Meliá Santiago de Cuba

One of the best hotels in Santiago because of the staff and management, especially Leticia who is an angel and helped me with everything that I needed because of my serious medical conditions. I enjoyed my stay and will always be staying with the beautiful and helpful people in the whole of Cuba

My wife y I stayed at the Melia Santiago from Jan 4 to 11th. We were visiting friends in the city, whom I’d worked with in the 90’s, bringing them care packages, and we needed a home base. We also wanted to just relax by the pool and escape the Canadian winter for a bit. We basically had the hotel to ourselves. There rarely seemed to be more than a few dozen guests at best, mostly over nighters, sometimes Cuban nationals. Everyone was pleasant, the staff warm, friendly y attentive, We quite enjoyed the relaxed peace y quiet. Plus we always felt safe and very well taken care of. The meal plan included a simple but sufficient breakfast buffet; eggs, baked goods, fruit juices, plantains and other local items. Since there weren’t enough guests for an evening buffet, we were instead served a quite decent dinner, with our choice of a meat dish; chicken, beef, pork or shrimp, and a salad and other sides, at the courtyard restaurant. There are also quite a few quite reasonably priced local restaurants within walking distance of the hotel, with simple menus but good meals! I especially liked “ Naranja”. Anyway, we never went hungry. The Melia was often short of a lot of their regular amenities, but they covered the basics y everything was quite clean and seemed as well maintained as the situation allows. With the crippling illegal US embargo, one is advised to bring your own condiments, meds, maybe some extra toilet paper. The hotel internet was included. It was spotty at times, best to sit near the window in your room. It’s fine in the lobby or by the pool. The satellite TV was down a fair bit, but we usually got our news in the morning and a movie or two at night. My wife loaded a few on her iPad before we left, I had my music, so we were fine. We often all but had the huge gorgeous pool to ourselves, which was quite relaxing, and for us, a real treat. When not travelling about the city visiting our friends, we’d entertain them there. It was actually quite cheap and included a poolside lunch at the grill! Taxis downtown to the city centre cost about $5 US. We frequently travelled all about the city and back for $20 day tops. The downtown area was empty of the usual tourist crowds, many of the shops y attractions closed or on reduced hours. But we still quite enjoyed the musicians in Céspedes Parque, or relaxing on the Casa Grande patio, just watching the carnival of life go by. . There’s a fair bit to see and do right near the hotel, within walking distance. Tho that was not the focus of our visit, we both got a quite professional hour long massage, with plenty of quite helpful health tips, for $20 total. Bring US dollars, a credit card and consider buying some local currency to use about the city, for extra savings. We typically tipped $2 to $5 and were very well taken care of everywhere we would go. The bottom line? Cuba is in the midst of an economic crisis. In Santiago de Cuba, not everything is open for business, and most of the tour

It was really a very disappointing experience. After spending 5 nights at the Meliá in Santiago de Cuba, I have no positive impressions, no good comments to make except for the breakfast, which was somewhat better and more varied, compared to the dinner, which was very disappointing, very far from the rich Creole flavors, full of aromas and spices, that I remembered from Cuban cuisine, and hoped to find again. The food was tasteless, the prices were well above what is considered "decent" for the service offered. The menu presents multiple options, of which there are no more than three available. The same goes for the cocktails, multiple options, to find or choose only 2 or 3. It is very normal, that the beer is missing for several days. And if that were not enough, there are cockroaches in the rooms, having to be extremely careful with the closed suitcases, so as not to bring one of those specimens home. The bedclothes smell like they have been poorly rinsed and look stained Despite the sad situation that the Cuban people are going through, it could be considered ridiculous to charge for a 5-star service, which in reality is not even worthy of a 2-star service. It is regrettable the frustration that is generated by what should have been considered a pleasant and relaxing visit.

Firstly I wanna tell BIG THANKS FOR the Melia De Santiago hotel STUFF. They are so so kind and nice. We really satisfied from Chiara , Thais, Fernando and Pedro and Zuleima and Señora cleaner Elena and Moraima. Miss Cuba tour Sheila we love you. We are so grateful from those peoples. Thanks for your kindness and help.