We have recently come back from a fantastic holiday staying at the Grand Memories Varadero booked through a Thomson 2 week package. Firstly I can say that there were no issues on my trip that needed to be addressed to the hotel, our stay was brilliant and can really say we had the best time. Staff were friendly here and would go out of their way to help and assist you, our favourite being Gilberto who made us fresh omelettes in the mornings, and was always happy and would ask what we were up to in the day. At no point were the staff rude at the hotel. The room was great, with much needed air con. Clean sheets and towels each day. Minibar topped up with a large bottle of water, beers and soft drinks each morning. There is a shop on site for things like Crisps, merchandise (magnets etc) rum and cigars. (It was 4 CUC for a litre of rum and 6 CUC for a pot of Pringles. Yes rum is cheaper than a snack, nice. The food was brilliant, and I can't understand the negative feedback from this. There was a great variety of food from a classic Cuban cuisine of rice and beans to all meats, pork, beef, chicken etc all cooked fresh for you at cooking stations. There was plenty of food to cater for everyone, seafood which included prawns, calamari and occasionally octopus, which was great. The food was similar at the three settings in the day, breakfast, lunch and dinner, all in the buffet restaurant. Desserts were great too, cakes, shortbread, pastries etc. (I love food). The lobby bar is good place to grab a drink in the evenings, the only downside is having no air con in the room making it quite hot, there are however open areas either side which let in a slight breeze. The hotel itself was clean, well maintained by the the various cleaning staff on site, the outside areas well maintained by the gardening staff also. Pool was clean, all sand areas smoothed over each evening leading up the the glorious beach. We found this amazing deal on Thomson and had already booked the Havana day trip. The Thomson representatives were always on site ready to assist for when we wanted to book the jeep safari and boat trips. On the beach there were pedalos, one and two man Kayaks to use FREE of charge. There were plenty of beds which meant there was no rush to the beach to get a good spot. There were people selling items up and down the beach from women's cover ups, hair braiding to skydiving, horseback riding, shells and mugs, however this was not an inconvenience and if you decline such items they would not bother you again. I can say with confidence that I would 100% recommend this hotel to friends and family and would return here myself in the future. The staff, food, activities, rooms were all of a great standard making this hotel a great place for all to visit. Additional bits; Currency in Cuba is CUP & CUC, the CUP is the local peso which has very low value, the CUC is the convertible peso which tourists will use. (You can exchange money at the hotel) Hairdryer and iron are both in the room. Take a flask or thermo flask type container for getting drinks at all bars, they will fill it up no matter the size. Wifi is a little hit and miss, from the lobby area you can get a 1 hour pass for 2CUC, make sure to cancel your session when you are done otherwise the time will expire!! (That's if you need to use the internet) Lastly I would like to add that people need to remember that Cuba is a fairly poor country in respects to the average wage of people living here. If you feel like a tip is necessary then it will be much appreciated by the staff and a little goes a long way!! Most of the people rely on such tips just to make ends meet. However you will receive the same level of help and assistance regardless of tipping. I hope this helps people in making a decision to stay here.

We stayed at this hotel in june this year 2017 . The complex was very nice with plenty of swimming pools and a lovely beach . The weather was fantastic however this is an all inclusive resort and the food in the buffet was far from good maybe if they had hot plates that kept the food hot it would be a help although a wide choice of food it would maybe benefit from less quantity and more quality some of the waitresses were friendly while others were quite rude . In the evening we drank in bar cubano which was excellent with fantastic friendly staff nothing was too much trouble and entertainment was good the staff we would like to thank was Gretar Martinez Magdiana Michel Yarian and Amed all these bar staff made our evenings very enjoyable and made us very welcome the service they provided every night was excellent and we enjoyed their friendly proffessional service they made our holiday Thankyou so much

Overall, we had an OK vacation for what you paid for but this resort can be improved!!! Room: We stayed at block 24 closer to the beach after moving rooms from block 22 where we encountered several bad issues the first night. We were unable to sleep that night and I killed 50 fly/mosquitos in that room alone!! We were party of 6 and had two rooms, the Corner is a bit bigger and cleaner room. Maid was excellent and always had fresh towel to our room. The sliding door had a big opener on top leaving flies to come in the room where could be an easy fix, one morning there was no water at all.... Room is a bit run down and you won't expect this for a 4.5 stars! Keycard always never work and u have to walk miles to get to the lobby and then they give you attitude!! Staff overall: Some selected staff are not very customer focus. If you are talking to a staff and suddenly the staff will ignore you and make you wait to hear his other collegue speaking. I have experienced this a few times in the lobby, buffet etc. I find it very rude!!! Moving your luggage and had to stop to speak with someone else then we could move on! No sorry nothing! Definetly this is something manage rb need to look at ...customer first! Not second! The staff do not have a good smile on their face!!!! Buffet: You cannot enjoyed yourself since they are million of flies moving everywhere and yet alone the food sitting on the platter where mosquitos are going around and around. They have to do something on this since I barely enjoyed my food and always had to cover to avoid any mosquitos. Same food everyday and after day 5 you are feed up. Luis at the fish grill had some kind of attitude when requesting food and he is not a good cook!!! but the young lady was much better. The lady at the meat grill asked me for money or change since she cooked for me? Find it unprofessional. Pasta sauce was so run down, bring your own!! No mangos for the 7 days we were there... We should indulge Dominican hotels food theme such as Monday carribean, Tuesday Italian etc... Restaurant: Please avoid!! The food is more terrible than the buffet plus they can cook things on the menu such as "le gourmet" steak rib eye not avail. Jesus was good at the restaurant for service. "Cuban" seafood casserole at the Cuban resto not avail and get you a dry chicken!!! Sunwing tours: Absolutely fantastic! The best customer service ever for the morning gathering but we were able to find a cheaper tour to Havana, pay a max 20 pesos!!! Don't pay 87 pesos through nexus tour. Nightly show: Same performer every night difference dance but can seriously improve! Bring your bug spray and the ladies washroom is in construction for months with debris all over the place! Put a sign at the door!!!! Beach: Safety first!!! Lots of broken shelf, garbage and careful your feet does not get cut and ruin your vacation. Water was superb!!!! Not much activities compare to next door hotel iberostar. Pool: Pool was okay, cleaned but the snack bar food sucks!!!! And beds were full of birds pooh. Clean them up!!! Overall: We will never go back!!! Save your money and go next door "Iberostar Laguna Azul" They could learn how Dominican Rep run their resort!! I will give it a 2 stars!

Dear Reader, I'm a realist and so us my husband and we appreciate that our opinions of this hotel, service, and food experience differ from the reviews that have been previously posted. With that said; We cannot express our gratitude enough as All Staff that we dealt with including the General Manager were absolutely wonderful! Everyday our room was cleaned impeccably by Annie. Everyday we were warmly greeted by staff at the main buffet were we enjoined fresh and delicious food. The pools were cleaned daily, and the entertainment was lively and engaging. Bar staff not only served our favourite drinks, but stopped to have a chat and ask if we were enjoying ourselves. A round of applause to the General Manager for choosing the nightly entertainment at the bar, as we enjoyed classical piano, guitar...with the Spanish piccing "Awesome"! Let alone the dancers and theatre experience at 9:30 each night were fun. Jose took our luggage when we arrived, and he stopped to chat with us throughout the week as well as the front desk attendants. In closing, like many readers on this site we are a hard working couple from Whitby, Ontario and there are not many places we can travel to where our money is so well spent! The people at this resort are hard working and are ready to make your stay exceptional. Always smiling, and engaging. We are humbled by the vibrant and caring people working here! Will we go back.....ABSOLUTELY, in a heartbeat ❤️ Remember your vacation is what you make it enjoy yourself at Grand Memories...."We did"! Alfonso and Tina

A hotel to avoid at all costs. Cleaning of rooms non-existent, linen not changed, buffet dining room was similar to a very noisy canteen, food was tepid, sunbeds not clean and in a poor state of repair. Some of the staff bordered on being rude and were indifferent. Complaints fell on 'deaf ears', and not addressed. Hotel claims 5*, but I would rate it at 3* and that is being generous