Melia Cayo Coco Hotel

3 readers found this review helpful

This was our third time at the adult’s only Melia Cayo Coco. What a fabulous hotel! We have enjoyed our stay so much that we are returning again in October 2007.
On this visit we were upgraded to a lagoon room (complementary) the room was clean and spacious with wonderful views across the lagoon we had coffee making facilities plus CD player/safe/ironing board/iron/room safe etc.
We requested that our mini bar was replenished daily this was done promptly & without any hassle. The maid was honest and efficient and regularly left us little notes and beautiful "towel sculptures"
Everyone at the hotel from the gardener to the manager is so very friendly. Each time we have returned we have been remembered by name & have been greeted as if we are old friends.
You never feel pressured to tip here. The staff are genuine. They really make you feel special. The animation teamwork very hard and go out of their way to make you feel welcome. (Please say hi to Alex, Dunia, Misael & Esther for us). Most days Pepe will be circulating around the pool/beach areas offering thirsty guests fresh coconut and rum cocktails!! - Yummy
The hotel is comfortable right on the beach with fantastic 3 a la carte restaurants. Most lunch times we ate at the Cuban restaurant - Charles makes an exceptional grilled red snapper with a touch of garlic. The lobster is to die for!! We always enjoy the food and the ambiance at the international restaurant - but as it is right on the lagoon mosquitoes can be a problem here after sun set.
The waiting staff in the restaurants/bars are so efficient that they remember you from one stay to the next. The twins Yamil & Junior and Yordi are fantastic and are now firm friends of ours.
Previous reports indicate that mosquitoes are a problem my advice is do not go to the Caribbean if this bothers you - we have rarely been bitten as we wear 50% DEET + most essentially, no perfume.
All in all this is one of the best hotels we have visited in the Caribbean- love it - and will return again and again and again!

1 reader found this review helpful

Whilst I give this a rating of 6 this should be much higher for some of the staff at the resort, as they were very nice and looked after us very well.
To start don't fly with Thomas Cook, too many faults to list here, heard no complaints with First Choice flight, shouldn't have to buy water on a long haul flight and the leg room is too small, the smart people went premier class, definitely not a 5 star holiday, the flight alone was 2 star.
On arrival the hotel is very impressive and the staff friendly, however, over the two weeks I would not have given this a 4/5 star rating to be honest it would struggle to be a 3 star in Europe.
The Room we had been on the lagoon and very impressive, clean, and well equipped.
The buffet restaurant was ok but we found using the grill where the food was cooked for you was far superior, whilst we were there the owners arrived for an inspection and the quality/choice of food greatly improved for that day, it should of been like that all the time.
We didn't do any trips and boy were we glad. The best advice for a trip to Havana I can give is book this at the resort and not with your UK Travel Agent. Those who booked in the UK had to take their entire luggage with them as there room was not reserved, however those who booked in resort only had to take overnight luggage and had the same room on return and it was cheaper.
The trip to Old Trinidad took 4 hours and needed a physio on return as the roads are like farm tracks. Forget this resort if you want to see the dolphins as both this and Havana require flights from Cayo Coco, those returning from Havana said it was worth a trip just for the show, but don't go if you want to look round Havana as it’s like Beirut.
I do not expect too much from a Holiday with a small price tag and a 2/3 star rating, but we paid for a supposed luxury 5 Star Holiday. Sorry to disappoint all who love it there.
This was certainly not a 5 Star, they ran out of certain types of drink, the food was not of a high standard even in the speciality restaurants, we were told by Staff this was due to the restrictions for importing goods from outside of Cuba, once the allotted amount was used it was tough, until the next delivery.
It is certainly a good place to relax as it is adults only i.e.: no children, however when the Canadians are out and about forget the peace and quiet. They use Cuba like we in the UK use the Canaries.
All in all a reasonable holiday, glad we went but will not return it’s not worth the 9 hour flight and the price, as others at the hotel said the Maldives or Mexico were far superior.

5 readers found this review helpful

Although I have only rated this holiday a 7, that is in no way a reflection on the hotel or the hotel staff, which, if possible, would have been given 11, they were outstanding.
The Melia Cayo Coco is the best hotel on the island of Cayo Coco, deservedly owning a 4* status, that’s an English 4*, not a jumped-up 4*.
I found the food in the buffet restaurant to be of a very high quality, hygiene is paramount in the preparation of the food and its serving, and it’s only other guests who can contaminate it.
There was also the most choice in the buffet, although for a change you can dine in the International, Italian and Cuban restaurants, but don't forget, it's Cubans cooking International dishes, so, as there are very few Cubans allowed to leave Cuba (those that do don't come back!) the food is cooked to a Cubans idea of that food. Yes? Say no more!
The rooms are of a very high quality and standard, and ours was cleaned meticulously every day by Yudonys and she always left a lovely linen sculpture on the bed.
The gardeners are a friendly bunch who make animals out of palm leaves to give to the guests; we came back with a veritable Ark!!
There are a few things I wish I'd known before we went to Cuba, and some things I found out are very disturbing. To be able to enjoy your stay I think a few things need to be understood.
A Cuban man or woman earns between 14-18 convertible pesos a month, that’s about £10, and from that they are expected to feed their family.
There are no Cubans allowed to live on Cayo Coco, they travel 2 hours each way every day from the mainland, Moron or the surrounding area.
They have ration cards, e.g., they can have 1 tube of toothpaste a month, a pint of milk a week. They cannot eat beef, if caught they can be gaoled.
There are two currencies, the convertible peso and the standard peso. There are approx 25 standard pesos to 1 convertible peso.
Tourists will never use standard pesos, but a Cuban has to use convertible pesos to buy imported goods when required, such as shampoo and shower gel and petrol.
There are other things too that would make your hair curl, but is accepted in Cuba as it is a way of life.
On a more positive side, when we were there in march/April we had no trouble from mozzies.
It was windy but we were told that was unusual, in fact it was very welcome as it kept the temperature bearable, especially on the beach.
Mobile phone coverage is restricted to Orange and T-mobile and it can be expensive, about £1.50 p/min for calls and 50p for texts. Both ways.
The nightly entertainment is excellent, very professional.
The animation team are brilliant, friendly and funny and NOT pushy at all.
Although they accept credit cards that are not affiliated or funded to US banks you may be better off taking Sterling notes and changing them as and when needed at the hotel reception.
I have always been against tipping every day, but this time I tipped at every meal, just a couple of pesos, about a quid to me but maybe half a week’s wages to a Cuban, certainly enough to afford a little luxury they would otherwise not be able to have.
One thing worth budgeting for is a trip to Havana, the 2 day one. Well worth it.
Go with an open mind and no prejudices or preconceived ideas and you will surely enjoy it.

1 reader found this review helpful

If you're looking for paradise this is the place to go!
We went in the middle of May for our honeymoon and we couldn't have chosen better. It was amazing! The choice of food was brilliant morning, noon and night, the hotel staff were very friendly and couldn't do more for you and the entertainment was good too (which is unusual!)
Due to this being our honeymoon we had some extra perks, including a room upgrade. One night we went back to our room and there was a plate full of fruit, the bar had been re-stocked, including a bottle of "champagne" and the maid had arranged some towels into a swan shape. The beach is a stone's throw away and is very clean, aqua coloured sea and white sands. The hotel staff also come onto the beach with coconuts and fill them with orange, lime and rum (every drink in Cuba comes with rum!) and this was also included as part of the all inclusive.
There are also plenty of activities to do on the beach, including snorkeling, paragliding, pedalo hire etc, or you can just lie in the peace and quiet and relax. It is also very quiet around the pool (owing to the hotel being adult only) and the bar staff occasionally bring around glasses of water or pieces of melon or mango. Again, there are plenty of activities to do in the hotel, there is something different happening every hour including water aerobics, tennis, table tennis, volley ball, horse riding. We had a full body massage on one day costing 25 Pesos (which is about £15) and I would definitely recommend this! Extremely relaxing.
There are also plenty of excursions with Thomas Cook but we just opted to do one as we just wanted to chill. The one we chose was swimming with dolphins. If anyone is thinking of doing this - do it! It's amazing! Most definitely the highlight of our holiday. It's quite a long journey to get there but I promise you it is well worth it (and that's coming from someone who suffers with travel sickness!)
All in all, I couldn't fault this hotel, definitely heaven on earth. We're trying to save to go back there again before we have kids! You'll be guaranteed to have a great time at this hotel.

Fantastic hotel with the staff to match. We had a really great time at this 5 star plus hotel, nothing was too much trouble for the staff, as they were all very helpfull and extremly friendly. If you go make sure you say hello to Peter in the lobby bar, as he never forgets your name or your favorite drink.
The variety and quality of the food is excellent with a good choice of restaurants. And snack facilities. The pool area and gardens are really nice and well maintained, the beach is beautiful and kept really clean. The overall atmosphere at the hotel was very relaxing with all the facilities you could want.
Also one big plus for us was the no children policy, we really enjoyed our stay at the Melia Cayo Coco and will be returning soon. We would recommend this hotel to everyone and suggest a minimum of two weeks.

1 reader found this review helpful

Myself and my partner both travelled here on the 11th December from Manchester and travelled back on Christmas day!
We absolutely loved the place and there should be no worries about going here. The place is out of this world.
The staff - you couldn’t get any better people. They are all so so friendly and go out of their way to say hello.
A big hello to Joe from the beach bar.... he's excellent and knows how to make a good drink... especially the mojito which my boyfriend had plenty of! Orlando and hoseff from the bar with the pool tables, they are absolutely great and also know how to make the good drinks! Philippe the gardener, he makes you beautiful birds and hats from the coconut leaves, he’s lovely and also a massive shout out to all the entertainment staff, especially Ismary & Okie (sorry if it spelt wrong) who certainly know how to keep everyone entertained and they are all very chatty and make you feel very very welcome.
The rooms are huge; they’re clean and very comfy. They have a balcony, bedside tables and a large dressing table with mirror and also a big full mirror. Every girls dream for getting ready for the night out. The bathroom is clean and lovely too with a double wardrobe, also an ironing board and iron and safe which is free and you just input your own code to lock and unlock and the air con is a godsend and very cool.
The pool area is big and there’s plenty of sun lounges all around the pool area. The pool water was a bit cold but once you were in, it wasn’t all that bad. The water isn’t too deep. Its shallow all the way round and as you walk into the middle, the highest is the water goes is to my neck and im only 5ft 3". The pool bar serves great snack food, hamburgers, hotdogs, pizzas and chips and also plenty of alcohol and pop. The patio area of the pool bar was being extended and it’s quite big now and nice to sit out in and chill out with a drink.
The lobby area/reception was very cool and airy and it’s opened up, so if you needed to cool off it was great to go and sit in here with a drink. You were also able to change money in the reception area and for any queries and also for booking any of the onsite restaurants.
The buffet was magnificent... there was just too much food too choose from, ive come back a little heavier. ha ha ha ha. There was a cold section which had all the salad stuff and fish and mixed salads and dips, also a hot section which had different meats, fish, potatoes, rice... you name it, they probably had it and each breakfast, lunch and dinner had something different to choose from. There was also two cooks, one cooked pasta and the other worked on the grill, which grilled your omelettes, pancakes, shrimps, fish and meat depending on what time of day it was and then also the bread section and the cheese section. There was also at dinnertime one of the chefs mixing salad for you, I could have taken her home. The salads were amazing.
There were also the three different restaurants to visit; you could visit each one of them once a week.
We thought the best one was the international which is on the lagoon, make sure you spray yourself with insect repellent as we go bit a couple of times because of the midges around the lagoon. Then the Italian restaurant which is upstairs above the pool bar and its lovely and cool in there as they have superb air con, then the Cuban restaurant which is next to the beach but obviously it depends on your tastes and my partner doest like seafood so he was limited as they do have a lot of it. You have to book to go to each one but at lunchtime you can just go to the Cuban and they have a barbecue.
We travelled with Thomas Cook and we had the premium seats. The flight was good and on times both ways. The rep was brill, his name was Fran and he was always there to help if need be. My partner got his trainers stolen from the side of the pool one day whilst he was playing volleyball in the pool and I was watching. Fran informed security and filled out the necessary forms for us and he did everything he could.
Thomas cook obviously offer a lot of days and tours to do. We did the Colourful Cuba tour which was absolutely excellent... on that you got to go on the speedboats and you was taken over a big lake and then through the mangroves, then you went to the sugar mill and watched a very short video and watch a little show then was taken on the old steam train through the sugarcane fields which was brill and was able to try a sugarcane and then had a typical Cuban lunch at a ranch which was lovely and then went into the town of moron which is actually where a lot of the Melia Cayo Coco workers live.
It’s a big eye opener visiting this town. Its is so third world, you just have to see it to believe it and you also get to go on horse and cart through the streets of moron and get to sit in a little bar and have a drink whilst a Cuban band play to you then you get a little time on your own just to have a wander through the streets. The hotel is a 5* hotel and when you arrive you may think it not what you were quite expecting as a 5* hotel, say in, America or London or anywhere like that but when you have seen the way of living in Moron and Havana then the Melia Cayo coco should be classed as 6 or 7*.
It does feel quite weird once you have visited the towns knowing what the workers are living like and then you paying all this money to come to such a lovely hotel with everything to offer and they are having to wait on you and watch what we live like, they must think were millionaires. A lot of them only get about £60 per month to live on.
We also went on the jungle tour, which at times was a little scary with my partners driving of the speedboat but it was great fun. We followed one of the tour guides and we all drove our own boats through the lakes and mangroves and then pulled up and went snorkelling and then drove back.
We met some great couples, we had a great laugh…. Especially Christmas eve. Hi to James and Ang!!! It was great fun and also the couple from Hartlepool.
All in all the holiday was great…… we wish we were still there…!!!