A note recently published in CyberCuba about the reviews made by tourists who stayed at the Meliá Las Dunas hotel in Cayo Santa María, north of the Cuban province of Villa Clara, generated new comments on social networks from visitors dissatisfied with their experience on the Island.
Mainly related to the scarcity and poor quality of food, the opinions included in the note also criticized the poor quality of service, the lack of hygiene in hotels and poor room cleaning, among other problems that they attributed to poor management of the hotels. hotels by the management of Gaviota and other Cuban entities.
Linked to the Cuba Headlines Facebook page, the note has received more than 80 comments, a large part of which agreed with the criticisms reported by this editorial team.
“After reading many conflicting reviews about vacations in Cuba, I decided to share my impressions. Yes, there is food; but it is probably impossible to eat it, even with your eyes. Forget what was there before: all that abundance and all-inclusive options have disappeared,” said the user identified on Facebook as Vladimir Mayer.
According to his words, the tourist traveled to Cuba with provisions in his suitcase. “I brought some things with me, and I’m living off of it. Yesterday, I didn’t eat anything in restaurants. I couldn’t,” Mayer said in his comment.
Other tourists, he said, acted like him and traveled to the Island with provisions. “People bring ketchup, mayonnaise, jelly, peanut butter and other condiments with them. I brought pâté and cheese. They have coffee, but I brought instant coffee with me,” he noted.
“Alcohol: only rum and some whiskey available. That’s all. There is no tonic water. Beer is just sludge. No wine. Bring your favorite items duty free. They give you 1.5 liters of bottled water in your room daily. No more beer and cola,” Mayer added before recommending tourists travel to Cuba with “small bills or coins.”
Beyond the unconditional enthusiasts of Cuba, there were tourists who attributed the problems described to a very low-cost tourist offer.
“When you pay $700 for a week at a five-star all-inclusive, there’s a reason. Everyone knows about food shortages. “Anyone who decides to go has to live with it,” he said. Marie-Josée Vigneault.
“I just got back on Saturday, so one of us has factual, up-to-date information… We’ve been going to the same resort for 13 years; The descent is heartbreaking,” he said for his part. Jen Hartnett-Orser to a commentator who defended the good and varied gastronomic offer for tourists in Cuba.
“The food is bad. When you pay £1,450 for a week at an all-inclusive resort, and all you see every day is brown rice and inedible white pineapple, you might appreciate the scarcity if the price of the holiday wasn’t sky-high. Maybe that’s why the United Kingdom withdrew from Cuba and no longer flies there: too many complaints,” he said. Anzelika Russell.
“Well, now maybe the tourists will finally see what’s going on.” [la población cubana]. “Usually people don’t start to care until it affects them personally,” another user opined.
The user identified as Wichy Suarezwho blamed the publication of CyberCuba to “one more hoax by the Miami mafia to prevent tourists from coming to Cuba.”
“This image must be faked,” the user said sarcastically about a photograph that showed the poverty and poor quality of the buffet table at the Meliá Las Dunas in Cayo Santa María. “We are a world power in the tourism sector. We are able to send a dead Canadian tourist to Russia, and a Russian to Canada. Nobody does that, suffer haters.”
“Disaster. There is no food” (the opinion of a tourist)
The bad reviews published on the travel site TripAdvisor continue to appear. Next, CyberCuba publishes the most recent among those that describe the Meliá Las Dunas de Cayo Santa María as terrible
If you want to go hungry, it is the hotel that I can recommend the most. I do not recommend it to my worst enemy. I am staying hungry. They offered me water biscuits with sausage for lunch…. at the buffet there are only noodles and rice. The only good thing about it is the paradisiacal beach. Do you want a lounge chair? Get up at 5am and lay down a towel.
They don’t have chicken, butter, oil, lettuce, meat, fish, jam and hopefully you found bread for breakfast. The fries are horrible and if you’re lucky you can get them. The employees are the only thing that stands out, but it is unfortunate that they make them face them and they don’t know what to tell you.
I confronted the owner, a rude and arrogant Galician, AWESOME. I gave him constructive criticism: How come there is no food? And he told me to deal with the snack bar because there are hamburgers. Haha, that was the same place where they offered me the sausages and water biscuits.
Full of Argentinians in the same situation, everyone complaining about the same thing… The truth is that I am speechless, one of the worst experiences I had in my life, I do not recommend it AT ALL.
Now I’m in the Italian restaurant and they tell me I can’t repeat the dish. Hahaha, it’s incredible how hungry I am in this fourth-rate hotel!
Nervousness among Cuban tourism authorities
In the midst of the growing negative opinions towards tourism on the island, a sector involved in a streak of bad evaluations of the service, facilities and food supply, the minister of the sector in Cuba, Juan Carlos García Granda, celebrated the arrival of one million visitors at the end of April.
“Today, April 26, a few days after the start of our FitCuba2024 International Tourism Fair, Cuba receives one million international visitors,” said García Granda from his profile on X.
Weeks ago, during a Round Table dedicated to tourism, the minister pointed out that the goal of 2024 “is to overcome the barrier of three million tourists, increase air connectivity and encourage demand and improve customer service,” the latter with serious deficiencies so far this year.
The bet is still significant, even more so if you take into account that It was the same purpose as the previous year.and at that stage, Cuba only reached 2.4 million international visitors, leaving forecasts below by more than 30%.
Compared to popular destinations in the region, in 2023, the Dominican Republic received more than 6 million international tourists, establishing itself as a leader in the industry in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Cancun in Mexico attracted more than 4 million visitors that year alone.
The urgency of the Cuban regime to increase the number of visitors to the Island was also conveyed last Tuesday to the Secretary General of Tourism at the UN, Zurab Pololikashviliwho He described as “stupid” those Cuban civil society activists and disenchanted tourists who call not to travel to Cuba..
“If today or yesterday, some stupid (forgive me the word) says that we shouldn’t go to Cuba, well that’s why we are here: to tell everyone that they have to come. That’s how it is. Cuba is one of the safest countries I have visited,” Pololikashvili said in the halls of the Palace of the Revolution.
