Melia Varadero??

Anyone been? I'm seriously considering having my wedding here. I was originally looking at the Melia Las Dunas.. but because I want guests to be able to go into town and go shopping, go to Havana without it taking 5 hours or a plane, and go golfing, I am now thinking Varadero is the only option that makes sense for us.

I am concerned because on travel advisor it says the beach is rocky and because the resort is 18 years old.. Of course the pictures on the website look great, but there aren't any on travel advisor that really give a good look of the resort and the rooms.. but the wedding gazebo overlooking the beach looks fabulous.

If anyone has any pics it would be appreciated.. I can't find any for this resort while Melia Las Dunas has a ton on-line. We were also thinking of Barcelo Solymar, but my travel agent says it's pretty "dated". She has recommended Sirenas Las Salina to me but I've read that it's too big to manage around..

Hi Jenn!

I just got back from Varadero, and Everyone I met that stayed at Melia Varadero really liked it. The Melia chain is very good. I didn't personally go there, but I did go to see Melia Las Americas, which is a couple of resorts down and it was fabulous! The beach there looked great and so did the hotel, pool, etc. They also have a gazebo on the beach that is usually used for massages, but they do it up nicely for weddings.

I did visit Barcelo Solymar and it looked "dated" the people we talked to also said the rooms weren't nice and the food was terrible.

Let me know if you want any pictures from Melia las Americas and I can email them to you.

I've stayed at barcelo Solymar, biggest waste of money.

The Melia chain is very reputable.

Good Luck!

From all resorts in Varadero - I went to few (Melia, Barcelo, Sol Sirenas, Breezes, Brisas del Caribe, Varadero 1920, Blau Varadero and few others - I heart Iberostar Varadero. Great resort, good food, new resort - not too crowdy.

Only disadvantage - beach there is that wide like closer to the town.

Jenn have you made your decision? After months of having no clue where to go and going back and forth on locations, the Melia Varadero is at the top of our list. We would have went with the Iberostar Varadero, (amazing resort) but our friends got married there last Nov so we didn't want to 'step on their toes' so to speak.

Our TA highly recommends this resort and chain, and it does look breathtaking in the photos. I emailed the WC and she replied to me the very next day which I hear is not very common.

Has anyone else been there or have any reviews/opinions on this resort? :-)

I got married at the Iberostar varadero 2 weeks ago and we went shopping at Plaza America which is a shopping center ( they had a bank that is why we went there ) for cubans and tourists. We saw there was a beach right behind it so we went and it was the Melia varadero beach. It is not a big beach, the sand is kinda rocky and it is very much like a public beach. I don't mean to discourage you but if you like a nice beach, I wouldn't go there.

Did you consider the Melia Las Americas, I heard it is great.

I hope this helps..

We did look at the Melia Las Americas but they have changed it (or are changing it soon) to an adults only resort. It's good to know about the rocks...we have heard that a few times but our TA said if you walk down a bit it isn't as rocky? Ugh it's so hard to choose

We have it narrowed down to the Barcelo Solymar, the new Iberostar that opened up this week and the Melia Varadero. We haven't traveled much, so getting it down to those resorts took four months LOL.

It is so tough (as I am sure you know) to pick one because not only is it for you, but all your closest friends and family. I am just hoping to have everything decided on by the end of this month so people can start booking, and I can concentrate on other wedding stuff!!

Hi Chantelle

We haven't been there before, but we have our wedding booked at the Melia Varadero for April 2, 2010. I know just how you feel about how hard it is to chose! Although I haven't seen anyone else on here that has had their wedding there, the reviews I've read in other places, and from our TA are really good. I've heard that the first part of the beach is rocky as well... but apparently if you walk down the beach a few minutes its perfect. Good luck choosing!