cash. Only hotels or travel agency accept credit cards. Restaurants at Havana will not accept and when you see the price in euros compared with pesos, you will see that it is very affordable if you pay in euros. If you pay in pesos to the official rate, is it too far expensive
2 – Exchange money on the taxi or on the street. First time we exchange we got 2500 Pesos for 50 Euros. But this is always changing. We had 4000 Pesos for 50 Euros at the end.
3- Try to avoid taking money from the ATM machines. We had to take 10000 pesos which cost us 400 Euros!
4- Don´t take pesos to the airport. There you need to pay everything with credit card. There are restaurants after the security, where you can eat before catching the plane
5 – Bring your own medicines, but if you do not use them, please take them to the hospital, We gave ours to a doctor at Hospital Hermanos Armeijeiras near old area of Havana. They really need this help from us.
6 – Negotiate all taxi services. This is not cheap and they only accept euros. If you only have pesos is much more expensive
7 – Many things are still closed at Havana. We could not see the factory where cigars are made but we saw it at Vinales. But if you want to see the museums , try to arrive before 15;00. Otherwise they say it is closed, in spite they are there and were suppose to maintain open until 17:00. Cathedral was closed Saturday after 12:00.
8- We have used hotel amenities and offer to the hotel staff all we have brought with us, as those products are rare and expensive to Cuban people
9 – If you bring food with you to heat at the plain, share with guides and drivers, They are not used to heat cheese, chocolate or even snacks as there is no place to buy this
10 – When arriving at 21:00 to the airport of Havana, everything is closed. To buy a SIM card you need to do it at Havana on the official store. You need your passport and you need pesos. It will cost 1250 pesos per SIM card with 4G (LTE at Cuba) and 4.5 G +3.5 G which can be used for one month. They will help you on the set up of the mobile phone. Be ready to stay on a cue for 1 hour, so go early on the first day. They are open on Saturday. It is an ETECSA store, and the SIM card is CUBACEL and you can buy 3 per persona using your passport. There is one store at Calle Obispo, one of the pedestrian well know streets at Havana Vieja .
11 – Internet at hotels is now free (at least it was at Iberostar Parque Central at Havana and Royalton Cayo Santa Maria ) but not as good a using your mobile. At Royalton you need to have a new password after 7 hours using it. You do not have access to many sites you are used to (Spotify for example) but you have WhatsApp which is good to communicate home and with the drivers an guides in CUBA
12- You can buy 25 Cuban cigars by 50 euros using non official stores (the guides in Cuba will sell it). Maximum you can bring home is 50 per persona
13- We have used Airbnb experiences to book a trip. We went to Vinales and was great to see how cigars are made. Ask if the car has air condition and seat belts. We went on an old Cadillac without seat belts. Air condition was not so much needed as it was not too hot, but we had the windows open so I doubt there was .
14- Give tips at the hotels. Give tips at restaurants. You can pay food to people who ask you money when you are seating at Havana outside restaurants. Cuban people has suffered much more than us with Covid economical crises. By going to Cuba you are helping, but you can always help more
15- To enter Cuba you need an negative PCR 72 hours in advance and need to have a full vaccine program. This is verified when you do check in at airport and when you arrive at Havana airport. To return to Portugal you do not need it. But the hotels provide that service if you are traveling to a country which still requires it. Cost 30 Dollars.
16 – Taxi to and from airport to Havana Prado or Havana Vieja should not cost more than 30 euros. Better to organize it before you arrive.
17 – Cuba is safe to travel alone. You just need to avoid travelling on the road after sun set at it is dangerous as the roads are not good, there are loose animals crossing roads, and there is lack of gas and you cannot find even coffee out of cities. In spite poverty is near you, specially in Havana which has suffer more than other areas due to Covid and lack of tourism, they wan’t the tourism back quickly and so, is spite trying to sell you everything and exchange money and begging for food, you are safe. The number of police is huge and they stop your car everywhere to ask who we are. Being tourist we are left to pass without any incident. Driving in Cuba can be difficult, due to the road status, lack of gasoline, and the lack of rules to drive and the change of velocity from 90 to 50 km/hour very suddenly. I believe it worth paying for a taxi if you can afford or to use a touristic bus with other guests.